A-Dead-Mans-Guide-to-Dragongrin-v1.4.pdf

grin, n. Pronunciation: ɡ r ɪ n Etymology: From the Titanspeak a. mass grave b. to rise, honoring the dead

CREDITS Project Lead: Tim Kearney Lead Designers: Tim Kearney, Michael Barker, Jeff Doty Managing Editor: Matt Click Art Director: Tim Kearney Design, Writing, and Editing: Tim Kearney, Michael Barker, Matt Click, James Kearney, Jeff Doty, Lloyd Collins, Connor Davies, Chris Willhelm Additional Development: Marquis Hartis, Taylor Jeffrey Proofreading: Kiel Adam, Heather Dodson-Smith, Taylor Jeffrey, Connor Davies, Sam Lindsey Layout: Matt Click, Michael Barker Page Design: Aleksandar Kostic, Tim Kearney Cover Art: Jon Pintar, Aleksandar Kostic Interior Art and Concepts: Aleksandar Kostic, Jon Pintar, Jake Perez, David Kegg, Runehammer, Andre Torres Cartography: Jon Pintar Dice Drop Maps: Jake Perez

SPECIAL THANKS Firstly, the deepest and most reverent thank you to the Kickstarter backers who helped bring this project to life – without your trust, patience, and support, Dragongrin would not exist in this form. Thank you to my wife Shawnda, who unendingly, compassionately, and lovingly supported me during the many 80-hour weeks it took to finish this book. I literally could not have done this without you – you are my sanctuary. And to my daughter Evy who, at age four, started helping me create monsters and hasn’t stopped since – you may not remember it now, but someday I hope you realize how much you helped daddy get through the tough, long days with your smile, enthusiasm, fwost, and creativity. And finally, to my brothers in creativity: Barker, Matt, James, and Jeff – your Dragongrin is far better than mine ever could have been. – Tim Kearney, March 2020

DEDICATION This book is dedicated to anyone battling with depression. We’re here, standing with you, and you’re not alone. May the stories we tell together with this book keep your undying light burning brightly – we need you. A Dead Man’s Guide to Dragongrin was created thanks to the support of 976 Kickstarter backers.

Absolute Tabletop, LLC PO Box 2493 Moriarty, NM 87035 www.AbsoluteTabletop.com [emailprotected] Copyright © 2020 by Absolute Tabletop, LLC. All rights reserved. Version 1.4 – July 2020. Absolute Tabletop, the Absolute Tabletop logo, the Absolute Tabletop monogram, and all content contained herein are trademarks of Absolute Tabletop, LLC. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of Absolute Tabletop, LLC. A Dead Man’s Guide to Dragongrin™ is a trademark of Absolute Tabletop, LLC in the U.S.A. and other countries. Arbitron, Dragongrin, Enchea, Erenoth, Gloam, and Kror are trademarks of Absolute Tabletop, LLC in the U.S.A. and other countries. Dice Drop Adventure Generator™ and StoryHex™ are trademarks of Absolute Tabletop, LLC in the U.S.A. and other countries. This product is compatible with the fifth edition of the world’s oldest fantasy roleplaying game, published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. It is licensed under the Open Game License Version 1.0a Copyright © 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc. It utilizes the System Reference Document 5.0 Copyright © 2016, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Chris Perkins, Rodney Thompson, Peter Lee, James Wyatt, Robert J. Schwalb, Bruce R. Cordell, Chris Sims, and Steve Townshend, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The full text of the Open Gaming License Version 1.0a can be found at the back of this book. A Dead Man’s Guide to Dragongrin is set in the following fonts: Spectral, Signika, and Dwarven Axe.

TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS

MARROW 97

LIFE IN DRAGONGRIN

MISSIVE CROW

THE AGES OF DRAGONGRIN

NEXT OF KIN

COIN AND SUPPLY

NOMAD 98

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

PRYDAGGER 99

CALENDAR 17

RELIC HUNTER

MAGIC 18

RED SAIL MERCHANT

100

DEITIES AND RELIGIONS

SELLSWORD 100

COSMOLOGY OF DRAGONGRIN

SHATTERFARER 101

STREET PERFORMER

CHARACTER CREATION

HERITAGES 30 DARROW 30 DWARF 31 ELF 32 FESTIR 33 HALFKIN 35 HUMAN 36 TOMEHEART 37

CULTURES 39 ARDOR 39 CRUCIAN 43 DROGUS 47 GRANOK THANE

GRIMDUL 56 HOLMIR 61 MORD 66 SARRIK 72 SILVERWISE 76 TALASAR 80 ZARFVIN 85 LANGUAGES 89

BACKGROUNDS 90

AVOWED 102 BLEAKSCARRED 103 DISTANT TRAVELER

103

FAILED HERO

104

REBORN OF THE GRAY

104

UNDYING LIGHT

105

CLASSES 106 BARBARIAN 106 BARD 110 CLERIC 114 DRUID 118 FIGHTER 122 MONK 126 PALADIN 131 RANGER 135 ROGUE 139 SORCERER 144 WARLOCK 149 WIZARD 153

DRAGONGRIN FEATS

157

DRAGONGRIN SPELLS

159

CHARACTER DEPTH

162

ARCHANITE TINKER

BARBER SURGEON

TRAITS 162

BEASTKEEPER 92

FLAWS 164

BOUNTY HUNTER

BURDENS 166

CHRONICLER 93

HOPES 169

DRUDGE 93

TRINKETS AND MEMENTOS

172

ERSTWHILE NOBLE

CHARACTER BACKSTORY

176

CHARACTER TIES

180

FUGITIVE 94

101

TOILER 102

GRIFTER 95

DOMINIONS OF ASH

184

GRAVEDIGGER 95

AQUEANUS 189

HALLOWED 96

CRUX: THE EYE AND THE SEA

195

MAPWRIGHT 96

CRUX: CALL OF THE VOID

198

FEYGRAVE 204

THE DISMEMBERED LEGION

416

CRUX: WELCOME TO RAVENROCK

211

JOINING THE DISMEMBERED LEGION

416

CRUX: THE CROWN OF KUMON ORTH

214

DISCOVERING THE LEGION

417

CONSTRUCTING THE LEGION

421

GRINN 220 CRUX: WELCOME TO THE DUSTMOUTH

228

CRUX: WAR UPON THE BLACK SHORES

232

INNES 239 CRUX: OPERATION TORCHLIGHT

246

CRUX: GLADIATORS OF GORR ARENA

249

JAHAR 255

THE CRUCIBLE

424

SCENES 424 ADVENTURE GENERATOR

429

THEMES, TWISTS, GROWING DANGERS

430

MONSTRUM AUTURNUM

437

MARROW 437

CRUX: BLOOD AND THUNDER

261

C’WAR 442

CRUX: THE OSSUARY AND THE ORB

264

XUR KITH

SVIR 270

443

YHAGHUL 445

THE DISMEMBERED LORD

446

CRUX: THE GOLTHEAL BUTCHER

276

CRUX: THE CRIMSON BETROTHAL

280

THE RISE OF THE DISMEMBERED LORD

286

TENETS OF THE DISMEMBERED LORD

448

CRUX: DEPTHS OF DHOKEG

293

SECRETS OF THE DISMEMBERED LORD

449

CRUX: THE ASTREGARD CONUNDRUM

296

GAME MASTER ADVICE AND MECHANICS 449

303

FIGHTING THE DISMEMBERED LORD

SVIR BELOW

TALAS, THE LIFETREE

446

450

CRUX: FIRST FLIGHT OF THE VENORIN

310

BACKERLIST 462

CRUX: BATTLE FOR THE ROOTGATE

313

OPEN GAMING LICENSE

ULDANE 319 CRUX: THE LONG BLEAK NIGHT

326

CRUX: LAST RIDE OF THE DEATHBAT

329

466

INDEX 467

VARNHOLME 335 CRUX: FEAST OF A THOUSAND SKULLS

342

CRUX: THE AGE OF DEATH

345

ZAMON 352 CRUX: TEMPLE OF THE SEARING HEART

358

CRUX: IF IT BLEEDS

361

DARKNESS OF DRAGONGRIN SAFETY TOOLS

367 368

INFAMY 370 TREACHEROUS TRAVEL

374

BRUTAL CHAMPIONS

376

GLIMMER AND DOOM

383

OPTIONAL RULES

385

NARRATIVE CONDITIONS

385

STOLEN DAYS

387

GATHERING PLAYERS

THE BLEAK

388

390

TITANS 398 ARCHANS 400

PRIMORDIALS 408 VALENS 411

LIFE IN DRAGONGRIN In Dragongrin, evil has won, and good is in retreat. The forces of the righteous were defeated two decades ago in an event called Lightfall. Now all creatures – whether they wish to or not – bow before the malign might of the Dismembered Lord.

CHEATING DEATH IN DRAGONGRIN: SIX GRISLY TRUTHS 1. The Dismembered Lord Rules: In Dragongrin, evil reigns, and being a hero can get you killed. The Dismembered Lord is Sovereign, his power seemingly limitless. He came to rule when the forces of good fell to the might of the Dismembered Legion during Lightfall twenty years ago. There is only one written law in Dragongrin – honor the Sovereign. 2. Lords of Ash Hold Dominion: The regions in Dragongrin are known as Dominions of Ash, ruled by Lords of Ash, the regents of the Sovereign. These despots see to the realm-wide tasks delegated to them by the Dismembered Lord, including commanding regiments of the Dismembered Legion, and meting out justice in the dominions as they see fit. It is said that any who defeats a Lord of Ash can take their position, though attempting such a task spells certain doom and a stained soul. 3. The Bleak is a Festering Arcane Maelstrom: The Bleak is the source of arcane power in Dragongrin. Chaotic and volatile, it is an untamable, unforgiving maelstrom – a physical force of nature that mars the land endlessly and unpredictably. The Dismembered Lord brought down the Bleak after Lightfall, forging volatile borders between the Dominions of Ash, and keeping those within them from rallying under any single cause. No place is safe from the Bleak’s unpredictable and destructive tempests known as Bleakstorms, or its deadly lacerations in existence itself: Bleakrifts.

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4. Dragongrin is the Graveyard of the Dragons: The word grin is Titanspeak for “grave,” and the superstitious histories of monsters who once ruled the land have taken root, even in the world’s name. The final resting places of the scattered and defeated ancient dragons dot the land, forming grins – deadly, labyrinthine constructions not built by mortal hands, but structures that emerged into existence from the essence of the rotting dragon carcasses they now entomb. They are believed to spawn infernal creatures, grow and creep naturally beneath the landscape, and embody the personality and type of dragon they protect. It is said that the only creatures capable of defeating the dragons were their mammalian antithesis – the mighty and colossal typhons. 5. The Age of Annihilation Scars the Landscape: Eons ago, the world was shaped by a bloody, titanic war. The old stories speak of two opposing godlike forces whose conflict reforged the world: the mighty, inspired Titans, and the potent, elemental Primordials. As polar opposites, the constructive Titans embodied creation, and the nihilistic Primordials embodied chaos. They clashed endlessly, their brutal conflict resulting in the Age of Annihilation. Neither race presently exists in the realms, though the remains of their advanced technologies and geological effects festoon the landscape of Dragongrin even today. 6. The Existence of the Gods is Unproven: No mortal knows if the gods truly exist, though many in Dragongrin wield power they believe is divine. Many temples and churches existed and thrived before Lightfall, though now in far fewer numbers which dwindle to this day. Those who believe in the gods tend to do so vehemently, while naysayers posit that anything “divine” can easily be explained by the technology of the Titans or the magic of the Bleak. No matter what one believes, there are holy warriors in the realm irrefutably drawing their power from something.

DARK AND DEADLY, THESE TIMES The realm of Dragongrin is deadly, and heroes are not likely to survive. Myriad shadowy dangers lurk in every corner of the realm, and it is very likely that if any attempt to fight the will of the Dismembered Lord or his legions, they will be punished quickly and severely. Some have tried to spark rebellions – and have even had some measure of success – but all would eventually become another cautionary tale, illustrating how mercilessly the hand of the Sovereign crushes those who disobey his will. It is possible to survive in Dragongrin, though it is never simple, and hope, joy, and peace are all but non-existent. HANDLING DARK THEMES Dragongrin is markedly more evil and brutal than some other campaign settings. A Dead Man’s Guide to Dragongrin is not meant to be sadistic, or celebrate evil. It’s intended to celebrate goodness and light overcoming evil. We recommend explicitly and intentionally deciding what content is suitable for your game, and offer some tools to do so in the Darkness of Dragongrin section on page 367.

DON’T BE A HERO In Dragongrin the word “hero” has a markedly different meaning to most commoners. To most it’s a derogatory word used to describe anyone who is foolish enough to break the rules. The regulations that govern society in Dragongrin are unjust, and full of corruption and atrocities – but they are organized and well-enforced. Anyone who tries to be a “hero” dishonors the Sovereign with their disobedience, and are considered by most to be fighting a battle that’s already been lost. They are not readily welcome by many in Dragongrin, and often meet sudden, violent ends with their troublemaking. Foot soldiers known as Marrow are the Dismembered Lord’s eyes and ears throughout the realm, and they police the population vigilantly and tirelessly. They are forever searching for anyone foolish enough to oppose the will of the Dismembered Lord or his legions to mete out the draconian punishments. There are some in Dragongrin that say a true hero is something else entirely. To them, a genuine hero can make a difference, but does not attract deadly, needless attention while doing so. Seemingly rank-and-file, those who make a lasting difference in the realm are the individuals who are able to enact meaningful change while appearing to be doing nothing out of the ordinary. They understand the sobering fact that not every evil deed can be stopped in the moment, but many evil deeds can be stopped using shrewdness and cunning. Consider the kind of hero you want to be. BEING A HERO WILL GET YOU KILLED Or maybe it won’t. While it is likely that openly defying the Dismembered Lord will get you struck down swiftly, there is an unsettling lack of rhyme and reason as to what catches the ire of the Dismembered Legion, almost as if they’re operating under a strange set of ever-changing guidelines on what should and shouldn’t be enforced. Rumors abound why this is, though it does appear to be linked somehow to the enigmatic Marrow known as Arcseers. And although it may seem random, many believe there is a method to this dark madness.

MORALITY IN A LAND MOST GRIM In a land where evil reigns, people will often do whatever is needed to survive, and to keep their loved ones safe. It’s rare that a person you meet in Dragongrin will fall neatly into the category of good or evil. Often people do what they must to persist, and certain situations will bring out the dual natures of most. Life in Dragongrin is a complex, harrowing existence, and the morality of its inhabitants reflects this.

KNOW THIS TO SURVIVE These are the important, high level things that you need to know to persist in the harsh and punishing land of Dragongrin. Each of these facets can be explored in further detail later in the book. Age of Annihilation: Eons ago, the world was shaped by a bloody, titanic war. The old stories speak of two opposing godlike forces whose conflict reforged the world: the Titans and the Primordials. These immense and powerful beings are said to have emerged from Imminence itself, likely as manifestations of its strongest energies: creation and chaos. These two forces brought the world, and each other, to the brink of utter ruin. Both ancient races are now extinct in Dragongrin, though much has been left behind in their wake, including useful Primordial remains, and the advanced Archans of the Titans. Archans: The Titans have left behind pieces of their advanced technology, relics known as Archans, which can be used, or even deconstructed and learned from. The Zarfvin in particular have mastered the art of understanding Archans, even to the point of being able to modify, build, or innovate upon the designs left behind. The fusion of magic and technology using Archans is called Archanics. The Bleak: Often manifesting as deep purple or crimson roiling storms, the Bleak is chaotic and volatile, an untamable, unforgiving arcane maelstrom. Manifesting in myriad ways between unpredictable Bleakstorms that plague the people of Dragongrin (especially travelers without shelter), and Bleakveils which help the Dismembered Lord separate each of the world’s dominions, these persistent and eruptive squalls spew forth monstrous Bleakfiends – more terrible than any mundane tempest. Though Bleakstorms rage throughout all of Dragongrin, a single, enormous, seemingly unending storm known as the Everbleak rages in the north in the Dominion of Ash of Uldane. For this reason the cardinal direction of north is often colloquially referred to as “Bleakward.” The Copper Sun: Points of dim sanctuary persist in a land of long, gnarled shadows – the greatest of which is the Copper Sun, a city that floats high above the terrors of the land. It was once the capital city of the region of Innes, and though ransacked and nearly cast earthbound during Lightfall, it barely survived, and now is constantly in hiding. The Copper Sun has risen to become a beacon of hope, said to be the fortress of the rebel groups known as the Undying Light and the Copper Jackals. They use the Copper Sun as a flying fortress and base of operations to coordinate their resistance against the Dismembered Lord. Cultures: Dragongrin has many cultures, but the eleven most prominent are still forging a place for themselves in the realm. Each culture is unique and varied in their beliefs, goals, customs, and history. The Crucible and Cruxes: Whispers persist that the Dismembered Lord makes use of a powerful and enigmatic relic referred to in hushed tones as the Crucible. Many rumors persist about the Crucible, and many believe the object has something to do with the Dismembered Lord’s sporadic freeing of drudges, and other erratic behaviors, both good and evil – though nothing has been proven. The Crucible foresees upcoming pivotal events known as Cruxes, though it cannot glean their outcomes. Deities and Religion: No mortal knows if the gods truly exist, though many in Dragongrin wield power they believe is divine. Many temples and churches existed and thrived before Lightfall, though now in far fewer numbers which dwindle to this day. Much of the population can’t be bothered to seek the 9 LIFE IN DRAGONGRIN

wisdom of a higher power that may not even exist, and instead cling to cultural traditions and beliefs that bring them closer to their families and communities. In those moments when a righteous Dious (the clerics of Dragongrin) summons strange powers after a brief prayer, or a peasant without any magical ability witnesses an inexplicable vision from a universal creator, it’s easy to discard such events as related to any of the other myriad sources of magic throughout the realm.

force from which all creation was birthed eons ago. Its secrets were long lost to history until recently. Now unearthed, its volatile and untamable power holds limitless potential to those who can withstand it. From Imminence comes light, comes darkness, comes good, comes evil, comes everything in between. From Imminence comes all. Those who know of Imminence rightly fear it, and those rare few who command it can become unstoppable.

The Desolation: A chaotic, nihilistic plane that exists as a separate but connected layer to the material plane. Ruled by a being known as Yhaghul, a godlike creature that feeds on the sanity of living creatures, the Desolation is home to many twisting, eldritch monstrosities. The Desolation has begun to bleed into Dragongrin, manifesting as tears and leaks in the plane itself, and Yhaghul’s servants storm from them, spreading the Desolation’s taint and capturing the minds and sanity of any they can.

Lightfall: Twenty years ago, in an attempt to restore order to a disparate and divided realm, the Ardor and their ruling body, the Holithic Church, incited a holy war against any unaccepting of their doctrines. This crusade culminated in the oppression of the eastern lands of Viste. A leader among the people there, Ghul Varras, rose among the ranks and fought back, proving himself an adept leader and capable general. Against all odds, Ghul Varras and his armies won, becoming known as the Dismembered Lord. Dismantling the Holithic Church to its foundations, and forcing the Ardor into drudgery as reparations, these events are known as Lightfall and considered the death of hope. To those loyal to the Dismembered Lord, the event is instead known as the Dawn of Truth.

The Dismembered Legion: The Dismembered Lord commands a massive military force known as the Dismembered Legion. Composed of troops known as Marrow, titanic warmachine constructs known as Warmakers, and the bestial, otherworldly creatures known as Doomsayers, the Dismembered Legion enforces the Sovereign’s laws and fights his wars. There are specialized versions of Marrow outfitted with distinct equipment, possessing matchless skills, who fulfill unique roles apart from the standard Legionary soldiers and Peacekeepers that help keep the land under control. The Dismembered Lord: The Dismembered Lord is the One True Sovereign, and the totalitarian ruler over all of Dragongrin. He is the guardian of the realm, and ruler of all things within it, and it is by his scars the realm was saved. It is said that he sees all, and that none are outside of his powerful will. The Evergrowing Shadows of his reign spreads like a sickness from the region of Grinn, threatening to snuff out any light that remains. Dominions of Ash: The Dominions of Ash are the regions of Dragongrin, divided by political and natural borders. Each is ruled by a Lord of Ash – regent generals empowered by the Dismembered Lord to enact his will. The Feymists: These strange pathways of old, primal magic lead to and from the Old Vale – the seat of creation, from which Primordials emerged eons ago. These planar tunnels are guarded by mysterious fey known as Adjudicators. Grins: The word grin is Titanspeak for “grave,” most commonly used to describe the tombs of the long dead dragons. It’s no secret that these twisted, living catacombs exist and affect the physical world wherever they are found. Some cultures such as the Holmir feel it is their duty to seek and tame these ancient graves – a charge made difficult by the many warped creatures who spawn from within. It is said that the only creatures capable of defeating the dragons were their mammalian antithesis – the mighty and colossal typhons. Heritages: Heritages in Dragongrin represent a creature’s ancestry and lineage. The mortals of Dragongrin are humanoid in appearance but wildly diverse in heritage. Holithic Church: Once the most powerful and influential religious organization and government in all of Dragongrin. They came to prominence roughly 200 years ago, and were the main instigators of the war that would become known as Lightfall. Imminence: In Dragongrin, there are three primary sources of magic: arcane, divine, and the incredibly powerful, but wild and seemingly uncontrollable magical force, Imminence. Imminence is a pre-creation energy source of endless potential and raw primeval power. It is a formless, shapeless 10 LIFE IN DRAGONGRIN

Lords of Ash: Under the Dismembered Lord’s control, Dragongrin is divided into many different regions called Dominions of Ash. Each of these dominions is assigned its own ruler to govern it, known as the Lord of Ash. These ruthless leaders vary between loyal servants willing to bear mortal wounds while fighting the Sovereign’s wars, to begrudged usurpers and princely rogues just happy to have a corner of the world to themselves. However different they may be, the most important object to each Lord of Ash is their Reliquary of Ash – an object of great symbolic (and sometimes physical) power. Any who can seize the reliquary of a Lord of Ash can take their place in the dominion once they bring it before the Sovereign, but such action is never easy. Old Vale: This primal mirror realm exists outside of Dragongrin, yet is inexorably connected by way of the Feymists and their Radikka. Druids and shamans draw magical energy from this plane, from which the Primordials emerged eons ago. Primordials: The primeval Primordials were elemental forces of chaos and entropy, savage and pure. Said to be connected to – or even the source of – the forces of nature in Dragongrin known as the Old Vale. Though the Primordials are extinct, their essence still marks the geography of the realm. Dragongrin is littered with the Primordials titanic, organic remains which are in various states of preservation. Radikka: When the Feymists tunnel into a world, a Radikka forms – a new geological formation, geographical feature, arcane storm, person, or another manifestation which serves as the enigmatic epicenter from which the Old Vale can flow freely. Before the Uprooting, Talas the Lifetree was the revered Radikka in Dragongrin. Now, many Talasar are unsure of the future of all that is fey. Red Sail Market: Sanctioned by the Dismembered Lord and operated by the Granok Thane, the Red Sail Market is the largest mercantile group in Dragongrin. Circling the realm’s major highways and turning any town’s quiet night into a roaring, week-long fair at a moment’s notice, the roving sprawl of pungent smells and colorful tents spans across the entirety of the Dismembered Lord’s kingdom, buying, selling, and trading all manner of wants and supplies, moving across the land in caravans. The Market also assists with logistics to the Dismembered Lord, gathering his Tenths and assisting with supply lines.

Reliquaries of Ash: The Lords of Ash ruling over Dragongrin’s dominions do so at the behest of the Dismembered Lord, and the symbolic object or phenomenon each lord carries to represent this bestowed authority is known as a Reliquary of Ash. It is said that whoever possesses a reliquary is declared the rightful ruler of the corresponding dominion once they bring the artifact before the Dismembered Lord. Savage Frontier: Savage Frontiers are the most wild, unexplored and dangerous sections of each Dominion of Ash. While they still fall under the rule of the Lord of Ash, they are untamed and especially deadly – but often hold treasures and secrets that are of the utmost value. Shattered Seas: There is a single, primary body of water that surrounds the whole of Dragongrin, though it is marred and separated by the Bleak. This separation has earned the body of water the moniker, the Shattered Seas. The people in the realms refer to the pieces of the Shattered Seas using the cardinal directions: Northern or Bleakward Shards, Southern Shards, Eastern Shards and Western Shards. The Tenth: A seasonal tax collecting 10 percent of anything produced, created, or harvested by all citizens in Dragongrin. Strange materials like Archans and Thanium, creatures such as xol and halyphons, and even art and literature are collected. Marrow collect these Tenths (though they often task the underlings known as kneebreakers to do so), funneling them to the Lord of Ash in their region, who then sends them through the Red Sail Market to the Dismembered Lord. The final day of every season is used to gather the Tenth – a dreaded affair known as the Gathering. Titans: The ancient Titans were prolific and powerful creators, and Dragongrin is dotted with inexplicable wonders that can be traced to the Titans’ cryptic, ancient legacy. Be they geographic wonders such as the ancient caverns of Svir Below and the mechanical labyrinth known as Deepvault or even the animated steel repositories of information known as the Tomehearts – in Dragongrin, though the Titans are

long-dead their wondrous legacy often exists alongside the mundane in the land especially in the form of the magical and technological relics known as Archans. Truthbringing: On the twenty-ninth day of every month, the Dismembered Lord sends specialized Marrow known as Arcseers into the realm to use their enigmatic and magical gaze to see into the futures of every denizen and see if they will be a boon or a bane. Typhons: The dragons are said to have been formed by the Primordials to enact chaos in the Age of Annihilation. The Titans responded to this threat with perhaps their greatest creation: the mighty typhons. The typhons were cunning, powerful, and benevolent creatures, rivaling the wyrms and even the Primordials in their abilities. Besting the dragons in the final battle of the First War, no one knows exactly what happened to these powerful creatures, though they have been absent from the realms for centuries. The typhons are now creatures of myth and legend – but the common folk of Dragongrin still watch the skies, praying for the day that they might return to save them. Valens: Primordial corpses are immensely valuable, as their hide and bones can be refined into some of the highest quality supplies and equipment available, and their meat can often feed a village for a time all on its own. Any piece of a Primordial salvaged in such a way is referred to as a Valen. The Wailing Gray: There are firsthand reports of the afterlife from people who have been resurrected and returned. These people say they have been to “a colorless place of endless misery” dubbed the Wailing Gray by the people of Dragongrin.

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THE AGES OF DRAGONGRIN

DECADES AGO

MILLENNIA AGO

Lightfall: In an attempt to restore order to a disparate and divided realm, the Ardor and their ruling body, the Holithic Church, incited a holy war against any unaccepting of their doctrines. This crusade, headed by the Knights Vathan, culminated in the oppression of the eastern lands of Viste. A leader among the people there, Ghul Varras, organized his kith and kin and fought back, proving himself a cunning and capable warrior as well as a brilliant arcanist and charismatic leader. Against all odds, Ghul Varras won, dismantling the Holithic Church to its foundations and forcing the Ardor into drudgery as reparations. The conquest of Ghul Varras continues to this day, where he is better known as the Dismembered Lord.

The timeline of Dragongrin spans eons. Furthermore, the Dismembered Lord has warped and rebuilt the timeline to suit his whims, fracturing history at critical points. These are the ages most remembered, and those which echo still today. A haze lies before and between these ages, obscuring the past.

The Age of Annihilation: The Titans reigned with technological might, while the Primordials ruled with unchecked power. Their war brought untold destruction to the realm, reshaping Dragongrin and sowing the land with ruins and remnants. The dragons, personifying the unbridled rage of their Primordial progenitors, sought to rule the realm alone. In response, the Titans unleashed the full extent of their power, sundering the realm and driving the dragons to near extinction. The surviving Titans fled to Deepvault, sealing the Infinite Lock behind them, while the few remaining Primordials disappeared within the Ocean of Trees. The Desolation Seethes: The destruction wrought by the Titans and Primordials in their cataclysmic rivalry left Dragongrin scarred, and through these wounds seeped the Desolation. In the wake of the Age of Annihilation, the eternal shadows writhing against the walls of reality broke through, unleashing monstrous beings and dark sorcery into the realm that remain to this day.

CENTURIES AGO The Oedran Age: Untold years passed and a silence, cold and dark, hung heavy over the realm of Dragongrin. The people of the world, scattered during the Age of Annihilation, came together and formed many of the cultures and factions present even today. In this quiet, the Oedran Empire rose. Pushing the boundaries of art, science, and discovery, the Oedran ushered in an age of peace and progress, as yet unseen in the troubled realm of Dragongrin. Alongside the Oedran, the priesthood of the Holithic Church emerged, connecting the people of the realm to their distant deities for the first time. This golden age of Dragongrin ended suddenly when the Oedran disappeared, leaving behind remnants of their culture in the jungles of Zamon. Frontiers of Old Dragongrin: Dragongrin reeled following the disappearance of the Oedran. In their absence, savagery and greed crept back into the world. Cultures fractured and rivalries simmered. War became a constant as the Granok Thane massed their numbers in a failed bid for power. The Holmir, too, rose to prominence in the north and raided across the realm. Those clinging to civilization struck out to reclaim the lost treasures of the fallen Oedran and the extinct Titans, delving tombs for relics and banding together in adventuring parties to find order among the chaos. The Holithic Church, desperately clinging to any ounce of control they once held, descended into corruption and cowardice.

12 LIFE IN DRAGONGRIN

The Bleak Festers: At the height of Lightfall, Ghul Varras attempted to wield the magic of Imminence to reshape the realm. Fracturing his body and spirit, as well as the timeline of Dragongrin, the Dismembered Lord unleashed the Bleak into Dragongrin. Since Lightfall, the arcane storms of the Bleak have become increasingly volatile and prolific.

NOW Evergrowing Shadows: The Dismembered Lord has ruled from Grinn, formerly Viste, since Lightfall. His augury machine, the Crucible, dictates the order of the realm, while his legions of Marrow keep the peace and conquer new lands in his name. In Dragongrin, evil has won, and heroes aren’t welcome – but pockets of resistance exist in the darkest corners, waiting for their chance to strike back and reclaim the realm from the Sovereign. Rebellion Stirs: Now, heroes rise once more. The Dismembered Legion’s iron grip falters as they desperately enlist more Marrow. Doomsayers emerge from the Bleak in Uldane, harbingers of a coming apocalypse. Change hangs heavy in the air. Factions gather, schemes boil, and conflict waits on the horizon. A new age approaches – whether for good or ill. That story is yours to tell.

COIN AND SUPPLY

For the general population, Dragongrin’s economy is emaciated and crippled, with an inescapable feeling of scarcity and lack. Necessities like water, food, and basic supplies are a luxurious commodity in many places. Clothing and materials are worn and tattered, reused and repurposed. Swords are crafted from ancient scraps, Holithic helmets carry water from the nearby well, and some go their whole lives without seeing a newly crafted weapon. The Red Sail Market is the primary way for adventurers to find more exotic equipment and pristine supplies, though dealing with the Granok Thane can often be a morally ambiguous affair.

THE TENTH The Tenth is a mandatory collection of ten percent of wealth and resources owed by each adult living and working beneath the Lords of Ash. The Tenth that is collected is often money, but it can also be a tenth of the grain that a farmer brings in, one of the ten masterwork swords forged by a blacksmith, or a portion of the Archans that a Zarfvin has scavenged. For the most impoverished in Dragongrin, each season’s Tenth brings dread, as they struggle to scrounge up what they can for the Sovereign.

But where is the line drawn? Is the ten percent charged on increase and profit for the season, or is it based on one’s total wealth? Is one’s Tenth measured by quantity or value? The truth is that the Tenth is extremely vague, unfair, and unfortunately flexible depending on who is collecting it. Marrow are infamous for gouging people, demanding more than what is owed, and forcing the poor to include additional valuables in the loot. For this reason many people attempt to hide their most valuable items and obscure their true wealth to avoid being shaken down for it – or just use bartering and dealmaking, often called Gleam in Dragongrin.

THE GATHERING During the final week of each of the four seasons, all must pay. Populations of small hamlets, villages, and large urban centers flock to designated locations to pay their Tenth to the Red Sail Market contingent in the region. These locations vary from the dominion’s Fortress of Ash or prominent guildhall, to notable landmarks or vast plains dotted with trading carts. The event turns any settlement into a roaring metropolis of packed inns and dregs of tents on the outskirts. After two decades, the process has become a well-oiled machine. The Red Sail Market leaders collect a person’s Tenth and measure it broadly against their line of work and previous amounts donated, while new adults are christened into the process with their first Tenth – a single, copper coin. Once paid, the relieved citizen receives a special token called a Tenthmark. Often simply referred to as a “mark,” these vouchers prove that the Tenth has been paid to the Sovereign. This token is crafted in secret, changes with every season, and is difficult to forge – a crime often punishable by death. That doesn’t stop some from attempting the effort.

Those stupid enough to show up to the Gathering emptyhanded are labeled as indebted to the Sovereign, and – if not executed or imprisoned immediately – are usually stripped from their families and either forced into drudgery, or conscripted into the legions right then and there. Meanwhile, no-shows are branded fugitives, sought out, and punished in their own way. Even those who have paid are careful to keep their Tenthmark on hand at all times for fear of an impromptu search. Patrolling Marrow shake down all they pass, targeting those without their mark. In exchange for the ancestral sword off their back – or whatever illicit goods are inside their cart – legionaries offer current marks to grateful citizens, outdated tokens to the gullible, and the promise of a mark in the future to those with no other choice but to accept, be grateful for their lives, and move along. Even kneebreakers looking to gain a promotion from a superior officer are known for going door to door seeking out those indebted. Once collected, few know what happens to the Tenth, though most are convinced the Dismembered Lord’s chosen Crucian benefit greatly.

THE RED SAIL MARKET Sanctioned by the Dismembered Lord and operated by the Granok Thane, the Red Sail Market is the largest mercantile group in Dragongrin. Spanning across the entirety of the Dismembered Lord’s kingdom, the Red Sail Market buys, sells, and trades all manner of supplies, moving across the land in caravans. The Market also assists with logistics to the Dismembered Lord, gathering his Tenths and assisting with supply lines.

13 LIFE IN DRAGONGRIN

This roving caravan market network is often the only place to get any meaningful supply or sustenance. It’s eponymous red sails on their trade wagons can be seen for miles around, and are protected by Marrow. Their routes are ever-changing, but there are few places you can go in Dragnogrin without finding the Marauders plying their trade. CHARACTER CONNECTIONS TO THE RED SAIL MARKET Perhaps the Red Sail Market shaped who you are as a character. For connections to the Red Sail Market consider the Red Sail Merchant character background, which offers ties to the Market, access to a black market, and roll tables for your current charge. It can be found on page 100.

Due to the scarcity and control placed on most equipment, especially weaponry, it is rare to find brand new and shining equipment. Most gear is second-hand, either inherited or taken by force, if not scavenged or crudely crafted.

COINS OF DRAGONGRIN The three most common coins in Dragongrin are the gold piece (gp), often called a “gold wraith” or “wraith” for their relative scarcity, a silver piece (sp), often called a “silver nail” or “nail” for their ability to hold the economy together (though not by much), and the copper piece (cp), often called a “copper hound” which began as a “copper hund” for hundred, but shifted over time.

RED SAIL MARKET MANIFEST The Red Sail Markets are various and unique in size and presentation. You may come across a pair of Granok Thane with a single armored cart, or happen upon a massive bazaar of hundreds of market stalls – and everything in between. Depending on the leader who is running the Market, the tone and standard practices may differ – a disciplined master merchant may have strict rules of no haggling, while a master merchant who’s rough around the edges might instruct all merchants to mark up their items twenty percent.

GAME MASTER’S CHOICE While the Red Sail Market can plausibly be found in virtually any corner of Dragongrin, their routes are kept a mystery to avoid theft, ambushes and other threats. Additionally, to an outsider the Red Sail runs on its own erratic schedule, coming and going in a seemingly random pattern of durations – it is just as likely to be in a location for hours as it is to be there for days or weeks. Some Game Masters (GMs) may want to feature the scarcity and poverty of Dragongrin in a session or campaign, so it is entirely up to the GM if a Red Sail Market can be found in an area, no matter how populated or central.

EXCHANGE RATE COIN

Copper Hound Silver Nail Gold Wraith

1 10 100

1/10 1 10

1/100 1/10 1

BENT COINS Dragongrin’s many cultures and multiple eras have produced coins still in circulation known as bent coins. This has nothing to do with their actual appearance, but simply means “not preferred,” though they are typically backed by gold in everyday use. A bent coin is typically a regional or circumstantial substitute for a copper piece, though in some areas, or within some cultures, they can be used in place of silver or even gold. BENT COIN GENERATOR MATERIAL

SHAPE

MARKINGS

Hide

A perfect circle, with a smaller circular hole

Cryptic adage

Clay

A broad, flat hourglass

A deeply etched number

Glass

Wood

Bone

Iron

Scale

MONEY AND ECONOMY

Crystal

A polished hexagon

While high quality materials are available for those who know where to look and have the means to acquire them, for most, equipment, and even basics like food and water, are scarce. People often struggle for the means to survive, and resources are hoarded by the wealthy and powerful. Those who have authority with the Marrow, or know how to bribe them, are often the people in any given area who have their own stashes of supply.

Stone

Assorted, irregular shapes

Unknown

A teardrop

THE RED SAIL ECONOMY The Red Sail Market is contracted by the Dismembered Lord to collect the Tenth and keep it safe before delivery to the Curator. As this can sometimes get unwieldy, consider what it would look like if Granok Thane could sell the goods collected as the Tenth. This would allow them to turn a profit and benefit the Sovereign by delivering currency to him rather than whatever goods people paid with. This would also allow the Red Sail Market to extort more money for some valuables, giving people the ability to purchase their belongings back at higher prices.

Location plays a large role in what supply is available, and what the best means is to acquire it. For most large cities, coin is the most common currency, though some would be happy to deal in favors. The farther out into the frontiers of Dragongrin you go, the more that coin has no value. Most people outside of established civilization have no need for coin, and the only way to procure new items is to barter equipment or favors in return for them.

14 LIFE IN DRAGONGRIN

D10

A square with trimmed edges The crest of a dragon, coiled majestically An eldritch star Flat rectangle with squared edges A bead, rounded on one side

A broken crown An asymmetrical tree The mark of the Holithic Church A cross stamped from the middle A hand-etched “X” A relief of a Marrow mask Etched with the mantra of a forgotten house Trimmed in a precious metal

GLEAM Gleam is a bartering system in Dragongrin that is based on the exchange of goods, favors, and even select rare objects used in place of gold. The gleam of an object is its approximate value to the specific people involved in the trade and is highly situational and flexible. A well-made weapon, skin of rare wine, or Archan bauble either has “enough gleam” or “not enough gleam” to the parties involved, and things can be added and taken away until a deal is struck. Many locations in Dragongrin will use gleam in place of gold because it’s harder for the Dismembered Legion to track.

SPECIALTY MATERIALS These are the most prevalent of the rare and unique materials from which weapons and items can be constructed. Ashwood: This ashen white wood acts as a natural deterrent to undead, and also has powerful healing properties when cured correctly. Bleakiron: Bleakiron is metal forged using the heat and magic of the Bleak in a mysterious and volatile process. It can be smelted and shaped by those skilled enough, and has inherent magical properties. Objects made from Bleakiron are virtually indestructible. Boneplate: Lightweight alloy that is heat and cold resistant, made in Aqueanus. Uses Primordial bone in the process of forging to create incredibly durable, supple, and lightweight metal plating.

Darkfire: A highly flammable purple concoction that ignites when exposed to air. Oily and viscous, water does not extinguish the flame, but makes it burn more intensely. Linotharix: Xol hides that have been cured into a leather-like fabric. Stronger than the hides of many other animals, these wraps are harder than bronze. When hardened, Linotharix keeps its strength longer and remains more supple. Primordial Corpses: Primordial corpses are a building block from which many magical enchantments and equipment are derived. Primordial blood, bone, hide, and organs can be used in the creation of the magical items known as Valens. Titan Copper: Concentrated Titan metal found in trace amounts among Titan remains and more prominently in typhon vaults. It is a powerful magical conductor, and can be used to achieve long range communications. Thanium: Smelted and forged in secret processes that date back countless centuries, Thanium is a rare and valuable metal. Forged and enchanted to levitate in place to protect the wearer, a durable, lightweight Thanium set of armor could be the difference between success and defeat. Wurmscale: Harvested at great cost from the colossal tyrant wurms of Jahar, the hard, metallic scales are lightweight and flexible, making them an ideal material for many types of armor and shields.

15 LIFE IN DRAGONGRIN

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

The Dismembered Lord rules Dragongrin, and all law prior to his reign is null. It is written that the Dismembered Lord is the Sovereign, and as such, so are his commands. Any who do not follow the laws of the Sovereign to the letter are subject to punishment. In practice, however, the letter of the law does not always prevail, and morals are flexible given the dire day-to-day circumstances. Throughout the realm, crimes and punishments are similar, but not always identical, and not guaranteed to be just. Which crimes are enforced varies from place to place, depending on who witnesses the deeds, and who delivers the judgment. INFAMY IN DRAGONGRIN The more crimes you commit in Dragongrin, the more likely you are to gain Infamy. See the Infamy subsystem in the Darkness of Dragongrin section of the book on page 370 for more details on gaining Infamy and what it means in a game or campaign.

CITIZEN'S DUTY The Citizen's Duty is the lowest form of law in Dragongrin. All subjects of the realm are required to take personal responsibility to ensure that no other citizen breaks the Sovereign's laws. If a crime is witnessed but not reported, any observers will be given the same punishment as the perpetrator of the crime.

MEASURES OF LAW Crimes are classified by their severity in categories called measures. The measures increase in severity with each increment, and are called the Measure of Peace, Measure of Bone, Measure of Ash, and the Measure of Sovereignty. They are not written laws, but flexible and fluid guidelines often used unjustly to oppress the population. With little exception, the Dismembered Legion can charge you with whichever measure they deem your crime is deserving of. If a Marrow is feeling particularly cruel there’s little stopping them from putting you to death for something inconsequential and undeserving of such a punishment. The only measure with more stringent guidelines is the Measure of Sovereignty which can only be invoked by a Lord of Ash or the Council of Ash.

16 LIFE IN DRAGONGRIN

MEASURE OF PEACE This is the lowest form of punishment within the Sovereign’s Law. This covers minor crimes that the Marrow Peacemakers are likely to deal with. It’s common for those found guilty of the Measure of Peace to be press ganged into service as a Marrow kneebreaker as penance.

MEASURE OF BONE One step above the Measure of Peace within the Sovereign’s Law. This covers slightly more serious crimes, and the punishments are more severe than the Measure of Peace.

MEASURE OF ASH The most severe measure of justice within a Dominion of Ash. This is for more severe crimes that could potentially gain the attention of a Lord of Ash.

MEASURE OF SOVEREIGNTY The highest measure of justice in the realm of Dragongrin. These crimes are considered treason, and draw the most severe punishments. The Measure of Sovereignty may only be invoked by a Lord of Ash or the Council of Ash.

PUNISHMENTS Once the measure of a crime is decided, the Game Master may roll for, or choose, a punishment from the table below. Note that each measure has a die associated with it to ensure that the punishment matches the severity of the crime. Remember: the Dismembered Legion may invoke any measure they see fit except for the Measure of Sovereignty. Roll the following dice: • • • •

Measure of Peace = d6 Measure of Bone = d8 Measure of Ash = d10 Measure of Sovereignty = d12

ONE LAW, NO JUSTICE In Dragongrin, there is only one formal, written law, known as the Sovereign’s Law, and it is “Honor the Sovereign.”

Dragongrin is a place marred by injustice. Because this law is so broad, it is ripe to be interpreted by the Dismembered Legion however they see fit. They have great liberty as to whether what you’re doing honors the Sovereign, and if they feel that it doesn’t, they may choose the measure by which you have dishonored him. In short, the Dismembered Legion can call virtually anything a crime, and punish you in nearly any severity they see fit.

ROLL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

SENTENCE Public Beating Forced labor Debt (owe a favor or a fine) Branding (typically of the crime) Imprisonment Disfigurement Drudgery (local) Drudgery (Innes) Exile (to a Savage Frontier, the Bleak, etc) Execution Time within a Warmaker Days Forfeit

CALENDAR

Dragongrin uses a simple system of years, months, and days, and uses seasons to denote changes in climate. Dragongrin’s three moons - known as the Triune Moons - are the basis for its calendar. In ages past, the realm of Dragongrin followed the Holithic calendar, and its seasons, months, and days were named after Holithic deities. Those days are gone. In Dragongrin’s current, post-Lightfall age, the calendar system has been reforged by the Sovereign, used primarily as a schedule to collect the Tenth, with all other social, religious, civil or legislative purposes being secondary to the payment that the Sovereign demands. DRAGONGRIN CALENDAR AT A GLANCE • 1 Year = 12 Months, 4 seasons • 1 Season = 3 months • 1 Month = 30 days

CALENDAR TIME MEASUREMENT Dragongrin’s calendar is dictated by the configurations of its Triune Moons. Note that some of the information in this section is formatted as tables for the convenience of rolling to decide specific calendar-based information randomly, though no rolls are explicitly called for.

3 4

SEASON OF DRAGONGRIN Frostcrown: The coldest season of the year, marked by snow and shorter days. "Frost" for short. Bloomleaf: The most temperate season of the year, marked by the growth of vegetation and more rainfall. "Bloom" for short. Searsun: The hottest season of the year, marked by scorching hot temperatures, and longer days. "Sear" for short. Witherfall: The harvesting season, and the season in which many trees lose their color and/or leaves. “Wither” for short.

MONTHS A month is measured by the length of time it takes for the moons to fully change one of its configurations. They are each thirty days, and there are twelve in a calendar year. Each of the twelve months is named simply, referring to where it falls within its season, either early, mid, or late. The months are almost always called by the season's short name, for example "Mid Frost," though occasionally the full name will be used when formally written or referred to, for example, "Early Bloomleaf." D12 MONTHS OF DRAGONGRIN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Early Frost Mid Frost Late Frost Early Bloom Mid Bloom Late Bloom Early Sear Mid Sear Late Sear Early Wither Mid Wither Late Wither

DAYS The days in Dragongrin are the interval of time in which the sun rises and sets. There are thirty days in each month, and they are each named their number, the 1st through the 30th. In addition to its number, the twenty ninth day is commonly called Truthbringing, and the thirtieth day is commonly called Gathering Day. NO WEEKS AND FEW NAMED DAYS Before Lightfall, there were intervals of seven days that made up the measurement of a week, used to divide between cycles of toil and study; rest and leisure. That is not the case in this age of Dragongrin. There is no consideration for rest, leisure, or other activities outside of toiling for the Sovereign and delivering the Tenth – therefore, there is no need for the measurement of weeks, or specific names for the days within them.

YEAR Dragongrin's calendar year is made up of twelve months, a full cycle of all of the moon's twelve configurations determines the length of the calendar year.

SEASONS A year is divided into four seasons, each lasting three months, marked by changes in weather, ecology, and the amount of daylight in a day.

17 LIFE IN DRAGONGRIN

TRACES OF THE PAST

SACRED DAY GENERATOR D123 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

COMMEMORATES

RELATED TO

CELEBRATION

The Dismembered A tragedy Lord A mystery Lightfall Those lost Titans A miracle Primordials Famous battle The Bleak Great achievement Heritage A discovery Lord of Ash Pre-Lightfall Dominion of Ash Dragongrin Ancestors The Desolation Liberation Faction Resurrection Creature A season Culture

Feasting Fasting Festival Temple attendance Journey Offerings Violent rituals Sacrifice of goods or life Gift giving Hunting Song/Dance Contest

SACRED DAY SUPERSTITIONS D122 SUPERSTITION 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

May not perform work of any kind Should not celebrate it early Don’t gaze into your reflection Do not use a blade Stay awake through the night Recite a specific story/song Leave your home for a time Avoid a certain color Wear specific garb Encounter a specific creature Don’t accept money or gifts Refrain from eating or drinking

ILL EFFECT Bad luck Prod the Desolation Draw the Bleak Harbinger of your death Evergrowing Shadows The ire of a creature You will lose wealth Considered blasphemy Weather will be harsh Bad news is en route Bring illness or harm Open a Desolation door

Truthbringing: On the twenty ninth day of every month it’s dictated that none should work or do anything unless instructed. You must attend Truthbringing, where a Marrow Arcseer looks over you. Though it is unclear what they are looking for with their strange helms, there are times where they will declare that a person is a potential "crux." When this declaration is made, the outcomes are seemingly random, and vary from horrible to very beneficial – they are just as likely to command the Marrow to burn a farmer's field down as they are to have the Marrow work the soil for hours. Gathering Day: On the final day of every season, each citizen of Dragongrin must bring their Tenth to the local Red Sail Market contingent in their region. As the Dominions of Ash are often very large, this turns into an often dreaded weeklong pilgrimage, and many merchants and skilled laborers use the event to make some extra coin – sometimes in order to garner enough to pay their own Tenth. DAYS SET ASIDE Truthbringing and Gathering Day are mandatory. It is expected that if you are participating in any activities during these days – travel, labor, and anything else – that you are doing so for the sake of observing those days. It is unlawful to be about any other business, and the Marrow are happy to enforce that law.

18 LIFE IN DRAGONGRIN

In the previous Holithic Age before Lightfall, though the calendar was somewhat similar in its practical use, it was based around a different philosophy and the names of its components were wholly different than the calendar used today. Some of those holdover Holithic names are still used from time to time in Dragongrin. Holithic Days of the Week: Moon’s Day, Tide’s Day, Void’s Day, Truth’s Day, Blood’s Day, Song’s Day, Dream’s Day

HOLITHIC SEASONS In the Holithic Age, the church referred to the seasons – and therefore the months – by different names: Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Their current names were considered pagan at the time.

MAGIC

Magic in Dragongrin is undeniable, but unquantifiable. Its permutations and variations are as unique as the individuals who wield them. The careful study of the craft by spellscrawls, the intuitive potency of spellbloods, the permeation of the primeval by the valewalkers, and the worship of the divine by the dious and oathscarred is just the beginning. Those who wield magic in Dragongrin do so in myriad ways for countless reasons, each assigning their own understanding to its mysterious nature, but it is undeniable that no one mortal can truly understand its fullness in any meaningful way.

IMMINENCE: MAGIC’S TRUE SOURCE Imminence is a pre-creation energy source of endless potential and raw, primeval power. It was once balanced and flawless in its composition, though it was maimed irreparably by the Dismembered Lord when he tried to wield the entirety of its power and failed. Before this event, Imminence was believed by many to be magⁱc’s perfect form – the impeccably balanced sum of the chaos of the Bleak, the purity of the divine, the elemental essence of the Old Vale, and countless other magic forces. Through its all-encompassing nature, Imminence was not bound by the confines of the mortal coils of time, and those who would bathe in its radiance could use its power to see into the past and the future. This was most notably done in the last century by the people of Viste, who had a deep reverence for Imminence, and guarded its secrets closely, never daring to use its power directly. In Dragongrin today, Imminence remains a mysterious force that eludes the understanding of even the most powerful of mages. Many insist that Imminence was never fully understood by any mortal, and its secrets were lost to time – while others whisper that it remains in the realm, hidden and guarded by those who wish to protect its power. Rumors swirl that its secrets are surfacing again, and that if any should learn how to wield it, it could be a way to save the realm of Dragongrin from the grip of the Dismembered Lord.

ARCANE MAGIC: FUELED BY BLEAK The Bleak is said to be a raw, volatile portion of the ancient, mysterious magic known as Imminence. Since Imminence flows throughout the entirely of the realm, touching all parts of creation and existence, it is believed that the Bleak does also, though it is far more erratic. Those who wield arcane magic in Dragongrin are said to be manipulating the residue and essence of the Bleak itself. Through arcane scrawlings, the etching of runes, or the use of complicated gestures and sounds with reagents and components, arcane spellcasters are able to create powerful magical effects. When Bleak energies become too concentrated in one area, it results in Bleakstorms, elemental tempests of raw magical energy. Some superstitious denizens of the realm frown upon its use, believing that it attracts these deadly and powerful Bleakstorms. When casting arcane magic, it can draw the suspicion, derision, and ire of some – and it’s difficult to prove that their fears are wholly unfounded. THE BLEAK IN DRAGONGRIN To have character ties to the Bleak, consider the Bleakscarred background in the Character Creation section on page 103. To feature the Bleak in a session or campaign, go to the Bleak in the Wonders section on page 390.

DIVINE MAGIC: UNPROVEN MIGHT No mortal knows if the gods truly exist, though many in Dragongrin wield power they believe is divine. Spellcasters who wield divine magic claim to draw its power from a force (such as the Grimdul’s soulwinds) or a spell-granting deity (such as the Ardor’s deity Holithar). Typically gained through prayer, ritual, and other sincere worshiping of a higher power, divine magic users feel that their spells are evidence of their faith and deride the thought that it has anything to do with the Bleak.

Some naysayers believe that the “divine” is not a pious gift from a deity or force, but instead can easily be explained by Titan technology of Bleak-fueled magic being blindly explained as evidence of miracles. One thing that is undeniable is that these faithful warriors in the realm irrefutably draw their power from something, and are doing things that can’t easily be achieved by the simple use of the arcane. EXPLORING BELIEF To explore the pantheons and forces that are worshiped in Dragongrin, go to the Deities and Religions section on page 20. Also, each culture has detailed beliefs, and can be found in the character creation section on page 39.

OLD VALE: ANCIENT AND ELEMENTAL Some say that the power of the Old Vale is unseen in the world, while others say its power is evident throughout every living part of the realm, persisting all around. Primal spellcasters of deep devotion and balance, anyone who wields the power of the Old Vale taps into one of the oldest and most powerful forces in the realm - some say second only to Imminence itself. To those who believe, the Old Vale is an elemental and just force, unquenchable and infinite in its power. Housing birth and entropy, life and death, growth and culling in the endless and unstoppable cycle of nature itself. Rumors persist that while the Old Vale was once a realm of everlasting sun and growth, it is now a place of everlasting twilight edging into endless umbrage and rot. Those who follow this path of access to the Old Vale can do so in myriad ways. Some worship the immeasurable and powerful force itself, while others gain their power through a connection with powerful fey or even nature spirits or Primordial essences. In some rare cases, access is granted by the fey known as the Astral Adjudicators to the chosen few who have proven themselves worthy and balanced. No matter how this magic is achieved, its connection to the power and ferocity of the raw essences of nature is undeniable and feared by its foes. REVERENCE OF THE VALE Some who wield the endless power of the Old Vale, or serve one of its powerful spirits or champions consider their magic divine, and their connection to it holy. They consider their spells and effects to be evidence of their connection, balance, and convictions, and are strong in their resolve and belief, taking up arms as devout warriors for a cause.

19 LIFE IN DRAGONGRIN

DEITIES AND RELIGIONS

In Dragongrin, the gods do not walk among the people – instead, their existence is unproven, and temples to various faiths dwindle due to the high risk that comes with proclaiming oneself as a beacon of faith. Whether the gods exist or not in Dragongrin is an open question that people must answer for themselves. Certainly people worship deities, demi-gods, mythical creatures, their ancestors – even the ancient Titans and Primordials. However, in Dragongrin, the gods never interfere directly in the affairs of the mortals of the realm – at least not in a provable way. Those who serve deities do so by the measure of their own faith, claiming that their god, pantheon, or other divine power aids them and grants them power. However, unbelievers say that everything can be explained simply by the Bleak and its arcane powers.

WHERE ARE YOUR GODS NOW? Whether the gods exist or not in Dragongrin is an open question that people must answer for themselves. Certainly people worship deities, demi-gods, mythical creatures, their ancestors – even the ancient Titans and Primordials. However, in Dragongrin, the gods never take a direct hands in the affairs of the mortals of the realm – at least not a provable one. Those who serve deities do so by the measure of their own faith, claiming that their gods aid them and grant them power. However unbelievers say that everything can be explained simply by the Bleak and its arcane powers. NOT ALL FAITHFUL ARE DEVOUT In Dragongrin, there are those who are empowered by their faith to be mighty adventurers – but not all. Your character may not be a mighty cleric, a stalwart paladin or a mystical druid, but they can still have faith and belief. Consider adding a measure of faith to your adventurer even if it isn’t the source of your adventuring class’ power – a marauder with devout faith or a rogue with a twisted sense of holy judgment can make for complex interesting characters.

FAITHS OF DRAGONGRIN There are many faiths in Dragongrin, and even more variations of how those faiths are observed and practiced. In this section you’ll find various beliefs of Dragongrin, with information on the common practices of believers, the nature of the being or power worshiped, and some common symbolism associated with the faith.

FAITHS VERSUS PANTHEONS Not all faiths in Dragongrin are polytheistic, or feature deities. Therefore the information presented uses the terminology faiths instead of pantheons, and powers instead of gods or deities.

PROMINENT POWERS Each faith has a prominent power or powers, which is the most commonly worshiped figure or force in the belief system. This can be a deity, a force of nature or any other idea that the people of Dragongrin put their faith behind.

BELIEF, POWERS, AND ALIGNMENT Faith is a powerful thing, and lies within the heart and mind of each individual believer. Therefore the only representation that a faith has in Dragongrin is its believers and their actions.

20 LIFE IN DRAGONGRIN

Deities and powers themselves are not inherently good or evil, but are instead the sum of the actions their followers take in their name. • Someone who tends toward evil might worship a deity that is commonly believed to be good, but in the believer’s mind, they serve as their lord’s wrath and anger. • Someone who tends toward good might worship a deity that is commonly believed to be evil because they respect the harsh judgments and rewards for the vehemently faithful. • Any faith or power can be worshiped in any way by its followers, so the alignments of deities and powers may be perceived differently from follower to follower.

DOMAINS AND OATHS The prominent powers of the faiths of Dragongrin are complex, otherworldly beings and forces that are far beyond the full comprehension of mortal creatures. Because of their multifaceted, intricate natures and unfathomable dimensions of existence, their influence over different aspects of mortal life and civilization are virtually endless. In Dragongrin deities don’t have set domains or portfolios. This means that clerics (dious) can choose any reasonable aspect of a prominent power’s nature to emphasize, granting powers related to that domain. Paladins (oathscarred) can also swear varied oaths that are tied to the diverse makeup of a prominent power’s nature. Holy Symbols: Holy symbols can be virtually any object that represents the nature of the faith it honors, so long as it is fueled by the genuine worship of the wielder. A necklace, censer, or ring all make potent holy symbols – but a Sarrik war drum, a Zarfvin’s Archanic contraption, or even the tattoos of a penitent Silverwise would do just as well. A dious or oathscarred can use a holy symbol as a spellcasting focus, as described in the Spellcasting rules of 5e. To use the symbol in this way – no matter its form and shape – the caster must present the symbol for it to work, bearing it visibly in some fashion. GAME MASTER’S JUDGMENT While the faiths and powers of Dragongrin are designed to be flexible and add usable depth to the world, the Game Master has the final say on what alignments, domains, and oaths could reasonably be attributed to a prominent power in the realm.

FAITH AND PRACTICES Many of the faiths in Dragongrin are rooted in the current, active cultures of the world, though some are based in ancient ways, dead cultures or lost and forbidden legend. Each faith has a practicing culture, though others outside the culture can easily follow its tenets. To see more information on how the existing cultures express their faith and religion, see the Cultures section beginning on page 39. Faith and Culture: Faith and religion are rooted deeply in culture: in fact, many of the religions and belief systems were forged by the cultures of Dragongrin. However, to present these belief systems as culturally unbiased as possible, they are stripped of many of the intricacies of how the various cultures worship and believe. Each faith in this section has at least one culture listed. Each of the cultures have a writeup detailing how they most commonly worship. While faith and culture can be closely tied together, they don’t have to be. Work with your GM to choose the faith that fits your adventurer perfectly – no matter your heritage, culture, or class. ENDLESS FACETS OF POWER Each prominent power has the facets and traits they are most commonly known for, but this is not an exhaustive list. The depth of characteristics and complexity of these supernatural beings and powerful forces are unfathomable to mere mortals. The righteous diety Holith can just as easily be associated with building or love as with strength, righteousness and hope – but ever still, perhaps someone serves Holith in the name of revenge or righteous fury.

ALL-MAKERS This roughly translated elven pantheon are the gods and goddesses responsible for the gifts given to the world – perhaps even to all of Arbitron. These include the Uthiryl – the elven name for Imminence – and the phenomenon many experience as “time.” It is said all of the cosmos of Arbitron itself was birthed from the All-makers and according to believers, they now mete out justice and order from their divine thrones inside the Feymists. According to textual canon and tradition, their greatest adversary is the foul and dark being known as Yhaghul, the Slayer of Worlds, who relentlessly aims to pull their creations apart. Culture: Talasar Adage: “Creation and destruction in their time, and in balance.” Symbols and Icons: Talas the Lifetree and other Raddika, roots and wreaths, astral charts and symbols. Tenets: • Balance is the key to perfect creation. • Listen to the echo of the Feymists, protect the Radikka. • Seek and destroy the dark creations of Yhaghul. PROMINENT POWERS

ALIGNMENT

FACETS

Syldus’Varn

Pan’Lupe

Adrid’Vikk

Itrinun’Va

Usz’Ridun

Yhaghul the Worldslayer

Justice, honor, discipline, law Knowledge, learning, teaching, magic Art, beauty, freedom, grace Elements, wilderness, life, death Fate, trickery, illusion, secrets Madness, death, destruction, control

YHAGHUL THE WORLDSLAYER Whispered among the Astral Adjudicators to have once had a different name, at one time Yhaghul was the most powerful and favored Creator of All. He fell from grace and was cast into a prison made especially to hold him – a dark realm of infinite shadow where he could never create again. However, Yhaghul found a way. Now called the Worldslayer, Yhaghul is unchecked, creating countless eldritch abominations within the dark and twisted realm known in Dragongrin as the Desolation.

CHROMAFADE This faith sees each color as representative of a feeling, an element, a metal, an alchemical secret, a note of music, and myriad other things. This complicated system is often impossible for non-Sarrik to understand – though some have achieved it through magic, near-death experiences or other strange circumstances. Those who follow Chromafade believe that the color of something is not happenstance, but a visual representation of the fates and destiny. Many hold extravagant ceremonies to repaint themselves or their objects in honor of these meanings. Culture: Sarrik Adage: “Colors are not merely seen, they are multi-sensory journeys of truth.” Symbols and Icons: Neon paint on weapons, clothing, and objects in geometric patterns, specific color combinations, symbols painted onto like-colored surfaces with such slight variance unbelievers can’t perceive them. Tenets: • Colors paint tapestries of fate – see them clearly. • Seize your destiny with the pursuits of your expression. • Express compassion and mercy for those who cannot perceive. PROMINENT POWERS

ALIGNMENT

FACETS

Chromafade

Self, unity, identity, expression

THE GREAT CHAIN The idea that all creatures are interconnected inherently by their ingenuity, drive to create, and their need to advance. The Great Chain is not worshiped directly – it is an idea. It is instead added to, link by link, creation by creation. Culture: Drogus Adage: “The chain is as strong as a sword – but far more functional.” Symbols and Icons: Chains (often of rare metals), interlocked circles, interlocked hands. Tenets: • Innovation is life, imitation is shameful. • Strengthen the chain by strengthening yourself. • The deepest truths are found creating. PROMINENT POWERS Great Chain

ALIGNMENT

FACETS

Creation, innovation, construction, knowledge

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THE HOLITHAR

THE PRIMORDIALS

The Holithar are a pantheon of three gods that operate and function in unity, also commonly known as the Sovereign Ones. They are pillars of hope, honor, and protection – though they also stand for judgment and justice.

While some Grimdul connect with the Primordials, the only culture that formally revered them – the Oedran – are extinct. With no custodians of their history, there is simply not enough formally known about the Primordials to worship them. These gargantuan creatures were the most powerful apex predators that Dragongrin has ever seen, and ruled the realm with their unchecked elemental fury. It is said that the essence of the Primordials was so powerful that it still persists in the realm to this day, crying out to any attuned to its still, small whisper. It’s not impossible to worship the Primordials – just not simple. Work with the GM to potentially devise a quest in which you seek to learn more about the ancient Primordials to worship them. To explore the Primordials in greater detail, or to generate one to serve as the object of your faith, go to the Primordials portion of the Wonders chapter on page 408. To explore more about their history and past, go to Dominion of Ash Zamon on page 352.

Culture: Ardor Adage: “The sun always rises, the dawn is faithful.” Symbols and Icons: The Fadestar, rays of light, bladed martial weapons such as swords and axes. Tenets: • Fight for those in need, defend the weak. • Lead through righteous action, not words. • End darkness, but never become hardhearted. PROMINENT POWERS Holith the Brightstar

ALIGNMENT LG

Illyana the Wise Judge NG Phantas the Prosperous

FACETS Strength, righteousness, adventure, family Justice, honor, judgment, love Luck, laughter, travel, hope

JANTARI, THE SOULWINDS Jantari is not a faith in the strictest sense, but a set of principles that espouse ideas of sacrifice, selflessness, and finding joy in the small moments of life, as well as in the raw power of nature. There are no doctrines or dogma to the Jantari, but it explains that the Soulwinds are a fundamental aspect of creation, and that these forces, though powerful beyond comprehension, do not possess any structure or order – but show perfect balance in their measure.

THE RIAGHAIN Three warrior sisters and queens said to govern both war and fate, two concepts that cannot truly be separated. They bless and honor followers who are strong and self-dependent, but who do not forsake strength in numbers. They foretell doom, fortune, victory, and defeat respectively, and in these roles they often appear as spectral dire animals that suit the situation. Some legends say that the warrior sisters were once mortals who transcended into godhood. Culture: Granok Thane Adage: “May we keep our blood, our coin, and our favor – we owe them to the Queens.” Symbols and Icons: Thanium blades, the angular symbol for each queen, red cloth, depictions of dire animals. Tenets:

Culture: Grimdul Adage: “The wind never tires, never grows old, never dies.” Symbols and Icons: Tribal lined drawings of the Soulwinds, stones of colorful minerals, jewelry and trinkets of knots and beads. Tenets: • Pursue balance in the realm by balancing yourself. • Follow the flow of the wind – it changes quickly. • If all are selfless, none are wanting. PROMINENT POWERS

ALIGNMENT

Flamewind

Steelwind

Floodwind

Stonewind

The Great Wind

FACETS Purification, destruction, renewal, vengeance War, creation, hunting, restoration Completion, restraint, purity, agriculture Destiny, harvest, judgment, balance The Bleak, magic, power, control

THE GRIMDUL’S JANTARI The Soulwinds are inherently tied to the Grimdul culture of Dragongrin. For more information about the Jantari and its place among Grimdul life and culture, see page 56.

• If you choose to fight – win at all costs. • Prosper through your preparation and toil – not windfalls. • Be rich in coin – it can buy victory and safety. PROMINENT POWERS

ALIGNMENT

FACETS

Sioda, Queen of Phantoms

Luck, intrigue, magic, wine

Lasair, Queen of Blood CN Moina, Queen of Prosperity

Weapons, war, hunting, beauty Wealth, light, music, childbirth

SIGHTLESS TIME This meticulous and calculating creator of the universe is the manifestation of time itself. Referred to as “sightless” for being a wholly neutral arbiter, uncaring of the affairs of mortals – if it is even aware of their infinitesimal presence. Seen as a clockmaker, Sightless Time created the universe, and then simply lets it run, though it makes calibrations on anything weak that would jeopardize the functionality of its creation. Sightless Time knows no distinction between past, present, or future. Instead, it is all three and more, and those who worship it attempt to see things the same way, and can be seen by some as uncaring, aloof, and even cruel. Culture: Mord Adage: “Time is the great equalizer – the only truly neutral thing that exists.” Symbols and Icons: Timepieces and hourglasses, orreries, astral charts and symbols, onyx trinkets.

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Tenets:

TITANS

• There is weakness in all that must be removed. • The removal of one weakness creates another. • Consider the past, present, and future at once to achieve balance. PROMINENT POWERS Sightless Time

ALIGNMENT

FACETS

Entropy, neutrality, immortality, infinity

The Titans are one of the few forces of great power in Dragongrin that cannot be refuted as non-existent. These colossal, ancient creatures are responsible for the most prolific creation and utmost destruction that Dragongrin has arguably ever seen. Considered by many in Dragongrin to be paragons of creativity and innovation, they hold their ideals and achievements as sacred and to be revered. Some claim the Titans surviving in Deepvault can be reached through technological, arcane, or even divine connection. Culture: Zarfvin, Drogus

THE SOVEREIGN The Dismembered Lord himself, the mighty Sovereign, rules the realm of Dragongrin in his infinite power and wisdom, calling only the most worthy to serve him as worshipers and thralls in his name. Culture: Crucian Adage: “By his scars, we persist. By his might, we conquer.” Symbols and Icons: Dragon of Grinn, a single eye with a red iris, teardrops of blood. Tenets: • Serve the Sovereign to serve thyself. • All are Legion, though not all are enlisted. • Strike down those who jeopardize destiny with their selfish disobedience.

Adage: “Impossible is a temporary state.” Symbols and Icons: Archans, tomehearts and villinavi, Titan charts and symbols, writing in Titanspeak. Tenets: • Press beyond what is accepted to find new truths. • You are always creating something – you simply choose what. • Order and discipline are the keys to transcendence. PROMINENT POWERS

ALIGNMENT

Zerachiel

Paedyolon

PROMINENT POWERS

ALIGNMENT

FACETS

Laedron Saerlius

CG N

The Sovereign

Destiny, magic, wisdom, undeath, vengeance

Arachiel

Vastehk

THOSE WITHIN THE GRAY Beyond the veil of this realm is the colorless, abysmal afterlife of Dragongrin known as the Wailing Gray. Amidst the horrors of the dead souls fighting their nightmares and endlessly dying in a grisly cycle, there are things more terrifying yet. Wreathed in shadow, and appearing as gargantuan monstrosities that take on the vague shapes of their namesakes, these creatures hold secrets to death that mortals can only dream to learn. These powers that exist within the Wailing Gray are uncaring, extraplanar creatures imperceptible to nearly all – but to refuse them the respect they deserve is to court doom. Culture: Silverwise Adage: “Death is not the converse of life – it is the most powerful part of it.” Symbols and Icons: Scrawlings of animal shapes, carved figurines, daggers, animal feet. Tenets: • Death is to be revered – never welcomed, never feared. • We rule the darkness, culling the vile things from within. • Celebrate life as much – or more – as you do death. PROMINENT POWERS

ALIGNMENT

Black Worm

Pale Raven

Laughing Cat

One-Eyed Fox

FACETS Law, secrets, afterlife, entropy Fertility, death, love, beauty Knowledge, war, sport, destiny Trickery, thievery, wiles, fortune

FACETS Change, discovery, law, discipline Knowledge, learning, teaching, magic Art, beauty, freedom, grace Balance, death, life, order Light, healing, fortune, wealth Forge, creation, weapons, exploration

EXPLORING THE TITANS For in-depth information about the Titans’ influence on Dragongrin, their history, and the Archans they left behind, go to their section in the Wonders chapter on page 398.

YNGVILDR A vengeful, powerful god, and slayer of dragons and deities who takes little interest in the affairs of mortals. His attention often yields doom, not blessings, so prayers are not often offered by his followers. Therefore, they often call him the God of the Mountain. Yngvildr does, however, grant all of the blessings that his followers would need at birth – they must be strong enough to discover and wield them. In rare cases, Yngvildr has been known to grant blessings to a warrior who shows valor unmatched. Yngvildr was once part of a great pantheon, but is said that when the other gods attempted to take his throne, he slew them along with the dragons who maimed him. Culture: Holmir Adage: “Woe to the prosperous, the God of the Mountain smiles on your defeat!” Symbols and Icons: dragon skulls, round shields, patterns of blue paint, spilled blood. Tenets: • Strength and courage will bring greatness and valor. • The dragons must die, and their carcasses are our prize. • Life is a great hunt, those who show weakness die.

23 LIFE IN DRAGONGRIN

PROMINENT POWERS

ALIGNMENT

Yngvildr

Rorn Nautonia Zishi Aorg Hakash Mun Rada Numedavian

– – – – – –

FACETS

D20 YOUR BELIEF

Strength, power, war, courage, valor slain slain slain slain slain slain

UNIQUE BELIEFS

1 2 3 4 5 6

Faith and belief, especially in a dark realm, is a vast subject. There are commonly accepted doctrines in every faith, but they do not encapsulate the depth and nuance of the beliefs of every individual. Perhaps you believe in the Great Chain, but feel that it is a mighty pantheon of distinct, separate beings. Or maybe you follow the mighty Soulwinds of the Jantari, but believe that it is a powerful, singular entity with many facets. There is no right or wrong way to have faith in Dragongrin. For a unique viewpoint on a known religion – or to create a new faith altogether – apply an entry from the Your Belief table to an existing faith, or create a new object of worship using the Prominent Power generator.

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

I believe that only one deity exists. I believe that there is more than one deity, and they are distinct and separate beings. I believe that there is more than one deity, but they are subsumed into a greater whole. I believe that there may be more than one deity, but only one of them is worshiped. I believe that there is more than one deity, and they are worthy of worship at different times or places. I believe that the physical universe is equivalent to a deity itself, and that there is no division between a creator and the substance of its creation. I believe that at least one deity exists and created the physical universe, but does not interfere with it. I believe that deities dwell in objects and locations of great power. I believe that my ancestors have ascended, and have become deities. I believe that the universe is a part of a deity itself. I believe that multiple deities exist, but do not intervene in the universe. I believe that the power of the universe is inherently within myself, and I have the ability to achieve godhood. I believe that all things – animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, even spoken words, buildings and other artifacts – are experienced as animate and alive. I don’t believe that any deities exist. I actively seek to convince others of the fact that deities do not exist. I’m not sure if deities exist or not. I believe in an all powerful force, though I don’t believe it’s necessarily a deity or deities. I believe in the existence of a deity or deities, though I don’t adhere to an established way of belief. I believe that all religions lead to truth, and tend to adopt beliefs of those I respect or trust. I don’t know what I believe.

PROMINENT POWER GENERATOR For interesting and varied creation, roll all four times on the table and create a story of how and why these elements make sense. For quicker more cohesive concepts, roll once, and read straight across – the elements all match tonally in each row.

PROMINENT POWER GENERATOR D10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

DEVOTED TO

NAME 1

NAME 2

TENETS

Titans Primordials Bleak Imminence Yhaghul Dragons Typhons Old Vale Triune Moons Sovereign

Engine of Elemental Maelstrom of Seer of Ender of Usurpers of Keeper of Grower of Governor of Eater of

Creation Fury The Arcane Time Light Life Relics Root and Stone The Skies Days

Build and create Empower nature Give and take blood Uncover secrets Slay all, bring darkness Revive the fallen Truth above all Plant and grow Study prophecy Serve the legion

24 LIFE IN DRAGONGRIN

COSMOLOGY OF DRAGONGRIN

Dragongrin is a world frozen in history, unaffected by the flow of space and time beyond its dimensional borders. The myriad layers making up the Material Plane lie shattered, like the shards of a mirror, reflecting the unnatural effects of a broken timeline. The veil between the planes thins by the day, weaving and overlapping, their reflections interfering with one another. What follows are the twisted shards of the known planes beyond Dragongrin. Each of these is a plane that echoes Dragongrin proper, but in its own twisted way – so structures, geography and objects often exist in all realms, though they may be in various states from one realm to another. A mighty tower in Dragongrin might appear as an overgrown, mosscovered obelisk in the Old Vale, and a grim, desolate spire of shadow in the Desolation. THE COSMOS OF ARBITRON The realm of Dragongrin hangs in a greater cosmos known as Arbitron, which hosts a multitude of celestial bodies. The Bleak is the sea between these worlds, volatile and all but impassable. It’s rumored that countless inhabited worlds lie beyond the veil of this arcane maelstrom – the words Enchea, Erenoth, and others are whispered among scholars who study the spaces beyond.

EVENMOONS AND THE TRIUNE ECLIPSE Every three to four weeks, all three moons appear together in the night sky. Though the effects of this event are myriad and inconclusive, many seers and augurs claim to experience particularly potent visions under the light of the three moons. Storms, natural disasters, and other calamities also seem to heighten during an Evenmoon. An even rarer event, a full eclipse known as a Triune, sees all three moons pass each other in their orbits, with the Void Moon overlapping the other two. A Triune Eclipse has not occurred in many centuries, though scholars watching the skies claim one is imminent.

The Fadestar: A dying orb of pure fire known as the Fadestar lights Dragongrin with its waning luminescence. Legends say the Titans once harnessed the energy of the Fadestar in their machinations, and in doing so drained it of life, leaving it weak like a flickering candle with a shortened wick. The day may come when the Fadestar burns out entirely. Strangely, the Fadestar behaves like a fourth moon, rather than a stationary sun, waxing and waning in its light. CELESTIAL EVENTS D63

CELESTIAL BODY

EVENT

The Blood Moon

New

The Void Moon

Waning

THE SKIES ABOVE

The Drowned Moon

Crescent

High above Dragongrin hang countless stars and the Triune Moons – the Blood Moon, the Void Moon, and the Drowned Moon – as well as the sun, known as the Fadestar. The moons shift in their orbits, oftentimes appearing alone, but also regularly emerging in pairs. When all three moons appear in the skies – an event known as an Evenmoon – it’s said magic in Dragongrin is at its height, and sinister things stalk the twilight.

Two Moons

Full

Evenmoon

Waxing

The Fadestar

Eclipsing

EFFECT Sensitive beings experience vivid visions Light sources fail to light the dark The dead speak Predators hunt and kill indiscriminately Plants grow at an accelerated rate Magic-users glimpse echoes of the past

Blood Moon: The largest and most prominent moon is a pitted, blasted orb, ruby when full and dull crimson when waning. Violence looms when the Blood Moon is full, and many historic battles have raged under the light of a full Blood Moon. Legends say lycanthropy is tied to this celestial body, with werewolves and other such creatures at their most powerful and savage under its bloody glow. Void Moon: This black orb does not reflect light in the same way as the Blood Moon or the Drowned Moon – rather, the Void Moon seems to drink in light, appearing as a black hole in the night sky, obscuring stars in its path. The Void Moon is seen as a grim portent, a sign of evil to come. Some believe that if you stare into the depths of the Void Moon long enough, you lose yourself in its vast shadow and leave rational thought behind, giving into madness. Drowned Moon: This azure, marbled orb has the greatest effect on Dragongrin’s Shattered Seas, causing storms and tumultuous waves at its zenith. Shatterfarers fear and revere the Drowned Moon in equal measure, making offerings in the form of coins tossed into its mirrored reflection before undertaking long voyages.

25 LIFE IN DRAGONGRIN

THE PLANES BEYOND Above, below, and between the realm of Dragongrin lie the planes beyond – mirrored dimensions, arcane storms, realms of life and death incarnate. Some claim to have traveled to these other planes, reclaiming esoteric relics, finding alien and inexplicable creatures and environs. The layout of the planes and the method for traveling through and between them remains elusive, a secret guarded by few and sought by many. One thing, however, is certain: the walls separating Dragongrin from the planes beyond grow thinner by the day. The Bleak: If the Material Plane is a shattered mirror, the Bleak is blood flowing between the razor-edged shards. The Bleak is an arcane maelstrom, an eternal storm of pure magical energy and unshackled force. It fills the void between the planes and worlds of Arbitron, binding them together and powering the magic latent in each. In Dragongrin, the Bleak weeps like a festering wound – a result of the Dismembered Lord tearing a hole in reality itself. At once a power source and a destructive force of nature, the Bleak is as integral to life in Dragongrin as it is feared and revered. The Desolation: Also known as the Vale of Shadows, this twisted and perverted mirror of the Material Plane exists as a realm of malevolent and eternal darkness. It is a shadowed source of violent entropy, existing only to consume every other plane it touches, and the souls dwelling within them. As a mirror image of Dragongrin, the Desolation is as alien and frightening as it is disturbingly familiar. Where a mighty tree stands in Dragongrin, a massive gravestone looms in the Desolation. The Old Vale: There is a power unseen in the world, yet it persists all around, housing both birth and entropy within its soft yet restrictive grasp. Given time, even the smallest weed shatters through the powerful bones of long-dead Primordials, and the strength behind such saplings is powered by persistent and beautiful life – the Old Vale, as the druids call

26 LIFE IN DRAGONGRIN

it. Shamans have harnessed this power through the eons, felt it permeating through themselves, their tribes, and all living things. They’ve used it to embolden unfathomable deeds and empower incredible spells. The Old Vale is truly everywhere, every when, always seeking new worlds to empower with the bold magic of life. The Feymists: From the unfindable epicenter of the Old Vale, tunnels of fey magic burrow through time and space, their interlocking passages stretching and seeking new worlds to thrust their rich and potent powers into. They inject the immensely arcane into every known world of Arbitron, creating portals between planes, many of which are hidden, all of which are guarded by the mysterious Adjudicators, the extraplanar race of fey beings protecting the Feymists from outside infiltration, and preserving the balance of magic. So far – forever – they have been flawless in this charge. Radikka: When the tunneling Feymists explode into a new world, the immense arcane energy creates something incredible – a new geological formation, geographical feature, arcane storm, person, or another manifestation which serves as the enigmatic epicenter from which the Old Vale can flow freely. In Dragongrin, this was once Talas the Lifetree. Now uprooted from the realm, many druids despair that there may no longer be a place for the Old Vale in this new and sinister world. The Wailing Gray: Some call this place the afterlife, others refer to it as the World Beyond All Worlds. Whatever its name, the Wailing Gray is a place of death and rebirth – of last breaths and new life. The souls of the dead traverse this gray waste, awaiting the next stage, whatever that might be. Those who claim to have returned from the Wailing Gray describe a world devoid of color, washed-out and twisted in form and function. With Dragongrin existing outside the flow of time, final death is often a fickle thing, with many in recent years claiming to have experienced death and resurrection.

CHARACTER CREATION This section provides everything you need to create a character in the grim world of Dragongrin. All character creation options in A Dead Man’s Guide to Dragongrin are fully compatible with any officially published class material for 5e, though differences exist and are described in each section. To create a character for Dragongrin, first generate your six ability scores using your preferred method. Then, choose a heritage, culture, background, and class, in that order, acquiring the various ability score increases, proficiencies, and traits of each. Finally, find additional narrative options in the Character Depth section, which includes trinkets and mementos, traits, flaws, burdens, and hopes, as well as backstory and adventuring party connections to further focus your character.

STEP-BY-STEP CHARACTER GENERATION 1. Generate ability scores 2. Choose a heritage (page 30) 3. Choose a culture (page 39) 4. Choose a background (page 90) 5. Choose a class (page 106) 6. Optionally, generate character depth (page 162) CHARACTER FOCUS The heritage, culture, background, class, and character depth sections included in A Dead Man’s Guide to Dragongrin provide copious inspirational options and roll tables. Think of the options in each section as ingredients in a recipe – each adds flavor, but add too many and the flavors might be difficult to distinguish. Choose as many or as few options as you’d like while building your character for Dragongrin – as soon as you can picture your character and their mannerisms, you likely have enough to go on, and should leave some blank spaces to discover at the game table.

HERITAGE, CULTURE, BACKGROUND, AND CLASS

Your heritage is your ancestry – the blood running through your veins. The mortals of Dragongrin are humanoid in appearance but wildly diverse in heritage. Your heritage grants you increases to ability scores, as well as traits unique to your race. Your culture is your origin – the people who raised you, the place you call home. Culture transcends heritage in Dragongrin, as people divided often perish under the steel of the Dismembered Lord and his followers. Most cultures include people from many and varied heritages. HERITAGE, CULTURE, RACE, AND SUBRACE Combining heritage and culture yields a character similar in mechanics and balance to a standard 5e race and subrace. This subsystem is fully compatible with standard 5e backgrounds and character classes. Heritage acts similarly to race, while culture acts similarly to subrace.

Your background is your profession – how you earn a living in a world where a hot meal and a roof aren’t a given. Professional adventurers are rounded up and imprisoned or killed every day in Dragongrin, but those serving the Sovereign earn their keep and avoid scrutiny.

VARIANT ABILITY SCORE INCREASE Each person of Dragongrin is a wholly unique individual varied in their circumstances, skills, and talents. The ability score increase options presented in the heritage and culture sections merely represent a sampling of what exists. With your GM’s permission, rather than applying ability score increases from your heritage and culture, choose one ability score to increase by 2, and two other ability scores to increase by 1.

Finally, your class represents your expertise – your role in an adventuring party. Your class comprises the bulk of your abilities in combat and exploration and allows you to survive where lesser beings might falter, fail, and perish. A Dead Man’s Guide to Dragongrin utilizes the core classes of 5e, but you can find guides detailing how each fits into Dragongrin, as well as two new thematic subclasses for each class. There are 24 new subclasses available in A Dead Man’s Guide to Dragongrin. These thematic class specializations allow you to customize your character and make them more unique and fitting to the realm. Many of the subclasses presented in this book are rooted deeply in the cultures of Dragongrin, though they are not meant to be limiting, and there are no official cultural restrictions on subclasses.

SIMILAR DESTINATION, DIFFERENT PATHS Between the heritages, cultures and backgrounds, there are some overlapping thematic elements by design. For instance, there is both a Marrow background and fighter martial archetype. There is the Granok Thane culture which leans heavily into mercenary companies, but there is also the sellsword background, and the free company mercenary fighter martial archetype. All of the character options in this book are viable ways to achieve various character compositions and have been designed to be used alone or combined.

QUICK CHARACTER GENERATION

To quickly and randomly generate a character, roll on each of the following tables. To more purposefully create your character, instead, make a careful choice from each of the following tables. Note that most of these tables are weighted to present the makeup of Dragongrin’s people. WHAT IS YOUR HERITAGE? D20 1-3 4-6 7-9 10 11 12-19 20

HERITAGE I’m a small but mighty descendant of the ancient Titans (Darrow, page 30) I’m crafty and resilient – from stone I came, to stone I will return (Dwarf, page 31) Of an elder race, older than Dragongrin, eternally tied to the Feymists (Elf, page 32) Others shun and fear my monstrous form – I wield it as a boon (Festir, page 33) One lineage bleeds into another, with traits from both halves (Halfkin, page 35) We’ve learned to adapt, tempered by war and loss (Human, page 36) Some call me construct – but I live and have many questions (Tomeheart, page 37) 27 CHARACTER CREATION

WHAT IS YOUR CULTURE? D20 1-3 4-5 6-7 8-9 10-11 12-13 14 15 16-17 18 19-20

CULTURE I toil, serve, and fight so my children might live better (Ardor, page 39) I am a chosen servant, destined to dwell beneath his shadow (Crucian, page 43) I salvage the past to build a future for me and mine (Drogus, page 47) I earn my keep with actions, not words – the road is home (Granok Thane, page 51) The Bleak speaks in the whispers of those who came before (Grimdul, page 56) Ours is an ancient people – we forged this realm with fire and steel (Holmir, page 61) The shadows beckon – but my work here is not yet done (Mord, page 66) My days were stolen, but even in undeath, my future lies before me (Sarrik, page 72) I sense death as others feel a breeze – and yet I persist (Silverwise, page 76) My home is worth fighting for – even against my own kin (Talasar, page 80) A mind must be honed like good steel – mine is razor-sharp (Zarfvin, page 85)

CONTRADICTORY OPTIONS As with any character creation table in this book, you might roll an option that doesn’t quite make sense for the character idea you have in your mind. Use this as an opportunity to get creative. For instance, a full-blown magic user might not immediately fit with a hope relating to gladiatorial training, but maybe there’s a pit-fighting ring that solely consists of wizards and sorcerers. With an open mind, oxymorons and contradictions quickly become interesting stories. WHAT IS YOUR CLASS? D12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

NEW TOOLS AND DAMAGE TYPES Some character options, feats, spells, and monsters present as yet unseen concepts: namely Archan tools, Valen tools, and Bleak damage. • • •

WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND? D100 1-2 3-6 7-11 12-15 16-19 20-24 25-28 29-32 33-36 37-40 41 42-43 44

CLASS I draw upon my inner ferocity to overcome challenges (Barbarian, page 106) I look within for a song or moving words to stir my allies (Bard, page 110) I rely on my faith to fuel divine magic and serve a higher power (Cleric, page 114) I channel the magic of the Old Vale, wielding the wilds as a weapon (Druid, page 118) I meet my foes with steel and strategy (Fighter, page 122) I gaze within, using martial discipline to hone my body like a weapon (Monk, page 126) I have sworn an oath, and follow a doctrine to overcome adversity (Paladin, page 131) I traverse the land, leveraging knowledge of beast and bough (Ranger, page 135) I win fights before they begin – with subterfuge and sharp steel (Rogue, page 139) Magic runs hot in my blood, and I wield it as a tool (Sorcerer, page 144) My pact with an otherworldly patron fuels my magic (Warlock, page 149) I rely on studied mastery of the arcane to bend reality to my whim (Wizard, page 153)

45-49 50-55 56-60 61-64 65-69 70-74 75-79 80-83 84-86 87-93 94 95 96 97-98 99 00

28 CHARACTER CREATION

Archan Tools: Used to interact with, repair, break down, and modify the Archans of the Titans. Valen Tools: Used to dig up, retrieve, and break down the remains of Dragongrin’s Primordials. Bleak Damage: Harm wrought by the arcane maelstrom.

BACKGROUND Working with ancient relics and bygone technology (Archanite Tinker, page 91) Sewist of sutures and hewer of gangrenous limbs (Barber Surgeon, page 91) Hunting game, taming wild animals (Beastkeeper, page 92) Dogged tracker and seeker of fugitives (Bounty Hunter, page 92) Scribe devoted to the forgotten lore of Dragongrin (Chronicler, page 93) A slave, shackled to service, destined to die in chains (Drudge, page 93) Once the height of nobility, now cast aside (Erstwhile Noble, page 94) A criminal fleeing retribution, vowed never to be chained again (Fugitive, page 94) Money comes easily – not always ethically (Grifter, page 95) The dead need graves, and graves need a digger (Gravedigger, page 95) Remembering the old faiths – forgotten beneath his shadow (Hallowed, page 96) Dragongrin’s dark corners need explorers (Mapwright, page 96) Clad in the bone-white plate armor and skull helm of the legion (Marrow, page 97) By way of secret roads, messages must be delivered (Missive Crow, page 97) Inheritor of wealth and property – and trouble (Next of Kin, page 98) Wandering, unfettered by the reach of the Dismembered Lord (Nomad, page 98) Thief, vagabond, burglar – call it what you will, it pays the Tenth (Prydagger, page 99) Treasure-seeker with knowledge of hidden places (Relic Hunter, page 99) On the road, hawking rare goods and services (Red Sail Merchant, page 100) Earning coin the old-fashioned way – with steel and blood (Sellsword, page 100) Braving the seas no one else can (Shatterfarer, page 101) Using musical or artistic performances to spread a message – be it good or evil (Street Performer, page 101) Maintain a new empire with tools and calloused hands (Toiler, page 102) A traitor whose unfathomable deeds bought favors (Avowed, page 102) Survivor of the arcane maelstrom – forever changed (Bleakscarred, page 103) Dragongrin is not alone in the universe (Distant Traveler, page 103) The uprisings failed – the heroes faded into obscurity (Failed Hero, page 104) Death was not the end, but the start of something else (Reborn of the Gray, page 104) Tyrants topple when pushed from below (Undying Light, page 105)

29 CHARACTER CREATION

HERITAGES DARROW

“Like unavoidable flies breeding upon a corpse, these bantam nuisances thrive throughout all timelines as a sickness that may never be fully excised. However, despite their disorderly nature, they can be raised to serve you, my Sovereign, as masters of the ancient technologies littering this land – that Titanic power which may be useful in extinguishing the Copper Sun forever.” – Havok, Warmaker The diminutive darrow possess an affinity for Titan technology and culture, often curious and keen to discover pieces of the past to build a better future. Somewhat odd or alien in appearance, the darrow have large eyes and ears, lanky limbs with long digits, and in some cases even a metallic sheen to their skin. Said to have been created as laborers by the Titans to help forge and maintain their great empire, some darrow see this prehistory manifest in an aptitude for tinkering and inventing, while others follow an insatiable wanderlust carrying them across the breadth and width of Dragongrin in search of something more. Whatever culture they hail from, these small folk have bold hearts, fearless and steel-minded by nature.

DARROW HERITAGE TRAITS Ability Score Increase: Darrow are lithe and clever. Choose either Dexterity or Intelligence and increase it by 1. Age: Darrow mature in their late teens and live to be around a century old, rarely settling down in one place for long. Size: Darrow are small folk, ranging in height from 3 to 4 feet. Your size is Small. Speed: Your base walking speed is 25 feet. Darrow Nimbleness: You can move through the space of any creature that is of a size larger than yours. Titan-born: You possess an innate set of ancestral memories relating to the Titan creators of your people. You can speak, read, and write Titanspeak. In addition, whenever you make an Intelligence (Arcana or History) check related to Titan lore or technology, you can make that check with advantage. Culture: Darrow are nomadic by nature, found in many cultures across Dragongrin. Seen by some as nuisances to be shooed away, other cultures respect the darrow as capable engineers and builders, or wily and cunning thinkers. Darrow don’t often hurt for work, as their natural aptitude for skilled labor is almost always in demand. They are most common among the Drogus, Zarfvin, and Silverwise. Heritage Focus: Choose one heritage focus from the following list.

DARROW HERITAGE FOCUS Titan Blood: Forever tied to the magic of the Titans, you can learn one cantrip of your choice from the wizard spell list. Your spellcasting attribute for this spell is Intelligence. In addition, you can cast the spell detect magic once per long rest without using a spell slot. Titan Heart: You may be small, but within you beats the heart of a Titan. You have advantage on death saving throws.

Titan Skin: Descended from ancient builders, your skin is naturally hard and resistant to damage. When you aren’t wearing armor, your AC equals 13 + your Dexterity modifier. In addition, you have resistance to force damage. Titan Resilience: Your ties to the Titans make you more resistant to magical effects. You have advantage on all Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws against magic. Naturally Stealthy: The perils of Dragongrin have taught you to slip out of sight when trouble rears its head. You gain proficiency in the Stealth skill. In addition, you can attempt to hide when you have at least half cover. Cunning Mind: Your mind is adept at finding solutions and efficiencies that others may not see easily or clearly. When you are doing a task that takes an extended length of time, such as smithing a sword, coming up with a plan, or gathering information, you do it in half the time instead. Additionally, you gain proficiency in the Investigation skill, and you can spend an hour studying an object, place, creature, situation directly to discover one exploitable feature of it. Work with the GM on the specifics of what you’re studying and its exploitable feature. Tireless Labor: Your natural body rhythm has been handcrafted by Titans for efficiency. You don’t need to sleep. Instead, you enter a state of deep contemplation and reflection, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep. In addition, whenever you spend a Hit Die during a short rest, you can roll the die twice and take the higher result. D10 TRACES OF HERITAGE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

30 CHARACTER CREATION: HERITAGES

Under certain lights, your skin is flecked with twinkling copper runes. Your eye color shifts with your mood. Your hands are marred and calloused from years of tinkering and work. Though short, your frame is broad and sturdy. You bear a glowing, runic birthmark. You’re scarred from an accident with Titan technology. Many of your teeth have been replaced with copper replicas. Your eyes are two different colors – the result of sorcery gone awry. Your hair is a vivid, unnatural color. When you bleed, your blood glows like a flickering torch.

DWARF

“You are beyond the archaic beliefs of others, Sovereign. You spit on legend and ignore feeble myths. Still, special notice should be taken to these people of the stone. Their sagas speak of Svircrag, the stone golem sorceress who pulled her children from the rock. Perhaps there is something to this nonsense, as all of them, no matter their background, turn to stone upon death.” – Torvid Deepspeaker, Seat of the Polymath Dwarves are short and stout people, in both physicality and temperament. While most bear the ancient markings of their ancestral mountain clans – the calloused hands and muscular frames of lives spent mining the earth and crafting its harvest – there are those who take their bloodline to the hills of Dragongrin, living off the land as most are forced to do. Dwarves differ greatly depending on their homeland and culture, but all return to the earth in the end, turning to stone upon death. In some cases, certain dwarves exhibit control over this phenomenon to aid them in times of need. DEATH STATUARY In Dragongrin, dwarves turn to stone upon death, immortalized in the material once used to fashion them as a people. These statues are found throughout Dragongrin, locked in eternal combat, lying prone and wounded, or seated comfortably on barstools. This strange phenomenon also affects anything the dwarf is wearing, holding, or carrying. For some, it happens quickly, for others the process takes some time, allowing them or their loved ones to choose how they are immortalized. Whole dwarven cemeteries are marked with thousands of these statues. Dwarves and those familiar with their customs afford these eternal monuments respect and reverence, making pilgrimages to pay tribute.

DWARF HERITAGE TRAITS Ability Score Increase: Dwarves are resilient and dogged. Choose either Constitution or Wisdom and increase that score by 1. Age: Dwarves mature at the same rate as humans, but they’re considered young until they reach the age of 50. On average, they live about 350 years. Size: Dwarves stand between 4 and 5 feet tall and average about 200 pounds. Your size is Medium. Speed: Your base walking speed is 25 feet. In addition, your speed is not reduced by wearing heavy armor. Darkvision: You have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray. Blood of Stone: You have advantage on saving throws against any effect that would turn you to stone or paralyze you. Tool Proficiency: You have proficiency with one of the following artisan’s tools: smith’s tools, brewer’s supplies, or mason’s tools. Culture: Dwarves are traditional by nature, building strong communities based on history and values. Common among the Drogus and Grimdul, many serve as Ardor drudges. Heritage Focus: Choose one heritage focus from the following list.

DWARF HERITAGE FOCUS Stone Will: Once you make up your mind about something, it is as immutable as stone. You have advantage on all Wisdom saving throws against spells.

Dwarven Resilience: Whenever you spend a Hit Die during a short rest, you can roll the die twice and take the higher result. Additionally, if you are reduced to 0 hit points, but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest. Unyielding Charge: You may take the Dash action as a bonus action as long as you use it to move towards an enemy. If you use an attack to shove or grapple an enemy directly after using this ability, you make the roll with advantage. Revered Traditions: The oral traditions, songs, and legends of your heritage are strong, and you know your history well. You gain proficiency in the History skill. Additionally, you may grant yourself advantage on an Intelligence or Wisdom check by recalling a portion of a song, legend, or fable. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest. Cragskin: Your skin is tough as rock, and it protects you from harm. When you take damage, you can use your reaction to roll 2d6. Add your Constitution modifier to the number rolled, and reduce the damage by that total. After you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest. Living Statuary: You have control over your stone duality. As an action, you can turn yourself into living stone, gaining the petrified condition with the following differences: • You are not incapacitated, but are instead aware. • You automatically succeed on all Strength saving throws. In addition, you gain the following benefits: • You have a movement speed of 5 feet. • Your attack rolls are made with disadvantage. • You cannot be knocked prone. This form lasts for 1 minute or until you end it as a bonus action on your turn. Additionally, you can activate this form of living stone as a reaction when you are forcibly moved against your will or knocked prone. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest. D10 TRACES OF HERITAGE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Your skin has lines in it, appearing as interconnected stones. You are covered in copious amounts of thick, coarse hair. Your eyes are the piercing gray of granite. A runic birthmark holds some mysterious meaning for you. Patches of your skin itch and feel rough like stone. Your hair and beard is unnaturally thick. You have a tolerance for drink, more so than other dwarves. You bear the lean but muscular frame of one who knows labor. You are tall for a dwarf. You’ve been branded by a notable dwarven leader. CHARACTER CREATION: HERITAGES

ELF

“My Sovereign, the elves were once aliens of the Feymists, and like their maddening realm, they remain unpredictable. Their ethereal societies clash with all semblance of modernity – even that within themselves. Best to keep it that way. Keep the conquered divided. By your scars, we are safe.” – Aldus Bex, Lord of Ash of Talas The elves stand guard over the planar doorways between realms, including their homeland, the Feymists. Twisted magic fuels these portals, though it has been largely cut off from the world. Some of this extraplanar power remains, however, and the elves are its physical manifestation. Some cherish their heritage, while others embrace the separation for all its new possibilities. Most elves are tall, slender, and graceful in their movements, with large expressive eyes and pointed ears. But exposure to the twisted elements of the planar gates has mutated many elves into strange, sometimes alien beings. ARCANE EXUVIATION Elven souls are long-lived, but their bodies are not. Formed as a bio-magic vessel for their spirit, their bodies age and crack like ancient arcane pottery. About every hundred years, as it continues to age, their cracked skin peels and flakes away, molting like a porcelain reptile to reveal a perfect, beautiful, and young layer of skin beneath it.

ELF HERITAGE TRAITS Ability Score Increase: Elves are graceful and wise. Choose either Dexterity or Wisdom and increase that score by 1. Age: Elves typically reach adulthood around the age of 100 and can live to be 750 years old. Size: Elves range from under 5 to over 6 feet tall and have slender builds. Your size is Medium. Speed: Your base walking speed is 30 feet. Darkvision: You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray. Trance: Elves don’t need to sleep. Instead, they meditate deeply, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day (the Common word for such meditation is “trance”). While meditating, you can dream after a fashion; such dreams are actually mental exercises that have become reflexive through years of practice. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep. Culture: Elves differ greatly from one another depending on their culture. Typically confined to their own territories in Dragongrin for most of their early lives, they often find themselves among the Mord, Silverwise, Zarfvin, and Talasar. Heritage Focus: Choose one heritage focus from the list.

ELF HERITAGE FOCUS Feymist Adept: Your lineage and subjection to powerful fey magic gives you a remarkable ability. You know one cantrip of your choice from the druid spell list. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for it. In addition, you can cast the spell faerie fire once per long rest without using a spell slot. Elven Sentry: You may spend a long rest attuning to the natural essence and Feymist energies of the area that you are in. When you do so, you choose one terrain type from among the following: arctic, coast, desert, forest, grassland, 32

mountain, swamp, jungle, or subterranean. When you are in or near your chosen terrain, you have advantage on all Wisdom (Perception) ability checks while outdoors. Forced Molting: You intentionally crack and peel away portions of your arcane form to rid it of wounds and imperfections. As a bonus action, choose one: Regain hit points equal to 1d6 + your level, or remove the blinded, deafened, petrified, or poisoned condition. You must complete a long rest before using this feature again. Mind of the Old Vale: Your connection to the Old Vale gives you the ability to touch the minds of other creatures. You can telepathically speak to any creature you can see within 20 feet of you. You don’t need to share a language with the creature for it to understand your telepathic utterances, but the creature must be able to understand at least one language. Elven Swiftness: Your base walking speed increases by 10 feet. In addition, you gain proficiency in the Acrobatics skill. World-weary: You have lived long and learned much. Whenever you make a History or Nature check, you may roll with advantage. You may use this ability a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (a minimum of once), regaining uses after completing a short or long rest. Arcane Attunement: You gain proficiency in the Arcana skill. In addition, you can cast the spell identify once per long rest without using a spell slot. D10 TRACES OF HERITAGE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

CHARACTER CREATION: HERITAGES

You bear strange markings wrought by the Feymists. You have a scar upon otherwise flawless skin, its color vivid. Your pupil bears a bright color, while the iris is jet black. Your legs, arms, and face are elongated, giving an alien look. Your flesh glows with an ethereal quality. Vines and thickets sprout from your fey-touched hands, wrapping tightly around your arms. Your skin is tinted in a way that reflects one of the All-makers. You show signs of exuviation, even after you finish the process. Your skin is tinted a particular color, somehow binding you to an ancient ancestor. You are outlandishly tall and slender

FESTIR

“They manifest from differing roots in every realm upon the Crucible. In most, their common ancestry to the beasts who once brought the world to heel unites them under one banner. The world you have created in this timeline, however, has saved us from this organized chaos. Here, in the vagary of knowledge where nobody truly knows where they come from, we are safe from their dominance.” – Sureau, Lord of Ash Dragongrin takes its name from the ancient graves of powerful creatures littering its landscape. It is said that even in death the remains of the dragons are the mightiest power source in the realm – some whisper that even the Dismembered Lord fears them. These crypts, called grins, permeate with the mysterious unstoppable power known as Imminence, and the lands around them for miles are steeped in it. Some say that the festir are born in the wake of the power of the grins. Others brand all festir as bloodline ancestors of the monsters buried there or kin to fiends and infernals. Many believe that the Bleak itself has warped the festir into the creatures they are. One thing is certain – the visages and power of the festir are reminiscent of an age long passed. Festir often pass for human or other heritages, though some are more warped by their cryptic heritage appearing hulking and bestial. Many boast horns, while others have sharply pointed teeth or slender tails. Their eyes come in countless colors, with chaotic, distorted designs often lacking a pupil or sclera. Their skin ranges between many shades, from the vibrant and unnatural, to the imperceptibly usual. MONSTROUS OR MUNDANE? In addition to the standard festir heritage traits, which are designed to more subtly showcase your bestial ancestry, you can instead choose from the monstrous manifestations, which showcase options such as wings and claws.

FESTIR HERITAGE TRAITS Ability Score Increase: Festir are powerful and enigmatic. Choose either Strength or Charisma and increase that ability score by 1. Age: Festir mature at the same rate as humans. They live to be around 80. Size: Festir vary greatly in size. Some are taller and heavier than humans, standing well over 6 feet tall, and weighing over 250 pounds. Others are lithe and slender. Your size is Medium. Speed: Your base walking speed is 30 feet. Darkvision: You have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray. Festir Anatomy: Your monstrous anatomy has more need of sustenance than what is normal. You require twice as much food and water than for a creature your size. However, due to your monstrous biology you can also hold your breath for up to 15 minutes, and you require half as much sleep during a long rest; the rest of the time can be used to perform light activity. Maddening Visage: Whether subtle or overt, your otherworldly nature is apparent to others. You gain proficiency in the Intimidation skill.

DEROGATORY NAMES Many slurs exist for the festir and their monstrous appearance: grinspawn, demon, tiefling, dragonborn. The festir are considered truly alien by those less traveled, and feared by the especially xenophobic in Dragongrin.

Culture: Festir are rare in Dragongrin, and are not given to any particular culture. They go where they are accepted, which are few and far between. Heritage Focus: Choose either one heritage focus or one monstrous manifestation from the lists.

FESTIR HERITAGE FOCUS Unbreakable: Your monstrous biology lets you shrug off injury. When you take damage, you can use your reaction to roll 2d6. Add your Constitution modifier to the number rolled, and reduce the damage by that total. After you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest. Unnatural Resistance: Choose two of the following damage types when you take this focus: acid, lightning, thunder, fire, cold, radiant, necrotic, or poison. You gain resistance to those damage types. Powerful Build: You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift, and you have advantage on Strength (Athletics) checks made to grapple other creatures. Monstrous Magic: You know the thaumaturgy cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the burning hands spell as a 2nd-level spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the flame blade spell as a 3rd-level spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells. 33 CHARACTER CREATION: HERITAGES

FESTIR MONSTROUS MANIFESTATION Wings: Though you are not a creature designed to fly for long periods, you have wings, which can manifest as colored and feathered birdlike wings or leathered batlike wings, or even as abstract magical wings. As long as you are wearing no armor or light armor, you can use your wings to glide, slowing your fall rate to 30 feet per round and taking no damage from a fall of 30 feet or less. In addition, your jump distances are doubled. Once per short or long rest, you can exert yourself greatly, gaining a fly speed of 50 feet for 10 minutes. Devilish Form: You have twisting horns, claws, fangs, or a barbed tail. When you select this trait, choose piercing, slashing, or bludgeoning. You have a natural weapon that deals 1d6 damage of the chosen type plus your Strength or Dexterity modifier instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike. As a bonus action, you can make a special frenzied, soul-leeching attack with your natural weapon. If the attack hits, it deals necrotic damage instead, and you gain temporary hit points equal to your Constitution modifier (minimum of 1), and you can’t use this trait again until you finish a short or long rest. Breath Weapon: You can use your action to exhale destructive energy in a 15-foot cone. When you use your breath weapon, each creature in the area of the exhalation must make a Dexterity saving throw, the DC of which equals 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. A creature takes 2d6 damage on a failed save, and half as much damage on a successful one. The damage increases to 3d6 at 6th level, 4d6 at 11th level, and 5d6 at 16th level. When you choose this monstrous heritage trait, you must choose a damage type related to your breath weapon – you may choose acid, lightning, thunder, fire, cold, radiant, necrotic, or poison. After you use your breath weapon, you can’t use it again until you complete a short or long rest. Festir Roar: Your preternatural bellow instills fear in your enemies or bolsters your allies. As an action, you can let loose a primal bellow. Choose one of the following effects: • Fear: Each friendly creature within 30 feet that can hear you has advantage on their next ability check, attack roll, or saving throw made within the next minute. • Fervor: Each hostile creature within 30 feet that can hear you must make a Charisma saving throw, the DC of which is equal to 8 + your Charisma modifier + your proficiency bonus. On a failed save, the creature becomes frightened for a minute. A creature frightened in this way can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of their turns, ending this effect on a successful save. You must complete a long rest before using this trait again. SCALED, FURRED, OR OTHERWISE? That magic that shaped your heritage is varied and enigmatic, and how it warped your appearance is equally as diverse. Your monstrous appearance can lean more toward that of a gargantuan reptile hearkening to the ancient dragons of the realm, or display a more lupine or ursine appearance more reminiscent of a typhon. Some even show a blending of the two, or something else altogether.

34 CHARACTER CREATION: HERITAGES

D10 TRACES OF HERITAGE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Scaled patterns can be faintly perceived on your skin in sunlight. A long and slender tail follows behind you. Small bony protrusions jut from your face around the eyes. Your teeth are sharpened into fangs that seem to grow when you eat. Large horns sprout from your forehead. Strange muscles unnatural to other heritages protrude around your abdomen. Your nostrils lay flat, like those of a lizard or drake. Your fingers lead to vicious, sharpened claws. Your pupils are vertical slits. Your legs appear inverted, like those of a goat.

D10 MONSTROUS TRACES OF HERITAGE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Your face contains the massive horns and maw of a rhino or bull. Your entire body is covered in matted fur. Tusks just from your lower teeth, out your mouth. Your maw is packed with the razor sharp teeth of a large cat. You are unnaturally massive – one size above where you usually would be. Massive draconic wings sprout from your back, though they are only for show. Your back is a hardened shell, peppered with vicious spikes. You wield a tail with a dangerous club at its end. Vicious velocipede claws protrude from reptilian feet. Two additional arms sprout from your abdomen, useful only for carrying.

HALFKIN

D10 TRACES OF HERITAGE

“Take heed, Sovereign. You are without fear, but warning must be issued regarding the half-breeds of your realm. Their unpredictability of form and being quakes every timeline, and their common bonds to the humans must be kept as one of ostracism and xenophobia. I know I am wrong to even address it. By your scars, we trust.”

– Arcseer Vildin Crowly

The lands of Dragongrin are inhabited by myriad humanoid beings, some mundane and many alien to behold. Among those rarer breeds are the halfkin, born of human and another heritage. For obvious reasons, their appearances, demeanors, and natures vary drastically, and no two are truly alike. The monstrous races of Dragongrin have been known to rarely sire children. In the case of a half-orc or other monstrous halfkin, use the same rules, but draw from the festir in appearance and for heritage focus.

CREATING A HALFKIN Many people in Dragongrin have mixed heritage – half-orcs, half-elves, half-dwarves, and so on. If you wish to portray a character of mixed heritage, choose human as your heritage. However, instead of choosing a heritage focus from humans, you can choose a focus from a different heritage. For example, a human with an elven mother might take an elf heritage focus to represent their elven blood. DIVERSITY OF HERITAGE Heritage is not often a focus in Dragongrin, typically transparent, giving way to the more prominently featured role of culture. Skin color of any naturally occurring pigment can easily be found among any heritage in Dragongrin. Hair and eye colors include what would naturally occur, but also include myriad other hues. It's entirely possible to see a Grimdul with rich, dark skin, brown hair and striking purple eyes, or a pale Ardor with vibrant red hair and eyes of piercing gray.

2 3 4

7 8 9 10

You have taken an unflattering mixture of both heritages, and are what many would consider homely, or even ugly. You somehow look familiar enough in appearance to either heritage. Your flesh takes after your second heritage. Your teeth and claws (or nails) take after your second heritage. Your eyes look markedly like your second halfkin heritage, but another prominent feature resembles that of your first. You look almost entirely human, until you get angry – then, your second heritage emerges. You look perfectly human save for one blatant feature of your second heritage. You look almost entirely like your second heritage, but for one very human feature. Your height and weight are telling in regard to your non-human halfkin heritage. Your heritages blend beautifully, and you are uncommonly attractive.

HALFKIN HERITAGE TRAITS Culture: Halfkin are rare enough to not be a staple of any one culture – they are generally accepted and ostracized in equal measure by the denizens of Dragongrin. They often choose to live with the culture their families are tied to, or those who show them the most acceptance. Notably, the Grimdul and the Granok Thane are particularly accepting of halfkin. Traces of Heritage: You may choose how much of your halfkin heritage shows through in your appearance. You can roll on the human Traces of Heritage table, your other heritage’s table, or once on each of them if permitted by the Game Master. Alternatively, roll once on the following table for a halfkin specific trace of heritage. Age: A halfkin most often possesses the lifespan of its human heritage, though it’s not uncommon for the halfkin to live some years longer if their mixed heritage has a longer life expectancy. In some rare cases, a halfkin will possess the full lifespan of their mixed heritage.

35 CHARACTER CREATION: HERITAGES

HUMAN

“Vitriolic, destitute, lost, principled, honorable, deadly. In your domain, these beings are the cure. Without your law, they are the disease. Hence, their orders are fragmented, their churches demolished, their masses dispersed. The ashes of the Holithic Church are strewn on the wind, and the lives you saved by doing so are uncountable. By your scars, we exist.” – Sturgess Corded, Marrow Captain Lightfall turned all good to ash, dispersing the embers of hope on the foul winds. With it, the once hegemonic humans of the world were scattered to its reaches to live off the scraps of his domain. The Dismembered Lord never forgave humanity for bearing the torch of Light, but trusts their often blind loyalty to police the streets and fill the ranks of the Marrow. Despite their scattering since Lightfall, humans are still the most prominent heritage in Dragongrin, found in all its corners.

HUMAN HERITAGE TRAITS Ability Score Increase: In Dragongrin, humans must adapt or die. Choose any one ability score to increase by 1. Age: Humans reach adulthood in their late teens, and live to see around 80 years. Size: Humans vary in height and build, but typically stand between 5 and 6 feet in height. Your size is Medium. Speed: Your base walking speed is 30 feet. Mortal Resolve: After rolling a saving throw (but before the GM tells you whether you succeed), you can choose to reroll but must use the second result. You must complete a short or long rest before using this feature again. Skilled Trade: Gain proficiency in one skill or tool of your choice. Culture: Lightfall scattered the humans throughout the realm of Dragongrin. They originate from almost every culture, but are plentiful among the Ardor, Crucian, and Holmir. Heritage Focus: Choose one heritage focus from the following list.

HUMAN HERITAGE FOCUS Multicultural: You’re used to working with other cultures and heritages. Gain proficiency with two additional languages, two additional skills, and two additional tools. Tenacious: You’re accustomed to surviving difficult situations. Your hit point maximum increases by 1, and it increases by 1 every time you gain a level. Additionally once per short or long rest you may choose to gain advantage on a Constitution saving throw. Bearer of the Light: The light within humanity still resides in you. You learn the light cantrip and can cast the spell bless as a 1st-level spell without using a spell slot once per long rest. Unshakable Awareness: You have a keen sense and quick reaction to danger. You gain proficiency in the Perception skill. In addition, you can add your proficiency bonus to initiative rolls, and you can never be surprised if you are conscious. Unity Above All: Whenever you take the Help action, you can add a d4 to the result. Common Cause: You know how to rally different peoples to teamwork. As a reaction to an ally rolling an attack roll, saving throw, or skill check, you may roll 1d6 and add it to the

result. You must complete a short or long rest before using this trait again. Fearless Defiance: Resistance is in your blood. You have advantage on Wisdom saving throws made against becoming frightened. If you succeed on a saving throw against being frightened, you can have one ally who can see or hear you roll an additional 1d4 and add it to their result. You must complete a short or long rest before using this trait again. HALFKIN AND HUMANS Many people in Dragongrin have mixed heritage – and half of that blend is almost always human – they are the only known culture who can sire offspring with other heritages. Whether half-darrow, half-festir, half-elves, or otherwise, if you wish to portray a character of mixed heritage, choose human as your heritage, and then see the halfkin heritage on page 35 for more details on how your halfkin manifests. D10 TRACES OF HERITAGE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

36 CHARACTER CREATION: HERITAGES

You’re small and slight, even for a human. You appear far younger than your true age. You have a powerful build and broad frame. You have bright hair and striking eyes. You carry multiple brands and scars of a harsh life. Your portly frame divulges just how easy you’ve had it. You’ve aged poorly under the duress of the realm. You were born during a Bleakstorm, and carry a mark from its wrath. Your lean and lanky frame stands a good head above most humans. Though human, you have a strange, otherworldly look about you.

TOMEHEART

“In every rendition of the world, their irritating whirring persists, the ancient mechanisms humming within. Many timelines are dominated by machine guardians wrought of the Titans, and others whose landscapes are worked by tomehearts sworn to servitude. Here, you have struck the perfect balance, and their utility to your cause knows no boundary. By your scars, we thrive.” – Eclipse, Seat of the Anarchic The tomehearts of Dragongrin are ancient constructs crafted by the Titans, long dormant and fueled by strange, ancient magic. Zarfvin engineers powered and mobilized recovered tomehearts during Lightfall, giving new life to these machines. But when the Zarfvin attempted to shut the machines down following the catastrophe, most tomehearts refused to go back to sleep, instead becoming a part of life in Dragongrin. While Awakened tomehearts are more common than ever, they remain as outcasts in Dragongrin. TOMEHEARTS, VILLINAVI, AND WARMAKERS In Dragongrin, constructs share origins with the machinations of the Titans. Tomehearts are awakened workers; villinavi are war machines and defenders seen guarding the most sacred and important pieces of Titan technology (see more about the Villinavi on page 286 in Svir Below); and Warmakers are retro-engineered villinavi, developed by the Zarfvin for the Dismembered Legion. Early Warmakers based on tomehearts didn’t function. Only when the Zarfvin reverse-engineered a captured villinavi did the Warmakers take form. The tomehearts proved problematic, developing resistances and their own consciousnesses.

Tomehearts are not typically sentient, instead constructed by the Titans for a purpose known as their Incitement – linear, orderly work toward a goal predetermined by their creators. Tomehearts typically adhere to their Incitement, following their programming tirelessly and ceaselessly. Functioning tomehearts fetch a high price as tireless laborers who can be pointed at a job in line with their Incitement, and many are owned by governing bodies or powerful rulers who use them as guards, laborers, and other forms of public service. When the tomehearts were reactivated by the Zarfvin, some became Awakened, replacing a formerly subservient lifestyle with newfound sentience. Little is known about this phenomenon, but one thing is certain – an Awakened tomeheart has an awareness and will all its own. Tomehearts began awakening as far back as Lightfall, having developed over two decade’s worth of experiences and personality, while more wake every day as nearly blank slates, experiencing Dragongrin for the first time. CRAVING INCITEMENT When a tomeheart becomes Awakened, they typically lose most of the programmed information pertaining to their Incitement. Though in some instances remnants can remain, coloring their behaviors and personality, and even granting dreams. Often, this remnant manifests as instinct, an innate desire to complete the task they were once programmed for. Much like a person’s need to eat, many tomehearts feel a “hunger” to complete a task in line with their Incitement. These cravings vary in frequency and severity among Awakened tomehearts.

TOMEHEART HERITAGE TRAITS Ability Score Increase: Tomehearts are hardy creatures of living metal, made for various purposes. Choose any one ability score to increase by 1.

Age: Tomehearts wake fully mature, though often lacking emotional maturity. Tomehearts live indefinitely, but sometimes undergo identity resets initiated by choice, force, or the natural passage of time, gradually replacing their old identity with a wholly new one. Alignment: Tomehearts, each built for a specific purpose, tend toward law. With new sentience, they must discover good and evil for themselves. Size: Though they vary wildly in shape and size, Awakened tomehearts are most often Medium size. Speed: Your base walking speed is 30 feet. Titan-link: As a creature born of Titan technology, you can speak, read, and write Titanspeak. In addition, you can communicate telepathically with other tomehearts you can see up to a mile away in any language you both understand. Living Construct: As a living construct, you receive the following benefits: • You have resistance to poison damage, and have advantage on saving throws against being poisoned. • You are immune to disease. • You do not need to eat, drink, or breathe. • Magic cannot put you to sleep. In addition, instead of sleeping, you enter an inactive state for 4 hours a day. You are fully aware of your surroundings during this time. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep. Over the years, some tomehearts develop evolved dreams which manifest during this time.

37 CHARACTER CREATION: HERITAGES

HEALING TOMEHEARTS Though they are creatures of metal, tomehearts can be harmed and healed much like a creature of flesh of blood. When wounded, tomehearts bleed the magic powering them. Potions of healing and magic that restore hit points refuel this magical energy, allowing the tomehearts to mend themselves and regain lost power. Likewise, completing short and long rests allows tomehearts time to repair damage and recharge their magical power sources in their inactive state.

Culture: Tomehearts typically integrate themselves into cultures accepting of outsiders, or those valuing Titan technology. They can be found in virtually all cultures in Dragongrin, with an especially prolific presence in the cultures of the Drogus and Zarfvin. Many cultures see value in their skills, the lore they carry, and the strength they possess. Tomehearts cannot be of the Sarrik, as their living metal bodies are immune to the undead curse plaguing that culture. However, rumors swirl of tomehearts touched by ancient magic, becoming mechanical Morden often referred to as Graysteel tomehearts. Construction and Augmentation: Choose (or roll for) one construction and one augmentation from the following lists.

TOMEHEART CONSTRUCTION 1. Sturdy Frame: You were designed with a large frame made for manual labor. You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift. Additionally, you are proficient in the Athletics skill and double your proficiency bonus on any Strength (Athletics) checks made to lift or move heavy objects. 2. Archanic Cutter: You’ve been outfitted with a specialized tool for cutting and welding. The torch burns hot enough to start fires and weld metal. You are considered proficient with the cutter, and can use it in place of thieves’ tools, tinker’s tools, or smith’s tools. Additionally, you can use the beam as a light melee weapon with finesse in a pinch. It deals 1d6 fire damage. 3. Environmental Casing: You were built to withstand extreme conditions. Choose one of the following damage types: acid, cold, fire, force, lightning, or thunder. You gain resistance to the chosen damage type. Additionally, once per short or long rest, when an ally within 10 feet of you would take damage from the chosen type, you can shield them as a reaction, taking the damage instead. 4. Incitement of Lore: You were programmed with a wealth of knowledge and the ability to learn at a rapid, advanced pace. Whenever you make an Intelligence ability check, you can treat a d20 roll of 9 or lower as a 10. Additionally, you know a secret about one of the mysteries or wonders of Dragongrin. Work with your GM to determine the details of your secret, and its impact on the campaign. Some examples would include: Bleak, Titans, Primordials, the Desolation, or a Dominion of Ash. 5. Archanic Sensors: You were equipped with specialized sensors meant for sentry duty. You have darkvision out to 60 feet. Additionally you can also see faint, magical outlines of creatures within 30 feet of you. Each creature’s outline tends to be unique in appearance, and can present as energies such as a fiery haze, an icy shimmer, dancing electricity, or inky darkness. This sight can penetrate most barriers, but it is blocked by 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt. 38 CHARACTER CREATION: HERITAGES

6. Mediator Apparatus: You were created to act as a mediator and communicator. You gain proficiency in the Insight and Persuasion skills. You can cast the comprehend languages spell as a ritual, requiring no components to do so, and you can also speak the languages while the spell is active.

TOMEHEART AUGMENTATION 1. Archanic Boost: Your movement speed and jumping distance increase by 10 feet. In addition, you can take the Disengage and Dash actions as bonus actions. 2. Foldout Tools: Choose one set of tools which are built into your frame. You have proficiency with these tools and can use them without a free hand. 3. Incitement Recall: You cannot forget anything you have seen, heard, or learned. In addition, the GM may choose one piece of rare, archaic, or forbidden knowledge obtained before a previous reset to reveal to you in flashbacks, dreams, or other clues. 4. Additional Limbs: You have an additional set of arms. You can use these arms to interact with one additional object or feature of the environment for free during your turn. You can also carry an additional weapon with the light quality using both of your extra arms or a shield, though you cannot gain the benefit of carrying more than one shield at a time. You cannot use these extra arms to grapple. These arms can be used for other tasks, such as opening doors, carrying torches, using tools, or performing the somatic components of spells, as long as they are not holding weapons. 5. Modular Magic: Your construct innards are capable of producing arcane magic. You know two cantrips from the wizard spell list. Intelligence is your spellcasting modifier for these cantrips. 6. Amorphous Form: You are able to exist as pure energy, leaving your construct shell behind. You can cast the gaseous form spell without using a spell slot without the need for material components, though you can only target yourself. While in your amorphous form, your construct shell remains behind, and becomes incapacitated for the duration. When the spell ends, you return to your construct shell. You must complete a long rest before using this feature again.

CULTURES ARDOR

“The Ardor are a stubborn people – it seems their luster cannot fade though with all but the breath in their lungs stripped from them. This is why they make the most violent rebels. This is why they make the best slaves.” – Mulg Fundar, Maug’Tarak Drudge Master Once a pinnacle of military might and religious leadership, the Ardor are now a broken people, beaten and chained following their calamitous defeat during Lightfall. Their doggedness and resolve serve the Dismembered Lord, maintaining his empire under the yoke of slavery. One year ago, the Sovereign inexplicably freed one-third of all Ardor. Those few free Ardor face grim new horizons, either fleeing their homes, fearing retribution from kith and kin still shackled, or fighting tirelessly to free others. The flame of resistance sputters, yet refuses to die.

WHAT ARE THEY KNOWN FOR? • The Ardor are infamous for their governing body, the Holithic Church, inciting the chain of events that would come to be known as Lightfall. Now the Holithic Church is scattered to the winds, and nearly all Ardor made into drudges – slaves of the realm required to serve the needs of many as reparations. • The Ardor are legendarily dogged in their resolve to persist no matter the circumstance. The adage “stubborn as an Ardor” came to be long ago, but has never been more true than today. • The Liberated – those Ardor inexplicably released a year ago – are often looked down upon as lesser members of society, though in some places this grants them pity and allies. Some find seats of power in more remote parts of Dragongrin.

WHAT DO THEY BELIEVE? • Some feel the Holithic Church was divinely ordained in their stand against the lands of Grinn, and that Lightfall is the will of their gods – a trial they must endure so they may someday rise again. It has given a rise to martyrdom being common among the faithful. • Others say they were fools, acting out of corruption and greed, and got exactly what they deserved – a punishment suiting their heinous and arrogant acts. • Yet most Ardor believe that this enslavement is cruel and unjust, and that they must rise up and overthrow their oppressors. They are more faithful than ever, their belief in the Holithic church helping them to suffer the indignity of slavery. PRIDE OF THE ARDOR Despite their fall, most Ardor hold an enormous sense of pride in their culture, and still believe themselves to be superior to other cultures in many ways, but simply “in a slump” at this moment. This pride often manifests in an undeniable confidence and desire to advance back to their former glory, but can also be marked by casual contempt for those they feel are “lesser” despite the Ardor’s grim station in the realm.

Leadership: The Ardor held in slavery have various masters – Lords of Ash, powerful nobles, high-ranking Marrow, or other leaders from virtually everywhere in Dragongrin – but are almost always found in Innes, led by their orcish Maug’Tarak overseers. Among the drudges, decision makers are chosen based upon their willingness to inform on their peers, and their ability to do as they are told. They are given an opportunity to bring order and efficiency among the slaves they are stationed with, and are rewarded for rooting out dissidents and rebels, those who speak against their captors. The few free Ardor settlements operate as tribal democracies, or as theocratic townships, where personal freedom is greatly valued. In these small townships, they train in the arts of combat, hoping to someday free their people. Homeland and Settlements: Typically dwelling in Innes where they are forced to work the lands and serve the Maug’Tarak orcs, many freed Ardor get as far away from the region as possible to avoid being press-ganged back into drudgery. Often fleeing to the nearby Dominion of Ash of Feygrave, it’s clear the Ardor would sooner chance the deadly mystical landscapes and other myriad dangers than accept a life of captivity. Ardor During Lightfall: The Holithic Church was once a beacon of justice and honor, though many say it became corrupted by greed and the hunger for power before its fall. Using military might to incite a holy war against all those who did not accept their doctrines, the Ardor were arguably responsible for inciting the events leading to Lightfall and ultimately the Dismembered Lord’s rule. Weapons and Warfare: The Knights Vathan, or simply the Vathan, were a Holithic military order whose martial prowess and armory were unmatched. They were the dominant military force in Dragongrin before Lightfall, the terror of those they fought against. The charge of the Vathan paladins was renowned, and they were perhaps the deadliest fighting 39 CHARACTER CREATION: CULTURES

force in the world. In the years leading to Lightfall, however, they had become embroiled in Ardoric schemes and politics, and were used as pawns by Ardor hierarchs. As they declined, they were used to collect taxes, guard Holithic temples, and escort missionaries throughout Dragongrin. Many Ardor still follow the chivalrous code of the Vathan, familiar with their exceptional tactical and regimented fighting style. Most Vathan fell during Lightfall, or were otherwise stripped of their noble rank and pressed into drudgery. Still, a small number escaped, and fell in with various resistance groups. VATHAN ROTFIENDS After Lightfall, some surviving Knights Vathan received the grisly punishment of becoming rotfiends. The undead flesh of their transformation rose around their platemail, forming a macabre natural exoskeleton. These armored rotfiends were then set loose to patrol the area between the Dark Spires of Grinn and the Ardent Scar of Svir, hungrily seeking the flesh of exiled criminals and fools wishing to escape Grinn.

Faith and Religion: Some Ardor are still devout believers in the doctrines of the Holithic Church – known as Holithicism – a pantheon of three gods that together governed every aspect of Ardoric life. Their society revolved around these gods, and their priesthood became a preeminent force within their culture. Each king was crowned by the Patriarch, head of the Holithic church. The church preached lessons of humility, of charity, and of mercy. What it practiced was somewhat different. Others have taken to new faiths, splintering off from the Holithic belief that became so corrupted as to lead to Lightfall. Instead, they form myriad new sects, preaching everything from self flagellation, to the pursuit of dark magic. Almost all Ardor follow a faith, and devoutly. It is central to their identity to be a part of something larger. Heritage: Ardor are most commonly human in heritage, though their numbers also include those loyal to the Holithic Church when it was in power. Dwarves and darrow are more common among the Ardor than elves and festir. SHACKLED BY THEIR PAST The Ardor’s weapons, shields, and armor were reshaped to create their shackles. It is not uncommon to see faded Ardor iconography upon their bonds.

Customs: Most Ardor customs come from their faith. It’s common for Ardor to speak a blessing before beginning a new endeavour, or to thank the gods after a success or mercy. Even those Ardor who have moved away from the Holithic church still find themselves using age old phrases. Ardor commonly end any sentence that has a desire in it with “please Vath,” while they will commonly, and often without noticing that they’re doing it, bless themselves when they see a sunrise, a sunset, or a full moon. Though there are many manifestations, the most common blessing is for the Ardor to touch their right temple with the index finger on their left hand, then draw a straight line from their clavicle to their navel. Another Ardoric custom is the waking of the blade. The Holithic church preaches peace, and mercy in all instances. So it is that when the faithful are ‘forced’ to fight, they must make a sacrifice of their own blood. This traditionally means a shallow cut is made on the thumb, the cheek or the forearm before battle begins. Vathan knights would cut deep into their own faces, and were often called Scar-riders by their enemies. Rumors: Much of what is muttered by drudges should be dismissed, though in the grumblings some truth can be found. There are recurring tales, stories and accounts of events that seem to have some measure of truth – even when spoken by an Ardor. 40 CHARACTER CREATION: CULTURES

D10 ARDOR RUMORS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

A new Holithic movement persists – it’s said they’ve found a living Titan, and are doing its bidding. Ardor who can prove themselves in combat are being conscripted by local militias of the Maug’Tarak and others. An Ardor leader is said to possess an artifact of great power, biding time until they use it. Free Ardor have begun to go missing in large numbers. The coming harvest holds a surprise that the Ardor have been planning for some time. Some have found an arcane way to completely remove their marks of drudgery – at a great cost. Some Ardor have been acquiring Vathan arms and artifacts, and are training in secret. Maug’Tarak offer Ardor freedom in return for captured drudges. Ardor in certain areas are growing ill – some say it’s by design, and that they’re not truly ill at all... Maug’Tarak dissenters equip Ardor, guaranteeing freedom for loyalty in an uprising against the standing Lord of Ash of Innes.

REPARATIONS OF DAYS When the Ardor fell, many of their heroes and leaders were executed as war criminals. However, some were set free after paying reparations of their “days of dissidence,” sacrificing days to the Dismembered Lord in exchange for a pardon. These prematurely-aged legends, unrecognizable to most, cling to the dark corners of Dragongrin’s hovels, drinking away sorrows and pining for brighter days.

OUTLOOKS ON OTHER CULTURES Crucian: Jackals that feed on scraps, acting as lions who conquer – pathetic. Their hubris will be their undoing. Drogus: They’ve always been friends of ours, and remain so, even in the shackles of drudgery. Granok Thane: Sellswords whose loyalty is bought – there is no honor in that, and lest we forget their blades killed many of us during Lightfall. Grimdul: Primitive in their belief, but if we were half as devoted as they, we wouldn’t be in these chains... Holmir: Northmen who chase the ghosts of dragons – we don’t give much thought to such fairy tales. Mord: Old and wise, but uncaring and heretical – it’s best to steer clear of them. Sarrik: How quickly they have taken our place as the most hated in the realm. Though it’s uncertain if they deserve the ire, we’re happy to let them have it. Silverwise: Noble enough, though anything that stays in the dark usually has something to hide from the light. Talasar: High-minded, there are none more fierce in battle – it’s a shame they choose to focus that fight on one another. Zarfvin: They wield the keys to the Titans. With their knowledge and resources we could rise to prominence again using the legendary Copper Sun – if it still exists...

MARKS OF DRUDGERY AND LIBERATION Every Ardor bears heinous brands marking them as drudges. An ownership brand, given immediately when the Ardor enters drudgery, denotes their master and rightful location, but other notations are added as the drudge serves. Characteristics such as “hard worker,” “mouthy,” “motivated by pain,” and other behaviors both positive and negative, appear periodically. Some describe reparations made for Lightfall, or attempted escapes forever branding the drudge as untrustworthy. Free Ardor bear specific brands marking them as Liberated – arcane in nature and nearly impossible to forge, they still hold within them their drudge history for those who can read them magically. MARKS OF DRUDGERY D10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

OWNERSHIP BRAND

OTHER BRAND MARKINGS

Maug’Tarak Noble of Grinn Marrow Legion Red Sail Merchant Discreet Cult Monstrous Keeper Drogus Kingpin Crucian House Lord of Ash Council of Ash

Mouthy Hard Worker Lazy Sibling Escape Attempt Dissent Sower Liar Trustworthy Prewar Rebel Free Ardor

MARKS OF THE LIBERATED Free Ardor are given an arcane brand on top of their mark of drudgery, said to act as a safety so they cannot be pulled back into the life of a drudge. Many believe that its magics are traceable, acting as a way to ensure the ex-drudge can never truly hide or be free – it is for this reason that many drudges cut the brand from their skin altogether – though it is no easy task as deep as it is within their flesh, sometimes necessitating removal of a limb.

ARDOR NAMES AND TITLES Many Ardor – drudge and Liberated alike – are given derisive monikers related to their drudgery that their masters use in place of their surnames. Some of these labels are worn like a badge of honor, while others are like a stain following the Ardor around despite their deeds or character.

ARDOR NAMES D12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

MASCULINE

FEMININE

SURNAME

Tryn Raghnall Wynford Tebald Efram Owin Jeremiah Markus Gavyn Rayder Rudolph Artiss

Elenore Rhoswen Krista Aeri Gwyn Laureen Sabine Madalynn Fanchon Mavise Abigayle Jaylin

Prothero Beynon Enfield Stant Verrier Maddock Neddow Bonshoms Lowen Voyles Hanivel Garvey

DRUDGE TITLE D10

TITLE 1

TITLE 2

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Ox Anvil Bleak Flea Wheat Slug Dirt Dog Kin Plow

Fumbler Tongue Tamer Craven Eater Wretch Stain Breath Mouth Fool

ARDOR CULTURAL TRAITS Ability Score Increase: The Ardor are tough and historied. Choose two from Strength, Constitution, and Intelligence and increase both those scores by 1. Alignment: The Ardor are no strangers to empathy, though they understand what it takes to survive, and adhere to it. They tend toward law and good. Languages: Though not their native tongue, Ardor drudges are taught and expected to exclusively speak Crucian, the common tongue of Dragongrin. The tongue of old, Holith, spoken by the gods of Ardor and used in their scripture, is still whispered in secret among drudges and used commonly among the Liberated, but it is all but forbidden by the Dismembered Lord. Many Tongues: Ardor tend to interact with many different heritages in their drudgery. You’ve picked up many foreign words in your dealings. When speaking a language you are not proficient in, you at least know enough to communicate the following basic ideas: danger, friend, food, water, help, money, trade, Sovereign, and Lightfall. Drudge Sturdiness: Your hit point maximum increases by 1, and it increases by an additional 1 every time you gain a level (in addition to all other increases).

41 CHARACTER CREATION: CULTURES

Cultural Focus: You can choose one cultural focus from the following list.

ARDOR CULTURAL FOCUS Echoes of History: Choose a major tenet of Dragongrin’s history such as the Bleak, Lightfall, dragons, Primordials, Titans, any one region, or work with your GM to choose another topic. Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) check related to the chosen category, you roll with advantage. You also know one rare and valuable fact related to the topic. Work with your GM to decide what this information is. Additionally, you can inspire your allies with tales from long ago. If you spend at least 1 minute telling a story about your chosen category, you and any ally who heard you gains temporary hit points equal to 1d6 plus your character level and has advantage on the next Wisdom saving throw they make within the next hour. You must complete a long rest before using this feature again. I Was There: You stood in the fields of the Redmarch as the Dismembered Lord slaughtered your people. You watched Lightfall happen with your own eyes and whether by cowardice or miracle, you lived to tell the tale. You know another hero who survived, and you trust each other deeply and rely on each other for support. While they are careful to lay low, appearing innocuous and simple, they are a capable warrior biding their time to strike back. Work with your GM to decide who this person is, in what way you served together during Lightfall, and where they are now. While they will try their best to remain unnoticed by the Marrow, they will always try to help you how they can, whether that be through information, supplies, connections, or in truly dire situations, with the weapon they still keep hidden away. Additionally, you can proclaim your heroism to inspire allies and strike fear into the Dismembered Lord’s forces. When you boldly and loudly proclaim that you are a hero of Lightfall, all enemies allied with the Dismembered Lord must make a Wisdom saving throw (the DC of which is 8 plus your proficiency bonus plus your Charisma modifier) or become frightened. Any ally who hears you can choose to loudly proclaim that they fight for your cause. If they do so, they can use their reaction to make one weapon attack against an agent of the Dismembered Lord that they can see. Any forces of the Dismembered Lord, if they survive the encounter, will note the identity and appearance of you and all who proclaim themselves this way. You will be recognized by forces of the Dismembered Lord in the area and attacked on sight by any who recognize you. You must complete a short or long rest before using this ability again. Work Of Thy Hand: You are no stranger to the hard work of someone else’s hand. You gain proficiency in the History skill and have advantage on any Intelligence checks made to recognize the history of crafted objects or buildings. Additionally, you can look at a crafted object and glean something about the creature who made it or the creature who uses it. You know the culture and heritage of the creature who made the object and if the object has any prominent identifying mark or feature, and the specific craftsperson who made it. You also recognize if the object has been modified from its original purpose and if and how it was recently used. You must complete a short or long rest before using this ability again Ancestral Weapon: Good steel is hard to come by in Dragongrin, but you are in possession of a treasured heirloom weapon. Choose a single weapon. You gain proficiency with that weapon and your ancestral weapon has identical statistics except it is a +1 magic weapon. Your weapon also has a unique 42 CHARACTER CREATION: CULTURES

name and history attached to it that may garner the respect (or ire) of others. Any Ardor who understands and respects the weapon’s history will automatically go out of their way to help you as long as they can do so without significant risk. Unyielding Protector: You know the suffering wrought by Dragongrin, more than most, and you go out of your way to ensure others never feel it. When an ally within 5 feet of you would take damage, you can interpose yourself as a reaction, taking the damage instead. Additionally, you have learned the ways of easing the suffering of others and helping them to resist the horrors of Dragongrin. You gain proficiency in the Medicine skill. You know an ancient healing technique passed down through your culture. As an action, you can apply a mixture of sacred oils to a creature within 5 feet, speaking a traditional Ardor blessing over them. They gain temporary hit points equal to 1d10 +your character’s level and choose one of the following conditions to remove: poisoned, blinded, deafened, frightened, or charmed. You must complete a short or long rest before using this feature again.

CRUCIAN

“The squabbling Crucian are said to be selected by the Dismembered Lord – and maybe at some point they were. The Crucian act as though they are his children, and by that I mean impetuously given to tantrums and marred by impatience, for starters. Remind me what they were chosen for again?” – Barvolo Krix, Commander of the Shattered Spire In the grim aftermath of Lightfall, the Dismembered Lord’s chosen people lead chosen lives beneath his shadow. A society fixated on perfection and efficiency, following a rigorous set of laws, the Crucian are fanatical in their reverence of the Dismembered Lord. As his chosen people, they view Dragongrin through a different lens - not as a war torn dystopia ruled over by a deathless tyrant, but rather as a perfect meritocracy ruled by a benevolent Sovereign. In their safe realm, the Crucian are able to focus on their passions. Unhindered by a lack of free time, food, or resources, Dragongrin’s most prosperous claim lordship over noble houses and devote themselves entirely to their chosen trade in service to the Dismembered Lord. The Crucian stand as some of the most skilled artisans, arcanists, and fighters in the realm, driven by ceaseless ambition.

WHAT ARE THEY KNOWN FOR? • The proud Crucian are selected by the Dismembered Lord to live in Grinn, near to him and his favor, though few understand the rhyme or reason behind this. • An anomaly in Dragongrin, the Crucian receive the protection and favor of the Dismembered Lord, and remain untouched by the dangers of the realm. This often manifests in their attitudes and beliefs. • They are divided into grand, competing houses, each with its own sigil, specialties, and methods of appeasing the Dismembered Lord.

WHAT DO THEY BELIEVE? • Crucians revere the Sovereign as a perfect, benevolent leader, his justice fair, his caring hand guiding every aspect of their society. He is their leader, and to many, he is their god. • This is reinforced by a complex propaganda machine that paints the Crucian as the light of civilization of the world, and the other cultures as backward savages. Reverence and love for the Sovereign is not merely encouraged, it is required. Pledges of fealty are spoken in schools and before each meal, and the omnipresent Kind Fellows make frequent, unannounced visits to homes, workplaces and public spaces. • Those who believe that there is something not quite right about their lives, that it is too perfect, are quickly rooted out, informed on, or caught by the Sovereign’s agents. They are quickly convinced to think differently, or brought to the Refuge of the Kind Fellows, a ‘rehabilitation’ centre where dissident opinions are quickly corrected. • Crucians see evidence of their superiority everywhere. They live in clean, well ordered cities. Their lives are filled with blessings and freedom. They are able to pursue their goals and hone their skills. They are the chosen people of the Dismembered Lord, and they lord it over all other cultures. • There are many theories among the Crucian as to how one becomes chosen by the Dismembered Lord. They

believe that by perfecting a skill, one can be chosen, and ascend into his court of closest advisors, and so they dedicate their lives to perfection. • Perfection is central to the life of a Crucian. An artist will throw away what would be a masterpiece in other cultures due to a tiny flaw only they can see; a warrior practices each swing of their blade until every facet of it is flawless; an architect oversees every single brick and screw that goes into a building they are creating. TREACHERY OF THE CRUCIAN Crucian have a reputation for being self-serving and conniving, double-dealing and honoring their agreements only as long as they are useful to them. There are some upstanding Crucian, though many use the truth as a staging ground to set lies. This often isn’t out of malice, but a belief that an individual should seek their own best interests, and that if one allows themselves to be duped or manipulated it is deserved.

Leadership: The Crucian noble houses are highly competitive by design, encouraging ruthless ambition in service to the Dismembered Lord. The power granted to them is based on the performance of their duties. If a house does not innovate, serve with distinction, and further their own aims, they are seen as weak and unimportant, and afforded fewer rights and resources. Within the houses themselves, a system of governance exists where cunning, competence, and cleverness are required for those who wish to rule. The strongest rule, while the weak are shamed and demoted, finding themselves in a weaker house or exiled entirely. THE SOVEREIGN’S PATH The Crucian are a people who thrived due to ambition. With the aid and blessing of the Sovereign, they have created a path of political achievements called the Sovereign’s Path. Beginning at age 17, there is a complex, bureaucratic system of jobs and responsibilities that those who wish to lead must have under their belt before they can rise higher. A lord must be of a certain age - no younger than 40 - and have completed many steps below. In this way, the Crucian ensure their leadership is experienced, but also ensure that no upstarts can become powerful, for to follow the Sovereign’s Path requires many favors.

43 CHARACTER CREATION: CULTURES

Homeland and Settlements: Dwelling in Grinn, where they have a seemingly endless supply of resources and freedoms, the major Crucian houses maintain sprawling estates while the lesser houses are granted plots of lands within those estates to serve beneath them. Crucian settlements exist outside of Grinn, often in places commandeered by the Sovereign’s chosen. The farther one gets from Grinn, however, the fewer Crucian dwell, preferring the safety afforded by the Dismembered Lord’s shadow to the potential ire of the envious.

their devotion to the Sovereign, they worship him, but draw from the power within themselves. Some Crucian believe they were chosen by the Sovereign for a worthy cause, destined by powers greater than even the Dismembered Lord himself. They meet the charge with zealotry and fervor. Others believe they hold their own fate, and the Sovereign values their shrewdness and self-awareness in a world governed by the Crucible’s vast powers. Many are convinced the gods do not exist – there is only the Sovereign, and though he is no god, he may as well be.

Crucian During Lightfall: The Crucian were selected as the Sovereign’s chosen people following Lightfall. Though it is unclear how they were chosen, the Crucian were transplanted into the prosperous lands of Grinn. Before Lightfall, the Crucian came from many cultures and walks of life, but now that another generation rises to rule, their former ties and cultural traditions are replaced by the new order beset by the major and minor houses.

Heritage: Crucian differ wildly in heritage, hailing from every corner of the realm – even festir and tomehearts find their place among the Dismembered Lord’s chosen.

Weapons and Warfare: Each house maintains its own militia equipped with standards and shields bearing their house’s crest and colors. These fighters protect the estates and represent their house’s interests in matters both political and martial, clashing at times with the forces of rival houses. This is of course illegal. No unsanctioned attacks can be made against other houses - else there would be chaos among the Crucian. Instead, they have created a system of ritualised warfare, known as The Clash. In this game, the nine best warriors from each house fight a mock battle. While the intent is for this to be a game, accidents happen, and warriors often die - mostly by design. They are called simply The Nine, and are trained in exotic weaponry and fighting styles that are interesting to watch. Most normal house guards are professional soldiers, highly trained, well-equipped, and disciplined. Some, especially Marrow, consider the militias soft and untested against the true darkness of the realm. The Marrow tend to despise the Crucian militias for being coddled, and the Crucian tend to despise the Marrow for being unrefined. A GRIM AND BLOODY GAME The elitist totalitarian status quo of Grinn has become ingrained within the Crucian, manifesting as a complex and twisted game between houses. In the way that a commoner might sit down to play chess, the Crucian houses of Grinn war and scheme against one another, using pawns and powerful influence in a dangerous, violent, horribly-too-real game. Many see this as a natural way to imitate their Sovereign’s conquest among themselves – a true homage. The Dismembered Lord endorses this behavior from his chosen people, and it is no secret he uses these house games as a proving ground to identify the most cunning and powerful Crucian leaders, granting them higher stations of power throughout Dragongrin.

Faith and Religion: The Crucian often subscribe to a faith known as Sovereign and Self – the belief that they are themselves set apart and better than others. Coupled with

44 CHARACTER CREATION: CULTURES

Customs: The Crucian practice rigid gestures of emphasized respect and deference, although the unspoken expected response is that the gesture should be refused. For example, it is considered polite for a Crucian shopkeep to refuse payment from a member of a more powerful house, however the patron understands that the proper response is to insist upon paying. The same extends to social invitations, and many other kindnesses. It can be confusing and tiresome for outsiders, though most Crucian adhere to it vehemently. Another custom of the Crucian is the handing of the blade. When a member of a House visits another, the custom is that the host hands their blade to the guest for the duration of their stay. They handle the sharp edge of the blade when they give it to the guest, trusting the guest to take the blade carefully and not cut them. Rumors: The Crucian and their houses weave a thick, tangled web of half-truths, decorum, and outright lies. It’s difficult to know what kernels of truth are present among the treachery, but some persistent rumors continue to recur. D10 CRUCIAN RUMORS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

It is said that the Crucian are being “fattened” with experience so their days can be stolen like hogs to the slaughter. A play is being made for the Council of Ash, and those who help are promised a handsome reward and station. An expedition searches for leaders of a new, fledgling house established far from Grinn. The two strongest houses plan to align, wiping out many of the lesser ones. An ambitious, lesser house schemes with forces outside of Grinn to usurp their rivals. A conflict between two powerful houses shifts as Marrow side with one over the other. A new rebellion simmers, and some houses have secretly aligned themselves with the Undying Light. It is said the newest Crucian are purposefully weaker than the others, culling their growing power. High-ranking Crucian disappear and no one knows why. A Crucian child located somewhere near Grinn has the power to see the future perfectly, and factions wish to recruit them.

OUTLOOKS ON OTHER CULTURES Ardor: Foolish heretics who picked a fight they couldn’t win, and when shown mercy, still chose hubris. Drogus: Dirty trash-pickers who do well to live underground – they make fine drudges though. Granok Thane: If you have one friend, make it a Granok Thane of the Red Sail market – they’re nearly as resourceful as we Crucian.

perpetuating the inter-house conflict already simmering. Though each house acts as family, they are not always formally bound by blood, but by the bond of the house itself. The houses are wildly diverse in heritage, former culture, gender, and background, sharing a common thread in their desire to see their house succeed. Though the Crucian houses are powerful in Grinn, garnering respect from friends and allies, they are often seen as an annoyance outside of the region, “playing at war” while the rest of the realm suffers. HOUSE GENERATOR

Grimdul: Superstitious simpletons who explain established empirical facts with ridiculous spirituality.

D10

GOAL

SECRET

Holmir: Competent killers and a little hungry for a fight – if you point them at anything and tell them it’s a grin they’ll hack it to pieces.

Gaining wealth at any cost

Raise up a Lord of Ash

Control the Red Sail Market Lead the houses in a particular field Snuff out rebels Control the flow of information Learn the mysteries of Dragongrin

Leader is not who they say They are collecting magical items Struggling for funds

Mord: They are not to be trusted – they hold the knowledge to the past and the future of this realm, yet they do not act on it.

Sarrik: When something dies, it should stay dead. They are an abomination – a blemish on the Sovereign’s otherwise perfect track record.

Silverwise: Sometimes when you dwell in the shadows for so long, you see monsters that aren’t there...

Talasar: Inconsequential. Most of them are stranded in the sky wrapped up in a fight against their own kind – I concern myself with matters occurring here on the ground. Zarfvin: Worthy of respect, they enable us to realize the future the Titans always imagined for us and our Sovereign.

HERALDRY

HOUSE WORDS Indolence Will Slay You in Time The Night Claims its Toll Yesterday Lays Swords on Today Sundera Noctem (without night) Wield and Work Well Duty, Honor, Respect Honor is but a Word

Hawk devouring a snake Two-headed wolf A pair of stone towers Crossed weapons Stabbed typhon Perched griffin Serpent in a knot Stag’s head opposite a lion’s Intricate, interlaced pattern Roaring dragon Three intricate keys Hands breaking shackles Halyphon in flight Minotaur’s head A stylized flower Trident wrapped in seaweed Crowned tyl

Chimera

19 20

Gnarled tree Gallows and noose

8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Join two powerful houses as one Possess powerful religious relics

9 10

D12

CRUCIAN HOUSE CREST 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Have the most deadly warriors

There are dozens of Crucian houses vying for power in Grinn. The first five (called the Destined Houses) were created by the Dismembered Lord after Lightfall. They were Rahgaris, Maegar, Caliar, Vimor, and Galtheon. No laws existed concerning expansion and the creation of new “families,” so many houses took advantage of this, growing quickly and

D20

Is welcoming of non-Crucian Secretly working with the Undying Light Smuggling Thanium Sabotage their own to keep their house as is Betrayed by a high ranking member Secretly warlocks to a powerful patron

CRUCIAN GIVEN NAMES

CRUCIAN HOUSES

Black market dealings

Death is for Tomorrow Our Steel Speaks for Us Give Not, Yield Not We Stand Tall Against Many Ice Before Fire Worry Lies in Weak Hearts Ours Be the Glory Balance in All Things Bane of Heretics

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

MASCULINE

FEMININE

Payne Brookes Lynch Christor Tomos Dantis Thomos Darreth Renton Xanner Carter Dawsin

Arecel Orya Taryne Breyna Annyte Sabucia Clarysse Marya Eranna Laoren Dexsia Ashlei CRUCIAN TITLES

D12

TITLE 1

TITLE 2

OF HOUSE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Death Even Strong Grace Bleak Crooked Feast High Shade Vile Foul Frost

hand light fang laws dagger tongue tree fury mind fire walker finger

Caliar Arreos Dagarim Maegar Bartal Rhaelor Vidar Galthe Fyste Galtheon Vimor Sargun

Unto Death, and Beyond A Queen’s Word Makes the King’s Oath Nothing is Safe Retribution Unending

45 CHARACTER CREATION: CULTURES

CRUCIAN NAMES AND TITLES Many Crucian use given names of their former cultures, though others use historical names of the land of Grinn to honor their new home. The Crucian do not have surnames, but instead are granted titles such as Evenhand or Swiftsword, followed by the name of their houses. For example: Kafka Evenhand of House Gryson.

CRUCIAN CULTURAL TRAITS Ability Score Increase: The Crucians are cunning and outspoken. Choose two from Dexterity, Intelligence, and Charisma and increase both of those scores by 1. Alignment: The Crucians are at best apathetic and often outright cruel, reveling in the failure of their enemies and the gamification of war. They tend toward evil and neutrality. Languages: The Crucian speak a language of the same name, which has become widespread throughout Dragongrin as the common tongue in the decades since Lightfall. Fate-touched: You play a role in the ultimate destiny of Dragongrin. Whenever you make an ability check, saving throw, or attack roll, you can also roll a d6 and add it to your result. You must complete a short or long rest before using this feature again. Webs Woven: You have a mind for politics and manipulation. You are proficient in the Insight and Deception skills and you have advantage on Charisma checks made to convince others to share rumors and secrets. Cultural Focus: You can choose one cultural focus from the following list.

CRUCIAN CULTURAL FOCUS Eyes Abound: Your house has eyes and ears all over Dragongrin, feeding them valuable information, and you are one of a handful with privileged access to their network. While you may not know your spies personally, and their valuable information may come at a price, you know of someone in any major city or well-populated region who is familiar with the area and in the know of its goings-on. Additionally, as long as you are in good standing with your house, you have a contact in Grinn you can communicate with via Missive Crows and letters. Work with your GM to decide who this contact is and what they specialize in. As long as you continue to provide them with information, they will respond with information and advice of their own. Absolute Authority: The Dismembered Lord bred and cultivated you for leadership and your authority is bolstered by his blessing. You have an overwhelming presence that makes weak-willed people cower and strong people respect (or despise) you. You have proficiency in the Intimidation skill. Additionally, you can channel the Dismembered Lord’s presence to ensure your commands are followed. You know the vicious mockery cantrip and you can cast the spell command as a 1st level spell once per long rest. At 3rd level, you can also cast suggestion as a 2nd level spell once per long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells. Grand Strategist: The bloody game of Crucian war has refined your sense of strategy. You’ve become accustomed to planning multiple moves ahead and creating plans for success. As long as you are not surprised, you make initiative checks with advantage and your allies roll a d4 and add it to their initiative results.

46 CHARACTER CREATION: CULTURES

Additionally, you can pinpoint key foes and ensure they are defeated with haste. As an action, you can make a Wisdom (Insight) check against a creature using their Passive Charisma (Deception) as the DC. If you succeed, you learn any damage resistances and vulnerabilities the creature has, who it intends to target on its next turn, and attacks made against the creature have advantage until the start of your next turn. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier (a minimum of once) and regain all uses following a long rest. Time-crossed Mind: When the Dismembered Lord caused Lightfall and shunted Grinn from the normal timestream, some part of you was caught in the shift. Your mind is inexplicably linked to versions of yourself from other timelines. You dream vividly of walking in places you’ve never been, talking to people you’ve never met, and falling in battles you never fought. You experience flashes of visions and eerie sensations you could never have felt. Whenever you finish a long rest, choose two skills or tools. You become proficient in those skills until your next long rest as other versions of yourself that trained in them bleed over into your experience. Additionally, you occasionally recognize people you’ve spoken with across time. When you meet a person for the first time, you can choose to have met them in another timeline, immediately remembering their name, profession, and one important fact about them. You must take a short or long before you can use this feature again. The Wolf and the Sheep: You will do things others would never dream of to achieve your goals and increase your own station, and you know which kinds of secrets will undo people . You gain proficiency in the Investigation skill. Through vile means, you have learned the darkest secret of an important person who would be ruined by its uncovering. Work with your GM to choose a powerful and important person whose secret you know related to the events of your game. That person will go out of their way to give into your demands, give you gifts, and look the other way when you go against their power or law as long as your requests don’t outweigh the shame or disaster that would befall them if their secret was known. You also have a contingency in place through a contact or confidant that would release the information under circumstances you choose such as your disappearance or other stipulations.

DROGUS

“The Drogus take what many consider detritus and cobble it together into something valuable; they gaze upon a pile of refuse and find treasure among it. It’s a shame they’ve spent so much time mired in trash that it’s rubbed off on them…” – Cinna Kort, Dead Roses Enforcer From the ashes of once-great empires, the opportunistic Drogus seek to rebuild their former glory piece by piece and by any means necessary. Salvagers, tinkerers, and scrapdealers, the Drogus comb Dragongrin for valuable remnants of the past, and many walk a blurred moral line, tending toward illicit activities and crime to stay ahead in a harsh world. With dozens of clans and minor factions, the Drogus maintain a vast network of scrappers, engineers, and black market merchants.

WHAT ARE THEY KNOWN FOR? • Prolific explorers, pioneers, archaeologists, and reclaimers of Dragongrin’s antiquities, the Drogus have forged a sprawling, hidden patchwork empire out of salvaging, organised crime, and rebuilding. • Opportunistic and shrewd in their dealings, their name is synonymous with profit, trade, and exploitation for gain. • The Drogus are famed for their familial loyalty to all other Drogus of their Chain, their tradition of sticking together, and the values of the Links. • The Drogus control the criminal underworld of Dragongrin. Smuggling and extortion are common practices, and almost every criminal enterprise in Dragongrin has a Drogus near the top, pulling the strings.

WHAT DO THEY BELIEVE? • Chains, the family unit of the Drogus, are sacred. The bond between members is utterly unbreakable, and Drogus are known to die rather than inform on their fellows. “We, ourselves” is the watchword of the Chains. • Most Drogus embrace their traditions, especially after Lightfall. Now, more than ever, they can thrive in the chaos of the Dismembered Lord’s rule. With so much strife, criminal organisations are able to exert more influence than ever. • Drogus believe in the Current Deal. This idea espouses that a deal can always change, based on external factors. A Drogus may give her word on a deal, with the caveat that it is the current deal. If factors change, a Drogus will change the deal. It is a necessary evil when dealing with the Drogus. AVARICE OF THE DROGUS The Drogus lost everything during Lightfall, and most responded by developing an insatiable desire for the acquisition of land, wealth, status, and especially Archans. This shift in focus is typical for the Drogus - adapting to the circumstances. The Drogus are adept at operating within the boundaries of the law as shrewd merchants and artisans, appearing as regular entrepreneurs, while they make their real money from illicit activity.

Leadership: The Drogus don’t have an official ruler or governing body. Instead, there is a loose council of Chain leaders, colloquially called the fingers, one for each of the major Drogus Chains. Within a Chain, leadership is hierarchical, and based on familial bonds. Generally, the older, more experienced members of a Chain’s ruling family are

in charge, and receive tribute from the Arbiters underneath them. Each captain has up to ten merchants under them, who pay tribute, and under merchants, there are kin. This system keeps the Drogus in regular contact, and ensures that power remains centralised. If an issue warrants it, Drogus Arbiters use their power to resolve major disputes, passing judgment and administering punishment within the Chain. Homeland and Settlements: Throughout the dominions of Dragongrin, one finds enormous Drogus settlements constructed entirely of reclaimed Titan salvage. The Drogus call these surga, translated from Bartermouth as a “link in the Great Chain.” The first and largest of these, Mirda, located in Svir Below, is known as their vald surga, or “the strongest link in the Great Chain.” Mirda serves as the cultural hub of all things Drogus. Some surga are said to be connected to the others through reclaimed Titan technology known as Archanic veins that allow for instant transport – though it’s far from perfected or fully safe. It’s whispered that this is how the Drogus became the best smugglers and most elusive fugitives in all of Dragongrin. Rumors persist that each new surga is positioned on purpose, and adds to something larger and more interconnected than the Drogus let on. Drogus During Lightfall: Before Lightfall, the Drogus were a secluded people holding many lands and estates across Dragongrin, though primarily in Svir. They coexisted with the Cryf and Gwan of that region, maximizing on the two cultures’ need for supplies and goods, making untold riches in both legal and illicit markets. They helped architect and operate the now-defunct Black Rail for a tidy sum, and for this they were made wealthy and often envied.

47 CHARACTER CREATION: CULTURES

Most hid away during the troubles, hoping Lightfall would pass them by, but they were affected deeply when the Cryf and Gwan became the Sarrik. The Sarrik are wary of the Drogus, but do still trade with them. When their home was marred by the Desolation in Svir, and with their funds dwindling, they decided to move on, taking up a place in Svir Below, literally building their future from reclaimed refuse. Weapons and Warfare: The Drogus are not the most renowned warriors, nor do they have a shining military history to celebrate. Instead, the Drogus excel in skirmishes, hidden blades, and illicit kinds of combat. Arson, extortion, assassinations and other wetwork – these are the things in which the Drogus excel. Beyond that, the Drogus tend to fight using their resources – starving a settlement of resources, creating scarcity, working to turn other factions against each other, and using their many favours to control the tide of history. TINKERS AND BUILDERS While not as refined as the Zarfvin or as well-funded as the Crucian, the Drogus are far more resourceful than either. They have a knack for tinkering, building, and patchworking, particularly with Titan tech. The Drogus are also willing to create and modify things the Zarfin wouldn’t do. It is said that if you want the job done properly, go to the Zarfvin, but if you want the job done quickly and without questions, go to the Drogus.

Faith and Religion: The Drogus are largely atheistic. They do subscribe to a strict code, the Link, which acts as a moral system for them. However, they possess a fierce reverence for the mysterious creations of the Titans, and the interconnectedness and opportunity brought by technology and advancement. Many Drogus believe fervently in the Great Chain, the idea that All intelligent life is inherently connected – and weighed down – with the sacred burden to create and innovate, though no creation itself can be held sacred unto itself. Priests among the Drogus, decorate themselves with heavy, clanking chains of rare metals – a sign of both opulence and devotion, simultaneously a heavy burden and a great honor. Heritage: Drogus are most commonly dwarven in heritage, with sizable percentages of darrow and tomehearts. Their numbers also include many refugees, outcasts, and opportunists, with representation from every heritage in Dragongrin.

Rumors: For the Drogus, rumors are as plentiful as they are unreliable. With their operations often relying on misinformation, misdirection, and heavy use of the trade tongue known as Bartermouth, some rumors continue to surface in varied forms with enough half-truths to be worth considering. D10 DROGUS RUMORS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

A lost surga, believed to have been swallowed by the Bleak, recently reappeared. A Titan relic known as the Silent Observer would ensure the Drogus regain their lost power. A Drogus warrior, bedecked in powered Titan armor, calls herself the Lumberer and duels any who dare challenge her in single combat. It’s said a living Titan still roams the tunnels of Deepvault in Svir Below, and some Drogus speak its name in hushed tones. Gutswill, an alcoholic innovation of the Drogus, is said to quickly inebriate even the hardiest of drinkers. A brilliant Drogus engineer claims to have built a working mechanical dragon, offering to sell the warmachine to the highest bidder. A Drogus warrior spins tales of being swallowed whole by the beast known as C’War – he has the scars to prove it. A new militant faction rises to prominence in Mirda, bent on using Titan tech to wage war against the Dismembered Lord. The great, eternal forge of Kurlos (“brightest flame” in Bartermouth), capable of melting down Titan copper, has inexplicably cooled. A Drogus warlord calling herself the Unbroken vows to unite the disparate clans of the Drogus to reclaim Svir from the undead plaguing it.

OUTLOOKS ON OTHER CULTURES Ardor: They’re a stubborn people – which is admirable – but they lack the stomach to act. Crucian: Smug, arrogant good-for-nothings who have everything handed to them. Mord: They’re practical to the point of impracticality – too disconnected. Granok Thane: Too greedy in their dominance of trade – they’ll learn what it’s like to be second.

Customs: The Drogus have a near universal contempt for a few “unlucky” numbers. The most prominent is the number eight, which when written in the common language of Crucian, looks like the Bartermouth symbol meaning “here I rest,” often found on tombstones. Other unlucky numbers are avoided for various reasons depending on the surga. Drogus deals sometimes fall through due to unlucky numbers in the time or location, or even the price of goods. Some Drogus extremists are rumored to go great lengths to ensure only an odd number of children. For this reason, twins are often mocked and reviled for “evening the family.”

Grimdul: Foolishly superstitious, but harmless enough – any who value family as they do deserve respect.

The Drogus also believe in the blood of family. This is a ritual in which when a person comes of age, or joins the Drogus, they are blooded in. The ritual is magical, in which a chain is implanted around the wrists of the Drogus, underneath the skin. These chains are magically linked to others from the same family, and have a slight magnetic pull, allowing Drogus to recognise their own, even if they haven’t met them before.

Talasar: Just like them to tuck tail and fly away when we need them most...

48 CHARACTER CREATION: CULTURES

Holmir: They have land and opportunity, but they squander it on needless adherence to tradition. Sarrik: Bad luck most times – there’s just something unsettling about dead who can speak, and they’re a constant reminder of our former glory. Silverwise: We love making deals in the shadows, so it’s good to have someone keeping them safe...

Zarfvin: Too obsessed with their inventions and uppity in their opinions – they could make a fortune.

THE DROGUS CODE: THE LINK The code of the Drogus, also called the Link, is a vital part of how the Drogus do business. There are three tenets of the code that are most often accepted and enforced, often referred to as the “Core Code.” 1. Never break the chain. Your family comes first, ahead of everything, even your own life. 2. A chain goes both ways. Respect, loyalty and fealty are given both up and down the chain. 3. Respond with certainty. A slight or crime against one Drogus is a slight against all Drogus. When one Drogus is harmed, two of the perpetrators must be harmed worse. Always send the message that the Drogus are one, and do not tolerate insults. Each surga has its own distinct culture while remaining markedly Drogus. If you are Drogus, you are accepted in any surga, though you may have to work your way up through the ranks of their hierarchy. Beyond the Core Code, many surga often have one or two additional tenets they value just as importantly. Roll or choose some tenets from your home surga.

DROGUS NAMES D12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

MASCULINE

FEMININE

SURNAME

Bymer Dyfrug Robat Merwyn Tudful Gruddyeu Rhychdir Sawel Meilyr Bleddyn Copen Garedudd

Catrin Tanwen Marged Rhoslyn Gwynedd Dwynwen Gwladys Berthog Rhonwen Eleri Ceirios Angharad

Dawes Poovey Binion Preece Hanmer Bowens Voils Blaney Wogan Caddick Bevan Pritchett

D122 SURGA CODE ADDITIONS 1 2

Everyone has an even vote in the affairs of the moment. Break laws, but keep promises. Gambling wastes our time and coin – it is forbidden for us. Encourage others, and profit from it. Do not knowingly interfere with another Drogus’ dealings, unless you intend to help. When asked for information over food or drink, the absolute truth is required in answer. Make pilgrimages to all surga within your lifetime. Keep yourself, your weapons, and your gear clean and ready. Scavenging relics of the cursed Primordials is forbidden – do not taint yourself. Do not strike one another within the surga – unless you’re in the fighting pit. Filches will know a pain unlike any other. Only truth among family. The best payment is a favor.

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

SURGA GENERATOR D10

NAME

KNOWN FOR

1 2

Gluth Nael

Mulir

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Hosi Thrim Brogroun Thorber Durusgrat Skatdrus Thekrut

Fringe Titan tech medical practices Unparalleled wine brewed Archanically Many layers of civilization dug deep into the earth Expert tomehearts who construct their own kind Rebelliousness Its ability to become mobile Having black market Primordial pieces Rare and forbidden book dealers Fertile, hanging gardens Salvaging the most intact piece of Titan tech

49 CHARACTER CREATION: CULTURES

DROGUS CULTURAL TRAITS Ability Score Increase: The Drogus are scrappy and steelminded. Choose two from among Strength, Intelligence, and Charisma and increase both of those scores by 1. Alignment: The Drogus are malleable like heated metal, yet stubborn like hardened steel. They tend toward law and neutrality. Languages: Drogus are familiar with Crucian, the common tongue, and speak it frequently. They also favor Bartermouth, a crude and simple trade language utilized by scavengers and merchants. Drogus Ingenuity: You have proficiency with one set of artisan’s tools, and your proficiency bonus when using those tools is doubled. Tech-minded: You have advantage on any Intelligence (History or Arcana) checks related to engineering, machines, or mechanical devices. Heritage: Drogus are most commonly dwarven in heritage, though their numbers also include many humans, darrow, and tomehearts. Cultural Focus: You can choose one cultural focus from the following list.

DROGUS CULTURAL FOCUS Archanic Companion: You have built a construct companion, forged of reclaimed Titan tech. Choose a creature with a challenge rating of 0 (such as a bat, hawk, rat, or badger – work with your GM for more exotic creatures). Your Archanic companion shares the same statistics, with the following differences: • It is a construct instead of a beast. • It cannot be charmed. • It is immune to poison damage and the poisoned condition. • It understands you, but cannot speak. Your Archanic companion obeys your orders to the best of its ability. In combat, it rolls its own initiative and acts on its own turn. If your Archanic companion is killed, you can spend 1 hour and 10 gold pieces rebuilding it, choosing a new form for it if you wish. At the GM’s discretion, this companion can replace or count as a companion for the sake of other features. Iron Presence: You have advantage on all Charisma saving throws against spells. Additionally, a life of bartering, haggling, and skirmishing over salvage and trade has given you a keen eye for how to get the most out of others. You are proficient in the Insight skill. If you spend 1 minute observing another creature, watching their demeanor, quirks, and speech, you can make a Wisdom (Insight) check using their passive Charisma (Deception) as the DC. On a success, you gain the following benefits: • You learn their current emotional state and their broad current motivation. • You have advantage on Charisma (Persuasion, Deception, and Intimidation) and Wisdom (Insight) checks made to socially interact with them for the next hour. • You cannot be surprised by them as long as you are currently interacting with them. Salvager: You have a mind for valuable detritus, and can usually find something useful in the ruins and wreckage of the past. While in a suitable location as determined by your GM, you can spend 1 hour per day scavenging, rolling on the Mementos portion of the Character Creation chapter on page 50 CHARACTER CREATION: CULTURES

172 or working with the GM to uncover a piece of the past, or finding a piece of adventuring gear of your choice worth up to 10 gold pieces. Additionally, you have a specialized piece of Titan tech modded especially for salvage and mining called a Ravager, which weighs 5 pounds. When you activate your Ravager, choose either a 15-foot cone or 10-foot sphere. A subsonic boom erupts from the device, sending a violent shockwave outward. Any creature caught in the area must make a Constitution saving throw, the DC of which is 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier, or take 2d6 thunder damage and be pushed 5 feet and knocked prone. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage and isn’t pushed or knocked prone. Inorganic matter automatically takes max damage and loose rock and scrap metal are automatically destroyed. The device must be recalibrated over a short or long rest before it can be used again. Scrap Weapon: You carry an odd, unique weapon, cobbledtogether from pieces you’ve scavenged. Choose a melee weapon you are proficient with that is not heavy or twohanded – your scrap weapon shares the same statistics, except that it also has one of the following additional weapon properties: thrown (it gains a thrown range of 20/60), reach (its reach increases by 5 feet), or versatile (when wielded with two hands, its damage die increases by one increment). Once per day, you can spend 1 hour modifying your scrap weapon, replacing its chosen property with another from the preceding choices. At 5th level and again at 10th level and 15th level, your scrap weapon gains +1 to attack and damage rolls and deals an additional die of damage on critical hits. Stubborn Study: You are relentless in your studies, and have pursued a skill that didn’t come naturally to you. Choose a single skill tied to an ability in which your score is no greater than 11. You gain proficiency with that skill, and your proficiency bonus is doubled when you make a check using that skill. Additionally, your stubborn will is honed enough to force success where others would fail. If you fail an ability check, you may roll again and keep the higher result. You must complete a short or long rest before using this ability again.

GRANOK THANE

“The Granok Thane are a force of nature employed to do a contractor’s bidding. Hiring them on as mercenaries is like paying the Bleak itself to rain down upon your enemies. It’s true they have honor, but you’d better pray you have enough coin to remind them, or that same honor will come back to haunt you...” – Iskar Divus, Soldier in the Talasar Civil War A hundred years before Lightfall, the warrior clans of the Granok Thane rose up to usurp the realm of Dragongrin, but they lost that war to the Ardor and their allies. The Granok were so deadly in combat that part of their reparations included a mandate called the Granok Census, calling for a mass exodus from their homeland of Uldane, surrendering it to the Holithic Church. As part of the Census, no more than 100 dispersed Granok Thane could be in any given city, for fear that they would take over. The Granok Thane hate their forced relocation, and harbor a powerful desire to return to their homeland and reclaim it. In the years following Lightfall, they refused to obey the treaty, and caused chaos all over Dragongrin. A generation has passed, and without the sting of defeat, the up-and-coming Granok Thane have resigned themselves to their existence – it has forced them to wage war as mercenaries. Largely ignoring the customs and politics of the realm, roaming from place to place as nomadic mercenaries, they are unmatched in the art of war, and the prosperity of their culture lies mostly in their reputation as infamous mercantile warriors and sellswords.

WHAT ARE THEY KNOWN FOR? • The Granok Thane are renowned as the operators of the Red Sail Markets – the monopolistic, Sovereignsanctioned traveling caravans of Dragongrin. • The Granok Thane are the most notorious sellswords in the realm, divided into countless bands of “free companies” with myriad martial services available to the highest bidder. Each company is accompanied by a squad of Kind Fellows, the secret police of the Sovereign, to ensure that no charismatic warlords rise and bring the Granok Thane to retake their homeland. • Their distinctive weapons and armor are unmatched in quality, often passed down between generations and sought after vigorously by those without them. The most valuable are those made from the durable and magical alloy known as Thanium.

WHAT DO THEY BELIEVE? • All Granok Thane feel the sting of their lost homeland. Many of them can remember the war with the Ardor, and elders tell stories of their lost home, and how it is a land of milk & honey. • While all miss their homeland, there are some who believe that their current role as mercenaries and operators of the Red Sail Markets has strengthened their people, and honed them into the mightiest fighting force in the world. • Others insist that it is only a matter of time before the Sovereign’s dark gaze sees them as a target, and they must be prepared for that day. • The Granok Thane are a markedly isolationist culture. The loss of their home has made them come together and tell stories of their culture, to double down on their cultural traditions, and to carefully protect who is welcomed into their culture.

DOMINANCE OF THE GRANOK THANE The Granok Thane are said to conquer as easily as they can breathe, and even a pair of them are said to be equal to six regular soldiers. In the days after Lightfall, they roved in hordes, and razed cities, pillaged whole countries, and brought death and conquest wherever their gaze fell. There’s a popular saying among them: “With blood and dirt” – because bloodshed and a mess are guaranteed to follow a Granok Thane wherever they tread. While a reputation for a measure of fairness exists among them, their ambition typically supersedes all else. To combat this, the Dismembered Lord began a campaign of systematic removal of their leadership, and placed in their companies squads of Crucian Kind Fellows.

Leadership: To the Granok Thane, experience is the key to leadership. Each free company is led by a warmaster who has a lifetime of experience. These leaders come from the nobility of their tribal system, tend to follow a matriarchal system, and each of them is part of a tribal council that meets once a year. Operating under a tenuous alliance, the different companies periodically meet to make important decisions, often resulting in the will of the most powerful leader getting their way – though sometimes the will of the free company must be respected, or else a challenge to the warmaster is imminent. This meeting, called the Granokaar, is a tense moment for all of the other cultures in Dragongrin. A gathering of the mightiest fighting force in the world is carefully policed by Marrow, and the agents of the Dismembered Lord. Homeland and Settlements: The Granok Thane make their primary home in the blasted sandsteel of Jahar, though they have spread to every corner of the realm. Their true homeland is Uldane, and the reclamation of that homeland is absolutely central to Granok Thane. A culture always on the search for home, you’ll find a Granok Thane in places where no other fool would dare tread.

51 CHARACTER CREATION: CULTURES

THE RED SAIL MARKET The most elite free companies of the Granok Thane run the Red Sail Markets, a network of roving, monopolistic trade caravans officially sanctioned by the Dismembered Lord to operate in Dragongrin. If you’re looking to purchase something, from weapons and armor to adventuring supplies and illicit substances, the Red Sail market will likely have it – or can procure it for the right price. See more about the Red Sail Market on page 12.

Granok Thane During Lightfall: The Granok Thane recognized the Dismembered Lord as a threat, but due to the strictures of the Granok Census, they refused to help the Ardor. Instead, they revelled in the chaos, bringing death and destruction wherever they were. When they saw their ancient enemy, the Ardor, battling the Dismembered Lord, the Granok Thane joined him. With the Granok Thane on his side, the Dismembered Lord quickly crushed the remaining resistance. The precursors to what would become the Marrow, the Granok Thane served the Dismembered Lord well, and in return, he formally broke the Granok Census and entrusted them to keep his supply lines going – thus was born the Red Sail Market. Many Granok Thane felt betrayed that the Dismembered Lord did not return their homeland to them, and resent his betrayal to this day.

Customs: The Granok Thane celebrate the Elun – festivals and celebrations in honor of their lost culture, markedly including a series of athletic competitions showcasing skills and martial prowess. Not typically lethal, these competitions are used by free companies to assert dominance over one another, but also to deepen the bonds between the various warmasters and their people. Only Granok Thane are allowed entry into these celebrations, and the prizes are often rare artifacts created by the Granok Thane themselves. The Granok Thane have a military language, called Nok, which is a shorthand for commands and orders, which has become adapted into a sort of secret language of hand signals, whistles, and other gestures. Granok Thane always greet each other with a complex sentence in this language. Rumors: Between the many free companies and the various outsiders that now make up the Granok Thane, rumors about them are whispered in taverns and around dying campfires. Though only the Granok Thane themselves could separate the truths from the lies, even the most outlandish rumors could be true of such great warriors and craftsmen. D10 GRANOK THANE RUMORS

Weapons and Warfare: Master armorers, weaponsmiths, cooks, bodyguards, mercenaries, and keepers of the Red Sail Market, the Granok Thane sell war in whatever ways turn a profit. The Granok Thane’s distinct weapons and armor have become an iconic symbol of fear and bloodshed. The most valuable and powerful pieces made of the mystical alloy known as Thanium, forged to levitate in place, move to strike for and protect the wielder/wearer. Their arms and armor – Thanium or not – are known for being highly durable and lightweight, and are sought after by many. It’s common for a Granok Thane to keep their armor for a lifetime, passing it on to a worthy bearer, who refits the armor and passes it down to the next and so on. These “heirloom” suits of armor are each unique, yet distinctly Granok. As a fighting force, the Granok Thane are legendarily resilient and dogged, outlasting any foes that face them, and grinding them into dust.

Faith and Religion: The Granok Thane worship the Riaghain – three warrior sisters said to govern both war and fate, two concepts intimately tied together. The three sisters are separately known as the Queen of Phantoms, the Queen of Blood, and the Queen of Prosperity. They foretell doom, fortune, victory and defeat respectively, and in these roles they often appear as spectral dire animals that suit the situation. It’s said the Riaghain are the founders of the Granok Thane, and were once mortal women who waged war unlike any before them, forging a future for their descendants.

Heritage: Granok Thane are most commonly human in heritage. Their numbers include beings of all types and backgrounds who have proven their martial skill and work ethic. Many festir, for instance, live and work among the Granok Thane, where their monstrous countenances are accepted without prejudice. Since Lightfall, the Granok Thane have become much more protective about who can join their ranks.

52 CHARACTER CREATION: CULTURES

4 5 6

9 10

Some radical Granok Thane consider the Dismembered Lord the father of the three sisters of Riaghain, but must hide this belief, as true Granok Thane consider this heresy. A violent coup has drastically altered a prominent free company, and their views on their share in the Red Sail Market profits are heavily contested. The Granok Thane are united, but use the free companies as a way to appear less powerful to their more foolish rivals. One day, they will reveal their unity and take what is rightfully theirs. Granok Thane spies lurk everywhere, looking to exploit weaknesses in order to conquer new lands. An artifact given as a prize from a previous Elun festival is going to be auctioned at the next Red Sail Market. Granok Thane aren’t allowed to bid. Granok Thane mercenaries secretly train an army among the Red Sail Market for a purpose yet unknown. Multiple free companies have mobilized nearby. What is their goal, and who pays them? A rogue group of Granok Thane recently freed hundreds of Ardor slaves in an attempt to reforge the lost alliance between their culture and the Holithic Church. A well-known warmaster has been wounded, and it’s only a matter of time before they’re replaced by force. If only someone could influence who the new leader will be... The Granok Thane are said to have their eye on a Dominion of Ash to conquer and rebuild their empire, forging New Uldane.

OUTLOOKS ON OTHER CULTURES Ardor: No one should be enslaved – but sometimes drastic consequences follow a foolish tactical decision. Crucian: They posture as mighty warriors, but they are yipping dogs in a land of wolves. Drogus: Good in a fight, scrappy and resourceful, but some of our biggest competition for the Red Sail with their black markets.

Grimdul: Too idealistic for their own good, and stubborn – but their tactics shouldn’t be underestimated. Holmir: Why would such mighty, powerful warriors work so hard to fight something that’s already dead? Seems a waste. Mord: If they’d open up their lands, the Red Sail would make more coin than the Sovereign could count with his Crucible. Sarrik: They can still bleed, so they can be slain – that’s reason enough to trust them unless they prove untrustworthy... Silverwise: There’s no one like a Silverwise at your back when you’re fighting a monstrosity – they have a knack for knowing the weaknesses of the world’s abominations. Talasar: I’d spit, but I wouldn’t waste the saliva. They’ve killed more Granok Thane than any other people, and we owe them vengeance. Zarfvin: Reliable, practical, and always good for a useful innovation to sell or improve operations. RIVALRY WITH THE TALASAR Many believe that if it wasn’t for the Granok Thane, the Dismembered Lord would have lost some of the most pivotal battles of Lightfall. When the Talasar finally became embroiled in the conflict, it was only the Granok Thane who were able to prove a true match for the warriors. Some say that the Talasar underestimated the Granok, and that was very nearly their undoing. In a legendary series of battles known as the Siege of Rests, the Granok Thane took many Talasar lives, forging an undying rivalry. Many Granok Thane feel that their famous victories against the Talsar is an achievement to be proud of, though they often fail to mention the severe losses they incurred. Some Granok believe the continued rivalry keeps both armies sharp and strong, while others know there’s no glory and coin in reliving the past.

GRANOK THANE COMPANIES AND SPECIALIZATIONS Aside from their skill in warfare, Granok Thane companies are most often masters of trade, vying to be the best in their given medium. In some cases their names reflect what they do, in other cases it’s considered humorous tradition for the name to have no reflection on what the company specializes in at all. Some companies take the name of their commanding officer, such as “Barker’s Howlers,” while others use a single moniker such as “The Redhawks” or “Riftbreakers.”

THE GRANOK CREED The military code of the Granok Thane, also called the Creed, was once a vital part of their martial culture, though now with their dispersal, only some adhere to it – or pieces of it – others do not. Like anything else there is much interpretation that varies from leader to leader, and free company to free company – if it’s adhered to at all. There are four master tenets of the creed that are most often accepted and enforced when it is observed, though some free companies focus on as few as a single one (if at all).

1. Oaths Bring Fortune: Before each battle, the Granok Thane swear an oath of how they will comport themselves in battles. Declaring honor, valor, bloodshed and whatever is pressing to the mission, every Granok swears their vows differently. Oaths from fallen warriors are taken, and fulfilled by those who survive them. 2. Honor the Contract: When the Granok Thane accept a contract, they will do everything in their power to see the contract completed. Their captains are expert negotiators, and are very careful in crafting carefully worded contracts. 3. The Old Manner: Disputes between Granok Thane are not to be brought to full scale war. In the event of a dispute that cannot be solved through diplomacy, each company puts forth a champion, who fight in a duel, ensuring that only one Granok Thane dies. 4. We Are One: Granok Thane are viewed with fear and suspicion. It is the responsibility of every single Granok Thane to uphold our values and traditions, as we are without a home land. Every one of us represents our culture, and our reputation is vital above all. Remember that in your dealings. GRANOK THANE COMPANY D102 TRADE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

WARMASTER TRAITS

Construction

Most kills documented Renowned among the Red Sail Cavalry Market Foodstuffs and cooking Undefeated in single combat Sellswords Master of the arcane Scouting Lost an arm to a Talasar Duellists Former Lord of Ash Guard duty and Fought against his people during protection Lightfall Butcher/curing meats Unmatched physical strength Takes weapon or trinket from all Consultants they defeat Weaponsmiths/armorer Masterwork Thanium armor GRANOK THANE COMPANY NAME

D202 NAME 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Redhawk Storm Sandsteel Dead Straysoul Crimson Blackblade Wailing Gray Shattermist Goldtongue Riftbreaker Everflowing Deathcloak Bleakbreaker Bloodcoin Slagwurm Duskwave Steelhood Ghostfire Death’s

NAME 2 Brigade Slayers Army Howlers Ransomers Swarm Collective Tigers Sentries Furies Hunters Typhons Company Freelancers Resurgents Phalanx Defiants Killers Rivals Sinners 53

CHARACTER CREATION: CULTURES

GRANOK THANE NAMES AND RANKS

GRANOK THANE CULTURAL TRAITS

The Granok Thane don’t have surnames, but instead tie their identities to the company they belong to (Govok of the Goldtongue Furies). Some choose to use their company as a surname for short (Govok Goldtongue). Though the Granok Thane are not a formal military, each company follows a hierarchy of rank based on metals from iron to Thanium, representing the value of your services as a mercenary. Starting with iron to represent your value being the equipment you have, and slowly working up – the more rare the metal, the higher the Thane’s rank is within their company, showing the higher price they’d fetch for their services as a sellsword.

Ability Score Increase: The Granok Thane are master mercenaries and negotiators. Choose two from Strength, Dexterity, or Charisma and increase both of those scores by 1.

D20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 D6 1 2 3 4 5 6

GRANOK THANE NAMES Sebanos Govok Vradum Deqrax Kreipeth Melaer Wribea Cauxir Loris Veselm

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Zevana Staekras Bauxith Limek Prexir Krokar Ciovok Mereas Ukaethes Vuxis

GRANOK THANE RANK

Alignment: Though mercenaries at heart, many Granok Thane adhere to portions of the Granok Creed, what was once a strict military code is now upheld far more loosely, using some of its core tenets as guidelines. They serve the highest bidder, but never break a contract. They tend toward law and neutrality. Languages: Speaking Crucian is a necessity for the Granok Thane, who regularly treat and trade with cultures across Dragongrin. Among their own, Granok use a secretive form of sign language known as Nok, developed to quickly and subtly deliver orders between warriors, even those deaf or hard-of-hearing. Though basic, Nok can be used to speak conversationally when the need calls for it. Warrior’s Build: Your people have been bred for combat and have an imposing stature. Gain proficiency in the Athletics and Intimidation skills. Eye for Value: Your time around the Red Sail Market has given you a keen eye for things of quality and value. You know the approximate price and cultural origin of any non-magic object and can tell what condition the object is in. Cultural Focus: You can choose one cultural focus from the following list.

GRANOK THANE CULTURAL FOCUS

Iron Copper Brass Silver Gold Thanium

Thanium Armor: You have a special set of armor made of Thanium passed down through your family. The armor has the stats of either studded leather, a chain shirt, or chainmail, except it has the following benefits: • It provides an additional +1 to your armor class. • It is equipped with wrist blades you can retract or extend without using an action (these blades have identical statistics to shortswords). You can upgrade the armor by finding a Granok Thane smith that works with Thanium. By paying the gold value of a piece of armor to the smith, you can convert the Thanium armor

54 CHARACTER CREATION: CULTURES

into another armor as long as it falls into the same category (light, medium, or heavy). Additionally, the floating sections of Thanium can defend you. As a reaction, you can activate your armor to defend you from attacks. Until the start of your next turn, your armor class increases by 2. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, regaining all uses after completing a long rest. Red Sail Veteran: A lifetime of helping to manage the Red Sail Market has made you adept at negotiating. You gain proficiency in the Persuasion and Insight skills, and roll Charisma checks made to barter or negotiate terms with advantage. Additionally, you have become well-connected within the markets. You know another Granok Thane who works as a major supplier for the market’s trade. Work with your GM to decide who this person is, how you know them, and what they specialize in supplying. You can obtain goods through them at a heavily discounted rate, and at the GMs discretion, they can find even certain rare, outlawed, or sought-after items and materials (at normal price) upon request. If they do not have the capability to supply a certain item, they likely know someone who does, to whom they can refer you. Blood Oath: The deals you make are bound not just by word, but by deeper power. Whenever you agree to equal and fair terms with another person, you can choose to bind the deal in blood. By marking a written contract with a secret symbol, using your own blood to draw it, the deal becomes magically binding. As long as the contract was drawn fairly and accurately and no parties were under the effects of mindinfluencing magic, both participants must honor the written terms exactly or suffer a disastrous fate for their treachery or failure. If the creature does not willingly submit to the spell, you can force them to be bound by its power, though they must still agree to the terms and sign the contract without coercion. Any creature who does not submit can make a Charisma saving throw, the DC of which is 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier. On a success, neither person is affected by the bond and you are aware that they resisted.

If either party in the agreement breaks the terms, they are afflicted by a terrible curse, becoming ridden with horrifying sores and suffering the effects of the bestow curse spell the moment they break the contract. Those who kept the oath choose which effect of the bestow curse spell happens. This curse can only be removed by either fulfilling their end of the deal or by the remove curse, greater restoration, or wish spells. Blood and Dirt: You were born into battle, lived your whole life in the bloody fields, and learned to thrive in its chaos. You gain proficiency in all martial weapons and medium armor. You can also add scale mail and one martial weapon of your choice to your starting equipment. Additionally you gain the following: • You learn two Granok Thane maneuvers of your choice from the following table. If the maneuver requires a saving throw, the DC is equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength or Dexterity modifier (your choice). • You gain 1 superiority die (if you don’t already have superiority dice, it is a d6). This die is used to fuel your maneuvers. It is expended when you use it, and is regained when you finish a short or long rest. GRANOK THANE MANEUVERS Maiming Strike: When you hit with a weapon attack, you can expend a superiority die to attempt to maim the target. You add the superiority die to the attack’s damage roll. The target takes damage equal to the number you roll on your superiority die again at the start of its next turn. Pummel: When you miss with a melee attack roll, you can expend a superiority die to make a melee attack with an empty hand or shield as a reaction. On a hit, you deal damage equal to the number you roll on your superiority die regardless of what your normal damage die would be. Obstruct: When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can expend a superiority die to use your body and weapon to obstruct their movement. You add the superiority die to the attack’s damage roll and the target must make a Strength saving throw. On a fail, its movement speed becomes 0 until the end of its next turn. Fight Dirty: When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can expend one superiority die to fight dirty. You add your superiority die to the attack’s damage roll, and the creature must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failure, the target becomes your choice of either blinded or deafened until the start of their next turn. Body Shot: When you successfully grapple a creature or escape a grapple, or when a creature fails to escape a grapple with you, you can expend one superiority die to wound the creature as a reaction. The creature takes the amount of damage you roll on your superiority die. Mage Bane: As a reaction, you can expend a superiority die to add the amount rolled to a saving throw against spells or spell effects.

Battalion Commander: You have served as a squad leader for a mercenary company and have refined your ability to lead. Your keen eye for combat and teamwork has given you the following benefits: • You can use the Help action as a bonus action, and you can use the Help action out to a range of 30 feet. • Whenever an ally scores a critical hit while you are helping them with the Help action, they roll an additional die of damage. • Whenever an ally that you can see falls to 0 hit points, you can use your reaction to allow yourself or an ally within 30 feet of you to move their full movement towards the fallen ally. Movement used in this way does not provoke opportunity attacks. • As long as you can see a creature and your allies can hear you, your allies can attack that creature they cannot see without disadvantage. 55 CHARACTER CREATION: CULTURES

GRIMDUL

“The Grimdul are a fierce wind who carry the seeds of growth as readily as the power of destruction. Much like the Soulwinds of their lore, the Grimdul pivot in an instant, redirecting their relentless power like a honed blade. And like any wind, when aimed properly, they can power the mills of the Dismembered Lord’s plans, the superstitious fools…” – Zaria Sharn, Curator upon the Council of Ash The Grimdul see, at all times, the future before them, indicating direction like wind across a fluttering banner. Sensing the coming destruction of the Dismembered Lord, the Grimdul forsook the realm of Dragongrin and took care of their own, preferring instead to weather the storm. They roam as nomads, making their homes where they pitch utilitarian but comfortable encampments, often along Stormroads or the Wurm Roads of Jahar, or following behind the Red Sail Market. Having a knack for divination, as well as unmatched mounts, some Grimdul seek out threats to end danger before it rears its head – to regain the honor they lost during Lightfall. Others cling to what little they have left, refusing to wage war – after all, battles are meant to be survived, not won. But all revere the Jantari, the Soulwinds of creation, which blow across Dragongrin more furiously now than ever.

WHAT ARE THEY KNOWN FOR? • The Grimdul are known for their reverence of Jantari (also called the Soulwinds). This system gives thanks to the binary powers of light and dark, pain and suffering, whose balance created the Soulwinds and oversees them. It is a harsh belief system that rewards pure pragmatism, and a kind of honour that seems cruel to outsiders. • They are are known as fierce mounted warriors with unmatched beasts-of-burden, from horses and oxen, to more exotic and dangerous creatures like xol and halyphons. The camps of the Grimdul are mobile, and they roam each day, building their camp each evening. • The Grimdul have a unique concept of property and ownership, translating roughly into “we share all.” Each Grimdul contributes to a community fund to pay the Tenth for one another. Those who don’t contribute are exiled, and in the grim economic hardships of Dragongrin, pockets of these outcasts increase in number. Their leaders are a council of elders, who see to the fair distribution of all things.

WHAT DO THEY BELIEVE? • Most believe the Primordials of old were the creators of the Jantari, are the purest and most balanced beings in the realm, and that their power will rise again. • Others believe they must accept that their superstitions have failed them in the past – that there is no place for such things in the Grimdul’s future. Instead, they posit that a tribal system, a more brutal, pragmatic system, is what they need. These tribes are led by warlords, and divided into a caste system. They are the most warlike of the Grimdul. • Most believe they must play a part in balancing the realm as the Grimdul prophecies have foretold, though many struggle throughout life to discover what their purpose truly is.

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WANDERLUST OF THE GRIMDUL Flowing like the Soulwinds, the Grimdul move across Dragongrin on an endless journey. Their nomadic ways are a joy to them, never staying in one place for long. Through their movement they develop a stronger bond as a people, and this strengthening helps them press further into the unknown.

Leadership: The Grimdul divide themselves into nomadic clans, each ruled by a leader or council known as Jantaghan. The old ways of Jantari dictate that “all must be shared.” What constitutes as ‘all’ varies from tribe to tribe. Some live as one large family unit, where children are raised in groups, and everything from food, to furs, to weapons are shared. Others have a more traditional tribal structure, where only the rarer resources like weapons and wealth are shared. Disputes are mostly dealt with on a personal level, sometimes heard by peers and decided by agreement. More serious disputes are brought before the Jantaghan, which is either a council of elders, or a warlord. There is a more recent tradition among the warlord led tribes, of rewarding followers with goods, station, and favor based on their combat prowess and skill – a new tradition seen as heretical by some, though it inarguably draws the powerful and talented to those Jantaghan. Homeland and Settlements: Though they endlessly rove like the revered Soulwinds, if the Grimdul had to call a place home, it would be Jahar – where their tent-cities are most commonly found. The Grimdul are found in every corner of Dragongrin. With the ancient magics of the Mountbreakers, they are capable of taming and domesticating beasts in a way no other culture can. Grimdul During Lightfall: The Grimdul were vocal about the coming of the “Still Shadow,” and warned any who would listen that this would emanate from the mouth of the East. It would later be clear that the “Still Shadow” they were referring to was the Dismembered Lord himself, though their warnings were so cryptic that they were of little good to anyone. While the Grimdul seemingly understood that this twisted shadow would rise, they still chose to “let the Jantari blow as it will.”

Weapons and Warfare: The Grimdul are known for their Steelwind Horde – mighty horse lords trained from birth for mounted combat. Each soldier typically maintains three or four mounts over long journeys, switching between each as they become too tired to travel, and having them ready should they fall in battle. Their chosen weapons include masterfully crafted swordstaffs, called windblades, ideal for fighting from the saddle, as well as bows, lances, and other polearms. Most famous of all is the Jantari Rider, known for their exceptional ability to fire their bows from the backs of their mounts, even when riding away. Their armies often travel light, largely living off the land. They focus on “hit-and-run” and “feigned retreat” tactics, relying on their mobility and adaptability to wear their enemies down before routing their exhausted remnants. The power of the Soulwind Channelers allows the Grimdul to predict, to a certain degree, storm patterns and shifting terrain, they use the weather as cover for their movement, hiding their locations from even the most renowned trackers until the ambush is sprung. UNSURPASSED MOUNTS None can surpass the breeding prowess of the Grimdul. They are responsible for the finest horses in all the realm, as well as the masterful breeding, taming, and riding of exotic and monstrous creatures. The Grimdul are sought after as breeders, but they save the most deadly and powerful mounts for themselves – and the Dismembered Legion of course. There is a dichotomous Grimdul adage regarding their bond with their mounts: “Never love your mount, because many will likely die beneath you. Love your mount as yourself, because they will be your salvation in battle.”

Faith and Religion: The Soulwinds are an innate part of every Grimdul. They have a preternatural sixth sense for them, and this understanding leads them to follow the philosophy of Jantari. While not a faith in the strictest sense, it is a set of principles that espouse ideas of sacrifice, selflessness, and finding joy in the small moments of life, as well as in the raw power of nature. There are no doctrines or dogma to the Jantari, but it explains that the Soulwinds are a fundamental aspect of creation, and that these forces, though powerful beyond our comprehension, do not possess any structure or order. This philosophy is interpreted differently by different tribes. Most believe that their innate understanding of these Soulwinds means that they should pursue balance in the world. Others believe that they must simply follow the flow and whim of the Soulwinds, which will blow as they will, regardless of the wants of mortals. Nearly all Grimdul revere the Jantari, the mighty Soulwinds that together form the fundamental aspects of creation. Though their interpretations and manifestations vary between sects of Grimdul, their names rarely differ. • Flamewind: The First Wind forged the world in its inescapable flame. The Flamewind consumes all it touches. If controlled, it can purify. If not controlled, it devours all. • Steelwind: The Second Wind tempered the world with its thunderous might. The Steelwind strikes all it touches like a hammer. When tempered, it builds and restores. When unbridled, it crushes. • Floodwind: The Third Wind quenched the world and strengthened its bonds. The Floodwind cleanses all it touches. When governed, it gives life and purifies. When unrestrained, it erodes and drowns.

• Stonewind: The Fourth Wind looked upon the tempered and quenched world and found it worthy, sowing it with life. The Stonewind appraises and judges all it touches. If it finds order, its weight brings life and balance. If it finds strife, its weight brings toil and depletion. Heritage: Grimdul are most commonly human, though their numbers also include traces of others seeking the balance of the Soulwinds – elves, darrow, and festir. While any can ascribe to the philosophy of Jantari, those who are born into the culture tend to have a stronger connection with the Soulwinds. Customs: When making camp, the nomadic Grimdul place spears and other polearms around the perimeter of the territory, marking the borders of their temporary settlement. Each spear is draped with multi-colored banners, bearing ancestral names and legends of old. These banners, sacred to the Grimdul, represent their collective history, passed down from one generation to the next. The banners catch the wind as they guard the Grimdul camp, reminding all of the Soulwinds which created the world – and which will someday blow again to reclaim their creation. The Grimdul live a harsh existence, a nomadic life that is filled with hardship. It is one of the greatest sins to them to see wastefulness. Food waste, especially, is abhorrent to them, who must often go days without eating. The spilling of Grimdul blood is considered a grave insult, and when clans fight, prisoners are executed by having their backs or necks broken, rather than having their blood spilled. The Jantaghan is chosen by the people. There is no hereditary power among the Grimdul, who believe that all are equal within the Jantari. A leader is chosen based on their own merits. The fact that Grimdul share all, means that a leader rarely becomes entrenched due to excess wealth. In the newer tribes, who have abandoned the old ways, dynasties are much more common. THE GREAT PLUNDER For all its dangers, the jungles of Zamon are rich with an incredible wealth of resources, and the Grimdul that dwell there are responsible for what is known throughout their culture as the Great Plunder. The Grimdul of Zamon – most notably the Dur Yara clan – have become experts at harvesting the countless corpses of the Primordials that lie within the jungle, using all parts of the creatures to craft Valens (learn more about Valens in the Wonders chapter on page 411). The Great Plunder is the duty of the Grimdul of Zamon who faithfully export valuable Valens – first to Grimdul elsewhere in Dragongrin – then selling the remainder to the Red Sail Market, using the profits to assist in paying the Tenth of any Grimdul in good standing with their clan.

Rumors: Much of what the Grimdul say tends toward the figurative and prophetic, so distilling the truth from the spiritual can be tricky – though some recurring rumors persist that seem wholly terrestrial.

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D10 GRIMDUL RUMORS 1

3 4 5

6 7 8

The Grimdul are disappearing, albeit slowly. Some say the Dismembered Lord takes them in the night, one by one, to fuel his dark machinations. The Dismembered Lord knows that if the Grimdul ever put aside their superstition long enough, they could create a Primordial artifact to see the future, one possibly more powerful than the Crucible itself. Many whisper a terrible faction of Grimdul are taking their own kind to the clutches of the Dismembered Lord, in exchange for a more prosperous life in Grinn. Prominent Grimdul seers have all received the same vision simultaneously – the ending of worlds, this one and all others. A new variety of mount has been domesticated by the Steelwind Horde, and some fear the species is too unpredictable. Grimdul prophecies and visions are more easily obtained when nearer to the battlefield of Lightfall. Most believe this is due to the world-changing nature of the site. The Soulwinds will soon coalesce into physical storms, and the Primordials will follow them. A cult of Grimdul has spent years serving one of Dragongrin’s fabled typhons. The beast must be using their powers for some terrible gain. The Dismembered Lord was wrong to select the Crucian as his chosen people – the Grimdul are far more able to serve the Sovereign, and sects of the nomads have been slaying Crucian wherever they are found. Underneath one of the many regions of Dragongrin is the first ever Grimdul city, powered by the Jantari. If the nomads were to find it and settle down, they could become heirs to a new permanent nation.

THE GREAT WIND While the Bleak is a source of fear, pain, and destruction for many in Dragongrin, many Grimdul revere it, and welcome it. Calling it the Great Wind, they believe that this arcane maelstrom is a cloud made of their ancestors’ spirits, unleashed upon Dragongrin as part of a great prophecy. They believe it is an honor to die and join the Great Wind. The Bleak is no terror to the Grimdul. They see it as the Skymother made manifest, come to the world in roiling fury. They wish dearly to become one with the winds, and hope that if they live good, selfless lives, they will join the Soulwind, and the Skymother. Others believe this is heresy, and that there are no winds outside of the Jantari. Many believe that the Great Wind has come to bring balance, and weaken the Dismembered Lord, though others claim the Sovereign brought true balance to the world using the Bleak.

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OUTLOOKS ON OTHER CULTURES Ardor: This lamed mount still lives, but can never fully heal – we honor their persistence. Crucian: The children of the Still Shadow, as dark and venomous as their master. Drogus: These gatherers of the discarded scraps of the past are harmless enough – beware their love of coin and steel. Granok Thane: A wolf dressed as a trained dog – they wait for their time to rise, growing in power each passing day. Holmir: They have dwindled in number as they pursue the destruction of the grins – but they have grown more fierce as a result. Mord: They are as old as the Soulwinds themselves, and while rich with wisdom, their outlook is a grim one. Sarrik: Having seen inside the Great Wind and having been blessed by it, they are a chosen people – but for what purpose is not certain. Silverwise: They claim to hear the whispers of those long passed – could they be in tune with the Soulwinds, as we are? Talasar: With their view from above they can see things we cannot, but they squander it, instead looking to shed the blood of their own. Zarfvin: They rely too much on what they can prove, lacking faith – but there are none who can master the relics of the old world like them.

JANTARI PROPHECIES

GRIMDUL NAMES

The Jantari speaks to the Grimdul in cryptic prophecy. Though many dismiss it as vague hokum too general to be proven, others swear by the validity of their visions and warnings. Each clan has a prophecy it believes to be true – some individuals believe that the Jantari has spoken a prophecy unto them that will come to pass. Some prophecies speak of the end of the world. JANTARI PROPHECY GENERATOR D202 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

CONDITION

PORTENT

When the blind see again As the serpent hatches When the red kings clash Through the blisters of the world When the high ground shifts On the shortest day If marriage means death

Honor dies Lies will be rewritten A cursed age begins Two kingdoms suffer

A hail of iron falls All will be forgotten A new rain falls The gamblers debt will be As the hourglass drains repaid When the chalice topples The starving feast beckons Beneath the graves of dragons Dawn becomes dusk As steel rots to rust Onward comes the flood Within the hottest burning The Jantari claims souls fires The Soulwinds blow once When the purest heart breaks more When steel splits the mouth Hunger ends Where the shallow waters The innocent take up arms quake When the oceans are aflame An eternal night begins When the wurm calls Suffering befalls the weak When the crow finds the Light will be slain blood When bones are bleached A new fury is born white When the Great Wind calls The Still Shadow falls

GRIMDUL NAMES AND TITLES It is customary to say a Grimdul name followed by the meaning to show the fullest, formal respect (“Jukka Gant, Harvest Granter”). Using only part of a name shows closeness (“Jukka” or “Gant”), and using only the meaning is considered a sign of utmost closeness (“Harvest Granter” or “Granter”), often used by family and dear loved ones. Grimdul believe that names are fluid, and are given to change when landmark events occur. Qo Rolg, Daylight Unending may become Qo Kypo, Daylight Leader after a successful defense of her camp – or even change entirely to Darok Zag, Song Breaker because she seized victory using a bardic warsong. Optionally choose or roll for a title during character creation. It doesn’t matter which table you use first, and you can optionally use only one.

D202 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

NAME

Qo (daylight) Bru (soul) Darok (song) Vrik (weapon) Jukka (harvest) Yar (shadow) Ek (stone) Fol (flame) Dur (Primordial) Zon (steel) Gul (flood) Mur (moonlight) Akule (wurm) Midze (fierce) Tolinka (awakened) Idrillo (searing) Shemi (water) Khoro (blood) Gorro (sage) Qotho (honored)

Rolg (unending) Zag (breaker) Gant (granter) Kypo (leader) Glash (betrayer) Du (mender) Vuhq (child) Nara (slayer) Razh (walker) Xel (healer) Duum (rising) Mak (leader) Keme (frenzy) Esinni (sorrow) Sawi (horror) Meda (dream) Pradargo (protector) Eshi (gift) Rhelli (survivor) Ari (prophet)

GRIMDUL CULTURAL TRAITS Ability Score Increase: The Grimdul people are keenly perceptive and deftly quick. Choose two from Dexterity, Wisdom, or Charisma and increase both of those scores by 1. Alignment: Grimdul move as the wind, malleable and agile. They also value discipline and honor above glory. They tend toward law and neutrality. Languages: Most Grimdul speak Crucian, allowing them to treat and trade in their wanderings. Among their own, the Grimdul use Dul, a breathy language incorporating hand signals and whistles, allowing it to be used on horseback to communicate in the midst of a charging herd. Animal Attunement: The Grimdul are masters of breeding and training animals, particularly those used as mounts. You gain proficiency in the Animal Handling skill and double your proficiency bonus when making Wisdom (Animal Handling) checks related to a mount. Master Harvesters: The Grimdul are experts in finding and harvesting Primordial corpses, and crafting Valens. You gain proficiency in Valen tools, tinker’s tools or a set of artisan’s tools and gain a Valen made from 1 unit of hide, blood, bone, or organ (see the Valens section on page 411; work with your GM to decide what it is), and you roll ability checks made to harvest, craft, modify, or deconstruct Valens with advantage. Tame the Deserts: You are used to thriving in environments others could hardly survive in. You gain proficiency in the Survival skill. Additionally, you can innately sense changes in weather up to 1 hour before the shift occurs. Cultural Focus: You can choose one cultural focus from the following list.

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GRIMDUL CULTURAL FOCUS Ride Upon the Winds: You have been well-trained in the arts of mounted combat. While mounted, you gain the following benefits: • You have advantage on attacks against unmounted creatures smaller than your mount. • Your mount has advantage on Dexterity saving throws, as well as Wisdom saving throws made against being frightened. • You can force an attack made against your mount to target you instead. Additionally, you own a specialized mount specific to your clan. If you gain the Animal Companion class feature, you can choose to have your mount become your animal companion, and gain the benefits of that feature. D10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

CLAN MOUNT Horse Xol Stag Ox Camel Kyte Rhino Insectoid Tyl Halyphon

Additionally, you can channel the power of the bleak to destroy your enemies. You know the chill touch cantrip and can cast inflict wounds as a 1st-level spell once per long rest. At 5th level, you can cast the spell spirit guardians as a 2nd-level spell once per long rest, except the spirits appear as Bleakmarked ancestral spirits and deal necrotic damage. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells. Ambush Strike: You’ve trained yourself to strike as quick as the coiled snake. Whenever you use the Dash action, you can make one melee weapon attack as a bonus action. Attacks made this way deal an additional damage die and the target must make a Strength saving throw, the DC of which is 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier, or be knocked prone. Prophetic Awareness: You have the Grimdul’s gift of prophecy, and you see flashes of the future in dreams and visions. Sometimes these visions are of things about to happen, and other times they are distant and hazy. You cannot be surprised and you add your proficiency bonus to initiative checks. If you are sleeping, you wake up just before the combat happens. Additionally, you have seen a vivid glimpse of a future to come. Work with your GM to decide what this vision is. The vision should provide some useful information about a conflict central to the game and a benefit that can be capitalized on as a result of having that information, even if the words of the prophecy make it difficult to discern. After the vision comes to pass, you gain another glimpse of a future event during the next long rest you take.

Channel the Soulwinds: You are particularly attuned to the Soulwinds, manifesting their beliefs and power with every aspect of your being. You gain proficiency in the Arcana and Religion skills. Additionally, you can choose to concentrate on one of the Soulwinds as a bonus action to channel their powers. Choose Flamewind, Steelwind, Floodwind, or Stonewind. As long as you are concentrating on that Soulwind, as with a spell, or until a minute passes, you gain its benefits: • Flamewind: You and allies within 30 feet deal an extra 1d4 fire damage on all weapon attacks. • Steelwind: You and allies within 30 feet have advantage on all Strength (Athletics) checks made to knock an enemy prone or resist being knocked prone. • Floodwind: You and allies within 30 feet have advantage on saving throws against poisons, diseases, and curses. • Stonewind: You and allies within 30 feet cannot have your speed reduced unless it is to 0. Enemies who start their turn within 30 feet of you have their speed halved until the end of their turn. You must complete a short or long rest before using this feature again. Bleak-tied Spirit: You have a connection to the Bleak that houses the spirits of your ancestors, and your connection to the next life has given you a sense for spirits on the material plane. You can innately sense the presence of spirits in an area. You can see spirits even if they would be invisible and you can understand and speak to them even if you don’t share a language.

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HOLMIR

“The Holmir – resilient as the dirt of Dragongrin, and in my opinion, equal to that dirt in wit and mirth. I’m not sure what’s worse: their warmongering ancestors, or the dragons they slew. Either way, the embers of ancient warrior kings burn in the bellies of their heirs even today. If united, they would pose a grave threat to our Sovereign.” – Eranna Shademind of House Galthe, Crucian Historian From Dragongrin’s most grim and brutal legends of might and magic march the Holmir, ancient shatterfarers, wyrmslayers, and tomb-robbers. In eons past, Yngvildr, vengeful god of the Holmir, felled the most powerful of the dragons known as Xur Kith. The Holmir fervently believe that the grins left in the wake of fallen dragons are theirs to claim and pillage by divine right. Following in Yngvildr’s footsteps, these ancient slayers of the dragons possess an inexorable connection to the dragon graves of the realm, building their homes atop them, erecting structures of wyrmbone and decorating their arms and armor with scale, tooth, and claw. The Holmir are a warlike culture who remember untold eons of Dragongrin, revering an age long past when they hunted the mighty dragons, claimed their hoards, and built their cities atop their grins. Today, the Holmir follow that tradition, striking out in their longships to seek new grins to claim. This often puts them in conflict with other cultures, as the Holmir do not respect borders or boundaries, they simply go wherever their hunt takes them. The Holmir raid and pillage what they believe is rightfully given them by Yngvildr, seeking to claim the lands on and around the grins of the realm. But even the Holmir are not without restraint, taking only what they need to survive and living by a strict code of brutal valor and honor known as Veidr (Great Hunt).

WHAT ARE THEY KNOWN FOR? • The Holmir stood as the eternal sworn enemies of the dragons in ancient days, and many carry on this tradition, bent on conquering the twisted and ever-growing grins to use as a powerful resource to thrive and build new cities. • The Holmir maintain an odd, strained relationship with the arcane, seen as the magic of dragonkind. Though they wield it, they often do so out of necessity, preferring the comfort of sharp steel to the glow of the arcane. Holmir magic-users, though crucial in finding and combatting grins, are often pariahs within their own culture, feared and revered in equal measure. They fear their magicusers will succumb to wyrmfade, a sort of dragon sickness that becomes an insatiable greed. This fear leads them to keep their magic users in symbolic chains, and those who exhibit signs of the wyrmfade have their lips sewn shut. • Despite their tradition of raiding and robbing, the Holmir do not value materialism for the sake of avarice. Though Holmir warriors often gather wealth and glory, they take pride in courage, honor, and community far more than riches, often sharing their gains among their people. The adherence to Veidr is paramount among the Holmir. To hoard riches for oneself is to live like a dragon; to live like a dragon is to invite the ire of Yngvildr. • Those Holmir who are not involved in the traditional hunting of dragons, tend to find work as elite shock troop mercenaries. They are known to be some of the most effective line-breakers in Dragongrin.

WHAT DO THEY BELIEVE? • Some feel there is more at stake in the realm today than the graves of long-dead dragons, and that to survive, the Holmir must raise their gaze to new horizons – especially the growing threats on the shores of distant Grinn. • Others say they must evolve and embrace the full power of magic to survive the coming age of Dragongrin, believing there will come a day when their steel alone will falter beneath the powerful sorcery of their adversaries. • Almost all Holmir believe in the Veidr, an honor code as old as their culture. It posits that generosity, courage and self-sufficiency are the most essential values a person can have. • While the Veidr guides the Holmir, some believe the antiquated code of honor must be dispensed in order to secure a future for the culture. Resources must be gathered and hoarded to ensure the survival of the children of Yngvildr.

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BRUTALITY OF THE HOLMIR With a reputation for brutality and harsh adherence to tradition, the Holmir are known for exacting swift and bloody death upon their enemies. However, their brutality is tempered with unerring honor. They don’t force vanquished foes into slavery, nor kill the unarmed or weak unless circumstances are dire. They hold true to a hard-edged, unwritten code of common honor that some say is a reprieve from the world of greater Dragongrin.

Leadership: Each Holmir clan swears fealty to a leader known as draigwr (dragon-eater), who is usually the most accomplished and experienced warrior in the clan, chosen by vote. The draigwr act largely independent of one another, but honor territorial borders and don’t often war amongst themselves. A draigwr is expected to bring glory, wealth, and power to their people, and failure to do that will see them displaced. Homeland and Settlements: The Holmir once lived exclusively in Varnholme in a series of holds built atop grins, but have since sought territory across the realm. The Holmir seek out the grins of foreign lands promised to them by Yngvildr. In recent days, many grins stir with draconic life and must be culled. Once a grin is culled, the Holmir strip it of its resources to ensure it doesn’t rise again. The act of culling a single grin sometimes lasts generations, with children carrying on the grim duty of their parents. The Holmir build their settlements utilizing the dragon carcasses entombed within grins, erecting structures of wyrmbone which stand tall and pale. Holmir During Lightfall: The Holmir remained neutral during Lightfall, seemingly unimportant to the Dismembered Lord and his armies. They did not intervene, and the Dismembered Lord did not attack. Some outlying clans made themselves available to both sides, acting as brutal sellswords – mercenaries in exchange for access to prohibited lands where notorious grins reside. Since, many Holmir wonder if their inaction during Lightfall was folly. Weapons and Warfare: The Holmir are some of the most dogged, brutal, and skilled warriors in the history of the realm. They are known for their prolific body paint, often the color of their clan’s chosen hue, as well as wearing the bones, hide, and furs of slain creatures. Higher-ranking warriors, and those who have culled grins, often bedeck themselves in dragon remains – scaled armor festooned with teeth and claws, spears and axes fashioned from wyrmbone, helms carved from dragon skulls. All Holmir fight alongside one another, no matter their gender or heritage. They favor martial weapons and close-quarters combat to magic or ranged weapons – though the latter are still an important part of their strategy for war. LITTLE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WAR AND DIPLOMACY “With a Holmir,” it’s said, “at least there is no trickery – you always know the sword comes first.” The way of the Holmir is simple: when disagreements between various power-players present themselves, weapons are drawn, and the dispute is settled. Draigwr have been felled this way for millennia, paving the way for new leadership. The Holmir’s natural inclination to draw blades and bows before feasting at diplomatic tables brings with them the reputation of violent looters, pillagers, and barbarians from across the sea – an unfair judgment, perhaps, but it’s hard to blame those whose villages are burned to ash. Many cultures resent the Holmir for their menacing way of life, while others respect their unmatched vigor – there is rarely any middle ground between the two ideologies.

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Faith and Religion: The Holmir almost exclusively revere a single deity known as Yngvildr, a vengeful god, a slayer of dragons and deities who takes little interest in the affairs of mortals. His attention yields doom, not blessings, so prayers are not often offered by the Holmir, who prefer to honor their creator in silence. Yngvildr does, however, grant all beings strength, power, and courage at birth, and the Holmir believe plenty has been given. Yngvildr abhors the dragons, who maimed him according to legend, and his followers slay them in his name and by his charge. The code of Veidr, the Great Hunt, is adhered to almost spiritually by all Holmir, and particularly their warriors. Heritage: Holmir are most commonly human and halfkin. Their ancient societies also include some of the oldest heritages in Dragongrin, dwarves and elves among them. Customs: Some Holmir cure meats and ferment liquids within parts of the grins themselves using a guarded, traditional process. They call this food and drink Yngsblot (body of Yngvildr). These consumables are infused with the energy and essence of the slain dragons, and have varied effects depending on the grin but are typically euphoric and emboldening. A wise Holmir is careful, however, as the Yngsblot has been known to be wildly addictive. The Holmir choose their leaders by vote, and even the crews of longships tend to make important decisions by voting on them. Each Holmir is given a dragon scale at birth, and they use this scale to cast their vote, each Holmir placing their scale to the right or left of the draigwr to make a decision. Rumors: The Holmir are a traditional, loyal, and severe people, and sometimes the lines between fact and belief are blurred. Though many would not willingly sow dissent or spread lies, false interpretations of the truth may spread quickly by ignorant lips. Upon realizing the fallacy they’ve spewed, the Holmir responsible often takes their own life as a sign of ultimate honor.

D10 HOLMIR RUMORS 1

4 5 6 7

A twisted grin exists beneath a nearby city, threatening the whole population with its vile touch. Yngvildr is returning to bring his people to greatness, as they so rightfully deserve. It is said the key to this reckoning lies in an unknowing hero somewhere in the least populated areas of Dragongrin. Holmir raiders are departing for their traditional pillage, yet not returning. Who or what is disappearing so many warriors and longships? A troll resides in one of Varnholme’s many ancient tombs, and only the Holmir can convince it to donate its vast knowledge of the world’s hidden grins. Varnholme melts, and the predominantly coastal Holmir find their water levels rising. A previously culled grin has been assaulted and the Holmir guarding it found dead. Untold wealth may lie within. The Dismembered Lord sets his sights on Varnholme, sending spies and scouts to assess the best routes to invade. The population of an entire hold has seemingly slain themselves in the traditional fashion reserved for those who have lost honor, but the draigwr claims there’s more to the story. Recent Holmir deaths are linked to the same batch of Yngsblot. Victims are starving to death despite consuming proper sustenance – who is behind this vile poisoning? An unidentified sect of Holmir feed intimate details of their kinsmen’s military outposts directly to the Dismembered Lord and his Lords of Ash.

OUTLOOKS ON OTHER CULTURES Ardor: We are different folk, but we share a common history – the forging and falling of an empire. The past ought to be respected as we look to the future. Crucian: They know not the horrors they serve, preferring comfort while the rest of us starve. They hoard like dragons. Drogus: Preoccupied with coin, these traders would be more beneficial an acquaintance, were it not for their knack of pillaging our grins for their own gains. Granok Thane: Once, we controlled the seas, the roads, the trade. Now, the Granok supplant us, and rub it in our faces. Grimdul: Nomads who journey the land as we do the sea. They have little love for wealth, much like our own people. Mord: Once, we lived alongside each other – two ancient peoples in the furthest frontier of old Dragongrin. Their exile marks the beginning of a new age. Sarrik: The few Sarrik we encounter are a frightful sight, but once you get to know them, you find they’re survivors – like us. Silverwise: To seek answers from the dead is a betrayal of their memory, but there’s something to those Silver Walls... Talasar: Once great, then waning, now literally uprooted from Dragongrin – we must ensure the same fate does not befall us. Zarfvin: It’s difficult to get a grip on this culture of tinkerers, but with the prevalence and power of Titan technology, they should be made into quick allies. HOLMIR CLAN GENERATOR D10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

CLAN NAME

KNOWN FOR

Sjogren Faltskog Angstrom Degermark Fhiongain Dhurcain Ceallaig Isaksen Tharaldson Griogal

Berserkers Abundant crops Wine and song Expert archers Blacksmithing Soothsaying Masonry Boatmaking Sturdy shields Scribing YNGSBLOT GENERATOR

D10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

CONSUMABLE

EFFECT

Grain alcohol

Causes a fleeting ancestral vision Allows the user to ignore pain Draconic blood temporarily Strange roots Eases the mind to sleep Dried meat Fills the belly for days Preserved fruit Relieves minor aches and pains Crushed leaves and stalks Heightens senses Monstrous flesh Allows the user to “see” magic Increases strength and speed Sour milk temporarily Fermented berries Quenches the fiercest thirst Ground herbs Increases natural empathy

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HOLMIR CLANS AND THE GRINS

HOLMIR CULTURAL TRAITS

The Holmir are undeniably connected to the grins of the ancient dragons of the realm. Some say it is because they are cursed by the Oldest Dragon. Others whisper they are the progeny of the dragons destined to wipe out their foul progenitors. Many believe the mighty Yngvildr gifted them the sense to find their mortal foes at birth. Clans are tasked with the generational charge of finding and eradicating grins.

Ability Score Increase: The Holmir are mighty and resilient, and possess an incredible inner strength. Choose two from Strength, Constitution, and Charisma and increase both of those scores by 1.

HOLMIR NAMES AND TITLES Holmir names are bestowed by the clan’s draigwr at birth, while Holmir titles are granted by deeds and reputation. Children carry the title of one parent until they earn their own in combat or through other deeds, ritually bestowed by their draigwr as a kind of coming-of-age ceremony. D20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

GIVEN NAME Tormod Magne Arne Torfinn Veral Thue Jenssen Loga Ingrid Aanes

D202 TITLE PART 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

AleDreamWitchFoulSongGrinShieldBloodSerpentLieSwordHonorSkyShatterMeadLifeWyrmTrailHonorSecret-

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Therleth Stignall Siegrun Helseth Bendixen Tonje Sidsel Oddrun Margrev Maurr TITLE PART 2 -slayer -breaker -lover -teller -scrawler -render -taker -drinker -singer -giver -burner -holder -runner -stopper -slighter -maker -ender -finder -weaver -keeper

Alignment: Often brutal and reckless in life, the Holmir nonetheless are people of intense, regimented honor. Failure to abide by Holmir laws and the code of Veidr often means exile or execution. They tend toward law and neutrality. Languages: Most Holmir speak passable Crucian, as their raiding carries them often to the mainland of Dragongrin. Among their own, the Holmir speak a strange and ancient tongue known as Yng, which oddly enough shares many commonalities with the guttural language of the dragons, their sworn enemy. Seeker of Grins: Your fate is tied with that of the dragons, long thought extinct, but now growing once again in power and presence. If you spend 10 uninterrupted minutes concentrating on ancient Yng rites, you can sense the presence of grins within 5 miles of you. Only the boldest Holmir vocalize these rites for fear of attracting the ire of Yngvildr. You can sense their general direction and distance (in miles) from you. You must complete a long rest before you can use this feature again. Remembered Eons: The Holmir are an ancient people, and their histories are recorded and oft recited. You are proficient in the History skill and have advantage on Intelligence (History) checks relating to the Holmir, dragons, and grins. Cultural Focus: You can choose one cultural focus from the following list.

HOLMIR CULTURAL FOCUS Wyrmslayer: You possess a mighty, rune-etched wyrmslayer, a weapon used to fell the dragons of old. Choose a single weapon. You gain proficiency with that weapon. Your wyrmslayer has identical statistics except it is a +1 magic weapon that deals an additional damage die to dragons, dragonbound, and other draconic creatures. In addition, the weapon glows when carried inside grins or in the presence of draconic creatures within 300 feet. It sheds bright light in a 15-foot radius, and dim light 15 feet beyond that. Grindelver: You are among the Holmir that plunder and tend the grins for the prize that Yngvildr has passed to you. As a result, you are used to working in subterranean environments and navigating the twisting pathways that come with the grins. You have advantage on all Wisdom (Perception) checks made to see or hear things while underground, and cannot become lost while underground. Additionally, you are used to finding hidden paths within the winding, unnatural pathways of the grins. If you spend 1 minute searching a section of an underground area, testing the sounds and reactions of the area, you can determine if there are any hidden paths, or if a room or filled space is on the other side of a wall. Upon Shattered Seas: A lifetime of sailing has granted you an expertise with the sea that few can claim. You become proficient in water vehicles and make checks related to sailing a ship with advantage. Additionally, you’ve developed a strong sense of navigation and weather. You always know which way is north, and you can spend 10 minutes observing the weather to determine when and how it will change over the next 8 hours.

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Additionally, your attunement to the sea is so strong that you can speak to it and it follows your command. You learn the gust and control water cantrips. At 7th level, you can cast the control water spell as a 3rd-level spell once per long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells. No Lie Shall Be Spoken: You are an enforcer of the ancient customs, ensuring that all negotiations are done fairly and honestly. You become proficient in the Insight skill. Additionally, you can spend 1 minute carving an ancient Yng rune meaning “honesty” into a surface nearby. Any willing creature may place their hand on the symbol and recite the phrase “Let all our speech be an oath.” For the next 10 minutes, any creature who does so cannot deliberately lie or speak in a misleading manner, speaking in only the most direct and truthful way their knowledge can allow for. As long as you are not in combat, upon finishing the ritual you may compel one creature to participate in the ritual if

they otherwise refuse. They must make a Charisma saving throw, the DC of which is 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier. On a failure, they are compelled to agree to the process, though you must also agree to the process as well. You must complete a short or long rest before using this feature again. Curse of the Wyrmfade: The dreaded dragon-curse of the Holmir lies dormant within you. You can detect gems and precious metals within 30 feet of you by smell, but are unable to identify or appraise them through scent alone. In addition, you wear ceremonial, rune-etched chains that do not restrict you, but can instead act as a spellcasting focus. When you finish a long rest while wearing these chains, you can allow them to harness your inner dragon magic and choose one cantrip on the sorcerer spell list. Until you finish another long rest, you can cast this spell while wearing your chains, and Charisma is your spellcasting ability for this spell. You can keep the same cantrip you chose when you finish a long rest, or choose a new one.

65 CHARACTER CREATION: CULTURES

MORD

“The jarl had a gray-skinned advisor at her side – one of the Mord. Continuously, the Mord stooped to whisper in the jarl’s ear, and she only spoke after. Not once did she say a word without first consulting that advisor. Funny, I remember thinking – she doesn’t even realize who sits in her throne.” – Barachiel, Zarfvin Isomarc Deconstructor For as long as there have been shadows in Dragongrin, the Mord have operated from within them, exacting their will – benevolent and otherwise – while hiding in plain sight. Originating from the mystical frontiers of Varnholme, the most ancient and misunderstood people of Dragongrin are most peripheral to – and the closest to understanding – the unfathomable but dwindling power of Imminence. For untold millennia, the gray-skinned Mord have integrated themselves into the cultures of Dragongrin, tightening their political grasp, playing a complex game with ever-moving pawns. Now they stand as staples among the various regions of Dragongrin, serving in roles as diverse as collectors of the Tenth, political advisors, and scholars. The Mord perceive everything in the scope of eternity, regarding the events of decades as a lesser creature might regard the passing of a day. This manifests in many strange ways, leading the Mord to seem alien, aloof and perhaps cruel. This shows most clearly through one of the prime philosophies of the Mord, called Essentialism. This school of thought teaches that there is a weakness inherent in all things, and that through careful study of one’s own actions, and the trends of history, it is possible to see this weakness in yourself and in others. Colloquially called the weakness in all, it is the dedication to this philosophy that has seen the Mord ahead of the curve throughout all of recorded history. The Mord’s exposure to Imminence and the strange Elderstones grants them unnaturally long lives. Through a strange ritual, their skin turns to an ashen gray, and their lives span centuries or even millennia. With lives of such length, they are able to execute schemes and plans that seem labyrinthine and impossible. APPEARANCE OF THE MORD Due to their exposure to Imminence and the Elderstones, the Mord bear the typical anatomy of their heritage but with ashen skin in varying shades of gray. Their skulls are longer and more angular, with deeper-set eyes, and more pointed ears than others of their heritage – often slightly taller in stature and more spindly. Their hair is often shock white, though sometimes appears as black or gray.

THE MORALITY OF ANCIENTS The Mord are unusual in that they live such long lives. This, in combination with their philosophical view of life, leads them to have a morality which is hard to understand. The Mord aren’t good or evil in the traditional sense, if only because those words and ideas are too simplistic to apply. A Mord will gain and shed philosophies in their long lives, like a snake sheds skins. Early in their lives, the Mord may act like other races, but after their first century they’ll often embrace sensation, wanting to experience everything that they can. Many will go through phases, decades long, of seeking enlightenment, living stoic, aesthete lives, followed by decades of epicurean debauchery. They might spend some decades believing in altruistic, communal living, and other decades believing in draconian, purely utilitarian pragmatism.

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All of this to say that the morality of the Mord is alien. It is not black and white, but rather blue and orange – so different to how most cultures think as to be totally alien.

THE FRACTURING OF THE MORD The Mord have never been a fully united people. With a race that is as long lived and philosophical as they are, it is natural that they would be split along ideological lines. Since before recorded history, they have been divided into various factions, the most powerful of which have been the Mordrivh and the Morden. Their disagreement is a philosophical one - with centuries-long lives and wisdom that no others can attain, what should the Mord do? In recent times, however, an emergency for their people has seen them fully sundered, and in a more drastic fashion than ever before. Lightfall has done something inexplicable to the Elderstones, the most vital of the Mord’s resources. For some reason – a reason that not even the most sagacious of Mord can determine – the Elderstones have ceased growing. A resource that has for all of history been renewable, has suddenly become frighteningly finite. This has seen all Mord choose a side in this ancient factional struggle.

MORDEN The Morden seek to use the power and control they amass for the good of the world, making decisions and pursuing plans that nudge the world toward higher ideals and a more enriched and fulfilling life for as many as they can. Through their understanding of time, their long life spans, and their study of Essentialism, they nurture and guide those who they believe will bring about positive change in the world.

MORDEN SCHEMES An example of a Morden scheme, centuries long, may look something like this: Understanding that there will be a need for heroes in the world to come, the Morden set to keeping a certain town somewhat isolated. They encourage certain skills in this town – blacksmithing, hunting – and ensure that those who show promise in these fields live successful lives, have children, and live to pass on their knowledge. They steer monsters and animals away from this town, letting it flourish for a time. They remove corrupt or selfish individuals from power, replacing them with those who can best serve to nurture a heroic spirit. Over time, they will allow monsters to filter back into the area, giving the people of the town a focus – the hunting of monsters, and the forging of equipment. The traditions of hunting and blacksmithing lead to a town that excels in the hunting of monsters. Finally, centuries later, a group of friends grow up together in this town, learn the storied skills of blacksmithing and hunting, and become a fearsome, legendary group of heroes who oppose the Dismembered Lord.

Yet what separates the Morden most from their Mordrivh counterparts, is how they view the crisis of the Elderstones. The Morden believe that there is a possibility that all can benefit, and that by careful rationing, the Mord can continue to grow, even if the Elder Stones are now a finite resource.

MORDRIVH The more militaristic and selfish of the two branches of the Mord, the Mordrivh seek to use their power and understanding of Essentialism for their own benefit. They seek to shape the world in a way that makes it better for them, and only them. They seek to place Mord in positions of power all over the world – the power behind every throne should be gray, they believe. They are master manipulators, turning factions against each other to ensure none grow too powerful, and snuffing out powerful enemies before they reach their full potential. MORDRIVH SCHEMES A Mordrivh scheme, centuries long, may look something like this: The Mordrivh want to ensure that a certain family comes to power in a city. They ingratiate themselves with the family when they are simple merchants, guiding their purchases and bringing wealth to the family. The family comes to trust the word of the Mordrivh implicitly. Over the next decades, the Mordrivh are aware of market trends and help the family get very wealthy and powerful. At the same time, they work to quietly discredit other noble families in the city. An affair is uncovered, a caravan is attacked, a nobleman is accused of blasphemy – and over the decades, the Mordrivh-backed family have backed become the preeminent family in the city. The Mordrivh contrive a crisis – a group of raiders (secretly mercenaries hired by the Mordrivh) arrive to harry the city, and the current patriarch of the family defeats them in battle. At this stage, the power and legacy of the family is secured, and the Mordrivh that ‘advises’ them effectively rules the city.

When it comes to the crisis of Elderstones, the Mordrivh are entirely self interested. The oldest among them hoard Elderstones like dragons hoard gold, divvying out what they do have as rewards for loyal service. Yet they will steal, extort and even kill to get what they want.

WHAT ARE THEY KNOWN FOR? • Many Mord strike out on their own both in personal parties and among large groups in order to establish spheres of their own influence in the other regions and cultures of the world, amassing power as political advisors, religious leaders, influential artists, or any other roles where influence can be gained. • The Mord are tied with Imminence, the devastating magic of Time. Their philosophy of Essentialism, seeing the weakness in all things, allows them to view things in a purely pragmatic way, and even gain glimpses of the future and differing timelines. This allows them to become masterful manipulators, strategists, diplomats and more. • Despite their innate magic, the Mord take no open action against the Dismembered Lord – or anyone else for that matter. They work in the shadows, their morality a mystery to all but themselves.

WHAT DO THEY BELIEVE? • The Mord are split into two distinct factions, differing most of all in their view of what should be done relating the Elderstone Crisis. Some believe that they should find a sustainable way to continue their culture, while others have become isolationist, hoarding what Elderstones remain. • Philosophy is central to life as a Mord, often changing hugely during their long lives. Each Mord is on a personal journey of centuries, acquiring and shedding philosophies like cloaks, always reaching toward the ephemeral goal of enlightenment, and the acquisition of power and influence. • Most look at the realm in the scope of eternity, caring not for the matters at hand, instead making countless minor contributions to the art and emotional experiences of Dragongrin, subtly weaving a better timeline with every small deed. AMBITION OF THE MORD Even to the most ethereal, high-minded beings of Dragongrin, the Mord are seen as alien and unknowable. One thing that can be relied upon, is their ambition for power. The Elder Tenet manifests in countless ways, ranging from the virtuous to the wicked. In any case, the Mord will weave and plan over years and even decades to slowly but surely influence the realities around them with their beliefs. In many cases this process unfolds so slowly and incrementally that those affected don’t even consider that the Mord had anything to do with it.

Leadership: With the ability to perceive events on a grander scale than others, the Mord don’t often concern themselves with the types of structures other cultures do – a shock to many as the Mord emigrate to new lands. The Mord understand that they can wield greater power and influence from behind the throne – kings and lords are assassinated or deposed, while advisors remain from regime to regime. In exchange for plots of fertile land, superstitious mayors, governors, and Lords of Ash are granted valued advice from the eternal Mord.

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Even so, there is a central council of ancient Mord, called the Perpetuals. These Mord have existed for thousands, even tens of thousands of years, and through their guidance the Mord remain a powerful, influential culture. Almost none have seen these Perpetuals, and some wonder if they are even real. Homeland and Settlements: The Mord homeland of Varnholme is known to house the largest population of Mord in all Dragongrin – almost all of which thrive in the vast, subterranean city underneath Asgol, their capital. The building of stretching, underground settlements beneath spartan surface cities – such as the Entombed Kingdom beneath Asgol – is a common practice among the Mord, who often retreat to the tunnels when desiring a deeper connection with their culture, or simply looking for a safe place to lay low. The Mord are no mere cave-dwellers, however. The perfectly paved, underground highways are traversed by thousands daily, as inhabitants make their way from well-lit skyscraping dwellings, to luxurious dining halls, populated markets, and finely chiseled palaces surrounded by glowing, maintained Elderstone. For their metropolitan ways, many Mord find large, well-populated cities as the perfect new homes, using the many opportunities afforded there to climb the various social ladders, while engaging secretly with other Mord in underground sewers and canal systems. Others find success in more remote areas, preferring to have stable control over a smaller, less cumbersome and cutthroat environment. Mord During Lightfall: Despite watching the war for Dragongrin play out from the sidelines, the Mord are innately tied to the Imminence the Dismembered Lord tried and mostly failed to wield during Lightfall. When the powers ruptured, the effect was like a knife to the belly of Imminence. The Bleak spilled from the wound, and the Desolation was the scab that formed over it. The growth of the Elderstone in Varnholme ceased, and the Mord were never quite the same, shattered and reconfigured alongside their source of power. Their inaction, their inability to plan for this disaster, has seen their most valuable resource – the Elderstone – become finite. Weapons and Warfare: The Mord aren’t known for their marching armies, or their legendary fighters. To many Mord, if it comes to the point of combat, their scheme has already failed. Instead, the Mord usually focus on pulling the strings of other armies. When called to war, Mord use their centuries of experience, as well as their understanding of the Elder Tenet to try to outmaneuver their enemies on a tactical level. Mord are more often found in the command tent than in the shield wall.

ELDERSTONE CRISIS Eons ago, from the eternal powers of Imminence emerged the mysterious Elderstone, amber and crimson crystals, endlessly growing through the caverns and tunnels of the underground of what would become known as Dragongrin. For centuries the Mord lived in thriving civilizations within days of walking distance from the crystals, and the massive underground caverns which they expanded through. Through the Elderstone they discovered a new form of unimaginable magic – Imminence, the untouchable, unharnessed magic of time. The crystal allowed them strange abilities to prolong their lives, embolden their spirits, capture vital personal knowledge in otherwise mundane occurrences, and more. They forged weapons from the Elderstone, imbued its energies into rings, amulets, circlets, and other wondrous items which all Mord obtain at a coming-of-age ceremony known only as the Pass. Yet since Lightfall, and the rupturing of the world, the Elderstone has ceased growing, turning a renewable resource shockingly finite. The Mord now spread the Elder Tenet from their homeland, hoping to find or create new outcroppings where Elderstone can manifest and grow. The original Elderstones resides in Varnholme, which remains an epicenter of Mord culture and leadership, though the powers and size of the crystals cease to grow, presumably due to the emergence of the Bleak.

Faith and Religion: The chief god amongst the Mord is known as Sightless Time, the manifestation of time itself. This god is uncaring of the struggles and successes of mortals. Seen as a clockmaker – Sightless Time created the universe, and then simply lets it run – the Mord revere their deity not in fervent worship, but in the adherence to the Elder Tenet, and the philosophy of Essentialism. Sightless Time knows no distinction between past, present, or future. Instead, it is all three and more, and all must pass through its mighty, loose grip. Heritage: The Mord culture began as elves, and even today, their ranks are predominantly taken up by elves. There are many who seek the ways of the Mord and Elder Tenet, and if they are able to accept the culture’s strange ideologies, and succeed in their secret rites of passage they will be allowed to live among them as one of their own. Some even claim that prolonged exposure to Elder Crystals in the right measure and way leads to a supernatural epiphany – a spiritual awakening of the Elder Tenet which turns those of any culture into Mord. This leads to their skin becoming ashen, enjoying expanded lifespans like their cultural forebears. Customs: The Mord have patience like no other, manifesting in various ways. While most are slow to lose their temper in the face of adversity, their tendency to wait indefinitely for the food or drink which a server has forgotten about is often grating, and they never forget what’s owed them. They will often tell jokes or stories incrementally over days or even weeks, the same way someone might spin a yarn around a campfire. Another custom among the Mord is the speaking of weaknesses. Mord who meet for the first time may spend several moments in silence, before speaking to reveal the weakness they see in their opposite. There is no insult in this, it is simply an acknowledgement of understanding. This is something that non-Mord often find infuriating. Rumors: The ways and decisions of the Mord are often imperceptible to those of other cultures, but still others try to make sense of repeated back alley whispers and hushed conversations.

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D10 MORD RUMORS 1

The Elderstone in Varnholme’s tunnels of Odra Zul has stopped expanding, and any crystals you contain will soon be invaluable relics, targeted by merchants and thieves alike. The Dismembered Lord threatens to invade the Mord haven of Varnholme, and will surely destroy all that remains of Mord culture. Through exposure to the Bleak, a prominent Mord leader has seen visions of an alternate timeline – one in which Lord of Ash Sureau of Uldane rules the realm. The Marrow now put a bounty on the Mord’s head. A blade constructed entirely of legendary Elderstone has been lost in the twisted landscape of Feygrave. The one who finds it will surely live lavishly for its price. The Desolation breeds Morden throughout the realm. Some say the violent sect of Mord is using the twisted plane to travel instantly between Varnholme and Svir, and even other regions. Mord settlements have cropped up along the Sovereign’s Road in Innes. If not properly defended, the orcs and Marrow may ally against them. The Elderstone relic of a dead Mord leader has been stolen by a thieves’ guild. The criminals believe they can use it to harness Imminence, and stop aging indefinitely. Holmir leadership throughout Dragongrin has placed bounties on multiple Mord heads for defiling their sacred grins with their presence. Some fear a war without borders is about to begin. Mass migrations of Mord into the criminal underworld of Svir below are raising eyebrows. Some feel the Mord’s harnessing of Imminence may be of use in opening the Infinite Lock. Mord settlements have sprouted up in the shifting deserts of Jahar, and reports of Mord alliances with Lord of Ash Revak Zistra offer new mercantile opportunities for the culture.

OUTLOOKS ON OTHER CULTURES Ardor: See what can happen if we fail? Our people and history will vanish with the Elderstone. We may even end up as drudges, like them. Crucian: Their methods are garish and indulgent, but none can deny they have worked themselves into a strong position. Drogus: It’s good to have allies with connections in Svir Below and scavenging networks abroad. You never know when we’ll need to hide. Granok Thane: They once ruled Uldane, and used their power to unleash war on all Dragongrin. It is a weakness to trust them – so embrace it and do so without folly. Holmir: They had their chances to make peace with us, but they always choose war. Now, as Mord collaborate with the skulds of Varnholme, the Holmir divide us from inside. Sarrik: They have been granted eternity, but are still so young in it. They must change perspectives and shed naivety in order to use it best. Silverwise: Can you imagine these people with infinite access to Elderstone? Were it not for their overly ambiguous ways, we might make good allies. Talasar: The soaring Lifetree and its people is proof that choosing pride over acknowledgement of one’s weaknesses will leave you defeated and adrift. Zarfvin: Don’t you feel a connection with these people? There’s something Primordial about them, and it makes you wonder what they’ve found in the jungles of Zamon.

THE ELDER TENET The Mord see the weakness in all. This strange, supernatural ability to identify flaws in everything is a shared trait, but how they act upon it divides them as a people. A philosophy has risen around this, called Essentialism. The Mord have an exceptional ability to summarise a huge, complex issue. Much like the Sovereign’s Crucible, they understand the wonders of the realm on an intrinsic level – the Bleak, the Desolation, even the Dismembered Lord. The Mord see the whole picture more clearly than arguably any other beings, reweaving the threadbare tapestry of Dragongrin back to their version of perfection, one infinitesimal stitch at a time. To most Mord, the key to fixing weakness is to identify and meditate on it, accepting that our flaws never actually disappear completely, instead requiring new levels of adaptation in order to better them. How a Mord controls or tempers their weakness is up to them, though until a concrete resolution is reached, it should be a consistent and difficult issue for them. WEAKNESS IN ALL GENERATOR D202 WEAKNESS 1 2 3 4

Glutton for material wealth Fiery temper Impatience and Impulsivity Distraught memories

Failure to forgive and forget

Misplaced envy

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Fervent support of a nation or people Difficulty to understand other views Idealizing your own selfimage Paralyzing fear Shame

REMINDER Remembering their face Taking a life Thinking of home Encountering Marrow Witnessing a personal fight or duel Praying, or hearing a preacher’s words Spotting that animal or omen Seeing a laboring drudge

Venturing farther from home than ever before Intoxicating substances Discussion of Lightfall Encountering a river, stream, Foolishness or sea Rebellious tendencies Mentioning of your lineage Meeting with elders of your Stubborn to a fault people Cruelty In the chaos of battle Frivolity and reckless abandon Seeing that banner or sigil As the bards recite a Overconfidence particular sonnet or hymn Walking through canyons and Thievery and ill-gotten gains other tight spaces Crude and uncouth Funerals Violent fanaticism Igniting or extinguishing a fire

D10 ELDERSTONE IMBUEMENT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Physically infused into your body Around the neck of an animal Amulet, necklace, or pendulum Weapon Armor Bracelet, head circlet, or earring Wand, rod, or staff Shard of raw crystal Cup or chalice Seemingly mundane trinket (page 172) 69 CHARACTER CREATION: CULTURES

ELDERSTONE OF THE PASS Symbolizing one’s successful emergence into adulthood among the Mord, all are granted a single piece of Elderstone, most often mystically infused into an object appropriate to the person in question. An elderstone shard will increase a being’s lifespan by roughly 50 years. Roll on the Elderstone Imbuement table, or choose an option that makes sense for your character. Alternatively, work alongside your GM to come up with something entirely new.

MORD NAMES AND TITLES The names of the Mord are incredibly complex. Over their long lives, the Mord gather names like possessions. It’s said that the names of the Perpetuals take weeks to fully speak. Most Mord hardly ever use their full names, instead choosing a shorter, more pronounceable form of their name for contact with non Mord. Their family names are somewhat more complex, as genealogical lines stretch and alter over time as with any other culture. Still, first names and family names are often spoken quickly, and together, creating the illusion of a single, given name. After formally introducing themselves, it is customary for Mord to momentarily trade items infused with Elderstone for examination by the other. Rarely does this exchange occur without the sharing of tales about the object and its use. Optionally choose or roll for a title during character creation. Note: the Mord titles below have prefix and suffix options. So you might be Dinloh Kam the Abundant, Dinloh Kam the Abundant One, or you can change the form of the title to work with Dinloh Kam of the Abundance. D202 FIRST NAME 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Gelin Sabstra Elkaufein Trielthara Chaszvyr Shi'nlochar Elaugzar Mez'Barnia Irenrius Chazira Jhaamve Chendriia Veltrag Illiamthrae Jaezbros Gedluss Filraen Faer’iyul Veldrin Amalica

SECOND NAME Auvryviir Despduis Eilsund Rilynurden Dilaer Baenreorzza Kront'tinath Hun'ate Aleanneld Glaurach Orlyrae Helvambra Rilynervs Niraen Coloara Zolagh Nirond Baenreiom Icharyd Daevion'lyr

D6 1 2 3 4 5 6

MORD TITLE PREFIX/SUFFIX of the with of in the (title) One

D20 MORD TITLES 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Ceaseless Abundant All Seeing Darkness Eternal Devotion Gathering Balanced Infinite Faithful Truthful Hidden Horizon Endless Arbiter Cosmos Defier Elder Light Unwritten

MORD CULTURAL TRAITS Ability Score Increase: The Mord have astounding memories and are often intelligent and well-spoken. Choose two from Dexterity, Intelligence, or Charisma and increase both scores by 1. Alignment: The Mordrihv and the Morden are two sides of the same coin. While they tend toward the neutral space between chaos and order, they can be either good or evil depending on their background. Languages: The Mord rarely speak Crucian, but their exposure to Elderstone during the Pass grants them any single language. In addition, Mord can often speak telepathically with others of their kind, using their Elderstone to transfer basic commands, questions, and few-word phrases instantly (though to the Mord, it feels like time passes normally). Eidetic Memory: The Mord excel at knowing their history, and can often cite specific events from eons ago as if they occurred just moments ago. You gain proficiency in the History skill and make Intelligence checks to recall a text or object you have personally seen with advantage. Cunning Influence: Your innate drive towards positions of authority or influence has led you to refine your methods of controlling others. You gain proficiency in the Persuasion or Intimidation skill. Additionally, you gain Advantage on Wisdom (Insight) checks when determining whether another agrees with your own line of thinking. Cultural Focus: You can choose one cultural focus from the following list.

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MORD CULTURAL FOCUS Imminence Wielder: You are particularly attuned to your Elderstone and the Imminence magic it’s connected to. You can use your Elderstone as an arcane focus or holy symbol for the purposes of spellcasting and you become proficient in the Arcana skill. Additionally, you can tap into Imminence to mask your magic through its power. As long as you are using your Elderstone as a focus or holy symbol, you do not need any verbal, somatic components, or material components that don’t have a monetary value for the purposes of casting spells. You can mask your spells a number of times equal to your spellcasting modifier (a minimum of once), regaining all uses of this feature on a long rest.

Eternal Study: Your extended lifespan and eidetic memory have led you to a varied wealth of knowledge and skills you have cultivated over decades if not centuries. You become proficient in three skills of your choice. Additionally, you’ve learned many different pieces of information across your many years of memory. Whenever you fail an Arcana, History, Nature, or Religion check, you can choose to succeed instead. If the amount of information gained would change based on a specific die result, consider the success roll to be a total of 20. You must short or long rest before using this feature again.

Immutable Influence: You’ve worked your way into a position of influence, guiding a powerful person from the shadows. You gain proficiency in the Insight skill and roll Wisdom and Charisma checks made against people in leadership positions with advantage. Additionally, you know a person of power and influence who trusts your views and advice. Work with your GM to determine who this person is, where, what, and who they lead, and your relationship to them. This person heeds your council as long as your view seems reasonable, and you can ask them for favors in areas over which they have control. If the NPC dies or otherwise is unable or unwilling to continue working with you, you may work with your GM to find a new person to become close to, working up to an advisory position with them over time. Otherworldly Performance: You’ve chosen to pursue influence as an artist, drawing on centuries of culture and strange magic to change the world through your art. You gain proficiency in the Performance skill and one instrument or artistic tool of your choice. Additionally, you can use your art to bewilder others. As an action, you can begin performing a public display of your art, infusing it with long lost cultural and magical influence. Each creature within 30 feet must make a Wisdom saving throw, the DC of which is equal to 8 plus + proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier. The creatures that fail their saving throws are all charmed or frightened by you (your choice) until the end of your next turn. You must complete a long rest before using this feature again. At Any Cost: In your quest for power, you have met a powerful entity and bargained with it for greater abilities. You gain proficiency in the Religion skill and make Intelligence (Religion or Arcana) checks related to beings from other planes with advantage. Additionally, choose one cantrip and one 1st-level spell from the warlock spell list. You can cast these spells without using a spell slot, using Charisma as your spellcasting ability. Once you cast either spell, you can’t cast it again with this trait until you finish a short or long rest. Work with your GM to determine the nature of this entity and what it has demanded from you in return.

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SARRIK

“The Sarrik are alive, dead, both, and neither. With their hardened boneflesh, they are ghoulish, foul, and not to be trusted, for creatures with no history have no sense of pride or tradition from which honor springs.” – Blads Aketates, Scavenger of Savage Frontiers The Sarrik are not wholly living, and not wholly dead – creatures of living bone seeking to forge a new future in Dragongrin. They are feared, mistrusted, and misunderstood, but share an unbreakable bond among their own, born of the shared plight of their tragic and mysterious origins and their deep connection with their journey toward a cultural identity. Though undead, the Sarrik retain their sapience and autonomy, “feeding” on magic to survive and seeking their own place on Dragongrin’s inexorable path. The Sarrik rarely remember pieces of their former lives, and if they do, only in vague, dreamlike flashes. All who knew a Sarrik before their transformation experience minor bouts of inexplicable deja vu when they encounter them – but rarely anything more.

WHAT ARE THEY KNOWN FOR? • Despite being half-alive, Sarrik maintain the intelligence of the creatures they once were. Their appearance is that of a skeleton, the flesh gone from their bones. There is no connective tissue, no flesh at all. They are held together with magic. • Their origins are mysterious even to themselves, but it’s clear that what is now one unified culture was once two opposed cultures from the same region in Svir – the Cryf and the Gwan. In the fracturing of their cultures, they are joined together in their strange reawakening. • Possessing copious resources of the once-wealthy Cryf, bolstered by the numbers of the prolific Gwan, the Sarrik are a people to be reckoned with in spite of their young, budding culture. • Being without a heart, lungs, organs of any kind, as well as being without skin, the Sarrik are a perfectly egalitarian society. None are judged based on their physical form, and in many ways, they have set up an idealistic meritocracy.

WHAT DO THEY BELIEVE? • Some embrace their undead nature as a blessing that allows them to ignore mortal trappings such as sleep and meals, choosing to distance themselves from the living who they see as weaker and inferior. • Others abhor the stigma granted by their similarities to other undead, taking deep offense when shunned or stereotyped, and spending extra time combating the misinformation surrounding them. These Sarrik have accessed their own memories through dark magic, and now abhor their fate. • Most Sarrik are defined by their undeath. Yet in this, they are unified, and see the futility of ‘difference’ that the living races see. They work to show others the value of shared experience, and focus on the features that all denizens of Dragongrin have in common rather than what makes them different.

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REINVENTION OF THE SARRIK The Sarrik have endured much in the short time they have existed, though their tribulations strengthen rather than beat them down. Working through the stages of grief as an entire culture, the Sarrik thrive on having no memories of their former lives, allowing them to reinvent themselves through shared experiences. Their common plights help forge new songs, dances, traditions, and iconography. They have even taken to re-assigning the meaning of their preexisting symbols and altering them, giving new meaning to former Cryf and Gwan symbols, monuments, and other items formerly of cultural importance.

Leadership: The Sarrik are ruled by the Exilarchs – three appointed members of a committee governing their people. Each year, the Sarrik commune through their shared magic and select three new Exilarchs, based upon the performance and effectiveness of each Sarrik. This system has been called populist, useless and even heretical by other cultures, but for the Sarrik, it functions as a pure meritocracy where only the best and brightest rise. Though they lack any formal territory, each Exilarch oversees a region of Dragongrin, searching for new lands and opportunities for their people. Most of the world’s established dominions see this mindset of migration a threat, leaving few areas for settlement aside from the treacherous Savage Frontiers of Dragongrin. Homeland and Settlements: The Sarrik are most prevalent in Svir, haunting its mountain passes like spectres. But despite the fear surrounding them, many Sarrik settlements have also sprung up in more populated areas of Dragongrin. Still, the xenophobia directed toward such beings thrusts the Sarrik into the wild frontiers of the realm, where their undead fortitude allows them to survive where others would find swift death. For this reason, most Sarrik settlements are difficult to reach, embedded deep inside Dragongrin’s most treacherous lands. Sarrik During Lightfall: Though the specifics are argued by many, it’s undeniable that the Sarrik came to be during Lightfall. Some say they were born of an act of arcane terrorism unleashed on Svir that created the rotfiends. Others whisper the Sarrik were born of a twisted form of the magic known as Imminence. Many tales recount their appearance during the Dawn of Truth, the final act of the Dismembered Lord to sunder the regions of the land into Dominions of Ash divided by the Bleak, and some claim mass quantities of them emigrated out of Svir immediately after. Apart from these origins, new Sarrik appear in growing numbers throughout Dragongrin.

DEVOURERS OF MAGIC The Sarrik were born from the magic unleashed by the Dismembered Lord during Lightfall, and they remain fueled by its power now. This creates a unique challenge for the Sarrik. Some have entered into symbiotic partnerships with cabals of sorcerers, others hunt and capture magic users and farm them for their power. Since ready access to magic is a necessity for all Sarrik, it is a prime focus of their society to gather magic. The arcane forces that birthed them hold them together, but it burns off of them like heat in cold. In order to maintain their forms and sanity, they must consume the magic of others to keep enough magic within themselves to live. Some mages who study the arcane arts see the Sarrik’s devouring of magic a blasphemous waste of a precious resource that has been known to incite mistreatment and even acts of violence, while still others who befriend the Sarrik offer their own arcane abilities freely in service of a companion.

Weapons and Warfare: The Sarrik possess the masterwork armor and weapons of the Cryf and the numbers of Gwan, creating a force not to be trifled with. The Sarrik march without tiring, go days without eating, operating at full capacity at all times. They can march through rivers, over mountains, they can wait in ambush in freezing cold, or burning heat. With these advantages, the standard rules of war often don’t apply to them. They strike unpredictably, and often at odd hours of the night. Marrow officers lose sleep when the threat of a Sarrik attack is nigh. SARRIK IN WARFARE Though many Sarrik abhor being compared to shambling, mindless undead, some capitalize on the fear that concept instills in their foes. For battle, some take advantage of their ghoulish appearance by adorning their armor with filthy rags, splashing themselves with livestock blood, and screaming out uneven, squealing battlecries to appear as a ferocious, flesh-hungry army of the dead. A common tactic among the Sarrik commanders is to dress some of their troops in rags and have them shamble, appearing as a mass of simple undead. While this distracts their enemy, a strike force moves silently into position.

Faith and Religion: In their middling undeath, the Sarrik see in exceptionally vibrant colors, and even claim to see shades and variances of these colors no other creatures can. They gather in family units known as Hues. Most of the culture perceives this as a divine gift, a sign that various colors, color combinations, and drastic shifts in color bear a deeper meaning than most could possibly recognize. This hypersensitivity to color has led the Sarrik to form a new faith, called the Chromafade. This faith sees each color as representative of a feeling, an element, a metal, an alchemical secret, a note of music, and myriad other things. This complicated system is impossible for non-Sarrik to understand, as they are the only ones who can see the extra colors. Chiefest among them is what the Sarrik call neith, a color that cannot be explained to non-Sarrik. It represents the self, concepts of identity, togetherness and community.They often believe that the color of something is not happenstance, but a visual representation of the fates. Many hold extravagant ceremonies to repaint themselves or their objects in honor of these meanings. The other faith that is known among the Sarrik is called Thaum, a faith that revolves around the devouring of magic. These Sarrik claim to wield great power in foretelling the future – but at a great cost of arcane power. Some have even feasted upon legendary magic items to attempt to gain this power.

Heritage: The heritage that a Sarrik had before they became Sarrik quickly becomes irrelevant to them. Their new identity is one of many who have been displaced, strangely chosen to be reborn as unliving. The Sarrik are protective – they have been chased out of many communities, and so they ensure that those who join them are accepting. Non-Sarrik heritages are often viewed with suspicion, except for tomehearts, who are known to gravitate toward Sarrik culture, adopting their beliefs and aping their culture where they can. Customs: Many Sarrik put great weight behind the intent of actions, especially when putting an object in your hand. It is said that you should not draw a weapon, hold a quill, or even thumb a coin unless you plan on using it. Some Sarrik are fanatically mindful of what they carry on them – unless they intend to use something, they will not interact with it. Rumors: Rumors are rampant among the Sarrik, as not even they know their own past. They experience memories no one else bears, so it is difficult to tell what is a true memory and what is fabricated or misremembered. This makes rumors prevalent, and difficult to substantiate. D10 SARRIK RUMORS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

The Exilarchy sets their sights on a number of uninhabited frontiers for Sarrik colonization, and plans a mass assault, no matter the cost. Some Sarrik believe in an artifact or ritual capable of reversing their condition, and factions begin forming around this idea. Some settlements kill Sarrik on sight, believing them to be one step away from becoming mindless undead, and a specific Hue aims to brutally punish those places. Half of a Sarrik village has gone colorblind, and many say they have been cursed – a witch hunt begins. An emerging sect of Sarrik believes itself to be superior to normal life, and that they are the perfect way for their people to advance. The Dismembered Lord’s magic that created them is still under his control, leaving them vulnerable to his power and influence. Books and scrolls detailing the tumultuous Cryf and Gwan history are resurfacing, called ‘The Return to Truth.’ There is an open call for Sarrik to come to the Savage Frontiers to bolster numbers and expand, but some fear it’s a trap. Some Sarrik are attempting to pass off as human using disguises and illusory magic, going through the motions of pretending to sleep and eat. A Hue of Sarrik claim they can help anyone recall their preLightfall memories using a ritual, but they’re charging a hefty amount.

FRAGMENTS OF THE CRYF AND GWAN Before Lightfall, the Cryf were a people of borrowers under the financial rule of the Gwan, their lenders with a history of feuding and conflict. The Gwan were wealthy, powerful, and rich with resources, and used the Cryf as a labor force to build a mighty empire responsible for such achievements as the Black Rail and the Lights of Anon. Now combined, the Sarrik are largely unified with the only traces of their former feud.

OUTLOOKS ON OTHER CULTURES Ardor: Some of us remember lives of servitude – in undeath, we are free from our chains. We pity the Ardor theirs. Crucian: To be chosen by a tyrant is no honor. The Crucian delude themselves. Drogus: Salvaging the remains of an empire to forge a future? I’d say we relate.

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Grimdul: They glimpse the winds as we sense color – could they be one and the same? Granok Thane: These mercantile warriors accept any who can swing a sword, even creatures such as us. Opportunistic, too devoted to coin, maybe – but accepting, nonetheless. Holmir: To carry eons of history upon one’s shoulders – can the rigid Holmir ever escape their traditions, as we have? Mord: Monstrous in appearance, yet not necessarily in spirit. We see ourselves in the Mordrivh – a kind of kinship between monstrosities. Silverwise: The dead-talkers look down on us – call us abominations. We are closer to death than they can ever know, and they resent us for it. Talasar: Warring in the canopy of their tree, drifting away from the world they once knew. The Talasar are preoccupied with war, so why waste energy on their plight? Zarfvin: Minds of metal – intellects too vast for this world. They miss out on family, kinship, and community.

HUES OF THE SARRIK The Sarrik are not born into families, but placed into familylike groups called Hues upon transformation and completion of specific rites of passage. Once placed into a Hue, a Sarrik is also given a signifier – a word they earn through their rite of passage. These Hues and signifiers are deeply important to the Sarrik, and once earned are typically represented in their appearance, personality, and other meaningful parts of life. The Sarrik may allow the family to choose their rite of passage, or have the fates decide, though the venture almost always incorporates a long journey or pilgrimage. If they succeed, they become part of a Hue, and their name is granted to them. Until a Sarrik completes the rite of passage, they tend to have names like White, Black, Pale, Bone, and Ink. D102 HUE KNOWN FOR 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Shrewd merchants Adept warriors Prejudiced toward non-Sarrik Historians obsessed with keeping the memories of others alive Explorers of Savage Frontiers Devout hallowed Makers of fine clothing for other Sarrik Silver-tongued politicians Arboreal warriors of nature Mages with a penchant for dangerous spells

D102 RITE OF PASSAGE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Learn and recite the tenets of Sarrik history. Kill a specific deadly creature. Venture deep into a Savage Frontier to reclaim something of import. Go an extended period without using Imminence Sustenance. Help one non-Sarrik of any kind with any task. Complete a visionquest. Consume magic from various Hues and experience a vision revealing which Hue to join. Survive isolated in the wilderness for a length of time. Scarification of your undead flesh Repurpose an old forgotten cultural symbol into a personal icon.

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SARRIK NAMES AND TITLES Sarrik are required to take a new name signifying an acceptance of their new life, and putting their former days to rest in exchange for the future. More practical Sarrik choose this “rebirth name,” while the more spiritual in the culture divine or scry them. D102 REBIRTH NAME 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Morael Israfiel Hamael Enomachus Kyralis Icaccimius Mededexus Elyntius Akiolis Horthgant

D202 DESCRIPTOR 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Mercy Slave Consul Exarch Keeper Eater Witch Marked Tribune Curator Bringer Storm Elder Paragon Healer Slayer Scarred Taker Warrior Lord/Lady

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Neodeon Ragnoc Verrolkca Shaigum Tius Calgyras Ptortes Engox Vagris Sevresk HUE of Onyx of Bronze of Emerald of Violet of Ebony of Cobalt of Amber of Sage of Blue of Umber of Rose of Ivory of Black of Gold of Crimson of Cobalt of Gray of Silver of Rust of Scarlet

SARRIK CULTURAL TRAITS Ability Score Increase: The Sarrik are cursed with paradoxical undeath, though it frees them from some of the fetters of the mortal weakness. Choose two from among Strength, Constitution, or Wisdom and increase each by 1. Alignment: The Sarrik are no strangers to empathy, though they understand what it takes to survive, and adhere to it. They tend toward law and good. Languages: The Sarrik carry with them the fragments of languages they spoke in life. Become proficient in a single language of your choice. You also know Varynx, a harsh set of sounds made by pulling air through the teeth, used to trigger synesthesia – equating abstract concepts with colors, shapes, sounds, and smells. Ageless: Sarrik don’t appear to age, remaining in a perpetual state of near-death. Sarrik cannot die of old age.

Chromasight: You see colors in shades far more saturated and clear, allowing you to see detail much more clearly than others. You gain proficiency in the Perception skill. Undead Traits: In addition to your heritage, you are an undead creature. As such, you gain the following benefits: • You can survive without air, water, or sleep. • You are immune to poison damage and the poisoned condition. • You have darkvision out to a range of 60 feet, and you can see in dim light as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can discern color in the darkness. • Though you don’t sleep, you still gain the benefits of long rest as long as you follow its other normal requirements. • You still gain the benefits of magical healing as normal despite being undead. Imminence Sustenance: In undeath, you do not require food or water. You must instead sustain yourself on magic. As an action, you or a willing creature within 5 feet of you can lose a single spell slot of their choice, or you can feed on a recently slain creature (no more than 24 hours old) who has unused spell slots. When using this feature on a slain creature, you absorb the highest-level unused spell slot. After absorbing the spell slot, you can choose to regain 1d4 HP for each level of the spell slot (for example, a 2nd-level spell slot would allow you to regain 2d4 HP). For each day you do not feed on magic, you gain 1 level of exhaustion. If you have levels of exhaustion, you can remove 1 level of exhaustion for each level of the spell slot you absorb (for example, if you have 3 levels of exhaustion and absorb a 2nd-level spell slot, you can remove 2 levels of exhaustion, leaving you with 1 level of exhaustion). Cultural Focus: You can choose one cultural focus from the following list.

SARRIK CULTURAL FOCUS The Inexorable Dead: You are tireless in your living death, able to push past the limits of mortals. You cannot gain points of exhaustion except by your Imminence Sustenance trait or class features, such as some barbarian class features.

Additionally, the bonds that hold the living cannot contain you. If you would gain the grappled, restrained, stunned, or paralyzed condition, you can use a reaction to ignore the condition. You must complete a short or long rest before you can use this feature again. Eater of Magic: You are painfully intimate with the magic you must eat to survive. You gain proficiency in the Arcana skill, doubling your bonus if you are already proficient, and you can cast the spell detect magic at will without using a spell slot. Additionally, at 5th level, you can cast either the spell dispel magic or counterspell once per day, using Charisma as your spellcasting modifier or your class’s spellcasting modifier if it has one. If you successfully counter or dispel a spell with this ability, you absorb the spell, gaining the benefits of your Imminence Sustenance trait. Skeletal Form: Your boneflesh grows more fiercely than others, taking the form of skeletal armored plating and razor bone weapons. You gain the following benefits: • Choose one of the following: piercing or slashing damage. You have resistance to that damage type. • While not wearing armor, you have a natural armor class of 12 + your Dexterity modifier. • You can use your skeletal form as a weapon. Your unarmed attacks deal 1d6 slashing damage and count as finesse and light weapons, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike. Regurgitate Spell: After absorbing a spell slot through your Imminence Sustenance trait, you can choose to recycle that magical energy. Once per long rest, when you consume a spell slot using your Imminence Sustenance, you regain one spell slot of up to third level. Additionally, you can harness the magic used against you to serve your own purposes. When you take damage from a spell, you can use a reaction to cast the hellish rebuke spell without using a spell slot, with a spell level equal to the damaging spell’s level and damage type equal to the damage taken instead of fire damage. Repurposed Banner: You carry a sigil banner from before Lightfall. Its original purpose is unknown, but you have altered the symbols and painted it in dazzling splatter-paint colors to match the Sarrik’s new purpose. While openly displaying the banner, you have advantage on Charisma (Persuasion) checks made with Sarrik or rebels against the Dismembered Lord as long as they believe you truly represent their cause. If you lose your banner or if it is destroyed, you can spend a short rest and 10 gp worth of materials fashioning a new one. Additionally, you can raise your banner as an action and cry out for your allies to rally. For one minute, as long as you remain conscious and able to speak, you gain the following benefits: • Any allies who can hear you suffering from the charmed or frightened condition lose that condition. Allies have advantage on Wisdom saving throws for the duration. • When an ally uses the Dash action, they can use a bonus action to make a single weapon attack. • The first time you use your action to use the Help action while this ability is active, it affects all allies who can hear you instead of a single target, and all affected allies gain inspiration. You must complete a long rest before you can use this feature again.

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SILVERWISE

“The Silverwise are not afraid of the dark because they are part of it, but somehow manage to bring a gray light to its umbra – and the rest of Dragongrin. They must be taught a lesson.” – Arnor Faltik, Arcseer The dead whisper and the Silverwise listen. Defenders of the Silver Walls – structures built on the thinnest veils of reality – the Silverwise and their hounds guard against the abhorrent shadows creeping from beyond Dragongrin. The Silver Walls stand on sites of great evil or tragedy, where the filament between Dragongrin and the darker planes flickers and fades. The Silverwise guard this precipice, heeding the wisdom of those beyond the veil and standing relentlessly against those that would do harm.

WHAT ARE THEY KNOWN FOR? • The secretive Silverwise are spirit talkers, in tune with the dead and dying. They are said to have a mystical connection to the Wailing Gray – the eternally horrific limbo of Dragongrin. • Despite their grim connections, the Silverwise are known to war against the darkness, combating monsters, malevolent spirits, and the undead in the realm of Dragongrin. They are renowned as monster-hunters and mystical problem solvers. • A people of tradition, their elaborate tattoos recount the histories of their large, close-knit families which they hold above most else.

WHAT DO THEY BELIEVE? • Some Silverwise feel their perceptions into the Wailing Gray fall closer to the Desolation than many care to admit, and all who gaze into the abyss should do so warily. To stare into the Wailing Gray brings madness and despair to all who are unprepared. • Others claim to see a shadowed periphery of this timeline – and that potentially grim futures whisper to them through the veil of this realm. Seeking to find the answers to what will come to pass, some Silverwise gaze into the Wailing Gray, trying to prevent disaster. • Most believe being close to death helps one live a more grateful and fruitful life, and that understanding the Wailing Gray means truly understanding death – and in turn the value of life. CURIOSITY OF THE SILVERWISE The Silverwise are endlessly curious – an interest which led them on their path to exploring the afterlife, and blossomed their fascination with the dark corners of Dragongrin. Private in their own dealings and untrusting of outsiders, they are hypocritically nosy of others. They are never satisfied with the status quo, and often seek out new questions to answer.

Leadership: The Silverwise do not have any strict hierarchy or central government that oversees them. Instead, they operate in large families called guilds. Each guild may consist of ten or more interwoven family units, usually overseen by the Grayseer, a family member who is the most proficient in looking into the Wailing Gray, and has a proven ability to see the future. Family is held above all else to many of the Silverwise, and name and honor mean a great deal to their societies. It is not uncommon for an entire family to hold a moot to make a decision for one of its members.

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Homeland and Settlements: Typically dwelling in Svir where the fabrics between life and death are thinnest, many Silverwise live out of their caravans, eking out whatever existence they can. While dark mountains are home, their caravans and settlements are seen across many of the dominions of Dragongrin – death is everywhere, and their presence follows it. They are, however, always found in the wake of battles, exploring the aftermath and finding the connection to the Wailing Gray. Mass death brings it closer to this realm. Silverwise During Lightfall: The Silver Walls stood for millennia, shielding Dragongrin from forgotten threats, and the Silverwise guarded the realm against them out of duty and tradition. At the height of Lightfall, as the Dismembered Lord sundered time and stole the days of Dragongrin, the Wailing Gray opened its gates for the first time in ages. The resulting expulsion of spiritual energy toppled the Silver Walls and forever changed the guardians atop them, inexorably connecting them with the realm of the dead. This shift saw the Silverwise, once noble guardians, become a wandering people for hire, who investigate the supernatural on behalf of other cultures. Weapons and Warfare: Renowned for their swordsmanship, the Silverwise are excellent duelists. Indeed, one of their cultural hallmarks is the practice of Circling the Wail. This is a duel, a test of swordsmanship and skill unlike any other in Dragongrin. They are known for their efficient, no frills fighting style. Their armies focus on mobility, avoiding largescale engagements. They also focus on the establishment of a network of forts, called burrhs, which they construct around Dragongrin. These often contain caches of hidden supplies for any Silverwise who pass by. In spite of this, the Silverwise don’t tend to engage in large scale war, instead remaining neutral. Their ability to hunt monsters and undead gives them a valuable skill that few others have, and so many Silverwise are renowned as members of the Order of Cleansing. When they do go to war, it tends to be guerilla war, small skirmishes in which the Silverwise can use their skills to their advantage. SILVERWISE HOUNDS The Silverwise are known throughout Dragongrin as the realm’s most prolific and famous hound breeders, raising and keeping a variety of hounds specializing in various tasks. Silverwise hounds of all breeds are known for their loyalty and are trained in the ability to perceive on the same spiritual wavelength as their masters. Most notable are the White Wailers, large, muscular warhounds with ivory white coats, that seem to be more intelligent than any other dog breed.

Faith and Religion: Their beliefs are mysterious, but it’s not a stretch to say the Silverwise can literally see into the Wailing Gray. Their eyes turn a placid black, and they enter into deep meditations to see what visions the realm beyond has to offer. The process is fruitful to the Silverwise, but most outsiders can’t comprehend the riddle-ridden prose needed to explain that which was seen. The Silver Walls they construct and repair empower their innate ability to see into the Wailing Gray, making the visions more clear, and sometimes even allowing them to step through to the other world. The Silverwise work to reconstruct and repair their shrines and temples near those places where the fabric is thinnest.

D10 SILVERWISE RUMORS 1 2 3 4 5

With this power, they revere several powers within the Wailing Gray that none others can see. Among them are the Black Worm, the Pale Raven, the Laughing Cat, and the One Eyed Fox. These animals appear to them as gargantuan monstrosities, wreathed in shadow, with only the vague shape of the animal they describe. The Silverwise believe they are uncaring, extraplanar creatures, but to refuse to give them respect is to court doom.

Heritage: Silverwise are most commonly darrow, though their numbers also include many nomadic remnants of lost tribes and seekers of sacred knowledge, notably humans and elves.

Customs: A culture thoroughly intertwined with death, the Silverwise have many funerary customs. A funeral can take up to two weeks to fully finish, with games and festivities being held for great heroes or the well respected for up to a month. The Ghostspeakers of the Silverwise will cast many rituals, ensuring that the soul of the departed is suitably prepared for what awaits. Since Lightfall, the Silverwise have taken to lives of nomadic mercantilism. They traditionally exchange goods and give gifts or tokens as a sign of respect upon meeting someone. The items that are exchanged must have worth – not necessarily monetary worth. Sentimental, or useful items, are also gratefully accepted. This is especially expected when one comes upon a Silverwise caravan. While Silverwise are usually well-adapted to this ritual, some are easily offended when other cultures are ignorant to it and the gift-giving is not reciprocated. Rumors: The Silverwise bear an unmatched curiosity, and a lack of answers doesn’t stop them from making their own determinations – informed or ignorant – about the situations surrounding them and their kin. THE WAILING GRAY From the tales of those claiming to have returned from the dead, the afterlife of Dragongrin is a colorless nightmare – a ghost realm known as the Wailing Gray. It is said the Wailing Gray is a byproduct of the Dismembered Lord’s unnatural warping of the realm. Some whisper it is a horrific middling between death and one’s worst nightmares made manifest, and many Silverwise dedicate themselves to rescuing the dead from this wretched place. See more about the Wailing Gray and its horrifying mysteries on page 25.

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A family with low renown has stumbled across an elixir which allows for full immersion within the Wailing Gray for hours. One Silverwise came across a legendary weapon, said to be sought by Lord of Ash Caius Veccus. A leading family has lost one of their relatives, and they swear they disappeared into the Wailing Gray. A Silver Wall in the realm needs repairs immediately, or potential darkness will emerge. A whole sect of Silverwise awoke from a strange vision of the Wailing Gray – a vision said to include a member of the party. A prestigious member of the Fenner family was invited to an extraordinary affair – a vampire wedding, and a Lord of Ash plans to make an appearance. Something terrible emerged from the Wailing Gray during a vision, and it’s been murdering people in the area around the occurrence ever since. The Pollag family is making a great journey and requires guards to accompany them on the trip. One member of a lowly family has challenged a more renown Silverwise to a duel after seeing a vision from the Wailing Gray – what was seen? A family is constructing a Silver Wall in an area contested by both the Dismembered Legion and another renowned family.

OUTLOOKS ON OTHER CULTURES Ardor: It’s tragic to watch an entire culture die; inspiring to watch them have a chance to be reborn. Crucian: What good can be done by cowards who prefer to hide behind the wrong kinds of walls? Drogus: Criminals to many, but we judge not – they do what they must to persist. Granok Thane: Our closest trading partners who respect our ways, providing protection and assured wealth for our caravans along the Red Sail Market. Grimdul: These superstitious primitives ignore what can be seen of life and death to follow their “winds.” Holmir: If you think about the grins like we do our Silver Walls, you realize we share a common goal – though they are far less careful. Mord: Even we have limits on how close we get to the Desolation – no good thing can come from there. Sarrik: The Sarrik are an unnatural byproduct of the Desolation and Wailing Gray – fear them, or respect them – but watch them closely. Talasar: If the tree-folk can stop fighting amongst themselves, they could save the realm – the Lifetree of Talas could be Dragongrin’s most powerful Silver Wall. Zarfvin: An example of the unnatural consequences that follow the fool’s errand of chasing immortality – death will outrun their gadgets and tricks.

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SILVER WALL GENERATOR D102 SILVER WALL 1

VISIONS

Home or ancient campsite Headstone or funerary mound Gargantuan, petrified Primordial hand Worn statue of a dragon Ancient dwarven bridge Mausoleum in overgrown cemetery Black stump with an axe stuck in it Burned-out shell of a cottage Fully functioning general store Remains of a galleon run aground

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Terrible sacrifice Obliteration of a peaceful nation Massacre of native populations Great disease Heart of a famine Mass genocide of innocents Bloody battle marked with betrayal Repeated dark rituals and summonings

D10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

DESIGN

D20 Catastrophic Bleakstorm

LOCATION

A snarling Silverwise hound Three moons of Dragongrin Gravestones A twisted dragon Bloodied weapons Angular spiderwebs Stained glass fallen heroes Family crest symbols A fabled monster of Dragongrin A series of chains and hooks

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MASCULINE

FEMININE

SURNAME

Dominik Vadomy Gregor Donovan Iska Angelo Branko Gunter Zigmund Piotr Geza Kafka

Raluca Aurelia Pesha Miri Asena Eveline Teofila Rawna Zana Sorinna Raluca Mara

Fitur Gillies Pollag Starlek Easting Vinson Gatehg Hildig Proca Dorvan Fenner Parpin

Resting place of ancient evil

SILVERWISE FAMILY TATTOO 2

SILVERWISE NAMES D12

Wrapping around the leg Covering the scalp and neck Emblazoned on the chest Covering the shoulder and neck On each finger A sleeve on both arms Emblazoned across the hands and forearms Across the neck and face Covering the back All over the body

THE SILVER WALLS Locations marred by great evil or tragedy, where the fabric between Dragongrin and the great beyond grow thin – these are where the Silverwise first created the Silver Walls, sanctified structures erected as monuments to ward off great evil. Evil begets evil, and the Walls were made on scarred places known to draw diseased creatures and vile curses from beyond. The Silver walls stave off those evils, making right the darkness that covers the world, and the Silverwise use these monuments to channel their powers, gleaning visions of the tragic futures or pasts, and the horrors of every timeline. The decrepit, crumbling Silver Walls of old are still found dotting Dragongrin’s darkest corners, worn down or destroyed when the Wailing Gray seeped into the world during Lightfall. After Lightfall, the Silverwise worked to devise a new kind of Silver Wall, erecting more powerful and more varied structures. They also worked to hide them among the mundane. They now use grand magics and hold ancient rituals to sanctify various structures as new Silver Walls, unbeknownst to the population of Dragongrin at large. A Silver Wall can be almost anything. It’s not uncommon for a dock, a house, a ruin, even a wagon to function as a Silver Wall for the Silverwise. The Dismembered Lord silently allows the guarding of the Silver Walls by these mysterious caretakers, knowing better than anyone the ruin the Wailing Gray would bring if unleashed. 78 CHARACTER CREATION: CULTURES

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

SILVERWISE TITLE the Deathspeaker the Forgotten the Wanderer the Gracious the Pungent the Spirit Mother/Father the Desolate the Houndbreaker the Pilgrim the Ghoul the Balanced the Foul the Healing the Wagoner the Fallen the Shroud the Twiceborn the Nomad the Watcher the Silvertouched

SILVERWISE NAMES AND TITLES Silverwise often hold titles related to their role in the community, their reputation, or a particularly harrowing event of which they were a part. Optionally choose or roll for a title during character creation, or gain one during your adventures.

SILVERWISE CULTURAL TRAITS Ability Score Increase: The Silverwise are strong-minded and shored up against the horrors of the realm. Choose two from among Dexterity, Wisdom, and Charisma and increase both of these scores by 1. Alignment: The Silverwise are companions to shadow, yet dauntless enough to keep their wits about them. They tend toward chaos and good. Languages: Many Silverwise speak fluent Crucian – useful in their wanderings throughout Dragongrin. They also communicate through Silvercant, known among them as the ‘Cant, a strange and severe set of phrases and symbols utilized by hunters of the dark and hexmakers, particularly to identify the secret locations of Silver Walls and other respites from evil. Silvercant runes often indicate safe locations, or areas to be avoided – fluency in the ‘Cant allows you to discern between the two.

Storied Past: You carry with you the history and legends of your people etched into your flesh in the form of Silverwise tattoos. You gain proficiency in the History skill, and your proficiency bonus is doubled when you make a check using that skill relating to the legends of the Silverwise. Perceive the Planes: Silverwise share a twisted yet beneficial connection with the Desolation and the Wailing Gray, and this informs their ability to discern all planar workings in Dragongrin. You can double your proficiency bonus on Wisdom (Perception) and Intelligence (Investigation) checks made to spot or recognize anything extraplanar or beyond the Material Plane. Cultural Focus: You can choose one cultural focus from the following list.

SILVERWISE CULTURAL FOCUS Roadworn: You are accustomed to long days of travel across harsh terrain. You suffer the penalties of exhaustion as if your exhaustion level was one level lower. Additionally, you are accustomed to finding or making arrangements for safe rest. At the GM’s discretion, you can spend one hour searching for and preparing a haven for you and up to six other creatures. Your haven has the following benefits: • Any fires or other light sources within the haven are concealed from view outside until camp is broken. • The area is particularly peaceful and well-suited to recovery. When rolling Hit Dice to regain hit points while within the area, the first die automatically rolls its maximum value. • Your haven is well-adapted to the environment. While within the haven, saving throws and ability checks made against harsh weather or terrain are made with advantage.

Rites and Herbs: Ritualistic herbs and elixirs are commonplace in Silverwise settlements and caravans, and seances, death ceremonies, and other customs are daily occurrences. You have proficiency with the herbalism kit, and can double your proficiency bonus when making an ability check with it. Once per day during a short rest, you can spend 15 gp worth of materials to complete a ritual to make a potion of healing or an antitoxin. Silver Wall Blessing: As an action, you can create a 10-footradius dome of magical energy centered on an object you can see within 30 feet of you. The dome lasts for 10 minutes. Ghostly, glowing Silvercant runes appear wherever the dome intersects with another object or surface. Choose one of the following types of creatures: celestials, elementals, fey, fiends, or undead. Creatures of the chosen type cannot enter the dome by non-magical means, and creatures within the dome cannot be frightened, charmed, or possessed by creatures of the chosen type. You must complete a long rest before using this feature again. Additionally, your knowledge of the forces beyond mortality grant you an understanding into the beings dwelling beyond our world. You have advantage on Wisdom (Insight) and Wisdom (Survival) checks made against undead and extraplanar creatures, and advantage on Wisdom saving throws made to resist being charmed or possessed by creatures of those types. Silverwise Sorcery: Your connection to the Wailing Gray affords you a strange set of magical abilities. You know the spare the dying cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the speak with dead spell once per day with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you gain this feature, you must choose either Charisma or Wisdom as your spellcasting ability for these spells. Additionally, your attunement with death allows you to connect with others on the brink. Whenever you make a death saving throw, choose an undead creature or a creature that has died within the last week within 5 miles of you. You experience glimpses of sights, sounds, and thoughts of the chosen creature regarding their motives, desires, and the circumstances of their passing. If you have no creature to name specifically, you see a random recent death of the GM’s choosing, related to the area or recent events if possible. Sixth Sense: The whispers of the dead alert you to danger. You have an eerie foresight that alerts you to danger a split second before most. You have advantage on initiative checks. Additionally, the whispers sometimes provide valuable information. You can meditate on the whispers of the dead for 10 minutes, listening deeply to their murmerings. Ask the GM a question about an event to come. The answer must be true, but it may take the form of esoteric riddles and cryptic prose. You must complete a long rest before using this feature again. Silverwise Hound: You are accompanied by a loyal Silverwise hound that has the stats of a dire wolf. Your hound obeys your commands as best it can. It shares your initiative, and you determine its actions, decisions, and attitude. On your turn, you can verbally command the beast to move with no action required by you. You can use a bonus action to verbally command it to take the Attack, Dash, Disengage, Dodge, or Help action. If you make no commands, the hound takes the Dodge action. If you are incapacitated or absent, the hound acts on its own, focusing on protecting you and itself. Like any creature, the hound can spend hit dice during a short rest to regain hit points. If your hound dies, you can obtain a new one from a Silverwise breeder. If you gain the Animal Companion class feature, your Silverwise hound can become your animal companion, and gains the benefits of that feature. 79 CHARACTER CREATION: CULTURES

TALASAR

“The Talasar are not merely a people, but war itself. Their ferocity, expertise, and unnaturally long, experienced lives of are a violent concoction of destruction and bloodshed decimating all it comes up against. It is a pity the fates have turned it against itself…” – Sebanos, Commander of the Straysoul Howlers Once, the Talasar were one people, a single entity – much like the ancient and enigmatic Lifetree they call home. Ancient beliefs were paramount to them. Talas, before the world below. Community, before the individual. Each Talasar is a leaf, a branch, a root. Irrelevant alone, but together creating a mighty tree. Following Lightfall, the Talasar have become closer as a people. They fought against the Dismembered Lord, and in the ultimate act of sacrifice, one hundred Talasar Leaves gave their ancient lives to uproot the Lifetree into the sky, escaping the scourging of the legions. Their precious Lifetree now drifts over Dragongrin, splintered, withering, and forever marred by its own people.

WHAT ARE THEY KNOWN FOR? • The Talasar have a strict caste system. Every member of the Talasar is sorted into one of four castes. The Root, who are the military arm of the Talasar, ensuring the Lifetree and the rest of the Talasar are safe. The Trunk, who are the bulk of the Talasar – labourers, hunters, farmers, artisans. The Branch, who are the religious and ruling class of the Talasar. Finally, there is the Leaf, who are the arcane might of the Talasar, and the tenders of the Lifetree. • Every member of the Talasar is trained in combat in their youth, and must spend three Summers in military service. All carry the traditional Feywell Gladius, and continue to hone their martial skills their entire lifetime.They have sworn to protect Talas, the Lifetree of the Feymists, home to the elves, and the biway of the Old Vale in Dragongrin. The tree grants them longer lifespans and enhanced powers to protect both it and its allies. • The Talasar are a people divided, locked in a bloody civil war, each side believing they know how best to honor their vows, rule the Lifetree, and secure the realm’s future. • The entrances to the Lifetree are nearly impossible to find unless you have been there before. The only way for the average denizen of Dragongrin to find their way in is through the ruined Feymist crossings deep within the roots of Feygrave.

WHAT DO THEY BELIEVE? • Some feel the only way to protect Talas from a threat as powerful as the Dismembered Lord was to use the magic of the lifetree to escape skyward, and that keeping it aloft is the only way to survive. This is costly, requiring great sacrifice of magic. • Others say Talas would have protected them, and that the tree’s place is in the soil of Dragongrin, where its mighty roots can stay powerful and strong. Fleeing is cowardly, and it’s rumored that if the tree is disconnected for too long, it will wither,die, and fall to the world below.

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• They are united in one thing – the belief the warring Talasar factions must put aside their differences and unite against a much larger threat – the deadly and powerful Granok Thane, who have infested Talas at the behest of the Dismembered Lord, with the promise that it’s theirs if they can seize it. TRADITIONS OF THE TALASAR The Talasar revere the ways of their ancestors, and look to those who came before them with respect. Social interactions can often be stiff and ritualized and customs, traditions and habits that the former Talasar put in place are often revered. Conversations between different castes are highly ritualised. Some Talasar believe that this way needs to die, as it no longer works in a world as Bleak as Dragongrin, and civil unrest was stirring before the Granok Thane arrived.

Leadership: After the Uprooting of Talas, the ancient home to the Talasar and epicenter of the Old Vale, many question whether millenia of leadership tradition still applies in a world without the Lifetree. What sort of hierarchy is required – if any – to maintain Talasar customs? Can the shadow of this ancient warrior people be coalesced into their truest form once again, or has the Uprooting left them scattered, impotent, extinct? Many Talasar believe that now more than ever, the traditions of their caste system is the absolute best way to ensure their survival. Tradition and conservatism are overwhelmingly the popular belief among the Talasar. Yet there are others among them that believe that the tyranny of the caste system must be broken, and that a new way must be found if they are to thrive.

Homeland and Settlements: The Talasar live almost exclusively on Talas, as their charge is to defend the Lifetree at all costs, though some smaller settlements exist directly underneath it, made up of some who stayed behind in Feygrave and the surrounding areas, and roving slowly along the drifting path of their skyward home. Though uncommon, there are some Talasar settlements dotting Dragongrin made up of those who sought to create a new life away from the Lifetree. Talasar During Lightfall: For centuries the Talasar have been in a symbiotic relationship with the Lifetree, watching all the while empires rise and fall, rarely intervening or concerning themselves with the affairs of lesser creatures of Dragongrin. Their doctrine has always been one of defence. In doing so, they underestimated the power of the Dismembered Lord, and were wholly uninvolved with Lightfall until it was too late. Their military might and prowess nearly turned the tide of Lightfall entirely. In a legendary series of battles known as the Siege of Rests, the Talasar exacted a heavy toll on the enemy forces, but were ultimately defeated by the Granok Thane, forging an undying rivalry. It was then that the remaining Talasar sacrificed the hundred leaves to rip the tree from its roots, pulling it skyward. Weapons and Warfare: In all Dragongrin, no culture is more thoroughly trained in the art and science of warfare than the Talasar. All in the culture are exercised vigorously from childhood, and must serve at least three summers in the Root – the military of the Talasar. The defensive doctrine of the Talasar has led them to embody certain practices. They fight in a thorn, a phalanx of warriors. Similar to their interconnectedness with the Lifetree itself, the Talasar operate as a single unit instead of individual soldiers, moving in close ranks protected behind solid shield walls, and utilizing long spears to press against and destroy enemies. After a minimum of three years service, Talasar are assigned a caste, in which they will serve for the rest of their life. In most cases, a Talasar will be assigned to the caste their parents are in. Those who show magical ability are sent to the Leaf. After three years, Talasar are allowed to depart the legion for new opportunities. They are given a Feywell Gladius – a traditional short sword worn on every Talasar’s hip even after their official service has ended. The people of the Lifetree are warriors until death. GHILSEITH PLAYERS A Ghilseith is one of many instruments traditional to the Talasar, though it is the most popular. Ghilseith are stringed instruments made from specially cured wood from the Lifetree that convert string vibrations into driving and guttural sounds of increased power and volume. Military organization and orders are delivered by specific rhythmic tunes, synchronizing movement and delivering orders over large numbers of soldiers, ensuring they advance evenly, step in time, and operate as a singular unit no matter the situation.

Faith and Religion: The Talasar are believers in the elven pantheon of the All-makers, gods and goddesses responsible for the gifts given to the world, each of them representing one of the castes. These include the Uthiryl and the phenomenon many experience as “time.” It is said all of Arbitron itself was birthed from the All-makers, and according to believers, they now mete out justice and order from their divine thrones inside the Feymists. According to textual canon and tradition, their greatest adversary is the foul and dark being known as Yhaghul, the Slayer of Worlds, who relentlessly aims to pull their creations apart.

Heritage: Talasar are almost exclusively elven in heritage, though their numbers also include any others who show unshakable loyalty, unmistakable combat prowess, and are often sworn to protect the Feymists and Talas itself. Though the majority are elves, those worthy in Dragongrin can earn their place among the Talasar. Customs: Many Talasar believe that to receive the world’s good fortune, one must carry a piece of each location visited over the course of your travels – something the Talasar call a terium (translated as “footprints left behind”). Teria are often created made by taking pieces of the literal environment and weaving, crafting, or combining them together into a small trinket, whether from the vines and leaves of a forest, stone and fossilized bone from a desert, or mortar and dust from a crypt. The strict caste system of the Talasar means that greetings and names are highly ritualised. The language of the Talasar is massively complex, and there is a specific definite article for each caste, depending on which caste you are from, increasing or decreasing in level of respect based upon which caste you are in. The system is so complex that the language is almost impossible for non natives to learn. Rumors: Once a great republic, a landmark of pilgrimage, and a symbol of life and hope, Talas is now little more than a shell of its former self. With the Talasar divided and the Granok Thane conquering it piece by piece, rumors of Talas, the Talasar, and the Feymists are whispered all across Dragongrin. D10 TALASAR RUMORS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

A group of Talasar are said to be headed toward Grinn with a Reliquary of Ash to claim a title of Lord of Ash. Talasar guerillas calling themselves the Newroot have begun attacking Marrow and Red Sail supply lines. A rogue group of Talasar have been working with Peacemakers, ravaging Feygrave and Innes. A group of Granok Thane and Talasar are surprisingly working together nearby, though they have kept their aims entirely secret. Some Talasar believe that the Copper Sun is rightfully theirs... they seek to take it at any cost. Some Talasar have taken to becoming spies and kneebreakers for the Sovereign, but whispers of a larger purpose persist. Some Talasar seek to start anew in the reaches of Dragongrin, and are sharing their secrets of weapon and armorsmithing, breaking sacred laws. Talasar are recruiting for both sides of the civil war as far reaching as Grinn itself. Some Talasar are seeking to escape the violence of the realm by focusing on starting temples to an ancient elven pantheon. A group of Talsar Ghilseith players are acting as Eloquents without an agitator’s license, playing songs of freedom and hope.

IMMINENCE AND THE FEYMISTS It is whispered that the magics of Uthiryl are linked to the creation force known as Imminence. Some believe the Dismembered Lord secretly fears Imminence, which is why he ordered the Thanean Invasion even if it means handing Talas to the Granok Thane.

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OUTLOOKS ON OTHER CULTURES Ardor: Any who would not rise up and break their chains deserves to be in those chains. Crucian: Their connection to their Sovereign is a weakness, and a pathway to infiltrate his nation. Drogus: They love trash so much they use it to build their homes, tools and weapons – I think that says it all. Granok Thane: They fight without honor, and scrape victories from the mud – but they are still victories nonetheless. Grimdul: They breed unsurpassed mounts, but use them to play in the dirt and chase superstition. Holmir: They waste their short lives getting drunk off of swill they drain from dragon carcasses, but they're ferocious opponents. Mord: Assume a Mord has lived a few years longer than you, and has twice as many allies. Sarrik: It's unfortunate that creatures already so frail were made worse, but their doggedness is to be commended. Silverwise: It's typical of creatures with such short lifespans to concern themselves so deeply with their mortality. It's inconsequential. Zarfvin: Their technological prowess is impressive, but their incessant focus on the wrong details holds them from true greatness. RIVALRY WITH THE GRANOK THANE Throughout Lightfall, the Talasar and Granok Thane clashed, and both suffered heavy losses at the hands of the other. While the Talasar are typically more even-minded, not allowing a fleeting series of battles or defeats affect their cultural viewpoint, this was quite different. The Granok Thane have proven to be the only adversary to truly be a match for the Talasar in centuries, and a potent rivalry has developed between the two cultures. Some Talasar see it as professional competition between soldiers, while others openly spew vitriol and hate, seeking conflict with any and all Granok Thane.

TALASAR NAMES The Talasar value family names above all else, and are proud to be known by them. Family names are typically carried on for generations, and have been around for as long as the Feymists and Old Vale themselves – there are thousands of them. Due to the long lifespans of the elves, these are often large families with many members of myriad ages.

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The Talasar use non-gendered given names that they use for the first part of their life. These are eventually replaced by names that they earn by their deeds in battle. This begins with their summers in service where they are ceremoniously marked by a fey brand called a Cicitrix, and placed in castes based on their skill and propensity for magic, toil, or war.

THE CICITRIX In a Talasar’s first three summers of service in the Talas’s military branch, the Root, their most impressive and lasting deed is how they are named. This is most often honorable, and tells of a victory or success, though it can also speak of shame or defeat. Using the magic of the Feymists and the Old Vale, this name is marked upon the Talasar’s right forearm. The branding is so powerful that even the elves skin-shedding process of exuviation doesn’t cause it to wane or fade. A Talasar can have their Cicitrix changed in a handful of ways written in Talasar law, but there are two that are most common. The first is to achieve an even greater victory or endure a more powerful shame and to have the ruling leadership within your caste vote on the change. The second is to go back and serve an additional summer in the Root, in which your actions will grant you a new Cicitrix. As an example, a Talasar with the given name Damia and the family name Iordanis would be known as Damia Iordanis for the first part of her life until she serves her summers in the Root. During her time there, she gains the name Lisi (notoriously excellent with) ara (hand-to-hand combat). She will then be known as Lisiara Iordanis. TALASAR NAMES D20

GIVEN NAME

FAMILY NAME

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Idaios Damia Panaetios Otonia Meidias Eurynome Medon Andromus Damastor Artemidora Sophokles Dexamene Caleope Hippodameia Gelon Antheia Harmocydes Pythias Oenopion Chione

Aristeidis Thisea Sallou Iordanis Nasos Voula Efthimios Magdan Iro Natas Vassilis Stamatis Tassos Helos Isidorin Vassilios Dimlyn Theodosis Iosif Caius

TALASAR CULTURAL FOCUS

CICATRIX D202 CICATRIX PREFIX 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Pris (maimed by) Lisi (excellent with) Rho (brutal use of) Quind (breaking) Taeph (scarred by) Fen (swiftness with) Troe (survived a wound from) Neme (most kills using) Tyn (unusual methods with) Or (defeating a superior with) Temm (expert with) Cass (shamed by) Tul (made peace, avoiding) Lisi (dangerous with) Rho (wounded badly by) Ilys (betrayed with) Atti (defeated with) Fen (unbeatable with) Sul (disarmed and overcame) Evy (achieved vengeance with)

CICATRIX SUFFIX thae (an enemy’s weapon) ara (hand-to-hand combat) uss (a staff) aem (a ranged weapon) maris (a spear) cius (a blade) stenes (a crossbow) yar (a dagger) nath (a pair of twin weapons) iel (an improvised weapon) thia (an ambush) anel (a fabled weapon) ianus (cunning misdirection) ara (relentless attacks) deiym (a giant maul) aem (magic attacks) casta (superior tactics) vorix (a Feywell gladius) pica (an Archan) axian (a Valen)

TALASAR CULTURAL TRAITS Ability Score Increase: The Talasar’s realm among the clouds grants both rare perspective and hardened fortitude against the elements of high-altitude living. Choose two from Strength, Constitution, and Wisdom and increase both of those scores by 1. Alignment: The Talasar are easily swayed by the pressure and strife of political machinations, but stand steadfast in their causes. They tend toward law and neutrality. Languages: The Talasar have spent many years around various cultures. Become proficient in Upper and Under Exuvian, or any other single language of your choice. Born of the Feymists: Your contact with the lifetree and the Feymists have given you a particular attunement to nature. You gain proficiency in the Nature skill, and you roll Intelligence (Nature) checks related to Talas or the fey with advantage.

Skyward Proficiencies: You are experienced in taming, riding, and otherwise working with the flying warmounts of Talas. You have advantage on all checks relating to halyphons and similar flying mounts. While mounted, you have advantage on attacks against creatures who are unmounted. Additionally, you know someone who owns halyphons who could rent some to you and your party short-term for a fee. Work with your GM to determine how you know them. As long as you can communicate with them, you can arrange a meeting to rent a halyphon within 7 days. At your GM’s discretion, this person may eventually be able to sell you a halyphon to own permanently. Formation Tactics: Your experience with the Talasar legion has prepared you to fight alongside your comrades and stand against even the strongest opponents. You gain proficiency in the Athletics skill and with shields, and you can add a shield to your starting inventory if you don’t already have one. Additionally, as long as you have a shield equipped, whenever you are within 5 feet of an ally, you both gain the following benefits: • You have advantage on any Strength (Athletics) check to resist being grappled, knocked prone, or forcibly moved. • You have advantage on Constitution saving throws made to avoid bludgeoning, cold, fire, force, piercing, slashing, or thunder damage. Wings of the Feymists: Your connection to the Feymists has granted you a set of shimmering arcane wings, which you can manifest or dismiss as a bonus action. Your wings dissipate automatically if you fall unconscious, become paralyzed, or are under the effects of an anti-magic field. As long as the wings are manifested, you gain the following benefits: • Your jump distances are tripled as per the spell jump and you take no fall damage. • At 3rd level, you can cast the spell misty step once per long rest without using a spell slot. • At 5th level, you can cast the spell fly once per long rest without using a spell slot. • At 11th level, you gain a fly speed of 60 feet

Product of War: Your training in the legion has prepared you in the arts of war. You gain proficiency in all martial weapons. Additionally, you have been granted a Feywell Gladius – the traditional shortsword of the Talasar. Your Feywell Gladius has identical statistics to a shortsword, except that it adds +1 to attack rolls. Heritage: While it’s true that most Talasar are elves, anyone who spends more than a year among the denizens of Talas gains the experience and benefits of their culture. Non-elves must earn their keep among the factions in the area, however, and many never cease becoming marginalized as potential spies or insurgents. Cultural Focus: You can choose one cultural focus from the following list.

83 CHARACTER CREATION: CULTURES

Champion of the Lifetree: While all Talasar are trained in warfare and group combat, you have honed your skills in single combat. Whether as a method to settle disputes between yourself or those you serve or simply for the glory of defeating a similarly skilled warrior, you live for the duel. As long as you are within 5 feet of a creature and there are no other allies or enemies within 10 feet, you gain the following benefits: You cannot become frightened by the creature you are engaged with. You add +2 damage to all attacks made against the creature. Additionally, you can call upon the immutable laws of the fey to issue a challenge to duel against a creature within 30 feet, which the creature must accept willingly and uncoerced. If they accept, you are both shrouded by the Feymists and transported to an ethereal demiplane 30 feet wide and tall, but otherwise identical to the surrounding environment. Other creatures can see into the space, but cannot interact with either creature in any way. The duel lasts until one creature dies or yields, at which point the two creatures return to the space they were in before the duel began, or the nearest unoccupied points. If terms for the duel were set, the yielding party is compelled to fulfill those terms as per the spell geas.

84 CHARACTER CREATION: CULTURES

The Old Vale in All: You are even more attuned to nature than most Talasar. You are always under the effects of the spell speak with animals, and you have advantage on all Charisma checks made to interact with beasts with an Intelligence score of 3 or less. At 5th level, you can cast the spell speak with plants once per long rest, and your advantage on Charisma checks extends to include all beasts and plants. At 11th level, you can cast speak with plants at will, and you can also communicate with non-sentient natural materials, such as a stone, for the duration and your advantage on Charisma checks includes all non-humanoid creatures and non-sentient material.

ZARFVIN

“The Zarfvin are the most brilliant people this realm has ever seen, but they fail to see the state of the realm. Consumed by their thirst for knowledge, they drink and drink, not realizing that they are slowly drowning in the flood.” – Gliv of the Deathcloak Company Some cultures distinguish themselves in war and intrigue; others in wealth and fortune. The Zarfvin, conversely, have carved themselves a distinct niche in the realms of Dragongrin – that of Archanics. A strange and often dangerous melding of technology and magic, this fusion is a blurred, bleeding line, which the Zarfvin eagerly and relentlessly cross (often with the encouragement of the Dismembered Lord). Responsible for both awakening the tomehearts and perfecting the Warmakers, the Zarfvin often serve as engineers of great and terrible weapons and military wonders. They are the engineers of war, the chosen makers of the Dismembered Lord. With great resources and safety to work on their creations, they create wonders and terrors of breathtaking scope. Some Zarfvin shy away from this future, preferring instead to advance less violent fields of Archanics. The Zarfvin hold collective knowledge as a sacred value, though they guard this knowledge greedily, hoarding it like dragons. Adept in many fields, from higher mathematics and science, to complex arcane study, they are not simply content to study the higher mysteries. Instead, the Zarfvin have the greatest respect for those who can both envision and then follow through and create with their own hands, a new piece of technology. A central part of their culture is the deconstructing and rebuilding great works of the past by hand to better understand them before applying those techniques to their own work and advancing the craft with their innovations.

WHAT ARE THEY KNOWN FOR? • They incorporate Archans and Archanics into as much of their lives as possible, frequently augmenting their bodies and passing the augmentations from one person to another. • The Zarfvin built a culture around deconstructing the past to learn new methods for developing the future, taking apart old pieces of tech and learning how they work in order to innovate new tech. They favor handson techniques and a practical approach of logical increments. This translates into their other views – they are averse to taking heedless risks – rather preferring to think out each step. • The Zarfvin primarily inhabit the sentient jungle of Zamon. Though the dangerous jungles have grown over their home, the Zarfvin continue to use each other to expand their knowledge and craft, not wanting to abandon the rich culture of innovation and supply of Titan Archans they’ve compiled in the area.

WHAT DO THEY BELIEVE? • The Titans left for them a bountiful gift in their bygone technology. They are the inheritors of the Titan’s glory, and they will elevate themselves – and all Dragongrin – beyond this current cultural slump. More than that, they must outdo the Titans in their splendor, and improve on their technology.

• The Zarfvin know that this is a cultural downturn for the world of Dragongrin. There was once a greater age, and those mysteries of technology have been lost. The Zarfvin believe they are the keepers of those ancient secrets, and must lift Dragongrin from its current darkness. • There are sects within the Zarfvin that believe the Titans are merely sleeping, awaiting their subjects to rebuild their kingdom, when they will burst forth from Deepvault and reclaim the world. • Whether they like it or not, all Zarfvin know they are lucky. Their culture is sheltered, protected by the might of the Marrow Legion and the Dismembered Lord. While many are happy to work for the Sovereign, others believe that the only hope the realm has in deposing the Dismembered Lord is with the technology of the Titans. They work in secret, funded by the Dismembered Lord as they attempt to defeat him. THE CREATIVITY OF THE ZARFVIN The Zarfvin revere creativity, innovation, and craft above all else. The depth and breadth of their understanding is remarkable, though it doesn’t equivocate to what many would consider good sense. Often concerned with high minded ideas, philosophical or theoretical debates, they can take their eyes away too long from the real struggle of life in Dragongrin. In their beautiful laboratories, they are far from the suffering peasant with a Marrow boot on their neck.

Leadership: Like most of the concepts of the Zarfvin, their leadership is complicated. They have a complex senate system with a representative voting system – the system is arcane and bureaucratic, and deeply confusing. In the end, there are three chosen every three point one years, to rule and make major decisions. These Archons will dictate the large scale policy of the Zarfvin, but beyond policy regarding war, most Zarfvin operate in their own cabals and conclaves, working quietly and disengaging from politics.

85 CHARACTER CREATION: CULTURES

Homeland and Settlements: They are most prominent in the jungles of Zamon, where the great university city of Tor Zarfvonar can be found. A marvel of technology, guarded by automated defenses and walls a hundred feet tall, inside it is a utopian technocracy where the Zarfvin can work in peace. Beyond that, the Zarfvin can also be found prolifically around the most famous dig-sites of the Titans – especially in Svir Below as close to Deepvault as they can get safely. Their communities dot the furthest reaches of Dragongrin, wherever there are Titan relics and ruins. Many Zarfvin reside in Grinn, serving the Crucian noble houses, the Council of Ash, and the Dismembered Lord himself. Zarfvin During Lightfall: When Lightfall came, the Zarfvin underwent the usual risk assessment, and decided their best chance for success was to join the Dismembered Lord. Using the might of their automatons and advanced technology, they were invaluable to the Dismembered Lord in his conquest. Others were assigned to the task of reviving the mysterious Crucible. In return for their service, the Dismembered Lord granted them freedom of study, protection, and resources. Weapons and Warfare: The Zarfvin themselves tend to avoid warfare directly. Instead, they use their inventions – Archans, tomehearts and Titan technology, along with their ingenuity, to fight battles from afar. They are brilliant at building war machines and plotting strategy, and even have a fleet of war chariots fueled by Archanics. They have perfected the art of lightweight, full-body armor with Archanic helms outfitted with various abilities and powers. TOMEHEARTS AND WARMAKERS The Zarfvin have a link with the tomehearts unlike any other culture. Having awakened the ancient constructs during Lightfall, they were also able to reverse-engineer the technology and aid in building a new army of machines known as Warmakers for the Dismembered Lord. Whispers persist that a new breed of tomehearts is also underway – one that would finally merge organics and Archanics seamlessly. Many question the ethics of such a being – an artificial being indistinguishable from a living one.

Faith and Religion: While traditional religious worship is rarely practiced by the Zarfvin, they do hold a strong reverence for the Titans, imagining them to be paragons of the creativity and innovation they hold as sacred values. While for some this is just a comparison and an ideal to strive for, other Zarfvin take this reverence more seriously. Though most claims are largely unsubstantiated, the rare Zarfvin has even claimed to have made connections with actual Titans surviving in the lost Deepvault, drawing power and knowledge from them through technological, arcane, or even divine connection. Heritage: Zarfvin are most commonly darrow and elven in heritage, though their numbers also include many tomeheart and other brilliant seekers of knowledge as well. Customs: A common phrase among the Zarfvin is ‘a fire needs a spark’. They believe that it is important to show drive, and an enthusiasm and aptitude for the field of study they intend to enter. The field of academic and practical study that they wish to enter is not often as exciting or romantic as they imagined it, and so teachers often test would-be

86 CHARACTER CREATION: CULTURES

students for aptitude. This may manifest as them explaining a mathematical concept, or taking apart a salvaged piece of Titan tech. This philosophy translates to all aspects of trading and sharing knowledge. Once someone proves their potential, the spark of shared creativity amongst the Zarfvin comes to life, and they eagerly collaborate and share knowledge and trade secrets. Each Zarfvin creator has what is called a Maker’s Mark. This is a complex symbol they create during their study – beginning with the Unitrix and adding marks and symbols to create their own unique symbol. Each creation made by a Zarfvin is marked somewhere with this symbol. Schools, symposiums, laboratories and other gatherings of Zarfvin will have a Maker’s Mark, each student will begin with that mark, and add to create a unique one. Rumors: Their insular culture and sometimes zany creativity lends itself to a lot of murmurings from outsiders, and though few Zarfvin would confirm or deny any claims outright to an outsider, some rumors persist regardless. D10 ZARFVIN RUMORS 1 2

One Annulus Directive is claiming that a discovery of theirs was stolen by another. A smaller, lesser known subset of Zarfvin are challenging an accepted methodology, and have evidence worth considering.

Some Zarfvin have begun to talk of a great journey to a place known as the Ordmist.

Rumors spread of something that can be seen in the Bleak – something large and growing.

A lauded and respected group of Zarfvin have been invited to Grinn to help create a new version of the Crucible.

Several once-disgraced Zarfvin are getting a second chance as it was proved their efforts failed due to sabotage.

There is a new, traveling Annulus Directive that is going from city to city challenging anyone to construct a copy of a particularly complex Archan they’ve created – those who succeed may join their ranks.

A huge cache of intact Titan relics have been unearthed, and it must be studied before it is looted or tainted.

A powerful Annulus Directive has lost its most prolific and visionary leader due to a mysterious incident with a powerful Archan.

There are rumors that a Lord of Ash is seeking some willing, studious Zarfvin for a secret project.

OUTLOOKS ON OTHER CULTURES Ardor: A tragic fate, but earned. However, without them, the wheels would not have been set in motion to get us where we are today. Crucian: Probably the only people more cunning and calculating than us – in their own way... Drogus: If you took away the Zarfvin’s quality, technical skill, and standards, and added a dash of immorality, you’d have the Drogus. Granok Thane: It would be wonderful to have the resources to buy out this mercenary army to focus on furthering our knowledge.

Grimdul: Superstitious simpletons, though their survival and combat prowess cannot be ignored – even when used to tenaciously defend their groundless beliefs. Holmir: To strike a friendship with a Holmir is to learn the secrets of the dragons – and that’s worth putting up with their dated traditions. Mord: They know secrets undreamed of, but keep them close and let them grow stagnant – a waste of potential. Sarrik: They squander the potential of the goods and equipment they’ve inherited from history, but their desire to discover what they are is to be respected. Silverwise: Hexes, charms, and witchery are so limited in what they can accomplish – if the Silverwise embraced technology, their walls would be far more valuable than silver... Talasar: If they set their ancient minds to discovery rather than infighting over tradition, they could get further, faster than any of us.

ANNULUS DIRECTIVES The Zarfvin, despite their insulation to outsiders and those uninitiated in their Titan craft, are exceptionally communal and often develop highly focused cliques called Annulus Directives. These cliques often center around a particular specialization within Titan technology and an approach to the craft in general. Some groups may focus on transportation and others on weaponry. Some directives are grave and practical while others are zany and experimental. Some Annulus Directives are informal and casual, merely groups of Zarfvin friends who enjoy creating together in a similar style who are given a name from outsiders to refer to their work. Other Annulus Directives are formal, carefully crafted alliances owned or patronized by powerful people hoping to capitalize on their innovations, trading safe and well-supplied creative spaces to eager Zarfvin in exchange for the fruits of their creativity. Whether casual or official, almost every Annulus Directive has an extremely rigorous entry test, often demanding potential members to demonstrate a high degree of knowledge, finesse, and creative potential in the fields and style of the directive before being considered. While it is possible for Zarfvin to operate alone, they rarely do so. Nearly all Zarfvin consider this wasted potential, losing centuries of shared experience and progress that the culture has communally advanced in exchange for a small bit of freedom or solitude. That has not stopped some fringe members, some of whom have even become highly successful and sought after, from exploring the solo path. ANNULUS DIRECTIVES D12

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

SPECIALTY

MANNER

Transportation Weaponry Body modification Mathematics and physics Construction Energy and power Medicine Bleak or Desolation Archaeology and excavation Cartography Planar exploration Alchemy

Clean and precise Extravagant and gaudy Eccentric and zany Cutting-edge and experimental Coldly practical Fiercely competitive Honest above all else Impulsive risk takers Reverent of the Dismembered Lord Kind-hearted and easygoing Cruel and punishing Put their craft above all else

ANNULUS DIRECTIVE NAMES D102 NAME 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

NAME 2

Aether Hedral Null Trithagon Mechanar Archanic Lateralus Echelon Paradigm Archanaut

Solution Initiative Apparatus Coalition Objective Expanse Mandate Collective Engine Ring

ZARFVIN NAMES AND TITLES Zarvin have no surnames, but are instead defined by their configuration, a title that hearkens to their cultural symbol is the Unitrix. A Zarfvin’s configuration represents their specific intricate discipline as a Zarfvin, and their exact manifestation of their expertise. The configuration can follow the name connected by “the” (Saerlius the Tetradar Observer), or inform the name with “of the” in between the configuration (Saerlius Observer of the Tetradar). Optionally choose or roll for a name and configuration during character creation, or gain one during your adventures. ZARFVIN NAMES D20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

NAMES

D20

Barachiel Geyanau Rhamiel Saerlius Thomanlon Vaulzuen Laedron Dronphuen Ariron Osral

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

NAMES Athimial Listil Paedyolon Holith Pheshi Migethe Aunya Iazen Uriad Zerachiel

ZARFVIN CONFIGURATION D20

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

CONFIGURATION 1

CONFIGURATION 2

Squaric Hexagar Isomarc Prismikar Tetradar Fractiss Refractull Circlic Mitoloid Hectracite Crescentiss Ovalessent Telamist Fusionaire Rhombist Kilograph Prionar Triangulant Cubewise Zarferion

Deconstructor Crafter Architect Cataloguer Observer Halter Dissolver Amplifier Nullifier Hewer Dimmer Arbiter Sealer Purifier Clocker Procurer Recorder Possessor Artificer Refurbisher 87

CHARACTER CREATION: CULTURES

ZARFVIN CULTURAL TRAITS Ability Score Increase: The Zarfvin are expert crafters with rich culture surrounding innovation and discovery. Choose two from Dexterity, Intelligence, and Wisdom and increase both of those scores by 1. Alignment: The Zarfvin are sharp and organized, but practical and opportunistic, siding with whoever allows them to continue their craft. They tend toward law and neutrality. Languages: Many Zarfvin, particularly those serving alongside Ardor and Crucian communities, speak fluent Crucian. Within their own groups, most Zarfvin speak Titanspeak, or at least a modern dialect of the ancient language. Their natural affinity for the coded language of Titans allows them to seamlessly interact with Titan-based technology and constructs like tomehearts. Master Crafters: The Zarfvin are experts in repairing, building, and modifying Titan tech. You gain proficiency in Archanic tools, tinker’s tools or a set of artisan’s tools and gain an Archan bauble with the ruined condition (see the Archans section on page 400; work with your GM to determine its nature and details), and you roll ability checks made to operate, repair, build, or deconstruct Titan technology with advantage. Trade Secrets: The Zarfvin carefully and coldly guard their secrets from outsiders, but revel in sharing knowledge amongst friends and fellow creators. Provided there are no non-Zarfvin within earshot, you have advantage on any Charisma (Persuasion) checks made with other Zarfvin, as Zarfvin will go out of their way to help solve an interesting problem or work on technology as long as they view you as an ally. Cultural Focus: You can choose one cultural focus from the following list.

ZARFVIN CULTURAL FOCUS Magnum Opus: You have created a marvelous new invention from the Titan tech you’ve found and continue to develop your masterpiece. Work with your GM to choose or create a magic item appropriate for your level, but rather than being enchanted, it is Titan tech. You gain that item, made of intricate Titan tech instead of its normal material. At 5th level, 10th level, 15th level, and 20th level, you continue to perfect your work. Your creation gains new abilities or improves current abilities in a manner suiting its function. Consider tying this ability to the Archans of the Titans section on page 400. Titan’s Muse: The Zarfvin’s culture is fueled by creativity and innovation, and new ideas strike you vividly and suddenly. Whenever you complete a short or long rest you gain inspiration. Additionally, at the GMs discretion, you can spend inspiration to do either of the following: • Automatically succeed on a check made to repair, build, or understand a piece of Titan technology. • Gain a sudden rush of insight into a problem you are facing. Ask the GM a question about a problem you are currently facing. They must provide a useful and true answer. Inner Circle: Your name is known among the Zarfvin for being an effective collaborator and creator. Your Trade Secrets trait applies to any Zarfvin who is not directly hostile or opposed to you, instead of only those allied to you. Additionally, you have a close connection to another Zarfvin who is well-supplied and well-connected. Work with the GM to decide who this person is and where they are located, their specialty, and how you know them. This contact can supply you with basic tools and materials, and for the right price, can find more rare and exotic materials at the GM’s discretion. Titan Tech Deconstructed: You have mastered the art of understanding and reverse-engineering Titan technology. You gain proficiency in the Investigation skill. Additionally, when you spend a long rest examining a piece of Titan technology, you gain the following benefits: • You understand the purpose and function of the technology. • You can reconstruct the tech as long as you have the materials and tools to do so. The amount of materials needed to do so are decided on by the GM based on the size and intricacy of the Titan tech. • You have advantage on any check made to operate or repair the technology. Archan Eyes: You or someone you knew mastered the rare art of using Titan technology for body modification. Your eyes have been replaced by eerie gold Archans that enhance your sense of sight to great degrees. You gain proficiency in the Perception skill and double your proficiency bonus on Wisdom (Perception) checks. You gain Darkvision out to 60 feet, and can see in dim light as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray. Additionally, you can momentarily tap into the deeper sight of the Titans. As a bonus action, you can channel the Titans’ sight for 1 minute. You gain truesight out to 60 feet and can see in all directions simultaneously for the duration. You must complete a short or long rest before using this ability again.

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LANGUAGES

The people of Dragongrin communicate using dozens of languages, with a dozen diverse dialects beyond those. These languages represent the most prolific spoken in Dragongrin, and those most useful for adventurers to know.

COMMON TONGUES Bartermouth: Sounds like clinking coins. This trade language is used by scavengers and traders across Dragongrin, prolific among both the Drogus and the Red Sail merchants. Bartermouth is a simple, spartan, straightforward language used to express ideas as varied as “that’s too expensive” and “you won’t find a better deal.” Crucian: Sounds like a shovel biting into the earth. The official “common” tongue of Dragongrin began as an obscure dialect of the language of Viste, the homeland of Ghul Varras. Now made standard across the Sovereign’s empire, Crucian is an efficient and organized tongue, following strict rules of grammar and usage. Most Crucians in their hubris expect anyone they interact with to speak at least passable Crucian. Dul: Sounds like wind scraping against sand or galloping hooves. The Grimdul language, in addition to spoken words, utilizes a variety of hand signals and whistles, making it useful even from the back of a mount. Each phrase in Dul is an ancestral memory, expressing ideas, thoughts, and emotions through events in Grimdul history. Exuvian: Sounds like leaves crunching underfoot (Under Exuvian), or water flowing over smooth stone (Upper Exuvian). This soothing fey-derived language is fluid, though intricate and varied in its dialect. Most common in Dragongrin is the harsher Under Exuvian spoken by the Mord, and the ethereal Upper Exuvian spoken by the Talasar. One fluent in Exuvian understands both the upper and lower dialects. Nok: Looks like a whetstone honing steel or legions moving in sync. The military sign language of the Granok Thane uses no spoken words. The efficient and closely-guarded series of hand signs allows for silent communication in tactical situations, as well as for deaf or hard-of-hearing warriors to give and receive orders.

Yng: Sounds like the rumble of a cairnstone and the fluttering of longship sails. One of the oldest tongues in Dragongrin, Yng is spoken primarily by the Holmir. Similar to Draconic, the Holmir naturally developed Yng as a result of living in and around the grins of their homeland, adapting the written language of the tombs to a spoken language all their own. Despite its remote origins, Yng is spoken throughout Dragongrin as a result of Holmir raids and colonies.

OBSCURE TONGUES Bleakspeech: Sounds like crackling lightning. At its apex, Bleakspeech is spoken by monstrous deathmaws and the godly Xur Kith within Bleakstorm cyclones, heard in thunderous strikes of lightning and bitter spatters of electric pops. Among Dragongrin’s mortal population, tongue clicks and subtle hisses make up for the bombastic language of the Bleakstorm. Some say when powerful beings speak this language, Glimmerwinds form around them, sometimes days after words were spoken. Draconic: Sounds like the scream of a dragon. This language, spoken in high volumes and shrieked pitches, is the tongue of dragonkind. Also called Wyrmtongue, it is an ancient and arcane language, painting lavish and often overwhelming scenes with words not intended for mortal ears. Writing in Draconic relies on depth more than the characters, and engravings are gorged into stone without rhyme or reason. Primordial: Sounds like an avalanche, like thunder, like roiling waves, like cracking ice, like roaring flames. Along with Titanspeak, Primordial is among the oldest languages in the realm, persisting only in ancient texts and shadowed prescenes. Primordial does not communicate ideas so much as it communicates pure, raw emotion – not just anger, but the primal flame from which all rage originates. Titanspeak: Sounds like clicking gears and hammers upon anvils. The ancient language of the Titans is all but lost, save its guarded and careful usage among the Zarfvin. Serving as both an efficient spoken communication and a coded language used to create tech, Titanspeak is a logical and regimented tongue. In addition to the Zarfvin, tomehearts innately understand Titanspeak.

Holith: Sounds like stone scraping against stone. Once, Holith was the common tongue of Dragongrin, spoken primarily by the Ardor. Supposedly handed down by their gods, and used in the scriptures and hymns of the Holithic Church, Holith is currently outlawed in Innes, spoken only in whispers under the gaze of the Maug’Tarak overseers. Silvercant: Sounds like creaking trees or howling wind. Also known as the ‘Cant, this seemingly nonsensical series of phrases and symbols is used primarily by the Silverwise to identify Silver Walls and other respites from evil, as well as areas where the walls of reality grow thin. Varynx: Sounds like breath pulled through teeth. To non-Sarrik, Varynx is an unsettling and unnerving language. Harsh and hollow, like the last breath of a dying creature, Varynx is used to trigger synesthesia, equating abstract concepts with colors, shapes, sounds, and smells. To a Sarrik, Varynx is as visual as it is auditory.

89 CHARACTER CREATION: CULTURES

BACKGROUNDS A gravedigger grips a shovel, flinging dirt over her shoulder as corpses from a Marrow raid pile up. A chronicler details the victory speech of a conquering Lord of Ash. An Archanite tinker activates ancient technology to shed light as they delve into the tomb of a long-dead dragon. Your background is a key element of your character, and grants skills, languages, tools proficiencies, and more. Find options for further backstories – such as bonds, flaws, burdens, and hopes – in the Character Depth section of the book.

CHARGES, TROUBLES, AND PECULIARITIES Each background includes thematic tables offering narrative ties to Dragongrin. Some contain flavorful names or details specific to each background, while others list charges or troubles, offering options to inject immediate conflict into your characters and games. Charges are duties that fall to you as an inhabitant of Dragongrin under the rule of the Dismembered Lord. Shirking your charge comes with consequences – the ire of your fellow community members, the attention of the Dismembered Legion, or worse. Troubles, likewise, are impending consequences and challenges bearing down on you. Lastly, peculiarities enhance characters with personality traits in line with their specific identity.

BACKGROUNDS HAPPEN NOW Backgrounds in Dragongrin are active, present aspects of your character. They represent your training or profession. Since being a hero will likely get you killed, many adventurers continue their professions and roles while attempting to pursue the dangerous life of an adventurer. PLYING YOUR TRADE Many settlements in Dragongrin, particularly those remote or distant from urban centers, have need of basic services and skilled labor like grave-digging, medicine, or even reading and writing. At the GM’s discretion, you can utilize your background to spend an hour providing a service of your profession in exchange for modest coin, food and lodging, or favors and information.

WONDROUS BACKGROUNDS

Wondrous backgrounds allow for adventurers shaped by the wondrous, magical, or unfathomable phenomena in Dragongrin. These backgrounds are rare, and come with their own sets of unique benefits and troubles.

BACKGROUNDS BACKGROUND

Master of ancient relics and bygone technology Sewist of sutures and hewer of gangrenous limbs Tamer of wild animals Dogged tracker and hunter of fugitives Scribe devoted to the forgotten lore of Dragongrin Slave shackled to service Once-great figure, cast aside under the new Erstwhile Noble regime Fugitive Criminal fleeing retribution Grifter Charlatan with a few tricks up their sleeve Gravedigger Hard-bitten laborer with an affinity for the dead Hallowed Devotee of old faiths Cartographer and explorer of Dragongrin’s dark Mapwright corners Armored soldier in service to the Dismembered Marrow Lord Missive Crow Messenger with knowledge of secret roads Next of Kin Inheritor of wealth and property – and trouble Wanderer, unfettered by the reach of the Nomad Dismembered Lord Prydagger Thief, vagabond, and burglar Relic Hunter Treasure-seeker with knowledge of hidden places Red Sail Merchant Shrewd hawker of rare goods and services Sellsword Warrior who fights for coin Shatterfarer Sailor of Dragongrin’s Shattered Seas Artist spreading the Sovereign’s truth, working Street Performer against him, or just trying to survive as an entertainer Worker with tools and calloused hands, expected Toiler to maintain a new empire WONDROUS BACKGROUNDS BACKGROUND Avowed Bleakscarred Distant Traveler Failed Hero Reborn of the Gray Undying Light

90 CHARACTER CREATION: BACKGROUNDS

DESCRIPTION

Archanite Tinker Barber Surgeon Beastkeeper Bounty Hunter Chronicler Drudge

DESCRIPTION Traitor whose unfathomable deeds bought them favors Mortal who inexplicably survived traveling through an arcane storm Wayward wanderer from another world Rebel who rose against the Dismembered Lord – and failed Risen, returned from death and unsure of their place Secret operative subverting the new regime

ARCHANITE TINKER

You are especially skilled at crafting, disassembling, and modifying the most ancient instruments of the known world – the Archans. Your expertise with these constructs built using reclaimed Titan technology is unmatched.a You operate in circles of other tinkers, and are well-versed in the origins of these amazing artifacts. Skill Proficiencies: Arcana, History Tool Proficiencies: Tinker’s tools, Archan tools Languages: One of your choice Equipment: A set of traveler’s clothes, a pair of tinted goggles, a set of tinker’s tools or Archan tools, a satchel filled with scraps of metal and spare parts, an Archan bauble (see page 400; work with your GM to determine its nature and details), and a belt pouch containing 5 gp

BARBER SURGEON

Military service or specialized training has given you the ability to heal minor injuries and perform quick-and-dirty surgeries. Your belt pouches swell with medicinal ingredients from the wild, and you own a variety of blades, knives, and braces to perform bloody, but vital work. You’re no doctor, but your rudimentary skill in medicine allows you to arrive on the scene for bloody operations and brutal amputations. Skill Proficiencies: Medicine, Insight Tool Proficiencies: Herbalism kit Languages: One of your choice Equipment: A set of traveler’s clothes, a leather apron, a straight razor, a rolled-up field medicine kit (containing scalpel, bone saw, pliers, needle and thread, gauze, and bloodletting blades), a vial of leeches, a rudimentary glass eye, and a belt pouch containing 10 gp

ARCHANITE Using your tinker’s tools, you can spend 1 hour and 5 gp worth of materials to construct a small archanite (AC 10, 2 HP). You can have up to three such devices at a time. As an action, you can activate the archanite, which floats beside you and follows you within 5 feet. While the archanite is active, it sheds light identical to that of a torch in a color you choose (optionally you can work with your GM for other simple tasks your archanite might be built to perform). It can be deactivated as a bonus action. The archanite can be active for a total of 1 hour, either all at once or in several shorter uses, at which point it ceases to function. You can also choose to spend a minute to dismantle the archanite, reclaiming the spent materials.

FIELD MEDICINE You know how to quickly and effectively keep the wounded alive, albeit temporarily. As an action, you can touch a creature that has taken damage in the last hour, granting them 1d4 temporary hit points. You must complete a short or long rest before you can use this feature again. D6

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ARCHANITE APPEARANCE Small clockwork bird Interlocked cube with arachnid legs Cask-like with a spigot mouth Ornate tetrahedron on rudimentary wheels Tiny humanoid figurine Rolling sphere ARCHANITE TINKER CHARGE Help the Dismembered Legion repair reclaimed Titan tech Keep the Archans of a powerful figure in good repair Assist the Marrow with inspections for anyone hiding Archans Work with a Titan scholar to catalogue findings Program and erase Tomehearts, often against their will Accompany trackers to find and follow signs of Archans ARCHANITE TINKER PECULIARITY Badly scarred hands and arms Habitually disassembles objects Copious grease stains on clothing Loves the aroma of metal Meticulously arranges found objects into shapes and patterns Splits all tasks into steps and procedures

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SURGICAL SPECIALTY Bone-setting Amputation Poison treatment Field surgery Herbal medicine Internal trauma BARBER SURGEON CHARGE Routine wellness checks on locals in the area Personal barber for a powerful figure Accompany the Marrow during missions for field mending Personal torturer for a prominent figure Gather medicinal herbs for an employer Experimental anatomist, dissector, and researcher BARBER SURGEON PECULIARITY Enamored with taxidermy and the dissection of dead creatures Meticulously cleans and cares for implements Refuses medical attention and attempts to take care of themselves Rarely removes leather apron Habitually tests sharpness of knives on own clothing and armor Must maintain perfectly clean hands at all times

91 CHARACTER CREATION: BACKGROUNDS

BEASTKEEPER

BOUNTY HUNTER

You hail from the wilds, or have experience tracking, taming, and keeping beasts of Dragongrin, including wolves, bears, stags, and others. During your time as a keeper of beasts, you have gained a special appreciation for all living things, namely the untamed wilds and creatures beyond the grasp of the Dismembered Lord.

You take contracts from factions, nobles, or even the powerful servants of the Dismembered Lord himself to track down and detain runaways and fugitives. You’ve earned a reputation for your grisly work, as well as a fair bit of coin.

Skill Proficiencies: Animal Handling, Survival

Tool Proficiencies: None

Languages: One of your choice

Equipment: A set of traveler’s clothes, a mask or veil, a set of worn manacles with a key, a writ of bounty, a wanted poster of a notorious fugitive, a small jar of sleep dust, a vial of poison, a blackjack, and a belt pouch containing 10 gp

Equipment: A set of traveler’s clothes, a muzzle, an animal collar, 50 feet of hempen rope, a utility knife, a signal horn, padded bite sleeves, a whip, dried feed, a chew toy, and a belt pouch containing 5 gp

Skill Proficiencies: Intimidation, Survival

ANIMAL FRIEND You have an animal friend that you’ve tamed. Choose a beast of Tiny size with a challenge rating of 0. This creature follows you and does its best to defend itself, though you cannot command it in combat. You can give your animal friend simple tasks such as delivering or fetching small objects, causing distractions, or acting as an alarm. If the creature dies, you can find and train a new creature as part of a long rest.

SHADY CONTACTS You maintain contacts in cities all over Dragongrin, and if you don’t know someone, you certainly know a name you can drop to find out whose palms to grease. While in a city, you can spend 1 hour and 5 gp worth of bribes to make a connection with someone important with information relating to your current task. D6

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BEASTKEEPER SPECIALTY Steeds and mounts Hunting beasts Birds of prey Livestock Exotic creatures Monstrous beasts BEASTKEEPER CHARGE Keep the beasts of an important figure Set and maintain animal traps in the area Cull the population of the local vermin Break and train the horses of local Marrow Gathering, sorting and packaging animal feed Breed and raise Doomsayers BEASTKEEPER PECULIARITY Tends to put the welfare of animals before people Can name many kinds of animals by sight Excellent at mimicking animal calls Keeps a sketchbook of the animals seen Never uses silverware or plates Always keeps a small exotic pet on them

92 CHARACTER CREATION: BACKGROUNDS

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ESCAPED QUARRY Vicious serial killer Infamous former hero Runaway drudge Famed rebel Defected Marrow Copper Jackal BOUNTY HUNTER CHARGE Wrangle locals for routine questioning Keep tabs on former criminals Collect the Tenth Retrieve rebel bounties in the area Periodic long-term assignments to capture faraway fugitives Pull shifts as a bouncer for local establishments BOUNTY HUNTER PECULIARITY Never keeps back to an open door Judges people by the weapon they carry Never forgets a face – especially eye color Visually identifies exits when entering any location Physically touches every weapon carried when starting or finishing sleep Keeps a tally of estimated contract value on every person met

CHRONICLER

DRUDGE

You know this realm’s history is deeper and more mesmerizing than the Dismembered Lord’s empire allows most to believe. Whether by your own will, or under supervision of the Sovereign to unearth hidden truths, or bury Dragongrin’s secrets for once and all. This blasphemous deed could put a price on your head, but you know it’s worth it.

Your wrists and ankles drag shackles, your hands forced to toil, and your dreams filled with a longing for a freedom you’ve never known. You serve at the whim of a master, bearing brands and marks of your servitude both upon your flesh and upon your spirit. Perhaps someday, you’ll know a life of liberty.

Skill Proficiencies: History, Religion

Skill Proficiencies: Athletics, Survival

Tool Proficiencies: Calligrapher’s supplies

Tool Proficiencies: One type of artisan’s tools

Languages: Two of your choice

Languages: None

Equipment: A set of traveler’s clothes, a worn diary, calligraphers supplies, a reservoir pen, a candle, scrolls of transcriptions in-progress, a wax seal ring, writings deemed heretical by the Dismembered Lord, and a belt pouch containing 5 gp

Equipment: A set of tattered commoner’s clothes, a set of manacles, a set of artisan’s tools (your choice), an ornate, stolen dagger, and a belt pouch containing 1 gold

LORE INFORMANTS Your thirst for knowledge has taught you where to find even the most buried secrets. You have a propensity for being able to choose just the right book, scroll, or tablet to find the information you’re looking for – and if you can’t find it, you’ll likely know where it can be found. You’re familiar with the various scattered libraries, archives, repositories, and universities of the realm, and even some rumored locations of secret or forbidden sources of knowledge.

ESCAPED You fled a life of servitude. In a world so grim and gray, you keep a compassion for those still locked in chains. Servants and slaves treat you with kindness, going out of their way to aid you and complete favors, such as hiding you from authorities, smuggling you basic supplies, or delivering messages on your behalf. D6

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KNOWLEDGE SOUGHT History of Lightfall True nature of the Bleak Effects of the Desolation Archans and their powers Titans and Primordials The Dismembered Lord CHRONICLER CHARGE Scribe the records of the Tenth Transcribe copies of Titan texts into blank tomes Seek out and destroy forbidden texts Keep records of confiscated contraband Pen propaganda for a Lord of Ash Help a powerful figure write their autobiography CHRONICLER PECULIARITY Scrawls notes on virtually any clean surface Prefers reading a book to talking to others Prefers to express thoughts in writing, and speaks less Loves the smell of fresh ink, and whiffs it occasionally Attempting to memorize a particularly long and esoteric story to recite Learning the same personally significant phrase in every possible language

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MARKS OF DRUDGERY Brand from a failed escape attempt Missing fingers, ears, or nose A tattoo of your former master’s estate Permanent manacle scars Chopped tongue Flogging scars DRUDGE CHARGE Tend to your master’s animals Educate your master’s children Load and unload wares for your merchant master Wash the dishes and clothing of a Marrow regiment Harvest a much-needed crop alongside other drudges Some other task determined by working with your Game Master DRUDGE PECULIARITY Obsessive about personal hygiene The sound of metal on metal makes your heart skip a beat Pushes until exhausted as a force of habit Habitually repeats all orders or commands back verbally Recites a fantasized dream life of comfort before sleeping Ranks everyone met by station, duty, and power

93 CHARACTER CREATION: BACKGROUNDS

ERSTWHILE NOBLE

There is no question that Lightfall changed the world, and for you, it was an especially long fall from the top. Once of a prominent noble house, family, or faction, your dealings were deemed inappropriate to the new Sovereign at best, and wholly blasphemous at worst. You either escaped a planned execution, or were granted a merciful banishment. Skill Proficiencies: History, Persuasion Tool Proficiencies: None Languages: Two of your choice Equipment: A set of fine clothes, fine leather boots, an ornate staff, a comb and scissors, a signet ring from a defunct family or faction, spectacles, a locket, a monogrammed handkerchief, a parcel with your crest upon it, and a belt pouch containing 20 gp

FUGITIVE

You are wanted by a dominant authority in Dragongrin, be it a prison you escaped from, a Marrow legion you deserted, or a bounty hunter demanding you answer for a crime. Life for you is one of constant transit, and staying off the road is often as important as finding a group of people you can trust. Skill Proficiencies: Deception, Stealth Tool Proficiencies: One type of gaming set, thieves’ tools Languages: None Equipment: A set of common clothes, a makeshift bindle full of odds and ends, a worn quarterstaff, manacles, a wanted poster depicting your likeness, a cloak with a hood, a water skin, a bit of food, an improvised chisel, and a belt pouch containing 5 gp

WORDLY POSSESSIONS You have protected or hidden something from your former life as a noble. Roll on the Worldly Possessions table or work with your GM to choose an appropriate item of wealth. You can leverage this valuable possession in dealings with nobles or other wealthy individuals, sometimes gaining audiences behind closed doors.

ALIAS You can be many things to many people, and change as the situation requires. In addition, you’re good at mimicking accents, as well as forging documents. At the GM’s discretion, you can choose to spend 1 day and 10 gp worth of resources or bribes to construct a new identity for yourself or one other person. D6 D6 1 2 3 4 5 6 D6

WORLDLY POSSESSION Valuable or prestigious horse Expensive wagon of goods License allowing you into a restricted area Map of a dangerous yet profitable underground complex Weapon of renown Deed to a small dwelling NOBLE CHARGE

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Parlay with the Red Sail market to ensure their routes come near your homeland Provide comfortable refuge for Marrow on demand Hold a seat on a local council seeding it with the aims of your faction Spy on the other nobles you used to hold close relations with before Lightfall Teach noble ways to the child of a powerful figure Represent a Marrow Commander in all matters political

NOBLE PECULIARITY

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Combs and trims hair meticulously Relies on a vice of luxury from their former life Keeps manners intact as often as possible Takes excellent care of garments and footwear Reminisces with a memento ritualistically each day Remembers all allied and enemy houses by name, watches for stray members

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ALLEGED CRIME Murder Blasphemy Treason Theft Not paying the Tenth Arson or destruction of property FUGITIVE TROUBLE You’re free, but fear the thing hunting you far more than you do prison A bounty hunter contracted by someone you wronged is on your tail You are innocent, yet no one believes you You are being scapegoated and framed for other crimes you didn’t commit Someone from your past has surfaced nearby with information on your whereabouts Due to some form of amnesia, you no longer remember the details of your crime FUGITIVE PECULIARITY Tears down wanted posters Finds unparalleled comfort in musical performances Unhealthy love for gambling Carries around a rusty lock and practices picking it Demands a watch is kept at all times of rest, even in safe places Has a fake name they require to be used in front of any authority

GRIFTER

GRAVEDIGGER

The truth is a tool you twist, exploit, or invent entirely to get your way in Dragongrin, and your identity changes as quickly as the phases of the moons. Whether by duping others in games of chance, preying on the trust or misfortune of the weak, forging documents, cutting pursestrings, or transporting illicit goods, you’ve made a living off of swindling others.

Life in Dragongrin is rife with death, and you more than anyone understand the immediate and more mundane ramifications of it. When people die, you bury them; when they die alone, you perform their funeral rites. Sometimes looked down upon or considered harbingers of bad luck and death, you are often called a “grinmaker” as an insult. It’s grim, hard work, but the duty must fall to someone.

Skill Proficiencies: Deception, Sleight of Hand

Skill Proficiencies: Athletics, Religion

Tool Proficiencies: Disguise kit, one type of gaming set

Tool Proficiencies: None

Languages: None

Languages: One of your choice

Equipment: A set of common clothes, a disguise kit, a set of knuckle dusters, a loaded gaming set of your choice (such as dice or cards), and a belt pouch containing 10 gp

Equipment: A set of dirty common clothes, a shovel, a spade, a pickaxe, a pair of worn leather gloves, a lantern, a keepsake for a grave, a skull to be buried in a family plot, license to perform burial rites, and a belt pouch containing 5 gp

UNSAVORY ASSOCIATES Being unscrupulous yourself, you’re able to spot a less-thanupstanding citizen when you see one. In a populated area, you can find an unsavory contact to grant you access to various services under the table. Some examples would be a corrupt city guard, a black market goods dealer, a poison crafter, or even a thieves guild member.

THE DEAD SPEAK You have an affinity for the dead, and the secrets they carry. You can touch a creature that died in the last 24 hours to discern a single secret about that creature or kept by that creature at the GM’s discretion. You must complete a short or long rest before using this feature again. D6

GRIFTER SPECIALTY

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Fencing goods Breaking and entering Wagon raids Hired muscle Heists Smuggling

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GRIFTER CHARGE You owe a sizable sum of money to a dangerous figure You’re being blackmailed into doing more heinous deeds Your most trusted contact has just gone missing There’s a hit out on you A mysterious assassin is killing off your associates You’ve just been double-crossed or framed GRIFTER PECULIARITY Constantly rolls a coin across fingers Always sizing up the wealthiest person in the room Shuffles and fans cards at great speeds with accuracy Practices speaking in various accents while alone Feels compelled to con increasingly wealthy and more difficult marks Never refuses a game of chance and never plays fair

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RECENT BURIAL Innocent victim of a monster Person whose ransom went unpaid Needlessly executed commoner Killed by a Bleakstorm Youngest of a quelled rebellion Powerful hero, slain GRAVEDIGGER CHARGE Dig the mass graves used for insurgents Seeker and robber of rebel graves Handle the proper military burials for all Dismembered Legion Groundskeeper of the local grin Ensuring none rise as undead in an area tainted by the Desolation Tasked with collecting and burying any dead in an area GRAVEDIGGER PECULIARITY Absentmindedly whistles or hums a haunting tune Collects dirt from various places Cleans and oils weapons and tools meticulously Will always bury an unburied body if possible, no matter the creature Assesses by eye the amount of time a creature has been dead Keeps a list of last words heard in person and routinely reads them

95 CHARACTER CREATION: BACKGROUNDS

HALLOWED

You are a servant of your chosen deity or pantheon in Dragongrin, spreading the words and beliefs of your faith as far as you can reach. Some call you a kook, others call you a witch. Many brand you a zealot, and others call you a heretic (after all, there is no position in the world’s hierarchy above that of the Dismembered Lord himself). You know what you truly are, however – a missionary, spreading the light of truth to all who will hear it. Skill Proficiencies: Persuasion, Religion

MAPWRIGHT

You are no mere world traveler, but a professional cartographer of its great landmasses, geographical features, and intimate regional details. Prominent factions and Lords of Ash frequently commission your work in mapping out certain areas, and many odd jobs lead you into dangerous realms and uncharted catacombs – all risks you’re happy to take on, of course. Skill Proficiencies: History, Survival

Tool Proficiencies: None

Tool Proficiencies: Cartographer’s tools, vehicles (land), vehicles (water)

Languages: One of your choice

Equipment: A set of common clothes, a battered holy symbol, a censer, a walking stick, rune stones, a small totem, incense and burner, a mysterious icon of your faith, a sheaf of faded religious texts, and a belt pouch containing 5 gp

Equipment: A set of traveler’s clothes, a walking stick, a set of cartographer tools, a scroll case filled with maps, a battered compass, a prized map, and a belt pouch containing 10 gp

DEVOUT BELIEVER In Dragongrin, the existence of the gods is unproven. However, you are a devout believer in your faith. If you and your companions should happen upon a temple friendly to your faith, they will offer healing, food, and shelter in most cases. If you are near a temple of which you are a member, or known by, you can choose to request more assistance, such as equipment, amnesty from outside threats, or even able-bodied followers to help your cause.

WANDERER You have an excellent memory for maps and geography, and can always recall the general layout of terrain, settlements, and other features around you. In addition, you can find food and fresh water for yourself and up to five other people each day, provided the terrain reasonably allows it. D6

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FAITH TESTED Persecuted by loved ones Mocked by contemporaries Nearly martyred Disowned by family Jailed and mistreated A settlement once of your same faith has converted to another HALLOWED TROUBLE You are being accused of blasphemy by the heads of your faith You’ve dreamed something suggesting your faith to be wrong A fellow practitioner has been labeled a heretic and needs help You believe your faith to be misguided – you must start anew You have a zealous reputation, and a rival cult seeks to end you A temple you consider sacred is inhabited by the unworthy HALLOWED PECULIARITY Often recites religious texts Donates a separate Tenth for their deity, even if it means not eating Prays with eyes wide open, speaking as though deity is present Carves religious symbols out of various materials Keeps a list of good deeds done Identifies seemingly mundane events as deific signals

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PRIZED MAP Dragon’s grin Titan ruins Lost city Uncharted region, island, or archipelago Pre-Lightfall forest Bleak-scarred geography MAPWRIGHT CHARGE Update and archive maps for safe travel of the Red Sail market Track and map the migrations of a nomadic people Compile the maps from the region into a codex Teach an apprentice Explore and map frontier areas Create a map of the area, with a specific focus such as topography or religion MAPWRIGHT PECULIARITY Scrawls and doodles on the edges of maps, scrolls, and books Calibrates and organizes cartographer’s tools endlessly Studies prized map and scrawls notes at every chance Sketches maps of the current location, from inns and taverns to mountains and forests Verbally fantasizes about what lays beyond the edge of a map and plans to travel there Regularly quizzes self and others about prominent landmarks, regions, and cities

MARROW

MISSIVE CROW

After two years in the blackened heart of Svir’s intensive Marrow training, you entered into the Dismembered Lord’s legions. Perhaps you’re still proud to stand in the shield wall, or have grown rebellious over the years of persecuting the helpless. Maybe you’ve since retired – but some skills are never lost, no matter what. The only thing more life-changing than your service in the Dismembered Legion are the connections and knowledge you’ve gained from it, and you’re better able to survive in Dragongrin for it.

It’s never long after you’ve arrived that you must again depart – the mail and messages of the realm demand it. You carry wax-sealed scrolls penned by profoundly literate nobles, as well as small scraps of paper wrapped around the only copper coin the sender could round up. Your job is arguably among the most important in all Dragongrin, and you are the only non-legionary permitted to freely enter a Marrow camp to deliver your packages. The knowledge you gain from your many ventures is invaluable, to say the least.

Skill Proficiencies: Athletics, Intimidation

Skill Proficiencies: Athletics, Survival

Tool Proficiencies: One type of artisan’s tools, vehicles (land)

Tool Proficiencies: Calligrapher’s supplies, vehicles (land), vehicles (water)

Languages: None Equipment: A Marrow helm and half-plate armor, a standardissue Marrow shortsword, a scroll containing the basic duties of your regiment in the region, a water-resistant satchel, an insignia of the Dismembered Lord, a waterskin, a bedroll, one set of artisan’s tools (your choice), a set of common clothes, and a belt pouch containing 10 gp

Languages: Two of your choice Equipment: A set of traveler’s clothes, a satchel of missives to deliver, license for entry to all Marrow camps and one forbidden location, a few undeliverable letters, map of the region, a sealed secret missive, and a pouch containing 5 gp

FRACTURE You know a secret dialect of militant code known only to the Marrow of the Dismembered Legion. You can use this language of symbols and metaphors to communicate with others who know it, or to listen in on their conversations. You can teach anyone you choose how to speak it given some time (typically a month of regular training).

CROW ROUTES You know of a secret network of shipping and mail routes known as the Crow Routes. It may take you some time, but in most areas, you can find a way to send or receive something secretly and safely – the more treacherous the region, the more dangerous the access to the dark roads often is. D6 D6 1 2 3 4 5 6 D6 1 2 3 4 5 6 D6 1 2 3 4 5 6

MARROW SPECIALIZATION Peacekeeper Scout Field medic Legionary Elite specialty unit Honor guard MARROW CHARGE Patrol of the perimeter of your post and keep the peace Perform reconnaissance efforts in unknown lands Train new troops Internal ffairs such as flogging and court martials Seek out and bring justice to rebels Cook MARROW PECULIARITY Sharpens sword often and meticulously Cleans and oils armor daily Hates the feel of the helm on their head Writes letters to a loved one as often as possible Notes strategic ambush and tactical locations Addresses everyone by appropriate rank, title, or full name when possible

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UNDELIVERED LETTER Blood-smeared Marrow orders Wedding invitation from before Lightfall Marrow conscription list Personal letter between two Lords of Ash Propaganda from the Dismembered Legion Unopened envelope with no address of return MISSIVE CROW CHARGE Carry official Marrow orders between camps Long distance missive carrier Official carrier for a city or town Deliver secret messages on the most arduous paths Personal missive crow for a powerful figure Carry messages to and from the front lines of hard combat MISSIVE CROW PECULIARITY Collects small mementos from each town visited Obsessed with delivering missives above most else Keeps a journal logging all locations visited Secretly opens and reads missives Keeps a missive meant for someone found dead Refuses to show contents of any missive regardless of severity

97 CHARACTER CREATION: BACKGROUNDS

NEXT OF KIN

NOMAD

Your benefactor has died, leaving you and any relevant siblings to inherit their life’s work. Your heart may be filled with grief, but your mind brims with knowledge from the years spent learning from this patron. It’s time to use what you’ve gained to make your own name in the world of Dragongrin.

The mountainous and rugged terrain most avoid is more familiar to you than any well-traveled road. You’ve somehow managed to live off the unforgiving lands of Dragongrin, keeping your head out of sight of the Evergrowing Shadows plaguing the world. Some might call it eking by, but you know you’re better trained to survive than anyone.

Skill Proficiencies: Insight, History

Skill Proficiencies: Survival, Medicine

Tool Proficiencies: None

Tool Proficiencies: Herbalism kit

Languages: One of your choice

Equipment: A set of fine clothes, a leather-bound diary of your kin, documents of ownership, a satchel, a handful of family heirlooms, a set of unidentified keys, and a belt pouch containing 10 gp

Equipment: A set of common clothes, a hunter’s trap, a blanket, a large waterskin, an herbalism kit, foraged herbs and flora, a sickle, a jar containing a rare insect, and a belt pouch containing 2 gp

INHERITED LAND You receive the deed to a small piece of property in the region your relative was from. In addition, you gain an additional trinket that serves as proof of your relation.

RESOURCEFUL Your experience in the wild allows you to make do with what’s at hand. As part of a short rest, you can craft an item worth 10 gp or less to assist with a task, at the GM’s discretion. After using the item, it breaks and is unable to be reused or repaired. D6 1 2 3 4 5 6

CONDITION OF LAND In good repair, but plagued by attacks from threats in the region Contains a small cottage on it, though rumors say it’s haunted Marshy and wet, making it unlivable, but it’s said a valuable mineral lies beneath Contains a decent sized home, though it has a lien against it Once fertile for crops, but suffered a debilitating fire Overgrown and in disrepair, and contains squatters

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NEXT OF KIN TROUBLE Someone claiming to be a long-lost relative seeks inheritance Someone seeks revenge on your family, and you’re now a target Much of your inheritance is buried, and you have no idea where Someone wants payment from you for a debt of your benefactor A Lord of Ash demands you pay an immediate Tenth Another family member is in over their head with a criminal organization NEXT OF KIN PECULIARITY Write letters to deceased loved ones in diary Has a story about their family for every occasion Compulsively tries unidentified keys in various locks Aims to keep their possessions in excellent condition Keeps an unread and unopened letter left by the deceased loved one Benefactor left an unfinished magnum opus that must be finished

98 CHARACTER CREATION: BACKGROUNDS

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NOMAD SPECIALIZATION Bleak expert Guide and escort Hunter-trapper Scout Foraging Homesteader NOMAD TROUBLE Locals you’ve grown fond of are in danger Your ventures have led you to be pursued by Doomsayers You’ve found something in the wilderness that is a threat to those who won’t believe you The place you love dearly is beginning to be settled, eroding the wilderness around you You have been banished from an entire region of Dragongrin, but need to pass through Someone or something is tracking you NOMAD PECULIARITY Sleeps outdoors if given the chance Knows the names of many plants and insects Tops off water skin meticulously and frequently Snacks on dried food from pockets Habitually whistles a certain bird call Constantly whittling away idly at a piece of wood making nothing in particular

PRYDAGGER

You are a spy or mole in the employ of a person, faction, or the Dismembered Lord himself, serving as an informant on the actions and plots of rivals. Your deeds are performed in secret, and include spying and sabotage, carrying you into back-alleys and dens of thieves. Your identity is often what you make of it in the moment. Your job is not to make friends, though it’s often advantageous to do so.

RELIC HUNTER

Skill Proficiencies: Deception, Stealth

The people of this world, blinded by a lack of education and a plethora of propaganda, are by-and-large ignorant to its legendary histories. Some may even believe they are among the first of the world’s great societies, but you know better. Long-dead dragons still lie buried in the ancient grins, and the remnants of both Titan and Primordial still dot the landscape. You know what treasures await those daring enough to delve into such histories, and those ancient relics are yours to take.

Tool Proficiencies: Thieves’ tools or disguise kit

Skill Proficiencies: Arcana, History

Languages: None

Tool Proficiencies: Cartographer’s tools or thieves’ tools

Equipment: A set of common clothes, a face-obscuring hood, a dagger, a writ of free agency signed by a prominent figure, a set of thieves’ tools or a disguise kit, a grappling hook and rope, a sap, a shiv, a vial of poison, and a belt pouch containing 10 gp

Languages: One of your choice Equipment: A set of traveler’s clothes, a makeshift map to a grin or Titan burial site, a tarnished lantern, a pick or shovel, a prybar, pitons, a steel rod, a climbing axe, a purported dragon’s scale, a strange key, and a belt pouch containing 5 gp

HANDLER You have a reliable and trustworthy contact who acts as your liaison to the faction or organization you are an informant for. You know how to get messages to and from your contact, even over great distances, though it may take some time.

SCAVENGER

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OPPOSITION Local authorities Someone close to you Contact from your past Cutthroat merchant Rival Spy PRYDAGGER TROUBLE You need to double-cross someone close to you You slipped up, and someone is onto you A copycat is leaving your trademarks behind You have been given orders to get out of town – but something keeps you there. You stole from, assassinated, or otherwise betrayed the wrong powerful figure Both sides of a conflict are suspicious of your behavior – you are stuck in the middle PRYDAGGER PECULIARITY Keeps a ciphered ledger of shady dealings Prefers sleeping in the day, restless at night Daydreams how to perpetrate crimes in a given location Never partakes in food and drink prepared by others Listens in on every conversation no matter how mundane Tells a lie to every person spoken with

You have a sixth sense for finding slapdash objects that serve a purpose you need. The object may not always be pretty or well made, or even exactly what you need – but it almost always gets the job done. Once per day, while in a suitable location as determined by your GM, you can spend an hour scavenging, finding one item worth 2 gp or less. D6 1 2 3 4 5 6 D6 1 2 3 4 5 6 D6 1 2 3 4 5 6

RELIC SOUGHT Fabled weapon Mythical Archan Guide to safely enter the Infinite Lock Dragon’s scale Priceless tome Powerful Valen RELIC HUNTER CHARGE Explore potential Archan or valen burial sites Escort the Dismembered Legion through a Titan temple Find, recover, and deliver the relic that slipped between your fingers Teach Marrow the art of finding traps Using ancient relics to invent brand new machinations for the Dismembered Lord Find the remains of a ruined Primordial RELIC HUNTER PECULIARITY Can’t help telling stories of past adventures Double checks pack or pockets for an object regularly Catalogues a sack of collected junk at every opportunity Always scrawling notes on a tattered parchment Cross-references a faded, unfinished map with every new location trying to find a match Constantly fiddling with a small, broken piece of functionless Titan tech 99 CHARACTER CREATION: BACKGROUNDS

RED SAIL MERCHANT

SELLSWORD

You are a merchant by trade, and your chosen charge is a massive, mobile marketplace called the Red Sail Market. You acquire new goods, hire protection for their transport along the well-trod route, and sell those wares for steep profits in other legs of the journey. You might be stern, fair, or exploitative – but your livelihood is tied to dwindling supplies and burgeoning demands.

There’s no question about it – your prowess in battle is your most valuable asset. Dragongrin offers you many opportunities to earn a living with such a skillset, whether by escorting merchant caravans of the Red Sail Market, guarding noble homes and tenement blocks, or perhaps flagrant assassinations. You live by your own code, and others pay for it.

Skill Proficiencies: Insight, Persuasion

Skill Proficiencies: Athletics, Intimidation

Tool Proficiencies: One type of artisan’s tools

Tool Proficiencies: One type of gaming set, vehicles (land)

Languages: Two of your choice

Languages: None

Equipment: A set of traveler’s clothes, a set of artisan’s tools (one of your choice), a Red Sail Guildmark, a sturdy chest full of odds and ends, an iron lockbox and key, an ornate dagger, a bottle of rare vintage of wine, a balancing scale, encoded documents of the Red Sail Routes for the next 30 days, a promissory note, and a belt pouch containing 15 gp

Equipment: A set of traveler’s clothes, an emblem of your mercenary band, a gaming set of your choice, your infamous weapon, a dagger, a flask, dried meat, caltrops, a burial coin (your mercenary band covers the cost), a buckler, boots with hidden toe blades, and a belt pouch containing 10 gp

INFAMOUS WEAPON You carry a weapon of some renown, known for its maker, appearance, wielder, deeds, or all four. Your infamous weapon, though mundane, has a name, and affords you a modicum of respect and admiration from those who know it. You can leverage the weapon’s reputation to gain the attention of important figures related to your current task, or weasel your way into mercenary guilds and fighting arenas to gain paying work.

ROUTES OF THE RED SAIL You know methods taught only to the Red Sail merchants and their allies, used to traverse the land using only the position of the sun, stars, and moons. You can tell what time it is within an hour, which way is Bleakward, and you cannot get lost in a location with a Red Sail route so long as you can see the cloudless sky. D6 1 2 3 4 5 6 D6

BLACK MARKET CONNECTION Food and water Illegal, magical healing Dismembered Legion gear Forged papers and accurate maps Relics of the last age Outlawed contraband MERCHANT CHARGE

Take shifts on the dangerous routes on the edges of the vestiges Ensure proper trade and provisions for the Dismembered Legion and other officials Track, record, and report all unlicensed dealers and illicit goods Organize market caravans to previously unvisited locales Keep track of the stock of all of the market stalls, for tallying the Tenth Coordinating and scheduling the market routes in the area

MERCHANT PECULIARITY

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Will barter the price of anything shamelessly Calibrates balance of scales after traveling without fail Obsessively balances ledger and takes inventory Collects coins from every corner of Dragongrin Assign an estimated value to any piece of equipment seen Constantly offers to buy prized possessions and heirlooms

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100 CHARACTER CREATION: BACKGROUNDS

WHERE’D YOU GET THAT SCAR? On the front lines of a famous skirmish Escaping with your life, leaving others behind A duel, but you should see the other guy... Resisting the Dismembered Legion Cutting a piece of shrapnel or steel from my body I’d rather not talk about it... SELLSWORD CHARGE Clear out the local borderlands of beasts and monstrosities Fight rebels and insurgents Keep the local rebels in check, putting them down if necessary Protect the wares and lives of a merchant faction Shifts of guard duty, paid under the table by a Marrow Guard the roads more traveled for bandits SELLSWORD PECULIARITY Adheres to a strict diet and training regimen Cleans weapons and armor religiously Checks for burial coin as a nervous tick Loves games of chance and skill, plays them as often as possible Scans each location for items that can be used as weapons in an emergency Collects a weapon from every slain opponent, and leaves them in the next foe

SHATTERFARER

You sail the Shattered Seas, a farer of Dragongrin’s vast and volatile waters. As a sailor, your trades tend to change with the winds, setting your sails toward mercantilism, war, escort services, piracy, or any combination as the potential for coin and goods present themselves. You are a true explorer of Dragongrin, familiar not only with the ships of the realm, but with its weather patterns and other phenomena. Skill Proficiencies: Athletics, Perception Tool Proficiencies: Navigator’s tools, vehicles (water) Languages: One of your choice Equipment: A set of sailor’s clothes, a wide-brimmed hat, a spyglass, navigator’s tools, a lucky charm, a hand-carved pipe, a boatswain’s whistle, a scimitar, and a belt pouch containing 5 gp

OF THE SHATTERED SEAS

STREET PERFORMER

In the grim world of Dragongrin, small acts of entertainment go a long way in bringing smiles to saddened faces and coin into your own purse. You put on all kinds of shows – musical, acrobatic, magical, among others – for commoners, nobles, and Marrow alike, earning your living under the pleasing sound of applause. Skill Proficiencies: Performance, and your choice of either Acrobatics or Sleight of Hand Tool Proficiencies: Disguise kit, one type of musical instrument Languages: None Equipment: A set of commoner’s clothes, a worn musical instrument (one of your choice), a slapdash costume, a public performance license, an entertainment prop (one of your choice), a battered collection box, and a belt pouch containing 5 gp

You know how to get cheap, free or even illicit passage on the various ships of the realm of Dragongrin. You have a basic understanding of the ship’s routes, and how close they may typically come to the worst parts of the Bleak. Unless you’re a paying customer, you typically can’t choose your route, or have your preference of ship. There’s no guarantee that there will be a ship that’s headed to a destination that suits your needs in a timeframe that suits you, but you can work with your Game Master to see if there’s something close.

CROWD PLEASER You know how to work a crowd. You double your proficiency bonus on Performance checks when performing your chosen craft, be it music, acrobatics, or otherwise. You must complete a short or long rest before using this feature again. Additionally, you can usually find a place to perform, and often get a free meal and a place to stay in return. D6 D6 1 2 3 4 5 6 D6 1 2 3 4 5 6 D6 1 2 3 4 5 6

ROLE ON THE CREW Drudge – you were enslaved Rank-and-file sailor Boarding party Cook, carpenter, or other craftsman First mate Captain SHATTERFARER CHARGE Keep ships seaworthy and clean Make routine inspections of cargo holds for smuggled goods and refugees Accompany Dismembered Legion vessels on their voyages Periodically serve as crew for Marrow marines Help tradespeople navigate dangerous waters Construct and perform reparations on Marrow submersibles SHATTERFARER PECULIARITY Kisses lucky charm often Smokes pipe non-stop Avoids a handful of words – they’re bad luck Gets a piercing or tattoo for every new major location visited Throw a coin into every body of water as an offering for safe future voyages Keep a mental list of vessel names and captains ranked by quality and experience

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MASTERED PERFORMANCE Dramatizations Song Dance and acrobatics Parlor tricks (cards, shell game) Carnival tricks (guessing weight, juggling) Illusions STREET PERFORMER CHARGE Spread revisionist history, propaganda, and rhetoric through art Entertain a prominent official and their frequent guests Perform for Marrow in the field in order to improve morale Spy on a specific mercenary or Marrow believed to be a rebel Keep particularly agitated locals occupied and in good spirits at the nearby tavern Mount entertainment for the merchants of the Red Sail Market STREET PERFORMER PECULIARITY Works on new creative piece obsessively Brutally and vocally critical of creative works Practices known performances relentlessly Loves doing impromptu performances in crowded places Searching for the full version of a song a parent sang fragments of years ago Tries to learn a cultural performance piece from each major location visited 101 CHARACTER CREATION: BACKGROUNDS

TOILER

The world needs ditch diggers too, and you’re up for (or more likely born into) the job. Some call you a commoner, laborer, or run-of-the-mill peasant of Dragongrin, but you still take pride in your work, and gain plenty of information and connections in the local alehouse when the longer days are done. Whether you’re a farmer, blacksmith, tailor or the like, your days are long and your task is unending. Skill Proficiencies: Animal Handling, Athletics Tool Proficiencies: Your choice of any two artisan’s tools Languages: None Equipment: A set of commoner’s clothes, your choice of labor tool (light hammer, handaxe, pickaxe, or shovel), a set of artisan’s tools (your choice), a list of commissioned work, plans for an innovation for your craft, an exotic borrowed tool, a jug of home-brewed spirits, and a belt pouch containing 3 gp

SWEAT OF YOUR BROW

AVOWED

After offering your services to the Dismembered Lord and his servants by publicly committing a wretched act of loyalty, the Dismembered Legion and their servants have welcomed you into the fold as a kneebreaker, a snitch, or another type of lowly servant. By its nature, your avowed status is not hidden, and others sworn to service of the Dismembered Legion typically offer you a measure of respect for your loyalty to the Sovereign – though it is not guaranteed. Not every act of fealty to the Dismembered Lord does an avowed make. It requires the right place, the right time, and an act that makes a powerful statement worthy of the title. Skill Proficiencies: Deception, History Tool Proficiencies: None Languages: One of your choice Equipment: A set of fine clothes, a dagger or club, a coin or token presented after your act of loyalty, a leather satchel containing your current orders, an avowed insignia specific to your Dominion of Ash, and a belt pouch containing 10 gp

Your hands bear the creases and calluses of a laborer, and your back knows the weight of a long day’s work. You’re able to fit in naturally with the laboring class of any community. They tend to trust you quickly, and share local information such as rumors and gossip about the region and its people.

LOYAL FACTION

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TOILER TRADE Carpenter Fisherman or hunter Laborer Miller Farmer/rancher Blacksmith or craftsman TOILER CHARGE Pitch tents and build quick structures for the Red Sail market Perform repairs on the local general store, bank, residences, or other structures Take care of the Marrow stables, including one stallion belonging to a commander Perform physical labor around a prominent official’s manor Teach Marrow recruits how to dig and construct fortifications Take on various apprentices, teaching them to use the trade in service of the Sovereign TOILER PECULIARITY Performs secret acts of kindness plying their trade Pays those who can write to help draft trade best practices Goes out of the way to try local spirits and ales Constantly dreams up new tools to make the job easier Gives and receives advice from trustworthy strangers Asks any tradesman for a beginner course on their craft in exchange for their own

102 CHARACTER CREATION: BACKGROUNDS

You are a part of an organization or faction loyal to the Dismembered Lord, and you can rely on the amenities and accoutrements afforded by your membership. This often differs depending on the faction, but it can be food, lodging, or even repairs to your equipment, as long as your faction has a presence in your current location. You can also gain access to notable figures involved with your faction. D6 1 2 3 4 5 6 D6 1 2 3 4 5 6 D6 1 2 3 4 5 6

ACT OF LOYALTY Took a life of someone who trusted you You gave up refugees who pleaded for shelter You divulged important secrets You acted as a spy or mole on a loved one You turned coats during a pivotal battle or negotiation You relinquished valuable inheritance to the Dismembered Lord AVOWED TROUBLE You have gained the ire of the Marrow – you must prove yourself Someone seeks to make you into their own avowed offering The victim of your act (or someone close) seeks revenge Your display of loyalty to the Dismembered Lord was a sham Rumors persist that the community seeks to have you executed By declaring your loyalty, you have instigated a rebel faction AVOWED PECULIARITY Daily reassurances about the validity of act of loyalty Keeps a list of wronged people to make atonement Anonymously sends coin to family of those condemned Conceals Dismembered Legion symbols when possible Keep a list of wrongdoers for possible reporting Never makes eye contact unless demanded to

BLEAKSCARRED

The arcane maelstrom known as the Bleak has scarred you. Whether you were caught in a Bleakstorm, ventured too deeply into lands tainted by the Bleak, were caught in a veil of its energy that surrounds the borders of the Dominions of Ash, or were subjected to its powerful magic in another way entirely, the Bleak has shaped who you are. Skill Proficiencies: Arcana, Religion Tool Proficiencies: None Languages: Bleakspeech Equipment: A set of traveler’s clothes, a walking stick, a sturdy traveller’s pack, a dagger, a strange object found within the Bleak (work with your GM), a pair of dark-tinted goggles, a tattered cloak, and a belt pouch containing 5 gp

DISTANT TRAVELER

You hail from lands beyond the reaches of the Dismembered Lord, and even beyond the borders of the known territories of Dragongrin. You’ve crossed through the Bleak from another realm entirely, be it Enchea, Erenoth, Gloam, or elsewhere. Being such an outsider to Dragongrin’s dark rule offers you insights normally hidden from those who have known the horrors of its shadows for so long. While this new perspective grants you hope that many in Dragongrin could never know, you find that under the rule of the Sovereign, hope does not last long. Skill Proficiencies: Insight, Perception Tool Proficiencies: None Languages: One of your choice Equipment: A set of traveler’s clothes, a hand scrawled map of your homeworld, some coin from your homeworld, a strange weapon or piece of armor unique to your homeworld (work with your GM), a common object in your homeworld, an ornate satchel, and a belt pouch containing 5 gp

OUT OF PLACE

WHISPERS OF THE BLEAK You can sense or hear the will of the arcane maelstrom around you. You can glean and scry and feel information from the Bleak itself – sometimes whether you like it or not, or whether you’re purposefully listening. Once per long rest, you can ask your Game Master if there is anything in particular that you may hear in the whispers of the Bleak. Though strange and often cryptic, you tend to find that the whispers to be accurate. D6 1 2 3 4 5 6 D6 1 2 3 4 5 6 D6 1 2 3 4 5 6

Even the casual observer can tell you’re not from around here. Though you often attract unwanted attention, you also command a strange sense of awe to those around you, and can leverage your unique knowledge and outside perspective to gain access to prominent figures or locations otherwise closed off to you.

CONNECTION TO THE BLEAK Caught in a Bleakstorm Lived in an area rife with Bleak energies Student of a Bleak-infatuated master Wandered carelessly into a Bleakveil Exiled to the Bleak as punishment The Bleak “chose” you during a deep sleep BLEAKSCARRED TROUBLE You have developed a dependence on being near the Bleak You saw something in the Bleak that you must find again The Bleak seems drawn to you People who know of your past shun you as a bad omen Due to your contact with the Bleak, you are dying You have nightmares of a Bleakstorm BLEAKSCARRED PECULIARITY Has vivid daydreams of the Bleak overtaking current location Whispers a phrase heard from the Bleak five times evenly spaced through the day Draws the same strange symbols on every owned object Touches the sides and top of every doorway and prays the Bleak dare not strike Sees the world in red and purple auras at odd times, returning to normal shortly after Sees a face in otherwise mundane objects and patterns

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WHY HAVE YOU COME? A terrible accident Fulfilling religious devotion Wanderlust drives you Fleeing dangers or judgment from your realm Acting on strange fascination You have been banished TRAVELER TROUBLE You get news from your home realm of a tragedy Someone was traveling with you and didn’t make it This new realm is affecting your memory Your physical form seems to shift subtly with the three moons The transition between worlds has given you a bloodlust An enemy of yours from the other realm has followed you here TRAVELER PECULIARITY Compulsively compares everything to their homeland Maintains habit normal in their homeland, but taboo here Loves making recipes from where they’re from Fully devoted to learning Dragongrin’s customs and history Memories from before Dragongrin degrade rapidly Has recurring dreams of the Dismembered Lord taking over previous homeland 103 CHARACTER CREATION: BACKGROUNDS

FAILED HERO

You raised steel for a cause, and failed yourself, and others. Perhaps you set out to right a wrong, or to exact vengeance, to protect the helpless – or even fought in the fabled war of Lightfall itself. Those days are long gone, and the shame of it still hangs heavy on you. You likely ply a trade, wander the lands, or otherwise make your way in a grim society. Many still recall your deeds, and Marrow kneebreakers keep a close eye on you, but your days as a hero of Dragongrin are done – for now.

REBORN OF THE GRAY

You vividly remember the day the world went away, your life in Dragongrin ending tragically, viciously, or – if you’re one of the lucky ones – peacefully in your bed. You remember the awful Wailing Gray – your own personal hellscape of horrific ephemeral geography and nightmarish labyrinthine dungeons. But then it all went away. You were brought back, for some purpose unordained by yourself, and the grim realm of Dragongrin once again spans before you.

Skill Proficiencies: History, Survival

Skill Proficiencies: Choose two from among Arcana, Investigation, Religion, or Survival

Tool Proficiencies: One type of artisan’s tools, vehicles (land)

Tool Proficiencies: None

Languages: None

Languages: Choose one exotic language (Bleakspeech, Titanspeak, Draconic, or Primordial)

Equipment: A set of common clothes, a set of artisan’s tools (one of your choice), an old shortsword, a dented helm, a chest of battered old adventuring gear, a keepsake from a lost loved one, a small memento from a past adventure, a bottle of cheap spirits, and a belt pouch containing 4 gp

Equipment: The clothes you died in, a faded weapon from the Wailing Gray, a handful of graydirt from the other side, and a belt pouch containing 2 gp (placed over your eyes during your funeral rites)

COMMUNE WITH THE GRAY Other creatures who have passed over to the Wailing Gray can sometimes connect with you when the membrane of our reality is thin enough. Once during a long rest, you can attempt to reach out to the Wailing Gray, and since its denizens can perceive many things that you cannot, they may be able to aid you in answering a question.

TRAGIC REPUTATION Your name and story is well known by many for its tragic nature. Some shame you, others judge you, but many sympathize with your fortunes. In communities friendly to you or other “do-gooders,” you can typically find food, shelter, and basic supplies – though they won’t often put themselves at risk to hide you from authorities. D6 1 2 3 4 5 6 D6 1 2 3 4 5 6 D6 1 2 3 4 5 6

YOUR GREATEST SHAME Retreated from a famed battle Were easily tricked by the enemy Decisions led to the death of many Backed down from a tyrant Lost in battle against a foe Changed sides to save your skin FAILED HERO TROUBLE Someone helpless comes to you for aid A reminder of your greatest shame resurfaces Marrow of all ranks do not trust you to this day Someone you’ve grown close to is in trouble – only you can help Heroes you once called friends have returned in secret You’ve been called upon by a powerful figure as a sellsword FAILED HERO PECULIARITY Regularly recounts tales of former glory Speaks to a dead comrade as though they are present Plans every detail (with contingencies) as often as possible Volunteers to help others as often as possible Uses an outdated rebellion code phrase often to see who responds Convinced every Marrow will recognize and attempt to apprehend them

104 CHARACTER CREATION: BACKGROUNDS

RETURNING FROM THE WAILING GRAY In Dragongrin, when you die, you spend time in the nightmarish, limbo-like realm of the Wailing Gray. It is no easy task to return from such a fate. When you choose this background, consider how you returned, who brought you back, and why. You can also leave this a mystery that you uncover throughout the course of your adventures. The handful of graydirt you brought back with you has a small measure of macabre arcane power (work with your GM), though the power fades with each day back in Dragongrin. Learn more about the Wailing Gray on page 378. D6 1 2 3 4 5 6 D6 1 2 3 4 5 6

REBORN TROUBLE Your family has moved on, and perhaps they’re safer You were followed by something that wishes to drag you back An enemy you thought killed was absent from the Wailing Gray Your transition keeps you perfectly preserved A necromancer wishes to question and study you A horrifying secret is revealed about the way you died REBORN PECULIARITY No longer tastes anything Is always chilly, and cold to the touch Nearby lights dim faintly Surroundings appear colorless and gray for a short time Writes/tells stories about death and the afterlife Convinced of a fateful purpose

UNDYING LIGHT

The Dismembered Lord must fall, and you’ve sworn yourself to ensure that it happens no matter the cost. You are a member of the rebellion known as the Undying Light – a remnant of believers who stand as a flickering light against the Evergrowing Shadows. Your hope is steadfast, your resolve unbreakable – and your life will likely be forfeit – though you can’t imagine any other way to live. Skill Proficiencies: Choose two from Athletics, Deception, History, Stealth, and Sleight of Hand Tool Proficiencies: None Languages: One of your choice Equipment: A set of common clothes, a set of Undying Light vigilante regalia, a Titan Band – an insignia of your resistance movement that acts as a communicator, a parchment detailing the movements of your enemies, a false object with a compartment for smuggling, a stolen avowed coin, a vial of poison, a small scroll and disappearing ink, and a belt pouch containing 5 gp

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YOUR MISSION Gather intel on the Dismembered Legion’s movements Keep the Copper Gates concealed from Marrow eyes Steal an important artifact to gain a tactical edge Get close to a Lord of Ash Operate as a messenger between pockets of rebels throughout Dragongrin Infiltrate the ranks of the Marrow UNDYING LIGHT TROUBLE The Dismembered Legion are looking for you. Someone close to you has been captured and interrogated The legions have destroyed a pocket of rebels you were close to Your most trusted contact has been discovered You’ve been contacted by someone claiming to be a rebel on the run You have been drafted as a Marrow UNDYING LIGHT PECULIARITY Changes garb as frequently as possible Has multiple personas with names and full backstories memorized Comes up with nicknames for everyone – a device to distance people Slow to intervene when others are in trouble – it draws attention Believes they are destined to lead the battle that dethrones the Dismembered Lord Checks for mundane and magical spying implements before discussing anything of import

REBEL INFORMANT You have access to a secret network of information when it is safe to access such things. You may attempt to gain or send information through this network once a day. The more treacherous a region, the more difficult this will be. Work with your Game Master to decide what information you receive.

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CLASSES BARBARIAN

Berserkers of Dragongrin “These broken creatures claim they are wielding the power of their rage. However, if they look carefully, it is an inescapable cage that holds them. Either way, I’ve never seen deadlier warriors.” – Lambian Pristhae, Talasar eloquent Barbarians – more commonly known as berserkers in Dragongrin – fuel their might with a preternatural rage. These borderland warriors traverse the frontiers of Dragongrin, subsisting on the outskirts of civilization where their rage flourishes and the wilds beckon. Berserkers are seen by many as a byproduct of the brutality of the realm – a natural reaction to the oppression and suffering wrought by the Dismembered Lord. Dragongrin is deadly no matter where you roam, but its civilized areas afford more safety than its frontiers. However, to berserker, these civilized areas are fetters – a gathering of cattle into one area to be preyed upon by the Evergrowing Shadows.

BURNING RAGE AND THE CRUCIBLE Berserker tribes and societies interact strangely with the Crucible of the Dismembered Lord – the strange device he uses to watch the realm of Dragongrin. Some say that the rage of the berserkers burns so brightly that they always show as points of interest to the Crucible and its custodial Arcseers. This is a blessing and a curse. While the berserker’s rage is easier to trace and track with the device, it also always appears as an urgent and imminent threat to the timeline, which has a strange effect. Half the time, when an Arcseer realizes it’s a berserker causing the potential Crux, they consider it a false positive and ignore it. Either way, berserkers in Dragongrin tend to draw attention to themselves – and in Dragongrin, attention often leads to trouble and bloodshed.

BERSERKERS BY CULTURE 1. Ardor: Often forged by the brutality of their captivity or being endlessly shunned – though some burn with the fury of their defeat during Lightfall. 2. Crucian: Often outfitted by the Dismembered Legion to keep the peace in the frontiers and outlying borders of Grinn, their tactics and strategy often stay sharp, even in their rage. 3. Drogus: Reared in scrapyards and made strong by backbreaking work day in and day out. 4. Granok Thane: These berserkers are able to funnel their intense rage through the skill and training of a disciplined soldier. 5. Grimdul: They let the Soulwinds flood through them, becoming a conduit of the great spirits of old. 6. Holmir: The most prolific and well-trained berserker– trained at a young age to channel their rage to topple giants and raid grins safely. 7. Mord: Often honing and developing a deep rage like a fine wine for decades perfecting it, then unleashing at will. 8. Sarrik: Their undead bodies warp and twist in their rage – they are ferocious warriors who understand the unique Hue that only fury can bring. 9. Silverwise: Monstrous and otherworldly in their rage, they deliver death as a gift to be welcomed. 10. Talasar: Hoplites too bloodthirsty to hold formation become berserkers, funneling their rage to fight brutally and aggressively. 11. Zarfvin: Their minds become a flurry of feverish calculations, seeing patterns and probabilities of maximum damage and bloodshed. 12. No Culture: You are not bound by the bonds of culture, making your own path of fury.

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D10 BERSERKER BEGINNINGS 1

You’ve long felt a primal euphoria, finding yourself elated in the wake of manic acts. You haven’t stopped spilling the blood of any you deem deserving of your wrath, and possess a powerful thirst for violence. Your frenzies grow stronger with each kill. You found a connection with something greater than yourself, and have developed a religious zeal that fuels you. Whether to the Old Vale, a deity, totem or even an ancestor, you are becoming a brutal champion for a greater force. You are from a region in Dragongrin with no laws but the harsh forces of nature and the Bleak. You survived, becoming an apex predator in an unwelcome land. Within yourself, you have found there is no order to things – no plan – but instead chaos reigns supreme. In your early life, you witnessed mass death like you never imagined – but you also tasted victory. Your awakened hunger for conquest fuels you. You developed a powerful hatred of a person, faction, or monster. Your hatred powers your primal fury, and the mere thought of this nemesis can spur your powerful rage. You will dominate this foe. You don’t remember ever having a normal life. You were raised by the elements, molded by crags and treacherous mountain passes, and educated by the wilds and their teeming, dangerous life. The civilized folk call you a “barbarian,” and you embrace it – it’s all that has kept you alive. Your people are dying out, and you are one of the last in the ever-changing world of Dragongrin. You have promised yourself and your people to not let your tribe be snuffed out. Your rage is fed by the thought that if you fall, your people will follow. There is an animal somewhere within you, only ever satisfied once you let it out of its proverbial cage. Perhaps your bloodline was once infused with that of the wolf, or a powerful demigod has appointed themselves as your mysterious patron, or an ancient ancestor performed a bestial ritual forever binding the family to carnal tendencies. Civilization is a bane, and you loathe what it does to the land and her people. Acting in revulsion, you seek to stop the civilized world from encroaching on your lands. Your ability to lose yourself into a rage sets you apart from the feeble, civilized world. You will ensure the sacred lands remain untouched. From a young age, you were taught to control your furious rage. Through training and meditation, your focused fury is a tool to be wielded not with wild swings, but by precision strikes.

FURY MANIFEST Dragongrin is a forge of fury, and the desolate and competitive conditions are the fires fueling it. Many are enraged by their dire circumstances, and are consumed by their frenzy even to the point of madness. But there are those who can harness their rage. A berserker’s rage manifests in many ways. Roll below or choose the way your fury manifests.

D20 FURY MANIFEST 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

D102 BERSERKER HALLMARK 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Tattoos Necklace Weapon Distinctive Scars Mantra Ancestral Tradition Scripture Superstition Tribal Fighting Style Totem

of the Bleak of a lost loved one of the Old Vale of your home dominion of your tribe of Lightfall of the Desolation of the Dismembered Legion Inspired by the Primordials or Titans of your Culture

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

You seem to grow in size You become preternaturally hot, and a haze surrounds you You speak in many voices – the voices of your slain ancestors You become unnaturally quiet, moving with the effortlessness of the wind and striking with the force and inevitability of the crashing waves Strange, haunting sounds emanate from the area surrounding you The wraith-like outline of a dragon, typhon, or other powerful creature envelops your form Your movements leave crimson trails appearing like the Bleak A faint glimmerwind surrounds you and your movements feel slowed in time – though they are just as swift and deadly You engage in a brutal but graceful primal dance of rage and power Colors around you desaturate into grayscale or heighten into vivid hues Your eyes roll back into your head and you speak in the ancient tongue of the Primordials Your body contorts and twists into an unnatural posture Your bones shift and grow, with some protrusions even piercing your skin, hard as steel You cast impossible shadows that appear as something monstrous Roots and vines sprout from your skin, wrapping themselves around you When you strike, it makes an otherworldly sound You gain spectral tattoos that glow faintly of your tribe’s totemic colors You take on a more bestial appearance – your teeth extend and your hair grows The air surrounding you has a biting chill, and you become ice cold to the touch Veins rise to the surface of your flesh and take on an otherworldly color 107 CHARACTER CREATION: CLASSES

BERSERKER TRIBES

PRIMAL PATHS

Berserker are almost always a part of close-knit tribes that rove the outlands and frontiers of Dragongrin. Use the generator below to create a unique tribe. BERSERKER TRIBE GENERATOR D103 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

TRIBE Servants of the Dismembered Legion Bloodthirsty warmongers Raiders who value supply and drudges

CHIEFTAIN

VALUE

Accepting of all

Ancestral Honor

A hero of Lightfall

Loyalty to the Tribe

Wise and supernaturally old Universally Servants of the Vale revered and who hate civilization respected A clan of disorganized, Charismatic and competing warriors charming Thuggish and Survivors of Lightfall brutal Made up of outcasts A cold-blooded and the unaccepted killer A tight-knit Brash young community of bloodwarrior related folk The 7th in a Mercenaries for hire bloodline Hunters, trackers and Wildly nomads superstitious

Superiority

Unmatched Bravery

Beginning at 3rd level, the Unbound learns to use whatever is at hand as mighty weapons. You gain the following benefits:

Number of kills Feats of Strength Ancient Religion Revering the Old Vale Scars of Battle

D10 BERSERKER TRIBAL QUESTS

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

There are many oppressed peoples in Dragongrin. Under the tyranny of the Dismembered Lord, many have been reduced to a life of servitude or even drudgery. The Unbound is a manifestation of the rage of the imprisoned, the enslaved, and the oppressed. As such, they usually use weapons that are improvised, circumstantial, or were once their tools of labor.

TOOLS OF WAR

A berserker is linked inseparably with their tribe, and even if they wander away from it, they often return in times of need, or to fulfill a duty. Choose or work with your GM if you want to pursue a tribal quest.

PATH OF THE UNBOUND

Weapon prowess

BERSERKER TRIBAL QUESTS

Berserkers in Dragongrin can fuel their might with a preternatural rage in ways unique to being byproducts of the brutality and oppression of the realm. In this section are two new primal paths fully compatible with the barbarian class.

A rival clan tracks your tribe. Whispers of a great creature with interest in your tribe persist – you may be the only one to commune with it – or slay it. The holy text has been stolen. You must retrieve it before a year-end ritual occurs. Your tribe’s numbers dwindle, and you must find worthy students to join you. It is time for your customary vision quest to see the future of your tribe. Rare ingredients must be collected to commune with elders in the Wailing Gray. The omens say the end times are near. You must slay a rare beast for the portents to be read. To rise in the ranks of your tribe, you must return with the head of a Marrow. The Bleak has the answers to saving your tribe’s bloodline. You must embark on a pilgrimage. Your tribe requires their totems to be refreshed with offerings.

• You gain proficiency with improvised weapons. • You deal 1d6 in place of the normal damage of your unarmed strike or improvised weapon. This damage increases to 1d8 at 6th level, 1d10 at 10th level, and 1d12 at 14th level. TOOLS OF WAR A drudge forced to toil in coal mines may use a pick or shovel as a weapon. Someone who spent their drudgery working in a factory may use a hammer. A drudge forced to work backbreaking labor tilling fields may use a scythe or sickle. Any drudge may use their manacles or chains as a weapon, or even the weapons of their oppressors – whips turned against their masters.

UNBOUND REVENGE Also beginning at 3rd level, you can make a single melee weapon attack as a bonus action while raging. This attack must be made using either an improvised weapon or an unarmed strike.

CHAIN-BREAKER Beginning at 6th level, you refuse to be contained or captured. You have advantage on saving throws or ability checks against the restrained, grappled, or paralyzed conditions. Additionally, while raging, you have advantage on saving throws against being charmed or dominated.

ICON OF FREEDOM Beginning at 10th level, your broken chains inspire those around you. You can cast beacon of hope without using a spell slot, and each creature affected by the spell also gains temporary hit points equal to your barbarian level. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for this spell. You can cast this spell while raging, unlike other spells. Once you cast this spell this way, you can’t cast it again until you finish a short or long rest.

WE ARE MANY Beginning at 14th level, your improvised weaponry has become a symbol that others rally behind, a symbol of resistance. Your improvised weapon attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20. Whenever you score a critical hit against an enemy with an improvised weapon while raging, each ally within 60 feet that can see you gains temporary hit points equal to your barbarian level + your Strength modifier.

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PATH OF THE MAULER Maulers are stronger and more powerful than nearly any other warrior, wielding massive weapons and meting out terrible pain and destruction. Maulers often come to be through a legacy, with their weapons passed down from someone who deems them worthy. Some maulers find the path on their own, born from the primal fury within them, longing to feel the intuitive heft of their massive weapon and mete out devastation.

MAULER WEAPONS Beginning at 3rd level, your strength is such that you have learned to use oversized weapons with skill. You gain proficiency with mauler weapons, which are two handed weapons that deal 2d12 bludgeoning, slashing, or piercing damage (depending on the type of weapon) and have the heavy and mauler (see below) properties. In addition, you gain a mauler weapon. Your mauler weapon is likely an heirloom passed down, or has been acquired in some other noteworthy way. See the Mauler Weapons table for some examples by culture. For a unique mauler weapon, work with your Game Master to choose something fitting to your character and the game. Mauler: Wielding this massive weapon makes you slower than other warriors, but devastating when you manage a hit. When wielding a mauler weapon, you suffer a -2 penalty to your Armor Class and have disadvantage on Dexterity checks and Dexterity saving throws. MAULER WEAPONS CULTURE

EXAMPLE MAULER WEAPON

A great staff with nine heavy flail heads attached, each a Ardor censer for incense - a relic of the Holithic Church A finely made sword with two heavy blades separated by Crucian scantly an inch. A cobbled together maul made of several different Drogus weapons – and perhaps some Archan baubles – ingeniously crafted together. Granok A stunning double-bladed Thanium axe, the metal Thane shimmering, the blades as long as a forearm. A long, curved sword like the flow of a river, inlaid with Grimdul green gems; it is a full two feet taller than its wielder. A mighty runescribed hammer, so heavy that only the Holmir mightiest could wield it. A crystalline sword-staff, the base made of a purple Mord metal, and the blade made of volcanic glass crystals. A brightly coloured spear, the haft inlaid with a riotous Sarrik mix of colours, the blade straight and sharp, as long as a sword. A great scythe, the onyx-hued blade elegantly curved, and Silverwise heavier than any normal person could lift. A heavy hafted spear with a hammer headed Talasar counterweight, with filigree set upon its shimmering gold-colored surface. A beautifully complex axe, the blade geometrically Zarfvin perfect, with an adjustable, telescoping haft and grip.

ACQUIRING A NEW MAULER WEAPON A weapon of such size and quality is remarkable, and new mauler weapons are harder to come by than normal weapons. To obtain a new mauler weapon, consult your Game Master. Acquiring it should take a considerable amount of effort, likely involving a quest, task, or journey – though in rare cases they may be purchased, often for more than triple the cost of a normal weapon.

PERFECTED PHYSIQUE Beginning at 6th level, your continuous use of your mighty mauler weapon has enhanced your physique, and has made your muscle mass and strength truly a sight to behold. You have advantage on Charisma (Intimidation) checks. Additionally, you gain proficiency in the Athletics skill. If you are already proficient in that skill, you double your proficiency bonus for any ability check you make using that skill instead.

MAULER TECHNIQUES At 10th level, you have learned to utilize your mauler weapon in ways that other warriors could never achieve. The sheer scale of your weapon, along with your superhuman strength, lets you perform feats of strength few others can duplicate. You learn one mauler technique at 10th level, and another at 14th level. You can only use a mauler technique while raging and wielding a mauler weapon, and only once per rage. When using a mauler technique, it counts as one of your attacks using the Attack action. When a mauler technique requires a saving throw, the save DC equals 8 + your Strength modifier + your proficiency bonus. Devastating Charge: You surge toward your foes like a crashing wave of doom. As part of the attack, you move up to your speed towards a creature you can see, and can make a melee weapon attack against that creature, and each other creature within 10 feet of you takes damage equal to your Strength modifier. Execute: Your weapon sings through the air like a grim avatar of death, its strike inexorable. You declare the doom of a creature you can see within 30 feet. You make a melee weapon attack against that creature, and you score a critical hit on this attack on a roll of 16 to 20. If you reduce the target to 0 hit points from this attack, each other creature of your choice that can see you must make a Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of you for 1 minute. Fling: You run, swinging your weapon to gain momentum, before leaping into the air, landing with a force like thunder. You jump a horizontal distance up to three times your normal jump distance, propelled by the weight of your mauler weapon. When you land, each creature within 10 feet of you must make a Dexterity saving throw or take damage equal to 5 + your Strength modifier and be knocked prone. Shake The Ground: You raise your weapon high and then smash it into the ground with murderous force. Each creature within 20 feet of you must make a Strength saving throw. On a failed save, a creature is knocked prone, and the area within 20 feet of you is considered difficult terrain. If you are standing on a breakable environment (such as a wooden bridge, the deck of a ship etc.) the attack is an automatic hit against the environment and does double damage against it. Whirlwind: You spin your weapon in a wicked arc, lashing out at everyone around you. Each creature within 10 feet of you must make a Dexterity saving throw or take damage equal to 5 + your Strength modifier and be knocked back 10 feet.

UNMATCHED MIGHT Beginning at 14th level, in addition to gaining another single mauler technique, you have also become superhuman in your expertise with your unique weapons. While raging, you ignore the mauler property of weapons you wield and no longer suffer the penalties for wielding such a weapon.

109 CHARACTER CREATION: CLASSES

BARD

Eloquents of Dragongrin “Threats to the realm are many. Creatures emerge from the Desolation to consume our soldiers, the Feymists taint the world with their spreading madness, and the Bleak is ever encroaching upon our domain. But heed these words – nothing is as threatening to the Sovereign as the creative endeavours of his subjects.” – Arcseer Lagiz, to the Council of Ash Bards, commonly known in Dragongrin as eloquents, are masters of the arts. Music, spoken sonnet, written word, performance, and other creative techniques bear an arcane power inherent within them. Many eloquents infuse their creative works with the essence of the Bleak or even Imminence itself, harnessing exotic power in an effort to survive – and survival is never easy for the creative in Dragongrin. Some say there’s little place for such niceties as song, play, and poem, while others know it is these things that give hope in an otherwise dark place.

THE AGITATOR’S WARRANT An eloquent in Dragongrin must be licensed to perform by the Legion of Ash, and possess an agitator’s warrant. There are various methods to acquire the warrant, from a local Marrow captain to a Lord of Ash – or even the Dismembered Lord himself. The station and power of the person who granted the agitator’s warrant allows the eloquent to perform in venues matching their prestige. Even after obtaining the agitator’s warrant, the eloquent can still only perform sanctioned pieces, and anything outside what is allowed is considered treasonous. The performances of the eloquents are powerfully influential, and many risk much performing unsanctioned pieces to help those around them cope with the horrors they endure. It is common for people to mockingly refer to eloquents as “agitators,” insinuating that they stir up trouble wherever they go.

ELOQUENTS BY CULTURE 1. Ardor: Drudges often work for their masters, but much of their efforts involve subversion, with works laced with coded information and dire warnings to those who know how to listen for it. 2. Crucian: The Dismembered Lord’s Chosen are commonly the most skilled in the land, though their works are always sternly examined and sanctioned. 3. Drogus: Typically colloquial and and bohemian in their works, irreverent and coarse, though undeniably captivating.

110 CHARACTER CREATION: CLASSES

4. Granok Thane: Regimented and heavily traditional in their works, the Granok Thane are militant in their disciplined technicality of their craft. 5. Grimdul: Their works are typically figurative and allegorical, steeped in fanciful mythology of the oldest days of Dragongrin 6. Holmir: As harsh and pure as their homeland, their performances are often direct, precise and robust. 7. Mord: Performing unsettling, discordant, and frankly alien works, often ignoring social boundaries to perform their craft true to themselves. 8. Sarrik: Non-lexical, non-traditional, and avant-garde, they forge new expressions as they explore and define their fledgling culture through art. 9. Silverwise: Ethereal works that often present as playful and cheery, but carry disturbing undertones and subject matter reflecting the culture’s fascination with death. 10. Talasar: Otherworldly and graceful, displaying immense skill, yet sometimes panned for being too derivative and traditional. 11. Zarfvin: Extremely technical and even mathematical in the execution of their works, dizzying in complexity. 12. No Culture: Unique performances that defy simple cultural categorization.

D10 ELOQUENT BEGINNINGS 1

2 3

D20 INSPIRATION MANIFEST

You’ve always desired fame in this world. You love the attention that musical performers and acting troupes garner from people of all castes, and you long for the same honors bestowed unto you. You were chosen by the Council of Ash as a skilled performer to be groomed for this path. Your power and instrument of choice were left to you by a parent, grandparent, or ancestor. What you do with that power is your choice, but it’s clear you’ll never live without it. You’re a hopeless romantic.You’ve always been able to express your emotions best through art – love being the strongest of all. You honed your skills showering your interests with art, but your wild heart leaves you without the affection you truly desire. Someone important to you gifted your instrument, and your skills have since been fine-tuned using it. Someone with money has taken an interest in funding your art, and paid personally for your licensure. You are paid to do what you love, but sometimes feel pressured under the control of your patron. You got lucky, and a troupe of players urgently needed someone to fill an open spot in the group. You were able to improvise your way through, and grew an undeniable chemistry with them. Now, you’re a mainstay. Before your encounter with a mystic, you never had any natural ability. But now, you feel as if their power was bestowed on you – perhaps for some extraordinary purpose. You have little to no technical ability, but your skill in improvisation is excellent. You often feel like you’re winging it, but good results are common. Your raw, natural ability was evident from the moment you began your pursuits. Your abilities might not always come easily to you, but those around you see a prodigy.

Ethereal Acerbic Entrancing Bawdy Inspirational Satirical Allegorical Inventive Heartbreaking Violent

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

D102 ELOQUENT HALLMARK 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

The weather around you changes slightly, though the effects become more intense with increased power and emotion. You cause the colors around you to become more vibrant. The air around your performance is permeated by static electricity – many still attribute their goosebumps as a mere effect of your heartfelt performance. Illusory images dance upon your flesh. Your appearance alters into an idealized version of yourself as you perform. The temperature around your performance drops. A mist forms around you, slowly filling the surrounding area. Some have sworn they’ve seen the ghosts of their loved ones during your performances. Objects around you quake and rattle subtly. Ethereal plants sprout from the area near your performance – then fade away at its end The surrounding area shimmers and glistens with surreal light. Your art creates memories in the minds of witnesses, granting familiarity with your work even if they’ve never experienced it. When you perform, a vivid scene manifests, and plays out – a visualization of your work. Those who witness your works become hazy and enthralled in their majesty. You cause the color to drain from an area faintly, turning the environment to shades of gray while you remain colorful. Fresh breezes circle around the area as you perform – its intensity mirroring your performance. You produce myriad aromas when you perform – their scents matching the tone of your performance. The din of battle, a dragon’s roar, the weeping of a loved one – the sounds your work evokes manifest during the performance. The perception of time is affected by your performance, its speed matching your work. Everything near your performance echoes as though in a great hall.

Singing Storytelling Poetry Oration Musicianship Dancing Acting Illusions Riddles Acrobatics

ELOQUENT TROUPES An eloquent often joins a troupe to be among creative contemporaries, honing their craft. There is no formal membership, though many eloquents value their troupe as their true home – the place where they are accepted. Even if they wander away from it, they often return to be amongst their comrades – or to boast of their accomplishments. Here are some example troupes you could be a part of.

INSPIRATION MANIFEST An eloquent’s creativity and inspiration manifests in many ways. Work with your Game Master to choose a distinctive and flavorful quality for your bardic abilities, and determine how well you can control these effects, as well as how powerful or subtle they appear. Perhaps you have no control over them, or maybe their potency is directly related to the intensity of your emotions and performance. Roll below or choose what occurs when you use your arcane gift of creativity.

ELOQUENT TROUPE GENERATOR D10

REPUTATION

KNOWN FOR

VALUE

Honorable

Silly

3 4

Renowned Obscure

Snobbish

Artistic Integrity Defy the Law, Come What May Originality Perpetuating Tradition Honor of the Dismembered Legion

Militant

Deplorable

8 9 10

Infamous Glorious Rebellious

Possession of Relics Popularity Among Commoners Infamous Members Notable Gatekeeping High Membership Dues Meticulous Written Records Raising Troops Among Students Steady Decline Quantity of Members Strange Customs

Riches Military Tradition Being the Best Bucking Tradition Perfection of the Craft

111 CHARACTER CREATION: CLASSES

ELOQUENT TROUPE PURSUITS Many alumni happily serve their troupe beyond their time spent there, and others are often forced to do these things against their will. Here are some example pursuits you may undertake on behalf of your troupe. D10 ELOQUENT TROUPE PURSUITS 1 2 3

7 8 9 10

Your troupe requires more funding – donate what you can. The pieces on the Dawn of Truth grow stale – experience the realm and write new ones. Rebel incursions have grown too common, and all bards of this troupe have been ordered to perform works promoting the status-quo. You must preserve the works of your troup. Someone must bring them to a library that specializes in procuring fine works – though it won’t be an easy journey. Materials from the troupe have recently been stolen. Do what you can to find or replace the goods and bring the thieves to justice. The latest, most popular pieces have grown stagnant, and you must seek a new tale to tell – something no one has ever seen or heard before. We require more professors to serve the Dismembered Lord’s endeavours. Recruit who you can, or offer yourself up if you have what it takes. Your troupe is cataloguing all existing works in a dominion – but they must be found to do so. Express the histories of the realm – specifically those expressing vitriol toward the Copper Jackals. The troupe is directly opposed by another seeking recognition by the Council of Ash. Spread the word to thwart this threat.

BARD COLLEGES

In Dragongrin, eloquents are expected to be masters of their craft. If they hold an agitator’s warrant, they are free to push the boundaries of their skill and become the epitome of entertainment. The college they choose represents the specific segment of performance they will specialize in. This section contains two new bard colleges fully compatible with the bard class.

COLLEGE OF THE BLOODSONG While nearly all storytellers and artists try to find the greatest materials for inspiration and make the greatest impact, there are some eloquents which have a seemingly supernatural magnetism for witnessing notable events. Whether this magnetic pull to history in the making is luck or skill, it can’t be denied that a Bloodsong has a remarkable finesse for characterizing the event into song, weaving the greatest events of Dragongrin’s history into unmatched compositions. INFAMY AND THE COLLEGE OF THE BLOODSONG This bard college has some of its mechanics that are intrinsically tied to an optional subsystem in Dragongrin known as Infamy. This subsystem allows player characters to formally gain notoriety in the forms of Infamy points for their deeds. We recommend working with the GM to ensure that Infamy is a mechanic that will be used in your session or campaign before choosing this subclass. See the Infamy rules on page 370 for more information.

SONG OF BLOOD Beginning at 3rd level when you choose this archetype, you begin composing the bloodsong of your party. You weave together the many adventures you have been on, the battles you’ve fought, and the things you’ve experienced into a notable musical composition. The immortalization of past successes through your bloodsong inspires your party to persevere. Allies can spend your bardic inspiration die as a reaction to reroll a saving throw, adding the roll to the result. Additionally, you can begin to perform your bloodsong as an action on your turn. You can maintain the bloodsong for the next minute. While you are singing, whenever you or an ally takes damage, you can reduce it by an amount equal to your Charisma modifier. Once you’ve sung your bloodsong, you cannot sing it again until you complete a long rest. At 6th level, you can use it twice per long rest, and at 11th level, three times per long rest.

CRUXSENSE Also at 3rd level, you have an innate pull toward momentous occasions in the history of Dragongrin. When you complete a long rest, roll a d20. If you roll a 15 or higher, the GM will give you hints of the dream you had last night, where you dreamed of a place where a momentous event was going to be taking place. Additionally, you become well known in Dragongrin. Your Infamy increases by 1, and you can reroll the result of a roll on your level’s Infamy Table. See more details about the Infamy subsystem in the Darkness of Dragongrin section on page 370.

TERRORSTRUM Beginning at 6th level, the tale of your party has spread far and wide. Your Infamy increases by 1, and you can now choose to roll either Light, Neutral or Dark when rolling on an Infamy Table. Your enemies fear the opening chords of the song. When you take an action to start your bloodsong, you add the following effects: • Your allies deal additional radiant damage equal to your Charisma modifier. • When you or an ally scores a critical hit, each enemy that sees it within 30 feet must make a Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of you for 1 minute.

BATTLESONG Beginning at 14th level, your allies can join into your bloodsong with you, singing as one. When you use an action to perform your bloodsong, you can allow a number of allies up to your Charisma modifier to join in your song using their reaction. Allies who use a reaction in this way can also do one of the following: • • • •

Move up to their speed. Make one weapon attack. Use the Help action. Cause one enemy within 30 feet of them to have disadvantage on their next attack roll. • Cause one enemy within 30 feet of you to have disadvantage on their next saving throw. You can allow allies to join in your bloodsong in this way only once per long rest. Additionally, the stories of your adventuring band are legendary, and you are known throughout all of Dragongrin. You have advantage on Charisma (Intimidation) checks when dealing with your enemies. When you roll on an Infamy Table, you can choose to lower or increase the result by one level.

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COLLEGE OF THE DEMAGOGUE Fervent performers whose work is laced with the deepest passions of their chosen leader, organization, or cause. They are typically skilled orators whose speech exudes powerful magic – though they can also be musicians, actors, and other performers spreading their chosen message. Many practitioners of the College of the Demagogue worship and serve the Dismembered Lord, and are said to use a measure of the Sovereign’s own voice when they speak their vile words. However, there are many who choose different causes to rally behind, such as a powerful Lord of Ash, zealous faction leader, or charismatic rebels – swaying any who hear them toward their cause. BLACKTONGUE Those who explicitly use the powers of the College of the Demagogue for evil are known as blacktongues, said to bring sickness, fear, and doubt, warping the wills of the weak for dark causes and evil powers in Dragongrin. While some blacktongues relish the reputation, many operate manipulatively under the guise of good intentions, appearing as well-meaning and helpful, and never explicitly revealing their sinister nature.

PROPAGANDA Beginning at 3rd level, you begin your study of the secrets of the College of the Demagogue, and the mystical methods to deliver powerfully persuasive information. You learn to weave intricate, magical ariath patterns into what you say, and these patterns have specific effects on the minds, wills, and emotions of the creatures subject to them. Ariath Patterns: You learn two ariath patterns of your choice, which are detailed in a list later in this section. You learn one additional ariath pattern of your choice at 6th, and 14th level. Each time you learn a new pattern, you may also replace one pattern you know with a different one. As part of an attack, you can expend one usage of your Bardic Inspiration to enhance it with an ariath pattern. An attack can be enhanced with an ariath pattern only once this way. Saving Throws: Some of your patterns require your target to make a saving throw to resist the pattern’s effects. The saving throw DC is equal to your bard spell save DC.

INFORMANTS At 3rd level, the first time you enter a town, city, settlement, or the equivalent, you can spend 10 minutes to find secret information or leads to people that support your cause. The GM will tell you a number of possibly useful secrets, notable people (NPCs), local rumors, safehouses, notable locations, or other information equal to your Charisma modifier. While this information may be fragmented or cryptic, it may not be wholly fabricated or entirely false. Additionally, your training in propaganda and in spotting dissidents gives you proficiency in the Insight skill. If you are already proficient in that skill, you double your proficiency bonus for any ability check you make using that skill.

DEBILITATING RHETORIC Beginning at 6th level, your passions grow deeper and your convictions become more magically palpable, making your persuasions and rhetoric even more difficult to refute. When you force a creature to make a saving throw against one of your bard spells, you can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration. Roll the Bardic Inspiration die, and subtract it from their saving throw. If the creature fails the saving throw they gain a level of exhaustion in addition to the effects of the spell.

A creature that successfully saves against the spell is immune to the effects of this feature for the next 24 hours. You can only use this feature once per short or long rest.

DEVOTION Beginning at 14th level, your evident fervor and perceived importance to your demagogue, faction, or cause can inspire those around you to have a propensity to protect you. As a reaction to being hit with an attack, you can choose to have a willing ally within 30 feet of you move up to their speed towards you. If they stop in an adjacent square they can suffer the effects of the attack in your place, and gain resistance to the damage dealt by the attack.

ARIATH PATTERNS Anger: After you attack the creature, you sow the seeds of anger in the minds of your allies. The next time an ally attacks the target, the target must also make a Strength saving throw or get pushed 10 feet by the attack. Authority: The attacked creature must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, if the creature chooses to not attack you during its next turn, it takes psychic damage equal to a roll of your expended Bardic Inspiration die and all ability checks, saving throws, and attack rolls it makes are done with disadvantage until the start of its next turn. Bluntness: After you make the attack, you can boldly ask the creature one question on each of your turns for the next minute without using an action. The creature must answer if it is able to. If the creature attempts to lie or decieve you, it takes psychic damage equal to a roll of your expended Bardic Inspiration die. Delirium: During the attacked creature’s next turn, if that creature takes any action other than the Help action, it has disadvantage on all rolls made during its turn and takes psychic damage equal to a roll of your expended Bardic Inspiration die. Doubt: You give the creature you attacked the expended Bardic Inspiration die, and you choose when it affects the die roll instead of them. You can roll it, and subtract the result from an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw that creature makes within the next minute. Hesitation: You cause the creature you attacked to hesitate for a moment, giving anally the chance to to act. As a reaction, an ally within 30 feet of the target can make a weapon attack, and rolls the expended Bardic Inspiration die and adds it to the attack’s damage roll. Presence: After you make the attack, you can inspire an ally with your dominating presence. Roll the expended Bardic Inspiration die. That ally gains that many temporary hit points. Sorrow: Your words can pierce a creature’s soul. After you make the attack, the target must also make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, they fall into a deep sorrow, becoming stunned until the end of its next turn, and roll the expended Bardic Inspiration die. The target also takes psychic damage equal to the die roll. Trust: After you make the attack, choose a creature within 30 feet. The next time that creature casts a spell that heals, deals damage, or grants temporary hit points to a single target, you can use your reaction to roll the expended Bardic Inspiration die. You may add or subtract the result from the amount healed, the total damage, or the number of temporary hit points granted by the spell.

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CLERIC

Dious of Dragongrin “By his scars, we wield the sky.” – Dious Morgen, Keeper of Keys The existence of Dragongrin’s gods is unproven – yet there is a place for divine faith in the realm, and people cling to hope and wield power in the name of their beliefs. These clerics – called dious in Dragongrin – draw upon the powers of longlost deities and preternatural forces to cast unearthly spells, perform healing rituals, and accomplish otherwise impossible tasks using what they believe are magics of the gods. As the existence of their deities is nebulous, most believe the dious to be naïve arcane spellcasters, charlatans, or simply delusional.

THE KEYS TO THE OLD GODS In Dragongrin, the Dismembered Lord rules as Sovereign. He has proven he is the most powerful force that exists by usurping the realm undefeated, but that didn’t stop the people of Dragongrin from believing and practicing their faith. If anything, their peril forged their belief into something stronger, as they cling to what little hope remains. In his infinite wisdom, the Sovereign extended a perceived olive branch to the peoples he had saved, offering a pathway to worship their gods, but on his terms. Thus was created the way to access the old gods – the Sovereign’s Key.

the Sovereign offered a pathway to the divine histories and powers once drawn from those wells – ways the people could become dious in his name, serving both the ancient gods and the Sovereign simultaneously. The dious of Dragongrin are devout servants of a faith, though more importantly they are inherently tied to their domain, which may not be directly related to a specific deity, and could instead be power drawn from another source entirely.

THE SOVEREIGN’S KEY

HERETICS AND REBELS

A dious in Dragongrin must be sanctioned to represent their faith by the Legion of Ash, and possess a Sovereign’s Key. These objects are explicit symbols that, in their wielding, require you to swear to practice the sanctioned version of your faith within the boundaries and guidelines set forth by the Sovereign, enforced by the Legion of Ash. These censored variations of the old faiths are permitted to operate temples, hold ceremonies, and enact the tenets of their faith, so long as they adhere to specific guidelines.

Despite the Dismembered Lord’s rigid status quo, there are still those who refuse to compromise their faith, choosing instead to worship and enact their belief in its uncensored form, as dangerous as it may be. They are known as the Keyless, and their unshakable faith stands opposed to the Sovereign’s watered down, twisted versions of their belief. They believe that it is better to die living the truth than to live as a coward within a lie. Keyless are often outspoken about their lack of respect for those who have accepted Sovereign’s Keys, while those in the possession of Sovereign’s Keys argue that it is better to live and make a difference than to die and be useless.

To acquire a Sovereign’s Key, you must pass vetting and scrutiny from a sanctioned member of the Legion of Ash. This can be a local Marrow cleric to a Lord of Ash, or even the Dismembered Lord himself. Fledgling dious can be granted access to serve under a dious’ Key by coming under their formal tutelage and swearing fealty to them as a disciple. It is common for a dious who possesses a Sovereign’s Key to take on disciples who have proven themselves. SHAPE OF THE SOVEREIGN’S KEY The Sovereign’s Keys are physical objects, varying from region to region, culture to culture, and from whom the Key was granted. Keys often appear as brands, weapons, relics, holy symbols, and other regalia. While some of these Keys serve as hallmarks to exotic and ethereal deities whose powers still bleed through to their followers, some mocking objects are granted to purposefully sleight a culture, or as veiled symbols of the Dismembered Lord himself. Many Keys only grant the dious the license to operate locally – though some more specific Keys granted by higher authorities have a distinct appearance recognized throughout the realm of Dragongrin.

CULTURES, DOMAINS, AND FAITH Faiths in the realm are largely based on culture, and in his wisdom, the Sovereign offered Keys aligning closely with each culture’s identity and faith. To each of these divided groups, 114 CHARACTER CREATION: CLASSES

DIOUS BY CULTURE 1. Ardor: Most are worshipers of the now-fragmented Holithic church and its pantheon, seeking to restore their once-great religion that deified fallen saints – others have taken up the brutal, elemental beliefs of their orc captors. 2. Crucian: To be a Crucian and worship any other than the Dismembered Lord is rare – the worthy are granted permission to draw power from his Evergrowing Shadows.

9. Silverwise: The gods died long ago for the Silverwise, but their power remains and their spirits still speak to many – and grant power. 10. Talasar: Worshipers of the Old Vale, Talasar dious siphon power from the waning magic of the Feymists. 11. Zarfvin: Their creators, the Titans, serve as a pantheon of gods for many Zarfvin – and some include the Primordials 12. No Culture: The Keyless worship different gods – ancient, new, and unheard of – and must keep their secret or else face the Sovereign’s reprise.

3. Drogus: Often agnostic or atheist, Drogus dious claim to draw power from the remnants of Titan energy latent in their ruins and Archans.

DOMAINS MANIFEST

4. Granok Thane: Typically worshipers pay homage to the warrior sisters of the Rhiaghain, while others worship deities of war and commerce.

A dious’ faith and magic manifest in many distinctive ways. Work with your GM, roll below, or choose how your divine works appear to others.

5. Grimdul: Almost exclusively drawing power from the Steelwinds of the Jantari, the Grimdul wield their power with reverence. 6. Holmir: These ancient warrior-priests revere the fierce and mighty Yngvildr, who cares not for the affairs of mortals, but lends his power to those worthy. 7. Mord: The Mord typically worship Sightless Time, and believe in the justice of its entropy falling on all creatures, revealing the weakness in all things.

D20 DOMAINS MANIFEST 1 2 3 4 5

8. Sarrik: The Sarrik have invented a pantheon that adopts many existing beliefs and pantheons with wholly new ones into an amalgamation of fluid polytheism.

D10 DIOUS BEGINNINGS

You had an encounter within the Bleak. You saw beyond the veil of this reality, and believe with everything in yourself that you received a message from a deity. You are destined to serve the aim of your faith. To survive in Dragongrin, you have done terrible things – things you feel left stains of shadow on your soul. You are wracked with guilt, and have turned to a deity to seek penance for the acts you have committed. You’ve met someone whose faith seems to have a real effect on the world – and even stranger, their magic seems to be truly divine. You have been converted, and wish to serve your mentor’s deity. Your shared faith is all you have to remember a loved one. A prayer you said together has begun to feel full of a tangible power. You sense that power growing within you, and you seek to cultivate it. You’ve always felt a connection with what you believed was a higher power. You’ve started seeing signs, and believe you’re being called. You will continue to follow the signs to the truth. You were harmed, and near death’s door – perhaps you even died for a moment. But a cleric was able to pull you from the clutches of death, and restore you. This is something you want to be able to do for others. A temple gave you a home when no one else would. They accepted you for who you were, caring little about your colorful past, or those who sought to harm you. You began worshipping as a form of repayment, but now couldn’t imagine any other way. You've always struggled with feeling accepted. You've studied religious teachings describing exactly how you feel inside. You must learn more. Someone offered you coin and a measure of safety to join their temple as a servant. There are no expectations that you believe what they do so long as you do your work – though you are starting to become more curious and interested in their ways. A cleric healed a loved one when all others failed. It was a miracle by all accounts, and for the first time in your life, you felt faith in something in the realm of Dragongrin.

7 8

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Your voice takes on the otherworldly tone of your deity. Pages and tomes circle around you in a controlled whirlwind. The inky tendrils of the Desolation wrap themselves around you. Your movements leave a vibrant trail of birds made of mist. The sigils of your faith etch themselves across your skin, appearing as flame. Your face becomes shadowed, and you appear almost featureless. A phantasmal servant of your deity stands behind you. A pack of spectral dire wolves manifest enacting the effects of your spells. Every part of you and your equipment turns bone white. Your clothing, equipment, and hair appears as though it’s flowing in water, though you remain dry. You take on physical traits of an ancient dragon – scales, horns, and wings. Your spells crackle and burn with the blood-red lightning of the Bleak. A chorus of angelic spirits appear and sing the hymns your spells are derived from as you cast them. Elemental shapes of various colors and sizes frenetically dance around you. Myriad hallmarks of your faith manifest as bright light as you funnel its power. Your spells in combat sound like a powerful weapon being forged – hammer striking anvil, hissing steam, and gouts of molten metal. Crashing waves and floods follow you, and the smell of salt water tinges the air. Your flesh appears as stone and your eyes glow with a primal fury. You phase in and out of the material plane ever so slightly. You become engulfed within the husk of a fantasmal Primordial.

D102 DIOUS HALLMARK 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Strange tome Weapon Idol Shield Censer Tankard Necklace Crown Signet ring Prayer beads

Lined with blessed material Marked with runic patterns Charred, but intact Formed from an Archan Made of bone Mirrored and reflective Of Bleakiron From the Bleak Wrought of a Valen Forever stained with blood 115

CHARACTER CREATION: CLASSES

DIOUS SYNODS

DIVINE DOMAINS

A dious joins a synod to be among those who share their beliefs and to delve into the secrets of their faith. Many synods operate in secret, especially those revering preLightfall gods. Some faiths are far flung with temples throughout Dragongrin; others are regional or even more localized to an area.

SOVEREIGN DOMAIN

SYNOD GENERATOR D10

1 2 3 4 5

SYNOD TYPE Openly oppose the Dismembered Legion Stubborn, traditional devotees Reformed evildoers seeking penance Passionate truthseekers Bickering, competing theologians

KNOWN FOR

LEADER IS

Powerful Healing

Ex-Marrow chaplain

Demonology/ Exorcism

Fervent preacher

Alchemical curatives

Prophet of renown Disillusioned savant

Bleak/Desolation

Road-worn priest

Martyrdom

Unwelcoming radicals Crusades

Roving pilgrims

8 9 10

Devoted entirely to serving others Made up of outcasts and the unaccepted Survivors of Lightfall

Priests-for-hire

In a realm where the existence of the gods is unproven, the dious of the realm have great faith to do the things they do. The myriad pantheons, forces and powers contain numerous domains from which they claim to draw their divine power. This section contains two new divine domains fully compatible with the cleric class.

Dogmatic exhero Converted atheist

Ancient Rites

Charming heretic

Raising the Dead

Famed religious scribe

Accurate prophecy

Outspoken zealot

Of all the godly pantheons and domains in Dragongrin, only one can be proved to exist with certainty, and that is the Dismembered Lord. Though his power is dark and twisted, it can’t be denied, and many who desire stability and to gain power become tempted by its certainty. Some who offer themselves to the Dismembered Lord and worship him gain his notice and favor, gaining the ability to commune with him and borrow from his vast power.

DOMAIN SPELLS You gain domain spells at the cleric levels listed in the Sovereign Domain Spells table. CLERIC LEVEL SOVEREIGN DOMAIN SPELLS 1st 3rd 5th 7th 9th

Command, Inflict Wounds Augury, Detect Thoughts Fear, Bestow Curse Arcane Eye, Locate Creature Commune, Geas

SYNOD QUESTS

BONUS PROFICIENCY

A dious is often linked inseparably with their synod, and even if they wander away from it, they often return to it in times of need, or to fulfill a duty.

When you choose this domain at 1st level, you gain proficiency with martial weapons.

D10 ELOQUENT TROUPE PURSUITS 1 2

A creature plagues your synod, and will overtake it if it isn’t stopped. A letter summoned members of your synod to a Marrow commander.

Your synod is behind on the Tenth and needs funds.

The land your synod is built upon suffers increasing Bleakstorms.

It is time for your customary pilgrimage and rite of passage.

Your synod was robbed by skilled thieves – your leader needs you to track down and recover or replace the stolen valuables.

A powerful figure needs your synod’s help.

An opposing faith has attacked your synod.

Your synod has come under fire for being heretical to your faith.

Your synod’s leader was murdered – the killer is still at large.

MARKED BY THE SOVEREIGN Beginning at 1st level, you become marked with the power of the Sovereign himself. How this manifests will vary, but it often presents as scars, tattoos, or some other bodily modification that covers your skin. Your Armor Class when you’re not wearing armor is 10 + your Wisdom modifier + your Charisma modifier.

CHANNEL DIVINITY: HERETICS AMONGST US Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to profess your devotion to the Sovereign and find dissidents in your midst. As an action, you present your holy symbol, and each humanoid creature of your choice within 30 feet of you chooses either compliance or defiance, then makes a Wisdom saving throw. If a creature makes their choice in opposition of their true feelings and opinions, they roll the saving throw with disadvantage. On a failed save, a creature suffers an effect dependent on their choice: •

Compliance: The creature becomes charmed by you for one minute. • Defiance: The creature takes 2d10 psychic damage.

MY SCARS ARE HIS SCARS Starting at 6th level, a set of magic scars manifest on your body. These scars are unique to you, and show your devotion to the Dismembered Lord. Whenever a creature hits you with a melee attack, these scars erupt with Bleak energy, and you can use your reaction to deal bleak damage to that creature equal to half your cleric level.

116 CHARACTER CREATION: CLASSES

DIVINE STRIKE At 8th level, you gain the ability to infuse your weapon strikes with the divine energy of the Sovereign. Once on each of your turns when you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can cause the attack to deal an extra 1d8 bleak damage to the target. When you reach 14th level, the extra damage increases to 2d8.

BY HIS PERFECTION At 17th level, you act on the authority of the Dismembered Lord himself. Any hit you score against a creature who chose defiance when you used Heretics Amongst Us within the last minute is a critical hit, and any creature who chose compliance is also dominated by you, as if under the effect of the dominate person spell.

GRAY DOMAIN When death is understood it can be less feared. Devotees of the gray domain know this better than perhaps any other creatures in Dragongrin. By forging a connection with the powerful realm known as the Wailing Gray and the souls of the dead who dwell there, the dious who wield the power of the gray domain do not necessarily celebrate death, but instead honor those who have passed by drawing from their wisdom and power. This connection can be forged a number of ways – worshipping a deity who is close to death, communing with the souls in the great beyond looking for a mouthpiece, a near-death experience, or even a personal death and resurrection. To learn more about the Wailing Gray go to page 378 in the Darkness of Dragongrin chapter.

DOMAIN SPELLS You gain domain spells at the cleric levels listed in the Gray Domain Spells table. CLERIC LEVEL GRAY DOMAIN SPELLS 1st 3rd 5th 7th 9th

Armor of Agathys, Arms of Hadar Darkness, Gentle Repose Animate Dead, Phantom Steed Banishment, Dorvan’s Unopened Door (page 160) Antilife Shell, Raise Dead

SILVERWISE AND THE GRAY INTERPRETER Though not all Gray Interpreters are born Silverwise, many of them do come from that culture, and the Silverwise have produced some of the most famous and powerful gray interpreters.

INTERPRETER OF THE GRAY Beginning at 1st level when you take this domain, you learn to communicate with the dead. You can comprehend and communicate with any undead with an Intelligence score of 3 or greater.

You also gain the ability to cast the speak with dead spell, but only as a special ritual. When you cast it as a special ritual this way, it takes an additional 2 hours to cast. At 5th level, you can cast the spell as normal, and always have it prepared as if it was a domain spell. Additionally, any undead killed by you is freed from its unlife if it chooses, its soul allowed to move on at last.

SILVERSHIELD Also at 1st level, you are able to protect your allies with the same magic that creates the Silver Walls. As a bonus action, you shield a creature within 30 feet of you with ghostly, shimmering light. They are treated as if they have taken the Dodge action until the end of their next turn. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (a minimum of once). You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

CHANNEL DIVINITY: CHANNEL THE GRAY Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to show a creature the horrors that await beyond. As an action, you present your holy symbol and choose a creature that can see you within 30 feet. That creature must make a Wisdom saving throw. Undead creatures have disadvantage on this save. On a failed save, they are frightened of you for 1 minute. They must use their action to move as far away from you as possible. They can repeat this saving throw at the end of their turn, if they can no longer see you.

INVOKE THE GRAY Starting at 6th level, undead creatures that you create or control become more powerful, as your connection with the Wailing Grey intensifies. Undead creatures that you create or control gain the following benefits: • The creature adds your Wisdom modifier to its maximum hit points and to the damage of any attack rolls it makes. • The creature’s attacks count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage. • The creature gains an additional 10 feet of movement speed.

POTENT SPELLCASTING Starting at 8th level, you add your Wisdom modifier to the damage you deal with any cleric cantrip.

ETERNAL PROTECTORS Beginning at 17th level, you are able to momentarily open a Gray Door, a portal to the Wailing Gray, and summon graysoul servants. The Gray Door closes once the servants are summoned. Whenever you finish a long rest, you can cast create undead as a 6th-level spell without expending a spell slot, though you must still fulfill the other requirements of the spell. The spell has the following differences: • The restriction of only being castable at night is removed. • All undead have the appearance of graysouls summoned from the Wailing Gray. At 18th level, you can cast it as a 7th-level spell, at 19th level an 8th level spell, and at 20th level a 9th-level spell.

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DRUID

Valewalkers of Dragongrin “The beasts of these damnable wilds hunt with strange cunning – they strike at us surgically, methodically. I see the machinations of the valewalkers in their movements. We are not alone in these woods, and for the first time in a decade, I see fear in the eyes of my soldiers.” – Tiana Altross, Marrow Commander Since their earliest days, the druids of Dragongrin, known as valewalkers, have been connected to the powerful, primeval force known as the Old Vale. Valewalkers are custodians of the Old Vale’s unseen energies of entropy and life, and guardians of the untamed wilds of Dragongrin. Working alone or in small, cloistered groups called enclaves, valewalkers maintain the natural borders of the realm and channel the Old Vale to conjure druidic magic, reshape their bodies into creatures mundane and mythical, and command the elements themselves. It’s whispered that some valewalkers draw upon the material remains and magical vestiges of the Primordials to amplify their connection to the Old Vale’s power. Since Lightfall, the wilds of Dragongrin stand as sanctuary for those fleeing the eyes of the Dismembered Lord, and the valewalkers preserve that shroud.

REVERENCE OF THE RADIKKA While the Old Vale is an invisible force, its potent, natural energies can manifest physically in the material plane as anomalies known as Radikka. Radikka most often manifest as gargantuan geological structures such as trees, mountain ranges, or chasms, but can also present a ceaseless tempest or a roiling sea. Valewalkers revere the Radikka, seeing it as an avatar of their cause and a constant reminder of the power they wield and protect. For centuries the Radikka of Dragongrin was unmistakably Talas the Lifetree. And while many valewalkers still believe that to be true, many others feel that when it was uprooted during Lightfall, its connection to the Old Vale was sundered forever. Some valewardens seek to restore Talas to its rightful place as Dragongrin’s Radikka, while others believe that a new, more powerful Radikka must break through into the realm – and it is their charge to make it happen. Most valewalkers carry a personal trinket of the Raddika they revere as a symbol of their cause. These objects are often carved in the shape of the Radikka they favor, and worn around their necks, strapped to their wrists, fused to their weapons or armor, or as kept as a loose item inside a pocket or pouch. These trinkets were once traditionally crafted exclusively of Primordial bone, though due to the obvious rarity of the material the druids of Dragongrin make due with whatever they have available – often until they can acquire Primordial bone to carve a proper trinket.

VALEWALKERS BY CULTURE 1. Ardor: At home in the necrotic mires of Innes, they struggle to bring balance to the Old Vale with dirt on their boots and grit in their teeth. 2. Crucian: In service to Grinn, they strike a delicate balance between what the Old Vale was, and what it should be today in the eyes of the Dismembered Lord. 3. Drogus: At home underground, they often harness the Old Vale in a slapdash and improvisational way, drawing from the roots and stone around them. 4. Granok Thane: The Old Vale and its magic is a tool like any other – a means to an end, though one that deserves reverence. 5. Grimdul: Believing that the power of the Old Vale lies within a polytheistic pantheon, granting power to those who follow the rituals of the old ways. 6. Holmir: They believe in rejuvenation and spring – but also that the Old Vale is a powerful and dreadful force that will devour the realm – and rightfully so. 7. Mord: Wielding poisons, blights, and thorns to great effect, they maintain a twisted view of the Old Vale and its place in Dragongrin. 8. Sarrik: Often allowing the Old Vale to permeate within their paradoxically undead flesh, growing flora and fauna, spores and fungus in and on themselves, literally being shaped by the Old Vale. 9. Silverwise: Drawing the bulk of their power from the Druids who are stuck in the Wailing Gray, and the dead and dying frontier around them. 10. Talasar: The most prolific and innately powerful Valewalkers, they have the power of the feymists, and the Old Vale inherently tied to them over centuries. 11. Zarfvin: Less connected to the Old Vale by loyalty, and more like botanists keeping nature in a jar, and releasing it on their whim. Manipulating the system, and using the Old Vale as a battery for their aims. 12. No Culture: Unlike the cultures of the world, the earth is timeless, and the horizons are yours. As a perpetual wanderer, you need no culture to be a valewalker.

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D10 VALEWALKER BEGINNINGS 1

You were raised in a larger city or settlement, but never felt at home. You felt fettered and constrained. When you were able, you launched off into the wild to make a way for yourself. You are a wild spirit. You were accepted into a druidic circle that protected the wilderness near where you were raised. Eventually, you picked up enough to attempt to formally become initiated into the circle. You are part of a circle of wardens who protect nature. You can’t explain it. One day, you awoke with vast knowledge of the Old Vale, and the unshakeable feeling that your purpose was to protect and serve it. You were forced to learn to live off of the land or die. The environment was harsh, but you were able to brave it, and came to respect and love it, and eventually thrive. You have become a master of nature. You’ve always felt a special connection with the beasts of the world, which often gather around you during or before times of great emotional strife or joy. You are part of a long line of Valewalkers, stretching back to ancient times. If you put down the cause, it will mean the end of an important tradition. You were a part of a spirit quest, or a ritual – or perhaps had an encounter with a creature from the Feymists, or even a Primordial’s essence. This changed you in an unmistakable way, and you seek to preserve the world you saw in your vision. Your family of Valewalkers brought you out of Feygrave during Lightfall, in pursuit of a better life, and you long to return to your roots. You inherited, stole, or otherwise acquired rare texts pertaining to the ways of life, growth, and the fey – knowledge which seems to come surprisingly natural to you. You began small, first tending a garden. Then perhaps a greenhouse, and eventually an orchard or a grove. You have a knack for understanding plants, and know how to make them respond to you in rare and intriguing ways.

THE OLD VALE MANIFEST A valewalker’s connection to the Old Vale manifests in many ways. When your primal magic manifests, it is distinctive. Roll below or choose a way your power manifests. D20 THE OLD VALE MANIFEST 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Your voice resonates with the booming tones of an Adjudicator. Writhing vines and new seedlings emerge from the earth around you. The surrounding flora unleashes its most potent pollen, all at once. The strange, glowing third eye of a typhon appears on your forehead. Your eyes turn catlike or serpentlike. From your flesh grow slight thorns, mildly irritating to those who touch you. The highest moon in the sky reveals itself through clouds or broad daylight. You give off the illusory physical appearance of a typhon. Generate this look on page 398. Loose foliage floats and revolves around you. You experience one small memory of an ancient being from the Old Vale. A Feymist Crossing opens up somewhere nearby, though you might not know it. Your Valewalker’s Hallmark glows with bright light of a color of your choosing. Your words can be heard by another chosen Valewalker in Dragongrin. All shadows and concealing mists or smoke within 60’ dissipate. Nearby autumnal foliage emerges back into vibrant, colorful life. Just for a moment, you “feel” where Talas is located, no matter how far away. You take on the illusory appearance of a chosen animal, though stay the same size. Your eyes and hair become a different color, remaining until the next use of power. An animal bonded to you knows your exact location, and you can call them. Your nails grow, and your canines become temporarily elongated.

D102 VALEWALKER HALLMARK 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Family Heirloom Engraved Branch Pendant Intricate Tattoos Forgotten Text Beast Strange Belief Sacred Knowledge Lost Relic Weapon

of Talas of Feygrave of Zamon of a traditional animal of Valewalker lore of Primordial Bone of the Old Vale of the typhons of your Enclave of the Valenus

119 CHARACTER CREATION: CLASSES

VALEWALKER ENCLAVES

DRUID CIRCLES

Valewalker enclaves differ in purpose, but all must perform various charges on behalf of the Old Vale and the other enclaves. Periodically a moot is called, wherein each enclave gathers, typically called by the leader at least once per year. There, all Valewalkers in the enclave are granted an audience, before which they can to prate their praises or err their grievances over the current state of the Old Vale. All Valewalkers in Dragongrin are expected to attend their enclaves’ moots, though with the vanishing of the Lifetree and the slow death of Feyhold (now Feygrave) since Lightfall, the numbers grow fewer with every gathering. Those uprooted who fail in their duties to the enclave are often despised and ostracised by their fellow Valewalkers. VALEWALKER ENCLAVE GENERATOR D103 1 2

6 7

ENCLAVE TYPE Servants of the Valenus Remnant Warmongering druids Discreet thieves Anti-Sovereign servants of the Vale A clan of disorganized, competing valewalkers Survivors of the Talas Civil War Uprooted Valewalkers who meet in secret A blood-related family An alliance between Valewalkers and Wardens (Rangers) Secluded valewalkers

LEADER IS

CHARGE

A relative

Map the Feymist Crossings

Infamous gangster

Return the Lifetree

Revered empath

Loyal to Mother Silurian of Talas

Hunting down the uprooted, and bringing them to justice Find a new world through the Feymists

Masked enigmatic figure

Obey the Adjudicators

Fervently sided in the Talas Civil War

Recruit new valewalkers

Brash, coldblooded killer

Protect and explore Zamon

You

Forge alliances with other Enclaves

Last in a bloodline

Pruning a dominion’s monsters

Superstitious to a fault

Organize rebellions

ENCLAVE QUESTS No matter their charge, a Valewalker is often forced to engage in missions directly related to plights their enclave currently faces. Here are some problems they might be called upon to solve. D10 ENCLAVE QUESTS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Find and recover a lost member of the enclave. Recover a valuable relic or tome. Investigate strange occurrences near or related to the enclave. Spy on a member of your enclave, or a different one. Secure a meeting between the enclave and a Lord of Ash. Slay an enemy of the enclave. Accomplish a secretive sabotage mission that will directly help the enclave’s charge. Travel to a faraway land to recruit a new member. Find a new Feymist Crossing, and use it to secure a meeting with the Adjudicators. Form a new enclave entirely.

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The power of the Old Vale is ancient and potent, and permeates through every natural facet of Dragongrin. In this section are two new druidic circles fully compatible with the druid class.

CIRCLE OF THE GRIN Grins are the graves of the long dead dragons. They mar the lands of Dragongrin as mysterious, deadly structures and caverns of all shapes and sizes – but they are not built by mortal hands. These powerful and mysterious tombs form as a direct result of the potent residue of the dead dragon’s essence, their construction and contents as varied and strange as the dragon rotting within them. The grins are as natural and ordered as the Old Vale itself, and the Circle of the Grin embraces the primal energy of the dragon graves, drawing power from their visceral beauty and unmistakable potency. Druids who choose this path understand that the carcasses of the dragon’s offer a gift and seek to receive it with the reverence it deserves.

GRINSENSE Beginning at 2nd level, you have a connection with the evershifting grins. As a ritual, taking an hour, you can send your soul searching for grins. It speeds through another plane of existence, emerging close to a grin. If there is a grin within 50 miles, you learn of three landmarks near the grin, whether it is North, South, East, or West of you, and how many days travel it would be. If there are none within range, you learn the broad general direction of the nearest one. In addition, you gain darkvision out to 120 feet.

TWISTED FORMS Beginning at 2nd level, your connection to the grins has changed you. The forms you take are ever shifting, not quite right, and not quite of this world. When you Wild Shape, you cannot take the form of a beast, and must instead take the shape of an aberration or a monstrosity. This aberration or monstrosity must have a challenge rating no greater than 1. Starting at 6th level, you can transform into an aberration or monstrosity with a challenge rating as high as your druid level divided by 3, rounded down.

TWISTED EVOLUTION Starting at 6th level, you can channel the mutability of grinflesh. While taking on the form of an aberration or monstrosity using your Wild Shape feature, you can use your action to change to a new form that otherwise follows all the criteria of your Wild Shape and Twisted Forms features. However, when you change your form this way, you do not gain the new form’s hit points, instead keeping your current total, and the duration on your Wild Shape does not extend.

KIN OF DRAGONS Beginning at 10th level, you start to feel a kinship with the dragons and this connection grants you a measure of power. When you finish a short or long rest, choose one of the following dragon types. You gain resistance to the chosen damage type and your weapon attacks, including natural attacks made while wild shaped, deal an extra 1d6 of the chosen damage type. You can only have one type chosen this way at a time, and you can replace one type with another

whenever you finish a rest. • • • • • •

Frost: Cold damage Flame: Fire damage Storm: Lightning damage Light: Radiant damage Madness: Psychic damage Amplification: Force damage

DRAGON REBORN Beginning at 14th level, you have become the master of grins. You can Wild Shape into a dragon, with a CR up to half your level (rounded down).

CIRCLE OF THE ARCHANATRIX The ancient Titans were so powerful that even in their death their scattered remains and Archanic creations have a lasting effect on the ecology and geology of Dragongrin. As their mystical forms decompose, they alter and infuse the land with latent Archanic energies and essences – a phenomenon known as the Archanatrix. Circle of the Archantrix druids understand that this effect is imbuing the ecosystem with fuel for evolution unlike anything seen before in Dragongrin, and could be the key to revitalize the Old Vale itself. Druids of this circle seek to balance the knife’s edge of amalgamating the essences of Archanics and the Old Vale, melding the two in a way that only the most adept can achieve.

ARCHANIC TRANSFORMATION Beginning at 2nd level, you can harmonize with the quintessence of latent Archantrix that permeates Dragongrin and channel it through yourself, altering your body. As an action you can expend a use of your Wild Shape feature to activate the Archantrix, choosing one of the following Archanic modes, rather than transforming into a beast form. During this transformation, you are considered a construct, and you may use Wisdom instead of Strength or Dexterity for the attack and damage rolls of weapon attacks, and you can use a bonus action on your turn to change your Archanic mode. You cannot cast spells while in an Archanic mode. Your Archanic mode transformation lasts for a minute or until you end it as a bonus action on your turn. • Juggernaut: Your arms and shoulders become encased in metal, with arcane hydraulics empowering your strength. While in this mode, you can roll 2d6 in place of the normal damage of your unarmed strikes, and they are considered magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage. Additionally, your movement speed increases by 10 feet, and you cannot be restrained. • Shredder: Your forearms split into two sets of arms, each tipped with a sharp blade. While in this mode, you can roll 1d6 in place of the normal damage of your unarmed strikes, and they are considered magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage, and attacks you make with them score a critical hit on a roll of 19-20. Additionally, whenever you take the Attack action, you can make one additional unarmed strike as a bonus action. • Stalker: Your arms and legs elongate, and new, Archanic joints form at your elbows and knees allowing you to prowl on all fours. You gain advantage on Wisdom (Perception), Dexterity (Stealth) and Intelligence (Investigate) checks while in this mode, and your movement does not provoke opportunity attacks, and can take the Hide action on your turn as a bonus action.

• Bulwark: While in this mode, your Armor Class is increased by 2, and you gain resistance to nonmagical piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning damage, but your speed is reduced to 10 feet. THE ARCHANATRIX AND BESTIAL FORMS When you use your Wild Shape feature to change into a beast form, the Archantrix integrates into that beast form as well. Perhaps shifting into a bear appears as metal plates spontaneously generating, enveloping you to construct an Archanic ursine form. Or maybe shifting causes your flesh to fall off in ribbons revealing the machinery of an Archanic stag beneath. The options of how the Archantrix presents in your beast form are as limitless as your imagination.

ARCHANTRIX BARRIER Beginning at 6th level, you can gather the quintessence of the Archantrix force, and manipulate its energies into a tangible, powerful barrier. You can cast the shield spell without using a spell slot once per short or long rest.

IMPROVED CALIBRATIONS Beginning at 10th level, you have fine tuned your Archanic transformations, improving their effectiveness. Your Archanic modes are changed in the following ways: • Juggernaut: Damage improves to 2d10, and a when you hit a creature, they must succeed on a Strength saving throw against your spell save or be knocked prone. • Shredder: The unarmed strike damage of this mode improves to 1d8, and you make two additional unarmed strikes as part of the bonus action, instead of one. • Stalker: While in this mode, you can also take the Dash action as a bonus action, and you gain darkvision out to 240 feet. • Bulwark: At the beginning of each of your turns while in this mode, you gain temporary hit points equal to your druid level. Allies adjacent to you while you are in this mode are considered to have half cover.

PERFECTED FORMS Beginning at 14th level, you have completed the designs on your most complex forms, giving you unmatched power. You gain the following transformation options in addition to the ones listed in your Archanic Transformation feature. Predator: The Archantrix causes you to grow in size, and encases your body in sleek Archanic armor and a full-face helm. While in this mode, you have a fly speed of 60 feet. As an action on your turn, you can make a special dive bomb attack if you have moved at least 30 feet this turn. This special attack is an unarmed strike, except you roll 3d10 in place of the normal damage for it, and the target must make a Dexterity saving throw against your druid spell save DC or be pushed 20 feet away from you and is knocked prone. Obliterator: A Prime Archan unique in name and design forms on your body, usually on the arm or torso, which can create a devastating blast of raw Archanatrix energy. While in this form, you can use your action to expel an unbridled blast of the Prime Archan’s power. This blast forms a line 100 feet long and 5 feet wide out from you in a direction you choose, and each creature in the line must make a Dexterity saving throw against your druid spell save DC. On a failed save, a creature takes 4d10 force damage and is pushed 10 feet away from you. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage and isn’t pushed.

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FIGHTER

Marauders of Dragongrin “Spellbloods wield otherworldly power. Eloquents conjure magic with song and sonnet. Valewalkers manifest energy too ancient to comprehend. And yet, the greatest power in this world – the most unyielding force – remains steel in the hand of a marauder who knows how to use it… and a noteworthy reason to do so.” – Numitor Krieg, Manoeuvrer upon the Council of Ash In Dragongrin, all must fight to survive. The cost of another day is often naked steel and fresh blood, and few live who do not at least know the killing edge of a blade. Those with true martial training and natural prowess, these fighters of Dragongrin, are called marauders. Wielding steel and plated in armor, Sovereign-sanctioned marauders earn their keep as sellswords, militia guards, or among the endless ranks of the Marrow. Marauders who deign to use their skills in pursuit of the greater good often find themselves exiled, wandering endlessly for fear of attracting the wrong kind of attention. Some marauders fought during Lightfall, dropping their swords at the boots of the Dismembered Lord’s Marrow on the day of their defeat. Others take up steel in self-defense and never look back. Still more see the potential for a better life – a destiny carved into the honed edge of a blade.

MARAUDER’S SANCTION The brutality of daily life in Dragongrin breeds fighters who heft sword, axe, and spear out of necessity – to defend themselves, their home, their kith and kin. An armed populace breeds rebellion, and in many settlements, though not outright illegal to carry a weapon, overt steel often draws the attention of local kneebreakers or occupying Marrow. Marauders carrying a sanction – a writ of the Sovereign’s approval to brandish and use weapons of war – can arm themselves in whatever manner they wish, and go about their grisly business largely unharried by the forces of the Dismembered Lord. Sanctioned marauders are often called upon by Marrow to do their dirty work – often with little or no pay – under the threat of losing their sanction. Marauders, both sanctioned and unsanctioned, are sought after for their services, consistently contracted to serve in local militias, guard routes of the Red Sail Market, battle in gladiatorial arenas, or stand watch in places of danger. Unsanctioned marauders are typically more likely to keep quiet when the job is done, while sanctioned marauders are assumed to likely be in contact with the Dismembered Legion. Additionally, unsanctioned marauders will commonly take on more dangerous or laborious work for less coin to scrape by unnoticed while working without a sanction.

MARAUDERS BY CULTURE 1. Ardor: Often groomed in the battlepits of the Maug’Tarak, or forced to protect themselves out of desperation. Many Ardor marauders are veterans of Lightfall, now chained to servitude. 2. Crucian: Highly trained, with better equipment than most, typically serving in the Marrow or as house guards. 3. Drogus: Scrappy fighters, often informally trained, using their surroundings and improvisational weapons in battle. 4. Granok Thane: Arguably the most deadly and competent marauders in Dragongrin, trained in a secret method of combat utilizing their trademark Thanium blades. 122 CHARACTER CREATION: CLASSES

5. Grimdul: They war as the wind. Wily, patient fighters, utilizing feints and flourishes to confound their opponents before striking decisively when the moment is right. 6. Holmir: The most prolific marauders, carrying on ancient traditions of swordplay and war. Famed for their doggedness in combat, as well as their unorthodox, aggressive style. 7. Mord: Having survived the most deadly parts of Dragongrin for centuries, having a tolerance for pain and a toughness unmatched. 8. Sarrik: Strange yet effective in their methods, Sarrik marauders often wield steel and magic in tandem to exert every advantage in combat. 9. Silverwise: Favoring light weapons and sharp blades, the Silverwise fight as they live – with strange yet undeniably effective secrecy. 10. Talasar: Militant, highly trained, and arguably the most disciplined marauders in the realm. They are trained to fight in formation, but are just as deadly alone. 11. Zarfvin: Keen strategists, the Zarfvin are calculating and tactical, often using their savvy to outthink their opponents. 12. No Culture: Many fear marauders without a culture – both a blessing and a curse for the many mercenary fighters of Dragongrin.

PROWESS MANIFEST

D10 MARAUDER BEGINNINGS 1 2

You initially fought for survival, like many in Dragongrin. But it came naturally, and steel felt good in your hands. You were trained to fight at an early age. At the time, you dreaded the hours of learning about weapons, armor, tactics, and fighting styles. But now you’re grateful. You came upon an heirloom weapon – steel raised in defense of the realm. Your family once fought for something. Perhaps it’s time you carried the torch. You were desperate, so you raised a sword for coin, surprised at your knack for fighting. You continued to fight for pay, and have made quite a living for yourself. Fighting is all you’ve ever known. The weight of good steel in your hand – that’s home. Fellow fighters at your shoulder – that’s family. You joined the local watch. Your home needed volunteers, and you felt an odd itch to make a difference. Surpassing the rudimentary training of the militia, you excelled, and soon become the most talented in the ranks. You were a drudge or servant, strong enough to stand in the arena and fight for sport. You fought at first to survive, and because you were commanded, but now you’re quite fond of the roar of the crowd. You were forced to fight to protect your home. A threat was thrust upon you, and you were one of the few who stood against it instead of fleeing. You fought long ago, and suffered greatly for it. Now, destiny beckons, and you hear the ring of steel in your ears. You must fight again – one last time. You were drafted into the military, and didn’t have a choice. You have no real desire to fight – though you’ve proven to be quite good at it.

There’s no lack of work for decent sellswords – especially those sanctioned by the Sovereign. Marauders often associate in militant groups known as bands. Not nearly as regimented or organized as the Granok Thane or Marrow, but having varying degrees of funding, structure, and tenets, marauder bands operate like fighter guilds, doling out jobs to sanctioned members and taking on mercenary work throughout Dragongrin. It’s not uncommon for Marrow commanders to hire marauder bands for work considered too “low” for the legions to undertake. Each band carries a sigil, usually emblazoned on the shields or cloaks of its members to indicate sanctioned marauders. MARAUDER BAND GENERATOR BAND MEMBERSHIP

BAND LEADER

1 2 3 4

Former Marrow Veterans of Lightfall Local militia Granok Thane exiles

Fallen paladin Crucian outcast Ex-Marrow Holithic cleric

War profiteers

6 7 8 9 10

Professional sellswords Reformed criminals Pit fighters Religious brotherhood Bloodthirsty killers

D20 PROWESS MANIFEST 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

MARAUDER BANDS

D103

Marauders show a distinctive prowess in battle – this manifests in a unique way for you.

BAND SIGIL

Broken blade Rising sun Armored fist Toppling tower Sundered Famed blacksmith mountain Legendary fighter

Soaring dragon

Hero of Lightfall Crime lord Hobgoblin warrior Maug’Tarak orc

Titan symbol Three moons Roaring typhon Helmed skull

16 17 18 19 20

You strike steel to create a droning hum as you fight. You can’t help but quietly recite learned stances and parries, even in real combat. Your weapons are a blur – a whirling mill of death, unceasing until you stand victorious. You only draw your weapons at the last possible moment. You toy with your enemies, herding them into a position from which you strike fatally. You move constantly, outmaneuvering and flanking enemies. In combat, you are a bulwark – unmoving, solid. You choose your opponents carefully, honing in on the weakest enemy to pick off. You favor disarming or disorienting strikes, confounding enemies before defeating them. You’re known as a fighter who can utilize just about anything as a weapon. You fight like a cornered animal – every strike a desperate killing blow. You recite songs of battle as you fight, bolstering allies and intimidating enemies. You fight best alongside others, working in tandem to surround and defeat opponents. You fight alone, stalking the outskirts of battles to spot worthy enemies. Patience is key. You wait for your enemies to make a mistake, then strike hard. You prefer heavy, sweeping strikes, pushing opponents back and knocking them aside. You know high ground is a key to victory, and prefer to stand above enemies. You pair your strikes with insults, enraging your opponents. Methodical, disciplined – each battle is a series of motions that you are adept at following. You do not fight – you dance. Twirling, swirling strikes combined with acrobatics.

D102 MARAUDER HALLMARK 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Shattered sword Trademark weapon Shoulder pauldron Tarnished badge Dueling gloves Signature helm Ancient amulet Tattered cloak Concealed dirk Distinctive gauntlets

Taken from a dying comrade Awarded for service Gifted in childhood Stolen from an opponent From before Lightfall Granted by the Marrow Passed down through generations Found in a ruin From another world Won in a duel

123 CHARACTER CREATION: CLASSES

MARAUDER BAND QUESTS Like most guilds, marauder bands accept contracts and assign tasks to their members. Though guard duty and skirmishing are mainstays, marauders are also often hired as enforcers, scouts, and kneebreakers. Work comes from every corner of Dragongrin – from Marrow to crime lords to rebellious factions like the Undying Light. Marauder bands don’t often maintain specific loyalties, preferring instead to serve the highest bidder, even in times of war. D10 BAND QUESTS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Bandits on the Sovereign’s Road must be dealt with. Smoke out a band of rebels and lead them into a Marrow ambush. Protect Red Sail merchants and their goods from thieves. Raid a Marrow camp and capture their commander. Intervene in a violent squabble between two settlements. See that a Missive Crow reaches their destination. Provide combat training to kneebreaker recruits. Serve as guards in a local festival, thought to be a prime target for rebels. Eradicate a band of goblinoids plaguing a small settlement. Provide bodyguard services to a high-ranking noble.

MARTIAL ARCHETYPES

Marauders in Dragongrin choose – or are forced into – different approaches of perfecting their skills in battle. In this section are two new martial archetypes fully compatible with the fighter class.

FREE COMPANY MERCENARY In Dragongrin, the best place to be is often with armed allies. Many folks who struggle to find stability and comfort fall in with mercenary companies. Though their lifestyle is far from glamorous, and their days rarely safe, the company and experience gained fighting with others builds resilience and intuition, and provides security and comradery. The fare commanded by skilled companies is nothing to sneeze at either, leading many to risk the dangers and discomforts of a mercenary life in exchange for decent coin.

SELLSWORD’S INTUITION Beginning at 3rd level, your life on the road has conditioned you to knowing who is a threat and who isn’t. You gain in the Insight skill if you don’t have it already, and you roll Wisdom (Insight) checks with advantage to determine the skill of another warrior and to see through bluffs.

DIRTY FIGHTING Also at 3rd level, you learn combat methods that others would find dishonourable that you use to gain the upperhand. As a bonus action on your turn, you can perform a Low Blow. You learn two Low Blows of your choice, which are detailed below. You learn an additional Low Blow of your choice at 7th level, 10th level, and 15th level. You can perform a Low Blow a number of times equal to your Strength or Dexterity modifier (your choice, a minimum of once) per short or long rest. Some Low Blows require your target to make a saving throw

124 CHARACTER CREATION: CLASSES

to resist the Low Blow’s effects. The saving throw DC is equal to 8 + your proficiency modifier + your Strength or Dexterity modifier (your choice). Choose two from the following options: • Dead Leg: You make a quick jab to make the target lose feeling in its thigh. It must make a Strength saving throw or have its movement speed reduced to 10 feet for the next hour. • Dirt in the Eye: The target must make a Dexterity saving throw or be blinded until they take an action to rub the dirt out of their eye. • Feint: The target must make an Intelligence saving throw. On a failed save, you can move up to 15 feet without provoking opportunity attacks from the target. • Headbutt: The target must make a Strength saving throw. On a failed save, the target is stunned until the beginning of its next turn. • Painful Gouge: Make an unarmed attack. On a hit, the target must make a Constitution saving throw or become overwhelmed with wracking pain. On a failed save, they have disadvantage on attack rolls for the next minute. At the end of each of their turns they can repeat the saving throw to end the effect. • Trip: The target must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the target also falls prone.

MERCENARY GRIT At 7th level, your tenacity gives you openings even at the brink of death. When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you may make a single weapon attack as a reaction, which happens immediately before you fall unconscious. If you hit with this attack, you gain 1 temporary hit point and remain conscious. Once you use this feature, you must take a long rest before you can use it again.

RUTHLESS Starting at 10th level, you become more adept at fighting dirty. Once per short or long rest if a creature succeeds on a saving throw against one of your Low Blows, you can choose to make them fail instead. Additionally, when you roll initiative and have no uses of Dirty Fighting remaining, you regain one use.

NOW OR NEVER Beginning at 15th level, you know that battles are a marathon, not a sprint. The life of a sellsword is an endless march, and you’ve learned to recover quicker than anyone else. You can use your Second Wind and Action Surge feature an additional time each per short or long rest.

SELLSWORD’S FORTUNE To live this long and see the things you’ve seen, you must be fortunate beyond natural reasoning, whether through a deity, power, or just plain stubbornness and grit. At 18th level, you gain 3 fortune dice, which are d20s. At the end of each long rest, roll these d20s. At any time until your next long rest, you can swap any attack roll, saving throw, or ability check made by any creature you can see with the result of one of your fortune dice. You must choose to do so before the outcome of the roll is determined, and only once per turn. Once a fortune die is used, you must wait until your next long rest before it can be used again.

MARROW LEGIONARY Many enlist with the Marrow out of desperation, and are woefully unprepared for the trials and dangers that come with fighting in the Legion. Some however, take to their training with pride and finesse, becoming skilled in matters of tactics and combat. Such Marrow rise quickly through the ranks, gaining skill and responsibility. While many might take umbrage with the manner and purpose of the Legion’s operation, none can deny the brutal effectiveness that comes with a well-trained Marrow legion and their battle tactics. ENLISTED MARROW? Playing a Marrow in a session or campaign is a thematic choice that should be discussed with the Game Master. Being an enlisted, active member of the Dismembered Legion comes with implications that would need to be considered during play. Where are you stationed? Who is your commander? Where do your loyalties lie? These things can dramatically impact the rest of the party and how they interact with the world. To use this archetype, but not have ties to the Dismembered Legion, you can narratively choose to be a Marrow veteran no longer in active service, someone who was trained by a Marrow but was never formally enlisted, or even a defector. Optionally, you could be part of one of the other well-trained fighting forces in the realm, like a Knight Vathan of the Ardor or another. All of these options would easily explain the training, but not bring with it the implications of being part of the Dismembered Legion.

MARROW FORMATIONS Beginning at 3rd level, you’ve learned to fight in formation. As an action, you can initiate a formation. Each allied creature within 30 feet of you can use their reaction to move up to their speed towards you and join in the formation. You can only have one formation active at a time. You and other allied creatures only gain the benefit of a formation if there are at least 2 total creatures in a formation, and only if each creature in formation is within 5 feet of at least one other creature in that formation. A creature that is incapacitated cannot be in formation. You can use a bonus action on your turn to switch formations, or end it. Other creatures can leave the formation at any time without using an action. When you initiate a formation, you can choose one of the following: • Sword Formation: Creatures in this formation have advantage on melee weapon attack rolls against targets that are within 5 feet of at least one other creature in the same formation. • Shield Formation: Creatures in this formation gain a +2 bonus to their Armor Class. You must be wielding a shield in order to initiate this formation. • March Formation: Whenever a creature in formation moves, each other creature in formation moves with them. Each creature who moves this way must end the movement adjacent to another creature in formation, and cannot use their movement on their next turn. If a creature cannot end its movement adjacent to another creature in formation, it is removed from the formation.

ADVANCED FORMATIONS Beginning at 7th level, you gain the following additional formation options: • Volley Formation: When you enter this formation, designate an area that is a 20-foot radius sphere within 200 feet of you that you can see. Creatures in this formation have advantage on ranged attack rolls against targets that are within that area. At the beginning of each of your turns, you can move the designated area to any space within 200 feet of you. • Wraith Formation: Creatures can be in this formation if they are up to 30 feet apart from another creature in formation, rather than 5 feet. While in this formation, creatures roll Dexterity (Stealth) and Wisdom (Perception) checks with advantage. In addition, while in this formation, you can choose to switch to another formation at any time without using an action.

STAND YOUR GROUND Starting at 10th level, you can use a bonus action on your turn while in formation to have each creature in formation regain hit points equal to 1d10 + your fighter level and if they are suffering the charmed, frightened, or stunned condition, it is removed. Once you use this feature, you must complete a long rest before using it again.

STAND AS ONE Beginning at 15th level, your formations are impeccable and you can maneuver seamlessly to protect those within it. Whenever another creature in formation takes damage from an attack, you can use your reaction to take the damage instead, and you are considered to have resistance against the damage of this attack. This feature doesn’t transfer any other effects that might accompany the damage.

UNBREAKABLE LEGION Beginning at 18th level, your formations come as easily and effortlessly as breathing. You can now initiate a formation as a bonus action. Additionally, you gain the following formation options: • Sovereign Formation: Whenever a creature makes an attack against you, one other creature in formation of your choice can use their reaction to make a weapon attack against them. • Phalanx Invictus Formation: Creatures in this formation gain the benefits of both the Sword Formation and the Shield Formation. In addition, as a reaction, any creature in formation can make a single melee weapon attack whenever another creature moves within 5 feet of them. If this attack hits, the target is pushed or pulled 5 feet towards or away from the creature in formation (your choice).

TOIL OF THE LEGION Beginning at 3rd level, you have been hardened by your time in the Legion. Months on the march, constructing camps, and fighting in formation give you additional experience. You gain proficiency with mason’s tools and carpenter’s tools, and you suffer the penalties of exhaustion as if your exhaustion level was one level lower.

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MONK

Scetics of Dragongrin “Why does the Sovereign insist on allowing these isolated mystics to exist in his realm, when all others have so firmly been brought into the fold? Why do they persist on the outskirts of his new world? What have they to offer? I should pay a visit to the Alhran Monastery to find out. Maybe I’ll bring a warmaker with me.” – Eclipse, Seat of the Anarchic, Council of Ash Monks of Dragongrin are rare beings, training their bodies and minds to harness the energy within themselves – ki. Some say this is an energy that exists in all things, living or inanimate, and the masters of its power – scetics – channel that energy from themselves and the universe around them. Their lives are typically led in the solitude of mystical sanctuaries with only the company of sisters and brothers in their discipline.These sanctuaries are often secret and protected, allowing scetics a haven for their training. This takes intense, brutal practice and an iron will, and many scetics are only able to achieve this through martial mastery.

PILGRIMAGE FROM SANCTUARY Scetics train within their sanctuaries until they feel within their spirit and heart that they can advance no further within the safety of its walls. It is then that they most often strike out on pilgrimages. These journeys do not typically have set destinations, or specific premeditated purposes, but are intended to be a series of intuitive sojourns to mature the heart, sould, mind and body. The pilgrimages of the scetics have no guidelines beyond what the scetic senses in their soul to be truth, and what will advance their enlightenment. NO SANCTUARY AFFORDED THEM Not all scetics are formally trained in a sanctuary, following a specific method or discipline. Some are far more intuitively forged in the trials of everyday life in Dragongrin. By seeking their inner power, they train in open fields, forests and dunes. They learn their discipline in many ways – through scrolls and writing, by finding a mentor and master, or by connecting with the power within them and following its urgings and guidance.

SCETICS BY CULTURE Scetics in Dragongrin are not common, and though every culture has been known to have them at one time or another, many cultures don’t have formal sanctuaries dedicated to their training, though many sanctuaries accept individuals no matter their heritage or culture. 1. Ardor: Often searching for inner peace to reconcile the sins of their people, focusing on inner-discipline to push through their hardships using everyday labor to hide their training in plain site. 2. Crucian: Crucian scetics often attend well-funded, private academies of the martial arts in Grinn, taught by masters of their selected disciplines. 3. Drogus: Typically adopting a form of scrappy drunken boxing that matches their nature and is suited perfectly for fights on ever-shifting floating vessels. 4. Granok Thane: Typically focusing on highly tactical and brutal strikes that are aimed at the most vulnerable spot possible. Rooted in extreme efficiency, and taught to elite soldiers.

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5. Grimdul: Rumored to be the founders of the fabled Alhran monastery in Jahar, and knowers of the Way of the Soulwinds, they are some of the most disciplined, fluid and deadly scetics ever known. 6. Holmir: Holmir scetics are often called “the Axeless” known for their brutal efficiency with their bare hands, striking with power and force that can match any Holmir blade. 7. Mord: Endlessly training, Mord scetics are wholly devoted and often focus on a martial art known as Hahk Va, rooted in countering other known fighting styles. 8. Sarrik: Using their undead anatomy to be able to perform movements that other scetics could only hope to achieve, they typically use unnatural erratic movement in their styles. 9. Silverwise: Typically macabre scetics known as ghostspeakers who are trained by the whispers of the great masters who have died, guiding them from the Wailing Gray. 10. Talasar: Typically training in the art of Prokopis it focuses on using leverage and weight distribution to take the fight to the ground, and then dismantle the opponents joints and breathing. 11. Zarfvin: Often using geometry, angles, triangulation of movements, they can also use probability to anticipate their enemies moves. 12. No Culture: This blending of various styles and disciplines is something all its own, but is deadly and potent.

D10 SCETIC BEGINNINGS

You were always interested in the strange books your mentor had that detailed the people who could snatch arrows out of midair, and make their fists like iron. Your curiosity became obsession, and you sought a teacher who could train you in these ways. A culture other than your own took you in because of your intuition in martial combat. Seeing your potential, they accepted you as one of their own, and honed your abilities into a deadly, focused martial art. Your mentor made you perform menial tasks endlessly, being merciless in their execution – no matter how small the task. As you continued to work tirelessly, it began to dawn on you that he was building your muscle memory to have the foundations of a martial artist. You have always fought in competitions for as long as you can remember. At some point, you began to branch out, using your body more and more, and straying away from conventional weapons. You have now honed your skills enough to take them to the next level. Since a young age, you’ve always felt that the universe itself has spoken to you. Your intuition was strong, and you learned to trust it. It guided you in your thoughts, your movements, your discipline making you a powerful master of ki. To this day the universe speaks, and you listen You were trained in secret by a festir master who was forbidden to train any of your people. Through the use of innocuous “dances” and the use of mundane farming implements you were able to learn deadly martial arts. You were made a drudge, and forced into sport-fighting. You adapted, improved, and survived. A veteran took you under their wing, and showed you the proper way to fight. They were slain in a rebellion to escape the pits, but you survived. Your village has been trained by the same master for as long as you can remember. It is part of your heritage to learn to master martial arts and become a skilled fighter. You have risen through the ranks, and are becoming one of the best fighters of your village. For as long as you can remember in childhood, martial arts training was a part of your routine. Your family would spar for fun, and compete for the most comfortable bed, or the largest piece of food. Fighting, to you, is like walking or breathing. You were taken on as a guard for a foreign temple or lord, and proved your worth early. A fish out of water, you slowly began to fight the way of your masters. Now you have earned entry into the elite of this force, learning the secrets of their order.

KI MANIFEST A scetic’s focused power manifests in many distinctive ways. Work with your GM, roll on the table below, or choose how your Ki manifests.

SCETIC SANCTUARIES Almost all monks in Dragongrin begin their journeys within the confines of sanctuaries – small gathering places for Scetics and their practice, in exchange for valuable resources they provide the realm. Most sanctuaries are masters of their craft, and produce top-of-the-line products in their field of expertise. The sanctuary can eat for a year from a large sale of their resources. Each sanctuary is led by a master, and scetics are so inclined to train within these training facilities that some live out most of their entire lives without ever leaving the grounds. Use the generator below to create a unique sanctuary, whose particular discipline, code, or fighting style is reflected in the personality of the master.

D20 KI MANIFEST 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Your eyes, nose and mouth glows with brilliant light, and lightning crackles in surges across your form. Your fighting movements are trailed with spectral calligraphy. The entirety of your body takes on the appearance of brightly polished metal. Trails of Bleak energy follow your movements in thick plumes, glimmerwinds emanating around you. Your musculature grows substantially in size, forcing myriad veins to press against your skin. Phantasmal tattoos appear on your flesh, fading in and out in wisps of smoke. Additional ghostly limbs strike out from various places on your form as you fight. Intricate music accompanies your fighting, its tempo and composition matching your movements. Your skin and muscle become translucent, and your skeletal structure glows within you. Localized weather conditions occur where you fight matching how you do so – faint snow flurries, rain falling, clouds forming. Dozens of shimmering geometric glyphs with strange scrawlings orbit around you. A stylized, animated depiction of the battle happening around you manifests on your skin appearing as oil paint. Your form becomes an inky, dark shadow, appearing as a silhouetted shape. From your skin emerges shimmering ice white crystals that are as hard as diamond. The redness, bruising and blood of every blow you’ve ever taken rises to the surface of your flesh – though it causes you no pain. Gorgeous exotic plants and flowers grow from the ground where your attacks take place, accompanied by the scent of fresh rain. You take on a measure of the physical appearance of a powerful animal connected to your ki. Your body bursts into ki-fueled flames that rise and fall in intensity with your movements. The deep, booming chanting of many voices can be heard accompanying your fighting. The spectral form of a dragon, typhon or other powerful creature moves in unison with your strikes.

D102 SCETIC HALLMARK 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Scrolls Unique garb or equipment Rare stone or gem Book of teachings Exotic weapon Scarce herbs and roots A staff Guarded knowledge Scar(s) Code of conduct

of your mentor of your culture from the Bleak or Desolation of the Primordials or Titans of your sanctuary from a mystical source of a lost loved one from before Lightfall of your home dominion of a lost culture

127 CHARACTER CREATION: CLASSES

SANCTUARY GENERATOR D103

SANCTUARY

MASTER IS

Streamside monastery Drunken master

Repurposed Holithic ruins

Mindful teacher

Forest clearing or rocky outcropping

Masked assassin

Secluded island

Rugged horselord

Drifting barge

Cavernous labyrinthe

Hilltop castle

Dragon’s grin

9 10

Traveling Red Sail wagons Tranquil hamlet

Diplomatic peacemaker Harsh disciplinarian Defense-minded yogi Greedy merchant of the sanctuary’s resource Ancient philosopher (Your character)

RESOURCE Rice, cereals, and fish Knowledge, history, and artifacts Perfected recipes and cured meats Precious metals and stones Beer and wine Masterwork carpentry Martial arts training Rare herbs and mystical readings Horses, mounts, and livestock Weaponsmithing

SCETIC SANCTUARY QUESTS Scetics are so bound to their sanctuaries, that when a quest is called by the master or others in temporary charge, it is natural for most monks to obey in a timely manner, or obtain a very good excuse for their delay. However, all refusals are considered shameful and disgraceful. D10 SANCTUARY QUESTS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Deliver a caravan of precious, custom-ordered resources to the Lord of Ash safely, and explain why it’s short in quantity. Find trustworthy companions to protect the sanctuary’s resources from attackers. Investigate what ailment the master is suffering, or what caused their disappearance. Take on an apprentice. Track down a bounty hunter whose actions have offended the sanctuary or Sovereign. A large order of the resources produced by your sanctuary must be fulfilled, though a very important ingredient/supplies has been stolen and must be recovered. An assasination attempt was made within your sanctuary, and it was revealed that there is still a traitor in your ranks. A secret gathering of sanctuaries from all corners of Dragongrin is being hosted at your sanctuary and you have been placed in charge of the preparations. The Master has gone missing, clues point to a nearby city – but who would be powerful enough to do such a thing? Your sanctuary is suffering from a strange sickness that you and a few others are immune to – a cure must be found beyond the walls.

THE UNHIDDEN SANCTUARY While nearly all of the scetic sanctuaries in Dragongrin are purposefully hidden from outsiders, the Alhran monastery of Jahar is quite the opposite. Alhran is the most infamous monastery in Dragongrin, and its scetics are said to be the most powerful and disciplined fighters in all of Dragongrin. They famously operate in the open, welcoming any good souls in need of food, shelter or protection. The scetics of Alhran do not fear the Dismembered Legion, and dare any who would be brave enough to move against them in their desert fortress.

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MONASTIC TRADITIONS

Though monastic pursuits are especially challenging in Dragongrin, there are monasteries scattered across the realm practicing varied traditions. In this section are two new monastic traditions fully compatible with the monk class.

WAY OF THE GHOSTSPEAKER It has been said by some that the greatest loss in Dragongrin is that the dead have the largest share of wisdom, but no way to pass it on. That sentiment is precisely what drove the Silverwise monks to take their connections to the dead and to the Wailing Gray and develop them into a school and a way of living. They move and fight with the wisdom of the dead, and their movements are eerie and erratic to suit the strangeness of their knowledge source. By refining their Ki to work from both the energy of their living self and mixing it with the spirits of those who have passed, those who follow the Way of the Ghostspeaker embody the dichotomy of the living and dead, becoming fearsome and unpredictable, but also wise and calculating. SILVERWISE AND THE WAY OF THE GHOSTSPEAKER While most who follow the Way of the Ghostspeaker are Silverwise, due to their natural connections to the dead and the Wailing Gray, there are some who find connections to the dead through other means and beliefs. Small numbers from many different cultures might find their way to this source of power through their own careful meditations and studies.

SILVER WALL STYLE Beginning at 3rd level, your monastic tradition has taught you to tap into the wisdom of those who have come before. Your heightened connection to the dead, and your ability to understand them, allows you to fight in a unique way. You gain the following benefits: • Your attacks with monk weapons and unarmed strikes ignore damage resistances and immunities of undead creatures and can strike creatures in the Ethereal Plane as if they were in the Material Plane. • When you use your Patient Defense class feature, you also conjure a wall of shimmering silver that gives you and each ally within 5 feet of you half cover until the start of your next turn.

CHANNEL THE WAILING GRAY Also beginning at 3rd level, you’re able to tap into the power of the Wailing Gray to do incredible things. You learn the sacred flame cantrip. Additionally, you can spend 2 ki points to cast misty step, gentle repose, or guiding bolt. Once you reach 6th level, you can spend 4 ki points to cast daylight or speak with dead. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

TEN THOUSAND EYES Beginning at 6th level, ghosts whisper in your ear of what they see. You gain blindsight out to 10 feet and are immune to the blinded condition. You can spend 1 ki point to increase this blindsight to 50 feet until the end of your next turn. In addition, you can never be surprised, and these ghosts will wake you if you are unconscious and if danger is nearby.

TEN THOUSAND SOULS Beginning at 11th level, the spirits protect you and your allies and hinder your enemies. Your Silver Wall style improves, and a mass of spirits from the Wailing Gray encircle you

in combat, forming an aura 10 feet around you. This aura produces the following effects: • Creatures of your choice treat the area of the aura as difficult terrain. • As an action, you can spend 4 ki points to direct the wailing spirits at a creature you can see within the aura. That creature must make a Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of you for the next minute. They can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of their turns, ending the effect on a success. • As an action, you can spend 2 ki points to give up to six creatures of your choice within the aura 5 temporary hit points.

SILVER WALL INCARNATE Beginning at 17th level, you are truly a bridge between the Wailing Gray and Dragongrin. You gain resistance to necrotic damage and you cannot die of old age. Whenever you die, your body reforms after spending 7 days within the Wailing Gray, at a random location on your plane of existence, as determined by your GM. Additionally, you can spend 5 ki points to become a phantasmal embodiment of a living Silver Wall, where you gain the following benefits for the next minute: • You are incorporeal, and can move through creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. • You get a fly speed equal to your movement speed. • Your unarmed strikes and attacks with monk weapons deal an additional 1d10 necrotic damage. • If you end your turn in the space of another creature, that creature takes 3d10 psychic damage.

WAY OF THE SOULWINDS The Soulwinds represent not just a force of nature in the world to the Grimdul, but an entire belief system and way of life. While beliefs surrounding the Soulwinds permeate all aspects of Grimdul life and many use their powers for mundane and magical means, a small group of Grimdul have dedicated themselves entirely to the Soulwinds, modeling every aspect of the lives, in peace and war, around their tenets. Through this dedication and commitment, they have developed the power of the Soulwinds into a lifestyle and a powerful force that they can channel to accomplish amazing things. GRIMDUL AND THE WAY OF THE SOULWINDS While most who follow the Way of the Soulwinds are Grimdul, there are some who discover the Soulwinds and the beliefs surrounding them in their own way, converting and dedicating themselves to the Soulwinds as fervently as any Grimdul. As such, very small pockets of any culture may find their way to this monastic order. Learn more about Jantari, the Soulwinds on page 22 in the deities and religion portion of the Life in Dragongrin chapter, or on page 56 of the Grimdul culture.

SOULWIND STANCES

Each Soulwind Stance has unique benefits, and they each get improvements as you gain levels in this class. • Flamewind Stance: Both your blows and movements are as swift and fervorous as the Flamewind. While in this stance, you can choose to have your monk weapons and unarmed strikes deal fire damage instead of their normal weapon damage. Additionally, as part of the Attack action while in this stance before you make your attacks, you can move up to your speed towards a creature you can see. • Steelwind Stance: Your strikes are infused with power blessed by the Steelwind. While in this stance, attacks with your monk weapons and unarmed strikes also push the target 5 feet on a hit. In addition while in this stance, you have advantage on saving throws and ability checks made to resist moving against your will. • Floodwind Stance: Your stance and movements channel the mercy of the Floodwind. As an action while in this stance, you can spend any number of ki points up to your monk level and touch another creature within 5 feet of you. That creature gains 1d4 temporary hit points for each ki point spent this way. • Stonewind Stance: Your body is imbued with the vitality of the Stonewind. While in this stance, you have resistance to necrotic damage, and if another creature would normally roll one or more dice to restore your hit points with a spell, they instead use the highest number possible for each die.

IMPROVED SOULWIND STANCES At 6th level, your skill with your Soulwind Stances improves, and you get the following enhancements to your Soulwind Stances: • Flamewind Stance: The Flamewind burns away impurities. While in the Flamewind Stance, you can spend 2 ki points to cast the spell lesser restoration. • Steelwind Stance: The Steelwind surrounds your allies to protect them from harm. While in the Steelwind Stance, when another creature within 30 feet of you is hit with an attack, you can spend 2 ki points as a reaction to give them a +4 bonus to AC against that attack. • Floodwind Stance: The Floodwind is mercurial, and its path pays no heed to the desires of mortals. As an action while in the Floodwind Stance, you can spend 3 ki points to attempt to fill the lungs (or their equivalent) of a creature within 5 feet of you with magical water. The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or immediately begin to suffocate. The target can spend an action on its turn coughing up the water to end this effect. This ability has no effect on creatures that do not need to breathe air. • Stonewind Stance: The Stonewind judges all with life or death. When you hit a creature with a monk weapon or an unarmed strike while in the Stonewind Stance, you can spend any number of ki points, to a maximum of 3. The creature also takes 1d6 necrotic damage per ki point spent this way.

Starting when you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you learn the stances of the Soulwinds, the foundational pillars of the Jantari belief. As a bonus action on your turn, you can enter a Soulwind Stance, gaining its benefits until you choose to end it, which takes no action and can be done at any time. You can only have one Soulwind Stance active at a time. You can choose to change Soulwind Stances on your turn as a bonus action.

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SOULWIND STANCE MASTERY At 11th level, you’ve begun to master the desires of the enigmatic Soulwinds, and guided by their will, you get the following improvements to your Soulwind Stances: • Flamewind Stance: The Flamewind wreaks unrestrained destruction, if given the proper guidance. While in the Flamewind Stance, you can spend 3 ki points to cast the spell fireball without providing material components. • Steelwind Stance: The Steelwind hardens around your body and weapons. While in the Steelwind Stance, your unarmed strikes and monk weapons deal additional damage equal to your Wisdom modifier. • Floodwind Stance: As inevitable as rivers converging, the Floodwind unifies all those who follow its path. While in the Floodwind Stance, you can spend 1 ki point to cast the bless spell without providing material components. Targets of this spell are also given Floodwinds in their lungs (or their equivalent), which let them hold their breath for the duration of the spell. You can spend additional ki points to cast bless as a higherlevel spell. Each additional ki point you spend increases the spell’s level by 1, to a maximum of 9th level. • Stonewind Stance: The Stonewind guides even the destinies that lead to doom. While in the Stonewind Stance, you can spend 5 ki points to cast the blight spell.

TEMPEST OF THE SOULWINDS At 17th level, the Soulwinds are yours to command, and you get the following improvements to your Soulwind Stances: • Flamewind Stance: The Flamewind burns away every scar, every ambition, every ounce of tenacity. While in the Flamewind Stance, you can spend 6 ki points to cast the feeblemind spell without providing material components, but the creature takes no damage from the spell, and only its Charisma score is reduced on a failed save. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns to end the spell’s effects. • Steelwind Stance: With a swift motion, the Steelwind crushes your foe. As an action while in the Steelwind Stance, you can spend 3 ki points and bring down the weight of the Steelwind on a creature that you can see within 30 feet. The target must succeed on a Strength saving throw or take 6d6 bludgeoning damage and be paralyzed until the end of your next turn. • Floodwind Stance: The Floodwind will grind a mountain to dust, given enough time. When you hit a creature with a monk weapon or an unarmed strike while in the Floodwind Stance, you can spend 3 ki points to attempt to also destroy one piece of equipment they are wearing or holding. The target must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, that piece of equipment is turned to dust, as if affected by the disintegrate spell. • Stonewind Stance: The Stonewind causes strange wild flowers and plant life to bloom unrestrained at your feet. While in this stance, you can spend 5 ki points to cast the mass cure wounds spell, and you can also spend 2 ki points to cast the plant growth spell. CHRONICLES OF THE SCETICS While the pilgrimages of the scetics are fluid, intuitive, and lacking formal structure, many scetics still diligently chronicle their experiences to commit the wisdom they gather to the permanence of the written word. Often beginning as bound books with blank pages, scetic chronicles are then filled with the revelations of their owners – proverbs, maps, drawings, philosophical ramblings, and secrets. When a chronicle is full, a scetic typically finds a place worthy of the writings within, be it a person, library, or their own monasteries.

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PALADIN

Oathscarred of Dragongrin “To think, there are those who would take up arms, fight, bleed, and die for something so irreversibly dead. Perhaps the oathscarred believe nothing is irreversible.” – Geyanau, Zarfvin Prionar Dissolver In Dragongrin, the oathscarred do not come by their name lightly. In a realm where many will say and do whatever necessary to survive each day, those that swear oaths and uphold them in the face of danger or death are very few. To an oathscarred, their sacred vow marks their very souls, figuratively etched deep into who they are. Like a physical scar of the flesh, the oathscarred’s vow is an irremovable reminder of what they have sworn. Oaths can be sworn for many causes, be it to fight a common foe, to serve a deity or mythical power, or to help the helpless in need. In Dragongrin, however, oathscarred are not always champions of righteous causes. Some oaths are born out of pain and blood, and are uttered through gritted teeth bent on vengeance and violence. Whether their oaths are sworn to enact good deeds or evil ones, oatchscarred are mighty warriors who are devout in their conviction.

CAUSES Oathscarred are most often found following a specific cause . And while causes are separate from the oaths that are sworn, oathscarred often find some manner of cause to align their oaths with to give their actions a sense of purpose. When a cause is complete, an oathscarred will almost always move on to find another opportunity to put their oaths in action. They say that an oathscarred without a cause is an oathscarred searching for one. Consider that many factions, groups and people in Dragongrin are all searching for those who will help them take up their cause. OATHS AND FAITH The Oathscarred of Dragongrin are often warriors of a cause, rather than being warriors of religion or faith. More importantly, they are inherently tied to their oaths, which may not be directly related to a deity, and drives them towards a specific ideal or task.

Elderstones, swearing to continue to hold positions of power and sway. 8. Sarrik: They often swear to reclaim something lost, something wrongfully done, or something forced upon others. 9. Silverwise: They typically swear oaths to those who have fallen before them in death, or to protecting others from that which lurks in shadow. 10. Talasar: Their oaths are commonly to their people, their culture, and their armies. If not that, then to the integrity of Talas itself, and its well being. 11. Zarfvin: Their oaths are typically to advance the knowledge and understanding of their people. 12. No Culture: There are many causes to be embraced in Dragongrin, for both good and ill pursuits. Some do not bind themselves to the traditions of their forebears.

OATHSCARRED BY CULTURE 1. Ardor: Often swearing oaths to escape their plight, or free their people from oppression. 2. Crucian: Almost always swearing oaths to the Dismembered Lord or the Dismembered Legion. 3. Drogus: Their oaths often have to do with building, rebuilding or reclaiming physical objects, places and even ideals. 4. Granok Thane: Their oaths are powerful and secret, passed down from generation to generation, and serving myriad purposes. 5. Grimdul: Their oaths are almost always sworn to their deities, and it is considered frownd upon to do otherwise in this culture. 6. Holmir: Their oaths are almost always having to do with taking, possessing, or accomplishing. 7. Mord: Commonly swearing to save their precious

131 CHARACTER CREATION: CLASSES

D10 OATHSCARRED BEGINNINGS 1

6 7 8

You felt a calling to your faith at a young age, and it was an unpopular belief. You were considered strange, and your views controversial. You found solace in serving your deity, and have now sworn an oath. In a land of shadow and lies such as Dragongrin, you value truth above all else. You have found that people will eventually be dishonest, but your deity will never fail, never falter. You never cease questioning tradition. You have taken an oath. You have discovered a terrible and old secret evil that threatens the land. You have found that the enemy of this evil is a particular deity, so as a matter of survival, you have taken up arms in this deity’s name, and taken an oath. On the battlefield, you witnessed something that could only be described as divine intervention. At once, you promised to defend that very deity or belief until death. You were mentored by a Paladin, and were taught their ways, and learned of their oath. When the time came to take your oath, you did so, but it was different than your mentor’s, but true to yourself. You will carry on the legacy of what you were taught. You once needed a place to stay during a frozen winter, and the temples obliged. However, you found solace in the new home, believing more and more in the instructed faith as time passed. A tragic event happened causing you to swear a true oath. You were once a fraud, now turned genuine article of faith. After years of concealing your divine powers, claiming your prowess in combat is just a result of vigorous training, the secret is out. It’s time to take the true oath. A servant of a temple, you seek penance for your hand in Lightfall. Whether it was helping the forces of darkness, abandoning the forces of light, or running from the conflict altogether, you have decided that you must atone for what you’ve done, and have taken an oath. You seek penance for what you’ve done. Once, you couldn’t even lift a weapon without hurting yourself. But after that strange night and even weirder vision, you can wield arms with ease. You know it’s divine power that granted you this ability, and you’ll fight for it. However, you can’t shake the fear that this mysterious ability will vanish as quickly as it arrived.

D102 OATHSCARRED HALLMARK 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Pendant Engraving Weapon Sacred tattoos Shroud Ring Ancient relic Scriptural tome Engraved tablet Holy water-filled flask

D20 OATH MANIFEST 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

CONVOCATION GENERATOR D103 1 2

of stone from a holy site from a grin on your weapon of your deity of a martyr of blessed Elderstone of the Holithic Church of ancestral origin of ancient law of a secretive order

OATH MANIFEST Your oath is more than mere words – it manifests in a powerful way with each use of your divine abilities, and is fueled by a force greater than yourself. This is how it manifests.

OATHSCARRED CONVOCATIONS Oathscarred often gather together into convocations, groups who are dedicated to the same cause for a given time. When a cause has been furthered or achieved, it is not uncommon for Oathscarred to find entirely new ones.

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Your eyes become pupil-less and blaze white. A shimmering, hazy aura of energy ripples around you. An illusory avatar of your deity appears around you. Your voice resonates with that of your god. Your weapon glows with white-hot holy light. Those within 30’ of you can feel the same emotions as you at the moment, smiling, frowning, furling their brows in anger, etc. Illusory scripture glows upon your flesh. Simple words related to your cause, sworn oath, or beliefs resonate in the minds of those around you. The radiant sun shines down upon you no matter the cloud cover, and it still noticeable during the day. Your clothing turns clean and pristine, no matter its previous state. You are compelled to recite scripture – even that which you have never read. The immediate area around you is lightly cauterized with a ritual circle, filled with holy symbols. Your Convocation knows exactly where you are, and you know where the leader is. Everyone within 60’ loses their shadow. A vibrant holy symbol glows on your body. Angelic (or demonic) music related to your deity can be heard in subtle notes and measures. You can hear the heartbeats of those within touching distance. The earth shudders subtly. Mysterious characters that not even you understand manifest in glowing form on your fingernails. You feel and seem three inches taller.

CONVOCATION TYPE Monster hunters Reformed criminals

Secretive cult

Washed up priests

Retired Marrow

6 7 8 9 10

CAUSE

METHODS

Defend the innocent

Brutal ruthlessness

Steal for the poor, from the rich Translating forbidden scripture

Stealth and subterfuge

Reform the faith

Honor the Dismembered Lord Training in martial Reclusive clergy arts Traveling Spread the gospel warrior priests Former rivals of Creation of a new Lightfall church Undying Light Return of the fugitives Holithic Church Protect the natural Lone wanderers world

Assassination Infiltrating power systems Inquisition Patient change Mercantilism Magical conversion Rebuilding an ancient weapon Raise an army

CONVOCATION QUESTS Convocations may resort to their own varied causes and methods, but all share one commonality – that of action. Oathscarred are periodically called to do the bidding of their Convocation. D10 CONVOCATION QUESTS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Heal a terribly sick Lord of Ash or other authority. Put down (or fuel) religious rebellions in a Dominion of Ash. Retrieve an artifact valuable to the Convocation or its enemies. Set up a shrine in a faraway location, and keep it operating for one month. Commence a pilgrimage to a sacred location, and ensure the travelers’ safety. Investigate blasphemous deeds or monsters. Deliver a message to an ally before an enemy destroys them. Spread the gospel between two points on the Red Sail Market route. Convince a Crucian house to convert to your own beliefs. Secure the release of faithful drudges, no matter the cost.

SACRED OATHS

CHANNEL DIVINITY When you take this oath at 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity options. Mark for Cleansing: As a bonus action, you can choose a creature within 30 feet of you that you can see and use your Channel Divinity to mark it for cleansing. While marked in this way, it has vulnerability to all damage you deal to it for the next minute or until it drops to 0 hit points. Hunter Form: You can use your Channel Divinity to channel the might of your oath and the wisdom of your tenets to prepare yourself for any eventuality. As an action, you invoke this power, and for the next 10 minutes you gain the following benefits: • • • • •

You gain darkvision up to 120 feet. You can breathe underwater. Your movement speed increases by 20 feet. You gain immunity to poison damage. You have advantage on saving throws against the poisoned, restrained and frightened conditions.

AURA OF PURGING

In a dark realm such as Dragongrin, oaths are sworn for many reasons – survival, power, or because one is forced. This section contains two new sacred oaths fully compatible with the paladin class.

Beginning at 7th level, you inspire your allies to see the inner monsters in things the same way you do. Whenever an ally within 10 feet of you rolls damage for a weapon attack, they can reroll the weapon’s damage dice and use either total. An ally can only reroll weapon damage dice this way once per turn.

OATH OF THE CLEANSING

At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 feet.

The idea of what makes a monster is a complex one. Creatures, people, and systems can all be considered monstrous through different criteria or lenses of perception. You have sworn yourself to eradicate anything which suits this definition in your eyes. Preferably, this is done by changing behaviors and laws, correcting course to a better way, but sometimes the only way to bring about change is by force. Your constant contact with the darkest parts of the world and humanity alienates you from many, but your endless charge will not be stayed by judgment. TENETS OF THE CLEANSING • The Monster Is Blameless. Monsters are not malicious or cruel, they simply follow their nature. They must be cleansed by necessity, but we take no joy in it, and a peaceful solution is always best. • The Monster Is Relative. Most monsters are unnatural monstrosities that hunger for flesh. Some monsters are wealthy merchants, or corrupt kings. • The Monster Is You. You must embrace the fact that others will hate you for your form, your contact with monsters, and your strict code.

OATH SPELLS You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed in the Oath of Cleansing Spells table. PALADIN LEVEL OATH OF THE CLEANSING SPELLS 3rd 5th 9th 13th 17th

Hunter’s Mark, Snare Misty Step, Blur Bestow Curse, Slow Arcane Eye, Locate Creature Contagion, Hold Monster

BLESSING OF CLEANSING Beginning at 15th level, you embody the perfect hunter. Your eyes begin to glow with their own light. You gain darkvision up to 120 feet, your movement speed increases by 10 feet, and you are immune to the poisoned and charmed conditions. Additionally, your Hunter Form channel divinity option changes as follows: • The duration lasts for 1 hour instead of 10 minutes. • You gain truesight up to 120 feet instead of only darkvision. • You are immune to poison damage and the poisoned condition.

AVATAR OF CLEANSING Beginning at 20th level, you can channel the might of your oath to transform into an avatar of cleansing. For the next minute you gain the following features: • You gain a flying speed of 60 feet. • Once per turn, whenever you attack the target of your Mark for Cleansing feature, if you have no spell slots available, you deal an extra 2d8 radiant damage to that creature. • The target of your Mark for Cleansing feature also has disadvantage on saving throws against your paladin spells. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

OATH OF THE LEGION While loyalty is expected of all who enlist with the Marrow and the Dismembered lord, some offer it much more willingly and zealously than others. There are few who are so zealous in their service to the sovereign that they swear an oath of 133 CHARACTER CREATION: CLASSES

ultimate service, and are blessed by the sovereign’s power in return. Those who swear the Oath of the Legion are often chosen to be commanders or for special and dangerous missions, knowing they will likely die. Such a death would be an honor. TENETS OF THE LEGION • Obedience Brings Victory: Only through perfect obedience can we achieve perfection. Do not question the orders you are given, you are a weapon in the hand of the Sovereign. Yours is not to think. • Victory brings Glory: Through victory we are ascended to glory, we fulfil our purpose, we follow our destiny. • Glory At Any Cost: The life of a single legionary is no loss to the Legion. We are numberless, and faceless, and we will gladly give a thousand lives for victory.

OATH SPELLS You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed in the Oath of Legion Spells table. PALADIN LEVEL OATH OF THE LEGION SPELLS 3rd 5th 9th 13th 17th

Bane, Command Hold Person, Zone of Truth Fear, Sending Compulsion, Dominate Beast Dominate Person, Geas

CHANNEL DIVINITY When you take this oath at 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity options. See the Sacred Oath class feature for how Channel Divinity works. Sovereign Command: You can use your Channel Divinity to invoke the supremacy of the Sovereign, giving an ally the imperative to act. As an action, choose an ally you can see within 60 feet that can hear you. That ally can immediately use their reaction to move up to their speed, and makes a single weapon attack with advantage, and gains a bonus to the damage roll equal to your Charisma modifier. Disciple of Fortitude: You can use your Channel Divinity to discipline your allies, hardening their hearts. Whenever one or more of your allies you can see within 60 feet of you suffers an effect as a result from failing a saving throw, you can use your reaction to allow them to reroll that saving throw, taking the higher result.

AURA OF OBEDIENCE Beginning at 7th level, you exude an aura of order and sovereignty that makes others tremble at your might. Creatures of your choice within 10 feet of you have disadvantage on saving throws against your paladin spells.

SOVEREIGN’S IMMORTAL Beginning at 15th level, whenever you cast a paladin spell or use your Smite feature, you gain temporary hit points equal to the level of the spell slot used. Additionally, you have advantage on Charisma checks made to interact with others in the Dismembered Lord’s service, as they recognise your divine authority.

WE ARE LEGION Beginning at 20th level, you are the legion incarnate. You are the spirit of the legion, and through you they will always be victorious. As an action, you can manifest this power — the thunderous march of ten million armoured boots, the roar

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of every legionary’s voice. For the next minute, you gain the following benefits: • Whenever you or an ally within 30 feet of you hits a creature with a melee attack, it deals additional damage equal to your Charisma modifier. • Whenever you or an ally within 30 feet of you takes damage from an attack, the damage is reduced by an amount equal to your Charisma modifier. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

VARIANT OATH OF THE LEGION: COPPER JACKAL Playing a Marrow in a session or campaign is a thematic choice that should be discussed with the Game Master. Having sworn an oath to the Dismembered Legion is an event that holds much gravity, and should not be taken lightly. Being an enlisted, active member of the Dismembered Legion comes with its own implications that would need to be considered during play, but swearing an oath to that legion is taking that idea much further, leaving far less flexibility in upholding your duty. This can drastically impact the rest of the party and how they interact with the world. To use this archetype, but not have ties to the Dismembered Legion, consider reskinning this oath to instead be to the Copper Jackals. This group of paramilitary warriors who operate primarily on the Copper Sun have zeal and military training equal to that of the Dismembered Legion. THE AGE OF RUST In Dragongrin’s past, the Copper Jackals (or C-Jacks) were some of the mightiest warriors in the land, imbued with chunks of the mystica metal known as Titan Copper, which granted them tremendous power. That is far less likely in Dragongrin today. Titan Copper is extremely scarce, and most Copper Jackals operate without its use, relying on their own skills and wit to survive. The majority of the Copper Jackals that once existed in the realm have been hunted down, and captured or slain by the Dismembered Lord and legions. This dark time is known as the Age of Rust among their ranks – but copper cannot rust, and the C-Jacks believe they will rise again.

Consider renaming the abilities to something more heroic, such as lines from the Copper Vow.

THE COPPER VOW The Copper Vow is your new oath (though you would still use the tenets of the oath of the legion). Honorable beyond honor. Without compromise. Courageous beyond circumstance. Without compromise Unprejudiced and just. Without compromise. Loyal unto death, and beyond. Without compromise. Ours is the unseen kingdom, we are its warrior kings. Sundera Compris; Forever without compromise. ABILITY NAME

BECOMES

Sovereign Command Disciple of Fortitude Aura of Obedience Sovereign’s Immortal We Are Legion

Honorable Beyond Honor Courageous Beyond Circumstance Ours Is the Unseen Kingdom Loyal Unto Death, and Beyond Sundera Compris

RANGER

Wardens of Dragongrin “Have you ever met a kind warden? Their solitude and clinging to their fabled stormroads are just an excuse for their inability to adjust into a productive role in society. But I wouldn’t hire any other guide to lead me through treacherous wilds.” - Eranna Mendingfire of House Vimor Many say Dragongrin is a prison, but we know it is truly a fortress – the wardens at its walls, protecting the people behind them from the vile, twisted, bloodthirsty, and unimaginable beyond. Skilled hunters and wielders of primeval power, the rangers of Dragongrin assembled at some point between Oedran Domination and the Sovereign’s new world order. Known as wardens, they are fueled by rigid determination and magical traditions of the Old Vale. Wardens sometimes work alone, but most often organize themselves into Watches – groups of rangers organized around a specific charge or oath, dedicated to certain principles both sanctioned and unlawful. Watches are led by commanders, and many wardens frequently receive summons from their leaders to solve problems, fulfill their oaths, and take on more responsibilities as their brethren fall in battle. Watches are commonly centered around the defense or use of Stormroads – hidden pathways through Dragongrin’s wilderness, dotted with warden encampments.

THE STORMROADS Stormroads are nuanced and intricately hidden paths navigated using survivalism and cunning. These hidden trails cut through nearly every portion of Dragongrin – from the enchanted forests of Feygrave to the blasted sands of Jahar. The wardens prune these paths of monstrous threats and guide weary travelers, chiefly those willing to pay a little more in coin and drink for fewer Bleakstorms and a more discreet journey. Some Stormroads are well-exposed to the Dismembered Legion, who freely utilize wardens as Missive Crows, while others are regularly guarded by Watches or known only to a handful of wardens. Still more are lost to memory as soon as their keepers perish in the wilds, and all are difficult to rediscover without proper experience.

WARDENS BY CULTURE

fine payment for their services on the seas and mainland alike. 7. Mord: Spanning centuries, their watches are secret societies shaping much from the fringes of Dragonrin – their members are chosen with excruciating prejudice. 8. Sarrik: Rebel leaders and Marrow trackers, utilizing the Stormroads to hunt or protect fugitives and refugees. 9. Silverwise: Seekers of Silver Walls yet discovered, Silverwise wardens are keepers and deliverers of deep secrets. 10. Talasar: The First Watch of the Old Vale are monsterhunters and daredevils, first to fight, unafraid of danger, and always on the lookout for new Radikkas – pathways into the Feymists. 11. Zarfvin: Relic hunters and tomb robbers, Zarfvin wardens build Watches around excavation sites and use Stormroads to discreetly transfer found goods. 12. No Culture: Wardens without the shackles of culture tend to wander the Stormroads, or protect specific routes for more selfish purposes such as family, friends, or illicit smuggling.

1. Ardor: Keepers of Dragongrin’s Underground Railroad – The Doomed Watch. 2. Crucian: Explorers and Shatterfarers paid to discover new ocean routes, collect powerful relics, and gather valuable information across the sea in the power vacuum of Varnholme. 3. Drogus: Their knowledge of the hidden Stormroads make them the most reliable traders of slaves and illicit goods. 4. Granok Thane: Powerful sellswords and survivalist merchants, hunting and collecting rare flora and fauna for which other Red Sail weaklings are too afraid to lose life and limb. 5. Grimdul: Occult wardens with a knack for reading runestones and the winds to discover new Stormroads and predict the hardships along them. 6. Holmir: Experienced in traversing the most perilous roads and ravaging wastes, the heirs of Varnholme find

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D10 WARDEN BEGINNINGS

You were raised deep in the wilds, out of evil’s gaze, but not for long. You escaped when that darkness came, living off the land and learning to survive. Eventually, you became adept enough for recruitment into a Watch, and you hope to someday hunt that evil in return. Your family sustained itself by turning foraged goods and game into a profit. Pelts of rare creatures, poultices made of rare plants, and other spell components that are hard to acquire are your specialty. You have faced unimaginable horrors, and lived to tell the tale. Learning from nightmarish encounters with the Bleak, savage frontiers, the Desolation, and more, you have grown into a natural monster hunter. You’ve been charged with forming your own Watch for a specific purpose related to your background or backstory. Friends are not easily obtained in Dragongrin, but time is of the essence – the group must be assembled immediately. You were raised into a Watch, but kept safe out of its ranks until a prominent member broke their oath. Now, you must swear your own, bringing honor back to the disgraced wardens. One of the most valuable commodities in Dragongrin are its people – a fact you learned the hard way. Myriad forces and power players seek fugitives and runaways for various reasons, and you’ve got a knack for knowing how they think; where they’ll go. You’re a skilled bounty hunter. You seek vengeance on another Watch who committed great atrocities against your own. You have sworn to traverse the lands undetected, waging a vicious war on those who wronged you, and someday you will settle your vengeance. You can’t shake them – the dreams and visions with waking eyes, images of that particular Stormroad. You’ve seen them since you were a child, becoming a warden to someday find both the Stormroad and your purpose upon it. You were raised hunting colossal game, tracking and slaying gargantuan, deadly prey. You understand how to survive against a behemoth that could crush you in a single step, making you a prolific colossus slayer. The Dismembered Legion has offered to wipe away a mistake you or your family made in exchange for your skill and service as a warden. You find it difficult to say no, no matter your feelings about the Marrow.

PRIMEVAL POWER The warden is a primeval stalker of the wilds, prowling the frontiers of Dragongrin with a calling higher than themselves to protect and hunt. It seems the nearly-forgotten Old Vale provides you with innate abilities, manifesting in a variety of ways as you fulfill your duties as warden. D20 PRIMEVAL POWER MANIFEST 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Precipitation falls when you use your powers. Happily chirping birds flock to your location. Weeds and grass grow where you stand as you use your abilities. The surrounding area takes on the illusory visage of the Old Vale. Bird calls emanate from the surrounding area. Your form glows with a forest-green aura. The smell of freshly fallen rain is perceived around you. For a split second, someone you are talking with sees their surroundings shift into a Stormroad you are closely related with. Fangs, claws, antlers, or another feature of one of Dragongrin’s many creatures seem to manifest spectrally on your form. You draw carrion-eating creatures from miles around to your location. The winds pick up heavily around you. You appear vaguely as another person you lost or failed along their travels. Your skin feels like soil and bark to the touch. Walls and other mundane constructs near you seem to writhe with natural vines and flora. Sweet sap drips slightly from your weapon. Your weapon sings the music of the Titans with every strike. Leaves, dust, dirt, or other elements spin around you like a wind tunnel. All moisture dries up in the area around you’re standing. Thunder sounds as you strike. The magnetic focal points of Dragongrin connect with you as you use abilities – you know exactly which way is true north.

D102 WARDEN HALLMARK 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

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Cloak Brand Necklace Gauntlet An artifact Bow Legendary Tale Children’s Story Belief system Ancient Song

From your homeland You received as a penalty from your Watch That many have forgotten A loved one gave you You crafted yourself Sharing design elements of an animal That holds great meaning Inspired by the Primordials or Titans From a place you once visited You keep hidden from strangers

WARDEN WATCHES

RANGER ARCHETYPES

Wardens generally stalk the frontiers alone, however in Dragongrin, they form loose-knit societies known as Watches. While they are not formally beholden to any authority, they operate under oaths to themselves, each other, and their Watch, guarding the Dragongrin’s ideas and frontiers as one. WATCH GENERATOR D103

WATCH TYPE

STORMROAD

TENET

Loose band

Underwater caverns

Harm none

Family clan

Ancient highway

Fugitives and slaves

Scavenger traders

Rebel mercenaries

Exploring cartographers

Mountain pass Forested waterway Path between hamlets Underground tunnels

Marrow regiment

Hunting ground

Dangerous gang

Hunting party

Merchant company

Prohibit trespassers Harbor rebels Transfer messages Protect pilgrims Escort travelers

Slay dangerous monsters Mighty river Hunt and gather Investigate Dangerous canyon Bleakstorms Legendary Serve the battlefield Marrow

Wardens of Dragongrin manifest in various and surprising ways. This section features two new ranger archetypes fully compatible with the ranger class.

JANTARI RIDER The Grimdul have relied on mounts to travel through and survive the deserts of Jahar and the Jungles of Zamon for generations, and they have developed a number of techniques and fighting styles to capitalize on the deep connection they are able to form with the creatures they ride. GRIMDUL AND THE JANTARI RIDER Though not all Jantari Riders are born Grimdul, nearly all of them have studied with them to learn their well-guarded secrets.

JANTARI RIDER MAGIC Starting at 3rd level, you learn an additional spell when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown in the Jantari Rider Spells table. The spell counts as a ranger spell for you, but it doesn’t count against the number of ranger spells you know. PALADIN LEVEL JANTARI RIDER SPELLS 3rd 5th 9th 13th 17th

WATCH QUESTS A warden is linked inseparably with their Watch and Stormroad, and even if they wander from it, they often return in times of need, or to fulfill a duty. D10 WATCH QUESTS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Tame a wild animal and deliver it to a certain patron. Protect the valuable resources discovered near your Stormroad, by any means necessary. Rescue a stranded platoon of Marrow and guide them out of dangerous territory. Walk an unfamiliar Stormroad to find what remains of a lost ally. Follow a migration of creatures back to its source to discover what ails them. Escort a party sanctioned by a Lord of Ash through dangerous territory and in secret. Capture various creatures for domestication. Spread word of a vision received by your Watch leader relating to a Savage Frontier. Nurture a mystical Radikka – a secret portal to the Feymists – until the portal grows to let the fey in. Capture three different rare creatures for transit to the gladiatorial games of Innes.

Hail of Thorns Cordon of Arrows Lightning Arrow Locate Creature Swift Quiver

BONDED MOUNT Beginning at 3rd level, you have a mount that you have bonded with. If you don’t already have one, choose or roll for a mount from the Jantari Mount table below, or choose another at GM’s discretion. You form a deep bond with the creature, allowing you and the creature to gain a number of benefits. Work with your GM to choose appropriate statistics for your mount, defaulting to a horse for the sake of simplicity. You add your proficiency bonus to the mount’s AC, attack rolls, and damage rolls. The creature’s hit points are equal to that in its creature statistics block or 5 times your ranger level (whichever is higher). Your mount gains proficiency in Strength and Wisdom saving throws. Like any creature, your mount can spend Hit Dice during a short rest to regain hit points. The mount makes death saving throws following the normal rules. If the mount dies, you can obtain another one by spending a week bonding with another suitable creature. When an attack targets your mount, you can use your reaction to have it target you instead. D10 JANTARI MOUNT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Horse Xol Stag Ox Camel Kyte Rhino Insectoid Tyl Halyphon

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JANTARI SHOT

BLEAKSTALKER MAGIC

Named for the famous horse archers of the Grimdul, Jantari shot is the ability to fire behind you while riding away from an enemy. Also beginning at 3rd level, you’ve learned to excel in the art of mounted archery. You are able to ride without the use of your hands. While mounted, you deal an extra 1d6 damage with ranged weapon attacks. When you reach 11th level in this class, the extra damage increases to 2d6.

Starting at 3rd level, you learn an additional spell when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown in the Bleakstalker Spells table. The spell counts as a ranger spell for you, but it doesn’t count against the number of ranger spells you know.

JANTARI TACTICS Beginning at 7th level, your Jantari tactics are more advanced than ever. You gain one of the following abilities of your choice: Cataphract: When you move at least 20 feet towards an unmounted enemy that is Medium size or smaller and then make a melee attack, you have advantage on the attack roll, and on a hit, the target must make a Strength saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength or Dexterity modifier) or be knocked prone. Jantari Circle: Whenever you take the Attack action using a ranged weapon while mounted, you may move up to half your speed as a bonus action. Windwalker: You can have your mount use your Dexterity (Stealth) bonus when taking the Hide action, and any hit you score with a ranged weapon against a creature while mounted and hidden is a critical hit.

NEVER NAME YOUR MOUNT Your bond with your mount becomes even closer, as you embrace the Grimdul adage that says “Never name your mount, for it is sure to die. Say its name each night, for it saves your life each day”. Beginning at 11th level, whenever you take the Attack action while mounted, your mount can also make a single attack as a reaction. Additionally, if you would take damage that would drop you to 0 hit points and your companion is within 5 feet of you, you can choose to have it take the blow for you, reducing it to 0 hit points instead, regardless of its current hit points.

WIND RIDER You have become one with your mount, and can ride as though you were the wind itself. Beginning at 15th level, while you are mounted, attacks made against you or your mount are made with disadvantage.

BLEAKSTALKER There are few entities as confusing and terrifying as the Bleak. Regions and borders masked by the Bleak are avoided like a plague, and Bleakstorms cause all who see them to run. However, there are a small few who run towards the storm, and not away. Bleakstalkers have learned the delicate arts of navigating the Bleak, learning how to avoid its dangers and harness its strengths. Bleakstalkers are often feared much more than revered, as many worry that they carry the ire and dangers of the Bleak with them like a curse, but in times of desperation, their services are highly sought after despite the strange aura of fear that surrounds them.

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PALADIN LEVEL BLEAKSTALKER SPELLS 3rd 5th 9th 13th 17th

False Life Shatter Blink Dimension Door Dispel Evil and Good

BLEAKBOUND Beginning at 3rd level when you choose this archetype, your study of the Bleak and its surroundings have given you a preternatural ability to survive in those regions. While in a region affected by the Bleak, you gain the following benefits: • You can travel at a fast pace even in the difficult terrain of the Bleak. • You have advantage on all ability checks involving Bleakstorms. • Even when you are engaged in another activity while traveling (such as foraging, navigating, or tracking), you remain alert to danger.

BLEAKRUNED WEAPONS Also beginning at 3rd level, you’ve learned to harness the power of the Bleak into your weaponry. As a bonus action, you can infuse your weapon with the Bleak, and any attacks made with it this turn deal an extra 1d6 Bleak damage. When you reach 11th level in this class, the extra damage increases to 2d6.

BLEAK AFFINITY Beginning at 7th level, you have become innately attuned to Bleak energy. You gain resistance to Bleak damage, and your weapon attacks ignore resistances and immunities to Bleak damage.

DESTRUCTIVE RESONANCE At 11th level, your mastery of the Bleak grants you the ability to chain its volatile, entropic energies together into more destructive attacks. Whenever you take the Attack action and successfully hit the same creature with all of that action’s attacks, that creature also takes an extra 3d8 Bleak damage.

MASTER OF THE BLEAK Beginning at 15th level, your connection to the Bleak allows you to use its arcane energies to gain a measure of instinctive precognition allowing you to act more quickly than most. You gain the following features: • Whenever you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you do not provoke opportunity attacks from that creature until the end of your turn. • You add your proficiency bonus to initiative rolls. • Whenever a creature hits you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction to lash out at them with Bleak energy. That creature must make a Dexterity saving throw against your ranger spell save DC, taking 3d8 Bleak damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one.

ROGUE

Rooks of Dragongrin “The illusion of peace following Lightfall is maintained by the order of the Sovereign. But wars rage still – in alleyways and secret meeting spaces, in whispered words and gleaming daggers. The rooks of Dragongrin fight our wars now.” – Revak Zistra, Lord of Ash In a land gripped by tyrants, those with quiet steps and quick blades stand to make a name for themselves – and no small amount of coin. Opportunities abound for rogues of Dragongrin, more commonly called rooks. And though harsh and swift punishment awaits any rook who falls under the gaze of the Dismembered Legion, many choose the path of the ne’er-do-well, eager to carve self-made destinies with their own skill, swiftness, and cunning. Rooks often work as burglars or pick-pockets, eking by on whatever they can pilfer and pawn, offering cuts to slum lords and gang bosses in exchange for precious leeway. Many live as professional adventurers, cracking sealed doors and disarming deadly traps with unmatched precision. And still others earn their living by more nefarious and deadly means, striking from the shadows as street thugs or hired assassins.

THE GRAY LINE The Gray Line is a concept that every rook is familiar with – it is the colloquial phrase used to describe the moral boundaries under which each separate rook operates. For every rook, their Gray Line is personal and unique, often consisting of specific deeds they will not personally commit. Often surrounded in superstition, tradition, personal experience, and even faith, Gray Lines are the shifting moral boundaries that rooks operate within to stay true to themselves. Rooks who are unrepentantly sadistic, violent, and have no limits to their deeds are often referred to as “gutspillers.” Gutspillers often scoff at the idea of a Gray Line, often branding it a weakness that would keep them from getting the job done. WHEN A ROOK IS A PAWN Throughout Dragongrin, countless thieves’ guilds and underground factions exist as havens for rooks from all walks of life. The most powerful and reaching, however, are the mysterious Scrimshanders. Said to have eyes and ears everywhere in Dragongrin, they orchestrate their machinations on a massive scale from the shadows. Many rooks guilds work indirectly with the Scrimshanders to keep their blessing – and some even whisper that many rooks guilds work for them directly without revealing it. The Scrimshanders are such an influential organization that every rook who begins to rise in the ranks must make a decision – do they work for the Scrimshanders or against them?

– the dagger in your back might not be one of steel, but rather one of cunning words. 3. Drogus: Drogus rooks fall in with the various criminal gangs of Svir Below, or serve as enforcers within surga or on Drogus salvager scrap vessels. 4. Granok Thane: Famed assassins and spies, Granok Thane rooks are especially feared, even among their own kind. 5. Grimdul: Silent as the night, swift as the Soulwinds, as disciplined as the rising moon, Grimdul rooks serve kith and kin with deadly prowess. 6. Holmir: Climbing aboard the longship of a rival clan, skin and clothes darkened with soot, Holmir rooks serve a necessary, if oft reviled duty. 7. Mord: The life of a rook comes naturally to the Mord, as their sense of possession and value is skewed toward indifference in light of their long lifespans and highminded philosophies. 8. Sarrik: Melding deadly precision with arcane abilities, the undying Sarrik rooks serve as scouts, spies, and cutthroats for their chosen families. 9. Silverwise: Silver-tongued, quick-witted, and steely eyed, the rooks of the Silverwise move as the whispers of the dead – unheard by all but the most observant. 10. Talasar: Scaling the boughs and branches of Talas, these militant assassins serve as bodyguards and shock troops in the ever-raging civil conflict. 11. Zarfvin: Tricksters relying on the arcane and the illusory, Zarfvin rooks pair strange technology with natural skill to disarm traps and disable locks. 12. No Culture: Rooks without culture are truly unbound, both dangerous and unpredictable.

ROOK BY CULTURE Rooks often emerge from acting on basal survival – to eat, to earn coin, to sleep with a roof over one’s head. But their culture still shapes who they are, and how they earn a living through less than scrupulous means. 1. Ardor: The first lock they pick is often the one chaining them to servitude. Ardor rooks specialize in thievery and sleight-of-hand – and some return to free others. 2. Crucian: Rooks in Grinn play at politics and diplomacy

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D10 ROOK BEGINNINGS 1

2 3

The thrill of taking – slipping fingers into a coin purse, or picking a lock – has always called you. You only feel alive when reclaiming what isn’t yours. You’ve always been spry and athletic. Your uncanny mobility saved your neck more than once in a scrap, so the life of a rook came naturally to you. You took a life in self-defense. You found it easy, simple, logical. A knife in the back – much kinder than a sword in the gut. You watched your family waste away in poverty. You did what was necessary to feed yourself and your loved ones, and sometimes that meant stealing from others. Now it’s all you know. You took whatever work you could, and served unscrupulous people. The pay in this line of work kept you and yours fed, so why do anything else? An older rook saw potential in you, and took it upon themselves to train you. You’ve since struck out on your own, but always remember the value of that mentorship. You were coerced into thievery and crime by someone who saw value in your skills. The life came naturally to you – the guilt, however, you can’t shake. You remember the rook who came through your hometown – suave, slick, and laden with coin. There was nothing barred to them, nothing out of their reach. You’ve always wanted that for yourself. There’s something supernatural about your affinity for the shadows – something otherworldly. The truth of it is anyone’s guess, but the fact remains: you’re good at being bad. You once carried a noble trade, contributing to your community. But hard times and harsh realities forced you out of that life, and you used your skills to survive by less lawful means.

CUNNING MANIFEST Your skill and precision, as well as your affinity for subtlety and shadows, manifest in myriad ways. Roll or choose a unique way in which your rook abilities manifest. D20 CUNNING MANIFEST 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Your eyes reflect a silver sheen in the darkness, feline and predatory. In the shadows, your veins darken beneath your skin. As you move, wisps of illusory smoke follow like a trailing cloak. Your weapons carry a dim glow, almost akin to moonlight, as you draw them to strike. Your pupils dilate into vertical slits as you examine your surroundings. As you unsheathe your weapon, the steel seems to whisper. Fiddling with locks and traps, one pupil shifts into a strange Titan rune. As you move and fight in the shadows, demonic features like horns and a tail manifest around you, formed of inky blackness. Crows and vultures follow your travels – grim portents of the coming death you bring. The more blood you spill, the deeper the shadows under your eyes become. After taking a life, a new tattoo appears, tracking your kills. The steel of your weapons appears black as blood flows. Your chosen weapon is eternally stained with blood, no matter how hard you try to clean it. You often catch a glimpse of a black hound, watching you from the shadows with pale eyes – a guardian, or a grim reminder of your grisly work? To those not paying attention, sometimes it seems like you aren’t there at all, appearing as part of your surroundings. You are animalistic, almost spider-like in your movements while prowling and climbing. A strange, acrid, coppery stench permeates you – like iron and blood. You have an uncanny skill to not be noticed in crowds, your face strangely forgettable. When you move, it sounds like a distant wind whistling through dead trees. You shut your eyes and “feel” your surroundings.

D102 ROOK HALLMARK 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

140 CHARACTER CREATION: CLASSES

Cloak Dagger Flask Prybar Ring Mask Gloves Pouch Belt Lock

Robbed from a corpse Gifted by a loved one Stolen off a noble Fashioned from a strange material Lined with Titan Copper Emblazoned with the sigil of Grinn From before Lightfall Infused with melted coins Inlaid with runes of another world Taken from a rival rook

ROOK GUILDS

ROGUISH ARCHETYPES

Rooks often work alone, but when they do group together, they form bands, gangs, or in a more official capacity, guilds. These “thieves’ guilds” operate while hiding in plain sight, often masquerading as legitimate businesses and paying off officials to keep things quiet, or dealing in favors to wardens for a discreet getaway. Rook guilds accept contracts for thievery, sabotage, wetwork, and assassinations, dispatching members to conduct the grisly but necessary missions, and protecting their numbers from retribution from the law. ROOK GUILD GENERATOR D103

GUILD TYPE

GUILD LEADER

FRONT

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Pickpockets Burglars Bodyguards Bandits Scouts Thugs Spies Smugglers Saboteurs Assassins

Slumlord Former Marrow Old beggar Veteran of Lightfall Secretive noble Business owner Bounty hunter Clergy member Infamous thief Crime boss

Tavern Trading company Concert hall Abandoned ruin Alchemy shop Gladiatorial arena Militia barracks Sewer Pawn shop Religious temple

ROOK GUILD QUESTS When your guild issues a contract, it’s in your best interest to carry it out. The secretive and unlawful nature of rook guilds means work must be completed quickly and quietly, and disloyalty means expulsion – or death. Rooks keep the coin they earn, and pay regular dues to the guild to keep the operation running smoothly. D10 GUILDS QUESTS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

A wealthy noble owes the wrong people a lot of money. It’s time to collect, by any means necessary. A powerful relic rests in the vault of a massive estate. A rival desires the object above all else, and is willing to pay handsomely for it. A Marrow sergeant gets loose-lipped when drunk. Their secrets must remain so. A nearby ruin contains a sealed door, barred with a lock of unknown origin. The rook who cracks that seal stands to live on as a legend. A formidable warrior carries a weapon of great renown – relieve them of it. The local clergy leader takes bribes under the table, but has suddenly grown a conscience. Remind them of their duty to the guild. A rival guild moves supplies by way of a secret caravan. A nighttime raid would catch them unaware and ill prepared. Your guild routinely tests its members with a series of difficult thievery tests – and your time has come. A former guild member fled without paying their dues. Disloyalty means a dagger in the dark. An instigating minstrel spreads lies, and there’s coin to be had for the rook who silences them.

Whether for nefarious criminality, intelligence and spy networks, or simply just to stay alive, the skills of a rogue are always in demand in Dragongrin. This section contains two new roguish paths fully compatible with the rogue class.

SCRIMSHANDER No guild is as infamous, nor as mysterious, as the Scrimshanders. Veiled in secrecy, hoisting motives all their own, the Scrimshander guild is arguably the largest and most widespread criminal network in Dragongrin, maintaining a presence in every region from Varnholme to Zamon, with members from the lowest drudge to well-known nobles of Grinn. Scrimshanders wield wicked weapons of Primordial bone, called scrimblades, etched with ancient wards to cloak their presence and motives from the Dismembered Lord’s Crucible. During initiation, these carved bones are painfully fused with the rook’s existing skeletal structure, emerging from their flesh as deadly weapons when the situation necessitates it. In this way, it’s said, a Scrimshander is never unarmed – they exist instead as living weapons, imbued with magic too old and esoteric to comprehend.

SCRIMBLADE When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you have undergone the painful ritual of obtaining a scrimblade, which is a special weapon that has the stats of either a shortsword or a rapier (your choice) and is made from Primordial bone that is bound within your flesh to your own skeleton. You can reveal or conceal your scrimblade at any time without using an action, and while it is concealed, you have advantage on Charisma (Deception) and Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) checks to hide the weapon. Additionally, the scrimblade counts as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.

BLADE IN THE BACK Also at 3rd level, you’ve become adept at striking unwitting foes. You have advantage on initiative checks and weapon attack rolls against creatures that are surprised. In addition, whenever you attack with your scrimblade while hidden or while the target is surprised, you can reroll any Sneak Attack damage dice that rolls a 1 or 2. You must use the new roll, even if the new roll is also a 1 or 2.

SCRIMSHANDER CONTACTS Starting at 9th level, while in a town, city, settlement, or the equivalent, you can spend an hour setting up a meeting with a Scimshander agent, fence, or representative local to the area. Work with your GM to determine the nature, disposition, and identity of this Scrimshander contact. This contact is usually always helpful unless it is otherwise life-threatening for them, and can provide one or more of the following services: • Access to equipment. • A location to lay low. • A lead, insight, or information. • Getting an audience with an authority figure. This list is not comprehensive, and more services can be provided by this contact at the GM’s discretion.

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PRIMORDIAL VESTIGE

DABBLERY

At 13th level, the fractured vestige of the Primordial’s consciousness within your scrimblade has infused you with supernatural gifts. You gain the ability to telepathically speak to any creature you can see within 60 feet of you. You don’t need to share a language with the creature for it to understand your telepathic utterances, but the creature must be able to understand at least one language. The creature can also reply telepathically with only its thoughts.

Also beginning at 3rd level, you’ve learned some basic control of timebleeds. You have a number of timebleed points equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum 1), and gain an additional timebleed point at 9th level, 13th level, and 17th level.

Additionally, the magic within the scrimblade has enhanced your senses, giving you advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks made to smell or hear.

SCRIMSHARDS Starting at 17th level, you gain the ability to grow numerous small, dart-like bone shards that you can throw, which grow back over time. As a bonus action on your turn, you can launch a barrage of scrimshards at a creature you can see within 30 feet. That creature must make a Dexterity saving throw (DC 8 + your Dexterity modifier + your proficiency bonus). On a failed save, roll your Sneak Attack damage, and the target takes that much piercing damage. A creature only takes half as much damage on a successful save. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you take a short or long rest.

By spending one timebleed point, you can cast chaos bolt, expeditious retreat, or misty step. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for these spells. Spells you cast using timebleed points ignore verbal, somatic, and material components. You recover any spent timebleed points after finishing a long rest. In addition, whenever you cast a spell using this feature, you can choose to siphon the timebleed, pilfering energy from the timebleed itself instead of spending timebleed points. If you do so, you roll on the Timebleed Backlash table below after casting the spell. When you siphon a timebleed, you can’t do so again until you finish a short or long rest. LOSS OF CONTROL D12

TIME THIEF It is whispered that the realm of Dragongrin is a timeline cobbled together by the Dismembered Lord himself. Such a thing is not tidy or perfect, and there are places in the very fabric of reality in which the ethereal edges of stolen time fray and tear known as timebleeds. To those who understand where to find these cracks – and how to manipulate them – it’s as if they are able to control a measure of time itself. These individuals are known as time thieves.

4 5

UNSTITCHED Beginning at 3rd level, you’ve learned to dabble in timebleeds, the cracks and veins of time that stitch the realm together. You move faster than a blur. Your speed increases by 10 feet, and enemies have disadvantage on opportunity attacks against you.

7 8

DABBLERY Also beginning at 3rd level, you’ve learned some basic control of timebleeds. You have a number of timebleed points equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum 1), and gain an additional timebleed point at 9th level, 13th level, and 17th level. By spending one timebleed point, you can cast chaos bolt, expeditious retreat, or misty step. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for these spells. Spells you cast using timebleed points ignore verbal, somatic, and material components. You recover any spent timeblood points after finishing a long rest. In addition, whenever you cast one of these spells this way, roll a d20. If the result is equal or higher to your current level in this class, the timebleed exaggerates, and you gain 1 timebleed point, but roll on the Loss of Control table below.

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EFFECT Nothing happens, or so it seems. You feel as though you’re unaffected, acting as normal, but your consciousness is in an alternate timeline. Your real body gains the paralyzed condition for 1d4 rounds before you’re jolted back into your body. Your senses are misaligned with the present, and you can only hear sounds from yesterday as though it were happening now. You gain the deafened condition for 1d4 rounds. Your magic wrenches itself from your control and the bleak briefly roils through you. You take Bleak damage equal to twice your rogue level. Your disconnection from time causes your stomach to flip. You are stunned until the end of the next turn as you vomit and bleed from your ears and nose. You are affected by the effects of the blink spell for 1d4 rounds. You rapidly age, giving you disadvantage on attack rolls, saving throws and ability checks for 1d4 rounds, before rapidly de-aging again. A wave of twisted magic rolls off of you. You and each creature within 30 feet of you take bleak damage equal to your rogue level. You suffer the effects of the slow spell for 1d4 rounds. Your sight gets stuck in a painful moment you have lived in the past, and you cannot see the present moment. You gain the blinded condition for 1d4 rounds. All your other senses work as normal. Your body suffers the punishing effects of time attempting to correct itself around you. You gain one level of exhaustion. You see a hyper-realistic vision of the worst-case scenario of your actions, resulting in your death. It is vivid enough to give you the frightened condition for the next minute. At the end of each of your turns while frightened, you can make a Wisdom saving throw against your own spell save DC, and if you succeed, you are no longer frightened. Nothing happens.

ONE MORE TRY TRUE LOSS OF CONTROL Traversing timebleeds is a strange, volatile practice and is meant to feel enigmatic and unpredictable. To emulate a true feeling of powerlessness when dabbling with the force of timebleeds, consider having the Game Master roll on the Loss of Control table behind the screen, revealing the results through gameplay.

STITCHER OF TIME At 9th level, you’ve further harnessed your control over timebleeds, able to roughly patch together minor alterations to timelines. By spending 2 timebleed points, you can cast dimension door, haste (only targeting yourself), blink, or mirror image. In addition, whenever you roll on the Loss of Control table, you can roll twice and choose which result to keep.

PRECOGNITION Beginning at 13th level, you have gained the ability to see a few seconds into the future, allowing you to be supernaturally aware of threats, and to stop a mistake before it happens. When you roll an ability check or saving throw, you can choose to spend a timebleed point to roll with advantage.

Beginning at 17th level, you have gained some level of mastery over timebleeds – or at least what could be considered mastery of such a volatile source of power. Using its deep, labyrinthine byways, you are able to move back in time, potentially undoing a calamity. As an action on your turn, you can spend 4 timebleed points to traverse a timebleed and go back in time. Choose one of the following effects: • It Happened Differently: One roll made within the last round is rerolled. You can choose whether the roll is made with either advantage or disadvantage. • I Was Somewhere Else: Until the start of your next turn, when you would be hit by an attack or affected by a spell, you teleport as a reaction to a space within 15 feet. This causes the attack to miss if it takes you out of the weapon’s range or the spell’s path or area of effect. • Wrong Place, Wrong Time: Until the start of your next turn, when you or a creature you can see hits a creature with an attack, you can use your reaction to turn it into a critical hit.

143 CHARACTER CREATION: CLASSES

SORCERER

Spellbloods of Dragongrin “The Bleak, the Desolation, the Feymists, the Wailing Gray. These are not external to Dragongrin, no matter how our Sovereign barricades the doors of his world. Their energies seep into the fabric, their toxins reach through like tendrils raveling themselves around anything – anyone – they touch.” – Excerpt from the Scroll of the Recondite The gifts from beyond, bestowed upon the people of Dragongrin, are potential curses to the Sovereign, whose lands are better regimented and controlled without rogue dissidents wandering the realm bearing innate magic – and the power to wield it. These “spellbloods” contain mysterious cosmic forces within their own blood, oftentimes passing the gift to new generations and beyond. The multitudes of supernatural energies prevalent in Dragongrin and the cosmos can infuse themselves into the blood of a sorcerer, so no two spellbloods ever manifest the same way. Some are infected with volatile powers by the Bleak, while others find whole limbs slowly turning into mechanical appendages – the result of a mysterious Archan, or exposure to the Infinite Lock. The one commonality binding all sorcerers together is the magical nature of their blood.

VEINS OF THE SPELLBLOODS Titans, Primordials, the Bleak, and all other ephemeral phenomena from beyond touch the essence of the blood running through the veins of sorcerers. Spellbloods often sense when these energies are near, connecting the magic-user directly with the powers within their blood – a connection known as their Vein. Initially difficult for the spellblood to harness, the Vein becomes more potent and controlled over time, allowing them to more easily navigate through the Bleakveils (Bleak), uncover pockets of toxic, dark magic (Desolation), discover and protect new Radikka (Feymists), or even track down the Copper Sun (Titan). The powers come at a steep cost, however, as many of Dragongrin’s denizens believe the blood of a sorcerer is the key to unlocking new abilities within themselves – and they will kill to get it. CONCEAL THY WONDROUS BLOOD The blood of sorcerers is precious, and alchemists across Dragongrin seek it relentlessly. The blood is rumored to be useful as healing agents or poisons among the ignorant, and rural myths abound that the powers of the spellblood are transferred to those who consume it. Even the Ixis of Innes believe they can use their necromantic swamps to create magical abominations with powers of their own. For this reason, many spellbloods hide their magic, or pretend to gain their powers through other means. Many fabricate life stories as studied wizards, while others carry mundane trinkets or snake oil elixirs which they deceptively claim grant them their abilities. Still others suppress their powers altogether out of fear, living their entire lives without ever knowing who they truly are.

144 CHARACTER CREATION: CLASSES

SPELLBLOODS BY CULTURE It’s in their nature for spellblood powers to manifest in wild and chaotic ways, though a sorcerer’s culture molds their magic in many ways. Here are some common manifestations of spellbloods, though the varieties are limitless. 1. Ardor: Mimics the Maug’Tarak shamans in their reverence and mastery of the Bleak. 2. Crucian: Groomed from early on to read the signs of the Bleak. Many see becoming an Arcseer as the ultimate reward for their power. 3. Mord: Black blood runs through their veins, ancient and strange, and their magic presents as odd and unsettling. 4. Drogus: Often having a knack for magic found while salvaging and scrapping, Drogus spellbloods form connections with relics, and the Titans who give them their power.

5. Granok Thane: Only certain Granok Thanes can be sanctioned as spellbloods, while the others must suppress their ability. The sanctioned often train as battle mages. 6. Grimdul: Spellbloods are revered among the Grimdul, and often given stations of power. Their magic is seen as a pure manifestation of the Soulwinds. 7. Holmir: Slandering sorcerers as witches, spellbloods among the Holmir are often shunned or banished.

INNATE MAGIC MANIFEST Depending on their Vein – the source of a spellblood’s power – your sorcerer’s abilities manifest differently. Roll below or choose an option appropriate to your character. D20 INNATE MAGIC MANIFEST 1

8. Sarrik: Exposure to the Desolation, and the stealing of their days, Sarrik commonly breed spellbloods, though sorcerers must immediately face their magic-eating kin.

9. Silverwise: Often fortune tellers and soothsayers, Silverwise spellbloods typically use their magic to spread the word wrought by the Silver Walls, or to protect them from harm.

10. Talasar: Spellbloods among the Talasar are revered, so long as their wondrous blood connects them with the fey portals and pathways of the Feymists. Otherwise, they are ostracized and considered tainted.

11. Zarfvin: Primordial magic permeates the Zarfvin culture for unknown reasons, and many spellbloods stumbling across their powers venture into the reaches of Zamon to discover their true purposes.

12. No Culture: Spellbloods without a culture are known as “bloodless,” for their decision to cut ties with their forebears. Many who descend from bloodless lines have no way of discovering the true source of their power. D10 SPELLBLOOD BEGINNINGS 1 2 3

9 10

Magic courses through your veins, powerful but unwieldy. You began the long road of harnessing your powers when you accidentally harmed someone close to you. You’ll never forget grasping the strange relic, and what it did to you – what it gave you. You wandered into a location marred by twisted cosmic power. When you finally escaped, years had passed in what seemed like days, and you were forever changed. You have dragon’s blood in your veins, and are reviled for it. You are outcast as having a shameful heritage, and as such, have learned to embrace who you are. You will not let being a pariah stop your progression as an arcane wielder, but further it. One of your parents was a spellblood who concealed their abilities. You are under pressure from them or yourself to stay that way for your own safety. You tried to learn the ways of wizardry to help your kin, but simply didn’t have the skill or patience required. In a desperate effort to gain power from beyond, you consumed a volatile elixir or subjected yourself to strange, eldritch energies. You got what you wanted – but at what cost? Recent developments have convinced you of your ability as a spellblood. You never knew you had these powers in you, but now you feel reborn anew – and very afraid. You were raised among those who cherished the ways of the spellblood, and nurtured your powers. Now, you have come of age to brandish your abilities in ways your homeland deems best. Someone forced these powers upon you, and you will enact vengeance for their crimes, using your new abilities as a brand of poetic justice. You were attacked, and in a moment of panic erupted with powerful magic that saved your life – and forged your future.

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20

Energies from the Bleak emanate around you, and the tainted smell of caustic rain hangs in the air. You feel a magnetic pull toward nearby Titan technology. Your veins blacken, and the whites of your eyes turn to an empty abyss. Your skeletal structure becomes grotesque. Shifting, Primordial bones appear to ripple beneath your flesh. Powered by the mysterious magic of Imminence, the near future or past begins to play out spectrally around you. You appear as a dragonbound before your enemies, though your scales quickly rot away, replaced by flesh of wild magic appropriate to the most nearby grin. The spectral face of some alien, otherworldly entity manifests in the sky above you. The tide of the nearest Shattered Sea withdraws, and the depleted saltwater drizzles down upon you. Almost every time you use your spellblood abilities, you receive a vision of the Copper Sun, seeing more of it with every subsequent vision. You gain a glimpse – a single image of your future – periodically as you use your abilities. The surrounding area appears as it did thousands of years previously, when the Primordials dominated Dragongrin. You display some prominent Sarrik features to those around you, and if you are already Sarrik, you appear as a skeleton, tainted black by the Desolation. Your eyes become reptilian, and the nearest dragon’s grin calls out to the blood in your veins, compelling you to come near. Bleakstorms brew nearby as you use your abilities, and red lightning cracks around the area. Infernal flames appear in your eyes and along your arms as you cast spells. Your veins leak as you use your abilities, slowly drenching you in your own wondrous blood as the fight continues. Each time you damage an enemy using one of your spellblood abilities, you catch a glimpse of one of their memories. Archans, tomehearts, and other mechanical things of Titanmake are drawn to you, sometimes days after you use your abilities. Your skin turns a pale white, and long, sharp fangs emerge from your teeth – a sure sign of your vampiric powers wrought by the Desolation. For a moment, you appear as the Dismembered Lord, all your parts orbiting around your central form.

D102 SPELLBLOOD HALLMARK 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Eyes Mysterious brand Flesh, the color Gemstone amulet Tattooed inscription Hair Bones Dagger Wand or staff Totem

of the Bleak of Titan Copper of the Primordials of the Dragons of Imminence of the Infernals of the Desolation of the Archanic of an alien, otherworldly entity of the Feymists

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SPELLBLOOD DRIFTS

SPELLBLOOD DRIFT QUESTS

Though often solitary, spellbloods sometimes congregate, though rarely in formal gatherings or collectives. Operating in groups known as drifts, Dragongrin’s sorcerers commiserate and network with other spellbloods in both open and secretive locations, discussing personal and local matters, assisting with problems, and helping those who only recently discovered their powers. Primarily, drifts offer support and safety for often misunderstood spellbloods. While drifts are informal, they are still led by a founding member with a permanent say in any matters involving the drift directly. They inform members of new meeting locations, keep an ear out for potential threats, and ensure little information about the drift ever gets out.

Spellbloods naturally come across various opportunities for quests, depending on the nature of their powers, how they came to understand them, and the drift they’ve found a new family in. Even separated from other sorcerers, spellbloods are often desired for their unmatched natural prowess with the arcane arts.

Many drifts are known for having knowledge and understanding of the arcane goings on in their area, but their tendency toward secret societies instead of public factions makes them difficult to find.

1 2 3

4 5

DRIFT GENERATOR D103

D10 DRIFTS QUESTS

LEADER

MEETING PLACE

KNOWN FOR

1 2

Famed hero Masked vigilante

Pub or tavern Abandoned prison

Gangland bandit

Thieves’ guild

Local politician

Public forum

Escaped drudge

Hidden cellar

6 7

Monster slayer Smuggler

Dragon’s grin Traveling caravan

Distant relative

Ancestral home

Shatterfarer

Missive Crow

Roaming vessel Various impermanent locations

Titan influence Arcane trickery Stealing from the wealthy Securing the borders Navigating through Bleakveils Dungeon delving Relic hunting Secrecy and privileged information Piracy Keeping spellbloods safe from harm

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6 7 8 9

Someone or something is draining sorcerers of their blood. A friendly drift has ceased all communication. You must find out what happened. Myriad spellbloods, living near a dragon’s grin, are discovering their powers. Recruit them into your drift before a more sinister entity finds them. Prove your ability by venturing into a savage frontier and returning with the head of a formidable monstrosity – only then will you have a place among your kind. Smuggle a weapon used to assassinate a violent leader into Innes or Jahar, and deposit it into the ever-changing landscape. There’s a mole within your drift, selling their fellow spellbloods out to bloodletters, or to a Marrow commander interested in pruning the magic-users in their jurisdiction. You feel a strange pull to a Vein other than your own. You must investigate what is drawing you toward this power, and why. A member of your drift has been wrongfully enslaved. You must free the drudge. A Lord of Ash is holding a series of gladiatorial fights. You must represent your drift and show your opponents what it means to fight a spellblood. You’ve lost your connection with your Vein. Even though your powers work as usual, you can’t help but feel they will soon begin to wane, and you must investigate the cause.

SORCEROUS ORIGINS

The multitudes of supernatural energies prevalent in Dragongrin and the cosmos can infuse themselves into the blood of a sorcerer, so no two spellbloods ever manifest the same way. In this section are two new sorcerous origins fully compatible with the sorcerer class.

AEVUMANCER In Dragongrin, the very realm is whispered to be a timeline cobbled together by the days that the Dismembered Lord has stolen from countless creatures. While the exact nature of this remains a mystery, it is no tidy act, and the residue of stolen days is prolific in the realm. In some rare cases, the raw essence of this stolen time has been known to latch onto a mortal creature in the womb, tainting its blood with the power of the stolen days – but also inflicting strange side effects – and in some cases, vivid foreign memories of someone else’s life. D6 1 2 3 4 5 6

AEVUMANCER QUIRK Your voice seems to be layered with other instances of your voice, speaking in harmony or discord depending on your mood. You often refer to events from the ancient past or distant future as if you were there. Your every movement is graceful and purposeful, even in the flow of battle. Your eyes are black, inlaid with stars, showing galaxies distant and near. You have a habit of finishing tasks or preparations just moments before being approached by others and anticipating their arrival. There is a vision you’ve had so vivid that you know it must come true someday. You work to bring it about, or prevent it.

TIMELINES INTERWOVEN Beginning at 14th level, you are able to see into alternate timelines and communicate with yourself or another person significant to you. When you finish a long rest, you can cast the contingency spell without using a spell slot and without requiring material components. When you cast this spell this way, it only has a duration of 24 hours, and can only be used with a sorcerer spell of 3rd level or lower. When the contingent spell takes effect, a copy of yourself or another person significant to you from an alternate timeline appears for a moment to cast the spell on you, then vanishes.

ETERNITY’S END Beginning at 18th level, your mastery over the Bleak is whispered to be rivaled only by the Dismembered Lord himself. You passively siphon days and years from alternate timelines, which stops you from aging. In addition, you learn the time stop spell, which doesn’t count against your number of sorcerer spells known. Furthermore, you can spend 5 sorcery points as an action and destructively unravel the existence of a creature within 60 feet of you that you can see, casting finger of death without spending a spell slot. If the creature is killed by this spell, it is instead wiped from existence, including all evidence and memories of it that might have existed.

TIMEBEND Beginning at 1st level, you have learned to subtly bend time, and are able to manipulate critical moments by doing so. You roll initiative checks with advantage. Additionally, once per long rest, whenever you roll for initiative with advantage, you may instead act on both results in the first round of combat, then choose which result to use for the remainder of the combat.

GLIMPSE THE HORIZON Also at 1st level, you receive glimpses into possible futures. Whenever you roll an ability check, you can choose to roll 1d6 and add it to the result. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (a minimum of once). You regain expended uses when you finish a long rest.

BRING THE BLEAK Beginning at 6th level, your warping of time can cause Bleak phenomena known as Bleaksurges. Whenever you cast a sorcerer spell on your turn, you may choose to spend any number of sorcery points no higher than the level of that spell. If you do so, a Bleaksurge also appears in the spell’s origin, and each creature other than you within 5 feet of the Bleaksurge must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 1d6 bleak damage per sorcery point spent, or half as much on a successful save.

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TITANBLOOD Somewhere far back in your lineage, the great Titans imbued your family’s line with a portion of the same power that fuels the typhons, charging your ancestors with the Titans’ duties and values. Though most, if not all, Titans are long dead, their power still radiates through you now, granting you the power to take on the traits of their typhons and power your magic with their radiance. Discover more about the ancient and enigmatic Titans in the Wonders chapter on page 398.

SCION OF TITAN COPPER At 1st level, the magical essence of Titan Copper courses through your veins, and protects you from injury. When you aren’t wearing armor, your AC equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Charisma modifier. In addition, you can infuse a weapon with this magical Titan Copper essence. Whenever you finish a long rest, you can touch one weapon that you are proficient with and that lacks the two-handed property. That weapon becomes reinforced with geometric patterns of copper, giving it a unique design and appearance. Its weapon die becomes 1d8, and when you attack with this weapon, you can use your Charisma modifier, instead of Strength or Dexterity, for the attack and damage rolls. When this weapon leaves your possession, or when you infuse a different weapon, it loses this benefit and the copper patterns recede, returning the weapon to its original appearance.

TITAN’S RADIANCE Beginning at 6th level, you have learned to further infuse your Titan’s power into your attacks. When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can choose to spend up to 3 sorcery points. For each sorcery point you spend, the weapon deals an additional 1d6 radiant damage.

TITAN’S CHAMPION Beginning at 14th level, you’ve begun to recognize the grand designs of the Titans of the past, and how they intimately involve you as their champion in the present, and your Titan Copper essence can be used as a weapon. Each hostile creature that starts its turn within 5 feet of you, or that moves within 5 feet of you during their turn, takes radiant damage equal to half your sorcerer level. Additionally, whenever you cast a sorcerer spell on your turn, you can make a single weapon attack as a bonus action.

TITANS UNLEASHED Beginning at 18th level, you can unleash the full might of your Titan Copper essence. As an action, you can spend 5 sorcery points to transform into an avatar of antediluvian prowess, becoming a lesser facsimile of a Titan. This transformation lasts for a minute, and you gain the following benefits: • Your body enlarges as if under the effect of the enlarge/ reduce spell. • You grow large blades on your body. As a bonus action on each of your turns, you can strike out with these blades, and each creature of your choice within 10 feet of you must make a Dexterity saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failed save, a creature takes 4d6 slashing damage, or half as much on a successful save. • You produce an aura around you, extending out to 15 feet, that brings the inventions of the Titans to realization. You see copper patterns on everything around you, revealing optimizations and weak points, and highlighting enhancements and exploitations within the runic copper patterns. Creatures of your choice within this aura each gain a bonus to their Armor Class and weapon damage rolls equal to your Charisma modifier. • You have resistance to radiant damage.

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WARLOCK

Hexbound of Dragongrin “To be hexbound is to be shackled to something beyond this world. Power, prescience, knowledge – these come at a price few are willing to pay. But those foolish few – those who willingly liaison with the incomprehensible and the alien – wield power unknown even to them.” – Sureau the Stormbreather, Lord of Ash Beings outside of mortal reckoning push at the thin veils separating the realm of Dragongrin from the infinite and incomprehensible planes beyond. To most, these intangible and ancient powers manifest as nothing more than hushed whispers – shadows playing at the edge of mortal perception. But a powerful (and perhaps foolish) few serve as conduits for these beings – liasons of untold power and alien influence. Known as hexbound, these warlocks draw arcane energy from an otherworldly patron, manifesting their will as a wizard conjures spells from a book. The Dismembered Lord recognizes the risks in allowing his subjects to commune with those lurking beyond the veil, and has little choice but to adopt these chosen warlocks into his fold, joining their power with his own. Some believe the Crucible makes concessions for the gifted to practice their skills openly, while most others are left to a life of secrecy on the run. For this reason, many warlocks conceal their powers, or convince others that the magic they practice is studied wizardry, or the inherited power of a sorcerer. In truth, these powerful practitioners strike deals with the unfathomable, and now siphon that power for their own whims.

ACCORD OF THE COVENS In Dragongrin there is an unwritten ancient tenet between the hexbound that they will generally not attack one another unless circumstances are severe. To openly attack another hexbound is to almost certainly spark a bloody supernatural feud between covens. While most covens do not fear war, they also understand that unless their pacts call for bloodshed, feuds amongst one another often merely sap resources from fulfilling the will of their patron. In secret, the Dismembered Lord keeps a circle of hexbound called the Coven of Ash, each serving an otherworldly patron. He uses them to maintain a tenuous balance between the extra-planar powers in Dragongrin. With the walls between worlds growing thinner by the day, the Sovereign highly values insight into the Bleak, the Feymists, and other planes beyond. The warlocks of this Coven of Ash are allowed to come and go as they please, and are often afforded great riches and leeway in practicing their magic – provided they serve the Sovereign above all others. The Coven of Ash is believed to ignore the Accord of the Coven frequently, though with their wealth and resources, it’s often impossible to prove.

4. Granok Thane: Granok hexbound are rare, and often ostracized – to serve an extra-planar being is to cheapen devotion to the clan. 5. Grimdul: More in tune with the natural world and its primal energies, many Grimdul shy away from hexbound pacts. 6. Holmir: Seeking any and all strategic advantage against their ancient enemies, Holmir hexbound often rise to positions of power among their people. 7. Mord: The cold and calculating Mord are masters of negotiation – this extends to forging pacts with otherworldly beings. 8. Sarrik: Many Sarrik revere the hexbound among their tribes, looking to them for guidance as they peer into worlds beyond. 9. Silverwise: Attuned to death and the Desolation, many Silverwise warlocks fall prey to the machinations of Yhaghul. 10. Talasar: Possessing a deep connection to the Feymists, Talasar hexbound tend to strike deals with ancient fey and elemental beings – but the magic they wield is often met with mistrust from their more martial peers. 11. Zarfvin: Possessing minds of metal and magic, the Zarfvin shy away from the cost of such power granted by patrons – but some of Dragongrin’s most powerful and prolific hexbound have risen from the Zarfvin. 12. No Culture: You are chained to something far more terrifying and powerful than a culture.

HEXBOUND BY CULTURE 1. Ardor: Desperate to wield any advantage against their Maug’Tarak oppressors, Ardor hexbound often earn their freedom by negotiating for arcane power. 2. Crucian: Hexbound among the Sovereign’s chosen people face harsh scrutiny and suspicion, causing some to flee and others to pledge themselves to the Coven of Ash. 3. Drogus: Drogus warlocks strike shrewd and shady deals with otherworldly beings, and fuse magic and metal to great effect. 149 CHARACTER CREATION: CLASSES

PACT MANIFEST

D10 HEXBOUND BEGINNINGS 1

6 7 8

You were a weak soul, and a stronger force slithered its way into your thoughts. You wouldn’t call it possession, but you feel as though an imposing voice strongly influences your thoughts and choices. At death’s door, you were offered salvation in exchange for servitude. Your patron grants power, but some day the bill may come due. As you watched those around you survive in Dragongrin through strength, skill, and command of the arcane, you were vexed and frustrated. You didn’t have innate skill, or a knack – but you needed power, and you needed it now. You were raised by a powerful mentor who claimed to be a student of the arcane. With their dying breath, they asked you to serve their patron. You recovered an item of power, and found a presence dwelling within. You have sworn to serve this presence, and in return, you wield otherworldly power. You befriended a strange creature, who eventually led you to its master. You forged a pact with this master, and now serve alongside the creature. In a moment of desperation, you cried out to the gods – something else answered. You tread lost and forgotten paths, which eventually led you to something not of Dragongrin – a slumbering power, waiting for a companion. You had a desire burning in your heart, and saw no way to achieve your end without help from beyond. You sought power, and found it – at a cost. Magic came naturally to others in your family – but not to you. Lacking the blood or the brains to wield the arcane, you sought other means – and found them in a patron from the planes beyond.

PATRONS OF POWER There are many beings of great power in Dragongrin, and more still dwelling in the planes beyond – powerful and ancient monsters, fallen gods, even the Lords of Ash themselves. Get creative in choosing your patron, and in reskinning and thematically tinkering with their origin. An archfey patron might be a Primordial, granting power to a hexbound who consumes the ancient beast’s remains; a fiendish patron might manifest as a fallen and forgotten Holithic deity, weakened and desperate for followers; and a great old one pact might involve the sinister Yhaghul, intent on gaining a foothold in Dragongrin. CALL OF THE PATRON D103

COMMUNICATION

Dreams

2 3 4

Visions Voices in your head Brainwashed messengers Fleeting memories and moments of deja vu Omens Physical senses (nausea, pungent smells, sharp pains) A traveling oracle

5 6 7 8 9

Words and symbols that appear only to you

You hear their words in the words of others

MANIFESTATION Swirling twister of myriad magical energies Bleakstorm Myriad flora and fauna A swarm of insects A group of creatures, speaking as one Natural disasters Gouts of flame and plumes of smoke A massive Primordial Everyone else near you experiences a vivid vision, but you don’t. The patron sends no avatar – they appear themselves...

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A hexbound’s patron-granted magic manifests in many ways. When you conjure magic, it is distinctive and unique to you. Roll or choose your pact manifest. D20 PACT MANIFEST 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Vines entangle your limbs as you speak ancient words in a voice not your own. Runic brands appear to burn on your skin, growing hotter and brighter as your magic reaches its zenith. Your eyes go black, and remain that way for several minutes after conjuring magic. Horns, claws, or other bestial features appear to grow from you, disappearing soon after. Mundane beasts flee from the area, terrified. The smell of smoke permeates the area. Your arcane focus or favored weapon takes on a supernatural appearance. Plants around you wither and die as you conjure your spells. Your shadow is not your own as you cast magic – instead you cast the shadow of your patron. Your veins glow a sickly, vibrant green. Spectral wings sprout from your back. As you speak the verbal components of spells, you do so with a chorus of other voices from beyond. Heat shimmers off your body like waves of energy. Arcane runes appear on your palms, like fresh wounds. They cauterize soon after. Lightning forks from your fingertips, and thunder rumbles in the distance. A low hum accompanies your magic, droning in a deep, resonant tone. A runic circle burns the ground around you. Your skin seems to shimmer and take on a crystalline quality. Lights flicker and dim in the area, and a chill wind rushes to meet you. Strange, discordant music accompanies your magic, playing from beyond.

CALL OF THE PATRON Patrons communicate with their servants in infinite ways. Patrons often use more mundane methods to communicate regularly – and in rare instances may manifest themselves as avatars of great power. No matter how obscure the method of communication, the hexbound always seems to understand what is being relayed. Roll on the table to determine how your character is called upon by this unfathomable power.

HEXBOUND COVENS

OTHERWORLDLY PATRONS

Warlocks are, by their nature, solitary figures. They depend on themselves and their patron for power. But in Dragongrin, there’s safety in numbers, and hexbound sometimes gather in secret circles known as covens. A coven may be devoted to a single patron, or may include hexbound serving myriad masters. Use the generator below to create a unique coven. HEXBOUND COVEN GENERATOR D103

COVEN NAME

LEADER

PASSPHRASE

Sisters of Night

Former clergy

By one, we gather

Brotherhood of the Circle

Marrow officer

The void beckons

Branded Fellowship

Simple farmer

Shadow-Walkers

Duskwhisper

Runemarked

Missive Crow Wandering merchant Well-known vintner

Movers in the Mist

Fallen hero

Beyonders

Escaped drudge

Forsworn

Rebel informant

Planetouched

Powerful mage

Grasp only at power given Under the moons Ours is the way By will and by woe Looking beyond, I see myself Under the eye By blood and by bone For it is decreed

HEXBOUND COVEN QUESTS Though often a secret circle of warlocks, covens still take on worthy tasks, assigning their members necessary duties befitting a being of power. D10 COVEN QUESTS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Recover an artifact tied to your patron – it lies in enemy hands. One of your coven has betrayed the trust of their fellows. You must find them and make them pay. Your patron has gone silent for a time. You must journey to an altar devoted to them and make an offering. Your coven is fragmented – you must gather its members and assign new leadership. A local mage’s college has undermined your efforts. You must infiltrate the school and sabotage it from within. Your patron has appeared, taking physical form. You must protect them, escorting them to a safe location. Infiltrate the coven of another patron, earn their trust – then listen for instructions... Secret writings of your coven have been stolen – they must be recovered at all costs. Sojourn to a mystical temple of your patron unearthed in a neighboring dominion. Your coven requires that you serve as a teacher to new initiates, weeding out the weak.

In Dragongrin, hexbound choose to trade servitude for power from patrons of all kinds. This section contains two new otherworldly patrons fully compatible with the warlock class.

THE PRIMORDIAL You have made a pact with a Primordial, one of the titanic, legendary monstrosities of Dragongrin whose size and strength defy logic. You take on some of the monster’s characteristics, becoming a frightening, warped creature in your own right. The most common pact is made with the C’war, believed to be the last living Primordial. C’war is a titanic being of insatiable hunger from ages untold in Dragongrin that lurks within the Bleak in Dominion of Ash Uldane. While C’war lacks the intelligence to forge a formal pact with warlocks, it does have a powerful, primal consciousness that instinctively strives for survival. Those who seek to connect with it can often do so if the creature senses a devotee who would prove a worthy asset for survival. While it is less common, some claim to have formed a pact with the C’war by the ritualistic consumption of the blood and flesh of the creature itself. PACTS WITH OTHER PRIMORDIALS A Primordials consciousness never fully dies, and permeates the carcassess that are scattered across the realm of Dragongrin. Some of the more powerful consciousnesses are forever seeking a connection with other creatures in an act of pure instinct – a bid for survival. It is just as plausible to strike a pact with a potent Primordial consciousness seeking servants as it is to strike one with the mighty C’war. Consider also that there may be more living Primordials in other corners of Dragongrin, and work with your Game Master to decide the best narrative for your Primordial pact.

EXPANDED SPELL LIST Your pact with the Primordial lets you choose from an expanded list of spells when you learn a warlock spell. The following spells are added to the warlock spell list for you. SPELL LEVEL 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th

SPELLS longstrider, thunderwave enlarge/reduce, spike growth elemental weapon, protection from energy polymorph, stoneskin destructive wave, insect plague

SCALE AND CLAW At 1st level, your devotion to your monstrous patron twists your body and grants you hardened scales, razor teeth, and wicked claws. Your Armor Class increases by 1. Your unarmed strikes deal 1d6 slashing damage, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike. At 10th level, this damage increases to 2d6.

REND AND MAIM Also at 1st level, your monstrous magic can throw you into a bestial frenzy. Whenever you cast a warlock spell, you can use your bonus action to make an unarmed strike. If the attack hits, it deals additional damage equal to your Charisma modifier. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

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REFLECTIVE CARAPACE

AURA OF POWER

Starting at 6th level, your hardened scales can absorb and redirect arcane energy. When you take damage from a magic missile spell, a line spell, or a spell that requires a ranged attack roll, you can use your reaction to halve that spell’s damage. You can then deal damage equal to the amount you negated back to the spell’s caster. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

Beginning of 1st level, you have been chosen by the Sovereign. You have an aura of power that extends 10 feet around you. It gives the following benefits:

MONSTROUS SENSES At 10th level, you are granted the primal, superior senses of a Primordial, sensing movement even while blinded or in complete darkness. You gain blindsight with a range of 60 feet, and you have advantage on Perception checks that rely on sound or smell.

THUNDEROUS ROAR Starting at 16th level, your bestial cry routs your enemies, splits their skulls, and rends their bodies. As an action, you can emit a cacophonous, inhuman bellow, audible up to 600 feet away. Each creature within 30 feet of you must make a Constitution saving throw against your warlock spell save DC. On a failed save, a creature takes 8d8 thunder damage and is stunned until the end of their next turn. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage and isn’t stunned. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

THE SOVEREIGN The Sovereign – the Dismembered Lord himself – will on some occasions take on select hexbound to serve him. It remains a mystery as to why the Sovereign chooses who he does, and why. And while the Dismembered Lord’s power is tangible and potent, the pacts he enters into are not benevolence. They are a transactional and methodical way to get whatever resources he needs from the hexbound sworn to him.

EXPANDED SPELL LIST Your pact with the Sovereign lets you choose from an expanded list of spells when you learn a warlock spell. The following spells are added to the warlock spell list for you. SPELL LEVEL 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th

EXPANDED SPELL LIST Bane, Command Augury, Detect Thoughts Haste, Slow Arcane Eye, Compulsion Commune, Geas

152 CHARACTER CREATION: CLASSES

• The first time a creature enters the aura on its turn, or whenever it starts its turn there, you can choose to have it make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, it takes psychic damage equal to your Charisma modifier. • Creatures suffering from the effects of a hex spell that you cast also have disadvantage on saving throws against your warlock spells while within the aura. • You and each creature of your choice within the aura have advantage on death saving throws.

WILL OF THE SOVEREIGN Beginning at 6th level, your Aura of Power improves, extending to 15 feet instead. Additionally, you can use a bonus action on your turn to force each creature of your choice within the aura to make a Strength saving throw against your warlock spell save DC. On a failed save, a creature is pushed outside the aura and takes bleak damage equal to half your warlock level.

BORROW TIME Beginning at 10th level, your magic is infused with the timethieving power of the Dismembered Lord. When a creature is affected by your hex spell, they also suffer one additional effect of your choice for the duration: • They take a -2 penalty to their Armor Class. • Their movement is halved. • They cannot take reactions.

STEAL DAYS Beginning at 14th level, you’ve learned the terrible secret: the Sovereign is siphoning time from you, and to remain alive, you must take time from others. As an action on your turn, you can target a single humanoid creature within 30 feet to steal their days. The target must succeed on a Charisma saving throw against your warlock spell save DC or take 8d10 bleak damage, or half as much damage on a success. On a failed save, they are also paralyzed until the start of their next turn. If a creature is killed using this feature, it is instead wiped from existence, including all evidence and memories of it that might have existed. You must take a long rest before you can use this ability again.

WIZARD

Spellscrawls of Dragongrin “Worlds are built – and unmade – by wizards.” – Numitor Krieg, Seat of the Manoeuvrer upon the Council of Ash Wizards – often called spellscrawls in Dragongrin – are powerful arcane magic-users who have studied and codified the laws of arcane spells in writing. Drawing from the powers of the Bleak that festers across the landscape, they use careful study and practice to twist raw arcane power into specific spells within various schools. The spellscrawls of Dragongrin don’t always draw their power from the Bleak however – there are many dark sources of power in the realm – including the mysterious and fully undiscovered force known as Imminence.

MASTERS OF LIBRARIES AND REPOSITORIES Despite their complexity, the arcane arts can be learned through focus and repetition; chaotic magic harnessed on the page. Spellscrawls – learned wizards and magical scientists – seek both lore inscribed in the distant past, and magical spells yet to be discovered. By retrieving scrolls, translating and transcribing tomes, and interviewing (or interrogating) other wizards, spellscrawls study the work of those who came before, and evolve it into their own defined spellcasting styles. To preserve both the history and discovery of the art, spellscrawls gather into collegiums – wizard societies operating as active repositories of information gathered over time. Collegiums pride themselves on their libraries and the prized items and knowledge within them. RISE OF THE BLOODSCRAWL In some instances, budding sorcerers seeking further information on their newfound powers within inherited journals and forbidden texts inadvertently become wizards without ever fully realizing their natural abilities with magic. Those characters who discover their innate power might multi-class in sorcerer to represent this realization. Other magical classes such as rangers, druids, or monks might follow suit, becoming spellwardens, valescrawls, and spellscetics respectively.

HEXBOUND BY CULTURE 1. Ardor: Histories of the magic performed during the time of the Holithic Church are now concealed by Ardor spellscrawls who conceal the lore in secret drudge collegiums.

6. Holmir: Drawing their power from engraved runes, the denizens of old Varnholme view wizardry as the oldest lore, using their abilities to ward off evil and protect them in battle. 7. Mord: Mord spellscrals are few, but those dedicated to the art spend years researching what the culture accepts as the most vital of enigmatic subjects – Imminence. 8. Sarrik: The creators of the School of Thaumavore are the most natural spellscrawls in Dragongrin. Their literal consumption of magic makes passing on lore via oral tradition almost second nature to Sarrik wizards. 9. Silverwise: Silverwise wizards engrave their spells upon Silver Walls, and use their abilities in efforts to understand the Wailing Gray, and contact its denizens. 10. Talasar: All spellscrawls were banished from Talas during Lightfall and the ensuing uprooting, but hidden agents and wizards on the mainland work tirelessly in secret collegiums to find some way to preserve their homeland. 11. Zarfvin: Drawing power from objects and relics more than scrolls and other texts, Zarfvin spellscrawls are master enchanters, Archanics, and wielders of powerful physical foci. 12. No Culture: Spellscrawls without culture tend toward reclusivity, remaining discreet in their arcane dealings – and inching ever closer to the edge of sanity...

2. Crucian: The Dismembered Lord’s chosen spellscrawls keep tabs on unlawful lore, keeping their collegiums within highly-guarded libraries inside the estates of Crucian houses. 3. Drogus: Drogus spellscrawls often capitalize on their beliefs, charging buyers to utilize their skills in mundane, exotic, and dangerous ways. 4. Granok Thane: Wizards of the Granok Thane often feel sworn to their duties in the Red Sail Market or the warring Lifetree of Talas, dedicating much of their research and effort toward those fields. 5. Grimdul: Seeking to remain anchored to the natural world, Grimdul spellscrawls often dedicate their entire lives to discovering new ways arcane magic can manifest naturally.

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D10 SPELLSCRAWL BEGINNINGS

In a world so grim as this, you search for greater meaning. You have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, and seek to understand the Bleak and its workings. In your studies, you began to understand the nature of magic, and knew how to use its rules and principals to serve you. You were contacted by a mysterious collegium, whose scrolls foretell a day when you will someday lead it. They believe you have the ability to create a groundbreaking spell, previously unheard of, but you have yet to see how. You were lucky enough to hold one of the most valuable things in all of Dragongrin – a magic item. Your soul came alive. The mystery. The fear. You needed to better understand how this device worked, and so began your ceaseless studies. You feel you’ve always had a connection to the arcane, but only the scrolls of an abandoned library could help you hone this ability. You fear someone else knows where this cache of knowledge resides. Your family have been wizards for as long as the realm has existed. Your heritage is associated with wielding magic of great caliber, and you were raised to continue the family name. Since you were young, you studied magic, and know it well. The infamous death in your family was not rooted in natural causes like everyone else believes. You knew from the start it was a spellscrawl who committed the deed from afar, and you’ve stopped at nothing to learn their trade. Someday, you’ll face them. You have never understood why it is destined that each creature should have to die. What if you didn’t have to? What if you could harness the power of the Bleak to elongate your life – and the lives of those you love most. Magic is interesting, yes. However, since childhood, you’ve been interested in how various natural ingredients can manifest magic all their own. Call it magic, or call it science. You call it alchemy, and it’s your calling. You are exceptionally intelligent – almost immeasurably so. This also begets a powerful sense of curiosity and the need to be entertained constantly – if you grow bored, you are insufferable. So you turned to magic, and you continue your studies to this day. Your ancestor penned many great spells, many of which are now scattered across Dragongrin or dissolved in the wicked destruction of time. You feel called to follow in those footsteps, and to rediscover their lost works.

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MASTERY MANIFEST A spellscrawl’s arcane power manifests in many ways. When you cast spells or otherwise tap into it, distinctive changes occur to you and the environment. Roll below or work with the GM to choose. D20 MASTERY MANIFEST 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 D103 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Illusory sparks burst from your hands. Your spells seem to form and emanate from your chest. You speak in tongues unheard of. The smell of sulfur hangs in the air. Your fingers and hands appear translucent. An aura reminiscent of the Bleak forms around you. The surrounding environment is filtered in a faint, pink mist. The air crackles with static electricity. The temperature changes in the area, going up or down by 10 degrees. Something hidden on your person is temporarily revealed. Your pupils turn shock white. Any natural wind stops entirely. The symbol of your collegium appears on your forehead. Illusory elements (fire, lightning, etc.) flash between your hands. You compulsively close your eyes, but still see normally. You can see the text of the respective spell, floating before your eyes. You levitate one inch off the ground, dropping once you move anywhere. Those around you taste their last meal. You know the rough direction of your collegium’s chancellor. You become substantially more scarred. SPELLSCRAWL HALLMARK Magical tattoos Silver medallion Weapon Signet ring Skeleton key Crystal ball Pristing gloves Arcane belief Disturbing knowledge Silken robes

of your collegium of an ancestral line of a specific spell of a former chancellor of your collegium’s library of the Bleak from across the realm of the Oedran Empire of a rival collegium of your magical specialization

SPELLSCRAWL COLLEGIUMS Collegiums are groups of spellscrawls who trust each other and share information, scrolls, tomes and resources. Use the generator below to create a unique collegium. Most collegiums have myriad studies, and teach all manner of magic, but often have one specialization for which they are lauded and seen as an academic leader. They also typically have access to a library which has varied information, and one prized source of information or power that it is known for. SPELLSCRAWL COLLEGIUM GENERATOR D103

SPECIALIZATION

CHANCELLOR

LIBRARY’S PRIZE

Alchemy

Sarrik fasting from magic

Unique Oedran texts

Conjuration

Greedy Archanist

Illusion

Masked mage

Evocation

Argumentative council

Transmutation

Necromancy

Enchantment

Wise professor

Bleak, Titans or Primordials

Divination

Abjuration

Tomeheart with vast knowledge Disembodied mind, inside a relic None – all members vote on matters

Caring medic of Lightfall Authoritarian despot

Prime Archan for study Maps and diagrams of the Feymists Largest collection of relics from other worlds Profane scrawlings from the Desolation Most complete library of written magic Most complete information on the Dismembered Lord Caged creatures from the Bleak Preserved Primordial carcass Ancient tablets with texts on Imminence

SPELLSCRAWL COLLEGIUM QUESTS Collegiums are charged with finding, recruiting, and training members in various magical arts, turning newcomers into students of research and invention. Periodically, the members are also charged with embarking on specific missions on behalf of the collegium. D10 COLLEGIUM QUESTS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Expand the collegium’s library into a yet-unreached location. Discover who or what is infiltrating the collegium Recover a relic, scroll, tome, or other object for the library. Defend the library from attackers, and find out where they came from. Capture a reclusive mage and find out what they know. Infiltrate a rival library and steal something – or someone – valuable to the collegium. Investigate a magical phenomenon that’s been plaguing the countryside. Stop a member of the collegium from betraying sacred knowledge. The collegium requires new members, and they feel you know best. Visit the regional Lord of Ash to learn what it is they desire for your library.

ARCANE TRADITIONS

The common studies of the most prolific schools of magic can be found in the various collegiums of Dragongrin, however there are some schools that are specific to the realm and the magical forces that govern it. This section contains two new arcane traditions fully compatible with the wizard class.

SCHOOL OF THE ROILING BLEAK The Bleak is an enigmatic, potent and deadly force. You focus your study on understanding it, bending the primal arcane maelstrom to your will. Devotion to this school takes the utmost discipline, for the Bleak is an ever-shifting, enigmatic power, and at any moment the nature of the Bleak may shift, overtaking the spellscrawl wielding it.

EYE OF THE STORM Beginning at 2nd level when you choose this archetype, you can summon the power of the Bleak. As a bonus action on your turn, you can start a localized Bleakstorm in your space called a Bleakroil, which lasts for 1 minute. While the Bleakroil is active, you gain the following benefits: • Ranged attacks have disadvantage against you. • When you hit a creature with a weapon or spell attack, you deal additional bleak damage equal to your Intelligence modifier. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

BLEAK SCHOLAR Additionally at 2nd level, your studies of the Bleak have given you great insight into its mysteries. You roll Intelligence (Arcana) checks with advantage when studying or recalling information about the Bleak or interacting with Bleakstorms. BLEAKROILS AND BLEAKSTORMS While Bleakroils are incredibly potent and powerful, they are not as mighty and deadly as naturally occurring Bleakstorms, and as such do not share the same composition or effects. In some cases, Glimmerwinds have been known to occur after a Bleakroil (see Glimmerwinds in the Bleak section on page 390), but unless otherwise stated by the Game Master, Bleakroils only grant the effects listed in this section.

CHANNEL THE BLEAK Beginning at 6th level, you have learned how to channel the Bleak into your spells. When you cast a spell that deals fire, cold, thunder, lighting, acid or poison damage, you deal an additional 1d6 bleak damage in addition to the normal spell effects. Additionally, you have resistance to bleak damage while in your Bleakroil.

INVESTITURE OF THE BLEAK Beginning at 10th level, your tireless studies of the Bleak give you unique theories of how to harness its untapped potential, and your Bleakroil becomes more powerful than ever. Your Bleakroil improves, extending to 15 feet around you instead. Whenever a creature moves into your Bleakroil for the first time on its turn or starts its turn within it, you can choose to have them take bleak damage equal to your wizard level. Additionally, you have advantage on Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution saving throws against spells while in your Bleakroil.

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CATACLYSM Beginning at 14th level, you are able to bring the Bleak around you to a crescendo, roiling with devastating force, yet elegant control. Your Bleakroil now extends out to 60 feet around you instead of 15 feet. Additionally, you may choose a number of creatures up to your Intelligence modifier (a minimum of 1) within the Bleakroil. Those creatures do not suffer any negative effects or damage from being inside your Bleakroil. Additionally, whenever you cast a wizard spell that targets one creature within your Bleakroil, you can use your bonus action to strike a different creature that you can see within the Bleakroil with a bolt of destructive Bleak energy. That creature must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw against your wizard spell save DC or take 2d8 bleak damage.

SCHOOL OF THE THAUMAVORE The School of the Thaumavore explores the inherent energy of the arcane, and how to use it as metaphysical sustenance to bolster one’s own spellcasting. As you focus your studies in this tradition, you learn to devour spells as someone else might devour food or water. As you progress, you learn to devour more powerful spells, transforming its arcane energies into magical power that you can reuse as you wish. SARRIK THAUMAVORES The Sarrik of Dragongrin have a natural ability to devour spells, and as such make incredible thaumavores, however, a creature does not need to be a Sarrik to learn and practice this discipline. Sarrik who have taken the Eater of Magic cultural trait who devour, counter, or dispel spells can count that spell toward both their Imminence Sustenance and Arcanavore features.

ARCANAVORE Beginning when you choose this archetype at 2nd level, you learn to devour magic. You create an artifact called an Arcanavore, which acts as your arcane focus. Your Arcanavore also stores Arcanavore points, which are contained within this magic item. When you are the only target of a spell that was cast by another creature, you can use your reaction to devour some of the spell’s energy. At 2nd level, you can only devour spells of 1st level or lower, but this changes as you gain wizard levels, as shown in the Spell Devouring table below. When you devour a spell, if you take damage from it, you reduce the damage you would take from that spell by your wizard level, and gain Arcanavore points equal to the spell level of the devoured spell. You can only store a total number of Arcanavore points equal to your wizard level this way. Arcanavore points do not reset on a long rest, and remain in the Arcanavore indefinitely until they are spent. Once you devour a spell, you can’t do it again until you finish a long rest. At 6th level, you can devour spells twice per long rest, and at 11th level, three times per long rest. Additionally, whenever you cast counterspell or detect magic, you can choose to devour the spell as well, which counts as a usage of this feature. SPELL DEVOURING WIZARD LEVEL

MAXIMUM LEVEL ABSORBED

2nd 5th 8th 11th 14th 17th 20th

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

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Recovering Spell Slots: You can spend Arcanavore points to recover a spell slot as a bonus action on your turn. Recovering a spell slot costs a number of Arcanavore points equal to twice that slot’s level.

SOULTHIRST Also beginning at 2nd level, you can sense magic innately, as your soul thirsts for it. You learn the detect magic spell, and always have it prepared. It doesn’t count against the number of wizard spells you can prepare each day.

DRAIN POWER Beginning at 6th level, you are able to use your mastery of magic to temper the magic contained within other spellcasters, weakening it so it is easier and safer for you to devour. When you target a creature that is able to cast spells with a spell that targets only one creature, you can also have the target make a Constitution saving throw against your wizard spell save DC. On a failed save, they suffer the Drained condition (see below), until they spend an action to recover their magical energies. Once you use this feature, you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again. DRAINED A target that suffers the drained condition has disadvantage on spell attack rolls, and creatures have advantage against saving throws caused by the target’s spells.

MAW OF MAGIC Beginning at 10th level, you have learned to absorb the magic from magic items. You learn the identify spell, and always have it prepared. It doesn’t count against the number of wizard spells you can prepare each day. Additionally, during a short or long rest, instead of attuning to a magic item, you can choose to instead absorb the magic within. The magic item loses all of its magical properties, becoming a mundane item, and you gain a number of Arcanavore Points according to the rarity of the magic item (see the following table). ITEM RARITY Uncommon Rare Very Rare Legendary Artifact

ARCANAVORE LEVELS STORED 2 points 5 points 8 points 10 points 15 points

OVERCASTING Beginning at 14th level, you overflow with the magic within you. You are able to expel this power to allow your spells to become incredibly potent. You can spend 6 Arcanavore points to Overcast, causing one of the following effects: • As a reaction to failing a Constitution saving throw to keep concentration on a spell, you Overcast to succeed on the saving throw instead. • While casting a spell that requires a creature to make a saving throw, you can Overcast to force a number of targets of the spell up to your Intelligence modifier (a minimum of 1) to roll the spell’s saving throw with disadvantage. • While casting a spell that deals damage to one or more creatures, you can Overcast to add your Intelligence modifier to the spell’s damage to each of its targets. • You can Overcast to cast a spell as a bonus action instead of as an action. You can still only cast one spell other than a cantrip per turn. You can use only Overcast once per turn.

DRAGONGRIN FEATS A feat represents having expertise, knowledge or capabilities outside of what is common in Dragongrin – even beyond heritage, culture, or class. At certain levels, your class allows you to increase an ability score. If you use the optional feats rule, you can take a feat instead. You can take each feat only once, unless the feats description says otherwise.

OPTIONAL RULE: VARIANT CULTURE During character creation, each culture grants a cultural focus. If the GM allows it, in lieu of a cultural focus, the player character can instead choose a feat from A Dead Man’s Guide to Dragongrin, or a standard 5e feat. FEATS THAT MATCH THE GAME Many of these feats are meant to show mastery of a specific facet of the realm of Dragongrin. Be sure that any feat chosen aligns with elements that are going to be present in a session or campaign. The best way to assure this is to have a Session 0, which is explained in detail in the Darkness of Dragongrin section on page 367.

BLEAK CHASER You have an understanding of the arcane maelstrom known as the Bleak. Whether through study, instinct, or some other means, you can predict its erratic ways, and can see patterns in its chaos that not many can. You gain the following benefits. • Increase your Intelligence score by 1, to a maximum of 20. • You have advantage on Intelligence (Arcana) and Intelligence (History) checks when it relates to the Bleak, including gathering information on any growing threats related to it. • When determining the distance of a Bleakstorm using the Drop Dice Generator in the Bleak section of the book, if the result is engulfing you, you may instead treat the Bleakstorm as though it is instead in your periphery. • If a Bleakstorm you are in or near has a zenith, you know where it is located. • Once per short or long rest, if you are subject to the results of the bleak effects table, you learn the result, and then may reroll on the table and choose either result. • Once per short or long rest, you gain advantage on a single roll used to exit a Bleakstorm mechanically. Work with the GM to use this ability.

CHIEF ARCHANIST You are an expert in repairing, building, and modifying Titan tech. You gain the following benefits. • You gain proficiency in Archanic tools, tinker’s tools or a set of artisan’s tools • You gain an Archan bauble with the intact condition (see the Archans section on page 400 and work with your GM to determine its nature and details). • You have advantage on ability checks made to operate, repair, build, or deconstruct Titan technology.

• Once per short or long rest, when you roll on any of the roll tables in the Archans of the Titans section, you may increase or decrease your roll on any of the roll tables by 1. • Zarfvin who take this feat gain its benefits in addition to their cultural trait Master Crafters and gain an additional +2 on ability checks made to operate, repair, build, or deconstruct Titan technology.

GRIN DELVER You are a seeker and explorer of the ancient graves of the dragons, known as grins. You gain the following benefits. • Increase your Wisdom score by 1, up to a maximum of 20. • You have advantage on Intelligence (Arcana) and Intelligence (History) checks when it relates to lore related to a grin, including gathering information on finding them when hidden. • During a long rest, you can research and gather information about any nearby grins. If there is a grin within 50 miles of you, you learn of three landmarks near it, whether it is north, south, east, or west of you, and how many days of travel it is away from you. If there are none within range, you learn the general direction of the nearest one. • Once per short or long rest, you can choose to gain advantage on a single saving throw of your choice against a threat present within a grin or related to a grin. • When you enter a grin, after spending 10 minutes inside of it, you may choose to learn one of the following pieces of information of your choosing: the name of the dragon whose corpse is there, the dragon’s nature, the dragon’s type, or the dragonbound present (if any). Work with the GM on the specifics or details. • You gain a small artifact or item related to a grin, the equivalent of a trinket or momento gained during character creation. This object is related to a grin that you seek. Work with the GM to decide what the object is, how you are connected to it, and why it matters.

NOTORIOUS You have a reputation that follows you wherever you go, and you know how to use it to your advantage. You gain the following benefits. • Increase your Charisma score by 1, to a maximum of 20. • When you take this feat your Effective Infamy increases by 1. • You have advantage on Charisma (Deception) and Charisma (Persuasion) checks when it relates to your reputation, persona, or Infamy • Once per short or long rest if a roll is made on the Infamy encounters table related to you, you may reroll the result and choose either result. The Game Master (GM) still chooses the light, neutral, or dark column. • Once per long rest when the GM rolls on the Infamy encounters table related to you, once they choose the light, neutral or dark column, they let you know. You may choose to roll on another column, but must keep the result. 157 CHARACTER CREATION: FEATS

VALEN ADEPT

WAYFINDER

You are an expert in finding, harvesting Primordial corpses, and crafting Valens. You gain the following benefits.

You are an adept traveler who knows how to traverse Dragongrin more safely and expertly than others. You gain the following benefits.

• You gain proficiency in Valen tools, tinker’s tools or a set of artisan’s tools • You gain a Valen made from 1 unit of hide, blood, bone or organ (see the Valens section on page 411; work with your GM to decide what it is) • You have advantage on ability checks made to harvest, craft, modify, or deconstruct Valens. • Once per short or long rest, when you roll on any of the roll tables in the Valens: Remains of the Primordials section you may increase or decrease your roll on any of the roll tables by 1. • Grimdul who take this feat gain its benefits in addition to their cultural trait Master Harvesters and gain an additional +2 on ability checks made to harvest, craft, modify, or deconstruct Valens.

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• Increase either your Constitution or Wisdom score by 1, to a maximum of 20. • You have advantage on Wisdom (Survival) and Wisdom (Perception) checks when it relates to travel. • One per short or long rest, when a roll is made on the Treacherous Travel Glance generator that affects travel that you’re a part of, you may learn the result, roll again and choose either result. • One per short or long rest, when the three rolls are made on the Treacherous Travel Scene generator that affects travel that you’re a part of, you may learn the results, then roll again on a single one of the columns (either tone, event, or related to) and choose either result. SPECIFIC TO DRAGONGRIN Many of the feats in this section are designed specifically for use with the subsystems in A Dead Man’s Guide to Dragongrin such as Treacherous Travel, Infamy, Archans and Valens, and the Bleak. These feats are not mechanically balanced against standard 5e feats outside of their use with the subsystems, and would be largely unbalanced if used in realms outside of Dragongrin that didn’t feature them.

DRAGONGRIN SPELLS Innumerable spells have been created and forgotten over centuries in the rise and fall of empires and cultures in the realm. Some may yet still lie undiscovered in the deepest recesses of the Bleak, while still others may be scrawled on a scroll that lies deep within a dragon’s grin. There is much magic that permeates this ancient, shifting realm – this is merely a small sampling.

SPELLS AND CLASSES

in life, or something they feared as a child. For the duration you have advantage on all Charisma checks directed at one creature of your choice that isn’t hostile toward you. When the spell ends the creature is upset with you, but they can’t quite place why. Work with the GM on the severity and duration of this effect.

BLEAKSURGE

These spells follow almost all of the standard spellcasting rules from 5e, including cantrips, rituals, casting spells in armor, spell level, known and prepared spells, spell spots, and casting spells at a higher level.

1st-level evocation

The single, major exception is that these spells are not class specific. This is so various classes can have access to this sampling of spells from Dragongrin without limitation. Before choosing one of these spells during character creation, work with your Game Master to be sure they will allow it for your character, and in their session or campaign.

Components: V, S, M (something exposed to glimmerwinds)

NARRATIVE SPELL SELECTION Some of these spells may feel like they would better match specific classes based on their tone and theme, so being chosen by certain other classes could potentially cause some narrative dissonance. However this small bit of conflict is an amazing opportunity to build an interesting story. Explaining why an intellectual and learned wizard knows a spell that feels more in line with a nature-minded, untamed druid could make for an interesting character facet that brings depth and uniqueness.

TRITHAGON’S APPARATUS Evocation cantrip Casting Time: 1 action Range: 60 ft Components: V, S Duration: Instantaneous The caster draws two spectral Titanspeak runes into the air, and they sear and crackle with energy. Make two ranged spell attacks on up to two different targets. On a hit each attack deals 1d4 radiant damage. This spell’s damage increases by 1d4 for each fire string when you reach 5th Level (2d4), 11th level (3d4), and 17th level (4d4).

Casting Time: 1 action Range: 30 ft Duration: Concentration, 1 minute A streak of crimson and violet rushes toward a creature within range, a continual pillar of raw Bleak energy between you and the target. Make a ranged spell attack against that creature. On a hit, the target takes 1d12 Bleak damage, and on each of your turns for the duration, you can use your action to deal 1d12 Bleak damage to the target automatically. The spell ends if you use your action to do anything else. The spell also ends if the target is ever outside the spell’s range or if it has total cover from you. At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the initial damage increases by 1d12 for each slot level above 1st.

MODIFY ARCHANS 1st-level transmutation Casting Time: 1 action Range: Self Components: V, S, M (1 gp of Archanic dust) Duration: Instantaneous When you cast this spell, you automatically succeed on the next check made to repair, combine, or dismantle an Archan. You can also use it to gain advantage on a more difficult Archan-related check at the GM’s discretion.

FABRICATE VALEN 3rd-level transmutation

VOICES OF THE DEAD

Casting Time: 10 minutes

Evocation cantrip

Range: 30 ft

Casting Time: 1 action

Components: V, S

Range: Self

Duration: Instantaneous

Components: S, M (anything gray in color)

You convert raw Valens materials into products of the same material. You must have the appropriate amount and type of material as indicated on the Crafting with Valens table in that section on page 412.

Duration: Concentration, 1 minute You reach into the Wailing Gray and borrow a voice from someone – or something – within it. This makes you especially compelling – perhaps it reminds them of someone they knew

Creatures or magic items can’t be created or transmuted by this spell. You might be able to achieve something beyond the 159 CHARACTER CREATION: SPELLS

scope of the table, but the GM is the final arbitrator of what can be made with this spell and the raw materials needed.

VALE’S EMBRACE 2nd level conjuration Casting Time: 1 action Range: Touch Components: V, S, M (dried root, chunk of stone) Duration: Instantaneous You touch one willing creature and imbue it with the power to spew magical spear-like thorns from its mouth, provided it has one. Creatures without a mouth can cast the spell and the thorns can burst from an appendage. Until the spell ends, the creature can use an action to exhale thorns in at a range of 30ft. The target must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 2d8 piercing damage and is restrained. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage and isn’t restrained. A creature restrained by the thorns can use its action to make a Strength check against your spell save DC. At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the damage increases by 1d8 for each slot level above 2nd.

BLEAK TEMPEST 2nd-level evocation Casting Time: 1 action Range: 60 feet Components: V, S, M (three objects that have been in a Bleakstorm) Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute A roiling 5-foot diameter cloud of Bleak appears in an unoccupied space of your choice within range and lasts for the duration. Any creature that ends its turn within 5 feet of the cloud must make a Dexterity saving throw. The creature takes 2d6 Bleak damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. As a bonus action, you can move the cloud up to 30 feet. If the cloud touches a creature, that creature must make the saving throw against the cloud’s damage, and the cloud stops moving this turn. When you move the cloud, you can direct it over barriers up to 5 feet tall and jump it across pits up to 10 feet wide.

VOICE OF THE TITANS 3rd-level divination (ritual) Casting Time: 1 action Range: Self Components: V, S, M (A timekeeping object or an Archan) Duration: 10 minutes You gain the ability to verbally communicate with fragments of the actual voice of a mighty Titan from the Age of Annihilation. You can speak to Archanites such as tomehearts and villinavi – as well as any other constructs in this language for the duration. You can also speak with inanimate objects – such as Archans 160 CHARACTER CREATION: SPELLS

and other machines – telepathically. By using the voice of a Titan, you are able to tap into the essence of these constructs and objects far beyond mere words. At minimum, these machines can give you information about their functions, the intent they were created for, how to operate them, and who made them. Beyond that they may share secrets, locations and other useful information. Work with your GM to figure out what you learn. Constructs and semi or fully sentient machines capable of selfaction can be communicated with and asked to perform tasks with advantage on Charisma (persuasion) checks to do so as long as doing so does not violate their direct orders and programming. Additionally you have advantage on any Intelligence or Charisma checks related to gathering information from or interacting with Archanites, constructs, Archans and other machines.

DORVAN’S UNOPENED DOOR 4th-level divination Casting Time: 1 action Range: Touch Components: V, S, M (A door jam carved from a Sarrik’s bone, consumed) Duration: 8 hours This spell is named after the fabled Silverwise brothers Winston and Levi Dorvan said to be lost within the Wailing Gray over twenty years ago – many say they are still alive, choosing to stay within it to study and cull its horrors. Touch a Gray Door that is on the material plane. The frame of the doorway ignites with blue flames. As long as you are touching the door nothing can pass through from the Wailing Gray to the material plane through that door. You can see through the doorway to the other side, but the door is opaque to any outside of it.

UNLEASH THE GRAY 5th-level conjuration Casting Time: 1 action Range: Self (60 foot line) Components: V, S, M (A dagger brought back from the Wailing Gray) Duration: Instantaneous The caster cuts a fissure in reality just above their head. With the sound of splintering bone and tearing sinew, a hole is flayed into reality, revealing the horrifying realm of the Wailing Gray. A line acrid energy 60 feet long and 5 feet wide rips into reality from you in a direction you choose. Anything that the line touches is drained of color for 1d4 hours. Each creature in the line must make a Will saving throw. A creature takes 6d10 psychic damage and must make a roll on the minor resurrection effects table (in the Brutal Champions section on page 376) on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Those that succeed on a saving throw do not receive the minor resurrection effect. At the end of each turn, a character affected by a short term madness effect can use its action to repeat the saving throw and get rid of the effect. Creatures killed by this spell immediately become Graysouls and enter the Wailing Gray from the break in reality. At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 7th level or higher, the damage increases by 1d10 and increases the width of the line by 5 feet for every two slot levels above 7th. 7d10 and 10ft wide at 7th level, 8d10 and 15 ft wide at 9th level.

OPTIONAL NARRATIVE CONDITIONS If you are using the optional rules for narrative conditions (page 385) consider giving this spell one of the following narrative conditions instead of minor resurrection affects: afflicted, burdened, crux, cursed, unhinged, enthralled, or hunted. As always, narrative conditions should make sense in the story, so work with the GM. For example a person who gains the hunted narrative condition may be hunted by one of the nameless horrors of the Wailing Gray, while an afflicted character may become sick as a result of such a harrowing brush with the afterlife.

You take control of a Bleakstorm or any other Bleak-related weather anomalies within 5 miles of you for the duration. You must be outdoors to cast this spell. Moving to a place where you don’t have a clear path to the sky ends the spell early. When you cast the spell, you end the effects of a Bleakstorm temporarily as long as you maintain concentration. Use of this spell has been known to make the Bleakstorms more fierce and volatile once this magical control of them ends

ENTWINED DESTINIES

RIP AND TEAR

8th-Level conjuration

6th level, transmutation

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: 30 ft

Range: Touch

Components: V, S, M (A timekeeping object)

Components: V, S, M (A creature’s first lost tooth)

Duration: Concentration, 1 minute

Duration: Instantaneous

You twist your timeline together with up to 7 other willing allies, forging one collective future instead of independent ones. Until the spell ends, each affected creature at the start of their turn chooses up to any three of movement, action, and bonus action. They may have another affected creature use their reaction to take the chosen options in their place, still on the first creature’s own turn as if they had acted. Any options not given away are still taken as normal by the creature whose turn it is. This may cause creatures to act more than once per round.

Your magic rips asunder those who fall victim to your touch, its energies maiming their physical form. The target must make a Constitution saving throw. It immediately rolls on the Maiming table (page 376) on a failed save, or takes 4d6 Bleak damage on a successful one.

WIELDER OF THE BLEAK 7th-level transmutation Casting Time: 10 minutes

FRACTURE TIMELINE

Range: Self (5-mile radius)

9th level conjuration

Components: V, S, M (the collarbone of a drowned man)

Casting Time: 1 action

Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour

Range: Touch Components: V, S Duration: Instantaneous This is one of the mightiest spells a mortal can cast. By casting this spell, you can shift time and can traverse through it safely. You and up to eight willing creatures who clasp arms, standing shoulder to shoulder are transported to a different timeline in Dragongrin. You must choose the timeline by stating what things you would like to be different. You can choose up to three things. This spell does not allow a creature to travel through time, but to another timeline occurring simultaneously. For this reason, it does not create paradoxes or time loops, but potentially entirely new timelines. State your ideal timeline to the GM as precisely as possible by telling them the things you would like to change (a maximum of three). The GM has great latitude in ruling what occurs in such an instance; the more things you choose to change in the timeline and the greater their scope, the greater the likelihood that something goes wrong. When you enter the new timeline, the effect you desire might only be partly achieved, or you might suffer some unforeseen consequence as a result of how you worded the changes. For example, if you wished that the Sovereign doesn’t exist, Ghul Varris could have successfully wielded the force of Imminence without becoming dismembered, and the realm could be a far worse place than it is now.

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CHARACTER DEPTH Beyond your background, class, heritage, and culture lies the unique and distinct idiosyncrasies that make you who you are as a person. Your distinct personality and ties to the realm are represented by traits (a distinguishing quality about you), flaws (an imperfection you possess), burdens (the woes of life in Dragongrin plaguing you), and hopes (the precious things that keep you fighting). Choose or roll one or more of each of these to give your character unique depth.

TRAITS

1. Even in a world as Bleak as this, I care about my appearance and put effort into keeping up my physical image and reputation. 2. I control my emotions and remain calm, even in the most severe circumstances. 3. I’ve somehow kept an outlook of hope and optimism in a world of evil. My positivity is the last thing I have left. 4. Everything happens for a reason – I must believe this to be true. 5. Peace is the only way to bring Dragongrin back to the light. I use this creed to find common ground with anyone. 6. Persistence overcomes resistance – once I decide to do something, I’ll succeed or die trying. 7. Understanding your foes is the only way to truly blend in. I am well versed in the tenets and proverbs of the Dismembered Lord. 8. I communicate best in idioms and analogies – some well known, others not. 9. I cope with things through humor and typically find peace in making jokes to dampen dark moods. 10. I crave attention, both positive and negative. 11. I daydream often, and find it’s when I have my best ideas and deepest thoughts. 12. Money and material goods don’t make a person great. From the Lords of Ash to the mud-caked drudges working their fields, all are equal in my eyes. 13. I don’t know which of the deities in Dragongrin are real, if any, but I still keep good luck charms and sentimental mementos on me, just in case. 14. I don’t like to be told what I can and can’t do and am defiant (and often aggressive) when it happens. 15. I don’t play favorites, choosing instead to hear all perspectives before making an objective judgment. 16. I don’t trust casual kindness – everyone wants something, and they’re usually just banking favors. 17. I feel safest with my back to a wall. Showing someone your back is a quick way to find a knife in it. 18. I fidget with objects absentmindedly, even if they don’t belong to me. 19. I go out of my way to make others feel valued and important, though the feeling isn’t often reciprocated. 20. I have a need to find answers, and I get a rush from solving mysteries. 21. I have a juvenile sense of humor, and sometimes crack jokes at inappropriate times. 22. I question everything and find it difficult to keep those questions to myself.

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23. I subscribe to a radical philosophy regarding the cosmology of Dragongrin, and I love expressing it to people. 24. I have a short attention span and don’t feel the need to finish what I start. 25. I have a taste for the finer things and tend to judge those who don’t. 26. I have an explosive temper, though I’ve worked to control it. 27. I have no problem letting others work hard while I take it easy. 28. I haven’t made it this long in Dragongrin by trusting everyone, but I have chosen one or two people with my life. 29. I cut deeply with words, and tend to use sarcasm and nasty comments to defend myself. 30. There are many people seeking me for my intelligence, so I’m guarded with my knowledge. 31. I know what people want to hear, and am not ashamed to use that to my advantage to get what I need. 32. I learn from every mistake I make – which means I’ve learned a lot. 33. I collect trophies of flesh, such as ears and noses from those I slay. Many think there’s something wrong with me. Maybe they’re right. 34. I love a good rumor mill, and nothing feels better than feeding it.

35. I appreciate a rapier wit and trade barbs with others readily without holding grudges. Sometimes, I even feel closer to them after a good back-and-forth. 36. I love taking things apart and putting them back together. 37. I take risks others wouldn’t in hopes of a big payoff. Some might say I’m addicted to gambling. 38. I love to talk about myself and will do so at length if given the chance. 39. I love to travel. Where I lay my head is home. 40. I never judge a book by its cover. In Dragongrin, people’s actions reveal their identity, not their appearance. 41. I pontificate and use unnecessary references in an effort to sound smarter than I am. 42. I practically raised myself, so I have a narrow perspective on new experiences, people, and things. 43. I prefer the company of a good horse or a loyal dog over a person. 44. I front as a hard worker, but I don’t really like to get my hands dirty. 45. I put a lot of pride in reputation, and won’t do anything to damage it – at least not publicly. 46. Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs, and I judge not the faith (or lack thereof) of others. 47. I adore language and don’t shy away from using complicated words or turns-of-phrase. 48. I tend to agree with whomever I’m with – I don’t like causing unnecessary conflict. 49. I become infatuated with others quickly – and just as quickly I move on to another object of affection. 50. I tend to have big ideas, but struggle to put them into action. 51. I went above and beyond serving in my homeland’s militia, and my skills of service follow me everywhere. 52. I’ll always help someone in need, no matter the cost to my friends or myself. 53. I’ll do what it takes to live a comfortable life, even in times like these. 54. I’ll haggle and bargain for hours to save a copper. 55. I’m a compulsive liar, though I carry immense guilt over the harm my deceptions have caused. 56. I’m a great teacher, no matter the student. I can easily pinpoint a pupil’s weakness. 57. I’m a hard worker, and I can’t stand people who aren’t. 58. I’m a hoarder, attaching memories and emotions to items. 59. I’m a moody type, ebbing and flowing with the moment. 60. I’m a perfectionist to the core – it’s a boon and a curse. 61. I’m always on the lookout for anything valuable – obvious or hidden – that could be my next meal ticket. 62. I’m charming and I know it. Folks don’t stay mad at me, and I can usually calm anyone down. 63. I’m empathetic beyond what I should be in this harsh realm, but I can’t help myself. 64. I’m exceptionally well-mannered and often fit in socially. 65. I’m fearless, and it often gets me into trouble. 66. I’m always kind and generous to a fault. 67. I make fast friends, avoiding conflict with others if I can help it.

68. I have few good stories, but I try to act mysterious. 69. I’m one of the most confident people you’ll meet – and it’s contagious. 70. I’m outspoken, usually saying what others are thinking, but most interpret it as crassness. 71. I’m overly defensive of anyone I call an ally. 72. I’m overprotective of my things. 73. I’m painfully awkward in any sort of social setting, especially those involving the authorities. 74. I’m rather attractive and tend to carry myself in a way that makes others think I’m important. 75. I’m stronger than most, and love showing it off, but the number of equally powerful people looking for a challenge makes it hardly worth it. 76. I’m told that I don’t have good manners, but I don’t care – I’ve managed to live this long being myself. 77. I’m unforgiving, and I have a long memory. 78. I’m wise beyond my years but tend to share my wisdom too often. 79. I’ve accepted my fate and won’t be rattled. 80. I’m known to quote famous fallen heroes from Lightfall, though some argue the accuracy of the words. 81. I’ve been looking for someone to love in this mess of a world for as long as I can remember. 82. I’ve been told I make snap judgments about others – but if you ask me, I tend to be right. 83. Keeping my mouth shut has kept me alive in Dragongrin, so I don’t talk much. 84. I’ve given up on basic hygiene – who cares what I look (or smell) like? 85. I’ve learned you can’t run away in Dragongrin – you need to meet problems head-on and let life run its course. 86. I’ve lived in my small community, virtually untouched by the evils of the realm. Some say I’m naïve to its true nature and severity. 87. I’ve lost so many loved ones in this vile realm that I try to keep others at arm’s length so I don’t get hurt again. 88. I’ve never lacked for material possessions, but don’t consider myself better than anyone. 89. I’ve read more books than most, and tend to rely on what I’ve read. 90. I’ve seen a lot in Dragongrin, and I’ve got a story for almost every occasion. 91. I’ve seen some terrible things in Dragongrin, and recount them as cautionary tales as often as I can. 92. I’ve survived by thinking quickly when things go south. I can formulate a plan with little to no preparation, and improvise off the cuff. 93. If I have an opportunity, I swipe objects that seem valuable to me. 94. If you cross me, I will do all I can to get revenge five times over. 95. Less talking. More action. 96. Manners maketh the person – respect is a thing I pay before I expect it in return. 97. No risk, no reward. 98. The gods of Dragongrin do exist, no matter what nonbelievers say. They speak to us in the quiet moments, manifest inside the little things – if only we could all just listen. 99. Violent memories of a conflict torment my mind – I find little peace. 100. I know that I reap what I sow, and consider that in everything I do. 163 CHARACTER CREATION: DEPTH

FLAWS

1. Dragongrin hardened me, making me numb to sob stories and cries for help. Some see me as heartless. 2. I refuse to help those unable to help themselves. 3. I don’t readily show gratitude, and always try to take credit. 4. I fixate on the future, often to the detriment of the present. 5. I boast about my abilities, and I am quick with narcissistic stories of my prowess. 6. If I can’t get what I need by legitimate means, I have no issue taking it by force or deception. 7. I can never go home due to a tragedy linked to me. 8. Secrets ruin people in Dragongrin – and I’m no good at keeping them. 9. Loyalty isn’t worth upholding when survival is at stake. I hold no reverence for oaths or promises. 10. I regularly lie to those more fortunate than me, and hold no reservations in stealing from them. They won’t miss what I take in order to survive. 11. I prefer to do things my own way, even if that means a more dangerous path. 12. I lack purpose. My pessimism prevents me from accomplishing my goals. 13. I overthink and complicate things – one mistake could mean death. 14. I mask my insecurities with haughty aggression. 15. Burdensome duties rest on more capable shoulders. My first instinct is to run from a fight. 16. I prefer to lead rather than follow. If another takes up the mantle of leadership, we’ll undoubtedly butt heads. 17. My pride often hinders my goals and those of my friends. I regularly bite off more than I can chew. 18. I maintain misplaced ideals, and struggle to realize the true nature of the world and its people. 19. My irrational hatred of a specific enemy clouds my logic. 20. I possess little grace, and my bluntness turns many against me. 21. I have an obsessive pursuit dominating my waking thoughts. I’m very distractable. 22. I know the letter of the law and wield it like a weapon against others less fortunate. 23. I lack patience. I’m quick to snap at those making me wait, particularly authority figures. 24. I speak the truth, even when it harms others. 25. I collect the secrets of others, and hold it over them for profit – or sometimes just for fun. 26. I like to point out shortcomings – it makes me feel more assured. 27. I live like there’s no tomorrow, and it sometimes gets me into trouble. In Dragongrin, each day might be your last. 28. I love my vices – be it drinking, gambling, or worse. Why waste time with basic moralities when the fires of evil have already burned the remnants of good in the world? 29. I mistreat others emotionally, often to the point of coercing or controlling them. 30. I habitually lie to anyone I don’t see as a close friend. Mostly small lies, but they still come back to bite me at times. 31. My trust in my family is unwavering, though I can’t seem to find trust in anyone else – I know they’ll let me down at some point. 32. I over-dramatize situations, especially exaggerating my participation in insignificant events. 33. I point out evil wherever I see it, much to the chagrin of others. It seems most people in Dragongrin would rather ignore problems in front of them.

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34. I’ll do anything to get sympathy, even going as far as feigning injury or embellishing stories of loss. 35. I’ll find any reason to avoid change. Many think I’m lazy, but it’s fear that grips me. 36. I’ve always sought greater meaning in life, and place easy trust in those claiming to know the gods or spirits of Dragongrin. 37. I harbor resentment, rarely forgetting a grudge no matter how much time has passed. 38. I use cutting words and insults in jest, but I often mean what I say. 39. I repress a bloodlust, but many see right through me. 40. I am overly idealistic about the world and the possibilities therein. This gets me into trouble with the authorities. 41. I blame my ancestry for my vices, and credit myself for my virtues. 42. I am too curious for my own good, leaping at lowly rumors and tales of treasure. 43. I talk too much, saying whatever comes to mind. Keeping so little to myself often gets me into trouble. 44. Anyone who hasn’t learned to fight or defend themselves needs to be taught a lesson about the tribulations of Dragongrin. 45. I believe everyone is working an angle, but I keep my mistrust to myself, aiming to leverage my information against them in the future. 46. My courage is a mechanism to impress others, and I never back down from keeping up the ruse. 47. I’m notoriously argumentative, trying to prove people wrong even if they’re undoubtedly right. 48. I prioritize my desire for information regarding Dragongrin’s most dangerous reaches. A sane person would never make such journeys. 49. My desire for fame and fortune gets me into trouble with authorities who’d rather preserve the status quo. 50. I wander incessantly, leaving many betrayed or brokenhearted in my wake. CHARACTER ARCS If a pessimistic, greedy, or overtly evil character never changes over time, the themes expressed by their flaws grow stagnant, and so follows the game itself. Remember, flaws don’t make a character interesting – overcoming them does. Use these tables to set off on a path that will end in a rounded character who conquered their demons, or an antihero who lost everything trying.

51. I work hard to avoid work, coming up with various excuses for my lethargy. 52. I want to be on the winning side of any fight, even if it means switching teams. 53. I’d rather be solitary in my endeavors than have a friend or partner. My relations often turn to rivalries. 54. I’ve lived without money, and I’ll never choose that life again. Coin is the cornerstone of survival in Dragongrin, and I prioritize being paid above all else. 55. I’ll follow orders from my leader, even if the commands are morally questionable, and I demand the same from those under my direction. 56. I’ll tuck tail and run if I feel my life is in danger. It’s how I’ve stayed alive this long, but that doesn’t stop me from being ashamed of it. 57. I’m easily swayed and charmed, and my wallet pays a high price for it. 58. I am envious of those living under better circumstances, but I’ll never admit it. 59. No matter my demeanor in a fight, I’m clumsy and uncoordinated during times of peace. 60. I’m confident I’m the best in my field, and I can’t keep myself from challenging those more renowned than I. 61. I’m cripplingly indecisive unless forced into action. 62. Many depend on me, and though I give easily, I don’t take care of myself. 63. I rarely turn down new and interesting ventures, so often fail to finish what I start. 64. I’m drawn to the macabre. Others find me repulsive, but I think the closer you get to such things, the more you understand the true evils in Dragongrin. 65. I’m dreadfully superstitious, and I let that guide my decisions frequently. Dark omens and supernatural notions always catch my eye and ear, even when they mean nothing. 66. I often deceive people, but I’m accumulating enemies. 67. I steal from the poor– the rich are usually powerful enough to defend themselves. 68. I’m much more interested in the rich, secret history of the world than the problems we face in the present. 69. I distrust anyone outside my own circle, and that includes those not native to my home region of Dragongrin. 70. I’m not open to the beliefs of others – not because I know what I believe is right, but because droning opinions bore me. 71. I’m woefully ignorant to the threats lurking in Dragongrin’s dark corners. 72. I have a terrible phobia of something others consider relatively mundane. 73. I’m older than I look, and sometimes my age takes its toll on my wellness and ability, especially when others task me with things beyond my strength to manage. 74. I’m confident what I seek is in a certain part of Dragongrin, and I’ll do what I must to get there. 75. I’m sensitive to criticism, but tend to criticize others harshly as a defense mechanism. 76. I’m perpetually anxious. Though I sometimes hide it, I’m usually worrying about something, and I’ve developed a tic or tell. 77. I’m self-righteous and make sure everyone around me knows it. 78. I’m sloppy, often doing jobs halfway and leaving evidence of my presence in places I’d rather go unnoticed. 79. I am a stickler for cleanliness. Better to die by the sword than from an easily contracted disease, though others think I overblow it.

80. I’m terrible at judging character, and in a world where deception is a key to survival, it’s a wonder I’m still alive. 81. I’m terrible with money, spending frivolously and borrowing much in reckless dealings. 82. I’m awfully aloof, failing to see threats right before my eyes, and those around me often suffer the consequences. 83. I’m incredibly squeamish around blood and gore. 84. I’m told by many that I’m gullible. They’re probably right. 85. I’m hypocritical in my beliefs, pursuing what benefits me in the moment, and caring little for how I behaved mere days before. 86. I am far too trusting of others, often leaving money, important decisions, and my life in uncertain hands. 87. I flirt often and don’t realize it, crossing many social boundaries for the sake of being outgoing and personable. 88. I firmly believe it’s permissible to kill for survival in Dragongrin. I often resort to violence before other avenues are exhausted. 89. I detest anyone wealthy – I feel they didn’t earn it, and flaunt their riches while the impoverished of Dragongrin starve. 90. I will do anything I can to avoid the forces of the Dismembered Lord, including venturing down far more treacherous pathways. 91. I tend to escalate things quickly, and it’s tough for me to stop once a serious fight has begun. 92. It’s difficult for me to take anything seriously. Outside of upsetting those who view me as a fool or cynic, it blinds me to true problems in need of solving. 93. I am an unabashed pessimist. Better to assume the worst in others than to be surprised when they inevitably betray you. 94. I dream of making a life for myself, but my main method is using others around me to achieve that goal. 95. I can’t hide my nervous tic whenever I attempt to lie or hide the truth. Perceptive people pick up on it quickly. 96. If I find myself in a fair fight, it means I didn’t plan well enough. The only fair fight is one that I win quickly, by any means necessary. 97. The world revolves around me, especially when it comes to marching order, which watch I get, where I stay the night, and other minor decisions. 98. Trouble follows me wherever I go, and I’m the common denominator. I embrace this by picking fights and encouraging those around me to do the same. 99. My horrible memory makes me notoriously unreliable. 100. I carry a secret or forbidden lore I’d give anything to forget – it haunts every moment and preoccupies my thoughts. 165 CHARACTER CREATION: DEPTH

BURDENS

1. I owe my life to a notable figure or faction, and they’re looking to cash in the favor. 2. I once encountered a Doomsayer and lived to tell the tale. I see the beast in my nightmares and cannot forget its chilling call. 3. I shattered my weapon trying to save a loved one. I still carry the broken pieces, along with the memory of my failure. 4. My homeland is the most important thing to me, and something insidious encroaches. I must return, and I need to bring help. 5. I owe a great deal of money to a Marrow soldier, and she’s threatened to hurt my friends or family if I can’t pay up. 6. I’ve come into possession of a forbidden scroll. Some wish to destroy it, others desire to use it, and still more wish to study it. I feel my life is in danger. 7. I know what lurks at the bottom of the well in a sacked village, and the knowledge has put a price on my head. 8. I hear the calls of something sinister beyond this world, and I can’t get them out of my head. 9. I conned the wrong person, and now they aim to get even. 10. My mentor is the only reason I amounted to anything, and they’re in deep trouble. 11. I am the parent of an illegitimate child I haven’t seen in years. I’ve received news their life is in danger. 12. My romantic partner was killed. I carry the guilt of what happened and will not rest until I’m strong enough to avenge them. 13. In my dreams, I’ve seen strange figures of a distant past, engaging in a dragon’s funeral. I now see them with my waking eyes. 14. I’ve not paid my Tenth, so I constantly evade collectors. The strength and frequency of shakedowns increase by the day. 15. I once failed in my duty to a militia. Everyone in the regiment is now dead or imprisoned, and I’m to blame. 16. I framed an innocent person. My guilt eats at me, and I must make it right. 17. I was wrongly accused of conspiring with the Copper Jackals or Undying Light, and now I’m branded a fugitive. 18. I’ve done things I’m not proud of to survive in Dragongrin, but my most terrible deed is coming back to haunt me. 19. I deserted my post, forsaking my duties as a soldier. A traitor’s execution awaits me if I’m ever caught. 20. My friends or family were taken prisoner because of my mistake. I must free them. 21. My inheritance is buried in my homeland, but the area is now infested with monstrous denizens. 22. I discovered my idol is a charlatan, and they despise me for knowing their secret. 23. I feel ill every time I see a temple, no matter the faith. Sometimes I feel forsaken by the gods. 24. My rival seeks to outdo me at every turn, and they perpetually raise the stakes – now our competition is getting dangerous. 25. I found a safe route to the Copper Sun, but spies of the Dismembered Lord seem to follow me everywhere. 26. I bullied a lot of people to get ahead. I’ve since had a change of heart and want to make things right, but I don’t know where to start. 27. I took advantage of a loophole to succeed, and now I’m in over my head. I don’t know how much longer I can keep up appearances. 28. A strange item has bound itself to me, and I feel increasingly dependent on its presence.

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29. I am an explorer from a realm beyond the Bleak, lost in this dark world. I must find my way home, or die trying. 30. I served in a militia that violated a serious treaty, and I’m the only soldier who hasn’t died a mysterious death. 31. I serve as steward to a person in power and have discovered their terrible secret. If they find out, it will be my funeral. 32. My true love left because I was unable to provide for us. With a broken heart, I vow to get ahead in this realm, even if it kills me. 33. I owe a merchant faction a great deal of money from an expired loan. If I don’t repay them quickly, they’ll come to collect. 34. I trespassed upon sacred grounds, and militant worshipers now look to sacrifice me as punishment for my crime. 35. I am close to someone marked for death, but if I warn them, I might be next. 36. I know a prominent healer is purposefully killing certain patients for a dark purpose. I aim to discover why, but they’re aware I’m onto them. 37. I was a thriving merchant, but the evils of this world took that life away from me. I still owe favors and money that I cannot repay, but desperately want to start anew. 38. A monster plagued my village for some time. I did nothing, and it slew someone close to me. I now seek vengeance upon this creature. 39. My childhood friend succumbed to disease when I was still young, but now their voice visits me in dreams, telling a darker tale of the plague’s source.

40. Marrow arrested a close friend of mine, and I feel compelled to help – though in doing so, I may be painted as an accomplice. 41. Someone I loved was outed as a spy, and they fled the law. Now the Marrow are asking questions about my connection to them. 42. I am in possession of a holy text proving the existence of a deity. Those wishing to possess it and those seeking to destroy it are after me. 43. Several of my closest friends were murdered by beasts of this realm. I can still hear their screams. 44. I swear I’m from another time. I slept in a sacred meadow one night and woke after Lightfall. Everyone I once knew is long dead, and there’s no way anyone would believe me. 45. I caused the deaths of family or friends in my childhood, though I have no memory of the event. I live as an outcast for a crime I don’t remember. 46. I sold someone out to survive. The guilt weighs on me, and I wonder if I should find them and make amends. 47. Someone bought up my debt, and they’re demanding full reimbursement. I could lose everything if I don’t pay. 48. I have children who deserve a better life. I’ve set some things in motion to ensure their future – though it may condemn mine. 49. I wasted away in a notorious prison for many years. I will exact vengeance upon those who locked me up. 50. The Bleak dominates my nightmares, and every night I see it consume my homeland. I fear these dreams might be prophetic – but what can I do? 51. I’ve received a conscription summons. I have yet to answer, and fear my life may be forfeit now. 52. Throughout my life, I’ve seen a strange but undeniably sacred animal watching me. Its presence is both soothing and sinister, and I desperately seek answers to its purpose. 53. I once served in the Dismembered Legion, performing abhorrent duties. No one saw my face through my Marrow’s veil, but I always fear those around me know what I’ve done.

54. I swore an oath to defend my home, but it was destroyed. Now they’ve rebuilt, and I must decide between returning to honor my oath, or leaving it behind. 55. I was robbed of my hard-earned savings, and I fear the person responsible might be someone close to me. 56. I’m bound to serve as apprentice or steward to a local official whom I abhor. 57. I kicked an addiction, but the cravings grow severe. It’s getting harder to focus, and if I don’t indulge, I might fall apart. 58. I’m obsessed with finding out more about the Dismembered Lord. His beginnings and achievements capture my imagination, but asking too many questions draws suspicion from his followers. 59. Some monstrous change is consuming my body. If I don’t find a cure, I fear my ultimate fate is to become a creature twisted and vile. 60. I’ve been drafted into the local militia, serving alongside Marrow enforcers. Those not trained in combat serve as slaves, while those with martial skills are handed spears and marched to the front. 61. I’ve been sentenced to hard labor. I must decide if I’m going to report for duty or run. 62. I am tasked with carrying on a family tradition I don’t agree with, but I’m the last of my line. I’m torn between compromising my ideals, or letting my family fall into ruin. 63. I’ve contracted a terminal disease. Searching for a cure would whittle away my remaining days, but it’s my only chance. 64. My past is spotted with crime, but those days are behind me. Now someone is committing crimes attributed to me, and I must discover who’s behind the frame job. 65. When I was a child, a prophet spoke of my demise, and now my time grows near. 66. I recently killed someone. I must decide my next move carefully.

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67. I’ve made some powerful enemies by standing up to the wrong bureaucrats. Things are escalating, and my life is on the line. 68. I’ve stumbled on evidence that might solve a recent crime, though coming forward means putting myself in mortal danger. 69. Someone is blackmailing me, and their evidence is damning. Their demands are growing more frequent and expensive. 70. A local crime lord has his sights on my family business. If I don’t do something, we’ll lose everything we’ve worked for. 71. There’s a bounty on my head. Whether I’m guilty or not doesn’t matter at this point, as those tracking me grow closer by the day. 72. I left someone important behind when things got tough. I’m not sure what happened to them, but I’m receiving strange letters referencing what I did. 73. I put my full trust in someone who betrayed me. The seed of revenge blossoms in my heart, but they’ve since taken up a prominent position under a Lord of Ash. 74. I know what dangerous and horrible thing is buried beneath a major city, but many don’t believe me. 75. I betrayed the merchant caravan I swore to defend, and while I thought I escaped judgment, I have received messages to the contrary. 76. I came into riches in my youth and squandered them on frivolous things. Now I wish to rebuild my fortune and hang onto it. 77. While serving as a soldier, I witnessed something that, if brought to light, could ruin a prominent military leader. I fear for my life, knowing this secret. 78. I helped the Undying Light smuggle a hero out of the region, but the Marrow following my every trail since tells me I’ve been exposed. 79. I abandoned my family to seek greener pastures, but now they’ve been imprisoned, and I can’t forgive myself. 80. I made a deal with a high-ranking official, and now they’re forcing me to go beyond the agreement. 81. I made a promise to a loved one, and I couldn’t keep my word. I want to make that right. 82. In return for my family’s safety, I volunteered for an experiment to explore the Bleak. The side-effects of exposure to the arcane maelstrom are manifesting. 83. I committed a minor crime against someone of high status. I’ve since seen their goons and hired hands watching me closely. 84. I keep a dark secret, and someone in power has discovered it. Now they seek my services for the “good of the realm.” How can I refuse? 85. I’ve made myself indispensable to someone in power who now commands me to spy on my companions. 86. I’ve realized a mundane family heirloom I carry may actually be a magical item. Others seek it relentlessly. 87. I was hired to carry goods for someone important, but I was robbed. Now they hold me accountable. 88. Once, I was determined to do good. But the longer I survive in this grim world, the less I care about doing what’s right. Now, I focus on living another day, and I’ve gone to dark lengths to keep my head. 89. A servant of the Dismembered Lord claims to have information on someone or something important to me. Their price is steep, but I have no other options. 90. I carry the weapon used to kill someone important to me.

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Some day, I will use this weapon to end the life of the person responsible, and I refuse to wield it otherwise. 91. I have an incurable disease rumored to be born of the Desolation. It’s taking its toll, and I fear I am becoming a rotfiend. 92. In a book or scroll, I learned a secret I wish I could forget. This knowledge has brought me trouble from those seeking answers. 93. I once robbed someone and used their coin to feed a habit. I think of them often, and wonder if they survived without the goods I stole. Maybe someday I can make it right. 94. The bounty on my head is steep enough to drive me to a life of isolation, but now I’m forced to rejoin society to survive, and I see danger around every corner. 95. I owe protection money to someone dangerous. They expected payment yesterday. 96. I’ve killed many, and I can’t ignore the blood on my hands anymore. Those affected by my bloodshed will soon take their vengeance, and I don’t think I’ll try to stop them. 97. I’m being offered a spot on the Copper Sun, though it isn’t cheap. I need to come up with the money before I lose the opportunity. 98. Roll again for yourself, and then again for your nemesis. Ignore results of 98, 99, and 100. 99. Roll again. A loved one is dealing with this issue. Ignore results of 99 and 100. 100. Roll twice, ignoring results of 98, 99, and 100. Both of these burdens plague you.

HOPES

1. I have a solid lead on a lost artifact of renown. This could be my chance at fame, riches, and security in a dire world. 2. My ancestors were prominent merchants, and I’d like to follow in their footsteps. I need to secure the funds to start my own business. 3. I have an opportunity for revenge against those who wronged me, but I need to act fast. 4. I wish to learn the ways of ecology, alchemy, and the natural world. I’ve heard of one who could teach me, but they’re elusive. 5. I’ve learned that I’m tied by blood to a noble family, and have an opportunity to reclaim lands and titles rightfully belonging to me. I’m not the only one with a claim, however. 6. I dream of a home for me and mine. One of these days when I have a family of my own, I’ll build it. 7. I have a line on a high-paying job, but I’ll need others to help me. 8. An ancient prophecy directs me toward a specific location during the next Triune Eclipse. 9. After years of swindling, I finally have an opportunity to legitimize my business, cutting ties with my seedy past. Just one more job and I’m out... 10. A rebel organization is on the cusp of an assault against the Dismembered Legion, and I’ll do what I can to help ensure the mission’s success. 11. No matter my past or ability, I know I am a fighter at heart. After a stroke of luck, a prominent gladiatorial trainer found themselves with an open spot in their school. 12. An orphanage dear to me is under threat of being demolished. If I can find out who’s behind the scheme, maybe I can stop it. 13. I thought a loved one was dead for some time, but I’ve just learned they are hiding in another region. 14. Someday, I’ll enroll in a notable and prestigious school. I’ll find my way in, no matter what anyone else thinks. 15. Through a stroke of luck, I learned the recent whereabouts of a family heirloom stolen from me. 16. A rival family struck a blow against me and mine, and I intend to settle the score. 17. I know my way around crafting instruments, and a wealthy merchant is willing to pay for my work if I can scrape together the money for my own workshop. 18. I’m a pretty good storyteller, but bards performing without a license don’t last long in Dragongrin. I need to secure a license, or find a place that will allow me to perform. 19. Someone left me their crafting tools, but I have no idea how to use them. Should I find someone who can teach me, or sell them off? 20. A close family member has been kidnapped by a monstrous cult on the opposite side of Dragongrin. I must get there soon, and with backup.

21. Someone I love is lost in one of Dragongrin’s dangerous wilds. I must find them. 22. I need to find a loved one who joined the military but later deserted. Should I help them remain hidden? Or should I turn them in? 23. I long to visit a particular region, but it seems impossible to secure passage without a merchant’s license. Perhaps I will obtain one, or sneak through the border. 24. Someone gifted me a beautiful weapon. The only caveat was that I “use it to make a difference.” 25. I’ve got a knack for an artisanal trade, and I’ve been offered an apprenticeship at a guild. They’re known to do business with some shady characters, but this is my chance to get ahead. 26. My ancestral treasures are buried in a location the Dismembered Lord deems fit for excavation. I must get there first. 27. A noble’s assassination has created a power vacuum. By some twist of fate, either I or someone I love has a claim to their seat. 28. I or someone I love is expecting a child. I need to make a peaceful and secure life for them. 29. I’ve stumbled upon the answer to a centuries-old mystery. My findings are worth paying – and killing for. 30. My favorite tavernkeep has died, leaving the establishment to me in their will. The tavern is rundown and in need of some love. 31. The village of a loved one is due to be culled by the Marrow. They’ll need help – or at least a warning. 32. I’ve painfully saved every copper, and I’ve finally come up with enough to leave my current situation. I just need to set some things right first. 33. I’ve finally wiped some mud from my family name, and am building up a solid reputation. Some friends think I should pursue a position of power, and I think I might have a chance. 34. I know where to find the thieves who plagued my childhood home. I could take vengeance, and prevent them from robbing others. 35. A cartographer’s guild is offering me a hefty sum to map out the dark corners of Dragongrin. 36. I’ve been mistakenly reported dead in a recent attack – this is my chance to disappear, and I know just the place to make a new life for myself. 37. I worked hard to get myself into traveling shape for a long and arduous trip, and it’s nearly time to make the journey. 38. My passion lies in brewing. Maybe someday I can start my own alehouse or distillery. 39. A loved one left me a secluded refuge, far from the troubles of Dragongrin. It might be my chance to live in peace if I can find it.

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40. Few have made the perilous journey across Svir, into Svir below, through the underground tunnels to Innes, and back out again. I know of a route – I just have to get there. 41. Before their death, a loved one confessed to me their lifelong wish to see the Dark Spires of Grinn. I’m going to look upon the Spires in their memory. 42. Someone I care about is imprisoned, but I’ve uncovered a way to free them – though it’s dangerous. 43. A distant family member has been made a lord elsewhere in Dragongrin, and they’ve asked for my service as an advisor – a position affording power and coin. 44. I kicked an addiction that controlled my life for years. Every day is a challenge, but I’m determined to help a loved one conquer the same trouble. 45. I’ve been contracted to write the official tales of a noble whose histories I am well informed on. They’re very particular about their portrayal, but I’m sure the coin and lodging will be worth it. 46. A prospective coastal settlement needs colonists. Free passage, guaranteed work, and a future somewhere else? How could I say no? 47. I had what I genuinely believe is a divine encounter. Others may think me crazy, but I know what I experienced, and I want to spread the word to others. 48. A long-forgotten story of Dragongrin’s past has fallen to me through oral tradition. I must spread this tale to keep it from disappearing. 49. I have a real chance at a peaceful life. I just need to clear my name. 50. A Lord of Ash I admire (or loathe) is making their way to my neck of the woods. I’m adamant in my need to make contact with them. 51. A rival of mine was just unmasked as a fraud. There’s an opportunity for me here if I can fill the void they’ve left. 52. A loved one I thought dead for years has resurfaced and speaks tales of a dark place with other missing people. I could help free them. 53. I gained a sizable sum of money in a bet, and need to decide where to hide it, what to do with it, and who I can trust. 54. I carry the ashes of a loved one, and it was their wish to be cast into a specific body of water far from my home. 55. I’ve always had a love for reading – something considered by many to be a waste of time when survival is at stake. I’ve recently found a location full of tomes and scrolls – now I can begin my own secret library. 56. A loved one perished at sea, but I know how to find the wreck and recover their belongings. 57. I want to become something dreadful and powerful. I hear Svir, Aqueanus, or Feygrave would be the perfect place to start. 58. I have a future in debts and loans. I’m learning the ropes, and all is well so long as I keep the right palms greased. 59. My childhood home suffered a catastrophic natural disaster. I’ve been summoned back to help with the rescue and repairs. 60. I’ve been promoted in my local militia. I’m excited to make a difference, but I’m expected to turn my gaze away from corruption more often than I’m used to. 61. Long ago, I was beaten in a duel by someone who cheated. I will find them and beat them fair and square. 62. I’ve fine-tuned a revolutionary new technique for my trade, and it will surely set me apart. 63. I inherited a tattered banner of an old clan, erased from history by the powerful tribe who eradicated them. I will see it fly over the old capital once again, no matter the cost. 170 CHARACTER CREATION: DEPTH

64. My village has been chosen by a local temple as the object of their philanthropy. We are being healed of disease, and given food and water. All we need to do is spend some time serving at their temple. 65. The last recorded position of my loved one’s ship has just been revealed to me. It’s been weeks since they failed to arrive at their destination, and I seem to be the only one willing to find them. 66. I’ve finished a creative work of great pride. It’s starting to garner attention, and I’ve even received offers for some commissions if I can spread the word. 67. I wish to train in the medical arts, but I’ll need the tools and perhaps the schooling to gain enough notoriety and skill. 68. I could make a tidy profit by guiding those weaker than me into dangerous places of the world. I’ll need some training and practice to garner the attention of those interested, but I’m destined to start my own ranging company. 69. I’ve scraped together enough coin to look at starting my own guild. I still need a partner or two, and some more investors, but things are looking up. 70. I’ve heard of a legendary typhon, but I’ll need to convince others to help me find it. 71. I’ve finally gained the respect of my mentor by making a difficult choice. In return they have offered to teach me some of their most guarded skills. 72. The wildlife of Dragongrin is as intriguing as it is endangered. I will start my own refuge, once I find enough creatures to inhabit it – and guards to protect it. 73. I am among the few who still speak a near-dead language, and I aim to revitalize the dialect throughout the region. Someday, I’ll pen a translation guide for the common tongue. 74. I am financially devastated by the Tenth every year, and I don’t think I can take another tax. I need to find a loophole or other way to spare me the worst of it. 75. I was dying, but in my final moments, I saw beyond the veil and somehow pulled through. There are things beyond this world, both terrible and hopeful, and I must learn more. 76. A prophecy states if the eternal flame of my childhood village is extinguished, the fate of the clan will be the same. It must be reignited by a member of my bloodline. 77. I suffer from a rare disease said to be incurable. It will kill me if I don’t find the cure, but I’ve heard of a distant hermitage specializing in strange antidotes, and need to find it.

78. I was one of a few brave souls who saved my township from a powerful threat. I’m celebrated as a hero within that small circle, but I’ve just been called back to face down another problem. If I don’t help, who will? 79. I believe a lost loved one had their soul imbued into a magical relic upon death. I can find it and be with them once again 80. I’ve just been voted onto a council. It grants me a certain measure of safety, so long as I play the political game and manage to keep my seat. 81. A local group of arcanists pays handsomely for each corpse brought to them for study. I’ll bet I could make a hefty sum by “finding” some and donating them. 82. I’ve managed to make some powerful allies in the region. However, they expect me to do various dangerous deeds for their cause. What could go wrong? 83. Once a booming settlement, a town near to my heart is now all but abandoned. I will use my skills to ensure its growth once again. 84. My personal land was found to contain rare machinations of the ancients. Many want to purchase the artifacts, some want to buy the land outright, and others are trying to get me out of the picture altogether. 85. I’ve secured a spot for my family on the Copper Sun. I just need to survive the month, then find the proper route to the sanctuary. 86. I inherited a single key, though I do not know where the lock resides. Emblazoned on the key is the sigil of a faraway region – perhaps I will start there. 87. Part of something I thought was lost forever was returned to me. Things are looking up, and now I am driven to pursue the missing pieces. 88. A loved one is dying, and I seek the secrets of undeath to

CONFLICTING HOPES Many of these hopes require urgent attention or action within a specific deadline. If two or more characters’ deadlines conflict, work with the GM to adjust the time frames or other details of the entry, or ensure the proper amount of conflict is created between the characters. Remember also that in Dragongrin, hopes can be dismal – there’s nothing wrong with choosing goals that directly oppose each other. Embrace the conflict.

preserve them. I’ve heard rumors of these dark magics in many realms, including Innes, Jahar, and Grinn. 89. I’ve been given the opportunity to repay a debt, despite my lack of coin to do so. I have hope for the first time in a long time, so long as I find my lender’s lost kinsman. 90. With the help of a spiritual guide, I have become enamored with a divinatory practice. The omens seem to point me toward a certain area of the world, but they only speak in riddles. 91. I survived a Marrow raid against all odds. During the attack, I learned the name of one of their next targets. I will alert the others to hide, or embolden their defenses. 92. I have discovered a method to preserve all sorts of perishable foods – a skill both helpful to my friends and sought after by greedy merchants. Maybe I can sell this information, or start my own business. 93. I returned a lost child to their family. I’ve never seen anyone so thankful, but now many others have requested I do the same deed for their kin. 94. A loved one was known to smoke a pipe before their untimely death, but only a specific blend of three tobaccos. I will find all three, no matter the cost, and gain a moment of nostalgia with my lost loved one. 95. I am trained in a lost martial art or meditative practice. Not only do I endeavor to hone my skills further, but I dream of beginning my own monastery dedicated to these teachings. 96. I’ve stumbled upon a method for predicting Bleakstorms, and aim to use it to my benefit. 97. My elders often told tales of an underground dungeon known as Deepvault, filled with incredible riches. My wanderlust leads me there. 98. I saved someone who was left for dead by Marrow peacekeepers. I put myself at risk, but it filled me with a sense of purpose. 99. Roll twice on this table, ignoring results of 99 or 100. One belongs to you, the other to your rival. 100. Roll twice on this table, ignoring results of 99 or 100. You have two hopes, and they might conflict with each other.

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TRINKETS AND MEMENTOS

Trinkets and mementos are distinct evidence of a character experiencing, combating, and surviving the darkness of Dragongrin. Trinkets and mementos are designed to be used as storytelling tools to immerse yourself into the dark realm of Dragongrin. Trinkets tend to be tangible, material objects used as narrative cues for your character’s experiences in Dragongrin. Where did they come upon such an object? What value does it hold or not hold? These are questions you can answer before you play in a single session, or riddles you can discover by playing at the table. Mementos are more intangible, emotional tokens – though they can be physical as well. They are intended to narratively evoke the dark and gritty nature of Dragongrin, and deal with themes of loss, physical scars, and emotional hardship. They can be used in addition to or instead of trinkets.

TRINKETS Trinkets are tokens of your experiences in Dragongrin. These unique items mark your survival in an unforgiving and deadly land, serving as reminders of lost loved ones, brutal encounters, pillaged ruins, or bartered goods. Trinkets are physical objects you’ve acquired, such as a weapon you used to save your family’s life, or the scented scarf of a deceased loved one. Choose a trinket that fits your character, or roll a d100 to randomly select a trinket.

DRAGONGRIN TRINKETS 1. 2. 3. 4.

Disgustingly accurate painting of the Dismembered Lord False hand of Solutar the Mangler, a former Lord of Ash Piece of tattered cloth that smells faintly of a Bleakstorm Book of poems about the fall of the dragons and their grins 5. Hammer made of Primordial bone 6. Charred Holithic hymnal – the only survivor of a great fire 7. Coral lamp of Aqueanus that casts light as if reflected on water 8. Undelivered letter with information that could have changed the outcome of Lightfall 9. Out-of-circulation coin of the Dismembered Legion 10. Helm made from the top half of a xol’s taxidermied head 11. Crimson veil that once lined a Marrow helm 12. Set of parchments that detail the histories of many recent Lords of Ash 13. Angular coin split down its center, held together by crackling Bleak energy 14. Bundle of sweet smelling herbs known as “dragonfoot” 15. Set of dice made from Archan scraps and Primordial bones 16. Incomplete healer’s kit from a long-dead faith 17. Rope from the gallows of the public square of Grinn 18. Vile, foul-smelling ichor that glows when in contact with blood 19. Perfectly carved statuette that takes the form of whomever holds it

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20. Clutch of razor sharp halyphon feather’s with a metal wire run through them 21. Cracked top half of a Marrow helm 22. Marching orders showing a Lord of Ash’s upcoming strategy 23. Piece of charred wood that glows when a Bleakstorm is near 24. Idol of a horrible dragon god that thrums softly 25. Club made from an irreparable Archan 26. Facsimile of a skull fashioned from salvaged holy symbols 27. Smuggled jar of “black milk” from the orcish healing pits of Innes 28. Tin tankard engraved with the phrase “The Light Will Never Fall” 29. Ledger of rebel names – many crossed off, dated recently 30. Scroll with criminal charges painted upon it, used during crucifixions 31. Deck plans of a seafaring vessel called “The Bleaktreader” 32. The displaced, grapefruit-sized eye of a Warmaker 33. Metal rank insignia of a regiment lost to the Bleak 34. Flint and tinder in the shape of a knight striking a dragon that spits fire 35. Small wooden dragon or typhon 36. Book of all the known religions of Dragongrin before Lightfall 37. Black market guidebook of Svir Below written in a cipher 38. Full set of tarnished silverware that once belonged to a publicly executed noble 39. Invitation and directions to a secret annual Red Sail bazaar 40. Necklace of blackened rotfiend teeth 41. Barbed Archan bauble in pristine condition 42. Splinters of Primordial talon 43. Shard of a Rootgate that grows fragrant flowers

44. Strange orb, filled with roiling Bleak 45. Chunk of raw copper ore – an invitation from the Copper Jackals 46. Eye of a monster of Svir, kept in a small jar 47. Pouch of a now extinct Jaharian tobacco 48. Piece of the Infinite Lock 49. Jar of golden sandsteel 50. Metallic dragon scale 51. Forever bloodstained, enormous curved fang of a Doomsayer 52. Sealed scroll case with the seal of a Lord of Ash 53. Length of crimson rope that emits faint glimmerwinds 54. Deck of fortune-telling cards each depicting a different ancient dragon 55. Twisting silver horn that ends in a dragon’s mouth 56. Fragment of a stained-glass window depicting a Holithic saint 57. Pouch of rare, scorching spices from Marin’s Well in Uldane 58. Detailed map to the upper layers of Jahar’s Onyx Ziggurat 59. Set of beggar’s rags on the outside – clean, intricate series of pockets on the inside 60. Work of fiction that depicts a brutal war on the Blood Moon entitled “Crore” 61. Intimate love letter written to the Dismembered Lord 62. The arachnid facial tendril of a thoughtslayer 63. Smooth wooden tankard from the famed Bleak’s Edge tavern 64. Dented copper tin containing porous spheres labeled “typhon eggs” 65. Pocket-sized book embroidered with a golden typhon 66. Bone flute with a pre-Holithic pantheon carved into it 67. Keg of impossibly strong fire-kissed ale from Varnholme

68. Marrow bedroll that is water resistant and warm 69. Amulet whose symbol changes to depict upcoming weather 70. Detailed drawing of the levels of the Copper Sun 71. Dark, smooth belt of a Marrow Arcseer 72. Journal of a thoughtslain detailing a descent into madness 73. Handful of Bleakiron arrowheads 74. Scroll showing the constellations – each a dragon or typhon 75. Map of the place known as typhongrave 76. Tapestry depicting the Holithic church as the realm’s greatest evil 77. Xol-skin cloak, hand-crafted in Zamon 78. Bundle of outlawed sheet music banned in the realm 79. Pink-hued crystal with a strange insect at its center 80. Masterwork set of leather gloves with the phrase “hero killer” branded onto them 81. Kneebreaker’s writ of passage 82. Sheet music titled Smirk of the Deathmaw 83. Clump of ruby sealing wax that crackles like a Bleakstorm when used 84. Mirror that reflects its surroundings, but adds battling dragons and typhons 85. Necklace that appears as a Titan city at rest 86. Ivory mask depicting a deity of great power 87. Branch from Feygrave fashioned into a quill with an endless supply of grimy ink 88. Torch that, when lit, casts cold light that shows the shadowy realm of the Desolation wherever it shines 89. Cookbook of the realms of Arbitron 90. Marrow dagger with a chip in it 91. Known memento of a famous hero of Lightfall 92. Map that seeps with red stains where Bleak storms occur within a few miles 93. Gold coin – a fierce dragon on one side, a mighty typhon on the other 94. Set of toy metal figures – half Titans, half primordials 95. Scroll case stuffed with holy writings of a lost religion 96. Branding iron from a Maug’Tarak drudge master 97. Hunk of juicy, savory meat that regenerates – said to be C’War flesh 98. Locked cube with a hideous eye within – said to be a part of Yhaghul itself 99. Book full of a lunatic’s ravings about a strange device called a “Crucible” 100. Rippled, indigo-colored, lobstered gauntlet – a description fitting a missing Reliquary of Ash 173 CHARACTER CREATION: DEPTH

CULTURAL TRINKETS Roll on the following tables for trinkets more specifically oriented toward a specific culture in the world of Dragongrin. These trinkets are excellent at tying characters directly to the world. D10 ARDOR TRINKETS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Orc's eye preserved in a necklace Blunt dagger with a riddle carved in its handle Tyl’s ursine tooth Rudimentary instrument made of bone Doll of a Maug'Tarak general Ransom note from Lightfall Rare, dried flower that only grows in the swamp Orcish cooking pot that stays cool to the touch Copper head of an ancient arrow Small keg of homebrew ale

D10 CRUCIAN TRINKETS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Handkerchief monogrammed with a famous house crest Pocket mirror with house words etched in the frame Onyx flask with a blood red insignia Handmade soap, and a monogrammed hand towel Threatening, anonymous letter mentioning you by name Engagement ring set with a blood-red ruby Bloodstained coat of arms of a long-dead house Bottle of small-batch spirits made for a now-dead Lord of Ash Small dagger made of glistening crystal Invitation to an annual dinner of Dragongrin’s most powerful

D10 DROGUS TRINKETS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Glass cube full of Golis water, and a mechanical eel Greasy waterskin filled with orange fluid Chunk of sharp, reflective metal that cuts like steel Wickedly sharp, rusted folding knife Battered helm with a handle affixed to make a cooking pot Ancient holy symbol locket that plays a forlorn song Defunct mechanical badger Toy horse and rider fashioned with reclaimed scrap Set of refurbished fancy clothes from a bygone era Half-eaten box of Crucian chocolate

D10 GRANOK THANE TRINKETS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Bandolier designed to carry blades Silk satchel of transparent ball bearings Collapsible copper weighing scales Razor-sharp halyphon feather Set of Thanium knuckle dusters Bundle of Granok Thane field rations Flask with a poison reservoir in its bottom Small stone carved into a key Leatherbound book of Granok Thane battle tactics Ledger of previous Red Sail routes

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D10 GRIMDUL TRINKETS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Colorful plant that constantly moves as though windblown Set of colorful clay pots in varying sizes, fitting in one another Carving of an ancestor’s likeness Long, rolled parchment explaining the Jantari Ceremonial cloak depicting tribal history in symbols Stone dagger wrapped in smooth leather Set of traditional wooden flutes Poncho with stitchings and painting of primordials Set of perfumed herbs and oils Set of intricate wind chimes

D10 HOLMIR TRINKETS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Leather bag of worn runestones Staff that balances on the ground without falling Blood-stained map of a dragon’s grin Severed troll hand that never rots Golden pendant of Yngvildr Ornate, bone warhorn Unfamiliar silver coin from a raiding expedition Intricate brooch of interwoven, knotted design Lyre with seven tuning pegs, its body the shape of a dragon Woodcutting axe with a battle hymn carved in the haft

D10 MORD TRINKETS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Drafting parchment that repels water Stark white chalk that can write on nearly any surface Bag of blessed rocksalt Dried, tangled plant from the Desolation Pair of thick books filled cover to cover with tiny Mord writings Set of stained, dark iron keys Bottle of unopened wine from a vineyard in the Desolation Wickedly curved hand scythe Roll of thin, dark cloth that is nearly unbreakable Decanter of a writhing, thick, black liquid

D10 SARRIK TRINKETS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Pendant of white rope tied around a phosphorescent rock Faded scrap of cloth with a symbol painted over and altered Clear piece of crystal that only refracts blue and purple light Pre-Lightfall bone statue of an unidentified person Candle that burns in rainbow hues Foot-wide disc of seemingly unbreakable stained glass Slate gray gauntlet splattered with different colored paints Set of plants, herbs, and rocks used to create different dyes Bottle of Desolation-tainted material that burns purple Set of tattered scrolls with a list of old cultural symbols

D10 SILVERWISE TRINKETS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Cracked whistle of a recently murdered city guard Slim, silver dirk with a Holithic engraving on the blade Small, straw doll with exaggerated vampiric teeth Map of rumored treasures dotting the realm Leather pouch filled with heavy copper dust Ledger of payments and debts for breeding Silverwise hounds Set of black leather wagoner’s gloves, worn and soft Worn key with the inscription "last hope" Rose, carved of kindlewood, its tip stained blood red Glass jar containing a yellowed talon, labeled "wolfkin"

D10 TALASAR TRINKETS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Shard of the Amputated Limb, slowly withering with infection Piece of shrapnel that once struck you or someone you love Military blanket from any of the warring factions of Talas Single fortune card or runestone, once used to read your future Glowing gem, obtained from near the Rootgate Half-burned fabric doll stuffed with cotton Rank insignia of a fallen soldier Folded banner of one of Talas’ many factions Music box which plays a traditional Talasar tune Note signed by Lord of Ash Aldus Bex

D10 ZARFVIN TRINKETS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Primordial-skin gloves Mechanical, flexible spyglass Prism that can predict the local weather Set of copper dice of varying size Pair of stones that produce water when struck together Small pouches of various reagents Set of Primordial and Titan figurines at scale Small cylinder that emits oil when squeezed Small cutting tool that can slowly cut through stone and steel Compass that always points to an object you choose

MEMENTOS Mementos are tokens of your experience in Dragongrin. These often intangible items mark your survival in a mentally and emotionally taxing land. These are brands of distress that you have survived – a deep scar from a Marrow blade, or a recurring nightmare of a destructive and life-altering fire. Choose a memento that fits your character, or roll a d4 and a d10 to randomly select a memento. The d4 determines the type of memento, and the d10 is a more specific description of your memento. D10 1. PAINFUL MEMORIES 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Echoes of a Doomsayer feasting and bellowing Dead eyes of a loved one who didn’t make it Eye of a destructive storm, and a sinking vessel Heat of intense flames, and wailing cries behind them Creaking ropes upon a gallows Acrid smell of corroding flesh Loved one’s unfinished last words Smoke on the horizon, a home destroyed Honed, bleeding edge of a blade used to slay a loved one Fleeting goodbye to escaping loved one

D10 2. SCARS AND DISFIGUREMENTS D10 LOST CULTURE TRINKETS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

A deck of Oedran fortune-teller cards Wooden bowl stained with flecks of dried Primordial blood A collection of pre-Lightfall musical compositions and music theory notes A stone tablet predicting the rise of the Dismembered Lord centuries beforehand A jar of red dirt matching no known Dragongrin soil Book of Holithic scripture with heretical notes scrawled throughout Incomplete schematics for an Oedran automaton Battered wargame labeled “The Battle for Enchea” Stone smoking pipe from an extinct Grimdul tribe Pouch of coins from Viste before its fall

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Severed limb One eye is white, surrounded by a grisly scar Scarred flesh around the neck, where the rope pulled taut Periodic, severe pain from old wound Dozens of overlapping whip scars on back and shoulders Severe scar across your throat Surgical scar across your chest or head Mottled flesh from severe burns Holes in your wrists from crucifixion Grating bone set improperly

D10 3. TROPHIES EARNED 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

The weapon of a Marrow you bested The skull of the creature that nearly took your life Walking stick stained with blood Weapon carved with notches Skeletal finger of a would-be thief Letter of proclamation listing your deeds against rebels Honorary title, given by a Lord of Ash Ring from the hand of a dead rival Monogrammed belt pouch taken from a noble Claw or tooth from a slain beast

D10 4. FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Name and last known location of a wanted hero List of code words used in a Marrow fortress List of Marrow secretly helping a resistance group Knowledge of a possible way to confuse the Crucible Ciphered symbol used to prove identity of a rebel Real name and hometown of an infamous Copper Jackal Surname of a loved one of a Lord of Ash Hymn of a pre-Lightfall religious institution Location of a Primordial graveyard Map to a heavily-guarded, hidden area

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CHARACTER BACKSTORY

Who are you? What is your role in the world of Dragongrin? Where your background provides some insight into your history and profession, your backstory focuses on formative events and figures of your past. Many of the items on these roll tables allude to certain skills and features you’ve gained in your life. While these options are narrative, they can be used to shape the choice of your adventuring class, skill proficiencies, and background. Backstories are rich wells to draw from for both players and Game Masters looking for conflict or motivation. Use your backstory in concert with a background by using this in place of your traits, flaws, hopes, and burdens, or use the following methods as additional inspiration for characters or NPCs.

BACKSTORY PILLAR Home, family, friends, and occurrences play a grand role in who a character becomes. Roll a d12, or choose one of the following backstory pillars, then roll on the corresponding tables. D12

BACKSTORY PILLAR

Homeland: The terrain and culture of my homeland 1-3 influenced who I am today. 4-6 Family: My kin shaped every facet of my identity. Influential Relationship: A person or group heavily 7-9 influenced me, and following their lead sculpted me into who I am today. 10-12 Landmark Event: A landmark event forged my fate.

The Dominions of Ash chapter in this book (page 184) can help you flesh out the broad ideas generated here into more specific, story-driven character ties to the world. Be sure to examine your home region and find enticing elements to which to tie your backstory. Choose or roll a d20 each for your homeland and homeland influences that set you on your particular course of life.

1 2 3-5 6-10 11 12 13-14 15-16 17 18-19 20

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

HOMELAND

D20

D20 HOMELAND INFLUENCES

BIRTH REGION Aqueanus Feygrave Grinn Innes Jahar Svir Svir Below Talas Uldane Varnholme Zamon

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17 18 19 20

You grew up steeped in the traditions of your homeland, revering them even in foreign lands. You support your region and Lord of Ash financially, sending tribute home whenever you can. Parts of your homeland are oppressed – you long to see them liberated. You treasure the recipes of your homeland, preparing and sharing them often. You show unfaltering loyalty to anyone from your region – even those undeserving of it. You wear your region's colors or banner proudly – even when doing so causes conflict. You value all cultures and question your region’s traditions. Your culture values a strong sense of community. You foster collaboration and companionship. You speak with an accent or dialect unique to your home region. You look to the legends and figures of your homeland for inspiration – and defend their reputation if necessary. Your speech or behavior might be considered boorish or rude in other regions. You readily accepted others in your homeland which tempered you with open-mindedness. In your hometown, the greater good is paramount. When faced with a difficult decision, your mind snaps to this philosophy. You hail from a place where honor is the highest currency. You instinctively protect your honor above all else. In your homeland, wealth buys safety, comfort, and favors – you value money, and sneer at those who don’t. Where you’re from, revenge is a distant concept. Your people live and let live, and they’ve thrived for generations. You come from a place where your elders come first – you defer to someone your senior out of respect. Where you’re from, even the slightest insult is enough to start a fight. You struggle to contain your aggressive nature. Bandits plagued your homeland. Distrust and stern protection of personal belongings dominate your thoughts. Your homeland values service in the legions. Even if you oppose them, you still show Marrow respect out of habit – or strategic pandering.

FAMILY Family pillars decide your current relationship with your family, their whereabouts, and the activities they may be participating in. Choose or roll a d20 each for the circumstances of your birth and a family secret. D20 FAMILY SECRET 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

They harbor a fugitive – or are fugitives themselves. They are former slaves escaped from their masters. They stole something from someone in power. They betrayed the rest of the family to survive. They hold a secret others would kill to protect. They kill to ensure their safety. They know where to find a legendary creature. They maintain false identities to hide their past. They staged a bloody coup. A person in power has dirt on them. They dabble in forbidden Bleak magic to survive the horrors of the realm. They work as slavers to ensure their own protection. They possess knowledge of a Titan burial site or dragon’s grin. They fought during Lightfall, or another minor rebellion. They are inexorably tied to the Bleak, or possess forbidden lore relating to it. They have connections in the Copper Sun, or know its location. They possess a powerful Archan. They have secreted away a large sum of gold for security. They secretly run a temple to a forbidden or outlawed deity. They are in league with the shadowy denizens of the Desolation.

D20 CIRCUMSTANCES OF YOUR BIRTH 1 2

6 7 8

16 17 18

You were abandoned as a baby. Roll again for the family who took you in and raised you. You were born into slavery, forced to work the land or execute other hard labor. Your life of bondage gives you a soft spot for the oppressed. You were born among peasants, commoners, or laborers. Perhaps you worked the land, ran a store, or lived as a servant. You only know a life of serfdom and peasantry. You were born among tradespeople, guild workers, or craftsmen. You knew no wealth, nor the pains of poverty, but earned your keep. You take no comfort in being idle. You are the progeny of a notable person involved in Lightfall. Perhaps a hero or martyr, or maybe they served the Dismembered Lord. Depending on where you are, and the present company, your parentage can be either a boon or a bane to you. You were born into privilege and station, living among the nobility. Your parents served nobles even higher, but you never wanted for much. You desire comfort above all things. The stars fell the night you were born, and many attribute your eccentricities to the strange circumstances of your birthday. You were raised by people of a heritage different than your own. You have little trouble mingling with strangers, no matter their culture or heritage. You came into the world aboard a sailing ship, buffeted by a raging storm. You feel a kinship with thunder, lightning, and lashing rain. You are a bastard but may know one of your parents. You’re seen as lesser by many, but also share special connections with other outsiders. You were born following a great tragedy, seen as a muchneeded blessing. Your family credits their survival with your birth and the hope it inspired. You were born in the wilderness, raised on the fringes of society. Only recently have you ventured into the towns and cities of civilization, and still aren’t entirely comfortable surrounded by buildings and people. The circumstances surrounding your birth were violent and tumultuous, and many shied away from you even in childhood. It’s possible you are unaware of the grievous circumstances of your birth. You were a long-awaited child to a family with regent blood – the result of much prayerful attention. Some consider you the rightful heir to their royal line. You were born to a family once in good standing, but since dishonored. You carry the shame and weight of your kin, especially around those who supplanted your once honorable name. You were born into a family of proud military tradition, joining the ranks of the Marrow at a young age. For more details, jump to the Marrow Backstory section. Your mother died giving birth to you. You know your other parent, but the relationship is strained at best. It is rumored your birth was not of this realm, ethereal and mysterious in nature. Are these the ravings of the superstitious? Or is there credence to the whispers? You are the heir to a family of a notable and famous past. Your name carries with it a well-known stigma – choose whether your family was distinguished or despicable. You are the object of a prophecy, and your birth was considered an omen. You gained the attention of sages, scholars, and clerics, all clamoring to discover what your birth foretells.

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D20 NATURE OF RELATIONSHIP 1

9 10 11

You became close friends with someone not accepted readily in your homeland, such as an orc, tomeheart, festir, or Sarrik. Your relationship with them showed you bigotry first-hand, teaching you not to judge a book by its binding. You became close with an acolyte of a temple and their faith had a lasting effect on you. You saw their dedication and conviction, and have hungered after it ever since, seeking answers of your own. You became close with a loner who reluctantly took a liking to you over time, showing you the ropes of survival and looking out for yourself. You became good friends with a clairvoyant – a fortune teller who claimed to be gifted. Your relationship with them opened your mind to things more ethereal beyond the veil of what you see, and you readily believe even the most fantastical story. You could truly confide in your childhood friend. In return, they told you of the many skeletons in their own closet – both of you could ruin the other with the secrets you know. You connected with an outcast – someone exiled from another region. Your time with them caused you to question your beliefs, and changed your outlook on the political state. You fell in with a sordid type – a criminal who openly boasted to you about their exploits. Through them, you learned of the underworld and gained some personal connections there. You grew close to an employer. They favored you, and occasionally got you out of trouble. You learned a great deal about leadership from them. You served under a stern commanding officer or tribal leader, becoming close despite their intensity. You learned about order and organization, and how to follow commands efficiently. You were taken under the wing of a martial mentor who trained you into a capable warrior with a well-shaped moral code. You engaged in a romantic relationship spanning many years, and though you’ve moved on, you still occasionally think on your time with this special person. You befriended a powerful warrior who always drove you to do more – to be more. They were exceptional in skill and power, and turned you into a motivated self-starter. You knew a wandering soul – someone who came and went during your young life. They brought you trinkets and mementos from their strange travels, as well as epic tales of their exploits. You’d be lying if you said this didn’t instill wanderlust in you. You had a great friend with dozens of meaningful social connections. Their ability to gain audiences and mutually beneficial arrangements was uncanny, and you picked up some important pointers and prestigious connections through them. You befriended the town idiot, and though they were not as dimwitted as people insisted, they were certainly marching to the beat of their own drum. Their simple thoughts and frequent smile taught you not to overcomplicate things with despair. You relied on a sellsword to get you through tough times, but it was always at a cost. Whether trading secrets, owing errands, or exchanging coin, you could always count on them. They taught you to be fair in your dealings. You were bound into the stewardship of a local ruler, and in your time serving, grew close to them. They never spoke down to you, teaching you diplomacy, and how to confidently deal with people of power. You shared a bond with one of your kin. You vented to each other and shared secrets, and you’ve never met another quite like them. They taught you to get up and keep going, and to seize your own destiny. You were close friends with a prolific artist. They taught you to think outside of what is normally accepted, and instilled an appreciation of art in you. You collect it now wherever you can. You were close to a scholar from a nearby academic institute. They conversed with you for countless hours about their theories and recent findings on various topics. This has given you a well-rounded layman’s education on a number of subjects, and a healthy respect for teachers.

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INFLUENTIAL RELATIONSHIP As relationships grow and evolve, so to do all people involved. Choose or roll a d20 each for both the nature of the influential relationship, and the current state of that relationship, while trusting yourself to fill in the details more specifically as your journeys through Dragongrin progress. These relationships can also inspire which adventuring class you choose, the finer details of your background, and more. D20 STANDING OF RELATIONSHIP 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

An unforgivable betrayal destroyed the relationship. A physical altercation ended the relationship forever. One of you began associating with deplorables. A broken promise fractured the relationship. The relationship was strained over petty theft. Lies broke the trust and fractured the relationship. The relationship was damaged by humiliation. Financial disputes strained the relationship. You think of this person often, and though you drifted apart, you know you can call on them for aid. A failed collaboration made this relationship too tense. You grew apart following different life paths, but you remember the relationship fondly. Things changed, and you met new friends and associates, growing apart. Another pursuit took up more of your time, leaving less time for this relationship. Your beliefs changed, and your new mentality is at odds with this relationship. The relationship has turned into a healthy business venture between both parties. You’ve both gone your separate ways, but maintain contact via frequent letters. The relationship still blossoms, and your friend joins you on many adventures. Your friend was executed by agents of the Dismembered Lord. You blame yourself for an injury your friend suffered, and cannot bear to look upon them for long. Your friend was captured and remains a prisoner.

LANDMARK EVENT Milestones, catalysts, catastrophes, and other landmark events in a character’s life inspire your character’s arc as you struggle to overcome what happened, or embrace it. Choose or roll a d20 each for the circumstances of your landmark event and the lasting effect it had on your life. D20 TYPE OF LANDMARK EVENT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

You were accepted into a training or apprenticeship program. A trusted person betrayed you when you needed them most. You were bullied throughout your life. You were the winner of a competitive test of skill in the region. You were profoundly shaken by a death in your family or close circle. You were detained against your will for an extended time. You witnessed Lightfall or one of the later rebellions. You came face to face with a rare or wondrous creature. You ran with the wrong crowd. You survived an invasion or occupation. You took your first life at a young age. You were touched by war. You were part of a forbidden romance. You found an illicit object and hid it away. You were incarcerated for a time. You received an inheritance. You survived a Bleakstorm. You were given a relic. You escaped your former life and never looked back. You were slain and resurrected.

D20 LASTING EFFECT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

This affected your choice of the company you keep. This instilled a dreadful phobia in you. This affected the way you look at worldly possessions. This directly influenced your adventuring class. This influenced your outlook on the other cultures of the realm. This caused more respect for tradition and customs. This made you far more charitable – almost to a fault. This caused you to find faith in something beyond yourself. This stirred you to ensure an event like this happens to no one else. This instilled a sense of fierce independence within you. This redefined your sense of honor. This event made you cling to material things – edging on greed. This forged a sense of loyalty of which you didn’t think you were capable. This lit a burning need in you for redemption. This pressed you to look at the importance of each soul in the realm. This enforced a powerful need to be brutally honest. This has driven you to prove your worth. This instilled in you a tireless work ethic. This awoke a dormant spell of creativity within you. This event is what led to finding your best and closest friend.

CHARACTER QUESTIONS Alternative to the backstory pillar method, you can simply answer questions about your character to generate a custom backstory. You don’t have to answer all of these questions, and certainly not all at once, but choosing or rolling a handful to think about at the beginning of the campaign can give you (and your Game Master) a better idea of who your character is and what they want. As you continue your adventures, consider revisiting this section and choosing some more questions that may be relevant to what’s happening in the campaign. This can give your character a story arc, and be a helpful roleplaying tool for you and your Game Master. 1. How old are you? What does that mean for your heritage? 2. Who were your parents? Are they still alive? What was your relationship with them? 3. Do you have any siblings? Are they living or dead? 4. What social class are you from? Are you wealthy? Poor? 5. How does your upbringing affect your worldview? 6. Do you have any reviled or celebrated ancestors? What are they known for? 7. Are you romantically partnered? Do you have children? 8. Who is your best friend? Your greatest enemy? 9. Did you witness a historically significant event? What was it, and how did it affect you? 10. How did you get started in your chosen adventuring class? 11. Where did you learn your skills? 12. Do you have any heroes or inspirational figures? 13. What is your most significant personal item? 14. Are you religious? To what degree? Do you fear death? Believe in the afterlife? 15. What is your view on magic? Divine, arcane? 16. Have you ever served in the military? 17. Can you read or write? 18. Have you ever been arrested? For what crime(s)? 19. How do you feel about killing? 20. What, if anything, do you want to be remembered for? 179 CHARACTER CREATION: DEPTH

CHARACTER TIES

Survival in solitude is unlikely in Dragongrin, and while finding allies is imperative, trust never comes easily in a land ruled by the Dismembered Lord. Connections provide meaningful links between characters, while adventuring party bonds forge unshakable motivation to band together toward a common goal.

CHARACTER CONNECTIONS Character connections that exist prior to the beginning of a campaign or one-shot allow for rich layers of narrative otherwise unachievable when the characters start as strangers. Conversely, too many pre-existing connections can bring the burden of overcomplication, stifle opportunities for collaborative storytelling, and feel contrived. Work alongside the Game Master and other players to ensure the connections fit the tone, theme, and realism you’re looking for in your game.

DECIDING WHICH CHARACTERS ARE CONNECTED Choose as many players as you’d like to have character connections. To randomly decide which characters share connections, have each player roll a d20. The player with the highest number showing on the die and the player with the lowest number showing on the die share a connection. Ties can be rerolled. Some of the options involve secrets and intrigue, so it might be best to roll away from the prying eyes of other players.

SUPERIOR AND SUBORDINATE CONNECTIONS Some connections appoint a clear superior character and a clear subordinate character, such as an employer and employee, commanding officer and soldier, or master and servant. In the case this connection is rolled, the players involved can either choose who fulfills either role, or instead each roll a d20. The player with the higher number showing on the die is the superior, while the player with the lower number showing on the die is the subordinate. Ties can be rerolled.

DETERMINING CHARACTER CONNECTIONS To determine the connections characters share, roll a d6 and a d10. The d6 determines which category of character connection, and the d10 determines the specific result on the corresponding table.

D10 1. COMPANIONSHIP 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

You are best friends, and one of you is in grave danger. You once worked together, but grew apart in your quest. You are friendly rivals. You are inseparable best friends, closer than blood relatives. You hail from the same Dominion of Ash. You’ve met enough times in your travels to grow from acquaintances to partners. You are family friends, and share a traitor cousin. You were childhood friends until separated by a catastrophe. You’ve recently rediscovered each other. One of you saved the other’s life, forging an unbreakable bond. You are old drinking buddies, laughing and joking even when the stakes are high.

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D10 2. WARFARE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

You served in the same regiment during Lightfall, or a minor rebellion after. You were reluctant allies to the Marrow, serving in a militia aiding the Dismembered Lord. You fought on opposite sides of a conflict. You’re veterans of a local militia, though not formal military. You’re competing sellswords, alternating between friends and rivals. One of you owes a blood debt or battle-sworn oath to the other. Together, you slayed a notorious enemy in battle. You rallied together to defend your village or homestead from a monstrous threat. You’re both refugees from the same failed rebellion. One of you is the former commanding officer of the other.

D10 3. DUTY 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

One of you is a sellsword, the other their employer. One of you is a temple leader, the other a servant. One of you is a Red Sail merchant, the other a hired guard. You serve the same cult or religious order. One of you is the mentor, the other the student. You serve under the same Lord of Ash, Marrow commander, or rebel leader. You are both apprentices to the same teacher. One of you is imbued with a supernatural mission, the other dedicated to the cause. One of you is a prominent member of a faction, the other is hired to further the organization’s goals. One of you rescued the other from a notorious prison, and is owed a life-debt.

D10 4. LINEAGE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

One of you is the black sheep of the family, the other the golden child. You are twins. Your parents arranged your marriage when you were young. You were both adopted by the same family. One of you is the aunt/uncle, the other the niece/nephew. One of you is the parent, the other the child. One of you is the family heir, the other a bastard child. You are cousins whose parents no longer speak due to a family feud. One of you was married to the other’s sibling before their untimely death. You are both related to the same Lord of Ash or prominent Marrow.

D10 5. CONSPIRACY 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

You are members of an underground faction or rebellion. You were drudges or prisoners before escaping together. You both work for the same criminal syndicate. You were accomplices to a dark deed long ago. You both witnessed a heinous act, and now flee from pursuers. You are both spies for the same patron – or different patrons. You are victims of the same crime, now bent on revenge. You are infamous bandits along the Red Sail Market route. One of you must assassinate or capture a target, the other must prevent the act. One of you faked your death or fled in exile, the other knows why.

D10 6. EVERGROWING SHADOWS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

You are both being blackmailed into service by a Marrow. A Lord of Ash has put a price on your heads. You both fled conscription into the Marrow. You both upset the wrong Marrow commander, who now seeks to capture you. You were both tainted by the Bleak, Desolation, or other supernatural curse. The Dismembered Lord seeks to remove you and your families from this timeline. Monstrous entities pursue you both for mysterious reasons. A Doomsayer destroyed your homes. There’s a Granok Thane bounty on each of your heads for the same deed – it pays a bonus for both of you together. You both assassinated a prominent servant to a Lord of Ash. They haven’t pegged you as the murderers yet, but they’re getting close.

ADVENTURING PARTY BONDS Dragongrin is rife with powerful threats and countless reasons to stay hidden behind locked doors, yet adventure still calls to many whether they want it or not. But why join the ranks of a party of outsiders you wouldn’t trust under normal circumstances, let alone to watch your back? Adventuring party bonds are character goals significant enough to compel a group of otherwise solitary adventurers to band together to achieve it. Possessing an adventuring party bond doesn’t automatically compel others to help you achieve it. Some of these motivations are designed for specific classes, but each can be used no matter the character in question. Bonds of shared circumstance are intended to be shared by one or more adventurers in the group.

DECIDING WHICH CHARACTERS HAVE ADVENTURING PARTY BONDS Choose as many or as few characters that you’d like to have adventuring party bonds compelling them to find others to aid in their cause. To randomly decide which characters possess adventuring party bonds, have each player roll a d20. The player with the highest number showing on the die and the player with the lowest number showing on the die each possess adventuring party bonds. Ties can be rerolled. Some bonds work well with the whole group, while other options involve secrets and intrigue, best rolled away from the prying eyes of other players.

DETERMINING ADVENTURING PARTY BONDS To determine the adventuring party bond, roll a d10 and a d6. The d10 determines the bond’s category, and the d6 determines the specific result on the corresponding table. D6 1 2 3 4 5 6 D6 1 2 3 4 5 6 D6 1 2 3 4 5 6

1. BONDS OF SHARED CIRCUMSTANCE Retaliate against a common enemy Summoned by a greater power for a mission Affected by the same tragedy, seeking catharsis Explore the realm, learning its secret truths Contend with threats against your shared homeland Join a cause in sparking rebellion 2. BONDS OF THE ARCANE Safely explore the depths of Dragongrin’s arcane secrets Foreboding whispers from the Bleak bring you to others Your mentor, a seeker of knowledge, was mysteriously slain Uncover the truth of your shared ties to the Bleak Gain an instructor of the more Join a cause in sparking rebellion 3. BONDS OF DARK SERVITUDE Uncover the secrets of your patron’s power Your patron’s power surges in the presence of your comrades Your patron urges you to find others for the cause Find others who accept your relationship with your patron Your patron seeks pacts with others – namely, your companions When you are alone, your patron’s power grows beyond your control

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D6 1 2 3 4 5 6 D6 1 2 3 4 5 6 D6 1 2 3 4 5 6 D6 1 2 3 4 5 6 D6 1 2 3 4 5 6

4. BONDS OF FAITH Inspire others with your faith, and spread hope Bring souls peace from the darkness of Dragongrin Acting on a shared dream or divine vision Seeking aid on a holy pilgrimage or quest Establishing a temple or hostel Commanded by a higher power 5. BONDS OF DISCIPLINE Train with others, honing skills and shoring up weaknesses Discover life outside of your chosen discipline Put training into practice in service of good – or evil Your skill surpasses your teachers – you seek other powerful warriors to study Find harmony alongside those different than you to reach enlightenment Master a lost and forgotten martial art or battle tactic 6. BONDS OF BRUTALITY Control and harness your rage Fight alongside others to improve your combat prowess Find others to protect, to make up for those you failed Fight fiercely and often – it’s when you feel most alive Make a difference with brawn and brutality, though it’s foolish to do so alone Harm a particular figure or faction 7. BONDS OF THE VALE The Vale itself calls out to you – its signs are everywhere You haven’t connected with others for some time and it's taking its toll Only as a tribe united can you restore balance to the Vale A spiritual vision drew you together Protecting the same forest or natural site Complete an ancient ritual centuries in the making 8. BONDS OF THE UNSCRUPULOUS You have sticky fingers – you seek those who could use your talents You seek a grin to rob of its relics and riches, but going alone would be suicide Surround yourself with trustworthy people – it makes it easier to build alibis Never had much luck on your own – there’s strength in numbers You have a knack for backstabbing, and that’s easier when someone else stands in front of them It takes a lot of work to make an operation legitimate – more than you’re capable of alone

CONFLICTING MOTIVATIONS Contradictory motivations between characters often present perfect fodder for dramatic inspiration. One character seeking assistance on their pilgrimage would see another’s goal to lay down roots and form their own temple as directly opposed to their holy journey, but perhaps the temple should be built at the final pilgrimage location? Perhaps the goal of the crusade is to reclaim a lost idol to be used in the construction of the temple? Keep an open mind when rolling multiple bonds, and let the darkness of Dragongrin guide you.

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D6 1 2 3 4 5 6 D6 1 2 3 4 5 6

9. BONDS OF PERFORMANCE Create great works of art Find a deserving audience of peers Practice illegal performance without repercussion Discover works of art lost during Lightfall Learn and share the true story of the Dismembered Lord’s rise Establish a new college or performance hall 10. BONDS OF THE STRANGE You’ve seen into the Bleak – you seek others who understand its perils You are tormented by visions of the location of a dragon’s grin An otherworldly force calls you to action, and will kill you if you fail You know the rough location of a Primordial boneyard, and seek others to help you find it You’ve died before, returning to life through the Wailing Gray – you seek others like you The Dismembered Lord himself has given you a mission

TIES TO THE REALM

ADVENTURING PARTY THEMES

You have established many character and party concepts so far, but how does it all tie into the world of Dragongrin? Use the following optional table to anchor your character and their network to the world’s unique story. These are purposely broad to encourage creativity on behalf of the players and Game Master.

Many adventuring parties in Dragongrin rally around the same theme or mission, be it a profession, faction, or shared background. Rather than choosing from the bonds above, you can choose from (or roll on) the table below. This will provide a more specific, thematic reason for the entire adventuring party to be working together toward a common goal.

D10 TIES TO THE REALM 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Lightfall and the Copper Sun Titans and Archans Primordials and Valens The Bleak and Bleakstorms The Desolation The Grin of a Dragon Unproven Gods Dismembered Legion (Marrow, Warmaker, Doomsayer) A Lord of Ash The Dismembered Lord

D20 ADVENTURING PARTY THEME 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20

You all drew the short straws in a lottery, and are now tasked with unsavory or dangerous work. You are a group of treasure hunters and retrieval experts capable of finding just about anything – no matter how vile the relic, person, beast, or client. You have all been diagnosed with terminal illnesses, and wish to give meaning to your last days in the realm. You are a devout task force, assembled from various temples to combat heresy. You all serve the Red Sail market as merchants, guards, or haulers. You all volunteered with the same militia, and have seen battle together. The threats you face grow deadlier by the day. You hail from the same settlement, fallen on hard times and under the scrutiny of the region’s Lord of Ash. Something must be done to save your home from the torch. A former Copper Jackal on the run contacted each of you with an important mission and promises to pay handsomely in Titan copper. You were all slain, and have been resurrected by the same patron for a task. Each of you have loved ones serving the Undying Light. You all fear for their lives. You all work in a traveling sideshow, bringing entertainment and circus antics to settlements throughout the realm. You each received a similar vision under a cosmological event. Now you seek answers together. You all work in a diplomatic entourage, called away from your homeland to quell a conflict. You are prisoners of the Dismembered Lord, united in your desire to survive – and hopefully escape your horrendous confinement. You each lead your community or village, and you have been called upon to investigate a looming threat. You have been exiled from your homelands due to an ancient law enforced for the first time in centuries. You’re a band of charlatans and grifters. Sharing different talents and roles, you can pull off any con or heist, and (usually) get away with it. You’re a team of salvagers and junkers, taking what most people consider trash, and hauling it away to fix, modify, and sell. You explore destitute estates, ruins, disaster sites, and junk heaps. You deserted the forces of the Dismembered Lord. You serve the Undying Light, the underground rebellion who raise steel against the Dismembered Lord and his lackeys.

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DOMINIONS OF ASH The Dominions of Ash are the regions of Dragongrin, divided by political and natural borders. Each is ruled by a Lord of Ash – regent generals empowered by the Dismembered Lord to enact his will. This section provides everything you need to know to use the Dominion of Ash portions of A Dead Man’s Guide to Dragongrin as a player and a Game Master (GM).

GETTING STARTED

The Dominions of Ash are designed to be useful for both players and GM. Information intended for players and characters can be found in the front of each section, while more sensitive information for running sessions and campaigns follows. There are no hard and fast rules for how to use the tools provided – go with what inspires you – but here are some starting points as you explore Dragongrin’s Dominions of Ash.

PLAYERS Player and character information includes the History, Know This to Survive, Character Connections, Powerful People, and Primary Locations sections. Everything in these sections is considered common knowledge in Dragongrin, and can serve as a useful primer for the players to familiarize themselves with the Dominion of Ash. Anything beyond this section can be information the GM chooses to reveal during play. To prepare for a session, work with your GM, and consider the following: • Roll or choose a character connection that makes sense for your story. • Read through the Know This to Survive section to familiarize yourself with the conflicts of the Dominion of Ash. • Choose a conflict your character would be invested in, and think of some questions you might want answered to learn more about it in-game.

GAME MASTERS Game Master information begins at the Peripheral Locations section, the first set of explicit challenges for the adventurers to overcome in the Dominion of Ash. Following that are the Sudden Perils, Growing Threats and Rumors, Quests and Bounties, regional thematic table, Cruxes, Evergrowing Shadows, and the Countdown to Ruin. These sections are designed to prep sessions, plan campaigns, and to be used on the fly at the table. To prepare for a session or campaign, consider one of the following as a starting point: • Start by using the Evergrowing Shadows section to define the current state of the Dominion of Ash – roll on the tables noting the results to inform the rest of your preparation. • Choose one of the Cruxes and prepare a session or minicampaign, branching out into the region based on the outcome of the Crux. • Choose a primary location to begin your session. Then roll or choose a peripheral location, a growing threat, a powerful person, and a quest/bounty, and begin there. Choose a sudden peril as a backup if the players go in a direction you didn’t consider.

184 DOMINIONS OF ASH

Consider inciting the first entry on the Countdown to Ruin table to start with conflict, and give the players a sense that the region is alive and changing with or without them.

SECTIONS IN-DEPTH

Each Dominion of Ash is designed to feel like a living, changing region. Each section is a tool with a specific unique function, though all of them are designed to work together to build sessions and campaigns. Here is a description of each section, and their intended use – though there is no right or wrong way to be inspired.

HISTORY, AT-A-GLANCE, KNOW THIS TO SURVIVE This first portion of the section is the essential information for each Dominion of Ash. Outlining a brief history, the geography and the major tenets of surviving the realm, these sections serve as an excellent primer for players and GMs to understand the important conflicts, factions, and theme of the Dominion of Ash.

CHARACTER CONNECTIONS These are optional thematic ties to the Dominion of Ash to tie your character to the conflicts and people within. Work with your GM to choose a fitting connection, or roll one randomly.

POWERFUL PEOPLE OF THE DOMINION OF ASH The most notorious and influential people within the Dominion of Ash. Beginning with the Lord of Ash who rules the Dominion, these are names the common populace would know, as well as their rumored reputations and goals. These figures are often difficult to gain an audience with.

PRIMARY AND PERIPHERAL LOCATIONS Primary Locations are the largest and most notable places in a Dominion of Ash. These major cities, landmarks, and geographic features would be well known by the denizens of the Dominion, and are represented on the map included within each Dominion of Ash. Peripheral locations are more thematic, localized places within the Dominion of Ash. They are agnostic in their exact geographic location by design to be used by GMs anywhere in the Dominion of Ash as incidental locations, and connective pieces for linking scenes and encounters together. These locations are only some of the myriad places to be explored in each of the sprawling Dominions of Ash, and some spaces on each map of the Dominion of Ash are left open for players and GMs to place locations, building their own Dragongrin.

SUDDEN PERILS, GROWING THREATS AND RUMORS, QUESTS AND BOUNTIES These are three different types of story hooks the GM can use, each with unique timeframes and focuses. Sudden perils are designed to be thematic, incidental encounters to challenge the party immediately. They can be used during game prep, or at the table if there’s a lull in play. They can easily be combined with a Peripheral Location to build unique encounters. Growing Threats and Rumors are designed to be conflicts that are looming, imminent dangers. The players can attempt to investigate and intervene – if they can act quickly enough. They also serve as useful as rumors that the players can learn when interacting with NPCs. Quests and Bounties are story hooks the players will often have to seek out. They are task-based, and involve someone asking for help.

THEMATIC TABLE Each Dominion of Ash has a four-column roll table designed to explore a central theme of the region – monster hunting for the horror-themed Svir, gang war for the crime-ridden Svir Below, etc. Use these tables to generate and explore the thematic threats and challenges specific to the Dominion of Ash.

CRUXES Cruxes are tools that provide the modular pieces needed to run a specific scenario. Their concept and themes are clearly stated, highlighting the nature of the Dominion of Ash, and all of the details are specific to the story they set out to tell. The Crux can be used to run a single session abundant with characters and events, or used to craft a mini-campaign spanning multiple gaming sessions. Each Crux begins with an inciting incident called an Event, the text of which is designed to share with the players to explain the high concept of the story they are about to embark upon without revealing any sensitive plot information. The Event text is designed to get players excited about the story of the Crux and its conflict. It can be read aloud as the opening of the session, or used as a tool to garner interest in the game. INTEREST POSTS In an era of gaming using social media and other online tools, the Event portion of a Crux is designed to be copied and pasted as the foundation of a post to garner interest for the game you’re running. With the quick addition of anything specific such as number of players, class options or restrictions, scheduling or any other details, you can have an interest post ready in no time.

The NPCs important to the Crux are outlined in the People section, with information on their personalities, appearance, goals they hope to achieve, and a rumor related to them. Some Cruxes include other categories of information important to the nature of the story being told as well. Each NPC also comes complete with an introductory scene that establishes their personality and gives the party a chance to interact with them and further the story. Character connections related to the Crux are also included, providing specific motives for the characters to become part of the story.

The Countdown to Peril is an optional list of events that can unfold as the story progresses. These are benchmark events designed to progress the conflict of the Crux, and give a sense of a living world moving and changing around the party. The Escalation section is a set of roll tables to bring variety to the Crux, and some local conditions caused by the Crux. These are designed to be used during game prep, or on the fly as thematic options during improvisation at the table. The GM can work through each table and choose the options that best match the story they’re envisioning, or the entire Crux can be generated randomly. Roll a full set of polyhedral dice (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20) to generate scenarios for the Crux. These will include a conflict tied to the themes of the Crux, a rising threat, a notable location, a scene, a clue and a twist. Generate as many or few scenarios as needed for the session length you are aiming for. The Climax is designed to be the final encounter of the Crux, and details a list of events that will unfold, as well as narrative cues for the aftermath of the Crux depending on how the story played out and what choices the characters made.

EVERGROWING SHADOWS The Evergrowing Shadows section contains detailed information about the Lord of Ash of the region, their resources, goals and secrets. This section is designed to give you deep insight into the Lord of Ash to explore their motives and help you to roleplay them believably as dangerous and deadly villains while still giving them conflicts of their own to inform their decisions and make them more interesting. The State of Power is a section that allows you to choose or randomly generate the current conditions that the Lord of Ash is experiencing. The tables outline the state of their Legion of Ash, their lair, their foes, and the challenges they are currently facing.

COUNTDOWN TO RUIN The Countdown to Ruin is an optional list of important, regional events that can unfold as the campaign progresses. These are benchmark events designed to progress the conflict of the region as a whole, and are often large in scope, designed to give a sense that if the party doesn’t intervene the Dominion of Ash will fall into total darkness and chaos.

REGION AND CRUX GUIDE Following is a list of each Dominion of Ash, complete with a short description of the basic themes at play within, as well as a handy list of the Cruxes available in each region.

AQUEANUS Far in the southeastern portion of the Shattered Seas are the deadly depths of Aqueanus. This series of islands was changed forever when the flying craft known as the Silver Moon was crashed into the region to stop the Desolation from bleeding through. Now, it seems nothing can stop the tainted magics of the Desolation and the Silver Moon itself from twisting the waters of Aqueanus. (“Aqueanus” on page 189)

FEYGRAVE Feygrave is a dying, sylvan forest in a state of constant autumn since the lifetree of Talas was ripped from the soil during Lightfall. Druids of the Old Vale seek to restore it, and a legendary creature known as a typhon has just slain the Lord of Ash. (“Feygrave” on page 204)

185 DOMINIONS OF ASH

GRINN

TALAS

Home of the Dismembered Lord and his chosen, a region of strange anomalies of time, appearing pristine on the surface, but rotten at its core beneath. The Council of Ash resides here, along with the Marrow Arcseers, and powerful Warmakers. (“Grinn” on page 220)

Talas is the city-sized Lifetree that was ripped from the soil of Dragongrin during Lightfall. Torn apart by a bloody war between an occupying force of Granok Thane and the defending Valenus Remnant, fight for whichever side you choose, and turn the tides of war. (“Talas, the Lifetree” on page 303)

INNES This land was once a beautiful beacon of history and humanity before the Dismembered Lord gifted it – and most of its people – to the Maug’Tarak orcs, who now terraform it into a treacherous swampland – a graveyard of dragons beneath the muck. (“Innes” on page 239)

JAHAR A deadly, barren region whose ever-shifting dunes of metallic sand give way to treasures untold – if you can survive the tyrant wurms and Qaramzi hobgoblin raiders. (“Jahar” on page 255)

SVIR Treacherous, nigh-impassable mountain range dotted with sparse settlements, and home to the training ground of the Dismembered Legion. Teeming with undead horrors and horrific monsters. (“Svir” on page 270)

SVIR BELOW Beneath the nigh-impassable mountains of Svir, this sprawling network of canal cities rests atop the blood-red Golis Ocean – a criminal hive of gangs, smugglers, and Titan salvage. (“Svir Below” on page 286)

ULDANE The land most scarred and affected by the arcane maelstrom known as the Bleak. Once the home of the Granok Thane empire, now a land twisted into a crimson badland of storms, monsters and scavengers. Though Uldane is an awful place, the events transpiring have the potential to shake Dragongrin to its very core. (“Uldane” on page 319)

VARNHOLME The only place in Dragongrin that has not yet been invaded by the Dismembered Lord – but that is about to change. The people of this land of strange, ancient magic and deep tradition face the choice to unite or face certain defeat at the hands of the Dismembered Legion. (“Varnholme” on page 335)

ZAMON The jungles of Zamon grow by the day – and some even say the jungle is alive. The ruins of the mighty and technologically advanced Oedran empire are scattered amongst copious remains of countless Primordials. Factions in the jungle seek to claim power and uncover its secrets. (“Zamon” on page 352)

CRUXES DOMINION

TITLE

CONCEPT

THEMES

Aqueanus Aqueanus

The Eye and the Sea Call of the Void

Underwater Cult Mystery Decide the Fate of All Dragongrin

Madness, Mystery, The Sea, Occult Infiltration, Calamity, Judgment, Decisions

Feygrave

Welcome to Ravenrock

Thrust into a Pivotal Choice

Betrayal, Survival, Treason, Opportunity

Feygrave Grinn Grinn Innes Innes Jahar Jahar Svir Svir Svir Below Svir Below Talas Talas Uldane Uldane Varnholme Varnholme Zamon Zamon

The Crown of Kumon Orth Welcome to the Dustmouth War Upon the Black Shores Operation Torchlight Gladiators of Gorr Arena Blood and Thunder The Ossuary and the Orb The Goltheal Butcher The Crimson Betrothal Depths of Dhokeg The Astregard Conundrum First Flight of the Venorin Battle for the Rootgate The Long Bleak Night Last Ride of the Deathbat Feast of a Thousand Skulls The Age of Death Temple of the Searing Heart If it Bleeds

Ritual to Restore a Typhon’s Spectral Crown Intrigue at a Masquerade Defensive Siege Against Extraplanar Threats A Marrow Raid Brutal Gladiatorial Games Desert-Spanning Monster Hunt Tomb-Robbing Treasure Hunt Serial Murder Mystery Gruesome Vampire Wedding Submarine Salvage Gone Wrong Daring Heist for a Powerful Relic Aerial Dogfight Devastating Battle Survive a Night Under Attack Battlewagon Chase Against a Primordial Survive Contact with an Evil, Starving Eòghann Pivotal Meeting to Unite the Skulds of Varnholme Battle over Lost Tech in an Ancient Ruin Pursued through the Jungle

Rituals, Morality, Belief, Nature Dread, Isolation, Competition, Intrigue War, Strategy, Courage, Service Survivalism, Witch-hunt, Combat, Stealth Battle, Gambling, Alliance, Intrigue Revenge, Obsession, Family, Nature’s Ire Exploration, Competition, Countdown, Artifacts Desperation, Paranoia, Prejudice, Pursuit Appeasement, Love, Sacrifice, Tradition Helplessness, Insanity, Salvaging, Recovery Burglary, Ensemble, Scheming, Gang Customs Urgency, Perception, Pursuit, Danger Combat, Destruction, Sacrifice, Bravery Outlast, Timing, Construction, Arcane Pursuit, Risk, Speed, High Stakes Fear, Survival, Worship, Mortality Tradition, Loyalty, Negotiation, Tempatation Reclamation, Discovery, Prophecy, Veneration Chase, Hunt, Predator, Ambush

186 DOMINIONS OF ASH

Dhaes Vasul of Aqueanus

Diego Salva of Feygrave Shar Lagash of Innes

Revak Zistra of Jahar

Caius Veccus of Svir 187 DOMINIONS OF ASH

Vim and Aut of Svir Below

Sureau Stormbreather of Uldane

188 DOMINIONS OF ASH

Aldus Bex of Talas

Ingrid Grinrender of Varnholme

Laryss Highfury of Zamon

AQUEANUS

TWISTED, AQUATIC DEPTHS

“This place doesn’t taint things toward evil, or make them more good, it simply amplifies what something already is. So the good becomes better, and evil? Evil becomes something so reprehensible it’s difficult to comprehend.” – Recen Valga, Laborer of Aqueanus Half-sunken islands brim with powerful growth and eldritch horrors – both caused by the amplifying magics of the flying elven fortress that crashed into it.

HISTORY

Then: Once the chain of island fortresses known as Arthun, this place was tainted by the Desolation. The flying Archan known as Lleyad, the Silver Moon, crashed into the dark tear, nearly sealing it, but damaging the region beyond repair. Now: Referred to as Aqueanus – meaning “the sunken place” in Exuvian – this Dominion of Ash is a combination of eldritch growth, the remains of Arthun, and the wreckage of Lleyad, combined into a single, morose region. Beyond: The Desolation grows within the belly of Aqueanus, and with it typhoons of Bleak within the Shattered Seas, and eldritch horrors. If not stopped, this darkness will stain the realm irreparably. AQUEANUS AT-A-GLANCE Terrain: Deep waters, lost ruins, and gigantic complexes Climate: Wind and rain on the surface, over cold waters Lord of Ash: Dhaes Vasul, released prisoner Resources: Potent equipment, goods and medicine cultivated in the Exalting Cultures: Mord, Silverwise Factions: Dorsai, Deepwatchers, Ceaseless Travail, Cold Sun, Lightless Host

KNOW THIS TO SURVIVE

The former prisoner and dious of Lightfall Dhaes Vasul has renounced his faith, and rules the strange locales of Aqueanus. Tasked with keeping order in Dragongrin’s largest prison, and keeping Aqueanus from being overtaken by the Bleak. Lord of Ash Dhaes Vasul Spreads Light in the Depths: Dhaes Vasul once wasted away within the ancient prison of Thasz Khet at the heart of Aqueanus, but was granted his freedom more than two years ago, and given the station of Lord of Ash following the failures of the previous rulers of Aqueanus. Once a powerful dious in the armies that marched against the Dismembered Lord during Lightfall, Dhaes renounced his faith after the forces of good lost the war. Swearing fealty to the Sovereign for a sense or purpose, and a new place to point his belief, he has been tasked with halting the encroaching darkness from the depths of Aqueanus. This Lord of Ash maintains the Nekton, specialized Marrow marines who utilize experimental Titan tech known as the Peerless Sight, allowing them to share thoughts and senses. Connecting to the Peerless Sight has caused them to lose a measure of themselves, become more cold, instinctive, and monstrous – though still subservient. They patrol in and around Aqueanus aboard ironclad vessels and submarines. Vasul also commands the Cold Sun, hand-selected criminals from Thasz Khet with a variety of specialized roles and skills. The Exalting Amplifies All: When the Silver Moon crashed into what is now Aqueanus, sealing the Desolation in its depths, its powerful arcane core shattered. This conjured a strange, amplifying effect on the surrounding region. This effect, dubbed the Exalting, allows everything in the area to reach powerful, logical extremes. For this reason, the Exalting is used by the Dismembered Lord to great effect as Aqueanus is the hub of the strongest hospitals in Dragongrin, as well as the only place in the realm where the Dismembered Legion’s armor and weapons can be forged.

Creatures: Revulsions, Vardig, zralok, brine leeches, Nekton Marrow

189 DOMINIONS OF ASH: AQUEANUS

The Dorsai Seek to Release the Lightless Host: Those who once guarded the gates to the Desolation have been tainted by its foul denizens. Led by a group of old and powerful Mord, these “Dorsai” worship abominations from the Desolation – creatures known as Revulsions, who make up a legion known as the Lightless Host. Revulsions always seek followers, thralls and servants, and these eldritch horrors are willing to strike deals for service in return. These Mord seek to gain power from their patrons, and seduce new followers, or transform the unwilling into Lightless Horrors – warped and mutated eldritch creatures serving unto death. The Dorsai themselves are alien in mind and body, hostile and brutal in their zealotry. There is nothing the Dorsai wouldn’t do for the Lightless Host and their dark aims – because it furthers their own. The Deepwatchers Seek to Destroy the Vardig: The Deepwatchers are a sect of the Silverwise seeking to destroy the clever creatures known as the Vardig – primarily because they cheat people of a natural death. The Vardig are deadly shapeshifters who assume the personalities of the unwitting, becoming their doppelgangers. They can assume the shape of any creature of their rough proportionate size, though the shape can differ. They feed off of people’s personalities the way that another creature feeds off of food and water slowly taking the life, love, dreams and memories until they possess it all. Once they do, they drink it up, eliminating any trace of the former person, and then choosing a new target to begin it all again. Some Deepwatchers believe the Silver Moon is promised to them in a prophecy. They seek to commune with the being known as the Watcher, and believe that under its guidance, they can grant the Silver Moon flight again – a mobile Silver Wall to protect the realm from evil. Ceaseless Travail Seek to End Their Toil: This rebellion is led by the working class in Aqueanus – the farmers, laborers, and artisans vital to the supply line of Grinn and the Red Sail Market. Whispers persist that they are being pushed into these actions by a Mord counselor who encourages them to enact mass work stoppage and demand better treatment. The Ceaseless Travail understand the importance of the Exalting to the Sovereign, and seek to cause as much chaos to the production of Aqueanus as possible. They slow production and sabotage goods where they can, but they’re planning a much larger, calculated strike to the production of all Aqueanus. Without proper help and support, they will be mercilessly crushed and replaced with new, more compliant workers. While this rebellion would normally be crushed immediately, these workers have uncommon leverage – a substantial tolerance to the Exalting. Thasz Khet Brims with Exiles: Thasz Khet is Dragongrin’s most infamous and ancient prison, fully submerged within Aqueanus. Black coral pillars, riddled with glass bubble cells, holding hundreds of prisoners. Those held here suffer for some unknown and nefarious purpose, imprisoned for their crimes but kept alive because the Dismembered Lord wills it so. The Nekton serve as tireless guards, maintaining the subaquatic prison and seeing to the prisoners. CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS OF AQUEANUS • It’s said that the Vardig will be revealed by the light of a candle, so people often keep a candle nearby, even if unlit. The phrase “trust without flame” is a common adage. • People often follow even some outlandish superstitions, believing anything to be possible within the Exalting. • It’s common to hear the working class humming or whistling the song of the Silver Moon, a melody that was often heard on the streets of Lleyad, but that defies any attempt to replicate it outside the region.

190 DOMINIONS OF ASH: AQUEANUS

POWERFUL PEOPLE OF AQUEANUS

Lord of Ash Dhaes Vasul: Vasul has ruled over Aqueanus for the last two years wearing his destroyed Holithic vestments as a cloak. Many know his name as the famed dious who marched against the Dismembered Lord, but that man is long gone. Any who mistake Vasul’s previous reputation for his current state of mind will pay with their lives. He is a man with faith in one thing now: the Sovereign’s word – and any who would oppose it will be struck down. He is the only Lord of Ash successful against holding the Lightless Host at bay. Marrow Captain Malin Tor: This Marrow captain was once a Marrow commander, said to have been demoted to this position, though she seems to love her work. Though she rarely smiles, she appears to have a genuine love for her work – and some even say the people she oversees. Her job is simple: oversee the production of equipment, food, and goods for the Dismembered Legion, all bolstered by the Exalting. Rumors swirl that she has begin a romantic affair with a prominent leader of one of the work groups, Wyn Draelor, the leader of the Ceaseless Travail, though it is said their relationship began before the uprising. Phalen Stavor: Flanked at all times by her loyal hound Lou – short for Lieutenant – this tattooed Silverwise walks with purpose wherever she goes. Following the orders of the Watcher with an almost religious zeal, Stavor believes the Silver Moon is the Silverwise’s divine right. She hears a voice she believes to be the Watcher helping her take over, but doesn’t realize she hears equal parts creatures from the Desolation and the Watcher. The conflicting, cryptic words she hears are causing her followers to doubt her contradictory actions.

D10 1

7 8 9 10

CHARACTER CONNECTIONS TO AQUEANUS You’ve heard countless stories from a lost loved one about the beauty of Lleyad and wish to pay homage to what remains. You’ve heard the plight of the Ceaseless Travail and wish to aid them in their rebellion. Now to find a complete stranger you can trust that will somehow trust you. You’ve heard of the things the Exalting is capable of. If it amplifies everything, maybe it can help you find who you’re truly supposed to be. Having a particularly tuned affinity for Titan tech, you want to get your hands on any pieces of the Peerless Sight you can get your hands on. You feel the Desolation is a concern to the world at large that not enough attention is being paid to. You’ve come here to do your part in stopping it from bleeding through. You received a missive from a relative in Aqueanus. They’ve stopped replying to your letters, but you’ve heard from others that they’re still alive and well. Surely the rumors of the Vardig couldn’t be real. You seek to join an Annulus Directive in Aqueanus. To work and tinker within the Exalting could mean great strides in your discoveries. You’ve been sent to get information from someone in the Evenkeep hospital – someone in the sanatorium. You hope to find clues of the Copper Sun’s whereabouts on the Silver Moon. Surely they must be connected somehow. You knew Dhaes Vasul before Lightfall, and hearing that he was released from prison, he beckoned you to visit him.

Wyn “Cornerstone” Draelor: Wyn Draelor spent most of his youth and young adult life working in the Marrow equipment production facilities, eventually becoming involved in a secret romantic relationship with Malin Tor, the captain overseeing production. A mysterious Mord began communicating with him, slowly convincing him to gather other workers to stage a revolt and strike, leading to the creation of Ceaseless Travail. Called Cornerstone by his fellow revolutionaries, Draelor has more secrets than others know. He has been contacted by a Revulsion, and is considering taking its bargain for power he could use, worried that the Travail will be crushed easily without firepower, hoping to use the power of the Desolation to fight back. If the rebellion receives other reinforcements, he may be able to avoid relying on darker power. Bezzir, Tongue of the Host: This Dorsai is a creature of constant torment, though it is not evident on the surface. Bezzir is a host body for countless scores of the Lightless Host, to whom he allows use of his corporeal form on this side of the Desolation. Bezzir is in fact any one of several dozen elder creatures who are all vying for use of his mortal frame. Only the cunning will be able to decipher to whom they are speaking, and what the true aim is. Vargero: Few have glimpsed the true form of the foremost shapeshifting Vardig – it’s whispered that they stand seven feet tall with skin a mottled, translucent gray, and long, lank hair coiled into tight locks. They mark their muted flesh with a tally for each life stolen, now innumerable. The greatest of the Vardig, rumored to be the first, Vargero has assumed the shapes of hundreds of great lords and legendary figures throughout history, tuning the timeline of Dragongrin to their ideal vision. With the ascension of the Dismembered Lord, Vargero’s Dragongrin has fractured. Vargero aims for the destruction of the Crucible, and a new future for their people.

PRIMARY LOCATIONS

The Black Wound: The crashing of the Silver Moon left one last known permanent tear into the Desolation – The Black Wound. The thrumming power of the core of the Silver Moon that rests on the surface holds the tear at bay. The Black Wound lies below the prison Thasz Khet, and is crawling with the vile eldritch creatures known as revulsions. The Brinestilts: When the stubborn people who lived here began to be flooded out, they built up instead of moving away. Now this fishing town sits atop the ocean on a web of wooden platforms rising up from the sea on stilts and bridges that connect them, far from any land. Chokethreads: These Zarfvin-built channels were constructed almost immediately after Lightfall to filter the tainted crimson waters of the Shattered Seas into something potable. Elevated above the waterline, the structures are reminiscent of twisted aqueducts. The trifecta of islands that house them are a mysterious place that is said to be cursed – many who venture there never return. Cosarac Port: The largest port in the region, this bustling shipping yard handles nearly all of the imports and exports of Aqueanus. It also serves as a secret base of operations for the Ceaseless Travail. Direnos: Off the coast of Aqueanus stands the Fingers of Direnos, a hand-shaped rock formation jutting up among treacherous waters. Despite the danger, many make pilgrimages to this area, allegedly being able to see echoes of the future – or even talk to the dead. The Deepwatchers patrol this area often. Dungson: The production capital of Aqueanus, the largest facilities for creating the weapons, armor and artifacts of the Dismembered Lord. Much of the working class have modest homes on the outskirts of the area, the rest reside in slums and tent cities beyond that. Evenkeep: This infirmary and sanatorium uses the power of the Exalting to cure its patients wholly if they can survive its treatment. It is the only place in Dragongrin that performs standing resurrection attempts – at great cost, and with no guarantees. Figrut Tunnels: A series of tunnels that once connected much of Aqueanus, these passages were constructed by the Zarfvin long ago as pathways to quickly traverse the various islands. When the water levels began to rise years ago, many of the tunnels became fully submerged and flooded. They are being reclaimed, mapped, and patrolled by the Nekton Marrow and can be used by cunning travelers – but are infested with zralock – and worse. Gray Spires: These structures were built after Lightfall, built directly onto the jutting wreckage of the Silver Moon. They were constructed to be mostly submerged, appearing less like spires than their name suggest. Serving as Nekton headquarters, they also serve as barracks to Marrow and other allies of the Dismembered Legion. Marrow marine vessels patrol the waters ceaselessly. Grimesail Market: Originally an unsanctioned sect of the Red Sail Market, the Grimesail Market is only allowed to operate within Aqueanus. Providing the working class access to purchase the surplus and castoffs of Dungson, including damaged and defective weapons for self-defense against the Revulsions and other creatures that attack the slums and tent cities surrounding the production hub.

191 DOMINIONS OF ASH: AQUEANUS

192 DOMINIONS OF ASH: AQUEANUS

Haadhru Effigies: Statues of unrecognizable rock carvings of humanoids and creatures protrude from the muck and water at various angles in this area, with no area left unmarred by carvings and runes. Believed to have been here before the fall of Lleyad, their origin remains unknown. Hamark: This linked fortress of half-sunken castles provides safe havens for a variety of vicious life. The structures surround a massive chunk of the Silver Moon, said to contain valuable materials, the powers of which transform the creatures within into strange beasts unlike anything else in Dragongrin. Hark’s Platform: Hark’s Platform boasts the majority of Aqueanus’s factories and artisan workspaces. Surrounded by the Gray Spires of Aqueanus and patrolled by the Nekton. The location of the primary entrance to Thasz Khet prison – and also the region’s Fortress of Ash. Using the Exalting, many feats of crafting and workmanship are accomplished here – as well as many horrific experiments. Lanoth Inn: Once the largest, most lavish inn in the region of Arthun, the Lanoth family’s establishment now falls on hard times. Whether it’s a lack of travelers that’s responsible, or the rumors that the inn is the lair of Vardig doppelgangers, the location is only frequented by the most sinister and discreet. Mathison Distillery: Gifted to a Crucian by the Dismembered Lord, the Mathison Distillery is the only sanctioned private exporter, and the only distiller in Aqueanus. Their only export: Mathison whiskey, a rare spirit sought after by many, and prized for its rarity and unnaturally enhanced flavor profile. Mosscrawl: This parasitic moss covers the trees, rocks and hovels of those that once inhabited this area. Able to absorb many times its own volume in water, some posit this town was host to an experiment to quell seasonal floods gone wrong. The moss continues to spread unnaturally quickly. Spindelpeg: Often simply called “the Peg,” this is the largest, most stable part of Aqueanus, situated near the impact site of the Silver Moon. Small towns, overgrown farmland, dense forests and Arthun ruins cover this enormous area. It is whispered that there are many secrets of Dragongrin’s past among the dense woods and ruins – but dangers lurk in every shadow. Thasz Khet: Dragongrin’s largest and most secure prison, and also the Fortress of Ash. It’s entrance in the center of Hark’s Platform, guarded by Nekton and Marrow. It was built submerged in the crimson waters around the fragmented core of the Silver Moon, using its amplification to strengthen the structure. The largest known tear into the Desolation rests beneath it – known as the Black Wound. Prisoners are sometimes let out of their cells to fight against the revulsions that squeeze through the tear to lessen their sentences. Ruins of Keterdal: Underneath the waters of Aqueanus resides the leftovers of a flooded religious district. Within the submerged streets, alleyways, and temples, multiple ancient relics can be uncovered, strange eldritch life forms atop gushing steam vents, and carnivorous leviathans dwell inside the massive cathedrals. Zunavir Wharfs: A grasp at a portion of the profit of the Dungson exports, these wharfs were built shortly after Lightfall by a Drogus with the foresight to consider the effect the Exalting could have on production facilities. Everything was going to plan until the Drogus went missing, some say by the word of the Sovereign himself. The wharfs now stand as repair ports for the patrolling Nekton crafts.

D10 1 2

D8 1

PERIPHERAL LOCATIONS A nearly intact structure from the Silver Moon, half-sunken into the ground, full of untold treasures, monsters or both. A decrepit Zunavir Wharf, abandoned due to unpredictable and violent Bleakstorms and rogue waves centralized to this area. Farmland that hasn’t been properly tended in some months. A massive, mutated bull roams the fields, driven mad by the Exalting and the Desolation. Arthun ruins from before the Silver Moon crashed here, possibly holding the secrets to the people that lived here before. A derelict, abandoned ship drifting at sea or washed ashore. Dried bloodstains cover the deck and lower levels. A captain’s voice giving orders can be heard as a whisper. Marrow encampment under attack from Revulsions from the Desolation. Marrow promise pardons and gear to anyone who helps them. A small atoll covered in dense foliage – unassuming from afar, but more experienced hunters see it for what it is: a zralok hunting ground. Factory making Marrow armaments. A violent sect of Ceaseless Travail has murdered the Marrow factory guards and has barricaded themselves inside. A squad of Marrow stand outside, searching for ways in. A large dock that extends over the ocean. The town that used it has crumbled to ruins. During full moons, the reflection of the moon creates a portal that strange spirits climb out of, hunting all living creatures until the night ends and they return through the reflection. Gigantic steam vent gushing superheated water and energy from the Desolation into the surrounding area. It stops gushing for minutes out of every day, at which point submersible crafts can venture through the tunnel to its very end. SUDDEN PERILS Revulsions cloud the mind: One of the revulsions appears, tempting you with great power at a trifling cost. If you refuse its power, it flies into a rage and tries to drag you back down into the Desolation tear it came from. Thick mud slows travel: Heavy rain and erratic sea behavior have flooded fields, thickening them into a viscous mud. If a path around or way through is not found, it will be a slow and exhausting journey. Marrow Nekton experiment with their powers: A squad of Marrow Nekton use their augmented abilities to construct an illusionary collective hallucination, testing the party’s reaction to a difficult problem to explore their hive mind emotional connections, and attacking the party if they choose wrong. Powerful waves crash: The erratic magic in Aqueanus causes a massive wave to crash, sending devastating torrents of water rushing through. Finding safe cover or high ground is a necessity to escape unharmed. Vardig cause confusion: A group of people in hoods run and crash into you. As people stand, each party member has an identical version that a Vardig has copied. You must sort truth from fiction and friend from foe. The Desolation spreads corruption: You begin to notice signs of the Desolation poisoning flora and fauna in the area, manifesting as a plague-like disease. Catching the disease may cause horrible complications, but if left unchecked, it could spread from this location. A Zralok lies in wait: Cunning, but vicious, a zralok has hidden itself nearby, lunging suddenly to grab at you with its tentacles and attempting to chop down with its razored teeth. Ceaseless Travail cell begs for help: A group of civilians runs up to the party in a panic, screaming that they are being hunted by Marrow and will be murdered. Shortly after, Marrow are heard stomping and yelling in search of the fugitives. 193 DOMINIONS OF ASH: AQUEANUS

D10 GROWING THREATS AND RUMORS 1

3 4 5

9 10

Revak Zistra, Lord of Ash in Jahar, is tired of the increasing monsters encroaching on his dominion from the sea, and plans an attack to quell them. Dhaes Vasul is planning a defense. More and more underwater vents are bubbling up near the Black Wound, spewing out superheated water. Some say a supervolcano is ready to bury Aqueanus with the Desolation. A section of the Chokethreads has been quarantined, but many fear a disease has already spread into the water supply. Many claim the Silver Moon has the answer. A leviathan stirs underneath the waves, and mundane fishermen have gone missing in increasingly greater numbers. The Lanoth Inn is said to be the lair of Vardig dopplegangers, though it’s argued that those who make the claim are rivals who are just trying to hurt the business. A maniacal doctor at the Evenkeep sanatorium is preparing the inmates to break out of the structure in exchange for them killing one of the doctor’s rivals. An abandoned ship has pulled into Cosarac Port, and now sits anchored offshore. No one knows what awaits within, but some say screams are heard throughout the night. The Haadhru Effigies are actual creatures who were once turned to stone, and were destined to come to life someday. Word now spreads that two have disappeared. The Desolation has tainted the Figrut Tunnels, and the bones in the catacombs are coming to life as aquatic skeletons, covered in barnacles and armed with the weapons they were buried with. The waters are rising.

D10 QUESTS AND BOUNTIES 1

One of the prisoners at Thasz Khet knows a secret that would bury the bounty hunter offering you three years of paid Tenth in exchange for the prisoner’s death. The factories of Dungson are reportedly making weapons for distribution around the realm – specifically in regions like Talas, Svir Below, and Innes, where war is ravaging or imminent. Get in, gather the intel, and get out undetected, and the Legion of Ash will pay you handsomely. The Dorsai threaten everything. For every head you bring to a hooded fisherman at the Zunavir Wharfs, he’ll progress construction on a medium sized boat. When it’s completed, it’s yours. There’s a lockbox submerged in the Ruins of Keterdal, and the owner – a prolific cartographer – wants it retrieved, no questions asked. They offer a detailed map of almost any area in Dragongrin for the deed. Historians from Talas have traveled all the way from Zamon to discover the true histories of Aqueanus. They offer rare Primordial bones to any who venture into the Silver Moon for informative relics. A Marrow traitor is allegedly imbedded with the Ceaseless Travail, and the Dismembered Legion desires their head. In exchange, whoever brings them to justice may choose a loved one who may freely live in Grinn as an honorary Crucian. One of the denizens of Aqueanus believes their loved one was replaced by a Vardig. She offers her home and heavy possessions to any who prove this – she has no intention of remaining here anyway. Hark’s Platform has been infiltrated by enemies of Lord of Ash Dhaes Vasul. Root them out so they can be publicly executed, and you’ll be permitted entry to any location in Aqueanus – Vasul doesn’t even care if they’re truly enemies. He just wants to put on a show. Rumors abound that the Lanoth Inn is the location of myriad mysterious murders. Most believe it’s just an urban legend, but one of the workers in the region swears the family killed her loved one who was staying there. She begs you to help, even though she has nothing to pay. The Lanoths claim she’s crazy. More guards are needed at the prison, and each adventurer that takes a shift will gain one prisoner as a drudge after one month of employ.

194 DOMINIONS OF ASH: AQUEANUS

REVULSIONS IN AQUEANUS D10

NAME

DESIRES

1 2

Taogu Duizh Mar

Kthacnal

Ghrivhin

Ethedhe

Sharvu

7 8 9 10

Cnildorh Yod'alel Utir'vhe Omlohg

A cut of your wealth from now on Your firstborn For you to collect on their last contract A body part such as an eye, ear or tongue Blood to be drawn daily – yours or another’s Stories, songs and poems dedicated to it Use of your voice from time to time A minor amoral act each day A single, evil act A piece of your soul

D102 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

WILL GRANT YOU

CONSEQUENCE

Incredible riches Perfect health Political clout Extended life Exceptional skill Secret of the realm Take a single, mortal life A dark servant Powerful weapon or object One time safe passage

Unexpected betrayal Targeted for ritual killing A deep secret of yours is revealed Framed for a crime Reputation damaged beyond repair Imprisoned or withheld Loss of important memories Struck with illness Physically marred Forgotten by a loved one

ZRALOK FEED These twisted amphibious creatures have been made more ferocious – and hungry – by the Exalting over the decades. Having a vaguely shark-like appearance, but with horrific tentacles used to crawl on land, this primal predator grows more bold and cunning as their numbers grow in the waters surrounding Aqueanus.

CRUX: THE EYE AND THE SEA Concept: Underwater Cult Mystery Themes: Madness, Mystery, Sea, Occult

EVENT Your ship, damaged and in desperate need of repairs, has creaked through the Aqueanus seas in search of a port. Eventually one was found in the floating fishing village known as the Brinestilts, a messy web of wooden platforms and bridges built up from the seafloor when Aqueanus started flooding. Far from any proper land, the Brinestilts will have to work as a repair port. The ship’s captain ventured into the town to meet with the mayor to discuss a deal for supplies and help with the ship. However, the captain hasn’t been seen since, and it has been a few days. The people here in the Brinestilts seem a little bit off, often appearing as dissociative and distant, speaking in riddles and fragments. As time continues to tick and the captain is nowhere to be seen, perhaps the only way to get the ship repaired and continue your journey is to venture through the Brinestilts yourself, untangling the strange mystery and palpable eeriness that hangs here so thick. The adventurers begin on the edge of the Brinestilts following some severe damage done to the ship they were on. It is clear that some foul mystery has plagued this place that must be resolved before they will be able to continue their journey. Whether they help the people of the Brinestilts achieve their mysterious goal or work to undermine their efforts and find some means of escape, there will be great eldritch mysteries that will need to be confronted and solved. WHAT HAPPENED HERE? More than any other Crux, the Eye and the Sea is based on the Game Master understanding past events as the players unravel the mysteries of this strange place and its people. Months ago, a Drogus salvager stole an artifact from the Silver Moon, the retina of a Titan that rests there known as the Watcher. The Watcher, being a particularly powerful Titan, still has force of will despite its body long being taken apart, and can still see through the piece of its eye taken here. Its influence began to affect the simple fishing people of the Brinestilts, slowly grabbing hold of their minds. The Drogus salvager went missing, and the mayor of the Brinestilts began a cult based around the glasslike retina that was left here. Using it as a basin to store fresh water, the water being fed to the people from it furthered the spread of the Watcher’s influence. The townspeople have begun constructing a makeshift body for the Titan to inhabit, killing any travelers who arrive and using their ships, bodies, and whatever other supplies they have to add to the body, a disgusting mess of wood, metal, biological mass, barnacles from the sea, and whatever else they can adhere to it. Soon, the Titan will take control of the mess of a body to rise and attempt to reclaim its original body in the Silver Moon, maddened by the effects of the Desolation amplified by its magic. Until then, the nearly complete body rests on the sea floor directly underneath the Brinestilts.

PEOPLE This Crux centers around the conflict between Jintom Jol of the Cosmos, the mayor of the Brinestilts, and Piotr Parpin, a still sane fisherman living there. Jintom Jol is in charge of the Brinestilts and is working in secret with the other villagers to build a makeshift body for the Titan known as the Watcher. Piotr has seen a strange vision after nearly drowning and suspects that the village is attempting something, but does not have the knowledge or capabilities to solve the problem on their own. Under the enchantment of the Watcher’s retina, most of the village works with Jintom Jol. The only other who seems wary of the Brinestilts is a woman who has forgotten her own name, and she seems to suffer from the madness the others suffer from.

THE NAMELESS WOMAN

Townsperson (F Silverwise Human) “Sun above. Moon Below. A watching eye and mind in tow. Ever present. Never seen. Sunken soul that sleeps serene.” Personality: Dissociated, eerie, straddling between madness and lucidity Appearance: Thousand yard stare, ragged plain dress, long wavy and messy black hair Rumor: She witnessed something maddening that she never recovered from, but won’t speak about Goal: Seemingly none, but if brought back to sanity, will help the party to solve the mystery Quirk: Never makes eye contact or uses names. Looks past people into the distance. Forgot her own name and never took a new one. Introduction: As the ship carrying the party crawls toward the Brinestilts to dock and repair, a stark sight catches the attention of the crew. Thirty feet from the nearest wooden platform, the Nameless woman stands on the water, as if by magic, as her child swims in the sea right next to her. She stares out into the horizon, lost in thought and seemingly uncaring and unnoticing of the arriving ship. A DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check reveals that she does not stand on the water, but on a sunken wooden platform hidden just below the surface. Noticing the sunken platform will lead down to notice a whole web of sunken platforms, revealing that the Brinestilts that are above the surface are just a portion of a mostly sunken network that extends beneath the sea.

PIOTR PARPIN Sane Fisherman (M Silverwise Darrow)

“There’s something going on here. Jintom has always been a pain in my ass, but this is something else.” Personality: Discerning, but edging toward paranoia Appearance: Weathered and haggard, with worn, plain clothes Rumor: A disagreement turned violent between him and another townsperson caused an accidental death Goal: Survive and escape, but figure out what’s happening to the town if possible Quirk: Eyes dart to entrances and exits nervously. Foot bounces nervously when seated.

195 DOMINIONS OF ASH: AQUEANUS

Introduction: Piotr approaches the party warily, hand near fishing knife but not drawn. After determining that the party isn’t allied with Jintom Jol, he will explain that the Brinestilts seem weird lately, and that he saw a vision while drowning of another person being murdered here, and hasn’t seen them since. He will explain that while they didn’t see the killer’s face, he did see a golden web, blood in water, and an eye hanging in the sky. A DC 14 History check determines that the eye and the golden web are symbols of Titans.

JINTOM JOL, OF THE COSMOS Mayor of the Stilts (F Mord Human)

“I’ll find this wurm for you – free of charge. Killing it, though? That’s gonna cost you.”

D6 1

Personality: Secretive, cunning, and subtly sinister. Charismatic when addressing her people Appearance: Ill-fitting black religious garb with the holy symbols torn off or scratched away. Stern stance with hands nearly always behind her back. Rumor: She used to be much kinder and forgiving, but has turned cold and harsh as the years have passed

Goal: Build a makeshift body for the Watcher. Keep the town brainwashed.

COUNTDOWN TO PERIL The party arrives in the Brinestilts and sees the Nameless Woman standing in the sea. The ship’s captain goes off to negotiate for repairs and is never seen again. Jintom Jol is found preaching to the townspeople, giving them water scooped from a strangely shaped clear basin, which is secretly the Watcher’s retina. The town is brainwashed by this ritual to be attuned to the Watcher’s desires. Piotr Parpin confronts the party, and after verifying they are not allied with the mayor or brainwashed, pleads with the party to help save the town, though he is not certain of the end goal of the mayor. Tensions continue to rise and the town becomes more and more fervent and brazen, forgoing any sense of regular sanity to continue the mission to build the Watcher’s makeshift body. The Brinestilts fall into chaos as the townspeople go into a frenzy to finish their work, outright attacking non-locals and even tearing pieces of the town itself off to add to the Watcher’s body. The Watcher inhabits the makeshift body and rises from the depths underneath the Binestilts, maddened by the Exalting’s amplification of the eldritch Desolation, and begins destroying the Brinestilts and attacking the party before attempting to move through the ocean toward its original body in the Silver Moon.

Quirk: Walks in rigid, straight lines, meticulously measuring and counting steps.

ESCALATION

Introduction: As the party approaches, Jintom is heard loudly preaching as a line of townspeople has formed in front of her. Between her and the line is a large, clear glass basin (secretly the Titan’s retina) filled with fresh water. As each townsperson approaches, she dips a clay bowl into the basin, offering it to the person to drink. She eyes the party warily, but does not break from her speech or standing position until everyone has taken a drink. A DC 20 Intelligence (History) check will realize that the glass basin is a Titan’s retina, and that the water consumed from the retina may have adverse effects.

The Brinestilts are shrouded in mystery. Townspeople seem dissociated and off kilter. Travelers who arrive here often go missing, never to be seen again. The party should feel pressured to unravel the mystery of the Brinestilts and leave as soon as possible, or else the mayor may feed them to the Watcher so it can rise.

D6 1 2 3 4 5 6

LOCAL CONDITIONS Maddened townspeople act erratically. Strange sea creatures inhabit the lower seas under the Stilts. All in the area experience strange hallucinations and dreams. Fish caught babble in nonsensical whispers.

CHARACTER CONNECTIONS You were on a mission to Aqueanus to investigate the Black Wound. The Deepwatchers offer a reward to anyone that can help find anything related to something called “The Watcher” Something called out to you from afar, someone or something waiting, watching... The captain said he’d pay the money he owes you right after he sees how much repairs are going to cost. Sent on an exploratory mission to find out more about the Peerless Sight worn by the Marrow. Sent to question a prisoner on death row in Thasz Khet before their execution.

D4 1 2 3 4

D6 BRINE LEECHES These blood-sucking parasitic worm creatures infest the salt water throughout Aqueanus. They swim with great speed, but also crawl quickly on land with their multi jointed insectoid legs. Brine leeches are predatory, but cautious, preferring to attach to their victims while unaware or sleeping. Once a brine leech latches onto a creature, it feeds tendrils into the creature’s body, wrapping them around vital organs as they continue to feed on the creature’s blood. This connection makes them dangerous to remove without exceptional care, as the host can die if their organs are ruptured during a careless removal.

196 DOMINIONS OF ASH: AQUEANUS

1 2-3 4-5 6

CONFLICT Madness: The party starts feeling the effects of the Watcher’s influence from being in the town. Mystery: Townspeople are going missing and people that aren’t brainwashed suspect the Nameless Woman knows more than she’s letting on. The Sea: Storms and strong winds send waves up onto the Brinestilts platforms and obscure visibility. Occult: A townsperson learns an eldritch ritual that goes awry, causing strange creatures to flock to the Brinestilts. RISING THREAT The townspeople become wary of Piotr and suspect he is not allied with them. He is kidnapped and interrogated. Jintom Jol leads a mob wielding pitchforks and torches through the streets as a show of power. A sect of the town becomes highly militant and controlling, keeping tabs on all activity and instituting curfews and check-ins. The townspeople confront the party and try to run them out of town.

D8 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 D10 1-3 4-6 7-9 10 D12

NOTABLE LOCATIONS Suspension Bridges: unstable footing, sea creatures lurk beneath, fraying ropes and brittle planks Hidden Underwater Grotto: hidden clues, caches of equipment, grisly discovery Abandoned Cathedral: secret meetings, ancient rituals, eldritch runes Mayor’s Office: strange drawings, secret map, documents strewn about SCENES Town Hall Meeting: zealous preaching, cult-like environment, maddened townspeople Sea Creature Attack: underwater ambush, sea monsters work together Out on the Stilts: slippery wooden platforms, evade pursuers, stay above water The Watcher Awakens: weakened Watcher, desperate struggle, makeshift body HALLUCINATIONS

Another sea and Brinestilts reflected upside down in the sky. Gargantuan sea serpents dive from upper to lower and vice 1-3 versa. The townspeople all appear as scaled and gilled, fishlike humanoids. Massive eldritch monsters sit atop buildings, cling to bridges, 4-6 and watch from the corners of rooms, curiously observing the unfolding events. The sun is a clock and the skies are a swirling purple, black, and deep blue vortex swirling around it. The seas are a mess 7-9 of bleeding gears and wires. Other people are shadows. The wooden platforms and bridges are normal. Looking down into the ocean is as if looking at the Brinestilts from above, causing an endless repeating fractal of the 10-12 surrounding environments. Looking up into the sky is similar, but as if looking up from the seas. D20

TWISTS

The presence influencing Jintom Jol is not actually a Titan, 1 but an evil spirit from the Desolation. After inhabiting its makeshift body, it will begin making tears into the Desolation. Piotr has only been pretending to oppose Jintom Jol and 2-5 is luring the party into an ambush so their bodies can be harvested for the Watcher. The Nameless Woman, now fully taken over by another 6-10 consciousness, raises a Primordial from the sea to oppose the will of the Watcher. The captain was paid to bring your party to the Brinestilts to 11-15 help build the Watcher’s makeshift body. Jintom Jol and her followers have been attacking and 16-19 sabotaging ships to force them to come to Brinestilts. The rising of the Watcher initiates a Bleakstorm centered 20 directly overhead, which begins tearing the Brinestilts apart.

UNFOLDING EVENTS • The Watcher’s makeshift body, located on the sea floor underneath the Brinestilts, begins to stir. The waters in the area become restless and the townspeople become filled with anticipation. • The Watcher begins climbing up the submerged sections of the Brinestilts and waves begin flowing onto the platforms. Crowds gather in the town center to await the arrival of the creature. • With a crash, the Watcher crests the sealine, sending a geyser of water into the air and waves tumbling across the Brinestilts, washing away townspeople in the process. As it lands, it smashes platforms and buildings before grabbing its original retina from Jintom Jol and affixing it to its body. • Maddened by the Desolation and filled with hate and determination, the Watcher begins attacking anyone in sight before turning its attention to the party, knowing them as the ones who had been working against it.

AFTERMATH/CONSEQUENCES • If the Watcher defeats the party, it kills most of the townspeople and wrecks the Brinestilts to add to its amalgamated form before heading toward the Silver Moon to recover its original body, consuming everything in its wake on the way. • If the Watcher’s body is destroyed, the townspeople frenzy and attack the party, though they put up little effective fight. Afterwards, the ship can be repaired without incident. • After defeating the Watcher and the mob, the party can choose to destroy, take, or leave the retina behind. If they leave it, the Watcher eventually finds a new person to influence. If they destroy it, the Watcher’s presence flees the area. • If the party decides to keep the retina, it slowly attempts to influence whoever holds it for as long as they have possession of it, eventually infecting their mind with the same madness. • (Optional) For each party member, roll on the Lingering Trauma table to see how the horrors they’ve witnessed here affect them going forward. D6 1

CLIMAX: THE WATCHER RISES The water rumbles and shakes, sending waves splashing across the Brinestilts platforms. A huge crash erupts as the Watcher’s body crests the ocean surface. A mess of barnacles and coral, scrap metal, wooden planks, pieces of ships, and biomass harvested from the travelers killed here, the Watcher stands 15 feet tall and creaks, groans, and squelches with every movement. It cannot speak, but you can feel its emotional quality, a mixture of erratic madness, anger, and determination. With eerie, writhing movements it grabs its retina from Jintom Jol before beginning to attack the party, destroying parts of the Brinestilts with each blow.

LINGERING TRAUMA You have a recurring dream where you are treading water in the middle of the ocean when an invisible creature pulls you underwater. You see a single unblinking eye watching you drown. Large bodies of water make you uncomfortable. You experience an overwhelming feeling of dread and the sensation that you are being watched by a predatory force whenever you see pieces of a Titan’s body or large Archans. You see massive eldritch monsters sitting atop or clinging to structures and objects, watching you everywhere you go. You are unsure if they are real or not. Any time someone other than you fills a bowl or basin with water, you find it impossible to trust that the water is safe to drink. You develop a fixation on the idea that you may actually be a complex machine of gears and wires instead of biological, finding brief solace in experiences that prove you are alive. The Desolation becomes a haunting, but magnetic force to you. Any sight or mention of it, you find horrifying, but can’t resist moving toward it.

197 DOMINIONS OF ASH: AQUEANUS

CRUX: CALL OF THE VOID Concept: Decide the Fate of Dragongrin Themes: Infiltration, Calamity, Judgment, Decisions

EVENT When the current system is oppressive and beyond repair from within, how drastic of an action is appropriate to dismantle it? If you could destroy it all in an instant and start over, would that be better? Or should you continue to live in a terrible world and a terrible system, because calamity is always beyond moral reason? You will have to decide for yourselves. You have been set up to meet someone who claims to be a former Lord of Ash who knows the secret to defeating the Dismembered Lord, but it will require unleashing the Desolation into the world. The man claims that it is a misunderstood force, smeared by the Dismembered Lord, and that it will deal a devastating blow to the Dismembered Lord without risking the world at large, but others are less certain, believing his plan to be nothing short of Armageddon on a planar scale. Who is right? That is your decision to make, a choice that will have massive impact either way. You’ve been requisitioned to infiltrate the Fortress of Ash Thasz Khet and go past it into the lowest levels of Aqueanus, where the Black Wound – the largest known tear into the Desolation – is located. Already having torn at the seal that barely holds it at bay, the former Lord of Ash wishes to unleash it entirely, believing it will deal a death blow to the Dismembered Lord. The party will have to decide how true the former Lord’s tale is, and either help him to unleash the Desolation, or work to reseal it away and ensure the status quo remains.

PEOPLE This Crux centers around the dispute between Dontas Ashtongue, a former Lord of Ash, and his attendant Jera Zhizael of the Endless, an elven Mord wizard. Dontas believes that the Desolation has been unfairly maligned, and that unleashing it into the world through Aqueanus would deal a mortal blow to the Dismembered Lord and allow people to rise up to oppose his rule. Jera, while admitting it is more feasible than it may seem, is apprehensive, worried that drastic action is too risky and that working to undermine the system from within would be more effective. While infiltrating Thasz Khet to make it to the tear, a prisoner in the process of escaping named Staerkas merely wants to leverage whatever side he can to break out of prison with the least consequences to himself.

DONTAS ASHTONGUE OF HOUSE ARREOS

Former Lord of Ash (M Crucian Human)

“We have lived too long suppressed, misinformed, and disoriented by the Dismembered Lord. It’s time we take matters into our own hands, and unleash his worst fears.” Personality: Bristling and verbose, obsessed with conspiracy Appearance: Disheveled and weathered. Once fine garb now tattered, faded, and dirty. A black iron scepter that used to be a Reliquary of Ash. Rumor: He was dismissed from his post as Lord of Ash of Aqueanus after going mad. Goal: Unleash the Desolation onto Aqueanus

198 DOMINIONS OF ASH: AQUEANUS

Introduction: Dontas approaches the party, eyeing them up and down and pacing around them in a circle. He begins a wild, verbose rant about how he used to be the Lord of Ash but was dismissed because he was uncovering a great secret about the Dismembered Lord. He will inform the party that the Desolation is misunderstood, smeared by propaganda to keep it in check, as it would weaken the Dismembered Lord to the point where he could be defeated, and that they should help him unleash it into Aqueanus. A DC 15 Intelligence (History) check reveals that the black iron scepter he carries and claims is a former Reliquary of Ash is genuine and still contains some power, albeit weakened, and that he is actually who he says he is, lending credence to his words.

JERA ZHIZAEL OF THE ENDLESS Dontas’ Attendant (F Mord Elf)

“There are forces of cosmic scale that should never be meddled with, no matter how desperate we may be. We can still work against the Dismembered Lord from within this system. Calamity is not the answer!” Personality: Gravely somber, but surprisingly kind. Worried, but solemn. Appearance: Elaborately braided black hair. Ash gray skin. Billowing maroon robes. Elderstone pendant. Rumor: Desires to flee from Dontas, turn him in, and gain station with the current Lord of Ash. Goal: Convince the party to go with Dontas to the Desolation’s seal, but kill him and reinforce the seal before he can unleash it. Introduction: Standing next to Dontas, silent and nearly motionless, Jera frowns. Placing two fingers on her Elderstone pendant, she uses its magic to silently and covertly cast the spell telepathic bond on everyone except for Dontas. Remaining motionless, she telepathically pleads to the party that Dontas’ plan, while possible, is too dangerous, and that even if there was evidence suggesting it might work, it would be better not to take such drastic action. A DC 14 Charisma (Performance or Deception) check allows Dontas to not notice surprise or contemplation on the faces of the party, though he does not reveal that he is aware until the end of the Crux.

STAERKAS OF THE DUSKWAVE SINNERS Escaped Convict in Progress (M Granok Thane Dwarf)

“Enough pretending to be sleeping away in those cells. Time for me to make my break, fill my pockets with whatever I can find, and leave these prisons behind.” Personality: Vicious, gruff, and uncompromising. Selfish and controlling. Appearance: Prison garb with convict identification tattoo on neck. Bald and shaven. Rumor: He was a war criminal during Lightfall so vile that even the Dismembered Lord ordered him locked away for his deeds. Goal: Escape the prison in the best possible situation for himself.

Introduction: While wandering the prison tunnels, you spot Staerkas, still dripping with the fluid used to keep prisoners in stasis, rummaging through a locker. Upon spotting the party, he grabs a tool from the locker to use as an improvised weapon. With a DC 16 Charisma (Persuasion) check, along with a guarantee of safe passage out of the prison and monetary gain, Staerkas agrees to help the party. Otherwise, he stubbornly demands that they break him out, or else he will alert the prison guard to their presence and sabotage their operation.

D4 1 2 3 4 D6

D6 1 2 3

5 6

D6 1

CHARACTER CONNECTIONS You’ve accepted this mission not for the fate of the world, but to free someone you know that is imprisoned in Thasz Khet. You’ve been sent to find out more about Former Lord of Ash Dontas for the current Lord of Ash Dhaes Vasul. The Revulsions squeezing through the Black Wound haunt your dreams and gnaw at your waking mind. You must do something about this, whatever it takes. You’ve seen the horrors of the Dismembered Lord and Legion and drastic action must be taken. After what you’ve seen, unleashing the Desolation on the world doesn’t seem like such a bad idea. Jera suggested you for this job to Dontas, knowing she might be able to sway you to not follow through with his plan. You know someone that would pay handsomely for any pieces of Peerless Sight you can get your hands on.

1 2-3 4-5 6

CONFLICT Infiltration: An anonymous tip to the reigning Lord of Ash causes increased security throughout the prison. Calamity: A riot breaks out and the Nekton work to control and corral the prisoners with no mercy. Judgment: Serious doubt is cast upon one of the NPCs motives, but they still claim their cause is the correct one. Distraction: An alarm blares in the distance. Do they know the adventurers are here? RISING THREAT Tears into the Desolation worsen and more eldritch Revulsions slip through the cracks. The passages leading to the depths under Thasz Khet are unstable and may collapse. An alarm rings out in the distance. Did you set it off? Or is something else going on? The Revulsions you see and encounter grow in number – the Black Wound is getting worse.

LOCAL CONDITIONS Winding corridors that are difficult to navigate. Eerily quiet, but any sounds reverberate loudly. Eldritch Revulsions are more common the deeper you go. Nekton patrol the halls looking for intruders.

COUNTDOWN TO PERIL Dontas and Jera approach the party with an opportunity to infiltrate Thasz Khet and potentially unleash the Desolation, which Dontas argues would be a net good. Jera admits that while Dontas’ plan may actually work, she is apprehensive and believes it is not worth the risk, but that whatever they believe, they should venture to the seal to ensure it stays shut if they decide to side with her. The party begins its infiltration of Thasz Khet, guided by Dontas and his knowledge of this place. While working through the prison, the party comes across Staerkas, a Granok Thane war criminal in the process of breaking himself out. He demands the party help him and threatens to sound the alarm if they don’t. Working past the prison, the party reaches the lower levels of Aqueanus, where the Black Wound awaits. Malformed revulsions that have squeezed past gaps in the seal lurk in the shadows. The party reaches the Black Wound and must decide whether to unleash it or keep it under control.

ESCALATION While infiltrating the Fortress of Ash will be tense of its own accord, the primary weight of the Desolation and the choice of whether or not to unleash it will weigh heavily on the party. There will be many opportunities to dispute the proper course of action and explore the prison system within the Fortress of Ash. The party should feel a massive burden to make the right decision and feel as if either option is within reason.

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D8 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8

NOTABLE LOCATIONS Cell Blocks: prisoners in stasis, patrolling guards, dim arcane lights Labyrinthine Ventilation: confined space, maze-like tunnels, must remain quiet Revulsion Pit: dim torchlight, eldritch monsters, deep cave crevice prison Solitary Confinement: lightless hallway, defeated cries, bones litter the floor

D10

SCENES

1-3

Lone Sentry: act quick or be discovered, prevent from fleeing Arguing Ethics: nature of the Desolation, drastic or subtle action, dismantling systems Guard Barracks: Titan trinkets, personal effects, Nekton garb Seal or Open the Black Wound: charging Nekton, countless Revulsions, fate of the world

4-6 7-9 10 D12

DESOLATION SIDE-EFFECTS

You intermittently hear voices of different types and volumes 1-3 saying terrible things. The shadows in this place are alive – though they cannot 4-6 harm you ... yet. You see writhing tentacled masses constantly in your 7-9 peripheral vision – when you look they’re gone. Bright flashes of light occur sporadically, and silhouettes of 10-12 horrible creatures can be seen for a moment. D20

TWISTS

The Desolation is even more destructive than logical worry would indicate, and its unveiling may bring about the end of the world if a way to stop its advance isn’t found. Staerkas is actually a spy sent by Dhaes Vasul to investigate 2-5 the seal and prevent the Desolation from unleashing. Jera ultimately can’t bring herself to be disloyal and decides 6-10 to ally with Dontas regardless of apprehension. Dontas has a change of heart, but his previous damage to the 11-15 seal risks breaking it at any moment. To unleash or seal the Desolation, a sacrifice must be made — 16-19 willing or otherwise. The Desolation is truly benevolent, or at least non20 apocalyptic, and unleashing it genuinely causes a massive blow to the Dismembered Lord. 1

CLIMAX: TO END ALL THINGS The time for measured ethics discussions and careful planning and strategy is over. Now there is only action, as the weakened seal on the Desolation looms ahead. If Dontas and Jera accompanied the party, Dontas begins to work at the seal, asking the party to help him with the process. Jera, while not acting, will apprehensively and silently plead the party to stand up against him. What truly lies on the other side of this seal? Is it freedom or armageddon? Perhaps both. Perhaps neither and something else entirely. With no way to know with surety, the time has come to make a decision. Will you maintain the status quo and risk the system continuing or will you unleash change upon the world that may lead to its end?

200 DOMINIONS OF ASH: AQUEANUS

UNFOLDING EVENTS • The party arrives at the lowest point of Aqueanus, where the breaking seal to the Desolation awaits. Dontas works to unseal it, and asks the party to help. • Jera pleads with the party to stop, but will not initiate the action against Dontas. If the party decides to stop Dontas, combat ensues. • Staerkas, if present, sides with whichever side appears to be winning, and attempts to sneak away in the chaos if opportunity presents. • The party must decide to either reinforce the seal permanently or destroy it entirely. Inaction leads to the seal eventually breaking.

AFTERMATH/CONSEQUENCES • If the party decides to kill Dontas, Jera tells them how to seal up the Desolation, reinforcing it to a degree that breaking it would be near impossible. • If the party decides to help Dontas unleash the Desolation, they break the seal and a sea of eldritch horror floods through. The exact effect of this will ultimately need to be decided, but it should be dramatic and far-reaching no matter what. • If the party does not break free or reseal the Desolation, the seal eventually breaks on its own from damage Dontas has already done to it, unleashing the Desolation. • Staerkas sneaks away during the fight if possible, but otherwise flees the prison with the party, eventually receiving his promised reward, or attempting to turn them in if they do not deliver.

EVERGROWING SHADOWS

Weaknesses: His greatest strength is also the source of his greatest weakness. Every spell he casts reminds him of his forgotten faith, and pieces of the light he left behind bubble into his psyche, forcing him to repress again. The more spells he casts in a row, the more erratic he becomes, losing himself in an inconsolable existential crisis he must try to force back down into his subconscious.

LORD OF ASH: DHAES VASUL THE UNCHAINED

Origins: In one of the few times in which he has left Grinn in the last decade, the Dismembered Lord traveled to Aqueanus, and in the depths of Thasz Khet prison, awoke Dhaes Vasul from his stasis. The current Lord of Ash - the third one after Ashtongue, and one whose name no one can ever remember - was subdued before Vasul’s cell. The Dismembered Lord handed Vasul the prized mace of the senior-most leader of the Holithic church, Efram Hanival the Dawnshield. The Dismembered Lord explained to Vasul that if he executed the current Lord of Ash, he could have the position. Without hesitation, Vasul grabbed the mace and brutally and messily slew the then-current Lord of Ash. Having completed the task, the Dismembered Lord asked Vasul, “What do you offer as your reliquary?” In reply, Vasul handed the blood-soaked mace to the Dismembered Lord. Being the only Lord of Ash who was hand-picked by the Dismembered Lord recently, it is no secret that other Lords of Ash have a chip on their shoulder about his selection and station.

Aqueanus must remain intact for the Sovereign to continue to outfit and equip the Marrow. It is on the cusp of collapse if the evils in its briny depths are not kept at bay. Dhaes Vasul has vowed to be the one to keep this Dominion of Ash afloat.

“With Lightfall came the death of faith. Now all that’s left is to bury its corpse and be done with it.” Some know Dhaes Vasul as the powerful and devout Holithic dious. Others call him a traitor and a heretic because he denounced the Holithic faith publicly before he was imprisoned almost two decades ago, claiming that no true god would allow the Holithic church to lose Lightfall. No matter what he’s done, and how much of his faith he has claimed to renounce no one can deny the power he still wields ... wherever it comes from. The Dismembered Lord himself hand-selected Vasul, believing him to be the only creature capable of keeping the darkness that dwells in the depths of Aqueanus at bay. The story goes that three years ago, Dontas Ashtongue of House Arreos was deemed mad and disappeared into the depths of Thasz Khet. Following that, there were three Lords of Ash in quick succession, each slain or driven mad by the Lightless Host. Vasul is an unbeliever who wields what he believes is arcane magic that he foolishly classified as “divine,” and he has fully denounced the Holithic church and its deities. He continues to be the only Lord of Ash who has kept the Lightless Host in proper order. Encountering Dhaes Vasul: Though he is a Lord of Ash, Dhaes Vasul is not particularly vindictive, though he will do what he must to get the job done, including bloodshed. Vasul prefers to try to reason with his enemies before a fight, and he is powerfully persuasive. If that does not work, he will not back down from a fight. In the heat of combat, his repressed emotions often erupt, and he is known to do more damage than intended in the heat of the moment. Reliquary of Ash: Dhaes Vasul’s reliquary is the coveted mace of the former highest-ranking leader of the Holithic church, Dawnshield Efram Hanival. Vasul claims openly to have chosen the mace as a sleight to his faith, commiting an act of murder with it as a heretical gesture, but some whisper that choosing it as a reliquary was a sign of weakness, and evidence of his connection to his faith. Others have openly taken issue that the mace is technically a banned item as it is a symbol of the Holithic Church. Appearance: Dhaes Vasul is a handsome man with thick black hair framing almond-shaped eyes and a strong, jutting chin. His skin is pale from his time inside the prison of Thasz Khet, adorned in his pristine Holithic armor. His pauldrons are now etched with a beautiful scene of Lightfall’s final battle, a constant reminder of his greatest regret, and the thing he will never let happen again. Powers: Faithful or not, Vasul still commands an immense control of divine magic, often calling down twisted versions of Holothic church miracles to smite his foes. While slow to use his magic, once he decides he must, he calls down his most powerful spells first, often vastly overreacting and overusing his force.

Secrets: While Vasul would love to believe his faith has been entirely shed, truthfully he has only repressed it deep down into the darkest part of his psyche. With each divine spell cast, pinpricks of light and faith begin to bubble up from his subconscious, drawing him back toward the light he claimed to forfeit. Whenever the call of his prior faith pulls strongly, Vasul dives fully into his work, often driving himself to pure exhaustion in multiple day long work sprees before collapsing and requiring recovery. During the recovery time, he reassures himself of his lost faith and his devotion to the Sovereign. He pushes himself deeper into his work, a top secret construction project commissioned by the Sovereign that only he, the Dismembered Lord, and one Arcseer know about. Fortress of Ash: Thasz Khet is the largest, most secure prison in all of Dragongrin, and was put into operation shortly after Lightfall. The Exalting effect of the Silver Moon along with the arcane construction of its chambers allows for prisoners to be kept in stasis for long periods of time without them aging or needing sustenance, though they experience every moment of their captivity. The upper levels of Thasz Khet is secure and patrolled by the Cold Sun and the Nekton tirelessly, and the virtually countless tunnels and cells of the myriad levels often need to be purged of eldritch threats. Nemesis: Cedra Falor, Vasul’s aunt on his mother’s side, is the closest thing he has to a nemesis, and she is also the person that he is closest to in the world. Or was, until Lightfall. The two were separated during the battle, and they haven’t spoken since, neither knowing the fate of the other. Cedra went into hiding after Lightfall, though she has emerged hearing of Vasul’s lordship, and has arrived in Aqueanus. Picked up by the Nekton as a Holithic fugitive, they brought her to Thasz Khet. She still waits in a cell, and Vasul must decide if and when he will face her. She is the reason he believed what he did, and he fears that she will ask him questions that he cannot answer. Legion of Ash: The Marrow in Aqueanus are divided, and often at odds. The Marrow Nekton have been modified so heavily as to seem inhuman at times, in both ability and association. As a result, many of the normal Marrow fear and resent them, even if they understand their usefulness. Vasul also commands a criminal group called The Cold Sun, made

201 DOMINIONS OF ASH: AQUEANUS

up of hand-selected released fugitives in Thasz Khet, who are highly specialized criminals who take on a variety of roles based on their areas of expertise, criminal knowhow and abilities.

VASUL STRIVES FOR • Jahar: Vasul feels that someone with his background, power, and temperament should rule far more than these desolate waters, no matter how important the task may be. He sees Revak Zistra of Jahar as inferior in nearly every way, and begins to desire great swathes of the nearby desert coastline. • Faithlessness: Vasul, while outwardly has entirely forgone his prior religion, still feels the pull to return to the faith. He seeks a way to remove this faith from his mind, through logic and work, or by arcane force if necessary. • The Verity Beacon: Vasul searches for the Verity Beacon, a magical candle that can definitively tell Vardig, or any shapeshifter for that matter, from otherwise. If found and placed within the right spot in the Silver Moon, the Exalting will amplify its light across all of Aqueanus, revealing all false creatures across his domain.

VASUL’S STATE OF POWER This section represents the strength of Dhaes Vasul’s resources, allies, and enemies. For everything except the secrets and the plot twist, the lower the roll, the worse-off the result for the Lord of Ash. It is intended to be rolled once at the beginning of a session or campaign to generate a starting point, but it can be rolled any time an important enough event occurs to affect the resource or people. D4 1 2 3 4

THE COLD SUN Portions of the Cold Sun are stealing supplies and fleeing Aqueanus as confidence in Vasul wanes. The Cold Sun begin to view Vasul as weak, demanding a show of gruesome force to reinspire loyalty. While some wish for a firmer, crueler leader, profits and control are high enough that most are content with the current state of things. Record profits and freedoms for the Cold Sun lead to immense praise for their leader and high hopes for the future.

202 DOMINIONS OF ASH: AQUEANUS

D6 1 2-3 4-5 6 D8 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8

LEGION OF ASH The Nekton have gone rogue, and are no longer following every order given. The Marrow have been infiltrated by the Vardig though it is impossible to know who and how many. The Marrow have grown closer together in their tribulations, and though tested, they rise to the challenges before them. The Marrow and the Nekton are a perfect fighting force using each other's strengths to divide and conquer. FORTRESS OF ASH Horrors from the Desolation below cause record deaths and damages. Resources and manpower dwindle and structural integrity risks failing. Unplanned prison breaks strain guard morale and destabilize routine. Thasz Khet is running tightly, and the Desolation is being beat back expertly. Thasz Khet has never been safer, and a new method of putting prisoners in stasis is being developed.

D10

VASUL’S FOES

1-3

Captain Malin Tor is aiding the Ceaseless Travail

4-6 7-9 10

The Deepwatchers are being assisted by the Watcher The Dorsai have succeeded in opening the Black Wound wider The Vardig have taken over several important people

D12

VASUL’S HINDRANCE

Vasul begins having frequent dreams of Holithic saints 1-3 turning their gaze away from him – he believes a sacrifice is necessary. Lords of Ash from other regions are combining forces to 4-6 undermine Vasul’s reign. Vasul’s reliquary was lost to the depths in a recent raid 7-9 against ravaging revulsions. The Dismembered Lord has failed to contact Vasul in many 10-12 weeks, and the Lord of Ash feels he has disappointed the Sovereign. D20

TWISTS

The magic that Vasul wields that he believes may be his old faith or arcane magic is actually granted by a Revulsion using 1 him to spread the Desolation through his twisted version of their magic. Cedra Falor is actually a Vardig using her visage to destabilize 2-5 Vasul’s leadership, sowing dissent and dissatisfaction in his ranks as he wrestles with his faith. Vasul’s reliquary is a fake, and always has been. The true Lord 6-10 of Ash operates behind the scenes, using Vasul as a puppet. The Exalting is not caused by the Silver Moon, but by the 11-15 Desolation – Vasul’s job is to let just enough to slip through for this to continue. The Dismembered Lord hand-picked Dhaes Vasul not because 16-19 he would succeed, but because he knew he would fail. Vasul’s inevitable failure is part of a bigger plan. Dhaes Vasul has been won over by the Lightless Host and 20 serves them in secret.

COUNTDOWN TO RUIN Unless a change of course can be forced upon the region from outside, the Desolation bleeding out mixed with the growing political tensions in Aqueanus will lead to carnage and ultimately armageddon. 1. The People Rise: Wyn Draelor officially launches the Ceaseless Travail, staging a massive strike across the Marrow production facilities and throwing countless Marrow food stores and armaments into the sea, causing chaos for the Marrow supply lines as the Travail demands better treatment and conditions. Marrow immediately prepare to retaliate and crush the rebellion before it can take off. 2. Vargero’s Vardig Take Notice: Noticing the increasing tensions between the Ceaseless Travail and the Marrow, Vargero sees an opportunity to begin nudging history back toward his own vision. Sending Vardig to take the place of important people on both sides of the conflict, Vargero stokes the conflict between the two, hoping to drive Draelor into finishing his pact with the Revulsion. 3. Descent into Madness: The Vardig learn of Draelor’s relationship to Malin Tor and out her to her fellow Marrow, causing them to brutally murder her and displayer her body openly as a sign of disrespect to Draelor. Lost in grief, Draelor accepts the bargain with the Revulsion, gaining eldritch power, causing a massive increase in violent conflict between the Marrow and the Travail. 4. Grasp at the Root: Hoping to root out the Vardig from their ranks, Draelor calls in the Deepwatchers to aid them, leading to a brutal inquisition. Despite the many conflicts, the Ceaseless Travail begins to make ground against the Marrow. The difficulty of managing so much chaos leads Dhaes Vasul to begin questioning his methods and take a difficult look at his faith.

5. Faith Regained: Helped by his aunt Cedra Falor and pressured by the immense chaos throughout the region, Dhaes Vasul forsakes his position as Lord of Ash, rededicating himself to the Holithic Church and joining forces with the Ceaseless Travail to fight against the Dismembered Lord. The Dismembered Lord calls in Caius Veccus, the Lord of Ash from Svir, to step in and take command. 6. The Exalting Magnifies: The mass scale of warfare and magic in the region mixed with the ever-spreading effects of the Desolation begin to twist the effects of the Exalting. Its amplifying effects begin to intensify, causing magic in the area to dramatically overcharge, causing widespread catastrophe and massive casualties for all sides. 7. The Bled Conqueror: In a grand tactical flourish, Caius Vecchus manages to lead an ambush against the prominent leaders of the Ceaseless Travail, killing and capturing many of the movement’s senior officers. In desperation, the Travail looks to ignite the exposed core of the Silver Moon, believing it will end the calamity of the ever-increasing intensity of the Exalting and cause a massive explosion that will end the fighting. 8. Twisting Calamity: While the Ceaseless Travail manages to ignite the Silver Moon’s core, its strange magic mixed with the amplified effects of the Desolation does not cause a singular explosion as intended, but begins to melt space and time itself in the region. All matter begins to melt together in horrifying twisted blobs, blurring all life into a bubbling amalgamation of existence. Few, if any, manage to escape the region before being consumed into the muck that remains of what used to be Aqueanus.

203 DOMINIONS OF ASH: AQUEANUS

FEYGRAVE

DYING, ENCHANTED FOREST

“You should have seen it – before the King of Stolen Days, before the Bleak. The Valenus were our protectors, the typhons our rulers – benevolent and stern, keeping our coexistence intact. But now, the taproot is cut, and what do you see? Waste. Rot. Death.” – Torlani Lontig, the Ceaseless The once-lush wilds of Feyhold thrived in the shadow of Talas the Lifetree. With Talas uprooted, the mystical forest dies, fading in a perpetual autumn.

HISTORY

Then: Once a thriving and peaceful forest known as Feyhold growing in the immense shade of Talas, this place was a beacon of the Old Vale and sylvan magic. Now: Talas’ violent and sudden uprooting left a gaping hole in the landscape. The twisted and dying forest is now called Feygrave, and many clash over its potential futures. Beyond: Feygrave’s magic wanes, but the remnants are more potent than ever in their death throes. The forest grows still, but its twisted roots are rotten, and if not restored to balance, the threats and creatures spilling from it will overrun the region – and perhaps all of central Dragongrin. FEYGRAVE AT-A-GLANCE Terrain: Enchanted, autumnal forests, winding rivers, and sparse mountains Climate: Cool nights and humid days, the only precipitation comes from Bleakstorms Lord of Ash: None Resources: Enchanted ponds and fantastical vegetation Cultures: Ardor, Talasar Factions: Valenus Remnant, Dimgrove Enclave, Strixick, Typhon Eaters, Troublemakers Creatures: Kumon Orth, treearchs, goblinoids, vogan

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KNOW THIS TO SURVIVE

Mere days after Lord of Ash Malvio Rand was slain by the typhon Kumon Orth, Marrow Commander Diego Salva attempts to keep order in the ranks. Few survive here, but still Troublemakers from across Dragongrin swarm to Feygrave for a slim chance at a prosperous future, and mysterious factions vie for control of the remaining fey magic permeating the dying forest. The Reliquary of the Valemancer Calls Out: Five days ago, Lord of Ash Malvio Rand the Valemancer was slain by an enormous typhon during a hunt. Rand and his Typhon Eaters – an elite squad of Marrow Valewardens led by Commander Diego Salva – were hunting the creature through uncharted territory when tragedy befell the party. The typhon killed everyone in the hunting party, save for Salva, who managed to escape unharmed. The Reliquary of Ash once wielded by the Valemancer – a magical quiver of arrows – still sits in the clearing where the group was mauled, waiting to be reclaimed. Salva is respected enough to maintain order in the wake of Rand’s death, commanding the Marrow and his remaining Typhon Eaters, but a Lord of Ash must be named soon or Feygrave will fall further into chaos. Heroes Are Welcome Here: The dangers of Feygrave are copious and deadly. The Sovereign cannot afford to train and lose so many Marrow in the region, so he offers its many rewards to freelancers, drudges, and rebels willing to risk their lives to prune the forest of threats. Feygrave’s perimeter is dotted with Marrow outposts maintaining an open call to adventurers – all who arrive are given steel (rusted, likely belonging to another adventurer who died days before) and deemed a Troublemaker. Those who survive are paid exorbitant sums to tame the forest’s denizens, but only one in ten ever live long enough to collect. Any heroes who survive thirty days and fulfill any specific requirements of their quests and bounties receive a Deed of Exploit, an official writ allowing them to adventure throughout Dragongrin with a degree of permission from the Sovereign recognized by the Dismembered Legion to allow them to pass into certain areas.

The Dimgrove Enclave Tend to the Roots: The most powerful druid enclave in Dragongrin operates largely in the periphery, striving to keep the balance of the Old Vale throughout the unnatural, dying realm. They place their aspirations and efforts into the Hoperoots, left behind when Talas was torn from the ground. The Hoperoots syphon what little energy the forests have left to feed themselves and grow. The Dimgrove Enclave know that if given the proper attention and nourishment, these roots could potentially grow into another Lifetree, but it is said the magic comes at great cost. Still, the Dimgrove press on. The Valenus Remnant Allies with the Sovereign: The elves who stayed behind after Talas departed hold a grudge against the cowardly elves who fled, stealing the sacred Lifetree with them. The Remnant leader, Elthana Syll, struck an alliance with Lord of Ash Rand years before his death, pledging to help establish Marrow outposts throughout Feygrave and use her knowledge of the Feymist Crossings – teleporter-like entrances into the Feymists – to traverse the region, all in exchange for the Sovereign’s undying pledge to return Talas to Dragongrin. Granok Thane warriors used the Feymist Crossings after Lightfall to invade Talas under the Sovereign’s blessing, but are now cut off in the soaring Lifetree they’ve sworn to return. The Feymists require great magical energy to use, and with the emergence of Hoperoots sapping the forest’s energies, the portals are mostly inoperable. Syll seeks to destroy these new roots of Talas, stopping the Dimgrove Enclave once and for all, while the Sovereign grows impatient, his Granok Thane in Talas without supply and reinforcements until the Feymist Crossings are operational again. Strixick Goblins Serve Kumon Orth: The Strixick goblin horde dwell beneath the surface of Feygrave in thousands of interlinked subterranean tunnels, with the highest density area known as Typhongrin. The horde’s incessant digging and expanding uncovered the preserved, hibernating typhon, Kumon Orth. Since waking it, the goblins serve and worship the typhon, and in return Orth grants them power and protection within the area of the Typhongrin. Using traps, stealth, and sheer numbers to overwhelm their foes, the horde is imbued with the magic of Kumon Orth, granting them tremendous courage, strength, and willingness to die for the cause. Recently wounded in a battle with the Lord of Ash, Kumon Orth desires to regain its spectral crown of power, and the Strixick prepare the elaborate ritual to accomplish this. Feymist Crossings Rupture and Bleed: The Feymists are an alternate plane of pure fey energy. Used for centuries by the Talasar to traverse great distances in an instant by connecting points known as Feymist Crossings, they were tainted by the Bleak after Lightfall, and the interconnected Feymist crossings grow unstable, spewing erratic fey energies and creatures known as treearchs into the material plane. Twisted into outright hostility by the tainted fey, the treearchs are malevolent toward anything not native to the Feymists, seeing all else as a sickness in need of curing. CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS OF FEYGRAVE • The glowing crystal-like growths of the sunthorn tree provide light and guidance to the people of Feygrave. In the perpetual twilight of the region, and particularly in the dead of its black nights, wanderers often harvest these crystals and carry them aloft like torches. • It’s not wise to turn your back on a tree in Feygrave. Stories persist that the fey enter our realm through the hollows of trees to snatch unsuspecting travelers. • In the late afternoon each day, the floating Lifetree of Talas momentarily eclipses the sun. This is known as the Hour of the Skyroot, and it is held that the energies of the Feymists leak through more potent and volatile during this time.

D10 1 2 3 4 5 6

8 9 10

CHARACTER CONNECTIONS TO FEYGRAVE You seek to join the ranks of the Dimgrove Enclave. learning their secrets for your own purposes. A Marrow sergeant you once knew got their start here as a Troublemaker – you aim to do the same. You seek to uncover the secrets of the typhons, and know Typhongrin is the place to discover the truth about Dragongrin’s history. An Ardor drudge close to you is said to have escaped into Feygrave, and you must find them. You have a deep connection with the Old Vale, and believe it calls you to Feygrave to increase the forest’s waning power. A fey creature of stone and wood attacked and maimed you, and you barely escaped with your life. You've come to exact revenge. You carry a tome that speaks of the secrets of Feyhold, containing a series of eerily accurate prophecies that have come to pass – and still more to come. A loved one shared a letter with you from a Marrow commander who owes them a favor. You must deliver the letter and collect. You fled into Feygrave seeking a new start. You wish to assist the Sovereign in any way you can, and joining the Valenus Remnant in their goals is the best way to do that in Feygrave.

POWERFUL PEOPLE OF FEYGRAVE

Marrow Commander Diego Salva: Salva is in deep mourning, holding himself responsible for the deaths of his comrades and his mentor, former Lord of Ash Malvio Rand. He is respected enough by the Marrow to maintain order among them, though refuses to be called standing Lord of Ash. Rand’s reliquary lays unclaimed in the shadow of the typhon that slew him. Salva feels that for any to claim the reliquary so soon would be a slap in the face to Rand’s memory, but also understands that to let the Strixick or Dimgrove Enclave claim it would be foolish. Some are suspicious of Salva, whispering that it’s too coincidental that an expert typhon hunter was the only survivor of the attack. Elthana Syll: The former member of an elite Talasar fighting legion and the current leader of the Valenus Remnant. She cut off her own arm with a small knife after the uprooting of Talas left her pinned to the earth, but she is still twice the fighter than most in Feygrave. She is tall, even for an

205 DOMINIONS OF ASH: FEYGRAVE

elf, and her passion and confidence make her an imposing and intimidating leader. She has an intimate knowledge of the Feymist Crossings and their location, as well as the labyrinthine Feymists that connect them. She wields a Marrow sword and Talasar shield with deep scores in it, marring its beauty. She will not rest until Talas is brought back to Feygrave. Torlani Lontig the Ceaseless: One of the oldest living people in Dragongrin, this festir Mord druid was alive when the powers of the Old Vale were hegemonic and vibrant throughout the realm. Small horns burst through her gray flesh, outlined by glistening silver hair. Wise and patient, the Ceaseless has silently directed the balance of nature in the realm for centuries. Her knowledge of the Old Vale, and the secrets of Feygrave and Talas make her the only mortal alive who can regrow the Lifetree in the crater that it left. However, she also knows the Lifetree’s name is misleading – to grow it from the shreds of dying roots would require old, dark magic, stained with treachery. Tryn Garvey, Anvil Tongue: This escaped Ardor drudge was a powerful hero before Lightfall, and became a nomad in Feygrave when the side of good lost. Keeping her drudge name as a moniker, she has become a tall tale in Feygrave. She has survived in the forest for twenty years, rarely revealing herself, and is rumored to carry a blessed bow that fires bolts of divine light, and a cloak allowing her to camouflage into the forest perfectly. Rumors persist that she seeks to claim the reliquary of ash that belonged to Malvio Rand, becoming the leader that Feygrave needs restore to its former glory, and begin making things right in Dragongrin. Chief Gark Wormteeth: Large and strong for a goblin, Gark Wormteeth rose quickly among the ranks of his fellow goblins, possessing an uncommon intelligence and charisma among his species. His ability to convince his people of his whims earned him his nickname. Wormteeth commands a group of bugbears who act as his personal bodyguards, and they are rewareded greatly for their loyalty. It was Wormteeth who found the slumbering typhon Kumon Orth, and was instrumental in awakening the creature.

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Kumon Orth, Typhon: This gargantuan ursine typhon was found slumbering deep within the ground in Feygrave, and awakened by the Strixick goblin horde. Upon awakening, Orth was outraged at the dying condition of what was once Feyhold, and the obvious absence of Talas. Having adopted the goblins that awakened it as its army, Orth seeks to gather more followers and claim power in Feygrave. Since its awakening, Orth has exhibited erratic emotions and behavior inconsistent and contradictory, showcasing both wrath and benevolence, often in the same moment. It believes this curse will be shed once its spectral crown is reclaimed. FREE ARDOR IN FEYGRAVE After Lightfall, the Dismembered Lord mysteriously released over one third of the Ardor from Innes and enslaved the rest as drudges. Many of the free Ardor took their chances in the dense thickets of Feygrave to try to scrape out a life. Though forbidden to unite under the single banner of their own faction, they often find success distributing themselves and working privately. Many were accepted as labor workers and apprentices by the Dimgrove Enclave, others took up the call to adventure as Troublemakers in the service of the Sovereign who freed them, and some even struck out on their own as beastkeepers and nomads.

PRIMARY LOCATIONS

Ashford: This small but secure settlement, composed mostly of free Ardor, hugs the trunk of a massive sunthorn tree scorched by wildfire. The ashen tree rises like a black tombstone against the verdant skyline of Feygrave. The guardians of Ashford smear their faces, armor, and weapons with charcoal from the husk of the tree, giving them the appearance of walking shadows. Axebough Vale: A secluded valley, veined with streams and riddled with overgrown ruins of apparent Titan origin. A massive waraxe of Titan copper splits a stone asunder at the vale’s heart, stuck fast for centuries. Bartag Brook: Beginning in the southeastern border entrance of Feygrave and veining through much of the dominion, Bartag Brook is well-known for the Bartag ferry, which maintains crossings at several key points, run mostly by free Ardor to make a meager wage. Recently, Bartag and its ferries have fallen prey to goblin raids, as well as dwindling, muddy waters as Feygrave fades further. Cutter’s Canopy: Built among the soaring canopy of an enormous tree on the western border of Feygrave is a free settlement, untouched by the shadow of the Sovereign. Cutter’s Canopy, so named for the Ardor drudge who freed hundreds and led them to the sanctuary of Feygrave, houses dwellings, a small barracks, a smithy, even a tavern – all connected by branches and creaking rope bridges. The archers of Cutter’s Canopy are famed for their accuracy, as well as their discretion – they only fire if a trespasser climbs beyond the “Mercy Branch,” some 50 feet from the settlement’s entrance. Deephollow: Talas left a gaping hole when it was ripped from the soil of Feyhold. Sundered roots emerge from its sheer sides, creating makeshift pathways and tunnels. Infested with Strixick goblins and bugbears, the lair of the awakened typhon Kumon Orth resides at its deepest point. Dimgrove: Ringing Deephollow, these sloping steppes host the enclave of druids that are its namesake. Makeshift encampments built within the trees house these druids, who emerge daily and venture into Deephollow to tend the Hoperoots. The work is dire and dangerous, often beset by raids from the goblinoids ranging the pit. The druids of Dimgrove are secretive, but do not turn away those in need. Dreamchasm: This plunging, root-clogged cavern is dominated by massive, bioluminescent fungal growths which release hallucinogenic spores into the air. The cave itself is devoid of predators, but walking through the cavern is to invite vivid hallucinations and nightmarish visions. The Dimgrove druids use the Dreamchasm as a conduit for prophecy, while the Strixick goblins use it as a rite of passage. Eboshi: Erected upon a solitary island at the center of Ironfall Lake, Eboshi is a mining settlement and trade hub founded by freed Ardor. Miners harvest metal from the bed of Ironfall Lake, formed eons ago by a falling star, and craft goods to sell in the thriving Eboshi market. The Dimgrove druids take issue with Eboshi’s growing presence and need for resources, which in their eyes only furthers the eternal autumn of Feygrave. The Final Grove: Cemetery of all the Troublemakers and Marrow who have died and been recovered. The Dimgrove Enclave happily volunteers to bury the deceased and provide services, though some now whisper the thousands of marked graves are empty, and the Enclave are stealing the bodies away for other macabre uses.

Gnawstump: A forest of sprawling, thorny vines spanning over a dreg. This massive, overgrown tangle has become a habitat all its own, utterly infested with vogan. This is believed to be the spawning ground of the rat-like creatures. Their numbers – and thirst for blood – grow by the day. Grasping Lake: This wide, gutted vale once glistened with crystal water – now, it swirls with a viscous, sucking sand, overgrown with greenery to mask its deadly nature. The bones of countless creatures, picked clean by whatever caustic substance permeates the sand, often emerge, only to be sucked back down into the roiling mass. It’s said a sapience of some sort drives the Grasping Lake, though none know for sure. Ironfall Lake: The crash site of an ancient meteorite, the crater has since flooded and become a prominent lake encircled with sunthorn trees. Littered with iron and other metals leftover from the meteorite, many come to Ironfall to plumb its depths for valuable crafting materials. The Mawfields: These beautiful fields, verdant green and flush with wildflowers, are in fact host to carnivorous flora, which trap and consume unwary creatures. Caverns beneath the field brim with the gelatinous remains of the Mawfields’ prey. The Strixick frequent these caverns, harvesting the macabre slime as a fuel source. Oakfell Bridge: This massive fallen tree spans the Oakfell Gulley, plunging hundreds of feet below. Carved over the years to serve as a bridge, it now plays host to a bitter, unending conflict – Valenus Remnant fortifies the east side of the bridge against attack, while the Dimgrove Enclave on the west side launches almost daily attacks, probing for weakness. Battle is a constant, with fallen warriors toppling into Oakfell Gulley. Outpost Ravenrock: When Troublemakers venture into Feygrave, this spartan military encampment is often their first stop. Constructed in the shape of an hourglass with the command tents in its center, Ravenrock is surrounded by steep wooden palisades and a deep trench filled with feces and the decomposing animals who drowned in it. Over the gate hangs a dead raven, hung by its feet with small insects crawling through its eyes and beak – a symbol of the destined future of all Troublemakers. Newest recruits are sent into the jungles to replace the raven when it becomes too rotten. Petrichor Field: This clearing near the eastern entrance of Feygrave is the site of a failed invasion by dwarves and tomehearts. They were hastily defeated, and now the dwarves’ stone corpses and the tomehearts’ construct remains serve as a grim monument to a lost cause. The area is said to contain a Feymist crossing, crawling with treearchs. Shieldway: This forest road, eroded and in ill repair, is flanked on both sides with the discarded shields of the Valenus who left Feyhold. Overgrown with moss and vines, the shields of Talas sit, a grim reminder of the fracturing that split the Talasar and uprooted the Lifetree. The road is frequently used by Marrow and the Valenus Remnant as a quick path through the heart of the forest. The Splinter: Marked by a massive sunthorn tree split in two by cataclysmic magic, the Splinter serves as a forward base for Marrow and Troublemaker forces venturing deep into Feygrave. The last secure point before the forest’s deepest wilds, many stop here to resupply and quench their needs before more arduous ventures ahead. Troublemakers are known to become brigands within its walls, sometimes turning to lives of rogue banditry in the woods.

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Tenral Paths: These pale white sylvan stone streets were built by the Talasar ages ago, but show neither blemish nor overgrowth. Over time, many of the stones were stolen or moved, and those remaining are often rigged with Strixick traps. Typhongrin: This rumored massive, subterranean graveyard for typhons is said to be hidden, but many believe it to be very real. The stories say that one can only gain entrance through a series of trials and obstacles in the Dreamchasm, and that it rests in the depths of the Deephollow. Some say the typhons instinctively make pilgrimages there to die – but others whisper there are many still there, very alive, and simply hibernating... Warded Clearing: The Warded Clearing spans a full dreg in either direction. Ringed not only with sunthorn trees but also bone-white sylvan stone pillars, the clearing itself is etched deep with an intricate rune of fey origin, only visible from a great height. At the clearing’s center rests a stout altar of pale stone, marked similarly with strange runes. Many guess at the Warded Clearing’s origin and purpose, but few can reckon its true age – older than Dragongrin itself. The Strixick steer clear of the runemarked ground, making the Warded Clearing a noted sanctuary for those wishing to avoid goblinoid entanglements – however, it is teeming with treearchs. D10 1 2 3 4 5 6

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PERIPHERAL LOCATIONS A ruined stone fortress, overtaken by the roots of a massive sunthorn growing at its crumbling heart. A Marrow outpost, its palisade constructed of felled sunthorns. The walls glow dimly as night falls. A secluded deer trail cuts its way through the dense wilds, leading to an almost idyllic stream. A row of trees, each carved with a strange fey symbol. Peripherally, the bark of the trees resemble twisted, hollow faces. Goblins erect a makeshift barricade on a forest path, positioning archers in the trees above. A root-clogged cavern, winding its way through a mossy hillock. Odd cavities within hold the bleached skulls of alien beasts. A circle of stones, each carved through with fluting to focus the wind into a discordant harmony at once familiar and unknown. An abandoned camp, tents toppled and fire still smoldering. Claw marks rake the ground. The trees make a strange pattern, and as the sun dips, the lengthening shadows create a massive fey rune, stretching on for a dreg across the forest floor. A dessicated skeleton emerges from a sunthorn tree, its jaw slack in a scream – almost like the tree grew up suddenly and consumed the hapless traveler.

SUDDEN PERILS Strixick attack: The goblin horde emerges from Feygrave’s subterranean tunnels, attacking the adventurers haphazardly. They’ll attempt to take the party alive, and their frantic bugbear leader named Karn persistently and forcefully asks, “where is it!?” as they search for an object. Rupturing Feymists: The volatile landscape erupts into lively and violent fey, as if the world is temporarily exchanged for the Feymists themselves. Treearchs, as surprised as the adventurers, defend their domain from the poisonous insurgents. Battle erupts: The site becomes the epicenter of battle between Valenus warriors and Dimgrove zealots. Allies are claimed depending on the party’s previous decisions, though it’s possible both sides see the adventurers as enemies. Hoperoot trap: The earth opens up beneath you, and you slide through a hollow, twisting Hoperoot into the depths below. The descent is perilous, requiring dexterity to avoid injury, and Dimgrove druids wait at the bottom to interrogate the party – they are looking for Elthana Syll, and will honor any who takes her life. Rogue Troublemakers: You are ambushed by a band of “heroes” who found an easier profit by banding together to assault the other factions and Troublemakers of Feygrave. The fight is brutal, but you’re forced to ally once a more gargantuan threat emerges from underneath the earth... Vengeful constructs: Tomehearts felled during an invasion of Feygrave slowly piece themselves into a patchwork army of machine monsters around you. Knowing nothing more than conflict and vengeance, they strike out against you immediately. Valuable materials and an Archan are found in their remains. Phantom commander: The ephemeral form of the deceased Malvio Rand, former Lord of Ash in Feygrave, manifests and lashes out at the party. In his wraith-like form, he believes he is fighting against traitorous Marrow, cursing the name of Diego Salva throughout the fight. Feral vogan: A pack of violent vogan swarm to feed on the party. They are emboldened by some strange magic, and ravenously seek to consume flesh – even at the cost of their lives.

VOGAN With their numbers growing steadily, there are more of these rodent-esque creatures in Feygrave than ever before. Traveling in packs, they have the appearance of large, feral rats – though they have larger forelegs and a more pronounced opposable thumb than an average rodent. This and the fact that they alternate between walking on two or four legs often make them seem eerily more human. They have recently developed a taste for flesh, and have abandoned their natural skittishness for boldness, attacking without hesitation.

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GROWING THREATS AND RUMORS Malvio Rand is not truly dead, and is building up a powerful force of goblinoids and monstrous creatures dedicated to destroying the Marrow who failed – or murdered – him. Ardor drudges once liberated into the wilds of Feygrave now begin to coalesce into one faction. Once seen as a slight to the Sovereign who freed them, now the Marrow see them as a true threat to the region. The Dimgrove Enclave has found success in regrowing the Lifetree, but the cost is the blood of elves drenching the Hoperoots. The druids must be stopped before they grow too powerful. Valenus forces are using relics from Petrichor Field to unnaturally conjure new Feymist Crossings wherever they like. This may be the way to return Talas to Feygrave, but it’s also breeding new and horrendous monsters throughout the region. Wild vogan bind into vicious packs within Feygrave, and grow bold enough to attack Marrow outposts, parties of Troublemakers, Enclave druids, and anyone else who might make an easy meal. Torlani Lontig believes the ancient Elderstone of her people is the key to growing the Lifetree, but her efforts result in a treelike structure made from onyx and crystal. The new “tree” is giving many in the region visions of a horrible future – even worse than current reality wrought by the Dismembered Lord. Tryn Garvey has already claimed the Reliquary of Ash, and desires to wield the object against the Dismembered Lord. Many vengeful Ardor now rally to her cause. A Grimdul alchemist named Midze Pradargo has combined three separate and distinctly arcane treesaps from the flora in Feygrave. In feeding the concoction to vogan, she strengthens them and eases their taste for flesh, but someone has stolen a cache of the elixir, using it like a drug to embolden their violent deeds. Gark Wormteeth has besieged one of Feygrave’s Marrow outposts by surrounding it with deadly traps. Those within the camp begin to starve, and many are offering their services as spies to the Strixick in exchange for their lives. Kumon Orth is not the only typhon underneath Feygrave. Many are buried there, and Orth plans to return them to life – a squadron of vicious and vengeful beasts.

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RUPTURING FEYMIST CROSSINGS D102

FEYMIST CROSSING

SIGNS AND CLUES

An archway of intersecting trees Three equidistant stone circles

Unmoving, opaque mist

Broken bridge engraved with ancient Talasar script

Rings of plants growing in a strange pattern Dropped items gravitate toward the crossing Constant hum emanating from its location No mundane wildlife in the area

River delta

Subtle vibrations in the earth

Unnaturally perfect cave opening Central to circling buzzards, forever roaming Tree carved into an ancient Talasar queen Large series of burrows and tunnels Sacrificial altar of natural stone

Those on the crossing’s outskirts vomit Unnatural shade, even if the sun is out Winds whistle soft melodic tunes Crucified corpses, affixed to point toward the crossing Overgrown Marrow signpost – BEWARE DANGERS

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QUESTS AND BOUNTIES A Granok Thane party looking for new Feymist Crossings is hiring scouts to do their dirty work for them. Thanium and precious food and other goods are yours if you take the job, and extra will be given if the Crossing leads to Talas. An escaped drudge begs you look for their loved one, who reportedly faked their suicide before heading to Feygrave. They have nothing to pay, but swear they know the location of a precious, yet well-defended Archan in Innes. Marrow offer a little extra coin to any who can find Legionary Hallr, a Holmir soldier who was lost in a recent scouting mission. They claim she was last seen near Petrichor Field, and one frantic soldier claims she disappeared into thin air. Valenus forces offer protection within Feygrave, so long as you set fire to a large swathe of Hoperoots. They’ll surely be under the protection of the Dimgrove Enclave, so be sure to declare your allegiance to Kumon Orth to throw them off. The Desolation is rumored to be emerging into Feygrave, and it has something to do with the rumored Strixick ritual. Troublemakers throughout the region are levied to discover the truth of the matter. Strixick goblins are seeking out items and locations to fulfill some sort of strange ritual. They promise those who assist them will be rewarded with something far greater than a Reliquary of Ash. Troublemakers have been going missing in a certain area rumored to contain a Feymist Crossing. Now, with many avoiding the area, is the perfect chance to get rich off its magical mysteries. A notorious fugitive has fled into Feygrave. The Enclave will pay any who escort her to their territory, but the Marrow and Valenus want her dead. After years of trying to regrow the Lifetree, sure signs of success are manifesting in and around the Mawfields. The Dimgrove Enclave will offer magical fruits and vials of glowing honey to any who brave the carnivorous plants for samples of this new root. While the mystical factions of Feygrave squabble, the Valemancer must be avenged, and another must take up the mantle of Lord of Ash. Diego Salva himself will dedicate all his forces to any who finds and wields the Reliquary of Ash, located somewhere in the region. FEYMIST CROSSING EFFECTS AND DANGERS

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MAGICAL EFFECT Time passes at half the normal rate Illusory rain falls upwards Wooden items begin to sprout crystals Traversers gain visions of alternate timelines Mortals appear as translucent ghosts Seeds instantly grow into large plants Colors merge between objects and the people touching them Arcane deafness Hallucinogenic aura Time passes at 100 times the normal rate

DANGER Malicious satyrs Treearchs Talasar guardians of the Lifetree Insane Troublemakers, twisted by the Feymists Pit of quicksand, veiled by magic Carnivorous flora Twisted druids of the Dimgrove Enclave Saber-toothed tyl Superheated earth Poisonous spores spreading pain and disease

CRUX: WELCOME TO RAVENROCK Concept: Thrust into a Pivotal Choice Themes: Betrayal, Survival, Treason, Opportunity

EVENT You’ve come to Feygrave’s notorious Outpost Ravenrock – likely because you had no other choice. As you enter through the outpost’s gates, the Marrow who don’t ignore you stare and chuckle, or bear a notable look of pity. You enter a cacophonous common area near the center of the camp, and are shown to a weathered weapon rack full of dull, rusted weapons. You are told to choose one, and to join muster. As you line up among others in your position, a broad, muscled Marrow removes her worn helm, revealing the dull features of a stone-eyed half-dwarf woman. “Welcome to Ravenrock,” she says flatly. “I hope you’re better fighters than the poor fools who held those weapons before you. Your first mission starts immediately...” The adventurers begin what seems like a normal day of survival and danger in the service of Outpost Ravenrock as Troublemakers, but are quickly faced with one of the toughest decisions they may ever have to make. Shortly after undertaking their first mission, they stumble upon a deadly plot to steal the unclaimed Reliquary of Ash in Feygrave, and must decide what role they will play in the object’s future, choosing allies and foes carefully. THE CLIMAX BEGINS THE ADVENTURE This Crux is designed to have the climax take place after the party speaks to Sergeant Leto and leaves Outpost Ravenrock, though the information is presented in the same way as any other Crux. The intention is to get the party wrapped up in something way over their heads by being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and the rest of the adventure is meant to play out how they respond. Will they run, resulting in a chase? Will they assist in the coup? Will they attempt to claim the Reliquary of Ash for themselves? The escalation section all takes place after the introduction scene with Sergeant Leto, designed to add conflict and challenges to the unfolding plot. The Aftermath portion of the Crux is still intended to take place after the adventure is complete – not directly after the Climax.

PEOPLE This Crux centers around the intrigue and conflicts between the Marrow loyal to Diego Salva and those who feel he is weak; that the Reliquary of Ash needs to be claimed by someone actually worthy, and quickly. The party is thrust into a situation immediately laced with treason, murder, and decisions that will have major repurcussions on the entire region. Many of the events will occur in the deep, uncharted forests of Feygrave, so there will be many opportunities for survivors to recall and regale the events in the way that most benefits them.

PAMIL LETO

Marrow Sergeant (F Drogus Half-Dwarf) “Let’s get two things straight: I don’t care about your past, and I don’t care about your future. Do the job, and we’ll all get along.” Note: This Crux begins with the party speaking to Sergeant Leto before they’re sent on their mission. From there, the Climax takes place immediately.

Personality: Confident and loyal, driven by duty and personal honor. Appearance: This half-dwarf has caramel colored skin and thick black hair tied in an intricate bun. She has a tattoo of a hook circling her left eye. Her Marrow uniform is clean enough, but so old it predates modern Marrow. She notably doesn’t carry a weapon. Rumor: Sergeant Pamil Leto matches the description of the Hook of Sulaine, a powerful monk who fought on the side of good during Lightfall but was said to be captured by the Dismembered Legion. Goal: Maintain order at Outpost Ravenrock. Quirk: Habitually looks to the sky as if watching for something. Introduction: Leto examines a group of new Troublemaker recruits as you stand in the common area of Outpost Ravenrock. Equipped with whatever rusty weapons and gear lined the weathered weapon rack, the party and the handful of other recruits aren’t much to look at. “The treearchs will try to claw out your eyes first,” she says flatly. “They find it easier to tear you apart when you can’t see them to fight back.” The mission involves stopping a particularly large and deadly group of treearchs before they grow in number – their attacks have been getting closer to Ravenrock than she’d like. Before you leave, she orders the party and the other handful of Troublemaker recruits to help carry several large support beams to fortify a guard tower. A DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check to help impresses Leto enough to summon you into her office. Within, she’ll allow you to choose a better weapon from her personal stock before dismissing you coldly. HELP NEEDED IN RAVENROCK The outpost is bustling with Marrow and Troublemakers, and help is needed everywhere you turn. As you attempt to leave on your mission, anyone you pass asks for a quick hand – and they expect you to help. All checks are DC 14. • • • • • •

Wisdom (Medicine) to help a Marrow with a badly wounded leg Intelligence (Nature) to help identify a strange plant for a Troublemaker Charisma (Persuasion) to calm a shaken Troublemaker so they can share intel clearly Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) to help detain a Valenus prisoner making a run for it Wisdom (Animal Handling) to calm a spooked hunting dog Intelligence (Arcana) to help understand the strange effect of the Feymists on a weapon

VAERIL OTHORIAN Marrow Valewarden (NB Talasar Elf) “This Reliquary of Ash deserves to be wielded – not just left in a field for some lowly drudge to stumble upon. I will keep it safe for now.” Personality: Arrogant and impatient, with sociopathic tendencies beneath the surface. Appearance: Slender and pale, with polished Marrow armor, ornamented with finely-crafted wooden accents. Rumor: Othorian plans to challenge Diego Salva as Lord of Ash to scare Salva into refusing the title for himself. Goal: Possess the Reliquary of Ash, and eventually present it to the Dismembered Lord.

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Quirk: Habitually looks to the sky as if watching for something. Introduction: Othorian has a group of other Marrow who are in on the coup, supporting him as future Lord of Ash. They meet up and discuss a plan to hide the Reliquary of Ash, and many of them remove their helmets, showing that they are visibly distraught. They begin to argue about where they can hide the reliquary, and one openly says this was a mistake – they will be caught and hanged for this. Another Marrow asks what happened to Gareth, the third Marrow from the clearing in the climax scene left dead in the dirt. After hesitating, Othorian says the goblins slew him seeking the Reliquary of Ash. Characters who succeed on a DC 16 Wisdom (Insight) identify which Marrow believe Othorian, and which know the truth of their murdering ways. In this tense situation, some of the Marrow may be swayed to turn on Othorian, who killed one of their own.

VORG JUTTURK

toward the party with a smile, and extends a bloody hand toward them. A DC 14 Intelligence (Nature) check will make it evident that she is killing far more than a Dimgrove druid would normally do for simple food or supplies. Unless they give her a reason not to, she will offer to bring the party to meet some of the Dimgrove elders – perhaps even their leader Lontig the Ceaseless. D6 1 2 3 4

Bandit (M Goblin Rogue)

“You think my is dumb since I don speak good you tongue. How if I cut you tongue out if you not give me that prize.”

Personality: Aggressive and condescending; suspicious and coldly logical. Appearance: Tattered vine cloak, a curved, rusted sword, blood red eyes set into mottled green flesh. Rumor: Vorg can always be bought, and relishes doublecrossing people. It’s said he doesn’t much like Kumon Orth. Goal: Get more for himself; always for himself. Quirk: Constantly flicking his pink tongue across his needlelike teeth. Introduction: A shadow flits in the trees above, leaping expertly from one branch to the next, swinging from vines. With a howl, the creature leaps into an acrobatic tumble, landing with a flourish on the leaf-strewn forest floor. The goblin hefts a rusted and well-used blade, its serrated edge catching the dappled light filtering through the canopy above. “I sees you have coins, yes?” the goblin says, yellowed teeth set in a sneer. “You gives, or we have problem, yes?” A successful DC 14 Charisma (Intimidation) check forces the goblin to back off, relenting to a bigger, meaner creature. “Okays, okays,” he says, “we hears you.”

ELENOR GARVEY Druid Initiate (F Ardor Darrow) “I can bring you to speak with Lontig the Ceaseless. She’ll know what to do with the reliquary.” Personality: Optimistic, and a bit naive, though capable. Appearance: A dark-skinned darrow woman – she looks remarkably young. She bears the drudge mark of a free Ardor. Rumor: She has been given orders to slay as many creatures as she can – an uncommon charge for the Dimgrove. She is rumored to be the daughter of Tryn Garvey. Goal: She wants to protect Feygrave, and will do anything to maintain the forest as long as no others are harmed. Quirk: Continued nervous laughter. Introduction: Elenor pulls an arrow from a deer as the party approaches, making no attempt to hide. She wipes blood from her arrow and replaces it into her quiver before picking up a sack full of small woodland animal carcasses. She walks 212 DOMINIONS OF ASH: FEYGRAVE

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CHARACTER CONNECTIONS You've longed to be a hero, and though it's not how you imagined it, this is your chance to make some trouble. Someone you love serves at Ravenrock, and you come here to serve alongside them. You believe that if Dragongrin can change, it starts here, in the parts of the realm that seem most untouched by the Dismembered Lord. You have ties with the Talasar, and are here to gather intelligence. You're a fugitive, given the choice between the inside of a cell, a noose, or the life of a Troublemaker in Feygrave – the decision was simple. You were taken prisoner by the goblins, but escaped, and now aim to exact revenge. COUNTDOWN TO PERIL Marrow Valewarden Vaeril Othorian and another masked accomplice had already murdered both a fellow Marrow and a Troublemaker who stumbled upon the scene attempting to steal the Reliquary of Ash. They seek to keep the reliquary. Goblins surround the Marrow and demand the reliquary. A fight ensues. The reliquary is thrown free from the skirmish and can easily be claimed by anyone. A young Dimgrove Enclave initiate, Elenor Garvey, gets wrapped up in the events as they unfold, and she offers to help by leading the party to her leaders. If they don’t follow, she returns and tells her elders what transpired. They send a group of elite druids to retrieve the reliquary. A group of powerful bugbears show up on the intel of the sneaky goblin Vorg Jutturk. They demand the reliquary on pain of death. Vaeril Othorian shows up with Sergeant Leto, claiming the new Troublemakers are responsible for any of the murders he committed. Unless evidence can be presented to the contrary, or the party can convince Leto otherwise, they will be sentenced to death. A swarm of hundreds of treearchs attack from every side. The reliquary is especially good at slaying the creatures, and can be used to turn the tide. Where the reliquary ends up during and after the battle remains to be seen.

ESCALATION The dense and deadly forests of Feygrave boast countless dangers in their own right – when coupled with the factions vying for the Reliquary of Ash, the threats are near-endless. The Marrow party attempting the coup will not want that information leaving the forest, and will do whatever it takes to succeed. The Strixick and the Dimgrove would benefit greatly from the possession of the reliquary, perhaps using it to crown Kumon Orth as Typhon Lord of Ash in Feygrave. Apart from those seeking the Reliquary of Ash, the threats of the forest are copious and powerful. LOCAL CONDITIONS Due to the isolated, secretive nature of the situation, the local conditions will be fairly typical. Once the reliquary is revealed to be found, many of the factions immediately resort to extreme measures to secure the object.

D4 1 2 3 4 D6 1 2-3 4-5 6

CONFLICT Betrayal: Someone betrays their faction when a tough choice must be made. Survival: A volatile Feymist Crossing reveals itself. Treason: A Marrow or Troublemaker makes an attempt on a commander's life. Opportunity: The Reliquary is unclaimed, and someone in the party would be the perfect choice to wield it... RISING THREAT The mysterious nomad called Anvil Tongue plans to steal the reliquary. A band of Dimgrove Druids in the area is acting far more violent than usual. A large treearch has emerged from a Feymist Crossing – it has the shape of a typhon. Kumon Orth has set its sight on the Reliquary of Ash.

encountered earlier at Ravenrock stands before the two, hands in the air in submission. “I promise I won’t say anything – I mean, I didn’t even see anything. We found him like this as far as I’m concerned. And that quiver? I don’t care about that ratty old thing, even if it was Malvio Rand’s...” At the mention of the quiver, and Lord of Ash Malvio Rand’s name, the two Marrow look at each other, then back at the Troublemaker. The Marrow holding the quiver pulls an arrow out and holds it aloft. A spectral bow appears under the arrow, and before the Troublemaker can react, the arrow is in his throat, killing him instantly. The arrow blinks, and magically appears back in the quiver, perfectly clean. “No one can know about the Reliquary of Ash.” one Marrow says to another. Note: It is assumed that the party will attempt to remain hidden. At any point the party can decide to intervene and become involved in the events as they unfold, or let the scene play out and stay innocent of the situation.

UNFOLDING EVENTS D8

NOTABLE LOCATIONS

1-2

Forest Trails: dense thickets, shortcuts, goblin traps Talas Splinters: floating tree shards, fey energy, savage claw marks Defunct Outpost: old supplies, makeshift shelter, beasts within Serene Clearing: peaceful atmosphere, fresh water, carnivorous plants

3-4 5-6 7-8 D10

SCENES

1-3 4-6 7-9

Pressing on: can't stop moving, supplies low, exhaustion Dead End: path ends, sheer drop, hopelessness Victim: wounded, goblin traps, shared supplies Forest Legend: Tryn Garvey, secrets revealed, requires the reliquary

10 D12 1-3 4-6 7-9 10-12 D20

FOREST ODDITIES Treearchs lurk in a grove of dying flowers. Rope bridges spanning the trees. Seemingly abandoned goblin tunnels. Field of trees devoid of leaves, full of holes of all sizes. TWISTS

The coup is a front so that Diego Salva can possess the 1 Reliquary of Ash without suspicion. The figure known as Anvil Tongue has bribed the Marrow to 2-5 give her the reliquary. The party was involved in this plot from the beginning, to be 6-10 framed as rebels. The quiver is not truly the reliquary, it is actually a single 11-15 blood red arrow within it. The Dimgrove Enclave are pressing the outcome that results 16-19 in the most death to feed the corpses to the Hoperoots. Sergeant Leto masterminded the entire coup, and seeks to 20 become Lord of Ash.

CLIMAX: NEVER THE SAME AGAIN The fiery orange and yellow hues of the forest are beautiful in the light of the mid-morning. The forest feels peaceful as the party set out toward the area where the treearchs need to be culled. After walking uneventfully for a couple of hours, voices are heard through a copse of dense trees. As the party approaches, they will see a grim scene unfolding. Two helmeted Marrow stand over a third on the ground covered in blood. One of the Troublemaker recruits you

• The Marrow bearing the quiver removes their helmet, revealing themselves to be a strikingly handsome elven man. He explains that the reliquary needs to be claimed, and that Diego Salva is a fool for letting his emotions cloud his judgment. • The two Marrrow argue about what should be done with the reliquary – to give it to Sergeant Leto or to keep it for themselves. • Vorg Jutturk arrives with a small war party of bugbears to take the quiver, claiming Kuman Orth demands it. If the quiver isn’t surrendered, a skirmish begins. • During the skirmish the reliquary is thrown free, landing near a member of the party. Now that blood has been drawn, the situation is hostile, and the goblins and Marrow will do whatever it takes to seize the reliquary. • The party is faced with the decision of what to do with the Reliquary of Ash, but they must escape the dangers of being deep in the forest of Fegrave first. AFTERMATH AS USUAL Even though the climax occurs sooner, the aftermath is designed to occur at the end of the adventure as usual. As the party works their way through the forest, use the escalation tables to create varied scenes and challenges.

AFTERMATH/CONSEQUENCES • If the party sides with the coup of Vaeril Othorian, they will be branded as traitors with no safe haven in Feygrave, though Othorian’s faction considers them allies. • If the players return the Reliquary of Ash to Sergeant Leto, they are offered positions as official Marrow, trained by Leto herself. • If the party gives the Reliquary of Ash to the goblins, the Strixick will use it to complete a ritual, returning typhon Kumon Orth his spectral crown. The goblins consider the party allies. • If the party gives the Reliquary of Ash to the Dimgrove Enclave, Lontig the Ceaseless will return it to the Dismembered Legion anyway, claiming credit for the find. Still, she’ll keep the identities of the party secret, and offer them well-paying jobs in the future. • If the party keeps the Reliquary of Ash, one of the adventurers may act as standing Lord of Ash in Feygrave until they lose possession of the reliquary, or can take it to Grinn to present it before the Dismembered Lord. The journey to Grinn will be wrought with rivals. 213 DOMINIONS OF ASH: FEYGRAVE

CRUX: THE CROWN OF KUMON ORTH Concept: Ritual to Restore a Typhon’s Spectral Crown Themes: Rituals, Morality, Belief, Nature

EVENT The aroma of fresh soil and roots permeates the Strixick goblin tunnels. Delving deeper into subterranean pathways, you must keep your wits about you – the goblins are renowned trapsmiths and cunning foes, but you must press on into the cramped labyrinth. Time is of the essence.

decompose dead things, composting them into perfect food for the Hoperoots. Though they have not yet crossed the line of taking lives themselves, the Dimgrove are manipulating events toward the path that will lead to the most bloodshed, so they can feed the casualties to the fledgeling roots as food. Some even resort to extreme measures, taking lives themselves. If the party confronts Wrathshade about this, she will not lie, but after boasting the truth, immediately try to escape on her halyphon toward the ritual.

GRIME EAR Trapsmith (M Strixick Goblin)

“You found my traps, but you’re still alive my dear. It’s mischief, not murder, for old Grime Ear!”

You know that tonight, the typhon Kumon Orth is attempting to regain its magical, spectral crown through a dangerous and intricate ritual of the Old Vale, the most powerful force of nature in Dragongrin. For Orth to regain its crown would mean becoming the most powerful force in Feygrave, for better or worse. While typhons are typically benevolent creatures, Kumon Orth has not been the same since it awakened, and while not acting wholly evil, has been acting erratically of late. Can Kumon Orth be trusted to gain that much power? Is the typhon twisted because it doesn’t have its crown? You must choose to help or hinder the ritual taking place in the depths of the Strixick goblin tunnels.

Personality: Lighthearted, welcoming, and mischievous.

PEOPLE

Introduction: The party follows a tunnel that leads into an abandoned mine that has been drastically altered by the Strixick. The large, open area looks like a slapdash arena with makeshift seating encircling a dirt field. Mine cars lay scattered about in various levels of repair, augmented by the goblins with armor, weapons, and rigged traps. Sitting in a cart emblazoned with the word FASTKILL is the goblin Grime Ear. Grime Ear tells the party that if they can help him with a trap he’s making, he’ll tell them where the ceremony is. A DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check allows a party member to help Grime Ear adequately. He explains his hatred for Chief Gark Wormteeth, citing constant abuse, and forbidding Grime Ear from making traps. He also shares the goblins’ plans to taint the ritual and take control of the typhon with goblin magic, and requests help from the party. Grime Ear will give each of the adventurers what he calls a “bumper” – a small, single-use pouch that acts as a thunderwave spell upon impact when thrown.

As the Strixick prepare the ritual at the bottom of their subterranean lair, other parties attempt to control, disrupt, or profit from the magical regaining of Kumon Orth’s crown. Reuk Wrathshade, Dimgrove Druid, hopes the ritual turns violent, so the corpses of the fallen can be mulched into food for the Hoperoots. Grime Ear, a Strixick trapsmith, seeks to twist the ritual to dominate Kumon Orth, and exact final revenge on his enemies. Marrow Typhon Eater Bartel Kane seeks only death – that of Kumon Orth. The adventurers find themselves in positions of power to sway the previous factions to any result they wish – so long as they survive the ritual...

REUK WRATHSHADE

Dimgrove Druid (F Mord Dwarf) “The Hoperoots are the single most important thing in Feygrave – perhaps even all of Dragongrin. We must do whatever necessary to ensure their growth.” Personality: Quiet and shy, but shrewd. Appearance: Dusty layered cloaks and leathers, a composite bow with the cycles of the Triune Moons carved into it. Rumor: She knows that Kumon Orth gaining its crown will cause the most bloodshed, allowing the Hoperoots the fuel they require to grow.

Appearance: Mismatched garish clothing, ill-fitting and stolen. A large, toothy smile, and a sack of trapsmithing supplies. Rumor: Grime Ear, though choosing to be mischievous, is one of the most competent trapsmiths in all of Dragongrin, capable of building powerful and intricate lethal traps. Goal: Build mischievous traps, and get back at Gark Wormteeth for constant abuse. Quirk: Loves to rhyme the ends of sentence pairs.

BARTEL KANE Marrow Typhon Eater (M Ardor Human)

“We’ll see what good a crown does this monster when I saw its head from its neck. These caves will run red with the blood of Kumon Orth.” Personality: Disciplined and militaristic, but clouded with the desire for revenge.

Goal: See Kumon Orth receive its crown and come to full power.

Appearance: Markedly unattractive, wearing a battered suit of Marrow armor, weilding a powerful spear.

Quirk: Uses words and phrases from centuries ago that many of this era wouldn’t know readily.

Rumor: He is Malvio Rand’s bastard son and wants revenge for his father’s death – he believes he deserves the reliquary.

Introduction: Wrathshade walks beside a saddled halyphon, taking various samples from the roots and soil of the tunnels. She speaks to her mount, Nix, as though it’s a person like any other, about feeling guilty about what she must do. A DC 16 Dexterity (Stealth) check will allow the party to listen in without being noticed as she bares her soul to the halyphon. She explains that the druids have found a way to instantly

Goal: Slay the typhon Kumon Orth.

214 DOMINIONS OF ASH: FEYGRAVE

Quirk: Grinds his teeth. Introduction: Kane and his Troublemakers set up a makeshift camp in the middle of a tunnel, having just cleared the area of traps and debris. Guarding the entrances of the perimeter are two of his lackeys, who immediately order the party to halt

and declare their identities. Kane quickly arrives, beckoning the adventurers into the camp for fresh water and rations. Surrounded by Troublemakers, Kane asks the adventurers “Are you here to help the goblins? Or have you come to stop Kumon Orth?” A DC 16 Wisdom (Insight) check reveals Kane’s motives against the typhon. If the party declares themselves allies with the Strixick and their ritual, Kane and his troops attack immediately and without mercy. If the party reveal their intention to stop the ritual, Kane offers glory and a Deed of Exploit to any who assist his slaying the typhon. D6 1 2 3 4 5 6

D6 1

4 5

CHARACTER CONNECTIONS You are a Troublemaker, and have been ordered to investigate the ritual alongside Bartel Kane. A Typhon Eater (one of Kane's rivals) has asked you to ensure Kane's failure. The Dimgrove Druids have paid you to help them in their mission – though what they are trying to do is ambiguous, the pay is good. Grime Ear the goblin saved your life in the wilds. You owe him a favor, and he has called you here. The Strixick goblins have offered you a place among their ranks if you ensure that Kumon Orth gets its crown. You’ve heard of the legendary typhons, though many close to you don’t believe they exist. You are here to get proof once and for all. COUNTDOWN TO PERIL Rumors swirl of a ceremony known as the Crowning, taking place in the Strixick tunnels. The goblinoids are zealous, emboldened by their promise of ruling Feygrave, and strike out haphazardly against all in their path. More Troublemakers are required in Feygrave, so the Marrow issue a request to Innes for drudges. The deal is struck, but only if Lord of Ash Shar Lagash is granted live goblins for experimentation after the ritual. The day and purpose of the crowning becomes clear, and many factions and individuals plan to intervene, either ensuring it succeeds without disruption, or is brought to an early and bloody end. The goblin tunnels are easily infiltrated as many of them prepare for the ceremony, though their deadly traps litter many of the entrances in their stead. The ceremony culminates in battle, as powerful factions fight for their own chosen outcomes – much blood is shed. Kumon Orth is crowned, becoming among the most powerful entities in Feygrave, and its erratic personality turns into a singular focus – war on the cowards who fled with Talas. After more preparation, Orth will soar to the Lifetree and spill Talasar blood.

ESCALATION This ritual takes place deep within the tunnels of the Strixick goblins, and will not be easy to find. The party must survive the dangers of the subterranean labyrinth and if they become waylaid or lost can miss the ritual entirely. The party will have to choose which threats and dangers are worth their time, and which ones must be bypassed to make it to the ritual on time. LOCAL CONDITIONS Writhing roots dangle from tunnel ceilings, ensnaring victims and absorbing their flesh. Corpses of goblins, Troublemakers, and others are piled up in discrete locations, awaiting Dimgrove Druids to turn them into compost for the Hoperoots. Frequent goblin patrols looking for action and blood.

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CONFLICT Rituals: A group of Dimgrove druids attempt a counter ritual elsewhere in the tunnels. Mortality: A trap suddenly harms or kills someone in a moment of perceived safety. Belief: A Valenus Remnant feels the goblins are right and tips them off to the Typhon Eaters’ presence. Nature: Energies of the Old Vale cause copious vines and roots to grow wildly. COMPLICATIONS

2-3 4-5 6

The current tunnel becomes too small for anything larger than a goblin. A series of goblin traps impedes progress. Treearchs infest this section of the tunnels. A portion of tunnels caves in.

NOTABLE LOCATIONS

1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8

Root Forest: dangling ensnaring roots, thick cover, easy to hide Cavernous Pit: narrow pathway surrounding the drop, archers fire from across it Ritual Epicenter: chanting goblins can’t break focus, defenders fight to the last Misty Clearing: fog clouds, open clearing, nowhere to hide

D10

SCENES

1-3

Bloody Rituals: twisted magic, sacrifices, wilting plant life Forest Dangers: predatory creatures, volatile environments, strange flora Conflict of Interest: confrontations, differing motives, impending fight Forest Ambush: surprise attacks, pit traps, stealth in the trees

4-6 7-9 10 D12

ODDITIES

Blood splattered on the walls – someone exacted revenge in 1-3 this spot. 4-6 Spiked cart, careening through the tunnels. 7-9 Pools of toxic water, filled with drenched, dead rats. 10-12 Quaking tunnels – a sure sign of the typhon below. D20

TWISTS

Kumon Orth is too far gone to regain sanity and upon 1 completion of the ritual, goes into a frenzy with its regained power. Reuk Wrathshade’s mount Nix is actually a wildshaped Torlani 2-5 Lontig the Ceaseless undercover. The Dimgrove Enclave has rigged the antechamber to 6-10 collapse, killing everyone inside and providing them with enough dead matter to feed the Hoperoots for years. Grime Ear’s attempts to dominate Kumon Orth go horribly 11-15 wrong, accidentally paralyzing the typhon permanently instead of controlling it. Muzzlewick’s Maulers – the championship demolition kart team in Feygrave – burst through the tunnels into the 16-19 antechamber and begin running goblins over. No longer will the Strixick be enslaved to the typhon. Muzzlewick will be the new chief. Slaying the typhon is only one step of Bartel Kane’s plan. He 20 has an artifact that will siphon the beast’s power once it dies, gaining its abilities and also its lack of sanity.

215 DOMINIONS OF ASH: FEYGRAVE

CLIMAX: CEREMONY OF THE CROWN You enter an enormous antechamber with dozens of narrow walkways, each flanked by sheer cliffs falling away into a pit that seemingly has no bottom. Dotting these walkways are platforms holding standing stones etched with druidic runes and crude goblin paintings. In the center of this chamber is the typhon Kumon Orth, in a trance-like state. Each standing stone’s cramped platform has several goblins on it, performing various actions, attempting to get the standing stones to come to life. Suddenly, one of the standing stones activates, shooting a beam of green light at Orth, above its head, beginning to outline a spectral crown faintly. The ritual has begun; soon Kumon Orth will have its crown. The Standing Stones: Each of the 15-foot-high rune-etched standing stones (six in total) must be active to finish Kumon Orth’s crown ritual. The party can toggle a standing stone to either active or inactive with two successful skill checks, the type of which is determined by rolling a d6 each attempt: 1-2 – Athletics check to shift its position; 3-4 – Nature or Religion check to overcome energies of the Old Vale ; 5-6 – History or Arcana check to write a glyph with goblin war paint or fresh blood. The goblins attempt to make each one active. They must all be active for two full rounds for Kuman Orth to receive its crown.

UNFOLDING EVENTS • Chief Gark Wormteeth stands in front of Kumon Orth holding a gnarled staff high in the air, chanting something in goblin. The goblins are at work, cutting themselves, chanting and doing all they can to get the standing stones to come to life with energy. • The goblins begin to get the standing stones active, one by one, each shooting a powerful, vibrant green beam at Kumon Orth, outlining another portion of its spectral crown, making it more tangible and full. • The Typhon Eaters and Valenus Remnant arrive and begin to battle the goblins, attempting to fight their way to Kumon Orth to slay the creature. Awave of bugbears and swarm of goblins flood the pathways protecting the typhon.

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• Finally Gark Wormteeth takes his staff, holds it aloft and snaps it in two. A powerful blighted shockwave is released, and all of the vibrant green beams turn a sickly, pale color, then turn to brown, along with Kumon Orth’s crown. • Kumon Orth’s crown is complete, but was tainted by the goblins. The creature roars, and begins to transform. It twists, and shifts, and becomes a more gnarled, hideous version of its formerly beautiful ursine form. Wormteeth climbs atop the typhon’s back, and says “now called Painbrain!”, all of the goblins cheer. • With a command, Gark Wormteeth has Kumon Orth – now called Painbrain – blast through the wall with its eye beams, revealing the Deephollow. Painbrain and Wormteeth fly out of the cave, and up the Deephollow’s length, landing on its edge with an earth-shaking roar.

AFTERMATH/CONSEQUENCES • If Kumon Orth is raised successfully to lead the Strixick into hegemony in Feygrave, the bloodshed wrought by the goblinoids will be rampant, and soon, the typhon will lead its monstrous people to war against Talas in the sky. • If Kumon Orth is crowned, but the ceremony is tainted by Gark Wormteeth and his goblin insurgents, the typhon will be a weapon of the goblins, used to conquer Feygrave and invade outlying regions. • If there is great conflict and bloodshed, the Dimgrove Enclave collects the bodies of the fallen, and the Hoperoots continue to grow steadily. • If Kumon Orth is killed by Bartel Kane, the Strixick are thrust into chaos, fighting with each other before banding together under one banner. Soon, Muzzlewick – notable goblin driver – will become chief. If anyone other than Kane kills the typhon, Kane is noticeably disappointed, and openly discusses removing his veil and becoming a Troublemaker permanently. • If any outcome results in the death or defamation of Chief Gark Wormteeth, Grime Ear will bestow all credit for the chief’s demise on the adventurers. Now serving as chief for the Strixick, Grime Ear becomes a valuable ally.

EVERGROWING SHADOWS

Without a Lord of Ash for the moment, Feygrave’s factions grow in power every day, and while their aims to save the forest are in line, their methods and beliefs could not be more different. As each faction vies for power and resources the forest continues to wane in power, and could die forever if something is not done.

STANDING LORD OF ASH: MARROW COMMANDER DIEGO SALVA “I am not the standing Lord of Ash, please stop calling me that – Rand’s body isn’t even cold yet.” To many, Marrow Commander Diego Salva is the picture of what a Marrow should be. After the death of his mentor and former Lord of Ash Malvio Rand, some call Salva a murderer. Most of the Marrow of Feygrave are still loyal to Salva, and will continue to follow his command. However, unless Salva acts quickly, the Marrow will begin to lose faith in his ability to lead them with a clear mind. Salva was renowned for being instrumental in slaying a typhon in Innes, studying and hunting the beast, which caught the eye of Rand, who petitioned the Council of Ash to use Salva in Feygrave. They approved, and Salva and Rand became fast friends - some say even more. Lord of Ash Rand, Salva, and a contingent of trained hunters known as the Typhon Eaters made a decisive attack against the typhon Kumon Orth. While they wounded the creature, dimming its spectral crown, Orth was vicious, slaying all but Salva - and even then maiming him badly. Now in mourning, and wracked with guilt he must gather himself and protect the region against the gathering factions, and muster up the courage to face Orth once again. While it appears that Diego Salva is unquestioning in his loyalty to the Dismembered Legion, the truth is that he grows tired of giving everything of himself only to be rewarded with having the things that he loves most harmed or taken away. Many look to him to claim the title of the Lord of Ash, but Salva may not even want to be a Marrow anymore. Encountering Commander Salva: Salva is small in stature but is powerful and adept in combat. He is fair, seasoned, and level-headed, though he is not thinking clearly, wracked with the guilt of the death of his mentor in Malvio Rand. He infamously wields a series of Thanium blades. Salva is a master with these weapons, and deftly carves his foes. Often preferring diplomacy to a skirmish, if the situation calls for it, he does not shy away from bloodshed. Reliquary of Ash: Not a formal or standing Lord of Ash, Salva was unable to secure Rand’s Reliquary of Ash before escaping with his life while fighting Kuman Orth. Rand’s reliquary was a quiver of arrows that, when drawn, creates a phantasmal bow. When the arrow is shot, it blinks and reappears back in the quiver at the will of the shooter. This quiver is lost somewhere in the forests of Feygrave waiting to be claimed. Appearance: Short, athletic, and olive-skinned, with jet black hair, Salva was granted special permission by Numitor Krieg of the Council of Ash to, instead of Marrow boneplate, don his typhon-hunting garb – cured, hardened Linotharix reinforced with plates of Thanium. He wields a brace of short, Thanium blades, ideal for navigating the tight confines of Feygrave’s dense wilds and contending with its many beasts.

Powers: Salva hides it well, but he was a rogue for many years before turning to more straightforward fighting. He is blindingly fast with a blade, but will often feign being more cumbersome to lure opponents in, finishing them off with a dagger to the heart. He has a knack for repositioning in a fight, changing locations and hiding to gain the upper hand. Weaknesses: Salva took a crippling blow to the arm during his fight with Kuman Orth, and if forced to favor that side is much slower and less accurate. Also, in the heat of battle, he can be very proud, sometimes making poor tactical decisions to prove his dominance. Origins: Though many are unaware, Salva was involved in the gangs in Svir Below, rising in the ranks. It was through a favor owed to him by a prominent criminal that someone with his past could be considered for a Marrow. Serving along the Sovereign’s Road for some time, he ended up being instrumental in slaying a typhon and was eventually transferred to Feygrave at the request of Lord of Ash Malvio Rand. Secrets: Salva’s biggest secret is that he was very lucky the first time he was able to slay a typhon. The creature was wounded, and he was in the right place at the right time, and nearly died himself. Salva does know much about the typhons, their habits and their weaknesses, but much of this knowledge was learned as a fixation to learn about the creature that nearly killed him. Fortress of Ash: Mukamor sits on the outskirts of Feygrave, difficult to find and absent from any maps of the dominion. Once a Talasar fighting arena, its stone walls have been fortified with the graying corpses of fallen treearchs, lashed together to form a macabre outer wall. Salva keeps spartan quarters in the center of the structure, keeping a close watch on the comings and goings of the border outpost. Nemesis: Kumon Orth the typhon is one of the few creatures that Salva fears. Feeling torn about the creature, understanding it was defending itself from an unprovoked attack, he still struggles with the fact that Orth killed many close to Salva and maimed him. Salva’s hand will likely soon be forced, for he knows that while the creature still lives, the Marrow under his command will question his capability to exact revenge and protect the legion in Feygrave. Legion of Ash: Even though Salva isn’t the standing or formal Lord of Ash, they respect him enough to serve him as though he were - at least for a time. If he doesn’t make a play for the Reliquary of Ash, they will begin to question his leadership. He also commands the Typhon Eaters, a contingent of typhon hunting experts that he surrounds himself with - likely because of his own inexperience successfully killing the beasts.

SALVA STRIVES FOR • Overcome His Grief and Guilt: Salva is wracked with guilt and grief for his mentor and some of his most competent Typhon Eaters, feeling almost entirely responsible for their deaths in the battle with Kumon Orth. He searches for relief to his anguish using magical means that could prove risky. • A Worthy Successor: Salva knows that he is not cut out to be the Lord of Ash, but feels responsible to find a worthy successor, though it pains him to even consider the prospect in the wake of Rand’s death.

217 DOMINIONS OF ASH: FEYGRAVE

• Reliquary of Ash: Salva has no real desire to claim the reliquary, but he knows if he does not someone else will claim it, and he will have no hand in who is chosen. Further, he knows that if he retrieves it so soon after Rand’s death it will only further the whispers of foul play.

SALVA’S STATE OF POWER This section represents the strength of Diego Salva’s resources, allies, and enemies. For everything except the secrets and the plot twist, the lower the roll, the worse-off the result for the Lord of Ash. It is intended to be rolled once at the beginning of a session or campaign to generate a starting point, but it can be rolled any time an important enough event occurs to affect the resource or people. D4 1 2 3 4 D6 1 2-3 4-5 6 D8 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8

D10 1-3 4-6 7-9 10

THE TYPHON EATERS Have disbanded, claiming Salva is not a worthy leader. Have little trust in Salva, as he has failed to take retaliation against Orth. Have recruited new members from Innes, bolstering numbers. Have renewed fire for revenge, finding solidarity in the shared tragedy. THE LEGION OF ASH Large numbers believe Salva let Rand die purposefully. Ranks wane as more than ever are slain in the treacherous forest. Hearing of a typhon and seeking honor, more new recruits arrive than ever. Caius Veccus has sent a battalion of relief Marrow Valewardens to Salva. FORTRESS OF ASH The treearchs used to construct the walls reanimate into vicious life. No place in the fortress is safe. Salva’s Troublemakers dig discrete tunnels underneath Mukamor, allowing illicit materials – and spies – easy access. The Marrow have slain many treearchs, and have begun building a second wall around Mukamor. The Troublemakers have never been better trained and disciplined, backed by Marrow elites. Salva plots an excursion into Feygrave to construct another forward base. SALVA’S FOES The Dimgrove Enclave have convinced Tryn Garvey, Anvil Tongue, to join their ranks. Strixick goblins have begun to expand their tunnels toward Marrow outposts. Torlani Lontig the Ceaseless has been captured by Marrow Sergeant Leto. Salva has found an ancient piece of typhon lore revealing a weakness in Orth.

218 DOMINIONS OF ASH: FEYGRAVE

D12

SALVA’S HINDRANCE

Visited by a powerful Arcseer who requests Salva's 1-3 permission to retrieve the reliquary. Elthana Syl of the Valenus Remnant has developed 4-6 unrequited romantic feelings for Salva. Grief has begun clouding Salva's judgement, and hangs upon 7-9 him like a weight. Salva and his most seasoned Typhon Eater have a falling out 10-12 over strategy. D20

TWISTS

Diego Salva takes up the mantle of Lord of Ash, destroying all 1 opposition in one surprise attack. The Typhon Eaters overthrow the powers that be in a bloody 2-5 coup, forming a rogue Marrow oligarchy to rule over Feygrave. An army of treearchs seizes Mukamor. Marrow and 6-10 Troublemakers flee Feygrave to all surrounding regions. Dimgrove’s efforts to feed the Hoperoots using dead matter unleashes terrible power back against them – they are 11-15 enslaved by the mind-controlling roots, and begin feeding themselves to them monotonously. The fallen tomehearts of Petrichor Field are reassembled by 16-19 some unknown magic, and invade Talas through the nearest Feymist Crossing. Tryn Garvey assembles a battalion of former heroes who arrive in Feygrave all at once. The Marrow are overthrown, the 20 region is named a haven for heroes, and Tryn Garvey declares war on the Dismembered Lord by invading Innes to free all drudges.

COUNTDOWN TO RUIN Feygrave is a region perpetually in chaos, where monstrous factions, occult entities, the Dismembered Legion, and wouldbe heroes vie for power – all while the legendary typhon Kumon Orth accumulates power to dominate the region. If left unchecked, all will collapse as the typhon conquers Feygrave, declaring itself the one and only monarch. 1. Ash to Ash: Malvio Rand, the Lord of Ash in Feygrave, is murdered by the typhon Kumon Orth during an attempt by Rand to kill the creature. The Reliquary of Ash is lost during the battle, now unclaimed and stranded near the typhon. Diego Salva becomes the acting Lord of Ash until the reliquary can be claimed. 2. None Lay Claim: While many support Salva’s acting leadership, some believe he allowed Malvio Rand to die on purpose in order to take charge. However, many are becoming restless with the fact that Salva refuses to venture out to claim the reliquary, and others start forming plans to claim it and become Lord of Ash instead of him, with Tryn Garvey actively seeking it. 3. Strixick Amass: With the power vacuum causing increasing tensions among the Marrow and those seeking the reliquary, the Strixick goblins find Kumon Orth and pledge to serve it, looking to return its lost power. With much of the Marrow distracted looking for the reliquary, the goblins grow in power undisturbed.

4. Culling the Traitors: The Marrow grow tired of Salva’s inaction and plan a coup against him, led by Vaeril Othorian, who vows to retake the reliquary and thus command of Feygrave. Othorian leads a group of Marrow to crucify Salva, carving the word TRAITOR into his chest for the murder of Malvio Rand. Marrow Sergeant Pamil Leto will not bow to the new order, and is murdered alongside Salva. 5. The Dimstalk Emerges: The Dimgrove Enclave’s efforts to regrow the Hoperoots where Talas once stood are somewhat successful, as their new Dimstalk begins to sprout in the center of the region. Requiring swathes more composted organic matter to preserve the growth, the Enclave begins murdering lifeforms haphazardly, and stealing their corpses away to the new Lifetree.

6. Kumon Orth Reigns: Kumon Orth sees the Dimstalk as a pale imposter to the true Lifetree and devours it, proclaiming itself the new Radikka of Dragongrin. The Dimgrove submit to its power, joining the goblins. No longer tolerating the mortals who have defied the ancient laws of the Old Vale, any who do not bow to Orth and revere the ways of its magics are punished. It raises an army of goblins and zealots and sets out to take back Talas, restoring it to its former glory – or bringing the nation of traitors down into the sea.

219 DOMINIONS OF ASH: FEYGRAVE

GRINN

FRACTURING IMPERFECTION IN FLAWLESS GUISE “Grinn is wondrously beautiful and vile all at once. Both hideous and enchanting, there’s a sick safety in the shadow of its Dark Spires, like the calm inside the eye of the storm, welling up to erupt at any moment.” – Zaria Sharn, Curator upon the Council of Ash The exterior of Grinn is unsettling, and if examined too closely the mundane gives way to the deception, shadow, and threats beneath its false sheen.

HISTORY

Then: Once the region of Viste, inhabited by the peaceful and polytheistic Vistians; the homeland of leader Ghul Varras, the man who would become the Dismembered Lord. Now: Reborn as Grinn after Lightfall, a name used purposefully and ironically, Grinn is a place built by the Dismembered Lord to be an idyllic homeland for him and his chosen. Beyond: Grinn is a place where time shifts and cracks. If something isn’t done, reality’s fabric will eventually tear apart either from the shifting time without, or the feuding Crucian and Council of Ash within. GRINN AT-A-GLANCE Terrain: Rolling hills, lush countryside, forests, Dark Spires, Bleakrifts Climate: Odd, artificial absence of weather; temperate and picturesque Resources: Imported food, supplies, and the Red Sail Market’s first and last stop along the route Cultures: Crucian, various cultures in the Dustmouth Factions: Crucian houses, Council of Ash, Undying Light, Praetors Creatures: Marrow Arcseers, Warmakers, morne, devourers

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KNOW THIS TO SURVIVE

Grinn is a place out of time, existing perpetually outside of the normal stream of time. It is an idealized timeline, carefully crafted by the Dismembered Lord, and maintained by his servants using a mysterious device known in whispers as the Crucible. The Council of Ash schemes over the realm and its people like a game, moving its pieces strategically while the Crucian houses within vie for power and station – all set against the backdrop of unstable and crumbling edges of broken time. The Council of Ash Schemes: Grinn doesn’t have a single Lord of Ash, but an assembly of several, each advising the Sovereign on a number of specific issues. Endlessly deliberating, scheming, and commanding Marrow, Arcseers, Warmakers, and the red-armored Praetors, this council strives to fulfill the whims and aims of the Dismembered Lord. They control the inner workings of Dragongrin at large, and it is impossible to be in Grinn and not be a part of at least one councilor’s vast manipulative webs. A Beautiful Shell, A Rotting Core: Life in Grinn is normal – bustling cities, thriving markets, cozy homes, picturesque rolling hills – but something isn’t quite right. The charade of normalcy often gives way to the fear and unrest its citizens feel living in the shadow of its enormous Dark Spires. Marrow take people against their will without notice, Arcseers call out to people in the night to peer into their minds and sense dissent, and Warmakers step heavily through the streets, patrolling and enforcing the whims of the Council of Ash. All the while the citizens feign smiles, and act out their “normal” lives, most in constant dread with no escape. Others, like many Crucian, relish the layers of facade and masked intention required. The area surrounding Grinn is plagued with fractured time and Bleakrifts, but within it, the populace thrives without a second thought. It’s no secret Grinn is special, and the surest sign of this is the lack of distinct weather patterns in the region. Precipitation is nonexistent, the climate is always temperate within the Dark Spires, and even the winds sit unnaturally still.

The Crucian Houses Compete: Existing as the Dismembered Lord’s chosen people comes with a cost – though they are dear to him, they have no choice in the matter. They live in a beautiful prison, fighting to stand out when it’s virtually impossible to do anything against what is sanctioned. The elitist, totalitarian status quo is ingrained within the Crucian, manifesting as a complex and twisted game between houses. In the way that a commoner might sit down to play chess, the Crucian houses of Grinn scheme and war with one another, resulting in a dangerous, violent, horribly-too-real game. Few are unaffected by their methods and machinations. Time Seeks to Correct Itself: If time is like a river, the Dismembered Lord has built a dam around Grinn, and as time flows around it, it presses harder and harder against the patchwork reality the Sovereign has cobbled together. To keep this “dam” from splintering under the weight of the timestream correcting itself, Grinn is split into various districts containing Dark Spires – anchors used to calibrate the reality the Dismembered Lord wishes. Arcseers and Warmakers proctor these districts, vigilantly searching for potential conflicts that disrupt the stream of time known as cruxes. Marked by strange anomalies, these pivotal points in time are unclear in their outcome, but show that they will cause a large ripple either way. The Arcseers, assisted by the Marrow, are tasked with completing varied, often strange missions to tip the scales of the cruxes, ensuring that their outcomes would not cause the district to fall into the destruction of time correcting itself drastically. The Dustmouth Labors Tirelessly: Within miles of the Redmarch, on the northernmost borders of Grinn, is an arid region known as the Dustmouth. These meager settlements house some of the most skilled artisans, craftspeople, and artists who have all come to the Dustmouth for their shot at being hired to serve one of the Crucian houses within the Dark Spires of Grinn. These savants of their craft settle for scraping out a meager existence for an opportunity to get a big break, though it is rare they actually make it outside of the Dustmouth. Creaking Tree is the closest thing to a capital city the Dustmouth can come up with, a hub of frontier trade, ruled by a handful of lesser crime families. Once every Evenmoon, the Crucian hold their Banquet of Selection in the Dustmouth to select the best of the best – until then, the people there just try to survive. Ascension of the Morne: There are inevitable repercussions to the unnatural shifting of time in Grinn. As myriad anomalies and paradoxes are suppressed, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Like slag from the forge, timeweirds known as morne are the physical manifestation of time correcting itself. Erratic and warped in their appearance and nature, changing their form at will, they are a force to be reckoned with by even the boldest of warriors. They are said to age the things they touch, seeking to correct the sick and dying timeline that Grinn is cobbled into. These creatures are most prolific in the Redmarch, the location of the endlessly looping final battle of Lightfall, appearing as famed heroes of the war being slaughtered in a perpetual cycle. The Council of Ash seeks to stop the morne at all costs, but requires the physical capture of one – a difficult feat. They believe the answer to stopping them for good lies in the Redmarch itself.

CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS OF GRINN • Due to the charade of pretending as though all is well, the residents of Grinn have developed what they call “goodspeak” – rehearsed exchanges that seem positive, but have an underlying negative connotation. This is a way to commiserate and reach catharsis while maintaining a seemingly cheery disposition. • It’s considered unlucky to ask someone the time of day, or mention time in general, and many feel that showing up to a gathering on time is a bad omen. • Many believe they can stave off anomalies of shifting time by honoring the lost and dead. It’s customary to see small shrines and memorials in seemingly random places as people try to “anchor their futures” in place.

POWERFUL PEOPLE OF GRINN

Council of Ash: The council is made up of six offices, unchanging in their roles, though the creatures occupying the seats have shifted through the years. 1. Seat of the Manoeuvrer – Numitor Krieg: Many might peg Krieg as a soldier – tall, broad-shouldered, with an upright posture, clipped manner of speaking, and impeccable appearance. But this human warlord fights no battles, and wields no weapons. Krieg is an arcanist – arguably one of the most powerful in all Dragongrin. His unique mastery of magic allows him unmatched insight into the conflicts raging across the realm, putting him in a unique position to lead the Dismembered Legion and monitor the movements of his Sovereign’s Marrow, Warmakers, and Doomsayers. 2. Seat of the Curator – Zaria Sharn: An empire as wideranging and varied as the Sovereign’s requires immense attention to detail – fortunately, this darrow’s keen mind understands coin and resources better than any other. Sharn oversees the calculation and collection of the Tenth, and ensures proper distribution of wealth and resources throughout the lands of the Dismembered Lord – including those settlements which must be starved of supplies to ensure the prosperity of other dominions.

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CHARACTER CONNECTIONS TO GRINN You’ve awoken with a memory you have no recollection of ever experiencing – a memory ending with your death. You’ve heard secrets of time are unlocked in Grinn, and aim to find your answers there. You became involved with someone along the Red Sail Market route. You bade farewell when they entered Grinn, but they never came out. You’re endlessly intrigued by the Zarfvin faction known as the Algomon – they’re up to something in Grinn, and you’re hellbent on finding out what it is. You were meant to be among the Dismembered Lord’s Chosen, and you’ll die before you let your pleas go unheard – you belong in Grinn. You are related to a prominent member of a lesser house in Grinn. You escaped crucifixion in the Dustmouth, and aim to exact revenge on the Marrow leadership which condemned you. You lost a loved one, but someone claims to have seen them alive and well in Grinn. You’ve heard of the paradoxes rife in the region – maybe this is your second chance to be with them again, tell them how you feel, and show them how you’ve grown. You feel a connection with the otherworldly planes outside the material, and know you could successfully serve the Dismembered Lord as his new Recondite. You’ve missed the call to pay your Tenth. If you don’t get to Grinn quickly, the Dismembered Legion will surely have your head, but you can’t find the Dark Spires behind the miraging veil of timelessness. A Warmaker kidnapped your child before making their way back to Grinn. You couldn’t defeat them when it mattered, but maybe you can make up for it now.

3. Seat of the Intelligencer – Helevan Scath: Lightfall saw many heroes rise and fall on both sides – Helevan Scath is a name of infamy. A proven soldier and tactician, this devilish festir served under Revak Zistra during his tenure as spymaster, carrying out covert missions and assassinations across Dragongrin. It was Scath and her assassins who dealt the death blow to the Holithic leadership, securing the Dismembered Lord’s victory following the Battle of Redmarch. Since Zistra’s instatement as Lord of Ash in Jahar, the post of Intelligencer fell to his apprentice – as cunning and deadly with a carefully worded letter as she is with a venom-coated blade. She directly commands the Arcseers, who serve as the eyes and ears of the Dismembered Lord across the realm. 4. Seat of the Polymath – Torvid Deepspeaker: It’s said the mind of a dwarf is an unbreakable vault, and Torvid Deepspeaker’s brims with knowledge ancient and forbidden. A scholar, a scribe, an archivist, Deepspeaker’s extensive knowledge of Dragongrin’s history and its peoples aided the Dismembered Lord in his early rise to power. Some speculate it was Deepspeaker who discovered the Crucible, and perfected its use alongside his Zarfvin kin. A master of propaganda, he oversees the kneebreakers and spreads the Sovereign’s truth to every corner of Dragongrin. 5. Seat of the Anarchic – Eclipse: This Warmaker earned it’s name during Lightfall, when their towering frame blotted out the sun and the hope of the resistance along with it. Eclipse has served the Dismembered Lord faithfully, unfalteringly for two decades, squashing countless rebellions in their infancy with brutal 222 DOMINIONS OF ASH: GRINN

efficiency. The laws of the realm do not apply to the Dismembered Lord’s personal executor, and it’s argued the Warmaker’s power is second only to the Sovereign himself. 6. Seat of the Recondite – Unoccupied: The Bleak, the Desolation, Imminence, the Feymists – many otherworldly forces of the realm grow in volatility and power with each passing day. This seat is newly instated, and currently unoccupied. Qualified candidates are welcome, though none have proven their worth. Some on the council feel slighted, as though this seat infringes on their duties, while there are whispers that some council members vie for this seat, seeing it as a chance to gain more power and prove themselves further. Renton Highfury of House Galtheon: Lord of House Galtheon, advisor for four different Lords of Ash, and a selfappointed protector of the well-being of Grinn, Highfury is whispered to hold the most sway over the Crucian houses – more than any Arcseer or Warmaker. His masterful navigation of the politics and grim and bloody house games is legendary, and he always helps those who ally themselves with him. He is among the richest and most powerful people in all Dragongrin; a widower with three children, Dyanna, Laryss, and Markas, who appear to serve him, though not always loyally. Stalkwen Keep, House Galtheon’s lands and ancestral seat of power, is located over a group of highly productive goldmines, which have provided House Galtheon with immense wealth and power over the years and has led to the expression that “Galtheons bleed gold.” He does not trust the Arcseers and their puppets, the Marrow, doing whatever is necessary to stay one step ahead of them, all while staying dominant over the Crucian houses of Grinn. Lim Jun, Scrivener of the Harmony Codex: A tall, graceful Arcseer who is a paragon of the Sovereign’s will. She reports directly to the Seat of the Intelligencer on the Council of Ash, Helevan Scath. She is better than any Arcseer before her at identifying cruxes long before they occur, so her role in serving the Sovereign is experimental but integral. She and a team of specialized Arcseers known as the Harmony Codex punish, disrupt, incapacitate or restrict those deemed to embody future crux threat potential. People are arrested in the streets for crimes that they are said to be party to three days in the future. Her Arcseers grow more stringent, and arrests, kidnappings, and executions are at a higher rate than ever – something the major Crucian houses only put up with as long as they’re kept out of the Scrivener’s methods. Zerechiel the Algomon Architect: Founder of the Algomon, a Zarfvin Annulus Directive, the most successful circle of Zarfvin in all of Dragongrin. Casting off the more commonly accepted practice of collaboration among the Zarfvin, Zerechiel privatized her skill, and her Algomon is now the sole approved provider of Titan technology and Archans for the Dismembered Lord. Wealthy beyond counting, Zerechiel is a brash but brilliant inventor, a self-described genius, and a “builder of modern Dragongrin.” She constantly goes against the grain, feeling that her clout allows her to balk at the Council of Ash. She does what she wants, knowing that her brilliance keeps her safe and irreplaceable, and is responsible for reverse engineering the Villinavi and inventing the Warmakers. She holds special resentment against the Seat of the Manoeuvrer for controlling her Warmaker “children.” The Unraveller: A mysterious figure known as the Unraveller is gathering followers from the Dustmouth – and even within Grinn. This creature is said to be human, though touched with strange, ancient magic. The morne tend to appear wherever the Unraveller warns they will, and some

begin to whisper that they recognize the Unraveller as Ardor Commander Markus “Lion Eye” Karlin. He was a legendary hero, one of the most successful generals of the forces of good during Lightfall, but also marred with perhaps the most pivotal failure in the war known as Karlin’s Folley. Karlin’s forces famously overextended themselves against intel that they were outmatched. Not believing the reports, Karlin pressed on in hubris and fell into a trap by the Dismembered Legion, costing him and many of his soldiers their lives, and was possibly the tipping point of the war of Lightfall. It is said the Unraveller has learned to command the morne and is using them to march against the Sovereign as revenge. Sebanos, Commander of the Goldtongue Collective: Often going by simply Goldtongue, this festir Granok Thane is the leader of the entire Red Sail Market, commanding its next steps from within Grinn. He is forever expanding the Red Sail’s reach, raising its profits, and developing its roads. He is constantly under the scrutiny of the Seat of the Curator – most recently Zaria Sharn, which has caused conflict since the two were once romantically involved before the relationship ended badly. Sebanos is actively working with Zerechiel on a new mode of transportation that would change the way goods and services are delivered safely, though it is requiring the use of methods that are not sanctioned by the Council of Ash. NO ROAD LEADS TO GRINN Grinn exists outside of time. You can get lost in the time moat if you try to exit and enter without prior knowledge or experience of exactly how. The only ways into Grinn are through its intended gate, the location of which shifts periodically to keep the dominion protected from potential invaders. If you try to get in another way, at best you simply end up elsewhere around the outskirts as if Grinn weren’t even there. At worst, you get lost in the Wastes of Time itself, finding an awaiting Bleakstorm where Grinn should be, or becoming stranded upon the Black Shores indefinitely.

PRIMARY LOCATIONS

Black Shores: Hidden by the strange, ancient magic, these surround the whole of Grinn – the twisted rot beneath the timeless facade. Beyond the veil of this realm, Grinn rests atop a precipice, floating within a waterfall of eternally cascading time. The surrounding tatters, fringes, and edges are the Black Shores. These shores are at a crossroads between the Bleak and the Desolation, in constant need of defense from extraplanar threats. Creaking Tree: The capital of the Dustmouth, this patchwork city is in a state of constant drought, always squabbled over by the various local crime families. However, it’s the best place to find an artisan for cheap and to make a start in the Dustmouth. Dark Spires of Grinn: The homeland of the Dismembered Lord is surrounded and dissected on all sides by striking, skyscraping walls. These structures are interconnected by fortified towers that loom black and imposing on every horizon, positioned carefully as a way to calibrate the fractured time of the realm. Patrolled on foot by Warmakers, with Arcseers soaring above them, the spires can be seen from virtually any location in Grinn. These walls are considered the lesser spires and are separate from the greater spires, which number seven – one for each seat on the Council of Ash, and the Dismembered Lord’s own Spire of Knowing. Dustmouth: Large swath of arid land just south of the Redmarch, close to the Dark Spires. Dotting the arid landscape is a series of small frontier cities filled with master artisans, laborers, and all manner of tradespeople that compete endlessly for work contracts within Grinn proper. These month-long commute contracts are outrageously wellpaying and absurdly competitive to earn, causing the best of their trade across Dragongrin to trek to the Dustmouth in hopes of securing one. All manner of cultures, heritages and kinds make up the arid, drought-wracked frontier of the Dustmouth, scrounging for whatever work they can and sabotaging others until they can obtain a contract.

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224 DOMINIONS OF ASH: GRINN

Essenza: A small, high-society district that bars all nonCrucian from entering. It’s famous for its lavish and ostentatious architecture and furnishings, as well as its entertainment and art. The most renowned eloquents travel from all over to manage art galleries and put on performances of music and theater. Font of Viste: This twisting river of clean, pure water provides lifegiving refreshment and vegetation. It flows throughout Grinn freely, perpetually full of fish and surrounded by huntable game. The Outermost: The wall and Dark Spires that border the Redmarch. Rife with Bleakstorms, and under constant attack by morne, this deadly place is one of the only locations in Grinn connected to the regular time stream, so it is conceivably a way in and out of the dominion – though always deadly. Prismikar of Algomon: The largest and most well-funded arcane university in all of Dragongrin, founded and funded by Zerechiel the Algomon Architect, it houses the largest cache of Archans, Valens, and other mystical objects for study and learning. Highly competitive admissions and extremely expensive tuition makes this the premier university that Crucian houses strive to be accepted into. Redmarch: Just outside the northern, outermost wall of the Dark Spires – this is the space between the Ardent Scar, Svir, and Grinn. This swath of land is the location of the final, decisive battle of Lightfall, where the Dismembered Lord first unleashed the Bleak, stole days, and conquered time. Time in

the area is exceptionally fractured, with heroes who fought and died in the battle still wandering the wastes, locked in perpetual conflict in a twilight-realm. These “heroes” trapped out of time or death are husks of their former selves, viewing any other living creature, even each other, as their enemy, to be killed on sight as they eternally fight their final victory in an endless loop of destroyed time. Sovereign’s Arena: A grand, open-air coliseum, famous for its gladiatorial fighting and sporting events. The arena is often rented out by the Crucian houses for duels between high status members, for both entertainment purposes or to settle disputes between houses, often leading to profit for all sides as crowds flock to see the results. The Sovereign’s Road: This sprawling, masterfully constructed road connects every part of Grinn to its heart. The quickest, most populated way to travel, it is also the most conspicuous. Spire of the Anarchic: Adjacent to the Spire of Knowing, the Sovereign’s sanctioned assassin resides until called upon. Some say the Warmaker known as Eclipse never wakes unless blood is in need of shedding. Spire of the Curator: The home to Zaria Sharn is a perpetual camp for the Red Sail Market, whose merchant stalls circuit endlessly throughout. Spire of the Intelligencer: Arcseers upon halyphons travel to and from Scath’s Spire throughout the pitch-black night, delivering urgent messages and summons throughout the realm.

NEVER A CLOUD IN THE SKY There is an unsettling lack of distinct weather patterns in the region of Grinn. Precipitation is nonexistent, the climate is always temperate within the Dark Spires, and even the winds sit unnaturally still. Even though this weather should feel “perfect,” many notice its eerie absence. You’ll never freeze in Grinn, but you’ll never feel a cool breeze on your face either.

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Spire of Knowing: The first Spire of Grinn and the seat of the Dismembered Lord himself. Only the most senior and vital members of the Dismembered Lord’s servants are ever permitted to enter. This spire also houses the Crucible, a powerful artifact made from Titan Archans, Primordial bone, and dragon’s blood, allowing the Dismembered Lord to monitor important, trivial, and obscure events from afar. Spire of the Manoeuvrer: Stationed on the outskirts of Grinn, this fortified Spire is more a Marrow camp than a home to the strategizing councillor. Unsanctioned guests are not allowed, so few have seen its interior. Spire of the Polymath: The Spire of Torvid Deepspeaker is a museum of curated artifacts and relics from times both immemorial and forbidden. Secret tunnels lead directly from the Archive to the Crucible, which Deepspeaker is rumored to frequent often. Spire of the Recondite: The newest addition to the Dark Spires of Grinn, the Spire of the Recondite is newly finished, to be occupied once its inaugural councillor is selected to occupy it. It’s rumored to be filled with all manner of strange equipment and artifacts bordering on the fringe and paranormal, currently guarded by a handful of the Dismembered Legion. Devourers seem drawn to this place, and copious numbers of them stalk nearby. Treneas Port: The largest harbor in Grinn – and perhaps even Dragongrin – Treneas Port is named for the sea that it rests within which separates Grinn from Varnholme and Uldane. Crawling with Marrow marines, the port is managed with an iron fist, nearly to paranoia. Any who sail into or out of the port require extensive manifests for all cargo and passengers and the use of predetermined routes. Rumors and gossip are copious in Treneas Port. It’s said that if you want to know what’s going on anywhere in Grinn – or even anywhere in the realm – you can get that information in the port … for a price. DEVOURERS When the land of Grinn was still Viste, wolves were prominent. When the new timeline of Grinn was constructed by the Dismembered Lord, those mundane creatures changed, forming a special bond with the Bleak. Now known collectively as devourers, these horrifying lupine entities have an insatiable hunger for magic first, flesh second. These creatures display ferocity and cunning beyond normal animal intelligence, and hunt in packs.

Vale of the Sovereign: This is the most protected of Grinn’s districts, housing the Dismembered Lord’s Spire of Knowing. It is said that none can enter into the Vale of the Sovereign without being thoroughly checked by an Arcseer who peers relentlessly into each individual’s soul. Warmakers and redclad Marrow Praetors patrol without ceasing. Westmahrk: The largest, most technologically advanced city in all of Dragongrin. Archans light the streets at night, and the Algomon proliferate the city with technological wonders and everyday modern conveniences. The most prominent Crucian houses are headquartered here among the myriad buildings and twisting alleyways. With the expansion of technology, so too increases Crucian scheming, and strange, violent crimes. D8 1

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SUDDEN PERILS An anomaly of time is upon you: Grinn's timeline fragments, and a ripple of strange energy washes over the area. Marrow and Arcseers will surely arrive soon to investigate the potential crux. A pack of devourers circles: The low rumble of snarling creatures emanates from behind you, as a pack of the wolflike devourers begins closing in. Their eyes narrow as they bare their razor sharp fangs. A glimmerwind of the Bleak stirs: The glimmerwinds – precursors to a Bleakstorm – weave an illusory pattern in the sparkling air. You see someone you once loved appear before you, begging for help, reaching out toward you. If you resist, the twisted distortion of your surroundings takes a humanoid shape with your face – a morne seeks to connect with you. An Arcseer swoops in on a halyphon: An Arcseer mounted on a flying creature with the head and forelegs of a wolf, and the body and hindlegs of a bull lands nearby. The Arcseer looks directly at you but says nothing. They wait for you to speak or act. A lesser Dark Spire is in your path: This Dark Spire and its surrounding walls lie between you and your destination. If you attempt to scale it, you would certainly be seen as a threat, but perhaps you would be welcomed at the doorway. A Warmaker marches toward you: Thundering with each heavy step, a Warmaker strides with purpose, rushing toward something. If you are not in good standing with the Dismembered Legion, an interaction would almost definitely lead to its ire, and possibly bloodshed, or worse... Marrow escort drudges: Marrow march with half a dozen drudges chained at the legs, transporting them to the headquarters of one of Grinn’s major houses. There are three empty sets of chains, and the Marrow willingly collect extra drudges to make additional coin. Crucian stir up trouble: Several members of a prominent Crucian house take notice of you, and begin to openly mock you. One of them demands you give them an object in your possession – refusing would make them angry.

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GROWING THREATS AND RUMORS Warmakers are making for the Dustmouth with orders to destroy all perceived threats without mercy. A town was evacuated to make way for a caravan transporting new Doomsayers, but the caravan was disrupted in transit. The beasts are largely untamed and loose in Grinn. A prominent house is removed from the Dismembered Lord’s Chosen. Other houses muscle their way into the vacuum. The Prismikar of Algomon, Grinn’s prestigious arcane university, has disappeared completely. Many believe it has something to do with its recent experiments with Primordials. The leader of a prominent house was blessed by the Sovereign with an additional century of life after completing a personal favor in Svir – but the leader has changed... The Marrow ships along the northeastern shards of the Shattered Sea are laden with supplies – the Dismembered Lord forms an invasion force, perhaps against Varnholme. A member of the Council of Ash has been murdered, and Arcseers flow into every settlement, looking for the culprit – some believe it was another councillor. A mass of Doomsayers has done the impossible and horrifying – with their combined powers, an entire rebel township was demolished to ashes. House Rahgaris has formed a marriage alliance with House Maegar without the blessing of House Galtheon – some see this as an act of war. Rumors abound that the Sovereign’s manipulation of the timestream is far greater than anyone actually knows – an alternate version of him now attempts to break through into this world and seize control. QUESTS AND BOUNTIES The Dismembered Legion destroyed a rebel enclave and piled the corpses inside a spoiled well, not realizing that a powerful trinket hung around the neck of one of the dead. Many would pay handsomely for someone to sift through the grisly scene. Torvid Deepspeaker offers coin and privilege to anyone who delivers information on a troupe of revolutionary eloquents, unlawfully spreading alternate histories of the realm. An explosion has rocked a Dark Spire of Grinn, unleashing morne into the realm. Destroy the monsters, investigate what or who caused the blast, and report back for payment. The Red Sail Market wraps up its circuit of the realm, and rumors abound of a strange artifact from Jahar. A Talasar merchant would pay an obscene amount for the relic, in hopes of assisting the war effort in Talas. A renegade Marrow has recruited a following in an attempt to disobey the Sovereign and make for the untamed lands of Varnholme. An Arcseer hires you to kill the traitor and bring back their head before they make the journey. Something slows the influx of goods from Svir Below, and Numitor Krieg believes a thieving faction from the gangland territory is responsible. Root out the clan and be paid well. Payne Arecel of House Caliar has gone missing, believed to be on the run to the Outermost after taking hostage a child of Xanner Laoren of House Bartal. The bounty is sent far and wide, and many powers are on the move. The Treneas Bay is drying up near the border with Uldane, revealing strange and alien relics from the Age of Annihilation. One of Goldtongue’s people will offer you a permanent spot on their caravan’s payroll to collect as much as you can – just watch out for the morne. The Marrow on the border with Svir are undermanned, and some believe they are being tested. Whether you help them fight off near-overwhelming threats or investigate the true cause of their dwindling numbers, they’ll pay handsomely. The Dismembered Lord has recently freed a large number of drudges from the great houses of Grinn. One house believes they’ve found a technicality regarding one of their freed slaves, and will pay you to reclaim them without the Dismembered Legion finding out.

ANOMALIES OF TIME D102 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 D102

MINOR ANOMALY Day turns to night, or viceversa Every conversation ever had here audibly repeats at once

CALIBRATIONS REQUIRED Find a hidden object

Return a lost weapon to its owner Crest the tallest hill and look The world feels slightly tilted Bleakward Streams and rivers flow Draw a Titan rune in the ash backward of a ruined city All color drains from this Find an albino creature and place slowly slay it Follow the next wagon you Gravity in this place is weaker encounter to its destination Time passes rapidly Deliver a coded message Two clashing smells Find a tree marked with a permeate, like rust and fresh Primordial symbol and fell it flowers Stone and ash can be tasted Return to the site of a on the air personal tragedy The area behaves as though it Make amends for a past is underwater, though it is not transgression MAJOR ANOMALY

CALIBRATIONS REQUIRED Destroy something of great value Swear an oath

The same day repeats on a loop Blood solidifies when spilled Lightning strikes a single point continuously All roads and paths run infinitely Nearby creatures stand frozen in time Flame sheds no light

The sun doesn’t rise at dawn

Nearby creatures begin aging Strange tattoos appear on many Bleakstorms erupt ceaselessly

1 2 3 4 5

9 10 D10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Break someone's heart Record the anomalies perfectly Create something beautiful Sacrifice a sentient creature Get three specific people to an exact location Halt a coming battle Rebuild a toppled structure Destroy an Archan at a specific location

PERIPHERAL LOCATIONS Defunct Dark Spire inhabited by a group of morne. The pieces of a destroyed Warmaker litter the area. Set of beautiful, interconnected masterwork structures. Crucian are hosting a banquet in and around them. Large, sweeping fields of green, with a gorgeous sculpture garden. The lupine devourers stalk between its beautiful scenery. Series of large buildings creating myriad alleyways. Arcseers patrol the alleys looking to calibrate an anomaly. Marrow tavern in full swing, boisterous voices ringing from within. Dozens of Marrow carrouse and argue. Private laboratory of Archan curating and cleaning. A Warmaker is waiting outside to be repaired. A beautiful statue depicts the Sovereign sitting with children. A sanctioned eloquent sings of his mercy. Wobbling hazy sightline, as though reality is blurred. Spectral traces of what will occur there in the future play out like an ephemeral mirage. Walls depict the Dawn of Truth chronologically. A Marrow cleans graffiti from the mural. Dustmouth labor camp containing tents and stalls. Lunch is being served, but someone unwelcome is refused a meal.

227 DOMINIONS OF ASH: GRINN

CRUX: WELCOME TO THE DUSTMOUTH

with garish and often elaborate designs. This level of assured anonymity has its benefits, but it also sows discord among the Crucian houses, as friends and family are often ignored for the sake of an unknown – or worse, a foe.

Concept: Intrigue at a Masquerade Themes: Dread, Isolation, Competition, Intrigue

However, the masquerade offers an excellent cover for those here with more secretive motivations. It is rumored that a mysterious and magical figure known as the Remnant is attending, and multiple houses and factions are seizing the opportunity to recruit or capture them for their alleged invaluable knowledge.

EVENT Ardor drudges flash-frozen by sorcery serve as macabre, living ice sculptures. Every face is decorated with gaudy and expensive masks decorated with feigned smiles and empty eyes. Colorful, potent elixirs pass between gloved hands adorned with garish bracelets and signet rings. The myriad conversations between hundreds of attendees becomes a roiling, violent sea of rolling bodies coated with sweat and pungent smells. A blacksmith is skewered by his own failed attempt at a sabre. Your stomach churns. The Crucian are in the Dustmouth, there’s no mistaking that. Every Evenmoon, just outside the dowdy frontier town of Creaking Tree, the powerful Crucian houses of Grinn hold their annual Banquet of Selection – a debaucherous masquerade ball in the impoverished and exacting region of the Dustmouth. Under scores of luxurious tents, the lavish party hosts the most powerful Crucian houses competing over the most skilled artisans in all of Dragongrin. For craftspeople to make the journey is to sacrifice all residue of a previous life for the most minute chance of selection among the factions of Grinn – a life assured of comfort and wealth. Most fail. Some die. Whether you are kin to a powerful Crucian house, serve as mercenary guard over the festivities, offer your skills in hopes of selection, or have taken to another, more covert purpose, the Banquet of Selection is in full swing around you. However, there is someone new attending the event, far more priceless than smiths and sellswords. Stories go that the Remnant was once a Copper Jackal – a preLightfall paramilitary warrior currently operating against the Sovereign’s reign – who was stranded in a Bleakstorm. The vile, twisted energies shredded their flesh, muscle, and bone, leaving only the consciousness to be placed inside the mind of an unsuspecting new host – one who would only know their power when it surfaced, unleashing itself upon the host and the realm. The most privileged Arcseers employed by the council have spread the word that the Remnant will be here tonight. TRAVERSING THE DUSTMOUTH This Crux is designed to begin during the Banquet of Selection, but if a journey centered around survival is more your flavor, the GM can subject the adventurers to the arduous conditions present in the Dustmouth. Flesh-tearing dust storms and mercenary bandits are just the tip of the iceberg, as ravaging morne prowl the outskirts of Grinn for the flesh and souls of unwary travelers.

PEOPLE The Banquet of Selection is packed with many attendees, all with their own objectives – mostly finding the most skilled artisans and laborers for recruitment into their Crucian houses. It’s imperative the selection process remains biased only toward the participant’s skill and ability, so tradition calls for all identities to remain secret. While the competing contractors must conceal their identities with identical masks, their prestigious potential recruiters decorate their faces 228 DOMINIONS OF ASH: GRINN

Dawsin, a tomeheart bounty hunter seeking the Remnant on behalf of an unnamed patron, hopes to deliver the prize to their contractor so their unnatural and seemingly infinite knowledge of smithing Bleakiron can be used for their own benefit; Eranna Swiftwater of House Fyste would see the Remnant placed into the chassis of a Warmaker, their memories siphoned and used to promote another member of her house into the unoccupied Seat of the Recondite. All the while, the Undying Light hopes infiltrator Jeremiah Diggs can successfully locate the Remnant and recruit them into the Copper Jackals – only then can the Copper Sun be safe, and the forces of Light can hope to reclaim much of Dragongrin. One thing is certain: due to the otherworldly nature of the target’s condition, it’s entirely possible they don’t actually know who they are – anyone could be the Remnant, infused by the horrors of the Bleak, and not know it until it was too late.

THE REMNANT

Bleaktouched Servant “The Bleak took something from me, but it gave something as well – something I don’t quite understand. Sometimes, I don’t even remember I have it.” Note: The Remnant is a template designed to be overlaid onto an existing NPC or adventurer. Personality: Quiet and unassuming, though possessing an undeniable otherworldliness. Appearance: The Remnant appears as the chosen NPC or adventurer, though with eyes a virulent shade of violet to hint at their Bleaktouched nature. Rumor: Some believe the Remnant is a soldier of Lightfall, while others claim their memory was wiped and replaced by the Bleak – the darkness still rages within them, to be unleashed at any moment. Goal: Avoid suspicion; discover answers regarding their otherworldly nature. Quirk: Reacts strongly to sudden noises; seems almost skittish. Introduction: They blend into the crowd, intensely forgettable in their simple garb and shy posture. But as they turn, you catch a glimpse of strange eyes staring out from the mask – vibrant violet tinged with blood-red streaks. The eyes almost gleam. And as the gaze locks with yours, a jolt runs up your spine. You experience an intense deja vu, like you’ve been here before; then that feeling leaves you in an instant, replaced with confusion and a strange, primal fear. Before you can react, the eyes disappear once again as the person slips into the milling crowd. You might be able to catch them with a DC 15 Dexterity (Acrobatics) to deftly maneuver through the crowd, or a DC 13 Charisma (Persuasion) check to quickly talk your way through.

ANYONE CAN BE THE REMNANT The Remnant NPC acts as a set of characteristics to be applied to any person attending the Banquet of Selection, whose mind is dominated by an otherworldly, mind-altering presence. Choose the NPC who best fits the narrative, and apply this set of emotional and physical details. An adventurer might even be open to assuming the role, or be the Remnant without even realizing it due to the obvious magical phenomena surrounding their experience. Use the quirks to give each NPC telling behavior, but perhaps let the players choose which quirk to investigate, making that into their true identity.

ERANNA SWIFTWATER OF HOUSE FYSTE

Hostagetaker (F Crucian Human)

“The Remnant? Never heard of such a person. I’m sure they don’t exist. But please, keep me informed on what you hear about them and I assure you my house will compensate you greatly.” Personality: Haughty yet likable; quick with an insult and a follow-up friendly quip Appearance: Form-fitting Crucian colors in the Fyste pattern and heavy, fur-lined surcoat; dark, short hair oiled and slicked back; smooth ivory-colored skin Rumor: Most freelancers chosen by House Fyste disappear within the year. Goal: Capture the Remnant and force them into the chassis of a Warmaker, allowing the construct to siphon their memories for use in taking the Seat of the Recondite for House Fyste. Quirk: Constantly checks appearance in any reflective surface. Introduction: Wearing a glamorous half-mask, gleaming with rubies, the matriarch of House Fyste holds court, surrounded by eager listeners. She speaks eloquently on local politics, throwing in thinly-veiled insults at rival houses while stroking their egos with half-compliments and feigned awe. She holds the Banquet in the palm of her hand. If approached, her house guards step in to intervene. “That’s alright, boys,” Eranna says, “the more the merrier.” A successful DC 16 Charisma (Persuasion) check allows the adventurer to charm their way into Eranna’s good graces. If the adventurer makes a joke at the expense of a rival of House Fyste, they have advantage on the check. “I like this one,” she says, offering you a dark drink in a crystal glass.

DAWSIN

Robotic Bounty Hunter (M Granok Thane Tomeheart) “There’s a mark on my head with House Fyste, or I’d go myself. But if you capture the Remnant in my stead, the take’s yours. The job just needs to get done.” Personality: Harshly pragmatic, with a penchant for getting the job finished – whatever the cost. Appearance: Tall, splindy tomeheart with multiple eyes ringing his cylindrical head; foldout Thanium blades and crossbows.

Quirk: Spins his cylindrical head in all directions, constantly waiting for ambush. Introduction: In Creaking Tree, outside the confines of the Banquet, the blood-red gemstone eyes of Dawsin flicker from a shadowed alleyway. With a hiss, he beckons you to him. In a hushed, humming voice, he lays out the plan, and offers you the reward in its entirety. “But I need the Remnant alive,” he says. “My patron is looking to extract some vital intel.” Dawsin is secretive about his patron, but a successful DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion or Intimidation) check causes the tomeheart to spill some info. “It’s a councillor. One of the Council of Ash. That’s all I can say.”

JEREMIAH DIGGS

Undercover Rebel (M Crucian Human) “Leave your weapons before heading in, please.” Personality: Gruff and curt, with a weathered gaze hinting at a history of violence. Appearance: Wide-barreled chest and shoulders like muscular pauldrons, with the traditional porcelain mask issued to security guards, only his is decorated in holly berries. Rumor: His hometown was recently destroyed; some say his family was murdered and thrown into the town well. Some whisper he’s ex-Marrow – a washed-up soldier relegated to mundane security. Goal: Secure the Remnant and escort the figure safely into the hands of the Undying Light who wish to recruit them as a Copper Jackal; they believe the Remnant’s powers to be useful in protecting the Copper Sun, and intercepting signals from the Crucible. Quirk: He sniffs softly beneath his mask – some might think he was crying Introduction: He’s at the door, searching patrons and confiscating their weapons. He blends in well – only after you’ve attended the party for some time does he approach you. He asks if you know the whereabouts of a young boy that you’re sure you haven’t seen. He claims the Marrow Officer Tankin Goligard gave the order to keep a lookout for the teenager, but a DC 18 Intelligence check reveals Tankin Goligard isn’t even a known person’s name. Another DC 14 Wisdom (Insight) check reveals Diggs is personally invested in the boy. D6 1

Rumor: Dawsin secretly wishes for admittance into one of Grinn’s noble houses.

Goal: Capture the Remnant to be interrogated by an unnamed patron.

CHARACTER CONNECTIONS Alda Reeve of House Vidar is a personal friend of yours, and you owe them a favor – they’ve called it in. Find the Remnant, and secure a skilled artisan in the meantime. You are hired to serve as a guard during the events, keeping freelancers in line and ensuring the depraved festivities remain firmly in the elite’s control. Zaria Sharn, the Curator upon the Council of Ash, contacted you in secret, knowing you would be attending the banquet. They require both the Remnant, and the head of Eranna Swiftwater. You owe Dawsin a favor for ignoring you when you had a bounty on your head. If you can help him, he swears he can find a way to clear your name for good. You’ve been given the opportunity to form your own Crucian house, but must deliver the Remnant to an Arcseer who refuses to divulge their actual identity. Someone you love was chosen during the last banquet, and you haven’t seen them since. You hope to catch a glimpse of them, or converse once more.

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D6 1

COUNTDOWN TO PERIL The banquet opens with a ceremonial free-for-all by sellswords looking to be recruited by prominent houses – only the last one standing earns a spot. One of the dishonored guests, unworthy of recruitment into any house, has been deemed appropriate for sacrifice – the whole room votes on the cause of their demise. Someone in the crowd is worried they are murdering a particularly important person without good reason. The renowned artisan championship occurs – two crafters must be the first to construct a weapon, have it examined and approved, and kill the other contestant with it. The adjacent art gallery is sealed off for some unknown purpose. Investigators discover a secret meeting is taking place, and one side of it is angered at the other. One faction verbally accosts the party or another faction, accusing them of being the Remnant. Violence erupts among the honored guests. Masks are discarded, faces are bloodied, and lives are ended in the battle for the Remnant. The Remnant, now cognizant of who they are, fails to control the power held within their minds – you must get them out alive, but the wrath of the Bleak follows.

ESCALATION The Banquet is a lively affair, often wretched and disgustingly ruthless, as the niceties of home are abandoned and replaced by wilder emotions wrought by the rugged Dustmouth. Somewhere in the cacophony of sounds and people is your target – the Remnant, a mysterious figure once stranded among the inexplicable horrors of the Bleak, rumored to be attending the event. It will be difficult to discover their true identity from beneath the multitudes of masks, but there are clues to be found in conversation, intermingled by the horrors of the competition around you. Over the course of the masquerade, competitions are held, losers sacrificed, and accusations hurled over allegedly unfair dealings. At the end of the party, the Remnant is revealed, but not without tension. LOCAL CONDITIONS Wealthy and well-dressed Crucian officials mingle with the grimy laborers of the Dustmouth, who froth to prate their boons to potential patrons. The sweltering heat is eased by the drudge ice sculptures. Criminals lurk around Creaking Tree for unsuspecting victims. Marrow stand a dreg away, just in case they’re needed. D4 1

3 4

CONFLICT Dread: A sacrifice is required in honor of the Dawn of Truth, in the form of ritual crucifixion. The guests are “asked” to help with the proceedings. Isolation: Cyclones of dust tear flesh from bone in the Dustmouth, stranding the partygoers inside the banquet hall – they begin sending disqualified artisans into the fray to watch what happens. Competition: One major house sees a member of the party as a potentially profitable find, with great skill sets, and requests their employment in the name of a Crucian house. Intrigue: Multiple masked house leaders claim to be the very same person, and you’re not sure who’s truly who.

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D6 1 2-3 4-5 6 D8 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 D10 1-3 4-6 7-9 10 D12

RISING THREAT One of the ice sculptures topples, shattering across the floor – a drunk sorcerer looks for a new replacement for the masterpiece. Whispers spread of an ambush planned by the Undying Light. A failed artisan, turned away at the last Banquet, sneaks in armed and armored to loudly air their grievances. A spurned noble removes their mask, breaking the sacred conventions of the event and dishonoring their house. NOTABLE LOCATIONS Creaking Tree: massive shard of Talas, frontier town, hanged rebels Banquet Hall: exorbitant feast, opulent decor, bustling servants Art Gallery: strange and unnerving statuary, grotesque paintings, living works of art Clandestine Chamber: hidden door, occult ritual, unnerving sounds SCENES Rebels Revealed: sudden violence, insurgents captured, heightened security Scrutinizing Nobles: haughty gaze, harsh judgment, dismayed artisans Dinner is Served: silver platters, costumed servers, strange and exotic hors d'oeuvre Rivalry Rears: shouting nobles, guards intervene, vengeance sworn CLUES

1-3

Information found only in a tight-lipped individual. Several Crucian tents are tucked behind the main cluster of 4-6 tents. 7-9 Passing noble slips you an encoded note. 10-12 Secret intel concealed in a work of art. D20

TWISTS

The powers within the mind of the Remnant are malevolent, 1 and seek to add victims to its consciousness – any who cannot overcome its will becomes a mindless servant to it. Jeremiah Diggs is the Remnant, he is forever seeking his son 2-5 – but doesn’t remember he lost him in the same event that transformed him and wiped his memory. This was a plan masterminded by Renton Highfury of House 6-10 Galtheon. Every other Crucian house at the Banquet turns on members of House Fyste, slaying them mercilessly. The Remnant befriends the party, and will do all they can to help in their adventures. They are a deep undercover 11-15 operative for the Dismembered Lord, and only the Sovereign knows their true identity. The Remnant is Dawsin the bounty hunter, and the consciousness of the former Copper Jackal fuses with him 16-19 permanently – he assassinates several prominent Crucian before escaping – seeking to rebuild the Copper Jackals anew. The Warmaker known as Eclipse arrives at the Banquet, and 20 he points to a member of the party, claiming that they are the Remnant – and he is right.

FORESHADOWING THE TWIST To emphasize the level of intrigue between the warring Crucian houses, this crux is designed to work especially well by having a major plot twist during its climax. To avoid the twist feeling “tacked on,” choose a Twist on the following table, and examine the information, considering ways to weave it into the session as foreshadowing so the twist feels surprising, but inevitable and satisfying.

CLIMAX: THE UNMASKING

• Depending on which Crucian house the party interacted with, there will be varying reactions. Any house they helped or honored will show them favor – but the party will inherit that house’s enemies as well. Any house they hindered or slighted will show them contempt – but that house’s enemies could be sought as allies. • The fate of the Remnant will leave a ripple in the town of Creaking Tree. Look at who the Remnant was, and see what their goals would be, then show those things beginning to occur unless someone intervenes.

Sooner or later, the Remnant will be identified by the party or one of the many factions looking for them. Once confirmed, word quickly spreads, and whispered gossip turns quickly to violent action.

UNFOLDING EVENTS • The Remnant is as surprised as you are to find out their true identity. They require some calming down, and run the risk of unleashing the Bleak upon everyone – even themselves. • Someone else got wind of your discovery, whether through eyes and ears, or some sort of mystical means. This witness goes to inform their leader. • The chase leads you through scores of Crucian tents, and into the alleys of Creaking Tree – a squad of Marrow guards, just arriving on a tip that someone has disturbed the peace. • The witness arrives at their leader’s side, and they are not alone – guarded by myriad mercenaries they’ve recruited over the banquet, they demand you turn over the Remnant. • If a member of the party feigns being the Remnant, the opposition likely falls for the ruse, taking them into custody. • Otherwise, a free-for-all breaks out among all the partygoers, and the Banquet of Selection is turned into a bloody brawl. • The Marrow stationed nearby arrive just in time for the foreshadowed plot twist to be revealed and occur.

AFTERMATH/CONSEQUENCES • If the party breaks the rules of the Banquet of Selection – which is likely since they are varied and convoluted – formal charges will be brought against them by the Crucian, though they may not know it until Marrow come looking to exact the sentence, which can be as mild as needing to pay a fine or complete a task, or as severe as death or crucifixion. • If the Banquet of Selection ends in bedlam, no one is selected, leaving the already teetering economy of the Dustmouth in ruins – the Crucian will not return for some time, if ever, to recruit artisans. • If the Dismembered Legion is affronted in any way, the Marrow presence in the Dustmouth – especially Creaking Tree – becomes prolific and violent in retaliation.

231 DOMINIONS OF ASH: GRINN

CRUX: WAR UPON THE BLACK SHORES Concept: Defensive Siege Against Extraplanar Threats Themes: War, Strategy, Courage, Service

EVENT Xur Kith is coming, and with him his loyal army of dragonbound – creatures as hunched, twisted and malformed as Xur Kith’s desires. Many deathmaw have also allied themselves with Xur Kith, believing that he will overtake Grinn and reign supreme. An army is coming. You must stand in their way. The picturesque skies over Grinn hang like shattered glass over the Black Shores, fragments of blue giving way to the red and purple Bleak roiling behind it. The serene, green fields roll from Grinn all the way to the edge of the Black Shores, pierced suddenly by a towering fortress wall of twisting black metal, lined by thousands of Warmakers and uncountable Marrow. Arcseers patrol the skies upon halyphons, using magic to gaze into the Bleak beyond for incoming threats. The other end of the fortress wall drops suddenly down a pure cliff face, red water pouring in a thundering waterfall into the gray beaches beneath. An Arcseer lands on the wall and speaks gravely to a towering Warmarker, before bells toll and cries of alarm echo down the wall. Zarfvin-made siege Archans whir to life and Marrow file into formation. Moments later, the hordes of creatures spawned by the Bleak and Desolation break the horizon line, marching inexorably toward Grinn and the material plane. They must be stopped at all costs, or the entire world will fall. The adventurers are stationed as soldiers in the great Battle of the Black Shores, a frantic war to defend Grinn from horrifying creatures from beyond. Whether they defend Grinn from the encroaching hordes from the towering fortress walls, or join in a dangerous expedition to weaken the enemy from within the Bleak itself, the battle here will determine the fate of all of Dragongrin.

PEOPLE This Crux centers around the great battle of the Black Shores. With countless extraplanar monsters bleeding through and charging, the Warmaker Voidbringer will need any warriors they can get to ensure the walls aren’t breached by even a single creature. Meanwhile, Ciovok is gathering soldiers to lead a dangerous expedition into the Black Shores themselves in order to disable the arcane monuments that help to stabilize Xur Kith’s presence in this plane. Both are woefully short-handed compared to their preference, and both sides will play a pivotal role in winning the battle. Note: Rather than typical rumors, this crux uses war stories to give each NPC a colorful tale of something they did in battle.

A BATTLE FOR ALL LEVELS This Crux, while reaching the upper echelons of scope within Dragongrin, is made to be experienced by characters of any level. Low-level parties work as grunt soldiers fighting desperately for survival against the lower minions of the Bleak, where high level parties act as generals leading critical charges and holding key defenses and anything in between. Whatever the level of the party, their contributions to the fight as well as the difficulty of the particular enemies they are assigned to combat should match their capabilities and station within the world. Each NPC has a breakout box below them describing the mission they need completed, with lower and higher level ideas for each. The ramifications of losing the fight are disastrous, and could devastate all of Dragongrin – not just this single region.

CIOVOK OF THE BLACKBLADE COLLECTIVE

Field Commander (M Granok Thane Human)

“We must strike first. An entity like Xur Kith has the hubris for his attack to actually work. If the creature is prepared for the battle it will be over before we realize it has begun.” Personality: Strikingly charismatic and quick witted. Appearance: Blood red Thanium armor from head to toe, with floating tusks upon his helm. War Story: Ciovok once killed a rogue Lord of Ash using his bare hands – then gave the Reliquary of Ash to someone else. Goal: Take the fight to Xur Kith, striking the creature in an ambush before it arrives at the Black Shores. Quirk: He occasionally attempts to adjust a ring on a missing finger. Introduction: Ciovok inspects half a dozen muscled creatures with the head and forelegs of a wolf, and the hindquarters of a bull, and fur of deep crimson. He checks their pouches and ensures that each of their saddles is tightened, commanding other members of the Blackblade Collective simultaneously. He will survey the party, asking them what they think the best way to defeat Xur Kith is. A Blackblade cracks a joke asking why he would bother asking them, but Ciovok puts his hand up to silence the mercenary and gives a look that expects an answer. Any Charisma-based check (DC 15) will cause Ciovok to listen, and whether or not he agrees, as long as the plan wasn’t a complete debacle, he would request that the party aid him in ambushing the Bleak dragon Xur Kith. SURPRISE ATTACK ON XUR KITH • Lower level: Stave off a swarm of voicelings and their Deathmaw master so the Blackblade Collective can take flight. • Higher level: Ride experimental Bleak-bred halyphons to ambush Xur Kith, equipped with Arcseer helmets to survive the time anomalies you’ll face.

VOIDBRINGER Master of Defense (M Warmaker)

“Not a single creature has ever made it past these walls. I don’t plan on letting one through now, no matter what we have to do to stop them. By His Scars, we will know victory.” Personality: Imposing and commanding; perfectionist. Appearance: Humongous in stature with thick, bulky armor marked with a general’s rank crest and countless commendations.

232 DOMINIONS OF ASH: GRINN

War Story: Voidbringer was present when the Dismembered Lord was torn apart, earning his moniker – he was also the first to call him “Sovereign.” Goal: To slay Xur Kith in honor of the Sovereign. Quirk: He seems to lack any sense of empathy, speaking to others as objects to order around rather than people. Introduction: Voidbringer is imposing, nine feet tall, and nearly that wide. He commands half-a-dozen Warmakers even larger than him into various positions. One can feel his booming voice in their chest as he powerfully gives direct, concise orders. When he sees the party, he will not start with conversation, but will begin commanding them as though they’ve been assigned to serve under him. Voidbringer pauses, then holds out his massive arm, asking the strongest looking party member to grip it as hard as they can. A DC 16 Athletics (Strength) check proves you are at least strong enough to die by Voidbringer’s side, and he shares more of his plan. He is using specialized Warmakers, newly formed by the Algomon Zarfvin, called legion-breakers. Each one is equipped with an Archanic cannon in their chest, with the ability to extend pistons into the ground to stabilize themselves, launching specialized Titan artillery shells.

dormant energies within the Titan can be used to destabilize Xur Kith and keep him from fully materializing – though the Titanshell will need to be physically touching Xur Kith for the effect to work. She asks the party if they will help in this endeavor. DESTABILIZATION OF XUR KITH • Lower level: Secure the beach, and place Archanic batteries within several major points within the shell of a long-dead, fallen Titan. • Higher level: Ride inside the mechanically re-animated Titan armor to do battle against Xur Kith.

D6 1 2 3 4

ARTILLERY BARRAGE ON XUR KITH • Lower level: Keeping the ramparts clear of insurgents and calling the shots of where the legion-breakers should fire • Higher level: Donning specialized Archanic armor that allows telepathic control of the legion-breakers

PHESHI OF THE HEDRAL APPARATUS Special Weapons Division (F Zarfvin Elf)

“Nothing in Dragongrin happens just once. Infinity goes in both directions. There is no unique singular moment. And the “h” is silent.”

Personality: Seemingly cold, distant, and empirical, but passionate and fair. Appearance: A plain, pale-skinned elf female, she has symmetrical copper colored tattoos on her face that shimmer and fade based on her thought patterns. War Story: It’s said this is Pheshi’s first tour of duty as a contractor with the Dismembered Legion, but she has already proven her ability to keep a calm, cool head in battle.

Goal: Prevent any extraplanar creatures from entering Grinn – and learn more about them in the process. Quirk: She audibly huffs involuntarily when she disagrees with someone – which is often. Introduction: Striding with calm, but quick and determined steps across the wall, Pheshi calmly rehearses intricate details of the coming plan aloud, with many other Marrow and Zarfvin sprinting up to report progress before running just as quickly back to their posts. She inspects several crates of intricate Archans, and unrolls a schematic of a Titanshell that lies half-buried in the sands of the Black Shores. She will ask the party to help her begin carefully removing the Archanic batteries from the crates, laying them carefully in line for testing. She will ask a question about Archans or the Titans to test the party’s knowledge of the subject. A DC 16 Intelligence (Arcana or History) check brings a smile to Pheshi’s face, but only for a moment. She explains that these Archanic batteries are designed to power the Titanshell – and while not bringing it back to life, allowing it to move. She believes that the

CHARACTER CONNECTIONS You have been sentenced to serve here on the walls above the Black Shores as a punishment for a crime, and are to report to Voidbringer for orders immediately. You were forced to take the place of a powerful Crucian’s son, who was drafted into this battle to defend the Black Shores. You were in a battle with Ciovok once, and he saved your life. You were happy at the chance to fight alongside him again. The Marrow desperately need more able-bodied soldiers, and while you might not agree with the Sovereign's reign, it's likely better than Xur Kith’s... You are here on a mission given to you by the rebel organization known as the Undying Light to gather intel on the Black Shores. You were a guard in the Algomon facility that worked on some of the top-secret weapons being used in the battle, and were drafted to join the fight. COUNTDOWN TO PERIL An Arcseer flies in from beyond the waste to bring news of the coming assault, sending alarm calls and a frenzy of activity across the walls. Voidbringer begins defensive preparations and Ciovok gathers a crew to descend down to the Black Shores in order to stop Xur Kith from entering. Archan ballistas whir to life as Marrow and Warmakers take positions for ranged defense. Volleys of arrows, magic, and Archan strikes fall upon the encroaching horde. Entire flocks of Bleak drakes appear on the horizon, carrying small crews of dDragonbound. The expedition must avoid the brunt of the army while fighting and trekking toward the monument. The amount of dragonbound and drakes descending on the wall becomes overwhelming as primary defensive lines begin to fail. The enemy begins to breach the outer walls. The expedition approaches the arcane monuments to find them highly guarded. Though the first defensive line has been lost, the enemy seems to be held at bay at the second defensive position. A massive creature is seen moving toward the walls from a distance. The Expedition continues to battle for control of the monuments. If the enemy breaks through the second line, the Zarfvin siege Archans are at risk of being destroyed, leading to certain disaster. They must be held no matter what. The expedition, having gained control of the monuments, must figure out how to operate them. Xur Kith himself appears, raining utter chaos on all fronts, and must be defeated for the battle to be won.

233 DOMINIONS OF ASH: GRINN

ESCALATION The Battle of the Black Shores is a sprawling, full-scale conflict spanning countless miles of beach, wall, and sky. The party will only have a few short moments to organize and prepare themselves before the alarm is sounded. While the battle covers many important events, the focus should always be on the party and how their actions influence the areas of the battle they participate in. LOCAL CONDITIONS Platoons of Marrow line the beach en masse. Warmakers are posted and ready. Arcseers circle. Siege Archans lob a constant stream of arcane shells. The calm before the storm. Tensions are high, but morale is good.

D4 1 2 3 4

D6 1 2-3 4-5 6 D8 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 D10 1-3 4-6 7-9

CONFLICT War: Horrific in nature, losses are counted coldly and mathematically for the greater good. Strategy: Changes in soldier headcount, supplies, and forecasts of enemy forces necessitate improvisation of the battle plans. Courage: A high risk, gruelingly difficult, but vital task is assigned to the party. Service: The dangers are far greater than once thought – perhaps guaranteed deadly – but if none stand, all will fall. RISING THREAT Hordes of Bleak drakes begin dropping dragonbound behind friendly lines. Raging Bleakstorms form, complicating planning and obscuring vision. Dragonkin and kobolds approach from all sides breaking through the front lines. Deathmaws flank the area with countless voicelings. NOTABLE LOCATIONS Upon the Ramparts: Zarfvin siege weapons, holding the wall, arcing bridges Shattered Skies: flying mounts, Bleak-twisted drakes, Bleakstorm lightning strikes Black Sands: dragonbound marines, blood in the sand, timeeroding waves Within the Fortress: makeshift hospital, amputations, last words SCENES Press the Attack: failing enemy forces, push them back, take advantage of weakness Failing Morale: cowering novices, rousing speeches, turning point Threat of Breach: weak point, prevent disaster, immediate response needed

Battalion Destroyed: outnumbered, overtaken, massacre

D12

ODDITIES

1-3

A Lord of Ash arrives with reinforcements. Experimental Archan weaponry is distributed to select 4-6 soldiers. Visions of the fight’s outcome echo upon an arcane 7-9 glimmerwind. Shattered skies begin to fall, stick in the sands, and impale 10-12 the unsuspecting.

234 DOMINIONS OF ASH: GRINN

D20

TWISTS

Pheshi is unable to control the Titanshell, as it begins to fight 1 both sides, causing heavy losses. Ciovok reveals he is working for Xur Kith, and that the dragon 2-5 is the source of his power. Xur Kith attempts to swallow one of the party, but Voidbringer 6-10 intervenes, being killed in the process. It is revealed that this battle was never to be won – they start sealing off the entrance to the Black Shores magically using 11-15 the energies that permeate from Xur Kith – the battle was to keep him occupied. The already unstable time and space in the area are further fractured by the chaos of war and magic. Areas of the battle 16-19 begin to freeze, repeat, or speed and slow as time in the area nears a permanent breaking point. This was all a plan by the Dismembered Lord to lure Xur Kith 20 in, and he uses a perfectly staged ambush to steal the Bleak Dragon’s days, becoming even more powerful than before.

CLIMAX: THE COMING OF XUR KITH A massive Bleakstorm appears in an instant, sending bolts of blood-red lightning thrashing through the fields and walls as a deep, rumbling thunderclap rings through the entire battle. Pieces of fractured blue sky fall from the air and shatter on the ground, leaving a massive vortex of Bleak and Desolation hanging in the air as the hulking form of Xur Kith speeds through it. Soaring over the field and raining down arcane death in a deafening roar, the enemy that this battle has centered around has finally appeared. As hundreds of soldiers become obliterated in the blink of an eye, calls go out to find a way to bring Xur Kith down from the air.

UNFOLDING EVENTS • Xur Kith will stick primarily to the skies, raining down with his breath weapon and occasionally landing briefly to thrash about in crowds of soldiers before taking back off until he can strike again. • Xur Kith must be brought down to ground level to be properly engaged. If the party has stayed to defend the wall, they must take control of the Zarfvin’s Archan ballistas and aim for Xur Kith’s wings. If the party has gone through on the expedition, they can dodge Xur Kith’s attacks and attempt to use the arcane monuments to bring the dragon down. • Once Xur Kith is grounded, the real battle begins. All available soldiers brave enough to charge the dragon will join in the fight. Additional troops can be rallied from their fear if the party can rouse them with an inspiring speech. • The only way to guarantee victory is to defeat Xur Kith entirely here and now. Now grounded, Xur Kith will focus on frenzied assaults, using his impaired wings to launch into charges, using his breath weapon when able. • If Xur Kith is defeated, the seams that tie the Bleak and the Desolation to this plane will begin to fray. If the party is out beyond the Black Shores, they will need to escape from the collapsing space between planes to survive. • If victory against Xur Kith seems impossible, the Dismembered Lord himself will appear and join the fight, helping to defeat the dragon. In a final bid for vengeance, Xur Kith will throw himself at the Dismembered Lord, dealing a grave injury to him before dying.

AFTERMATH/CONSEQUENCES • Whichever general the party decides to help, the other will die, causing shifts in the power structure of their portion of the military. Members of the party will be greatly considered based on their actions in the battle. • The general who the party helps will be given great commendations and a promotion if they survive, and the party will receive similar awards and opportunities for their contributions. • If the Dismembered Lord was not needed to defeat Xur Kith, he will appear to give a rousing victory speech to the entire army as the perfect blue skies begin to slowly overtake the Bleak. • If the Dismembered Lord showed up to fight Xur Kith, he will take a grave injury from the Dragon, becoming afflicted by the Bleak and Desolation that poured into him in the dragon’s final moments. He will flee the battle immediately upon victory, not wanting to be seen injured. His plans will be greatly set back while he recovers. • If Xur Kith succeeds in his invasion, the Bleak and Desolation will pour into Grinn, slowly overtaking it. It will be nearly impossible to contain now that it has broken through, slowly corrupting Grinn before moving onto the rest of Dragongrin.

235 DOMINIONS OF ASH: GRINN

EVERGROWING SHADOWS

Grinn’s artificial timeline grows more and more unstable with each passing day. The Council of Ash plots, and the Crucian houses bicker and stab each other in the back – all while the morne grow in power. Something must be done to consolidate Grinn’s safety and ensure the continued strength of the Sovereign’s empire.

THE COUNCIL OF ASH “We are the first and foremost servants of the Sovereign; we are his far-reaching limbs, his peerless will, his inescapable sight. But our highest calling – our eternal duty – is to the realm. Dragongrin, above all. By His Scars, we serve.” – Numitor Krieg, Manoeuvrer upon the Council of Ash Though formidable and cunning, the man once called Ghul Varras did not achieve his greatness alone. In his boundless wisdom, the Dismembered Lord surrounded himself with advisors of the highest calibers of loyalty and service. Master tacticians, traders, arcanists, politicians – each a trusted and well-rewarded aide at the Sovereign’s side. When the smoke of Lightfall cleared, when the dust settled and the new Dragongrin awaited its tyrant, the Dismembered Lord appointed a Lord of Ash to each region. In Grinn, his homeland, the seat of his power, he gathered his most trusted servants and formed the Council of Ash – five seats of power, each tied to a critical aspect of the Sovereign’s empire. Though the council’s membership has changed over the years, the seats have persisted. Primarily, the Council of Ash serves the Dismembered Lord – but their actions are dictated by the Crucible. Some members see the Sovereign and his prophetic machine as one and the same, while in recent years, others have come to rely more on the Crucible as its own entity. To some, the Dismembered Lord, though powerful and eternal, is merely a mouthpiece for whatever esoteric force inhabits the Crucible. • Seat of the Manoeuvrer: Grand general of the Dismembered Legions and overseer of all military movement throughout Dragongrin. The seat was established and is still held by Numitor Krieg, a skilled mage and one of the Dismembered Lord’s first and most faithful followers. • Seat of the Curator: Keeper of coin and commerce, collector of the Tenth and distributor of wealth and resources. The seat is currently held by the darrow Zaria Sharn, the second to hold the position and arguably the most successful. • Seat of the Intelligencer: Spymaster, sleuth, master of assassins – the Intelligencer oversees the Sovereign’s Arcseers and quickly and quietly quashes rebellions across Dragongrin. Helevan Scath, a festir who served Revak Zistra during Lightfall, holds this seat. • Seat of the Polymath: Keeper of lore and secrets, and master of the Crucible. The Polymath is the oldest and most trusted seat on the council, often working directly with the Sovereign. The first and current Polymath is Torvid Deepspeaker, a Zarfvin dwarf scholar. • Seat of the Anarchic: Executor of the Lord’s justice, the Anarchic stands above the laws of the realm, meting out retribution for disloyalty and disharmony. When the Crucible demands death, the Anarchic sees to it. Eclipse, greatest of the Warmakers, currently holds this seat.

236 DOMINIONS OF ASH: GRINN

• Seat of the Recondite: In recent years, with the walls between realities thinning, and energies from beyond Dragongrin bleeding through the fissures, a new seat was established – the Recondite. Charged with unraveling the mysteries of the Bleak, the Desolation, the Feymists, and the countless timelines between them, none has held the seat for longer than a few months. The few who have held the station went mad or disappeared. The Sovereign seeks one who could fill the seat. Encountering the Council: In addition to their own impressive martial and magical abilities, each member upon the Council of Ash commands considerable private forces – specialized Marrow, capable bodyguards, even Doomsayers and Warmakers. These minions deliver messages and summons to Dragongrin’s citizens more commonly than the councillors themselves, who live in fortified dwellings and travel with large contingents of loyalists, fearing retribution from revolutionaries and opportunistic rivals in equal measure. Reliquary of Ash: The Sovereign bestows upon each of his most trusted advisors specialized reliquaries – Archans once wielded by his supreme generals during Lightfall. These reliquaries, appearing as small brass brooches inlaid with thin and elaborate Titan copper wiring, allow their wielders to synchronise with the Crucible to communicate instantly across vast distances. They appear within the Crucible’s psychic pocket dimension as astral images of themselves, and the space allows for near instantaneous transfer of ideas and thoughts – meaning no secrets can be hidden. Appearance: There is no standard uniform among the councillors, though each proudly wears a sash bearing a distinct colored fabric, a badge of their station, an iron emblem of Grinn, and their reliquary of ash. In addition, each member carries a priceless and ancient weapon of Titanmake, ranging in size and function from Helevan Scath’s twin Titan copper daggers, to Numitor Krieg’s Titan-tech stave adorned with arcane foci. Powers: Beyond their command of considerable martial forces, the Council of Ash have proven themselves capable combatants in their own right – far from helpless even alone and outnumbered. Krieg is one of Dragongrin’s most accomplished arcanists; Zaria Sharn commands considerable bardic magic; Scath is a rook of deadly renown; Torvid Deepspeaker is perhaps the most accomplished cleric serving the Dismembered Lord; and the Warmaker known as Eclipse earned a violent reputation during Lightfall which has only grown bloodier in the decades since. Weaknesses: Though each has taken great pains to protect themselves and their interests, the greatest weakness each member faces is perhaps the Council itself – their fellow sitting members, each a formidable rival in their own right. The Dismembered Lord does little to dissuade competition among the Council, preferring instead to keep them hungry for approval. Ambition, after all, is a quality that won him many victories during Lightfall. Origins: The council was officially founded in the latter days of Lightfall, initially made up of the Dismembered Lord’s most loyal followers. Some, like Krieg and Deepspeaker, have served under the Dismembered Lord since he was known as Ghul Varras. Others, like Sharn and Scath, are more recent additions, having clambered their way to the top and proven themselves to the Sovereign. When a council member leaves their seat, the Crucible chooses their replacement.

Secrets: Many rumors swirl surrounding the Council of Ash, speaking of underhanded deals, alliances gone sour, and simmering rivalries. Some whisper that Torvid Deepspeaker, keeper of the Crucible, has begun to doubt the validity of the Sovereign, instead taking to worship the prophetic machine as Dragongrin’s true god-emperor. Others claim that Helevan Scath has uncovered a way to escape the Crucible’s sight by way of Primordial magic – and that secretly she oversees the Scrimshanders rook guild, bent on conquering Dragongrin from below. Fortress of Ash: The Dark Spires house the councillors, each commanding their own looming tower in separate corners of the region. Each Spire stands as a formidable fortress in its own right, heavily guarded and housing hundreds of Marrow and other militant forces. Because of their wide distribution, and to prevent an attack on the Council in its entirety, the councillors rarely meet in person – rather, they utilize their reliquaries to meet astrally within the Crucible’s pocket dimension, overseen by the Dismembered Lord. Nemesis: Beyond their own bitter rivalries, the greatest threat facing the councillors lies in the revolutionaries of the Undying Light – that insidious cult of rebels and misguided “heroes.” As the Dismembered Lord’s most trusted servants, given exclusive access to the Crucible, the Council of Ash represents a prime target for the growing forces of the Undying Light. Assassination and kidnapping attempts have already been made, as recently and publicly against Zaria Sharn as she traveled with a small retinue across Grinn. Tightening security and hermitting themselves within the Dark Spires, the councillors, for perhaps the first time since Lightfall, feel fear. Legion of Ash: Councillors command hundreds of their own Marrow. In addition, each is guarded day and night by specialized Marrow known as Praetors. Praetors represent the best of the best, tried and tested warriors and arcanists – formidable alone, downright overwhelming when coordinating in squads. Praetors often ascend to become Arcseers, or generals within the distributed legions. Praetors are distinctive in their blood-red plated armor and cloaks, starkly contrasted against the bone-white of other Marrow. Each wields a unique double-bladed sword – an unwieldy weapon made deadly in the hands of a Praetor.

THE COUNCIL STRIVES FOR • Beyond the Crucible: Though powerful and all-seeing, the technology of the Crucible represents the tip of a much larger iceberg. While some on the Council of Ash are content with the status quo, others recognize the need to adapt and pivot. Dragongrin cannot sustain itself in its current state – whether tomorrow or in a millennia, the power of the Crucible will wane, the Dismembered Lord will lose his hold, and the timelines of Dragongrin will fracture. • The Sovereign’s Favor: The Dismembered Lord is the ultimate power in Dragongrin – of this there can be no doubt. Each councillor strives for the approval of their Sovereign, and even among the Council members, favorites exist and receive preferential treatment. An ingrained sense of competition drives the Council of Ash, much like the noble houses of greater Grinn, and it is expected that each councillor go above and beyond to please the Sovereign and bring glory to their station. • The Next Regime: Nothing lasts forever. Opportunists at heart, the Council of Ash realizes the folly of blind loyalty. If not the Dismembered Lord, another tyrant would sit upon the throne. Though they strive to further the Sovereign’s rule and continue to reap the rewards

for their faith in him, each councillor also recognizes the need to look to the future. Grinn is eternally locked outside the stream of time, but that does not mean its rulers should remain stagnant.

THE COUNCIL’S STATE OF POWER This section represents the strength of the Council’s resources, allies, and enemies. For everything except the secrets and the plot twist, the lower the roll, the worse-off the result for the Council of Ash. It is intended to be rolled once at the beginning of a session or campaign to generate a starting point, but it can be rolled any time an important enough event occurs to affect the resource or people. D4 1 2 3 4 D6 1 2-3 4-5 6

D8 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8

PRAETORS Discontent festers among the Praetors, and many seek posts elsewhere. Recently, several Praetors have gone rogue, plying their martial skills as sellswords. The Praetors retain their loyalty, though some express concerns over the state of things. The Praetors have never been more numerous, nor better trained and armed. LEGION OF ASH The Marrow grow lazy within the borders of Grinn, losing all sense of discipline. Rogue Marrow sell secrets for a high price to rebellious agents. Though seeing less frequent combat, the Marrow here are in decent fighting shape. The Marrow of Grinn represent the best the Legion has to offer. FORTRESS OF ASH The Dark Spires fall into disrepair, and the magic warding them wanes. Too distant to support each other, the Spires, though formidable, are cut off. The Dark Spires of Grinn stand tall and mighty, only penetrable by the most cunning. Indestructible, the Spires represent the height of the Sovereign’s limitless power.

D10

THE COUNCIL’S FOES

1-3

The Undying Light has infiltrated the Council of Ash. Though still operating underground, the Undying Light gains followers every day. The Undying Light represents a rebellious nuisance, nothing more. The Undying Light is routed, fading as the Sovereign tightens his grip.

4-6 7-9 10 D12

THE COUNCIL’S HINDRANCE

A councillor has betrayed the Sovereign, and intends to stage 1-3 a coup. 4-6 Mistrust runs rampant. Disharmony stalls all progress. A bitter rivalry between two councillors threatens civil 7-9 conflict within Grinn. Though squabbling, the Council maintains its decorum, 10-12 placing the realm above all.

237 DOMINIONS OF ASH: GRINN

D20

TWISTS

The Sovereign suspends the Council – for now, he needs no advisors. The Seat of the Recondite is filled – with a former enemy of 2-5 the Dismembered Lord. 6-10 The Crucible calls for the death or exile of a councillor. A Dark Spire topples, sabotaged by the Undying Light and 11-15 their allies. A formerly unseated councillor returns to reclaim their old 16-19 title. A councillor works in league with the Undying Light – and 20 perhaps always has. 1

COUNTDOWN TO RUIN 1. The Redmarch Expands: The Unraveller mobilizes a phantasmal morne army of fallen Lightfall heroes against the Dustmouth, and thousands are slaughtered. The Unraveller reveals themselves to be Moira Sidler, a famed hero of Lightfall thought dead. She gains followers, and incites Sidler’s Rebellion. 2. The Recondite Revealed: In the wake of the Redmarch disaster, the Dismembered Lord enstates a new seat on his Council of Ash, the Seat of the Recondite. Dissension stirs in the council, as they feel slighted, feeling a new seat too extreme of a move in light of one error. The Dismembered Lord insists, and the Recondite is chosen – it is a mysterious figure from the lands of Üldane. 3. The Crucible Falters: The Sovereign’s prophetic machine, irrefutable in its accuracy, misleads the Dismembered Lord for the first time since Lightfall, drawing his armies into ambushes across Grinn. Infuriated, the Sovereign abandons the use of the Crucible, relying instead on the insight of the Recondite. 4. A Fractured Council: Torvid Deepspeaker, sickened by the Dismembered Lord’s betrayal of the Crucible, and the station the new Recondite wields, openly insults the Dismembered Lord, claiming more power resides in the smallest corner of the Crucible than in the whole of the Sovereign. However, it’s when Deepspeaker addresses the ruler by his true name – Ghul Varras – that the Dismembered Lord obliterates him instantly. The remaining councillors, terrified at the blatant power exacted against their political body, vie for open seats, flee the land, and even attempt to use force to steal the Crucible and smuggle it to Svir Below for safe keeping. 5. Traitor in Their Midst: The Recondite proves their power by revealing they were the one misleading the Crucible in the first place – they are another Dismembered Lord from another timeline. They have irreparably damaged the Crucible, fracturing the timeline of Grinn, throwing the districts into abject chaos. This Dismembered Lord duels the Recondite, obliterating them, and stealing their days, making him more powerful than ever before – if it weren’t for the Crucible’s betrayal, he never would have gained such strength. 6. Xur Kith Stirs: In the first phases of Grinn’s collapse, Xur Kith – the menace beyond – senses that the planar membranes of the Bleak realm he is trapped within grows thinner by the hour. He sees Grinn as a doorway into the prime material realm and strikes upon the Black Shores.

238 DOMINIONS OF ASH: GRINN

7. Mass Exodus: It’s no secret the Sovereign’s Realm, once so tranquil and secure, is collapsing – though almost no one has the wherewithal to understand why. As violent weather patterns manifest, and morne prowl the lands more readily than ever, the most prominent and knowledgeable houses, leaders, merchants, and other officials take to the roads out of Grinn, and many Crucian follow in the resulting panic. The Dismembered Legion is ordered to massacre all who attempt to emigrate, including their own soldiers. 8. The Walls Fall: With Grinn ripping away from Dragongrin, flashing through countless timelines as the Crucible’s hold weakens, the Bleak bleeds through millions of fissures, overtaking much of Dragongrin with rampant, widespread Bleakstorms unleashed by the toppling Bleakveils. Strange creatures step through the breaches, odd mirror images and twisted malformations; the seas run red, and the sky flushes violet. Panic grips the populace as Dragongrin’s anchor becomes unmoored. 9. The Sovereign Intervenes: The Dismembered Lord looks upon his fracturing empire – a shattered memento of his conquest. His allies, forsaken; his homeland, toppling; his power, waning – the Sovereign makes the choice only he can. Dismembering himself further, ripping at the last remaining pieces of his humanity, the Sovereign fuses with the malfunctioning Crucible, becoming completely disembodied. As a force of pure energy, the Dismembered Lord seizes Grinn and rips it away from Dragongrin, sparing his homeland – and the realm – from the looming destruction. With all of his power, the Sovereign flings Grinn across the cosmos. 10. Dawn on a New World: The people of Grinn wake to alien skies. The region exists now outside of the Material Plane, flung through countless timelines and dimensions, coming to rest like a lone island among a sea of Bleak. The stream of time has fractured, the Crucible has failed, and now Grinn, the seat of the Sovereign, stands isolated from all of Dragongrin. But there is no time to mourn, no time to reconcile this new reality – there is great work to be done yet. By his Scars, Grinn shall return.

INNES

SWAMPS OF SUBJUGATION ON THE BRINK OF WAR “Your warriors are weak. They pull apart like roasted meat. If these are your best fighters, then you have earned my pity – but not my mercy.” – Shar Lagash, Standing Lord of Ash Once beautiful rolling hills terraformed into swampy mires by the Maug’Tarak orcs, reshaping the land using the Bleak to forge a new empire.

HISTORY

Then: Before Lightfall, Innes was the most prosperous and well-defended region in all Dragongrin, home to the Ardor and their Holithic Church. Now: Utterly destroyed, the Dismembered Lord gifted the land to the Maug’Tarak orcs, where they now rule over the enslaved Ardor drudges who produce food for Grinn. Beyond: The Maug’Tarak test their borders, bending their treaty with the Marrow of Innes – it is evident they seek expansion, which would mean war for Innes. INNES AT-A-GLANCE Terrain: Bogs, mires and swamps, remnants of rolling hills and grasslands Climate: Temperate and pleasant, humid in bogs, Bleakstorms Lord of Ash: Shar Lagash, orc warlord Resources: Though tainted by swamp, some fresh water and vegetation is abundant Cultures: Ardor, Drogus Factions: Peacemakers, Chrider’s Hook, Maug’Tarak, Ixis, Marrow Containment Legion Creatures: Pit scum, tyl, dragonbound, kytes

KNOW THIS TO SURVIVE

The charismatic orc leader Shar Lagash has slain the previous Lord of Ash, inheriting rule of Innes as the standing Lord of Ash. The occupying Marrow uphold a tenuous peace as powerful factions creep closer to war. CARRYING WEAPONS IN INNES It is shameful and illegal to carry a concealed weapon in Innes, though it is perfectly legal to openly carry any weapon. This law is called Opex (meaning open hand in the orc tongue). The caveat is that if you openly carry a weapon, anyone else may challenge you to a duel to the death. Typically, challengers are Maug’Tarak spoiling for a fight, but distant travelers sometimes make great journeys to Innes to prove themselves in battle against the fierce orcs. Carrying weapons is a dangerous prospect, but keeping them on hand protects you from being stabbed in the back.

Shar Lagash Oversees a Drudge Empire: Lagash oversees multitudes of drudges in various work camps as the standing Lord of Ash, having slain the former, Rutt Grine. Since Lightfall, the Maug’Tarak orcs have terraformed Innes into swampland using the Bleak to create their hallmark healing pits, and until recently have done so relatively peacefully. The mirey swamps of Innes rise and fall with the lunar cycles of the Triune Moons of Dragongrin, and Shar Lagash quenches her people’s thirst for tradition with the corresponding celebrations, holidays, and ritual ceremonies under the moonlight. Many wonder why the Dismembered Lord would allow a Maug’Tarak orc to hold sway as a Lord of Ash, but rules are rules – Shar Lagash holds the Reliquary of Ash, and her refusal to follow custom and carry it before the Sovereign for his blessing is a minor slight at best; the first steps toward war at worst. In the midst of this vacuum of power, a resurgence of the xenophobic sect of orcs known as the Ixis has sprung up and grows stronger each day. Lagash breaks with tradition by openly welcoming the violent Ixis, backed by a powerful orcish militia whose regenerative pits are borderline necromancy. Though she claims the Ixis seek to serve orckind, Maug’Tarak and Ixis alike, many fear she has forsaken her peoples’ ways and made a pact with a more terrifying vision of the future. 239 DOMINIONS OF ASH: INNES

The Sovereign’s Road Must Remain: The Sovereign’s Road is the main pathway through Innes – a winding, sprawling vein touching every corner of the Dominion of Ash. Under the command of Dominik Dorvan, a division of Marrow known as the Containment Legion guard it as they have done for decades, keeping the all-too-vital Red Sail route secure even through the most arduous of territories. Tension along the Sovereign’s Road grows as Ixis threats turn Maug’Tarak into refugees, overpopulation along the route takes hold, and the potential for conflict becomes increasingly more inevitable. What began as Marrow outposts along the road have become settlements themselves. The supposed rule is that, while traveling, you should be able to see the next outpost from the one you’re in, but as the powers along the Sovereign’s Road wane, so too does the pathway’s security. Off the main road are the thoroughfares – paths and routes not formally part of the Sovereign’s Road, and therefore less policed by the Containment Legion. There are various settlements, cities, and towns on these thoroughfares, most under the sway of Innes’ various competing factions – some Marrow, some Maug’Tarak, some Peacemakers, and all others scraping out an existence in the swamps. Now with Shar Lagash as the standing Lord of Ash, the orcs grow more bold and she turns a blind eye as they creep closer to the road from its thoroughfares. The Marrow of the region fear they will be forced into formal military action – but even mustering troops would escalate the conflict, and perpetuate a state of all-out war. Each side grows more bold, and anything could set off an irreversible conflict that will change the face of Innes forever. The Dragonbound Spew from the Deathbrine: In the southwest of Innes lie the Deathbrine Bogs – so named for the transformation caused by the pits of its former denizens, the Ixis orcs. They ruled here, before the Maug’Tarak defeated them, ruining the land with their foul, necromantic pits, decaying and warping the land into something unlivable. Many of the more potent pits were unknowingly cultivated on top of an enormous dragon’s grin, permeating thousands of petrified dragon eggs, and bringing them to wicked life under their vile, regenerative properties. Now scores of dragonbound spring from the revitalized eggs – drakes, kobolds, wyverns, even the humanoid dragonkin – all crawl from the grin. Led by the powerful, reborn dragonkin Ush’racka Rex, the dragonbound have one goal – to restore their grin and their draconic lord, the foul and destructive Drallux the Worldgorger. They seek the fabled Archan known as the Torchlight, said to be somewhere within Innes. With it, they could certainly raise their master. The Peacemakers Traverse and Protect: Led by former drudge Flin Eron, only competent warriors can be Peacemakers. Mounted atop tyl – enormous fey bears – this faction is made up of volunteers who openly carry weapons to either protect those in danger, or draw the orcs into duels to legally slay them. While much of this roving resistance operate as vigilantes who attempt to dispense protection and justice to those in need, some have found an alliance with the Marrow of Innes. It is rumored that the Marrow equip the Peacemakers in exchange for mercenary favors as political machinations in Innes grow more tense. Some say the Peacemakers are the protectors of the innocent and the lives they save are undeniable, while others claim their violent deeds are inflammatory to the more peaceful orcs of the Maug’Tarak, further plunging the region into war. The resulting infighting among the Peacemakers creates new factions who side with the orcs, even helping them raise their own tyl to better fight their enemies. Chrider’s Hook Salvage the Mire: Led by the notorious Drogus gangster, Kopen Chrider, this faction of salvagers and 240 DOMINIONS OF ASH: INNES

opportunists work closely with the orcs as excavationists and land clearers, digging out the ground of Innes, and preparing the land for quicker terraforming into the healing pits. In return, they are allowed to comb the land for Titan relics, Primordial remains, and Holithic and Ardor equipment lost to time. It’s common for Chrider’s Hook to find something they know is of value to a culture or city, and ransom it back to them for as much profit as possible. Chrider’s Hook must follow a rigorous set of orcish traditions in their digging, which slows them down considerably, and some digging groups cut corners. It’s rumored they smuggle far more than relics out of Innes’ borders, and perhaps the declining number of drudges in the region is evidence of this. The truth is, their slave trade is purely mercantile. If you save up enough money, the Hook will help you. When the Ardor come across Titan relics in the swamp, they often attempt to trade to Chrider’s Hook for freedom in hopes to flee to the open wilds of Jahar, or to seek protection in one of Svir Below’s gangs. Pit Scum Engulf Flesh: As the orcs alter the geography of Innes, transforming the land into swamps and healing pits using the Bleak, it is not without a gruesome reaction. The healing pits of the orcs put off waste unlike anything else, and as that waste congeals in the soil, it also permeates the remains of the ancient Primordials buried beneath Innes, and the echoes of the lingering Primordial essence attaches to this runoff. The resulting toxic, caustic sludge known as pit scum gains a modicum of consciousness, and while not sentient, these puddings, oozes, and slimes seek bio-organic matter to feed their basic life functions. These oozes take all forms, shapes, and sizes, absorbing living creatures for nutrients and energy and growing at an alarming rate. Due to the healing nature of the pits from which they were born, when pit scum engulfs a living creature, it traps it in a horrific cycle of perpetual corrosion and healing, leaving the victim in a state of unrivalled agony for days, weeks, or in some cases, indefinitely. CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS OF INNES • The three moons of Dragongrin are revered, their phases and positions in the sky said to hold sway over waxing and waning fortune. For more information, see page 25. • Black Milk is an edible, protein-rich substance that forms around the healing pits, keeping many denizens of Innes alive after critical injuries. • It’s customary to make a handprint in the mud at a place where you slept safely as a sign to the next person they may be safe as well.

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CHARACTER CONNECTIONS TO INNES You are a current or escaped drudge. You have a pair of rare books with a buyer lined up along the Sovereign's Road. You ran into some Peacemakers who told you where to meet them to try out for a position in the faction. You owe a debt to Chrider's Hook, who now calls on you to clear out some areas for orc pits. A loved one you thought was dead is actually a drudge in Innes. You seek a group of aged Ardor to learn the secrets of the Holithic Church before Lightfall. You've heard of the fabled Deathbrine Bog grin and seek its untold riches. You seek an entry-level position at one of the Marrow outposts along the Sovereign’s Road. You have an illness that grows worse – you were told Ibled root could act as a cure in the right dosage. You have received an invitation from the Maug'Tarak to join a coveted apprenticeship.

POWERFUL PEOPLE OF INNES

Standing Lord of Ash Shar Lagash: Wielding the doubleheaded Thanium spear of her predecessor, this orc warrior proves herself again and again as the best combatant in all Innes. She rules over the drudge population as well as her people, the Maug’Tarak, though she does not follow the tenets of the Dismembered Lord. Some know Lagash as a charismatic and competent leader. Others call her a zealot for dabbling in the forbidden ways of the Ixis. But no one denies the inspiration she evokes while carving her path in the shadow of the Dismembered Lord. Lagash trains and arms more troops each day – an action that some see as the first of many blatant attempts to spur the Sovereign into war. Unshakable and wise despite her youth, this warrior is genuine and passionate in her belief.

Flin Eron: The only surviving son of failed drudge revolutionaries, Eron struck out on his own after a childhood in chains to form the Peacemakers. He seeks to unseat Shar Lagash and possess her Reliquary of Ash, and under the guise of taking Innes back for the Marrow and the Sovereign, he has accepted a truce between his Peacemakers and the Marrow, even accepting their weapons to equip his forces. It is rumored that Eron’s true aims are tied to his beginnings, and that he wishes to break the chains of the drudges who still serve. Though he styles himself a liberator and friend to the downtrodden, Eron is a brutal combatant and merciless tactician, adorning his mount with skulls of the orcs he’s killed. He expects absolute devotion from his followers, for no war can be won by the fickle. Dominik Dorvan: “Keep the Sovereign’s Road” – Dorvan’s duty was clear and simple. Originally a Silverwise from a powerful political family in Svir, he cast off the superstitious nature of his kin and sided with the Dismembered Legion. It was easy in Innes at first, with a tenuous peace between the orcs and the Marrow. After settling down in an outpost along the Sovereign’s Road, Dorvan lapsed into semi-retirement, enjoying a position of power in one of the most secure regions of Dragongrin. All of that changed with the resurgence of the necromantic practices of the Ixis. His Marrow Containment Legion now struggles to uphold the peace, the orcs become bolder, and reinforcements are limited out of fear of mirrored mobilization from the Maug’Tarak. In the ensuing chaos along one of Dragongrin’s primary trade lanes, Dorvan wonders from whom the Peacemakers secure their supplies, fearing traitors in his midst. To Dorvan, it seems multiple factions intend to destabilize Innes. This hard-bitten Marrow commander who once thought his time culling rebels was over, once again prepares himself for war. Kopen Chrider: Gruff and aging with streaks of white in his orange hair and a stripe of orange in his braided white beard, Kopen Chrider is, above all, an opportunist. The leader of Chrider’s Hook, a small-time gang from Svir Below who expanded its operation into the swamps, Chrider arrived in Innes looking to make a name for himself in the wake of growing tension. After a few bloody and unsuccessful attempts to raid Maug’Tarak digging sites for the relics, Chrider approached the Maug’Tarak with a proposition. In exchange for limited safe passage into Innes, along with salvage rights, Chrider’s Hook would help the orcs dig out the land and prepare it for their arcane terraforming. The deal was lucrative for a time, but with the rise of the Ixis, Chrider knows the peace is short-lived. He makes arrangements to survive the coming storm – and perhaps profit from it. He works to keep his relationships between the Marrow, Peacemakers, and Maug’Tarak as amicable as possible. Ush’racka Rex: After rising from the muck, this ancient dragonbound priestess has united the draconic beings of the Deathbrine Bog, renewing the dragon cults of old. Shrewd, patient, and zealously devoted to Drallux the Worldgorger and her imminent rise, Ush’racka strikes out against the hamstrung Marrow and Maug’Tarak before they can manage an offensive. It won’t be long before a reborn Drallux emerges from the Deathbrine, and all of Innes belongs to the dragonbound in the shadow of her wings.

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HEALING PITS OF THE ORCS This manufactured “swampland” is formed by concentrated control over the Bleak, pummeling the land steadily using patterns based on the cycles of the three moons of Dragongrin. These pits are immensely powerful, especially in their healing and regenerative properties – invaluable to the orcs. There are two kinds of pits: those of the Maug’Tarak, which are far less powerful but more stable and sustainable; and those of the Ixis – far more powerful, but vile and necromantic, their energies seeping into the land and poisoning it. The pits are used to perpetuate the Maug’Tarak code of honor via personal combat. By using the regenerative powers of the swamps, the orcs may freely and frequently prove their quality in battle.

Gorag the Pale: Stooped, malformed, with mottled flesh made bone white by continued exposure to the Ixis regeneration pits, Gorag emerged from the mud of an impoverished beginning to rise to the head of the renewed Ixis. Born deformed and sickly, Gorag (“Runt” in the orc tongue) was abandoned by his parents, left to die of exposure in the swamps of Innes as is the custom among the Maug’Tarak. But Gorag survived, persisting by way of the regeneration pits. Flanked at all times by a macabre cadre of skeletal servants and fleshless bodyguards (including his own undead parents), Gorag, once deemed a violent dissident and wielder of forbidden magic, now leads the reformed Ixis with the blessing of Shar Lagash herself. He, along with his devoted followers, seeks to proliferate the Ixis pits throughout Innes, covering the region in black, necrotic mires. It’s rumored Gorag raises a secret army of undead comprised of the countless skeletons that litter the muck of Innes to rival Shar Lagash, but he is quick to quash these unfounded whispers.

PRIMARY LOCATIONS

Argbien: Home of the legendary tavern, the Slain Lion, this settlement is home to the notorious Peacemakers. The Dismembered Legion takes advantage of Argbien now that the Marrow hold a loose alliance with the Peacemakers, and more soldiers arrive every day. Others in Flin Eron’s faction feel too much has been given to the Sovereign’s forces, and schisms form between the ranks of the tyl-riding warriors. Buugak Slough: On the outskirts of the Deathbrine Bog lies this stagnant slough, making up the coast of the Deathbrine itself. Just a few inches deep in most places, but treacherously unstable, it’s said to swallow whole tyls in moments. Codgul River: Codgul River is a series of narrow ravines lined with rivers and several waterfalls that dump into Codgul Lake. A few miles from Codgul Falls is a relatively new site of Maug’Tarak terraforming, and the resulting pit scum has taken to the water and polluted it. This contamination spawns a breed of the pit scum monster that thrives off the unsuspecting creatures who drink from the Codgul. Culcheth: As the tension grows between the orcs and Marrow, Culcheth becomes more of a refugee camp than a city. One of the first settlements built off the Sovereign’s Road, it has a few permanent buildings surrounded by dozens more tents and temporary residences. Originally founded by Kopen Chrider when he arrived in Innes, it was once the closest the region had ever seen to a “city.” Chrider didn’t expect much attention, at first allowing travelers to stay in and around Culcheth before moving on, but eventually people stopped leaving. Somewhat of a “neutral” ground controlled largely by Chrider’s Hook with a large but unofficial Marrow presence, it’s one of the last places the factions can meet without looking too warily at one another (but this is sure to come to an end soon).

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Deathbrine Bog: Named for the necromantic mud pits proliferated by the Ixis, these swamps now crawl with dragonbound, emerging from Grin of Drallux, the tomb of a powerful, ancient dragon. These dragonbound have been brought to life by the powerful necromantic healing pits atop the ancient grin, and strike out from within the bog. Eogren Fields: This city is covered from streets to rooftops in muck and mire, though many Peacemakers still choose to lair within the now subterranean settlement. Once one of the largest cities in Innes, its size now depends on the lunardriven rising or falling of the muck and sludge. Chrider’s Hook skulk here for unearthed relics, and the dragonbound take notice of it as a potential nest to lay a new brood of eggs in its moist, cavernous spaces. Gash Amox: In the orcish capital of Khedgrig, this Maug’Tarak military compound, built within the bleached bones of an unearthed primordial, houses Shar Lagash and her armies. Once a mighty and sprawling Holithic cathedral and catacombs, it is rumored to hold many secrets of the now defunct church. The orcish healing pits beneath are said to be giving rise to strange Ardor abominations, reanimated in a tangle of pit scum and Holithic burial shrouds. Glades of Clesh: The one partition of Innes entirely reserved for the Maug’Tarak people, the Glades of Clesh serve as their traditional homeland. The populace grows wary, however, as Ixis rebels are impossible to discern from the more peaceful Maug’Tarak. Gorr Arena: This Ardor structure was outlawed by the Holithic church long before Lightfall, and fell quickly into disrepair. Now reconstructed and used by the Maug’Tarak orcs for ritualistic combat and trials of honor, this is a sacred place to the Maug’Tarak. Shar Lagash holds frequent gladiatorial games in this coliseum. Hinrey Pillars: This series of Ardor towers, constructed after the Holithic era, rests upon the border of the Deathbrine Bog, once serving as the watch towers that ensured the orcs did not cross into Innes. Now they are home to mages who wish to escape the politics of Innes to study the Bleak, Deathrbrine, and the nearby dragon’s grin. Constantly under siege by dragonbound, many arcane tomes and magic items still exist within the towers guarded by the defending mages – though they are losing the fight. Holkurg Quagmire: A naturally swampy area that also rises and falls with the lunar cycles, rumors abound that there’s a path through it that drudges use to escape their masters. No one has ever returned, so they must be going free – or something else entirely lurks here. Holithion: This is the last standing beacon of the Holithic church, and for reasons unknown has been left strangely untouched by the Maug’Tarak. Some say that the orcs revere this site for their own secret reasons. Others claim that divine powers protect it. Many believe that the Dismembered Legion is secretly using the location for nefarious purposes that remain unknown. Whispers persist that this is one of the few places in Dragongrin where resurrections of the dead are possible by the power of the location itself – but are dangerous. Khedgrig: Once a sprawling and advanced Holithic city, this is now the capital of Innes, and epicenter of all that is Maug’Tarak. This once-magnificent pinnacle of Holithic architecture and construction has been torn down and rebuilt using the same stones, statues, and finery, but in the likenesses and architectural stylings of the orcs. A massive, fully rebuilt city, this is the home of the Maug’Tarak

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243

Lake Ogruana: A large body of murky water with one large island in its center, the lake is named after a famed Maug’Tarak hero. The ruins of a Maug’Tarak temple to the Foul Moon lies at the center of the island, and many orcs battle to the death in honor of the sacred location. Chrider’s Hook wants to salvage what they can from the ruins, but a protective Bleakstorm rages when anyone but the orcs get near.

Wrenwell: Once the largest and most secure prison in Dragongrin, it is now repurposed by Gorag the Pale, serving as a base of operations for the Ixis. Gorag uses the many cells and lower levels of the compound for his experiments, and skeletal abominations roam freely for miles around the repurposed prison, which itself slowly sinks into the surrounding toxic mires.

Luneram Garrison: This garrison rests in the southwestern reaches of the Glades of Clesh, and holds the Sovereign’s Road’s western border. It’s inhabitants protect the area rom Ixis and dragonbound attacks. Viewed by many as a frontier outpost disconnected from the politics of the region, Peacemakers, Marrow and even outlaws are known to dwell here intermingled in relative peace, eager for tales from the road, a good mug of ale, and a good fight.

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Mensfeld: The largest, most established Marrow camp in Innes is now a sprawling frontier city along the Sovereign’s road, guarding the precious passageway into Svir Below. It seems the crooked gangs of the underground have spread the seed of corruption to the Marrow of Mensfeld – Dominik Dorvan plans a crackdown on legionaries allowing and engaging in illicit deeds.

Mepral Landing: On the southern tip of the Deathbrine Bog, this series of ports was once run by Chrider’s Hook, used to smuggle stolen goods throughout all of Innes using its waterways. Now plagued with dragonbound from the recently awakened grin, it has been abandoned. It’s no secret that many goods, weapons – and even unattended ships – are all ripe for the taking … for any who can survive the dragonbound who hunt within it.

New Lendom: This Marrow encampment is conspicuously more guarded than the rest. Two sets of wood and stone walls and inner and outer gates surround the encampment, and no one is allowed in or out without express permission – even Marrow. People disappear in there for days at a time, and sometimes never come out. It is rumored that strange experiments take place within its walls, and that Marrow weapons testing is apparent. Rolfish: A series of lumber camps with living areas in between, Innes’ primary source of construction materials is rife with pit scum. As the creatures gravitate toward the wooded areas and those who work or travel through them, drudges charged with collecting the timber face a deadly task indeed. The Sovereign’s Road: The main road in Innes is also the dominant route of the Red Sail Market. Ardently defended by the Marrow Containment Legion under Commander Dominik Dorvan, the road is dotted with settlements, outposts, thoroughfares, and beacons to be ignited in the case of an orc assault. The orcs can only cross in certain locations using thoroughfares, leading to overpopulated borderland camps and rampant xenophobia in the cities. Tarak Drudgeries: These drudgeries are made up of farms, stables, mills, housing facilities, and camps dedicated to the work of the drudges. They are overseen by orcish captors under the rule of Shar Lagash. The Ixis kidnap drudges from these work camps for vile experiments and many Maug’Tarak turn a blind eye. Truyl Mines: Once one of the key mining sites in Innes, providing valuable raw materials needed to build cities and wage wars, the mine is now overrun by dragonbound, and no faction seems to have the martial power to drive the draconic beasts out. Stories say that if you can make it through the mines safely, the freedom of Jahar lies within reach – though that “freedom” has its own set of dangers... 244 DOMINIONS OF ASH: INNES

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PERIPHERAL LOCATIONS An abandoned drudgery overrun with dragonbound. A large, shrieking wyvern glides slowly overhead. A series of geysers jut forth from the mud, spewing boiling water that rains down erratically. Vibrant green waters with dozens of large trees with hollow trunks. Glowing insects circle the area, creating hazy trails in the air. An enormous petrified crocodilian Primordial head, hinged open and half-sunken. Lanterns and memorials hang from it. A tyl mating ground. Enormous pellets litter the ground, and ethereal mists clutch the earth and trees. A beautiful Ardor cathedral, crumbling and decrepit, – halfswallowed by the swamp. A band of orcs painted with bloody Ixis symbols perform a ritual within. A sturdy, recently-built Marrow bridge across a murky body of water. Tattered tents and abandoned campsites nearby show signs of violence and skirmish. An entire submerged Ardor city – the only visible remnant are the rooftops peeking out like stepping stones upon the swampland. The taller towers in the town's center have lights burning within. One of the few remaining swaths of firm, rolling hills of Innes. A large Ardor statue lies toppled over, and within its revealed foundation is a winding staircase. A Chrider's Hook dig site – scaffolding, ropes, and equipment litter the area. The excavationists have unearthed a nest of huge kytes, and the flesh-drinking insects swarm the area. SUDDEN PERILS A pair of Peacemakers targets you: Two Peacemakers on tyl approach you asking to see your forearms – a common place for a drudge to be branded. They attempt to apprehend any who resist, taking them back to their masters for a hefty reward. A territorial tyl charges: A tyl with a bloody, tattered saddle charges you. Having lost its rider, and likely starving, this tyl won’t stop until it finds food or lies dead. A pack of dragonbound stalk the mire: A pack of dragonbound prowl the area for a meal and a good fight. Ragtag group of Marrow seek to question you: A group of Marrow soldiers accompanied by a few Chrider’s Hook dwarves search the area for relics. If they’re on the take, a bribe might be just the thing, but it could also land you in much deeper trouble. The ground is muck, and you begin sinking: Though it initially appeared as solid ground, suddenly you find yourself in the grip of a thick, muddy bog. Struggling only seems to make you sink deeper. A group of escaped drudges attacks: Wearing only tattered clothes caked with muck and mud, a group of drudges with makeshift weapons rush you. Knowing that being caught means a slow death, they fight dirty and to the death. An enormous pit scum sets its sights on you: A large pit scum encasing a pair of victims in its caustic muck slides toward you. A violent Bleakstorm erupts: A Bleakstorm stirs to life carrying with it escaping gasses from a nearby bog. The Bleak energy roils and the lightning causes pockets of the gasses to ignite and explode as the storm moves over the land.

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GROWING THREATS AND RUMORS Shar Lagash is looking for able-bodied people to test her new, experimental pits on, and people are going missing. Some whisper there's a sect of Chrider's Hook kidnapping the free and selling them as drudges – their trail is easy enough to follow... There is a more violent group of Peacemakers roving the countryside, calling themselves the Daughters of Innes. Their death toll rises. A gargantuan pit scum, so large it consumes tyl, lies in ambush in a sodden cave. Marrow recently set off to deal with the creature, but haven’t returned. An Ixis warlord named Uloth Grat has begun rearing his own tyl mounts, and is striking out against the Peacemakers with no mercy. Some creatures in the area are growing larger and more powerful due to the Maug'Tarak pits. Gigantic tyl, snakes, and kytes are now viable threats A mounted band of Shar Lagash's Uroz honor guard roves the countryside "teaching unbelievers" lessons of pain and fear. The dragonbound are striking out of the Deathbrine Bog in well-rounded bands of fighting groups – kobolds, dragonkin, wyverns, and drakes all take action. One of the oldest Holithic cathedrals and its surrounding town has been unearthed by Chrider's Hook – though something has been awakened within... An unsanctioned eloquent visits drudge camps after dusk, singing songs of revolution and providing magical healing services. The Maug’Tarak hunt for the bard, but turn up no sign of them – it’s rumored it’s not one eloquent, but many. QUESTS AND BOUNTIES The Marrow of the Mensfeld are paying decent coin to those who spy on the legionaries along the Sovereign’s Road, believing them to have grown lax in their ways and harmfully tolerant of the orcs. Chrider's Hook needs guards for their diggers as their operations move closer to the Deathbrine Bog. Recover the fallen body of a Peacemaker who died in combat against the Ixis. The father of the woman needs proof of the murder – she was unarmed. A bounty is out on the ferocious dragonbound known only as Rituak. Any who can present the head of the creature will be rewarded handsomely. Marrow and Peacemakers are stuck deep behind enemy lines on the wrong side of the Sovereign’s Road – if any attempt a rescue, it could incite war. An Ixis-hating Maug'Tarak is looking for anyone who can pass into New Lendom and give her more information on the wellguarded outpost. A member of Chrider's Hook is offering you coin for every pellet you can return from an enormous tyl's nest – the creature has a habit of finding and eating Archans and other magical objects. The Red Sail Market is looking to press into some fruitful ventures beyond the Sovereign's Road, but they're not permitted to bring any Marrow. They're looking for ablebodied sellswords for when things get rough. An Ardor drudge knows a secret about Shar Lagash – they are looking for anyone who will help them escape, bringing this valuable information to light. The Peacemakers are looking for new, active sources of Maug'Tarak pit mud. The only way to get it is to retrieve it once the orcs have freshly used it.

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SWAMP CONDITION Corpses just beneath the surface Pit scum causing trees to come alive

See Also

A RANDOM WALK DOWN WALL STREET

Toxic gasses gather on the surface

Creature’s bones rise to the surface

Trees are becoming petrified

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CAUSE Increased Ixis activity Chrider’s Hook dumping ground Titan relic defense mechanism activated by acidic muck Nearby Primordial remains

Site of a Warmaker’s selfdestruction Spreading at an alarming rate Mass grave underneath Vegetation dying and Pit scum getting into the decaying groundwater supply Bleakstorm that won’t Sludge drains feeding river dissipate Ixis testing new, more Wildlife acting frenzied dangerous methods of terraforming The muck and mud is semiImminence weapons test sentient gone wrong ESCALATION

RETALIATION

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Increased troop activity Import tariffs

Imminence magic testing

Increased xenophobia Communication embargo Demand control of a thoroughfare More orc drudge-making parties Demand of troop decommissioning Weapon bans Increased prices in settlements Annexation of neutral area

Increased Peacemaker numbers Proof of citizenship to enter settlements Stricter weapon laws

Military advisors detained

Ultimatum issued Anti-collaboration propaganda

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Sovereign’s Road checkpoints

Public drudge killings Tighter Red Sail Market restrictions

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CRUX: OPERATION TORCHLIGHT Concept: A Marrow Raid Themes: Survivalism, Witch-hunt, Combat, Stealth

EVENT The orc refugee camp of Culcheth is a hotbed of Ixis activity, and Dominik Dorvan has had enough. You stand in dressed rank and file, surrounded by seasoned Marrow and elite mercenaries, unsure of what mission you’re about to be delegated. You’ve heard the enemy holds a powerful weapon – some sort of Archan codenamed the Torchlight. Possibly found in the swamps of Innes, no one seems to know exactly which enemy holds this weapon, though it’s presumed Ixis insurgents, perhaps even those directly underneath the sway of standing Lord of Ash Shar Lagash. The weapon is said to be concealed in Culcheth until it can be used to disrupt the Sovereign’s peace. You are Marrow soldiers or freelancers hired into the fold by Commander Dominik Dorvan, tasked with getting to Culcheth, tracking down the weapon, neutralizing its keepers, and capturing the Architect – a mysterious tomeheart allegedly preparing the weapon for use. Rumors surrounding the sergeant and the mission spread as soon as the formation is disbanded and the adventurers equip themselves with stateof-the-art gear. Still, the list of mission objectives ring in your ears: “Capture the Architect. Secure the weapon. Kill those who hold it. Get out without starting a war.” By His Scars, you will not fail. AN ORDERLY MILITARY MISSION – OR SO YOU HOPE... This Crux is designed to play out in a successive pattern, meant to evoke the rigid planning and unpredictable chaos of military special operations. It is linear by design, meant to convey an orderly mission spiralling into battlefield improvisation. The variety of this Crux comes from the varied interactions that the adventurers will have between these set pillars, and how they solve the problems and react to the consequences. If Innes implodes into war, it can be reskinned and reused as needed for a series of missions in the conflict. The mission’s goals are organized into Primary, Secondary, and Circumstantial Objectives as follows.

MISSION OBJECTIVES

PEOPLE This mission is fairly straightforward, but the powers at play still direct its outcome based on undying loyalties or selfish agendas. Sergeant Riko Penwurm is leading the crew through the wilds of Innes and into Culcheth to obtain both the weapon known as the Torchlight, and the Architect – the tomeheart capable of activating it. Opposing Ixis insurgents, the merchant gang known as Chrider’s Hook, and other parties will attempt to steer the fight in their favor. Bhurlokk Skinhammer wants to start a war only when his warriors are fully prepared and the Torchlight is in a prime position along the Sovereign’s Road, and Kopen Chrider is willing to sacrifice any peace to ensure the Red Sail Market is dealt a fatal blow in the coming onslaught.

RIKO PENWURM

Marrow Sergeant (M Crucian Festir) “Try to remain hidden, but if you ask me, stealth is for cowards. The fight will be brutal, the resistance heavy. Consider yourself dead already, and erase your fear.” Personality: Placid to the point of sociopathy, taking and giving orders without question. Appearance: Donning some recognizable pieces of Marrow armor, but with Granok Thane accents, and a shield of Ardor make. Rumor: He was once investigated under court martial by Commander Dorvan’s close relative, Nikolai, regarding alleged war crimes against the Dismembered Legion of Svir; holds a grudge against Nikolai and many other Silverwise, distrusting their mysterious methods. Goal: The completion of the mission and the killing or capture of Bhurlokk Skinhammer. Quirk: He always stares people in the eyes, unblinking, and carries this quirk to his enemies as he slays them. Introduction: Penwurm begins examining each soldier individually, sizing them up, questioning them about their abilities, and providing them gear based on his determinations. Characters who succeed on a DC 14 Intelligence (History) check recall that Sergeant Penwurm was once under investigation by Commander Dorvan’s cousin for war crimes. He smirks if anyone brings this up, but annoyance also crosses his face. “I follow Dorvan, and Dorvan follows me. Get used to it, as I have.”

DENGADE OLDHAM

Primary Objective: Secure the Archan known as the Torchlight and return it to Commander Dorvan, neutralizing all opposition along the way.

Merchant Instigator (M Drogus Darrow)

Secondary Objectives

Personality: Generous with his wares, but easily irritated at those disagreeing with his views.

• Capture the tomeheart known as the Architect. • Investigate the camp for other illicit goods or people – especially intel on the dragonbound. • Find out all you can about the supply lines of the orcs. Circumstantial Objectives • Capture the Ixis terrorist known as Bhurlokk Skinhammer alive. • Accomplish the mission covertly. • Discover or carve out a possible new thoroughfare for the Sovereign’s Road.

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“If you can’t destroy the market, destroy their road.”

Appearance: A concealing cloak and hood covers his leather clothes ornamented with Chrider’s Hook identification. Rumor: Oldham seeks far more than mercantile hegemony in Innes – he wants to be Lord of Ash. Goal: Trigger war in Innes, disrupting the Red Sail Market and placing his dealings at the top of the pecking order. Quirk: Flips a coin sporadically and seemingly without provocation, and always seems to consider the results seriously.

Introduction: Dengade Oldham doesn’t just walk up to those he desires to speak with. Instead, his merchant spies offer wares to the party, slipping a note into their palms, on which is written the name of a discreet location. Once there and alone (aside from his bodyguards), Oldham reveals himself. He speaks quickly and honestly, promising powerful positions to those who join his efforts. Though he doesn’t detail his exact goals to trigger a war in Innes, he does claim the weapon is best off in his hands, and a DC 16 Wisdom (Insight) check reveals he’s being truthful.

THE ARCHITECT

D6 1

2 3

Tomeheart Archanist (F Zarfvin Tomeheart)

“The Archans are just as alive as you or I, and far more powerful. I am their keeper, and they are grateful.”

Personality: Abhors violence, and is optimistic about peace, though she is grievously obedient toward whichever powerful entity commands her.

Appearance: Her construct head is open, revealing a glowing liquid in the shape of a face that emits geometric trails of energy; she is draped with leathers from the deserts of Jahar. Rumor: The Architect is secretly working directly under Lord of Ash Revak Zistra’s orders to use the weapon, collapsing Innes into war, and separating Jahar almost entirely from Grinn. Goal: Find a way to escape and use or destroy the weapon to secure peace in Innes for good. Quirk: Stares off into space for long periods of time, remembering some horrifying time and place when she was a prisoner and experiment of the Ixis orcs. Introduction: The Architect is difficult to discern from afar, looking more like a Red Sail merchant out of Jahar than any mechanical structure forged by the Titans, but a closer look reveals her true heritage. Moving parts on her body chirr and buzz with every gesture and adjustment. Once she sees you, her gaze is indiscernible. A DC 14 Wisdom (Insight) check reveals she’s scanning the party’s vital signs and intentions. If the party gains her trust she reveals she is a servant of Revak Zistra – and while she now hopes for peace in Innes, her master wills war, and she is bound to that.

ESCALATION The raid is no mere skirmish. What begins as a covert operation quickly turns into a full-fledged battle over Culcheth and the Torchlight if the plans go awry. Depending on the training of the party, and their loyalties, the situation can shift dramatically. In the fray of the battle, the objectives of the mission are easy to lose sight of under the weight of survival. LOCAL CONDITIONS Overpopulated slums crowd perceptions. The pungent smell of smoke and other breathable narcotics is intoxicating. D4 1 2 3 4

D6 1

2 3 4 5 6

CHARACTER CONNECTIONS Commander Dominik Dorvan personally requested you for this mission – something to do with a mutual friend or relative. You were drafted into the squad when another member was killed in a brawl. Some Marrow think you had something to do with it. You’re a mercenary for hire, and Sergeant Penwurm thinks you’re a valuable asset to the team. The Ixis killed someone you love. You have better reason than anyone to thwart them, and this Marrow raid is the perfect opportunity. You were hired into the squad to fulfill some covert purpose dictated by the Sovereign, or an enemy force. You hold a grudge against the Red Sail Market, and might be able to compromise their standing in Innes by performing this mission.

COUNTDOWN TO PERIL The journey to Culcheth is arduous, with many potential problems manifesting themselves along the way. Roll on the Journey Events table. Getting to the camp was half the battle. Now, you must blend in and locate the Architect – but there’s an unforeseen problem. Roll on the Complication table. The Architect is finally located, and the battle is soon to be fought. Roll on the Enemy Headquarters table. The headquarters of Bhurlokk Skinhammer quickly turns into a brutal battlefield as the party attempts to seize the Torchlight and the Architect. Chaos erupts as a battle breaks out, and the fray is accompanied by new objectives. Roll on the Encounter table. After the bulk of the fighting is done, the party is left to fight, capture, or destroy the enemy. Roll on the Showdown table. The Torchlight is detonated, whether by the enemy after a failed battle, or remotely by an unseen servant of the Ixis. Roll on the Weapon’s Power table to determine its unique and devastating ability.

D6 1 2-3 4-5 6 D8 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8

JOURNEY EVENTS Survivalism: In order to maintain discretion, the party risks a road through ravaging Bleakstorms. Witch-hunt: Two Marrow in a squad fight each other along the route, both accusing the other of being a spy. Combat: Pit scum attacks during a necessary swamp crossing. A Maug’Tarak in desperate need of saving from the monsters offers to guide the party. Stealth: You must sneak through an Ixis camp at night. Along the way, you see Chrider’s Hook merchants. THE COMPLICATION The Architect is seen dealing with other tomeheart servants – their leader directs a vicious cult bent on using the weapon to destroy the camp itself, pinning the blame on the Marrow. A higher-profile target than Bhurlokk Skinhammer is seen dealing with the Architect – another Lord of Ash. Ixis warriors have prepared an ambush on the squad, and the enemy headquarters is filled and surrounded by innocents. A Marrow spy led the squad to this doom. An attack on Culcheth is already underway at the hands of Chrider’s Hook who have taken the Architect hostage. ENEMY HEADQUARTERS Twisted Alleyways: labyrinthine, close-quarters, improvised weapons, lots of cover, Torchlight in a trash bin Cavern Fortress: stone walls, trap doors, multiple levels, stocked armory, Torchlight in the barracks Tavern Headquarters: packed and lively, glass bottles, weapons on the walls, Torchlight in the basement Farmland: outskirts of town, barn and pasture, concealing hedgerow, stream and bridge, Torchlight separated and hidden throughout 247 DOMINIONS OF ASH: INNES

D10 1-3 4-6 7-9 10 D12

THE ENCOUNTER The Rescue: cries for help, pinned down, crossbow fire, enemy reinforcements The Fire: fight through the flames, cut off from the squad, collapsing ceiling, escape with your lives The Fray: arrows and slings, bricks and bats, obscuring smoke, friendly fire The Creature: hulking monstrosity on a leash, throwing rocks and gnashing teeth, difficult to control THE SHOWDOWN

The Chase: The enemy takes the weapon and sprints through 1-3 the streets of the camp. After an arduous chase, they would sooner detonate it than give in. The Battle: The enemy draws steel before you, prepared to 4-6 defend the Architect from your grasp at all cost. The Hostage: Someone important to the party is taken by the 7-9 enemy – only if the Marrow retreat will they let them go. The Fusion: The Architect combines herself with the weapon, 10-12 evolving into a gargantuan golem unleashing its full power. D20

WEAPON’S POWER

The device causes fear and vitriol in a 2-dreg radius, 1 triggering violent crime and chaotic riots. The Archan infuses the mind of Sergeant Penwurm with 2-5 betrayal – he is brainwashed to seize it for his new masters. The device dispels and nullifies all magic in a one-dreg radius 6-10 for two days. The weapon causes all Archans and other magical items in 11-15 the camp to self-destruct. The weapon broadcasts all hidden truths in the minds of 16-19 those in the camp directly to the Dismembered Lord. 20 The device burns a ten-dreg radius with intense fire.

CLIMAX: THE TORCHLIGHT IGNITES The Torchlight is activated, either by those controlling it during the final moments of the fight, or remotely by someone miles away with an Archan detonator.

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UNFOLDING EVENTS • The Architect and the Torchlight are lost in the battle, and the party must search through crowds of people and possible enemies in the fray to find it. • The Torchlight has been loaded onto a horse-drawn wagon, and is being taken away – a nearby tyl can be commandeered to chase the Archan before its detonation ensues. • An Ixis insurgent activates a localized Bleakstorm using another Archan, slowing the party as they attempt to catch the wagon. • As the wagon nears the Sovereign’s Road, the Architect prepares to detonate the Torchlight. • Unless the party secured the weapon and all ability of others to detonate it – and perhaps even if not – it is activated, either by the enemy or remotely by a separate entity.

AFTERMATH/CONSEQUENCES • If the party secures the weapon and returns it to Commander Dorvan, all members will be promoted within the Dismembered Legion, or paid well. Sergeant Penwurm is promoted to Lieutenant and transferred to the mountains of Svir – he’ll be needing a replacement. • If the detonation of the Archan triggers war along the Sovereign’s Road, the Red Sail Market will be damaged irreparably. New naval routes to the region will spring up, but Jahar will become an even greater and more privatized hub of commerce in Dragongrin – Zistra is pleased. • If the Architect claims control of the weapon, he flees south to either gift it to Revak Zistra, or the jungles of Zamon as tribute to the Nivarr Alliance between Primordials and Titans. • If the party sides with an insurgent within the Marrow ranks, they offer them knowledge of the mysterious Titan Rings – portals to the infamous Copper Sun. He claims to have the location of one in Grinn. • If the party forges a union between the Marrow and the Maug’Tarak against the Ixis, the Sovereign’s Road will know peace for months, until Shar Lagash attempts to invade the whole of the road.

CRUX: GLADIATORS OF GORR ARENA Concept: Brutal Gladiatorial Games Themes: Battle, Gambling, Alliance, Intrigue

EVENT The Foul Moon looms in the sky, and the games are about to begin. Skilled wizards and worthy warriors from across Innes have been invited by the Dominion of Ash’s most powerful factions to seek their patronage in the arena. The orcs believe that trial by combat is sacred, and every perigee of the Foul Moon, Shar Lagash hosts an invitation-only, team combat event. Factions who earn the honor and respect of the orcs can field a team of champions. The winners of the gladiatorial games earn their patron and themselves a request of Shar Lagash, and Maug’Tarak tradition states that no reasonable offer can be denied. Some factions fight for glory and renown in the eyes of Shar Lagash, or new lands for the Marrow along the Sovereign’s Road, while others use the games as a way to earn a profit in the arena’s gambling dens. Many factions field champions, though few are historically successful in the arena, choosing only the best sellswords available as combatants. The adventurers are potential combatants invited by one of these factions, or public bystanders looking to investigate the assured corruption of Shar Lagash by the Ixis. Perhaps Ivan “Tinmouth” Chrider’s offer of prestige and gold is enough to sway the party into the fold of his fledgling company, though the mighty Peacemakers – supplied by and loyal to the Dismembered Legion – might find a use for you in exchange for precious sway over the Marrow in Innes. The adventurers might even side with those bent on disrupting the event more than earning anything for it, freeling enslaved gladiators or seizing the ultimate prize of the games – the opportunity to request Shar Lagash face them in single combat for the position of Innes’ Lord of Ash.

PEOPLE The Gorr Arena is packed with myriad parties and people, nations and factions, squads and legions of troopers. This Crux centers around three of the affected parties including Ivan “Tinmouth” Chrider, the rebellious sibling to Kopen Chrider, whose most pertinent goal is to become a prolific arena pitboss in his own right. He’ll recruit any he feels is strongest into his patronage, though Peacemaker leader Flin Eron and Maug’Tarak activist Axolt Tusklock will both take a chance at the party to further their own objectives.

IVAN “TINMOUTH” CHRIDER

Budding Pitboss (M Drogus Dwarf)

“The most brilliant opportunities lay in dangerous locales. What better place to strike gold than Innes? Soon, Shar Lagash will allow us to hold fights between the lunar cycles, and you can count on the crowds chanting your name.” Personality: Talks a big game about the future. Appearance: Short stature, light complexion, and clothed in finely embroidered silks.

Rumor: He knows about the Peacemakers’ secret hero, and would happily offer a trainer position in his new gladiatorial school to any who assassinate her Goal: Become a pitboss in his own right, running the finest fighting crew in all central Dragongrin. He will gain his own arena if victorious, and will invite those who helped him into positions of power within it. Introduction: A horse-drawn carriage teeters through the crowds, surrounded by Chrider’s Hook merchant mobsters shoving people aside to make way. Ivan “Tinmouth” Chrider steps out over a drudge’s back, hands a small satchel of gold to one of his men, and gives you a twinkling eye. A DC 20 Wisdom (Perception) check reveals low whispers among the gang – they are more loyal to Tinmouth than the faction itself.

GRIF SALIZON Peacemaker (F Granok Thane Human)

“We usually do well to ignore the games wrought by the Foul Moon, but this time – well, these games feel a little different, wouldn’t you say?” Personality: She is friendly, but doesn’t keep conversation long with those who can’t help her. Appearance: Sits tall on her tyl’s back, armed and armored with state of the art Marrow equipment, chiefly a barbed mancatcher. Rumor: Her faction conceals a fallen hero of renown – someone thought dead, who would know the secrets of the Undying Light. When offered the chance to face Shar Lagash in single combat, the Peacemakers will invoke Garkostr, an ancient law allowing the drudge hero to fight in their stead. Goal: The Peacemakers desire more territory along the Sovereign’s Road – without a doubt to be staffed by Marrow – and will gain whole swathes of land if victorious. Introduction: At first, you figured the tyl-riders were Marrow, disguised as Peacemakers, but it turns out it’s more the other way around. Wielding mancatchers, swords, armor, helmets, and veils, their loyalties are literally worn upon them. Salizon’s tyl lowers itself, allowing her to easily slip off the mount. She turns to feed it and asks you without making eye contact – “How would you like to earn respect in the eyes of the Sovereign?”

AXOLT TUSKLOCK Maug’Tarak Drudgekeeper (M Orc)

“These drudges. I used to hate them. But you spend enough time with the downtrodden, and you begin to feel less deserving of what you have – you begin to wish them freed.” Personality: Stoic and thoughtful, and bright-eyed when listening to talk of hope and change. Appearance: Caring orc eyes and an iron shackle on his ankle that he refuses to remove. Rumor: He used to be a drudge who fought his way out of servitude. It’s hard to tell, but he’s the best warrior in this whole place. Goal: He will support any patrons who guarantee the freedom of some drudges. Though he doesn’t have much to pay, he offers a small shanty in his village, containing secret passages into the surrounding area – the perfect hideout in violent Innes.

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Introduction: All combatants are at liberty to tour the drudge den – a damp and pungent chamber underneath the arena itself, where enslaved warriors weep, pray, and eat before almost assuredly dying in the games. Tusklock is serving plates of slop to the drudges as the party enters. If they are hard on the slaves, his bright eyes turn dark – “Move along. Don’t you have a patron’s foot to kiss?” However, if they seem peaceable toward the slaves, Tusklock offers his hand in thanks – “Morale for these fighters is often hard to come by. Could you help me feed them?” A successful DC 18 Wisdom (Perception) check reveals him exchanging a small metal item with one of the drudges. D6 1 2 3

D6 1

CHARACTER CONNECTIONS You’ve received a letter from a minor patron, requesting your assistance in the games. They don’t have much coin, but they have the information you want. You owe a favor to one of the major patrons, and they’re calling it in. You’re close with a drudge who’s set to fight in the games. You should be there for them, if only to see them die with honor. Ivan “Tinmouth” Chrider is shopping for assassins willing to take out a fallen hero under the sway of the Peacemakers. You’re perfect for the job, unless some misplaced sense of morality kicks in. You have obtained or been granted the mark of a dious – a Sovereign’s Key – allowing you access into private areas during the games, and some coin for last rites for the soonto-be deceased. Shar Lagash believes someone is going to make an attempt on her life during the games. You must either stop it from happening, or ensure easy passage for the assassins. COUNTDOWN TO PERIL The games begin with a migration from all around Innes. Soon, the grounds are packed with people from near and far, and patrons immediately begin scouting for potential combatants. The Red Sail Market is granted one full day to operate on the grounds, before they must make space for all the attendees – slaves and equipment fetch a high price, but some goods are more intangible by nature. The Patronage Ceremony is the traditional highlight of the games. Warriors are chosen by a patron, but law states they must agree (unless they are a drudge, and it is up to their master). To turn down an offer is seen as a horrible insult to the particular patron. The games begin, and myriad events are held around the grounds, with the arena being the centerpiece for the finest matches. Just before Shar Lagash hears the request of the winner, assassins make an attempt on her life. The games are nearly canceled by this unprecedented event, without a declared winner. Refusing to cancel the games, but believing this attempt on her life to change the rules somewhat, she offers a new showdown for the thousands of paying, cheering attendees – the best five warriors in the games will face off against a terrible monstrosity. Roll on the Beast in the Arena table.

ESCALATION The results of the following tables are meant to be used in any order, save for the Climax: Evocation of Maug’Rath. It might be fashionable to ensure the Patronage Ceremony takes place first, but it is not necessary. LOCAL CONDITIONS Ixis sorcerors fend off the Bleak, but unnatural shifts in weather occur as a side-effect. Thievery is rampant on the grounds, and the hands of dishonorable rooks are amputated as punishment. A Marrow contingent is looking for recruits along the Sovereign’s Road. D4 1 2 3 4 D6 1 2-3 4-5 6 D8 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 D10 1-3 4-6 7-9 10 D12

THE PATRONAGE CEREMONY Battle: You are chosen by the Peacemakers or another warring faction – you must survive single combat. Gambling: You are chosen by betting slavers – you must swear an oath to win or lose as you’re told. Alliance: You are chosen by a trusted faction – you must kiss the ring of your patron and recite sacred words. Intrigue: You are chosen by an enemy – you must present them with your own blood. SECRET ALLIANCE The Peacemakers agree to turn over one of their best fighters in exchange for an elixir of strength. Ivan “Tinmouth” wants to trade his slave fighters for some better weapons and gear. Axolt Tusklock has befriended a dangerous and sinister patron. A minor patron invites you into an alliance to sabotage the other factions. NOTABLE FIGHTS Proxy War: Ixis faction fights the Peacemakers, tyl have trouble against slime and undead Proving Ground: Tinmouth’s crew fights an established patron, strength only in numbers Drudge Battle: badly trained slaves, ranged weapons, distraction and escape attempt Unlikely Alliance: Major factions face off against all manner of monstrosities, sudden but inevitable betrayal SCENES IN THE ARENA Chaingang: teams chained together, too few weapons, fire traps The Fray: free-for-all, last ten standing, patrons earn coin per kill, human spear wall closing in Swamps and Ships: arena flooded, naval battle aboard rafts, slimes in the waters Single Combat: two combatants in full gear, beasts released at the halfway point GATHERINGS AND CELEBRATIONS

Peacemaker’s Camp: music and spirits, Marrow visitors, a 1-3 minor faction picks a fight Tinmouth’s Tent: new recruits train brutally, gamblers bet on 4-6 the fights, someone shares a secret Drudge Den: slaves sing shanties from afar, stories of home, 7-9 a rare gift Shar Lagash: unexpected invitation, fine food and drink, 10-12 potential alliance with the Ixis

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D20

BEAST IN THE ARENA

Lord of Ash from another region. They either need something from Shar Lagash, or have good reason to want you dead. Wall of ooze, out of which come slimy golems and other 2-5 abominations. Vampire warrior, purchased from Caius Veccus of Svir in 6-10 exchange for peace along his border with Innes. Massive tomeheart, capable of dividing itself into six smaller 11-15 destructive machinations. Large drake, capable of breathing fire and jumping great 16-19 distances. The Peacemakers. Betraying the Marrow and siding with the 20 Ixis was their plan all along. 1

CLIMAX: EVOCATION OF MAUG’RATH The arena reaches a zenith of spilled blood and dismembered corpses, and the plot against Shar Lagash comes to a head.

UNFOLDING EVENTS • A Granok Thane assassin fires an arrow at Shar Lagash, and as it sinks into her chest, she doesn’t budge. She looks down at the arrow coldly, and then in a fluid motion, throws one of the hatchets on her hip, sinking it into the assassin’s head. She is furious that her games were dishonorably interrupted, and calls for the prisoners to be executed, cancelling the games. • An Uroz speaks to Lagash, explaining that there is a way to recover the honor lost so this blemish wouldn’t be on her. Lagash invokes her right of Maug’Rath, a fight made to regain honor. She calls for the teams to be chained to their allies, and to stand in the center of the Gorr Arena. • The large western gate of the arena swings open and a massive drake from the Deathbrine Bog stalks out of it. It screeches an unearthly roar and rears up on its legs showing its enormous fangs. To survive, the champions of all sides must all fight the drake – whoever deals the killing blow according to Lagash gets their requests granted. • Grif Salizon’s champions begin targeting the opposing champions, ignoring the drake. They seek to weed out the competition – there is no express rule that the teams cannot fight each other, and he is attempting to wipe others out of the running. • Innocents are released into the arena to raise the stakes of what is occuring, and they are in immediate danger. Axolt Tusklock intervenes showing his fighting prowess, saving a pair of drudges, though he is wounded badly in the process. • Tinmouth’s champions take the opportunity to try to slay Tusklock, dragging him away from the fray, beating him mercilessly. Unless it’s stopped, the wounded Tusklock will succumb to the attacks of Tinmouth’s champions. • In the wake of the chaos, the drake will begin attempting killing blows on the champions, from the most wounded to the least wounded. If the drake wins, no one gets to make a request of Shar Lagash. If the drake is slain, a request may be made. •

AFTERMATH/CONSEQUENCES • If the party wins, Shar Lagash gives them an opportunity to choose one among them to challenge her to her Reliquary of Ash. • The winners are permitted to use the Maug’Tarak healing pits to help mend their wounds. • One of the losing parties chosen at random must sacrifice a willing person in honor of the Foul Moon. • If the party does well in the arena, they are approached by the Peacemakers to become members, so long as they didn’t harm or kill a Peacemaker. • If the party is defeated, captured, and found to be enemies of Shar Lagash, whether in the games or at the hands of one of their many competing factions, they are humiliated. After being strung up for 24 hours on public display, they are sold into service for a Red Sail Merchant. She treats the party fairly, but the caravan is heading to Feygrave – say goodbye to your loved ones. • If the Peacemaker faction wins, they will field their powerful and secret champion of Lightfall against Shar Lagash, and unless others intervene, the hero will overpower Shar Lagash, and take her reliquary. This ends her reign, but soon after the Ixis claim all-out-war and the Dominion of Ash is plunged into chaos.

TYL Massive and magical ursine creatures known as tyl are native to the lands of Feygrave. Said to have originated from the Feymists themselves, these bears often share traits of other wild creatures. There are many types of tyl – owlbear, tigerbear, wolfbear. These creatures are naturally lawful and good, and are most welcoming of riders who are of the same ilk, though if trained properly they will serve other masters.

251 DOMINIONS OF ASH: INNES

EVERGROWING SHADOWS

Sovereign’s Road and beyond. She wields the weapon with confidence and competence.

STANDING LORD OF ASH: SHAR LAGASH THE IRON STORM

Appearance: Shar Lagash is lean, though well-muscled, and stands nearly seven feet tall. A thick mane of dreadlocks sprouts from her head, framing her wide set eyes and small tusks, as well as a ghastly burn scar from a pit scum, which she makes no effort to conceal. Her flesh is a pale, greenishgray, flecked with dark spots and riddled with the jagged bone protrusions of her kin. Her Linotharix armor is well worn and studded with Bleakiron. In addition to Grine’s spear, she carries an ancestral spear of her own, as well as a pair of Maug’Tarak daggers on her belt.

Without intervention, Innes will fall into a blood war between the Maug’Tarak and the Dismembered Legion. The dragonbound servants of Drallux the Worldgorger strike from the Deathbrine Bog, increasing in number and strength with each passing day. The pit scum oozes grow in number, and standing Lord of Ash Shar Lagash rallies her armies to overtake the region once and for all.

“I am not a warmonger – I am war.” To many, Shar Lagash is the epitome of a Maug’Tarak warrior unlike any seen over the last century. Others label her a heretic and zealot, unclean and unworthy of the throne, but no one denies her prowess in combat and ability to lead. Shar Lagash is not formally the Lord of Ash of Innes. Although she holds the Reliquary of Ash of the slain and supplanted Granok Thane ruler, Rutt Grine, she has broken with the Sovereign’s law and tradition by refusing to bring it before the Dismembered Lord for his blessing – she doesn’t seem to need his approval. The populace revere her as Lord of Ash, though fear her desires lie beyond the boundaries of Innes. The story goes that Rutt Grine was becoming more and more abusive to the Maug’Tarak orcs, and defying the long-standing treaty with the Dismembered Lord. He began commanding the Maug’Tarak and equipping them, allowing them to train – all expressly forbidden in the treaty – all in the pursuit of his own military might for conquests he desired. Lagash refused the commands of Grine, and was punished severely for it – having her family forced into drudgery. Once Lagash discovered the simple truth of how to become a Lord of Ash, she took Grine’s head – no small task – and possessed his reliquary, a double headed Thanium spear. Now, having become the de facto Lord of Ash, she began to lead the trained and equipped Maug’Tarak orcs. Lagash has always honored Granok Thane traditions until the dragonbound began attacking. Forced to protect her people by any means, she turned to the foul and necromantic Ixis orcs and their magicks of divination, scrying and unmatched control of the Bleak. While Lagash claims she does not subscribe to their radical beliefs of xenophobia and hallmark zealotry of the Ixis, she allows them to operate to keep her soldiers healed, and attempting to glean her enemy’s next moves. Lagash is defending two fronts now, against the Marrow who become emboldened to challenge her each day, and the dragonbound from the Deathbrine Bog. It will only be a matter of time before the Dismembered Lord allows a standing Lord of Ash to remain informally... Encountering Shar Lagash: In addition to her primal strength and lightning quickness, Lagash is wise, and reasonable, though callous and not given to emotion. She is known for outbursts of anger and can be impatient, though she is known to have a sixth sense for the art of war and during combat. She makes no show of fighting, and is economic in her movements, making each strike decisive and as deadly as possible. She openly acknowledges and respects any warrior that poses a match for her. She typically opens a skirmish by hurling her ancestral spear, then closing with Grine’s spear.

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Reliquary of Ash: Lagash holds the masterwork, Thaniumtipped, double-headed spear of former Lord of Ash Rutt Grine. Any who slays Lagash could attempt to bring it before the Dismembered Lord to become the official Lord of Ash of Innes – though they’d need to get it past Marrow Commander Dominik Dorvan and his Marrow Containment Legion on the DOMINIONS OF ASH: INNES

Powers: Lagash commands those around her to fight with ferocity, and often pushes herself beyond the limits of even the mightiest of orcs. She attacks quickly and powerfully, and her martial prowess with a blade or spear is unmatched. She considers those who flee from her as cowardly, and will fell them with a hurled spear. Weaknesses: Lagash does not fight foolishly, though she is proud, and often pushes herself beyond what is in her best interest, pressing the battle even when wounded or low on resources if it means a possible victory. If things become heated, she will often seek to uphold her honor even if it means putting herself in unnecessary danger. Origins: Some say Shar Lagash had a confused upbringing, one parent being Maug’Tarak, and the other being Ixis. Others whisper that both parents were Ixis, and that she is merely pretending to care for the Maug’Tarak. Many believe she is a born warrior with no war to fight – and that it is her destiny to make war, and cares little for the side she fights for. Secrets: Shar Lagash has been diagnosed with Moondeath, an incurable disease that will eventually envelop her mind. She looks to do what she can for her people while she still lives. She is also trying some extreme measures, giving ear to the Ixis for a cure. Some whisper that Shar Lagash has begun to believe some of their rhetoric, and is allowing them to gather and even act out some of their violent and xenophobic customs. Fortress of Ash: Gash Amox is in the heart of the city of Khedgrig. It was once the largest and most wellconstructed Holithic cathedral, though it was torn down to its foundations and rebuilt by the Maug’Tarak as is their tradition. It is surrounded by caustic, now-defunct healing pits that flood and drain based on their elevation in a pattern that is constantly being manipulated by a special division of Chrider’s Hook responsible for its upkeep. Only the Maug’Tarak within know the safe path any given week. Someone with enough knowledge of swamps or the digging patterns might find a way through – but would be met by an enormous orc-made gate. Rumors swirl that there are new pit scum rising with Holithic relics within them that are virtually unstoppable. Nemesis: Ush’racka Rex, the leader of the dragonbound of the Deathbrine Bog, works daily to slow the advance and terraforming of the orcs. Indiscriminately killing Marrow, Peacemaker, and drudge alike, the dragonbound have waged all-out war on the denizens of Innes. With the threat of war with the Marrow, no faction can directly oppose Ush’racka without possibly sparking an all-out war with the other faction. No one faction is large enough to defeat the dragonbound, and if the orcs and the Marrow don’t reach a peace soon, the dragonbound may well become large enough to fight them both.

Legion of Ash: When Shar Lagash defeated former Lord of Ash Rutt Grine, many Marrow serving under him dispersed immediately, fleeing to the security of the Sovereign’s Road, and the honorable soldiership found there. Those who chose to stay became fiercely loyal to her, and serve her every whim – these Marrow call themselves the Bones of Lagash – she adds any loyal and powerful fighters who can prove their worth and trust to the Bones. In addition, she has a standing group of elite and powerful Maug’Tarak warriors known as the Uroz – many of whom are openly Ixis followers. The Dismembered Lord holds most of the land along the Sovereign’s Road, and staffs it with mercenaries and extra regiments from all across the realm – a de facto legion known as the Sovereign’s Sellswords. While most soldiers are allowed some measure of rest and training during their service, those loyal along the road are in a state of perpetual conflict, ever weary.

LAGASH STRIVES FOR • Maug’Tarak Freedom: Lagash knows that she is one of the few orcs who can truly lead her people to a victory when the treaty between the Dismembered Legion is inevitably broken. Her deepest desire is that the Maug’Tarak would be able to find their freedom, and strike out on their own, forging a future outside of the shadow of the Dismembered Lord. • Skull of the World: Lagash will do whatever she must to ensure that her people are no longer under the thumb of the Dismembered Legion. A mysterious magical object that the Dismembered Legion refer to as the “Torchlight” is said to rest somewhere in the middle of Innes halfway between Gash Amox and the Sovereign’s road, is a resource that can ensure their victory once their crumbling treaty finally dissolves into war. • Healing: Lagash is ill with the disease known only as Moondeath, and is becoming desperate for a cure to her illness. She seeks the dark magic of the Ixis – though they implore her that the true secret to her healing lies in the Deathbrine Bog, in the forsaken pits closest to the grin within it. Though her attention and resources are needed in the bubbling feud with the Dismembered Legion, she still seeks a way to explore the pits and find her healing.

LAGASH’S STATE OF POWER This section represents the strength of Shar Lagash’s resources, allies, and enemies. For everything except the secrets and the plot twist, the lower the roll, the worse-off the result for the Lord of Ash. It is intended to be rolled once at the beginning of a session or campaign to generate a starting point, but it can be rolled any time an important enough event occurs to affect the resource or people. D4 1 2 3 4 D6 1 2-3 4-5 6

UROZ An orc called Brokenmane gathers the Uroz under her radical Ixis beliefs. The Uroz fight among themselves making strategy difficult. The Uroz are loyal to Lagash and follow her commands without hesitation. The Uroz grow in ranks as new orcs are indoctrinated and trained each new moon. BONES OF LAGASH Several of the Bones of Lagash have defected, returning back to the Marrow. There is a Marrow mole leaking information to the Dismembered Legion. The Bones of Lagash are growing in prowess and power each day, as strong as orcs. New Marrow leave the Dismembered Legion and join the Bones of Lagash each week.

D8 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 D10 1-3 4-6 7-9 10 D12

FORTRESS OF ASH The dragonbound have targeted Gash Amox, and send incursions endlessly. The pits that defend Gash Amox have run dry, and entry is easier than ever. The Granok Thane have agreed to bolster the defenses of Gash Amox. A new wall has been constructed around Gash Amox, with even more pits. LAGASH’S FOES Dominik Dorvan has secret orders to stop Lagash by whatever means necessary – including a Sovereign-approved war. Ush’racka Rex has struck a deal with Chrider’s Hook, who are collecting powerful relics. Flin Eron and the Peacemakers begin to rally the drudges into a rebellion armed with Marrow weapons. Gorag the Pale is secretly raising an army of powerful skeletons and will attempt to overthrow Shar Lagash. LAGASH’S HINDRANCE

Lagash’s Moondeath sickness is growing worse more quickly 1-3 than expected. The drudges are revolting at an alarming rate, causing output 4-6 to drop dramatically. Lagash suffers a devastating loss of troops in a dragonbound 7-9 ambush bloodbath. A prominent Uroz becomes a Peacemaker, bringing several 10-12 orcs along. D20

TWISTS

Shar Lagash secretly went before the Dismembered Lord and 1 gained his approval, though why she kept it a secret is not clear. Shar Lagash is torn by her romantic feelings for Dominik 2-5 Dorvan – her attentions are divided, and her resolve is tested, a war would mean indefinite separation. Shar Lagash now wields the power of a device known as the 6-10 Torchlight – she strategizes when and where to use it. Kopen Chrider has struck a deal with Ush'racka Rex, providing her with information about the orcs and Archans recovered in 11-15 return for a place of power and wealth when the dragonbound take control of Innes. The Peacemakers are being funded and equipped by Lagash 16-19 with stolen Marrow gear to spur her people to war. Shar Lagash's mother was a powerful Ixis who raised her 20 daughter to treasure both Maug'Tarak and Ixis tenets – she plans on letting the Ixis take over.

COUNTDOWN TO RUIN Unless something drastic occurs, Innes is on the brink of war between the Maug’Tarak orcs and the Dismembered Legion. The growing threat of the dragonbound could overwhelm both parties if left unchecked. The region is becoming more violent and extreme with each passing day, as each faction attempts to keep their footing and advance their aims. 1. Slumber of the Ixis: Shar Lagash allows the creation of Ixis healing pits, and though it is against Maug’Tarak law, no one can stop her, and the fearful orcs turn a blind eye. The creation of the pits is a bloody and labor intensive affair. Drudges and outsiders are slain, and Chrider’s Hook dig around the clock. 2. The Bitter Truth: The Marrow along the Sovereign’s Road realize that the orcs are becoming a threat, and become more violent and skittish in their guarding of 253 DOMINIONS OF ASH: INNES

the border. It becomes clear that war is on the horizon. Travel on the Sovereign’s Road is met with searches, interrogations and violence. 3. In Holiness We Purge: The Ixis, now rearing its head, become more prominent in their rallies, and in some cases radical acts of what they call holy purges – the murder of those who do not believe in the ways of the Ixis – Lagash takes no direct action against them. Any non-Ixis are targets of the Ixis horde. 4. Unforgivable Offense: The Ixis raze and destroy a small town on the Sovereign’s Road, and many innocents die. While the Marrow cannot take direct action against the Maug’Tarak for the unforgivable offense of these zealous outliers, they instead strike a fragile alliance with Peacemakers. Secretly equipping them – and having powerful Marrow join their ranks outside of uniform – this force openly carroes weapons and instigates as many fights as they can with the orcs – Ixis or not. The Peacemakers seek revenge and start skirmishes with anyone they are not allied with. 5. Race to the Skull of the World: An artifact – known as the Skull of the World by the Maug’Tarak, and the Torchlight by the Marrow – is unearthed. It means certain victory for whoever can get it first. The orcs are forbidden by their religion to secure the artifact, and the Marrow are forbidden by their jurisdiction. Both sides press into the other’s territory seeking the fabled artifact and secretive killing and cover-ups are rampant. 6. The Serpent Treads Upon Thee: A third front of the war appears as the dragonbound from the Deathbrine Bog mount a full-scale invasion of the settled lands in the northeast of Innes. The Maug’Tarak’s resources are taxed greatly, and unless the Marrow or Peacemakers intervene, many of the Maug’Tarak settlements will be lost, and many drudge casualties will be suffered. The Marrow and Maug’Tarak hire mercenaries to protect their borders and guard supply lines. 7. Reborn by the Pits: Shar Lagash’s sickness worsens, and her people fall under the fangs and claws of the dragonbound. In desperation, she turns to the old ways of the Ixis, and calls for the creation of countless Ixis pits. This costs the lives of many, and more than half of the drudge population is killed. All orcs are commanded to undergo the Ixis pits, and are conscripted into the army of Shar Lagash – the orcs prepare for war on all sides. Anyone non-orc is chased, captured and used in the creation of the pits. The orcs attack ferociously and relentlessly. 8. Only Victory Matters: War is upon Innes. Now officially flying the Ixis banner, Shar Lagash has an army of thousands of powerful, feral, preternaturally strong and ferocious orcs. She uses the bodies of her enemies to fuel her pits, and regenerates her orcish horde far beyond what was thought possible. Warmakers are deployed, and Caius Veccus sends troops from neighboring Svir numbering in the thousands. Innes is a war zone on three fronts between the orcs, the Dismembered Legion and the dragonbound. 9. Of Man and Beast: The Marrow are losing, as the orcs become more and more powerful and feral – all tatters of the Maug’Tarak’s culture are lost to the vile and necromantic sway of the Ixis. Using their own power 254 DOMINIONS OF ASH: INNES

against them, the Peacemakers secure some Ixis pits using them to strengthen themselves and their tyl, but the effects are dire – the Peacemakers and their bonded ursine mounts become a bloodthirsty savage force, and while they are able to beat back the orcs, they have lost their true selves in the process and fight all who are not of their ilk. 10. Failure of Shar Lagash: The dragonbound are able to use the Ixis pits and an Archan artifact to finally resurrect the corpse of the vile dragon, Drallux the Worldgorger, buried in the Deathbrine Bog. This great wyrm reborn is the shell of its former self – though it is indescribably powerful nonetheless. This half-living dragon husk leads the dragonbound armies to overtake what remains of the orc settlements. Gash Amox is razed, causing the remaining orcs to flee. Shar Lagash gives her life to allow her remaining people to escape. The whereabouts of the Thanium-tipped, double-headed spear she carried are unknown. 11. The Final Struggle: In a final, bloody showdown, the Dismembered Legion, the Peacemakers, and what’s left of the orcs face off against the powerful armies of the dragonbound. The casualties are innumerable, and Innes is a burnt out husk. The dragonbound and their draconic leader are unstoppable. When all seems lost, the Dismembered Lord himself goes to Innes, and with his most powerful Arcseers and the Council of Ash, culls the dragonbound horde. The Dismembered Lord steals the days of any living remaining in Innes. Those that survive become new Sarrik – those that do not are left to sink into what’s left of the Ixis pits forever. Innes becomes a forbidden and unlivable place, and none are granted entry for many years to come.

JAHAR

SHIFTING, BURNING SANDS OF STEEL “Jahar is a region of lost paths, hidden dangers, and splendor seductive. The razor winds strip the flesh from fools; the blistering sun bakes their bones.” – Revak Zistra, Lord of Ash The sprawling, metallic dunes of Jahar are ever-changing, unearthing ancient ruins and dragon tombs brimming with untold riches before burying them once more.

HISTORY

Then: Barren, desolate sandsteel wastes – the blasted heart of the Titan empire, roamed only by the daring, the foolish, and the mad. Now: Ever-shifting sands draw treasure hunters with the rumored emergence of the First Grin and other great ruins. The Scoured Sultan’s forces clash with the Granok Thane Cryptbreakers, Qaramzi horde, and nomadic Soulsand Grimdul clan for control of the fabled dragon tomb. Beyond: With the power-players of Jahar distracted and war on the horizon, a mysterious entity known as the Rictus spreads its malicious influence across the dunes and gains a cult following, bent on reshaping the landscape of Jahar. JAHAR AT-A-GLANCE Terrain: Ever-shifting dunes, arid plateaus, dry riverbeds, ruins and tombs Climate: Arid, scorching heat, razor winds, frequent Bleakstorms Lord of Ash: Revak Zistra, draconic king of thieves Resources: Scarce food and water Cultures: Granok Thane, Grimdul Factions: Cryptbreakers, Soulsand, Cult of Many Mouths, Red Sail Market, Monks of Alhran, Qaramzi goblinoids Creatures: Deathmaws, voicelings, tyrant wurms, ruqar, xol

KNOW THIS TO SURVIVE

Countless ruins riddle Jahar like half-buried skeletons – remnants of fallen empires, namely the Titans, concealing untold treasure and forgotten secrets. When the dunes shift and the landscape reveals these ancient structures, opportunistic treasure hunters and tomb-robbers seize the chance to delve these ruins. Revak Zistra, the Scoured Sultan, reigns from the Onyx Ziggurat in the heart of the resplendent city of Nar’ghal. His Marrow, along with a specialized force of monstrous festir known as the Scales of the Scoured, comb the metallic sands of Jahar for unearthed ruins, relics, and the fabled First Grin. Revak Zistra Wields Cunning and Cruelty: During Lightfall, the deadly Zistra served as the Dismembered Lord’s spymaster and chief assassin. The ruin-riddled desert of Jahar was the reward for his service. His mobile, mounted Marrow legions wage pitched skirmishes against Cryptbreakers mercenaries, Sandsoul, and Qaramzi goblinoids, as well as a shadowy presence deep beneath the ever-shifting dunes known only as the Rictus. The Qaramzi Horde Raids and Plunders: Nomadic and wily, the Qaramzi goblinoids unite loosely under a dozen or more tribes roaming the shifting dunes, warring amongst themselves and neighboring settlements for resources and salvage rights to unearthed ruins. Recently, a hobgoblin warrior named Ulagan named herself Temur (warchief), the Queen Beneath Sky Rock, and forcibly gathered many minor Qaramzi tribes beneath her banner. A charismatic and cunning leader at the head of a mounted goblin horde promises to shake the political landscape of Jahar. Many brace for all-out war. The Rictus Conquers from Below: Beneath the sandsteel dunes of Jahar, a mysterious and malicious entity known as the Rictus works foul magic with its voiceling minions, intent on destabilizing the region and unseating the Lord of Ash. Rumors swirl that this ancient being controls the evershifting landscape and conjures the elaborate illusions and mirages that plague the region. The Cult of Many Mouths serves this unseen foe. 255 DOMINIONS OF ASH: JAHAR

Soulsand Clan Follows the Soulwinds: The harsh landscape of Jahar might not seem like an ideal place to settle, but the Souldsand Grimdul clan thrive beneath the blistering sun. Tried survivalists and unmatched mounted warriors, the Soulsandlive rough, nomadic lives forged by an unshakable bond of community and kinship, revering the Jantari, known as the Soulwinds, which carry the elements of creation. The shifting landscape, razor winds, and arcane mirages allow the Soulsandto move unseen and unharried across the desert. Cryptbreakers Hunt for Profit: It’s said all roads lead to Jahar – and in the case of the Granok Thane’s Red Sail Market, that saying holds true. Operating out of the Blue Ziggurat, these mercenary warrior-merchants enjoy the autonomy the dangerous terrain of Jahar affords, while their specialized tomb-robbers known as Cryptbreakers scour the desert ruins, reclaiming relics to sell in Red Sail dealings throughout Dragongrin. The rumored existence of the First Grin has set the Cryptbreakers against rival treasure-hunters, while the simmering war between Revak Zistra and Temur Ulagan presents opportunities for sellsword work. Sands of Steel, Dunes of Illusion: The sand of Jahar glimmers and shines with hues of gold, brass, and copper. This strange but alluring sight is due to a high concentration of Titan metals, blasted into oblivion millennia ago in a great cataclysm that ended the Titans’ reign, the Age of Annihilation. The natives call it sandsteel – a metallic sand, wondrous to look upon, but deadly when kicked up into razor winds. The presence of Titan metal in the dunes of Jahar leads to unpredictable effects – primarily, the constant reshaping of the landscape. The Bleak energies latent throughout Dragongrin push and pull the sandsteel almost magnetically, burying roads and settlements, and unearthing ancient ruins and dragon tombs. The Bleak also conjures illusory magical mirages, often harmless yet enticing wayward travelers to their deaths. CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS OF JAHAR • Jahar natives carry small glass vials of sandsteel which react to the presence of Bleak energies; these objects serve as both superstitious talismans and an early-warning system for the shifting landscape and incoming Bleakstorms. • When lost, it’s wise to follow the Wurm Roads – channels left in the wake of Jahar’s massive tyrant wurms, which almost always lead to water. • When making camp, the Grimdul position spears tied with colorful banners to monitor the winds and mark their territory.

POWERFUL PEOPLE OF JAHAR

Lord of Ash Revak Zistra: Monstrous in appearance, steely in intellect, the Scoured Sultan came into power in Jahar as a reward for his loyal service during Lightfall. The Dismembered Lord charged his spymaster with uncovering the First Grin and claiming it in the Sovereign’s name. Though he, his Marrow, and the Scales of the Scoured have searched for two decades, only recently has the First Grin emerged, sparking a conflict the likes of which Jahar has not seen in centuries. Skilled in both subterfuge and combat, Zistra maintains a widespread spy network, allowing him to stay one step ahead of the Soulsand, the Cryptbreakers, the Qaramzi – even the Rictus.

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Jossac Mak, Wurm Rider: Jantaghan of the Soulsand, Jossac is a dwarf who leads his people across the ever-shifting dunes of Jahar. He strikes an impressive figure in the saddle, garbed in wurmscale armor and wielding a sandsteel greatsword (both looted from the corpses of hapless Marrow). His claim to fame, and the origin of his title, lies in the story of him climbing and riding a tyrant wurm in his youth. His twin brother, Yuri, succumbed to a writhing madness years ago, disappearing into the desert. Jossac stubbornly refuses to give up the search for him. Kaddis Gorem: This decorated human general commands Zistra’s lightly-armored Marrow scouts known as Dunestriders. A capable warrior in her own right, Gorem wields spear and longbow with deft precision from the saddle of her loyal xol mount. Like her Lord of Ash, Gorem is calm and collected, almost unnervingly quiet – but her quick and effective decision-making wins countless skirmishes. She bears a grisly scar courtesy of Ulagan, the Qaramzi warchief, and pines for the day when she can drive her spear through the hobgoblin’s heart. Brim Blackblade: Though the Granok Thane have no true leader, relying instead on their regimented squads and sergeants, the devilish festir known as Brim Blackblade is the closest thing the mercenaries have to a true commander. Serving the Dismembered Lord during Lightfall brought Brim no small measure of glory and fortune, yet after cutting down countless heroes in that grisly war, she found herself and her people without a true purpose. Now, the swift blades of her warriors go to the highest bidder, while she and her Cryptbreakers work tirelessly to find the First Grin to wield as leverage in the ongoing power struggles of the realm. Yuri of the Many Mouths: Of the cultists serving the Rictus, none is more devoted or zealous than Yuri. Tattooed from head to toe with depictions of the “Many Mouths” of his god, Yuri coordinates the movements and methods of his fellow cultists across Jahar, and with Grimdul windblade in hand, is almost always the first to leap into the fray in the name of the Rictus. He endeavors to ascend, to lead beside his god, rather than simply kneel before it. His twin brother, Jossac, leads the Soulsand, and the day may yet come when brother faces brother on the blood-soaked dunes of their homeland. Temur Ulagan: Infamous warchief of the united Qaramzi horde, Ulagan possesses a fierce charisma and a sharp intellect. Quick and tactically-minded, backed by shaman and chieftain alike, Ulagan’s rise to power was dramatic and violent, and she now sits at the head of a mounted goblinoid force thousands strong. Ulagan styles herself the Queen Beneath Sky Rock, and calls the Dismembered Lord the False God. She pays handsomely for intel on the movements of Marrow patrols, and hopes to claim the First Grin and weaponize the relics within against Revak Zistra – then the Dismembered Lord.

D10 1

4 5 6

9 10

CHARACTER CONNECTIONS TO JAHAR You’ve come into possession of a small vial filled with glimmering sandsteel, which seems to react during Bleakstorms. You dream of a blazing sun and the silhouette of a towering city amid shifting dunes; a voice, inescapable, calls to you from the heart of the Titan empire. A close friend divulged to you the secret location of a Titan ruin in Jahar, brimming with ancient treasure – then they inexplicably disappeared. The Granok Thane Cryptbreakers are recruiting – potential members must report to the Blue Ziggurat in Jahar. The treacherous journey is sure to be your first test. Someone wronged you, then fled into the sandsteel of Jahar. Will you track them across the fluxing desert? A Titan relic has long cursed your family – returning the damned thing to its resting place in Jahar might be the only way to rid yourself of its ire. You hear voices on the wind – familiar yet unsettling. It’s said the Grimdul clans of Jahar revere the Soulwinds. Perhaps they have answers for you? Someone owes you a lot of gold, and the collection of the Tenth draws close. You hear rumors they dwell in Nar’ghal in the heart of Jahar. Incessant visions of a floating, thrumming stone plague you. You learn of the Sky Rock in Jahar. Could this be the source of your torment? A loved one crossed Jahar to enter Zamon – you’ve not heard from them in months. Have the shifting dunes claimed them?

PRIMARY LOCATIONS

Agrin’s Leap: Once, this mighty bridge spanned the regions of Innes and Jahar. Following Lightfall, Revak Zistra destroyed the bridge and cut off the passage, isolating Jahar from its northern neighbor. Segments remain throughout Jahar, though many are overtaken by factions and monsters.

be spilled in Danrin (though he doesn’t say why) so it acts as a filthy neutral ground and port to Marrow, adventurers, Granok Thane, and Grimdul alike. The First Grin: This legendary, expansive tomb contains the hoard and remains of a draconic goddess, rumored to be the mother of all dragon-kind. To the one who reaches the heart of this grin, great treasure – or inexplicable doom – awaits. Kadar: A sea of tents and makeshift dwellings, the largest standing Grimdul settlement – and home of the Soulsand – is nevertheless poised to pack up and move at a moment’s notice. The only permanent structure is the Shrine of Winds, constructed to channel the wind through fluted pipes and hollow spaces, creating lovely yet haunting music. Nar’ghal: Each sultan of Jahar expands and adapts Nar’ghal to their needs, creating a maddening labyrinth of paths, bridges, and alleyways. Ancient enchantments spare Nar’ghal from the shifting dunes beyond its walls. Onyx Ziggurat: A massive, black stone structure at the heart of the city of Nar’ghal, terraced with successively receding levels. It is a labyrinth, maddening to any who do not know the correct paths. It’s said that Zistra stocks the maze of the Ziggurat with all manner of beasts from Dragongrin – and elsewhere. Legends persist of a hoard of uncountable treasure and relics in its highest chambers. Pillars of Taak: These soaring plateaus loom over the dunes of Jahar, offering respite from the shifting sandsteel. The Qaramzi claim much of this territory, though it is more prolific with tyrant wurms than any other place in Jahar. Ruby Port: This sprawling Granok Thane trading post is the most civilized place in all of Jahar. A haven for spies and the merchants of the Red Sail Market, but also frequented by travellers from all over Dragongrin seeking to enter Jahar. A Drogus surga, the Titan’s Ire, is always looking for hired help. A sister settlement exists in Zamon, called Emerald Port.

Alhran Monastery: Home to a secretive order of monks who preserve history and move as the dunes do, the Alhran Monastery sits atop the Pillars of Taak, surrounded by a high wall and protected by construct guardians of stone and steel. Blue Ziggurat: Sister to the Onyx Ziggurat in Nar’ghal, this azure-hued, tiered temple located in the Broken Ocean serves as a major headquarters for the Granok Thane and the Red Sail Market – most prolifically the Cryptbreakers. It is halfcollapsed and under constant repair. Broken Ocean: Once, this blasted stretch of dry, cracked earth was a sea, teeming with life. Now, only salt plains remain, split and sundered, roamed by tyrant wurms. The wreckages of seafaring vessels and unclaimed treasures from the ocean floor litter its expanse. The Buried Road: This ancient Titan road cuts through the heart of Jahar as the only safe passage across the region, concealed beneath tons of sandsteel as often as not. Crimson Oasis: This oasis’s pristine beauty is marred by a history of violence and bloodshed, fought over for centuries. Mirages depict the battles of old, while strange voices cry for help. Rumors persist that the tyrant wurms have connected a cave beneath the oasis to the Valley of the Sultans. Danrin: Not a formal port, though any shatterfarer knows of this city. Having a reputation for its boisterous, drunken, and bawdy denizens, it is a den of smugglers, thieves, privateers, and would-be adventurers. Revak Zistra commands no blood

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258 DOMINIONS OF ASH: JAHAR

Sandmist Shore: Strange mirages and whispers lure unwary shatterfarers to their doom on the jutting rocks lining the coastline, prowled by xol hunting for easy prey. These islands are the home to Granok Thane naval forces that patrol its waters vigilantly. Ixis orcs from Innes have begun to make naval assaults on the shores, attempting to gain a foothold in Jahar. Sky Rock: Atop the Pillars of Taak floats a strange, multifaceted stone, scored with Titan runes and incomprehensible hatch marks. The stone emits a low, droning hum said to entice and ensorcel. The Qaramzi goblinoids revere the Sky Rock and station guards around it at all times. Valley of Sultans: Towering statues of past sultans line this plunging canyon patrolled by Marrow mounted on xol. Goods from the Red Sail Market go by river to Ruby Port, making this an ideal hunting ground for bandits. Legends say the tombs of the sultans are full of forgotten treasures, but are marked with a terrible, eons old curse. Vanishing Spring: This series of seep lakes is one of the few sources of fresh water and vegetation in Jahar – the trouble is that it vanishes and reappears constantly. No one knows the cause of its transient nature, but the Qaramzi seem to have the firmest grasp of its movements. D10 1 2 3 4 5 6

8 9 10

PERIPHERAL LOCATIONS A settlement of exiles built within the carcass of a slain wurm, draped with banners of every creed and color. Pained voices emanate from within the shade of this plunging cavern, juxtaposed with distant, inhuman laughter. What lies beneath the dunes of Jahar? A gleaming Titan structure, preserved beneath the sandsteel and recently unearthed. What treasures await within? A crumbling stone structure, weathered by razor winds, houses a solitary tomeheart devoted to the preservation of Titan knowledge. This small, jutting pyramid is only the tip of a much larger structure, vast and hidden beneath the dunes. A makeshift Soulsand camp with fluttering banners on spears – closer inspection reveals Qaramzi goblinoids waiting in ambush. Red Sail Merchants make camp in the shadow of a Titan statue, towering over the dunes. One merchant claims the statue stands atop a sprawling Titan city. Six obelisks, equidistant from each other, emerge from the sand. Each is topped with a spinning orb of Titan copper, protected by magical wards. A Wurm Road leads deep into the wastes. Does water wait at the end? A minor grin, revealed by a recent Bleakstorm, already prowled by opportunistic and desperate tomb raiders.

D8 1

SUDDEN PERILS The dunes shift: A violent wind kicks up as the ground beneath you stirs. Jahar heaves and shifts, and your course must change with it. A wave of sandsteel encroaches: The dune rises higher and higher, glimmering in the heat of the sun – then it blots out the light entirely. Goblins prowl the roads: Qaramzi riders loot the corpse of an unfortunate traveler on the Buried Road. They urge you to move along or risk joining the dead fool. A curious Dunestrider: A lone Marrow scout offers water in exchange for information – “Where are you from, where are you going, and what business do you have in Jahar?” A tyrant wurm emerges: A massive wurm crests a nearby dune, emitting an ear-splitting shriek. A ruined pillar topples as the beast squirms beneath it. A mirage shimmers: A walled city of gleaming spires appears on the horizon, hazy in the midday heat. As you draw closer, the city degrades and erodes before your eyes. A ritual concludes: A circle of Many Mouth cultists performs a ritual on a stone dais. One cultist drives a sandsteel dagger into their gut. The others rejoice as they topple. Ruqars hunt: As night falls, the ruqar emerge to ambush unwary prey. Their venom is enough to kill a full-grown bugbear, and steel does little against their rocky carapaces.

RUQAR Also known as sandsteel scorpions, ruqar are massive arachnid creatures with stone-like carapaces and multi-segmented tails ending in wicked, barbed stingers. Unlike smaller, more mundane scorpions, ruqar are notable in their ability to fling and regrow their stingers, enabling them to ambush prey from a distance. They utilize their rocky shells as camouflage, blending into the sand and stone of their desert home. Ruqar venom is potent, and valued by assassins throughout Dragongrin.

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D10 GROWING THREATS AND RUMORS 1

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A recently revealed grin unleashes an undead draconic monstrosity into Jahar. Soulsand scouts report the massive beast’s movements as it rampages across the dunes, destroying everything in its path. A clash between Gorem, her Dunstriders, and the Qaramzi left many on both sides dead. There’s loot to be had for scavengers who can find the battlefield before the desert claims it. The bones of some yet undiscovered beast were unearthed during the last dune shift. Monks of Alhran and their tomehearts rush to record what they can, but require guardians to protect their good work. A sinkhole opens to reveal a buried Titan city. Rumors swirl of foolhardy tomb-robbers falling prey to still-active Titan constructs, protecting the relics of their ancient masters. The Titan’s Ire has docked in Ruby Port, and carries goods from the Granok Thane of Uldane. Strange weapons of an alien metal are said to be housed on board, under heavy guard. Revak Zistra issues a standing bounty for cultists claiming to follow the Rictus, though most Granok Thane refuse. An ancient tyrant wurm, the largest ever recorded, recently perished in the deep wastes. To those foolhardy enough to make the journey, the metallic scales of the beast stand to sell for a fortune. Sky Rock rotates while its incessant hum grows louder. The Qaramzi speak of a reckoning, bringing about the end of the False God; the Grimdul clans advise getting as far away as possible. A large, albino xol has been spotted on the Sandmist Shore, leading a large pack of its kin. The pack conducts cunning ambushes on those foolish enough to traverse the cliffs. The mirages of Jahar grow stronger and more personalized. Travelers report seeing long-dead loved ones, revisiting forgotten memories, and hearing their deepest secrets whispered to them from the swirling sands.

D10 QUESTS AND BOUNTIES 1

A recently unearthed ruin houses a mighty Titan weapon. The Scales of the Scoured hunt for the relic, while the Qaramzi pay handsomely for its retrieval. A tenacious tyrant wurm plagues a nomadic band of Grimdul. They seek help in slaying the beast, and promise to share the spoils of its corpse. The monks of Alhran dare not enter the half-buried dragon’s grin, but all the coin in the monastery would fill the pockets of anyone who found the sacred tome within. A recent Bleakstorm revealed a previously undiscovered Titan roadway. The Marrow have other matters to tend to, but they offer coin and supplies in exchange for a map of the new path. A Qaramzi supply caravan sets out from the Pillars of Taak. The Soulsand plan a raid for supplies in retaliation for a lost skirmish, but need more fighters to properly flank the goblinoids – they promise half the goods as payment. A high-ranking Marrow falls into the sights of a Granok Thane assassin. The bounty hunter won’t turn down assistance, though the Marrow might reward you for a tip on their coming demise. A young Grimdul fell to wurms in the Broken Ocean. Her family hopes to recover her body and belongings, but dares not venture into that dangerous vale. Can you help? Capturing xol as mounts is no easy task – a Soulsand beastkeeper offers trained xol as payment if you help herd some wild ones in her direction. A scholar from the Alhran Monastery seeks knowledge within a Titan ruin, but a construct guardian blocks their path. The treasures within are of no consequence to the non-materialistic monks – they offer them in exchange for defeating the guardian and clearing the path. A remote Granok Thane operative sends a message, but it falls short of the Blue Ziggurat. If you deliver it to the Ziggurat, a reward surely awaits – but you can’t help but wonder if the Marrow stationed in Nar’ghal might be more interested.

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TREASURE HUNTING IN JAHAR D10

TREASURE

RUMORED LOCATION

Weapon forged of Titan copper

Recently unearthed Titan ruin

Book with metallic pages

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Engraved staff of dragon bone Gemstone not of this world Horn that emits a dragon’s roar Circlet of Jahar’s last sultan Dragon-scale shield

DUNE SHIFT Metallic sands form new dunes Yawning sinkhole suddenly opens New path emerges

Ancient ruin is unearthed Corpse appears, stripped of flesh

Sand reveals a long tunnel

Dune swells like a wave

Hill becomes a valley

9 10

Trove beneath Nar’ghal

Atop the Pillars, within a cave Buried in a dried seabed Inside the stomach of a tyrant Two sandsteel daggers wurm Spectral map of the First Grin Through a planar doorway Titan-made spyglass On a prominent Marrow

Pyramid mausoleum housing past sultans of Jahar Bleached bones of a leviathan beast Hidden dragon’s grin

Bridges and aqueducts emerge The gaping maw of a wurm rears

ARCANE MIRAGE Battle of Lightfall rages Lost loved one calls for help Oasis encampment with friendly banners Dragons soar on the horizon Lidless eye peers from the cloudless sky Atop the Pillars of Taak, within a cave An obelisk forms, reaching infinitely skyward The wind whispers your deepest secret Your hometown appears before you A spectral army charges across the dunes

ARMAN RAZH, COPPER OF STRIDE

CRUX: BLOOD AND THUNDER

Wayward Hunter (M Grimdul Dwarf)

Concept: Desert-Spanning Monster Hunt Themes: Revenge, Obsession, Family, Nature’s Ire

Personality: Fueled by vengeance, but steel-minded and strong-willed

EVENT

Appearance: Dwarf man with wurmscale armor, sandsteel pegleg, and a spear draped with colorful banners

“Wanna kill a god?”

“... a tyrant wurm the likes of which I’ve not seen since,” the half-drunk dwarf says, fragrant hookah smoke spilling from his lips. “Scales like polished silver, maw like a cavern, bellow like thunder.”

Rumor: Arman already led several adventurers to their deaths in pursuit of Felmaw

The ancient wurm known in local legends as Felmaw robbed the dwarf of his entire clan, along with his leg. Arman Razh, Copper of Stride, he calls himself – so named for the sandsteel peg replacing his left leg below the knee. With his bloodshot gaze fixed out the window of the cantina, lost among the stars glimmering against the haze of Jahar’s frigid night, Arman recalls the desperate battle with the beast all those decades ago – and the rage lingering still today.

Quirk: Rubs absently at the stump of his leg; often trails off to stare absently into the middle distance, as if experiencing a traumatic flashback

“The beasts migrate, y’know – following a pattern like most lower creatures. I’ve tracked Felmaw over a thousand dregs for more than 20 years. The shamans tell me I’m lost – that the beast’s death would doom the Grimdul. But I need hunters. I need strong steel and stronger arms to wield it.” He leans forward, jaw set, expression resolute. “I need you.” The adventurers begin in one of Nar’ghal’s many smoke-filled cantinas, sharing drinks and a hookah with an aging Grimdul dwarf called Arman Razh. Written off by most as a drunken madman, Arman nevertheless intends to finally hunt down and slay the ancient tyrant wurm responsible for the deaths of his clan and the loss of his leg. He promises gold and a share of the spoils to any who accompany him. Whether you help Arman on his vengeance-fueled quest, or stop him from killing the creature responsible for many of the Wurm Roads trod by the Grimdul, you must journey across the evershifting sandsteel dunes of Jahar to confront the leviathan. THE WURM ROADS While vast and terrifying, the tyrant wurms of Jahar serve an integral function. Burrowing through the sandsteel, these massive creatures leave in their wake deep, sloping channels – Wurm Roads. These Wurm Roads often lead to water and shelter, and aid the Grimdul in triangulating their position in the ever-changing desert landscape. While the wurms are often hunted for their hide and flesh, greater tyrant wurms like Felmaw create many of the Wurm Roads followed by the Grimdul, and are spared the hunt. To slay a beast like Felmaw would be to forsake the needs of the Grimdul clans.

PEOPLE This Crux involves a desperate wurm hunt across the heaving dunes of Jahar, and the conflict brewing as a result of Arman’s unsanctioned, vengeance-fueled hunt. The Soulsandshaman Efas Ari takes particular offense to Arman’s crusade. Meanwhile, Zask Howler, infamous bounty hunter of the Cryptbreakers, seeks to claim Felmaw’s hide himself – any standing in his way face the wrath of a Granok on the hunt.

Goal: Slay the tyrant wurm Felmaw and put to rest the spirits of his murdered clan

Introduction: Arman drinks and blows rings of fragrant, multi-colored smoke. With wild-eyed passion, he recounts tales of various wurm hunts – and the one that took his family and his leg. His ravings grow louder and more desperate, and soon two thick-armed guards make to remove him from the cantina. A successful DC 14 Charisma (Persuasion) check convinces the guards to let Arman stay, so long as he keeps his voice down. Arman is grateful, and offers to buy a round of drinks for the adventurers. The conversation soon turns back to Felmaw, and Arman’s plan to finally slay the beast.

EFAS ARI, SEEKER OF STORMS Stoic Soulsand Shaman (F Grimdul Human)

“The wurms are sacred to our people – a source of food and resources, yes, but still much more than that. They guide us across the inscrutable dunes. In the end, they will guide us home, to the place where our ancestors wait for us.” Personality: Calm and reserved, with a tangible reverence for the Jantari and the wurms of Jahar Appearance: Human woman with multi-colored robes bearing faded ancestral names, shaved head, and a staff of petrified wood topped with a glass vial of sandsteel Rumor: Efas claims to speak for the Soulwinds – but the voices she hears are not benevolent Goal: Protect Felmaw from hunters trying to claim its hide; follow the Wurm Roads to the origin of the Soulwinds Quirk: Often holds up a hand for quiet while she “listens” to voices on the wind Introduction: Efas lays to rest a fallen member of her clan, slain while pathfinding across the dunes. The young scout’s family surrounds the corpse, draped in colorful tatters of cloth. Efas sings in a strange, breathy fashion, imitating wind scraping across sand – the effect is beautiful, but haunting. As the funeral concludes, the scout’s belongings are removed and distributed amongst the family, and Efas approaches the adventurers. “How can I be of service?” she asks. Though open, it’s clear she hesitates to discuss Souland affairs with outsiders. A DC 15 Intelligence (Religion) check recalls the elemental nature of the Soulwinds, called the Jantari, and that Soulsand shamans claim to hear the voices of their ancestors on the air. Efas eases visibly at this, and obliges any questions pertaining to the Soulsand , their relationship with the tyrant wurms, and Razh’s unsanctioned hunt.

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ZASK HOWLER

Infamous Bounty Hunter (M Granok Thane Festir)

“I’ll find this wurm for you – free of charge. Killing it, though? That’s gonna cost you.” Personality: Cutting and quippy, with a dry sense of humor and a flippant disregard for death and danger Appearance: Festir with curving horns and claws, garbed in Granok battle plate, wielding Thanium blades Rumor: The Granok Thane excommunicated Zask from their order for breaking a contract Goal: Find and slay Felmaw, bringing honor and glory to himself and the Granok Thane Quirk: Compulsively cleans his teeth and claws with floating Thanium blades Introduction: “Out of the way!” the man screams, eyes wide with terror. He pushes through the crowd, stumbling, searching frantically for an escape route. Steel flashes, Thanium hums, and the man falls to the sand, blood pooling beneath him. The Thanium blade returns to its wielder – a horned festir wearing Granok battle plate. “Shame you didn’t listen, friend,” he says to the corpse. “I told you – you run, you die.” The crowd disperses, giving the Granok Thane a wide berth. Adventurers approaching with a successful DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check convince the bounty hunter to divulge his next mark: the tyrant wurm called Felmaw.

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CHARACTER CONNECTIONS Turman, a cousin of Arman’s, fears for the life of his misguided brethren. He tasks you with looking out for Arman, and ideally dissuading him from his current course. Brim Blackblade, commander of the Granok Thane in Jahar, has received no word from the bounty hunter Zask Howler. “Find him,” she says, “and if he will not come, bring me his head.” Marrow report sightings of an incomprehensibly massive wurm. An entire scouting party was lost to the beast last week. They offer coin and safe passage across Jahar for intel on the beast’s movements. Heavystep, a tomeheart in service to the Alhran Monastery, desires a single scale from the hide of Felmaw. Can you get close enough to the beast to fulfill their request? You receive a vision of the ancient Titans, mounted on tyrant wurms, carving the old roads of Dragongrin. Felmaw must be the oldest of its kind – nearly a millennia old. Roz, a monstrous Scale of the Scoured, believes the Wurm Roads lead to the First Grin. She tasks you with mapping the channels carved by Felmaw – in exchange, she promises valuable Archans.

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ESCALATION As word spreads of Arman’s epic wurm hunt, opportunistic bandits, Marrow, and other enemies close in on Felmaw’s Wurm Roads, hoping to claim a piece of the colossal beast. Conflict simmers between Arman and his people, the Grimdul, for ignoring the sacred tenets of the Wurm Roads. Meanwhile, Zask Howler of the Granok Thane poses a true threat to Arman and anyone accompanying him, hell-bent on killing Felmaw himself and reaping the rewards. LOCAL CONDITIONS Bandits and Qaramzi riders roam the paths of Jahar in greater numbers. Grimdul clans bicker and split over Arman’s rash actions. Marrow attempt to keep the peace and profit from the hunt simultaneously. The dunes shift wildly with rampant Bleakstorms.

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D6 1 2-3 4-5 6

262 DOMINIONS OF ASH: JAHAR

COUNTDOWN TO PERIL Arman Razh organizes a hunting party in the city of Nar’ghal, hell-bent on tracking and killing the ancient tyrant wurm called Felmaw. The party sets out across Jahar. A bounty hunter of the Granok Thane, Zask Howler, pursues the party alone, hoping to kill the wurm himself. A sudden Bleakstorm reshapes Jahar and conceals Felmaw’s Wurm Road. Arman and his hunting party face delays and hazards. Soulsand outriders, led by the shaman Efas Ari, confront RazhArman and his hunting party in the Broken Ocean, attempting to dissuade the dwarf from his path of vengeance. Conflict erupts. Arman finally comes upon Felmaw and engages the massive beast in combat. A fierce battle ensues, ranging across several dregs of shifting dunes. At an opportune moment, Zask Howler attacks both Felmaw and Arman, attempting to take the kill for himself. Heeding the calls of the elder wurm, six massive wurms emerge from the sand, reshaping the landscape of Jahar and crushing everything in their path.

CONFLICT Revenge: Arman seeks retribution for the deaths of his friends and family. Obsession: Decades of hunting Felmaw have left Arman addled and paranoid, hell-bent on his singular goal. Family: Arman’s people, the Grimdul, forsake him for breaking their sacred laws, hunting a wurm that leads the clans to water and shelter. Nature’s Ire: Felmaw, the largest and oldest wurm in Jahar, cannot be easily killed – it will tear Jahar apart before it falls to Grimdul spears. RISING THREAT A scout in Arman’s hunting party is found dead, pierced by Soulsand arrows. Zask Howler ambushes the party at night to lessen their numbers. Lesser wurms converge on Felmaw, instinctively protecting the elder creature. A raging Bleakstorm forms over Felmaw’s position, shrouding the beast from harm.

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NOTABLE LOCATIONS Soulsand Camp: hide tents, fluttering banners, searing meat, palpable tension Wurm Road: deep valley, winding paths, shifting sand, distant roar Desert Cave: howling wind, jagged stone, slumbering predator Fluxing Dunes: lost direction, sudden upheaval, shifting landscape SCENES Tracking the Wurm: days in the saddle, blazing sun, arid wind Fending Off Bandits: sudden ambush, flashing steel, bloodstained sand Desert Chase: full gallop, whizzing arrows, rampaging beast Confrontation: impenetrable scales, desperate revenge, last chance for redemption

AFTERMATH/CONSEQUENCES • If Arman succeeds and kills Felmaw, the beast dies with a mournful call. Arman likely dies soon after, wounded and exhausted, finally free to move on. His final words as his life bleeds onto the sand are: “It’s done. Now I can rest.” • With the death of Felmaw, the Grimdul clans find themselves scattered and divided. Without Felmaw’s Wurm Roads, they must rely on lesser wurms and their own outriders. Many will perish in the next Bleakstorm. • If the adventurers aid Arman in his hunt, they are condemned by Efas and her followers. “Murderers. Profaners. Each of you. May the Jantari speak only silence in your ears. May the Stonewind judge you.” She plans to summon a powerful Bleakstorm in the coming months to destroy the offenders. • If Felmaw survives, the wurm retreats into the depths of the desert. Arman, if he survived, is distraught and enraged. Efas expresses her gratitude. “Today, rage and hate were not allowed to prevail. Thank you.”

SIGNS OF THE WURM A recently-dug Wurm Road, its sides steep and sloping A single, massive wurmscale Dead Grimdul and Qaramzi Distant Bleakstorm on the horizon TWISTS

Arman reveals his clan died after he recklessly attacked 1 Felmaw – it’s all his fault. Arman is secretly a Granok Thane operative, and has orders to 2-5 kill Zask Howler. Arman’s peg leg is actually a Titan relic, used to track 6-10 creatures over vast distances. Felmaw leads the hunting party into an ambush by other 11-15 tyrant wurms. 16-19 Efas Ari hired Zask Howler to kill Arman and halt his hunt. 20 Felmaw is carrying dozens of wurmling eggs.

CLIMAX: THE LAST HUNT After tracking the beast for days, fending off bandits and rival hunters, Arman finally looks upon Felmaw, majestic as it crests a dune like a surfacing whale. “There she is,” Arman says, almost to himself. “There’s the wurm that took everything from me.” He kicks his mount into a gallop and takes off down the dune, spear in hand.

UNFOLDING EVENTS • Soulsand outriders defend Felmaw from the hunting party. • Efas Ari stands upon a nearby dune, calling down a druidic sandstorm to divert the hunt. • Felmaw burrows deep beneath the dunes, disappearing – only to surface and attempt to swallow any grouped hunters. • Felmaw critically injures Arman, and he topples from his horse. Still, he refuses to yield. • Felmaw attacks haphazardly in a final effort to survive. The surrounding earth is shaken, and nearby structures and ruins collapse in dangerous debris.

263 DOMINIONS OF ASH: JAHAR

CRUX: THE OSSUARY AND THE ORB Concept: Tomb-Robbing Treasure Hunt Themes: Exploration, Competition, Countdown, Artifacts

EVENT Across Jahar, in the alleyways of Nar’ghal and the docks of Ruby Port, you hear whispers of the Ossuary – a Titan tomb complex, long-rumored to hold incalculable riches. The heart of the former Titan empire, the Ossuary is said to hold the remains and belongings of dozens of Titan warriors and rulers, along with a famed relic known only as the Orb. Now, rumors say the Ossuary has emerged from the dunes of Jahar, and the race for the Orb begins. The adventurers begin just outside the soaring gateway into the Ossuary, having journeyed across Jahar to reach the massive ruin. Up close, it’s obvious the Ossuary extends far beneath the dunes, and no doubt countless dangers await within – mechanical traps, construct guardians, and worse surely protect the remains and belongings of the Titans entombed here. Not only that, but rivals – fellow tombrobbers, opportunistic Marrow, and fanatical cultists lay their own claims on the Ossuary, and the Orb sealed within. BURIED RICHES OF JAHAR Beyond the heat, beyond the lack of food and water, beyond the natural predators stalking Jahar, the greatest threats to travelers in the desert are the shifting dunes and arcane mirages, each a product of the Bleak magic bleeding into Dragongrin. Still, to those stubborn enough to brave the fluxing terrain, treasures weird and wondrous await in Titan ruins and dragon grins.

PEOPLE This Crux pits the adventurers against several rival entities within the Ossuary: Kervan Krezznik, professional thief and treasure hunter scavenging the Ossuary for the Orb; rogue Marrow sergeant Kerris Relgia and her squad of greedy legionaries seeking the same prize; and, unknown to all parties, Rictus zealots protect the prize at the behest of Zeitgon, a follower of Yuri of the Many Mouths. The adventurers can work against these factions, or attempt to forge alliances – which may or may not survive the dangerous journey through the Ossuary.

Quirk: Absently shifts to the most shadowed spot in any room Introduction: The corridor whirs with traps – spinning blades, gouts of flame, swinging pendulums. Amid the chaos, a lithe and fleet form weaves its way through mechanized death. The figure leaps, rolls, runs along the wall, and lands safely on the other side. The figure rights itself and lowers its hood, revealing a fine-featured darrow woman. She winks. “Good luck! See you at the end – hopefully in one piece!” A DC 16 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check allows a foolhardy adventurer to follow Krezznick’s path and catch up with her, impressing her greatly. “Well now, maybe you’re not such a slowpoke.”

KERRIS RELGIA Rogue Marrow Sergeant (F Crucian Human)

“Destiny pursues those willing to do violent deeds. Follow me.” Personality: Curt and no-nonsense, yet surprisingly warm to those loyal to her Appearance: Bronze skin and dark eyes, wearing tarnished Marrow half-plate and wielding a scavenged Grimdul windblade Rumor: Relgia once served the Dismembered Lord, but now answers to someone else – someone actively working against the Sovereign and his reign. Goal: Secure the Orb to trade for safe passage out of Jahar for herself and her followers. Quirk: Goes for her flask every few moments – no longer there Introduction: Within a shadowed alcove of the Ossuary, firelight flickers. Within sits a band of Marrow – at least, they look like Marrow, but their bone plate is stained and tarnished. The sigil of Grinn is scratched from the oncepristine armor. As you approach, a few of the Marrow stand and heft their longspears. You hear the creak of a crossbow being loaded. “Hold,” a clear voice rings out, and Kerris Relgia steps into the firelight of the meager Marrow camp. “Let’s see what these strangers have to offer first.” A successful DC 14 Charisma (Persuasion or Deception) check convinces the Marrow to lower their weapons. A strange smile crooks Relgia’s thin lips. “Come then. Share the warmth of our fire. Let’s talk.”

ZEITGON OF KADAR Rictus Priest (M Grimdul Human)

Tomb Robber (F Zarfvin Darrow)

KERVAN KREZZNIK

“The Orb cannot fall into the hands of fools. The Many Mouths deem it so.”

“I’ve got you! Hold on tight! I’ll pull you up, but you need to pass me the Orb first! The Orb, first!”

Personality: Gruff, with little use for words, but acts rashly to appease his god

Personality: Brazenly greedy and self-serving, but refreshingly pragmatic

Appearance: Draped with multi-colored Grimdul robes stained dark with blood and grime, with a shaved and scarred head, and wicked sandsteel daggers

Appearance: Darrow woman with loose, comfortable, dark garb and light armor, wielding a pair of climbing hooks as both tools and weapons Rumor: Krezznick is no mere tomb-robber – she seeks the Orb for a specific, secretive purpose. Goal: Outsmart her rivals and acquire the Orb

264 DOMINIONS OF ASH: JAHAR

Rumor: Zeitgon’s ultimate goal is to succeed Yuri of the Many Mouths and become the Rictus’ true right hand. Goal: Secure the Ossuary and kill any who attempt to steal the Orb, on orders from the Rictus

Quirk: Etches macabre mouths on his skin with the razor tips of his daggers. Introduction: “Turn back, heathens,” the scarred man says, brandishing a dagger and flanked by hungry-eyed cultists, “or feed the Many Mouths with your flesh.” A DC 16 Intelligence (Religion) check allows an adventurer to appeal to Zeitgon’s zealotry, while a DC 15 Charisma (Intimidation) check plays upon the innate fear of the cultists. Either way, Zeitgon eases, lowering the knife. “Then maybe we can be of some help to each other – to turn aside these heathen intruders.” D6 1 2 3 4

CHARACTER CONNECTIONS You’ve seen the Orb in your dreams – a gleaming sphere of Titan make, inscrutable in its power and purpose. You cannot deny the intense drive to possess it. “Kerris Relgia is a traitor,” the Marrow sergeant says. “A stack of coin to the hunter who brings me her head.” The dunes shift, and the path leads you inexorably to the gates of the Ossuary. Does the desert want you to enter? A close friend was taken by the Cult of Many Mouths. They’ve fled with their quarry into the desert – and inside the Ossuary. Heavystep, a tomeheart in service to the Alhran Monastery, wishes to take a rubbing of a particular mural within the Ossuary. Can you escort the construct safely inside? Kervan Krezznick owes Svir Below crime boss Poole Variston a lot of money – and Variston has issued a hit. Krezznick was last spotted combing the dunes of Jahar for something called the Ossuary. COUNTDOWN TO PERIL Adventurers entering the Ossuary find corpses immediately inside – some centuries old, others only hours dead. The traps and guardians of this Titan burial site are active and humming with power, and like a body fighting off an illness, it will defend itself from intruders. The main corridor leading to the heart of the Ossuary collapses, blocking the way. Dozens of smaller paths exist, but their maddening complexity confounds and re-directs any trespassers. An ancient Titan guardian wakes and prowls the tomb for intruders, crushing enemies (and nearby structures) with its massive maul. If defeated, it rises again several hours later, posing a constant threat to any within the Ossuary. A battle commences near the heart of the Ossuary between Kerris Relgia’s rogue Marrow and Zeitgon’s rabid cultists. The pitched skirmish affords opportunistic tomb-robbers the perfect chance to slip away and gnab the Orb.

ESCALATION The Ossuary presents many threats and hazards to any intruders. Massive mechanical traps ensnare and kill any who trod the sacred corridors, ancient constructs lay in wait to defend their entombed masters, and the Ossuary itself is designed to confound and separate tomb-robbers. The greatest threat, however, lies in your rivals attempting to reach the heart of the Ossuary and secure the Orb before you. To stay one step ahead and achieve your ultimate goal, sacrifices must be made and alliances must be broken. LOCAL CONDITIONS More and more construct guardians wake to defend the Ossuary. Strange sounds echo from deeper within the tomb. Long-cold lanterns suddenly light once more. Corpses of would-be tombrobbers litter the corridors.

D4 1 2 3 4 D6 1 2-3 4-5 6 D8 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 D10 1-3 4-6 7-9 10 D12 1-3 4-6 7-9 10-12 D20

CONFLICT Exploration: No maps of the Ossuary exist – you must traverse the corridors without aid. Competition: Rivals harry you at every turn, attempting to secure the riches for themselves. Countdown: There’s only a matter of time before the Ossuary disappears beneath the dunes once more. Artifacts: Relics strange and wondrous litter the tomb of the Titans. RISING THREAT The entire layout of the Ossuary shifts, dividing groups and confounding their sense of direction. The cultists of Many Mouths complete a ritual and allow a magical darkness to permeate the tomb. The rogue Marrow under Kerris Relgia splinter and turn on each other. A long-dead Titan construct wakes to defend its tomb. NOTABLE LOCATIONS Labyrinthine Corridors: winding passageways, collapse, strange murals, lanterns Titan Burial Chamber: massive sarcophagi, elaborate shrouds, grave goods Maddening Stairs: up is down, down is up, strange gravity, sudden traps Soaring Chamber: towering pillars, encroaching darkness, distant echoes SCENES Guardian Attacks: crashing pursuit, whirling maul, sudden violence Rival Run-In: betrayal, gain the upper hand, desperate times, desperate measures Springing Trap: grinding gears, spinning blades, rolling boulder Strange Ritual: eerie light, macabre chanting, blood sacrifice ODDITIES A Titan spirit, searching for its lost resting place Rival wounded by trap, still alive but trapped Strange lights lead the way – to doom or salvation? Ancient mural depicting events yet to pass TWISTS

Kervan Krezznik reveals her plan to destroy the Orb, 1 preventing it from falling into the wrong hands. Kerris Relgia reveals herself as an agent of the Undying Light, 2-5 here to secure the Orb as a weapon against the Dismembered Lord. The Orb is a key designed to open the sealed gateway into the 6-10 First Grin. The Orb can control the dunes of Jahar, allowing the wielder 11-15 to alter the landscape at will. The Orb is a weapon, capable of destroying Reliquaries of 16-19 Ash, and perhaps the Dismembered Lord himself. The Cult of Many Mouths completes their ritual, summoning 20 the Rictus itself into the Ossuary to secure the Titan structure as its new seat of power.

265 DOMINIONS OF ASH: JAHAR

CLIMAX: RACE FOR THE ORB At the heart of the Ossuary lies the Orb – a Titan relic of untold power. None know its true purpose or origin, but one thing is certain: the Orb’s wielder controls a bargaining chip capable of changing the political landscape of Jahar. With rogue Marrow, zealous cultists, and scores of adventurers racing to the Orb, falling one by one to the dangers of the Ossuary (and each other), the final race to its resting place is sure to be the greatest challenge the Ossuary has to offer.

UNFOLDING EVENTS • The heart of the Ossuary is a knotwork of bridges and stairways, all leading in a maddening, criss-crossing pattern to the center of the Titan tomb, where the Orb waits on a massive dais inlaid with filigree of Titan copper. • As the adventurers enter the Ossuary’s heart, so do their rivals, albeit from different origin points. As soon as anyone steps foot onto a walkway, the room activates, and the bridges begin rotating and swiveling. Everyone must move quickly – and carefully – if they stand any chance of reaching the Orb.

• Occasionally, bridges link up with others, leading to pitched battles across the spiraling walkways. The rogue Marrow fire crossbow bolts and form shield walls to block the path; the cultists of the Many Mouths wield sinister magic and throw themselves into battle recklessly to defend the Orb from the invaders; and any rival adventurers use ropes, ranged weapons, anything to gain an advantage and reach the Orb first. • Eventually, the bridges cease their movements, and observant tomb-robbers notice the seemingly nonsensical network of pathways form a sprawling map of Dragongrin, with each bridge denoting a Titan road that once spanned the great realm in days of old. And at its center, in the heart of the region that would become Jahar, rests the Orb. • The Orb is snatched. The ancient Titan guardian bursts through a nearby wall to defend the sacred relic, fighting with all of its might. Upon defeat, it powers down for good, failing in its eternal mission. • The Ossuary collapses in on itself, imploding in a controlled demolition set eons prior to protect the Orb. Floors heave, walls spill inward, water surges from below, and the dunes threaten to swallow the massive tomb complex – and everyone inside – in a matter of minutes. The escape begins.

AFTERMATH/CONSEQUENCES • If the adventurers escape the Ossuary with the Orb, they now wield a relic of immense power. They pose a threat to the Scoured Sultan – and beyond that, his master, the Sovereign. Evil pursues them at every turn. • If Kerris Relgia and her rogue Marrow claim the Orb, she vows to use it against her former ruler, the Dismembered Lord – or at least as a bargaining chip to acquire safe passage out of Jahar. • If Kervan Krezznik acquires the Orb, she makes an oath to destroy the relic – how, she hesitates to say. Though, the secretive darrow might indicate Zamon as her next destination. • If Zeitgon and his fellow cultists succeed in protecting the Orb, they remain within the Ossuary even as it’s buried once again by the sandsteel dunes of Jahar. Alive, dead, it makes no difference – to serve the Rictus, to speak with Many Mouths, is to be immortal. • The power and abilities of the Orb are intentionally left vague. It’s a wondrous magic item, ancient and esoteric. It might not even be immediately obvious what the Orb does – only that it hums with a slumbering energy. For inspiration as to the nature of the Orb, roll on the preceding Twists table – or leave it to be decided in a future adventure.

266 DOMINIONS OF ASH: JAHAR

EVERGROWING SHADOWS

The power struggle in Jahar reaches a boiling point as the First Grin reveals itself. As Revak Zistra, the Soulsand, the Qaramzi, and the Cryptbreakers race to the heart of the ancient tomb, the Rictus initiates its endgame. The battle for Jahar begins.

LORD OF ASH: REVAK ZISTRA THE SCOURED SULTAN “We shall move as serpents and strike as scorpions.” The name Revak Zistra is ancient, appearing in texts as early as 2,000 years before Lightfall. Whether the Scoured Sultan ruling now over the desert of Jahar is the legendary Revak Zistra, or merely one of many in a long line that stretches back eons, the name carries power in Dragongrin. A dragonbound (one of the last of that ancient race), Zistra forsook his kin to serve the Dismembered Lord, sharing the secrets of dragonkind with the warlord in exchange for a seat with a good view from which to observe the bloody conquest. Following Lightfall, the Dismembered Lord gifted Zistra, his trusted spymaster, dominion over the desert of Jahar, where countless grins and Titan ruins were said to be buried. The Scoured Sultan commands a relatively small but formidable legion of Marrow called Dunestriders who excel at moving quickly across the ever-shifting dunes of the region. Mounted upon reptilian xol and wielding sandsteel weapons, these lightly-armored Marrow quickly learn to move with the dunes, rather than against them.

He moves quickly, gracefully, and with great purpose, never wasting energy on inefficient actions. He wears upon his draconic visage the bleached, horned skull of a festir (said to be a former Cryptbreaker commander who slighted Zistra). He wears no apparent weapons, but nevertheless always seems to have a curved, sandsteel dagger (often coated with ruqar venom) in his hands when he needs one. Powers: Zistra is an accomplished assassin, knowledgeable in traps and poisons, and harnesses arcane magic to enhance his already formidable abilities. He has spent years immunizing himself from various toxins, and his spells focus on illusion and deception, confusing or distracting enemies while he lodges a venom-coated dagger into their back. Rarely, he uses his draconic breath weapon, which manifests as a gout of acid. Weaknesses: Zistra’s temper can get the best of him. He lives two steps ahead of everyone, and takes great pride in knowing all, seeing all, and outhinking his enemies. Should he be outsmarted, his temper can erupt – he dispenses with graceful movements and skillful tactics, instead attacking in a reckless frenzy with his breath weapon. Origins: Some say Revak Zistra was the Dismembered Lord’s chief assassin and spymaster before he was gifted Jahar. Many believe he is the original Revak Zistra, millennia old, known for his great crimes against the people of Dragongrin. Others whisper that he is, in actuality, a great dragon hiding its true form.

Zistra harbors a deep-seated grudge against the Granok Thane, the mercenary warriors dwelling in Jahar. The Dismembered Lord often acquires the services of Granok Thane assassins and bounty hunters, so the faction is allowed to persist – but Zistra secretly plots to eradicate them from Dragongrin and absorb their assets.

Secrets: A spy without secrets is no spy at all, but Zistra keeps his opponents guessing as to which secrets are real, and which are fabricated. The most prominent rumor involves Zistra and a far-flung love affair with a Granok Thane, which ended violently and forever soured the Scoured Sultan’s opinion of the mercenary warriors. Others whisper that Zistra is dying, and seeks the First Grin as a way to rejuvenate his draconic life force and achieve immortality. Many believe he ultimately desires to usurp the Dismembered Lord, using his all-seeing arcane eye to outsmart a tyrant who can peer through time.

Encountering Revak Zistra: In addition to his deadly prowess with blades, Zistra is a capable arcanist. He is methodical and manipulative, preferring practiced reaction to rash action – he always allows his opponent the chance to make a mistake before moving against them. He is not above skullduggery, employing many thieves, spies, and assassins to maintain order in Jahar and silently report and dispatch growing threats. The dragonbound prides himself on being the smartest and most informed creature in the room – which is why he maintains a spy network that spans Dragongrin. Zistra harbors a fiery temper, however, which rears if he’s outmaneuvered or outsmarted.

Fortress of Ash: The Onyx Ziggurat is a massive, black stone structure at the heart of the city of Nar’ghal, terraced with successively receding levels. The complex is a labyrinth, maddening to any who do not know the correct paths. It’s said that the bones of hundreds of would-be thieves and assassins litter the corridors and chambers of the Onyx Ziggurat, falling prey to traps and monsters, or simply expiring within the maze. Zistra maintains a small but dedicated legion of Marrow, who must all memorize the correct paths through the complex – or otherwise perish. It’s said that Zistra stocks the maze of the Ziggurat with all manner of beasts from Dragongrin and elsewhere.

Reliquary of Ash: Zistra’s left eye is false – a strange and wondrous Titan relic once called the Silent Observer. Zistra sees all with this arcane eye, peering through flesh, solid walls, and even the barriers between worlds. A spy whose gaze can pierce the thickest steel and the darkest shadows is surely a grave threat, when he’s not glaring down into the gargantuan Onyx Ziggurat, guarding his domain from encroaching monstrosities, and wondering what resides in the depths beyond his vision.

Nemesis: Though his forces often clash with the Grimdul, Granok Thane, and Qaramzi, the greatest threat to Revak Zistra’s reign is the Rictus. Little is known about this strange entity, except that its addled-minded servants speak of darkness, long-buried tombs, and a hundred sneering mouths. The Rictus affects the very landscape of Jahar, and since its rise to prominence, the dunes seem to obey only its will, manipulating Zistra’s followers with illusions and burying his outposts and patrols under tons of sandsteel. Zistra maintains a standing bounty for any who bring him credible information regarding the Rictus – and he’s even considered hiring the Granok Thane to hunt the monster down.

Appearance: Revak Zistra is a dragonbound with dull copper scales, which have been scoured by the razor winds of Jahar, giving him his namesake. He is thin, lithe, and serpent-like, with long dexterous fingers ending in manicured black talons.

Legion of Ash: Revak Zistra commands the smallest standing legion of Marrow at just over 500 legionaries, but each is a tried and trusted servant of the Scoured Sultan. Zistra’s Dunestrider Marrow are fierce mounted scouts, wearing

267 DOMINIONS OF ASH: JAHAR

lighter armor (usually made from tyrant wurm scales) and covering their heads in hoods and veils to protect from both the oppressive sun and the razor winds. These Marrow use xol as mounts, and specialize in quick hit-and-run skirmishes, favoring bows and spears. Zistra also commands his small but elite honor guard, the Scales of the Scoured – six monstrous festir warriors. Each Scale carries a distinct sandsteel weapon, gifted by the Scoured Sultan. These weapons owe their unique bronze hue to the Titan metal shredded into the sandsteel latent in Jahar’s dunes, and hum quietly when near Titan relics. The Scales use these weapons as tools of detection, sniffing out hidden relics for the Scoured Sultan.

VISTRA STRIVES FOR • The First Grin: It’s said the sands of Jahar conceal the First Grin, an eons-old dragon tomb containing the remains and treasure hoard of a draconic goddess. Zistra sought the First Grin for years, and grew impatient with its knack for staying buried beneath the dunes. Now that the grin is revealed, Zistra intends to reach the tomb’s heart and gift its contents to the Dismembered Lord, furthering his favor with the tyrant and ensuring his continued control of Jahar. • Wurms and Ruqar: Tyrant wurms are large, scaled, serpent-like beasts that burrow beneath the sand and ambush unwary travelers. Their hides make for tough but flexible wurmscale armor. Ruqar, likewise, are hunted for their venom, which carries great worth among thieves and assassins. Zistra’s Marrow regularly hunt and encounter these tyrant wurms and sandsteel scorpions, harvesting scaled hides for armor and delivering the venom to the Scoured Sultan for use in his infamous sandsteel blades. • Death of the Rictus: Above all else, the Rictus weighs on Zistra’s mind. In the years since Lightfall, no creature has outsmarted and outmaneuvered Zistra like the Rictus. Always one step ahead, always striking at an unprotected flank, the Rictus is as elusive as it is effective. Where Zistra has been able to counter the Rictus is in the creature’s servants – addled cultists speaking in riddles. Zistra regularly rounds up these zealots and executes them publicly with his acidic breath.

ZISTRA’S STATE OF POWER This section represents the strength of Revak Zistra’s resources, allies, and enemies. For everything except the secrets and the plot twist, the lower the roll, the worse-off the result for the Lord of Ash. It is intended to be rolled once at the beginning of a session or campaign to generate a starting point, but it can be rolled any time an important enough event occurs to affect the resource or people. D4

SCALES OF THE SCOURED

A prominent Scale turned to join the Qaramzi in their conquest. Several Scales have fallen in battle recently, and their presence is rare. Though spread thin, the Scales still revere their Sultan and serve loyally. At the height of their power, the Scales are a constant threat.

LEGION OF ASH

1 2 3

1 2-3 4-5 6

Resources are scarce, and some Marrow turned to brigandry to stay afloat. Skirmishes claim many Marrow lives, and the ranks thin. The Marrow are bolstered by recent victories, and patrols are constant. The Marrow rule the dunes almost unopposed.

268 DOMINIONS OF ASH: JAHAR

D8 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 D10 1-3 4-6 7-9 10 D12

FORTRESS OF ASH Monsters within the Onyx Ziggurat run amok, sowing chaos and discontent. Resources are scarce, and trespassers find hidden routes throughout. Zistra keeps a watchful eye on his fortress, missing little. The Ziggurat is nigh impenetrable, with new monsters patrolling its corridors daily. ZISTRA’S FOES The Rictus infiltrates every faction in Jahar, closing in on Zistra. Fighting a war on many fronts, Zistra’s enemies overwhelm him. Recent victories against his enemies bolster Zistra’s confidence. Zistra entrenches himself as sultan with victory after victory – one step ahead of all. ZISTRA’S HINDRANCE

1-3 4-6

The Dismembered Lord pulls his support from Zistra. Zistra loses the Silent Observer – and his ability to see all. Zistra’s fortress, teeming with monsters, has become a 7-9 liability. 10-12 The Qaramzi capture one of Zistra’s Scales of the Scoured. D20

TWISTS

Ulagan, Qaramzi warchief, challenges Zistra to a duel – and 1 wins. An ancient tome, detailing Zistra’s history, is recovered by the 2-5 Alhran monks. Zistra’s favored Scale reveals themself to be a cultist of the 6-10 Rictus. Zistra captures Yuri of the Many Mouths and executes him 11-15 publicly. 16-19 A long-dead dragon rises again, pledging itself to Zistra. Zistra reveals himself to be an ancient dragon, resuming his 20 true form.

COUNTDOWN TO RUIN The teeming goblinoid hordes, as well as the growing prominence of the Rictus, could mean the end for Revak Zistra’s unchecked reign – and a desperate war for the fate of the ever-shifting dunes. 1. The First Grin Unearthed: Zistra’s Marrow scouts come upon the First Grin, sealed shut, but finally unearthed from beneath the sandsteel dunes. As they begin excavating the draconic tomb, the Marrow fall prey to an ambush of Qaramzi riders. Word spreads quickly of the unearthed First Grin. Fortune-hunters and grave-robbers, desperate and often violent, gather and race across Jahar to claim a piece of the famed prize. 2. War in Jahar: Zistra, furious at the loss of the First Grin, mobilizes against the Qaramzi. A series of fierce, furious skirmishes across the shifting dunes beats the Qaramzi back to the sealed door of the First Grin. As war breaks out, neutral settlements pack up and move deeper into the desert to avoid the ire of both the Marrow and the Qaramzi. 3. Battle at the First Grin: Zistra’s forces fall upon the Qaramzi at the site of the First Grin, and it seems initially that the war has been won. But Cryptbreaker warriors, hired by the Qaramzi and promised a hefty

share of the hoard within the tomb, turn the tide. Zistra is handily defeated, realizing that Temur Ulagan lured him into a trap with feigned retreats. The Cryptbreakers now work with the Qaramzi, and serve their interests across Jahar. 4. The Rictus Captured: Things appear grim for the Scoured Sultan – until his most loyal Marrow scouts deliver a mighty prize. The Rictus, revealed to be an ancient creature known as a deathmaw, is subdued, captured, and brought to the Onyx Ziggurat in Nar’ghal. The creature is heavily drugged and imprisoned within Zistra’s fortress. The cultists devoted to the Rictus grow desperate with the capture of their god, and begin raiding indiscriminately in retaliation. 5. Deathmaw Enslaved: Through torture and manipulation, Zistra unlocks the Rictus’ ability to alter the landscape of Jahar and conjure arcane mirages. The Scoured Sultan now controls the landscape of his dominion. The shifting dunes seem to behave differently, more aggressive than usual, appearing to harry Qaramzi and Granok Thane encampments in particular.

6. The Massacre at Ruby Port: Zistra, defeated at the First Grin and losing Marrow by the day, surrenders to the Qaramzi and the Cryptbreakers, agreeing to meet at the neutral territory of Ruby Port. During the negotiations, Zistra springs a trap and a fierce battle erupts. Temur Ulagan is killed with a poisoned dagger from Zistra himself. The Scoured Sultan buries most of the Qaramzi and the Cryptbreakers using the Rictus. Overnight, the Qaramzi horde all but disappear. The Granok Thane recall their agents. Marrow patrols grow more frequent. Ruby Port is buried beneath the sand 7. The Quiet Tomb: Zistra finally seizes control of the First Grin. Upon opening the long-sealed tomb, the Lord of Ash is horrified to find it empty, looted long ago by grave-robbers. Even the mighty bones of the draconic goddess buried within are nowhere to be found. Zistra’s rage overwhelms him. 8. Deathmaw Unchained: The Rictus, sensing the time is right, overwhelms its captors and seizes control of the Onyx Ziggurat, turning many of Zistra’s Marrow and claiming dominion over the city of Nar’ghal. The unearthing of the First Grin, the war between Zistra and the Qaramzi – it’s all been orchestrated by the Rictus. The city of Nar’ghal closes its gate and rumors fly of Jahar’s ownership changing hands. The dunes once again change their patterns. 9. Prepare for War: Unseated, the furious Zistra gathers his remaining Marrow and calls for mercenaries to help him take back Nar’ghal. The force moves across Jahar, harried by the ever-shifting dunes as the Rictus impedes their movement. Gold and glory are promised to any who would lend their sword to Zistra’s cause. Settlements are raided for supplies and soldiers – willing or otherwise. 10. Jahar Buried: The city of Nar’ghal is besieged. As the battle rages, the Rictus unleashes its full power, tearing a hole in the Bleak and burying the city beneath the dunes. Zistra and most of his followers disappear beneath the sandsteel. Jahar is now ruled by the Rictus, completely reshaped as most of the region is buried in a massive upheaval. An ancient deathmaw now reigns from the Onyx Ziggurat, protected beneath tons of sandsteel.

269 DOMINIONS OF ASH: JAHAR

SVIR

IMPASSABLE, HAUNTED MOUNTAINS “People and monsters, heroes and villains – in Svir, these things are all the same. I transcend these monikers from a summit of reason. I am the mountain, as unforgiving and unyielding as the peaks of Svir. You should not fear me – fear won’t spare you the fate that awaits.” – Caius Veccus, Lord of Ash Formidable crags teem with undead horrors – echoes of necrotic magic weaponized by the Dismembered Lord.

HISTORY

Then: A crossroads of the world before Lightfall, Svir once stood as a beacon of commerce and faith in the realm; a safe, welcoming place for all. Now: A husk of its former glory, Svir is rife with undead, marred by the horrors of the Desolation and its Blackrot. Caius Veccus and his legions rule the crags, enforcing the Dismembered Lord’s rule and experimenting with grim magic in his name. Beyond: If not culled, the undead population will overrun Svir, and the Desolation and its monstrosities will swallow the region entirely. SVIR AT-A-GLANCE Terrain: Sheer mountains veined with canyons, tunnels, rivers Climate: Frigid with frequent fog and rainfall Lord of Ash: Caius Veccus, vampiric warlord Resources: Tainted water, scant vegetation Cultures: Sarrik, Silverwise Factions: Darkfire Rebels, Rot Hunters, Obsidian Dirk Creatures: Rotfiends, rot crows, thoughtslayers, vampire spawn

270 DOMINIONS OF ASH: SVIR

KNOW THIS TO SURVIVE

The vampire Caius Veccus rules Svir as its Lord of Ash, enforcing the laws and whims of the Dismembered Lord. Veccus trains Marrow recruits and guards the passage into Grinn from his fortress, the Ardent Scar. Caius Veccus Tempers Marrow Recruits: Excelling at quick and decisive military action, Veccus possesses an insatiable appetite for conquest – and blood. Svir is the first tour of all new conscripts into the Dismembered Legion. In addition to the thousands of recruits serving under Veccus as trainees, the Lord of Ash maintains a standing legion of one thousand Marrow, excelling at tracking and traversing across the harsh, mountainous landscape. These Marrow are highly experienced in combating undead, and many patrol units include Marrow clerics and an arcanist called a stitcher specializing in sealing tears in the Desolation. Veccus also commands the Obsidian Dirk, deadly vampire spawn serving as scouts, spies, and assassins across Svir and elsewhere. The Blackrot Spawns Endless Undead: During Lightfall, the Dismembered Lord tore a hole into the dark plane known as the Desolation, killing two-thirds of the population of Svir. Though much of the Desolation’s wounds were sealed over time, the dark plane’s profane energies had a horrific and unprecedented necromantic effect on the mountainous region, causing a necrotic plague known as the Blackrot that lingers to this day. The Blackrot and the scars the Desolation has left behind compels foul monsters to its darkness, and wakes the denizens of Svir in undeath as skeletons, zombies, and worse – cunning undead known as rotfiends. Rot Hunters Quell Monstrosities: Led by a former Copper Jackal known only as the Night Huntsman, these warriors and scouts band together to fight for light in the grim realm of Svir. Calling themselves the Rot Hunters, this meager yet effective resistance has taken to hunting and slaying the monsters and Marrow of the crags. Endlessly seeking to cure the lands of Blackrot, whispers persist that the Rot Hunters have found a way to stave off the Desolation bleeding into Svir – and maybe even cauterize the wound forever. But they need able bodies and strong steel to stand even a chance.

Darkfire Rebellion Opposes Veccus: Led by Asari Duscellis, the Darkfire Rebellion fights the Dismembered Lord and his Marrow at every turn. They plan to continue weakening the Marrow hold until they can assault the Ardent Scar itself, breaking through the gates and using the Desolation against the Dismembered Lord in Grinn. Using materials harvested from the Desolation, they craft bottles that when thrown, ignite in eerie purple flames, which they use to burn Marrow supply camps and undead alike. Though the rebellion has amassed many followers, some whisper they serve the darkness of Yhaghul. The Desolation Stirs: During Lightfall, the Desolation scarred Svir forever, and its foul tears erupt more frequently with each passing day. Though the Marrow stitchers are adept, the wounds erupt faster than they can close them. Profane thoughts of a dark being from within the Desolation infiltrate people’s minds, though only fools dare to speak the name that they hear – Yhaghul, the Worldslayer. There are those who know from their ceaseless nightmares that Yhaghul has set itself to enter the realm of Dragongrin, and will use the Desolation-scarred mountains of Svir as the doorway. Thoughtslayers Infiltrate Minds: From the writhing darkness of the Desolation come the thoughtslayers, servants of Yhaghul who have quickly proven themselves a vile threat to the people of Svir. Humanoid-arachnid aberrations, the thoughtslayers manipulate and chisel away at the minds of lesser creatures, eventually controlling them, using them as spawning vessels, or transforming them into subservient husks known as thoughtslain. In Svir, trust no one – the servants of Yhaghul are everywhere. They are rumored to lair in the deepest subterranean portions of the Black Rail. CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS OF SVIR • Corpses are ritually cremated by Marrow stitchers and rebels alike to prevent them from returning as undead. • It’s tradition to say a blessing when returning from missions to restore peace to a traveler’s thoughts. • It’s not uncommon to relay strange thoughts or memories to one another to build trust, but also ensure their minds are free from thoughtslayer influence, noting sudden changes in beliefs or mindset. D10 1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

CHARACTER CONNECTIONS TO SVIR You experience nightmares of a mountain and a sinister fanged grin. You feel drawn to this place. You’re being blackmailed by a Marrow, and they have summoned you to Svir. Someone close to you shared a secret about the mysterious rotfiends stalking the mountains of Svir – just before they were murdered. A strange scroll is inscribed with secrets of the Desolation – you’ve gotten word from a contact in Svir who’s found a potential buyer for your findings. You failed to stop a monster plaguing your home town, and have tracked it into Svir – perhaps this time you’ll succeed. You feel as though your thoughts are not your own. You are drawn to Svir, and you can’t explain why, but you know you must go there. Something is expecting you. You seek a Silverwise to help reach a lost loved one – it’s a matter of life and death. You seek a valuable family heirloom among the peaks of Svir – the map you have points to Darruk Pass. A Rot Hunter saved your life once. They have called in the favor. Marrow outside of Svir robbed you of all your possessions, accusing you of aiding the Darkfire Rebels – a group you may have never heard of.

POWERFUL PEOPLE OF SVIR Lord of Ash Caius Veccus: The vampiric Lord of Ash, he rules over all Svir in the Dismembered Lord’s name. Some know Caius Veccus as a brilliant tactician and proven warrior. Others call him a traitor – and a monster. But no one can deny the power and influence he wields. Veccus is trusted by the Dismembered Lord himself to guard the passage into Grinn from his fortress, the Ardent Scar. Excelling at quick and decisive military action, this warmonger possesses an insatiable appetite for conquest – and blood. The Night Huntsman: A former Copper Jackal and leader of the Rot Hunters. No one knows his real name or origin. His imposing stature, booming voice, and strange copper mask lend an air of incredible charisma and inspiring command, but also eerie distance and fear. There are whispers that even with all his strength, he houses a deeper, stronger power he has yet to unleash. He wields an enchanted, rune-etched axe said to be a gift from a slain Copper Jackal comrade, capable of opening portals into the Desolation. The Night Huntsman constantly moves, fights, and plots, never sitting idle. Known for an absurd, inhuman work ethic, some say he can never sleep until the Blackrot is cured, and the Desolation is sealed away forever. Gnaeus, Tempest of Svir: A paragon of the Dismembered Lord’s ideals, Gnaeus (Nay-us) is a powerful Arcseer, a master strategist, and the general overseeing all Marrow activity in the area – though recently his attention has been consumed with the rise of the thoughtslayers. Second in power in Svir only to Caius Veccus himself, Gnaeus uses divination magic to monitor and direct the Marrow from the safety of the Ardent Scar. His rigid devotion to the letter of the law of the Dismembered Legion often puts him at odds with the more results-driven Veccus who follows the spirit of the law in his own way to an end. In dire circumstances, he unleashes torrents of arcane electricity on the enemies of the Marrow, often turning the tides of battles single-handedly, earning him the nickname “Tempest.” His divination sight and quick temper have caused a saying amongst the Marrow. “The eye of the storm is ever open,” as even whispered words of treason are caught by his arcane ears.

271 DOMINIONS OF ASH: SVIR

Asari Duscellis: Slender with pale, blue-tinged boneflesh and a long cloak, Asari Duscellis is a cunning and charismatic Sarrik tribe leader in the south, commanding well-trained and well-equipped troops (with gear stolen from Veccus’ Marrow). Asari bands the tribes of Svir together under the Darkfire Rebellion in the hopes of someday assaulting the Ardent Scar and throwing open the stone gates barring Grinn, allowing the undead plague to bleed into the Dismembered Lord’s holdings. While Asari is idealistic and strong-willed, she struggles with the weight of her responsibility and the lives lost at her command. Some say the struggle is actually guilt she carries from having murdered her former superior to take command. She wields javelins coated in volatile chemicals which blaze a brilliant violet in battle. Whispers persist that she secretly serves Yhaghul, though her actions seem contrary to the accusation. Demenru: Broodmother of the thoughtslayers of Svir, Demenru is exceptionally insidious and enthralling, wielding dark magic said to come from Yhaghul itself. Many thoughtslayers worship her as a malevolent instrument of Yhaghul’s profane will, and fervently obey her commands. Others among her brood consider her methods too cautious, and push for new, more aggressive leadership. Demenru adorns herself exclusively with jewelry made of tarnished silver – a symbol of the Desolation corrupting the world. Some say her thoughtslain have eyes and ears across Dragongrin. Kiara Jin: Bound in bright leather armor and fraught with freckles, this half-elf veteran of Lightfall is famed amongst the common folk as a hero and protector. In a land of the monstrous, where conflict is a constant, Kiara focuses on people. Pragmatic and persistent, she strives to help those in need, regardless of the attention it brings from the Marrow. She ferries refugees and smuggles medicine and supplies to settlements, often patrolling the crags and gulfs of Svir in search of wayward souls. There are whispers that she prefers to keep her neck covered to avoid being bitten by one of Veccus’ Dirk, though the superstitious say it already hides a vampire bite.

PRIMARY LOCATIONS Ardent Scar: The capital of Svir, the Ardent Scar is a citysized fortress separating the Marrow-controlled east from the more chaotic reaches of the west. This fortress was constructed over the mouth of what was once the largest opening into Svir Below – known as “the Outway” – now closed off forever. The seat of Caius Veccus guards the pass into Grinn with an enormous gate, rarely opened. The fortress brims with Veccus’ minions, fortified against attack on all sides. The Black Rail: Railways built by the former cultures that resided in Svir Below in cooperation with the Zarfvin. The rail uses Archanics, and winds throughout the whole of Svir, mostly within the mountains. Traveling down them is rapid but treacherous, and rumors persist that its deepest tunnels house the largest hive of thoughtslayers in all Dragongrin.

272 DOMINIONS OF ASH: SVIR

Boldwine Fields: These formerly lush mountain vineyards are blighted, drained of life by the Desolation. Some say that the vines here can be used to stave off sickness if prepared correctly. Rotfiends nest here when not feeding. Darruk Pass: Sarrik patrol this winding series of canyons. The pass holds many hidden entryways into Svir’s cave settlements, and deadly traps are common to dissuade the curious. Doomwaters: The glacial water of this veined, sprawling river is said to heal even grievous wounds – but horrors are said to lurk beneath the surface. One of the only sources of fresh water in Svir, it draws creatures of all kinds to its banks. Drulgual: This settlement once stood as a respite for weary travelers, and was a safe destination for all who ventured into Svir. Now, it serves as a sanctuary for countless vampire spawn, and is often called the “City of Blood.” Goltheal: These ancient structures are built into the mountains themselves, connected by tunnels and bridges. Once a seat of power, it now serves as a makeshift outpost for Veccus’ Marrow patrols and their stitchers, and serves as a home for many Sarrik. Grasping Colossus: The skeletal remains of an armored Titan, sprawled across a mountain, still gripping a massive sword. Scavengers often pick through the corpse for Archan scraps. Some say that the colossus speaks to those who will listen, seeking those who would do its will... Halterfin Towers: Small watchtowers dot Svir at integral mountain passes, constantly plagued by undead assault. The Marrow and Darkfire rebels tirelessly battle for control over them, so it’s uncertain who will occupy them at any given time. Ironfell Station: This is the main entrance and primary terminal for the Black Rail of Svir. Once a bustling hub of travel around the entire region, it is now a dormant, abandoned place that few dare to venture. Defunct Archanic railcars sit covered in dust and cobwebs, but could be made functional again by someone savvy enough – or be salvaged for Archans. Its cavernous halls and tunnels are infested with thoughtslayers and serve as the lairs of numerous powerful monstrosities. Holdt’s Meadows: This stretch of flatland hosts greenery and rivers, a rare sight in the crags of Svir. A leviathan beast, said to be a lesser Primordial, turns away even the most daring travelers – but it’s said that the creature guards a powerful treasure. Kaige’s Reprieve: These maddening tunnels house cavern settlements and a subterranean river connecting them all. Sarrik ferries take travelers to safety for a price – usually favors, rather than coin. Kindlewood: This ashen-white forest grows within the canyons and on the cliff faces of Svir, a favorite nesting ground for rot crows. The strange trees are said to sprout from a massive dragon’s grin, deep beneath the surface.

273 DOMINIONS OF ASH: SVIR

Lights of Inon: These massive stone lanterns were used during Lightfall to communicate across Svir. They sit cold and dark now, visited by pilgrims desperate to hope. Some of the lights are being lit across Svir as of late, though no one knows why or by whom. Loris Vail: Known as the “wandering crypt”, entrances to this massive tomb installation disappear and reappear throughout the region, often giving off an eerie purple light that holds sway over the weak willed. Rumored to be alive, this ancient place lures travelers inside to torment them and feed on their fear for as long as they can survive. Some say that the doors to Loris Vail lead to another plane entirely. Mur’Tava: This abandoned and mostly collapsed stone city once housed a great mage and her loyal followers, but she perished with her allies in Lightfall, leaving behind arcane secrets protected by construct guardians. Rumors persist that she lives as a lich, and has raised her former allies as undead thralls that serve her. Peaks of Ger-Goloth: The highest peaks of Svir, said to be the lair of a powerful monster that stalks the peaks at night. It is rumored to love the taste of thoughtslayer flesh, though it has been slaughtering more and more of Svir’s denizens in recent days. Ravenheim: Once the largest city in Svir, its winding labyrinthine streets and towering buildings now house the ever-increasing population of rotfiends. Some whispers persist that deep within its walls there is a leader – someone or something that directs the foul creatures. Relneil: This fledgling settlement of refugees fleeing Grinn is built around the Nullifier, a large Prime Archan that seems to stave off the effects of the Desolation. A group of savvy Zarfvin are said to have completed altering the Nullifier, making it an Archanic subterranean drilling vessel. They seek worthy pilots to test it, and perhaps drive it into the heart of the Black Rail. Rotting Peaks: The Desolation hangs over these shattered crags like a dense fog, concealing veins of precious minerals. Travelers venturing into the mists are said to appear elsewhere in Dragongrin, sometimes days or weeks later. Stonemar: This is the well-known mass grave for the countless troops of the forces of good who fell during Lightfall in the region of Svir. The forces of the Dismembered Lord were merciless, and took no prisoners, slaying every last one. It is said that their malevolent ghosts haunt the peaks and woodlands seeking vengeance. GETTING TO SVIR BELOW There are myriad winding tunnels and passageways in the Svir Mountains, known collectively as the Black Caverns. The safest and most useful tunnels are often occupied, stalked by vampire spawn and monsters, guarded by the Dismembered Legion, or other factions of Svir. Many, if navigated properly, can eventually lead down into the cavernous depths of Dominion of Ash Svir Below - though almost all of them pass through the treacherous and thoughtslayer-infested Black Rail. For more information on Svir Below, see page 286.

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PERIPHERAL LOCATIONS Ruined Holithic cleric’s tower atop a shrouded peak, holding long-lost purification relics, now riddled with thoughtslayer lairs. Decrepit Black Rail railyard populated by Marrow outcasts. If you listen closely, they all speak in indistinct gibberish. Hilltop gallows where dissidents are put on display for all to witness. One corpse bears a strange symbol engraved on an amulet hanging from their neck. Hidden crevasse through which the Desolation bleeds, and thoughtslain kidnap the unwitting to feed their thoughtslayer masters. Sundered ruins of a Holithic university, pillaged over the years – the lair of a bloodthirsty monster. Marrow encampment overrun by monstrous fiends. Marrow and Rot Hunters work together to drive them away. Labyrinthine abandoned mine filled with cave-dwellers driven to madness. The mine is veined with gold that liquefies and evaporates if touched. A set of structures interconnected with scaffolding and patchwork additions. Lanterns glow with multicolored light and hum with an eerie ring, causing vivid hallucinations. A huge archway shaped like an open skeletal mouth with a river flowing beneath it. Living creatures swimming under the archway age rapidly. Lost Silverwise settlement overrun with undead. Rotting hounds bark and sniff, seemingly at random. SUDDEN PERILS A Bleak storm stirs: Dark clouds of roiling violet roll across the horizon. The sky is tinged blood red. If you don’t find shelter fast, the arcane stormwinds and crimson lightning of a Bleakstorm will surely overcome you. Unstable terrain: The Desolation has wracked Svir and left its terrain pitted and jagged. A rockslide, flood, or storm erupts suddenly, leading to dangerous environments and blocked paths. A Marrow patrol longs for a fight: The Marrow are ever vigilant in their search for the enemies of the Dismembered Lord. A patrol circles the area. If you have not allied yourself with the Marrow, discovery would certainly become a bloody affair, and losing means capture and brutal interrogation – if you’re lucky. A sheer cliff rises above you: A huge cliff face towers before you. To reach your destination, you will either need to scale it and risk a fall or find another way around, sacrificing hours or even days of travel time. A mad beast of the Desolation charges: A large beast with patches of matted, bloody fur and hide charges recklessly. Tendrils of innky black weaving through the whites of its eyes mark the influence of the Desolation. With care, the beast might be calmed and cured. It may serve useful as a mount or pack animal, or for study of the Desolation’s mysterious effects. The Desolation whispers secrets in your mind: You hear a pleasant voice in your ear, promising valuable information concerning a long-lost friend or family member. Every moment spent talking to this voice, thoughtslayers make their way toward you to ambush, drawn to the power. If you resist, a distorted image of a humanoid arachnid adorned in tarnished silver charms flashes over your eyes before the connection is severed, for now... A murder of rot crows swarms: The thunderous beating of wings erupts from the sky as countless rot crows descend to feast on the carcass of a mountain goat. They devour any flesh they can find – living or dead. The Desolation tears through: The Desolation breaks through into Svir, sending a burst of necrotic energy surging toward nearby creatures. Nearby rotfiends are drawn to this energy in a frenzy, their keen eyes roaming hungrily.

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GROWING THREATS AND RUMORS A group of Sarrik zealots devoted to Yhaghul kidnap travelers. Their next target is the large Silverwise caravan coming in from the south. A coven of thoughtslayers target adventurers and mercenaries as potential thoughtslain, luring them in with lucrative work, and striking when they’re comfortable. The crypt of Loris Vail has appeared, and eager treasure hunters rush to explore its confines. Fighting soon breaks out near the gates of the aberrant tomb. The rotfiends grow more cunning, using coordination and tactics beyond the skill of rank-and-file undead. A massive horde prepares to overwhelm the fledgling settlement of Relneil. A band of Obsidian Dirk have permission to feed freely on whomever they wish, without consequence. They work their way across Svir in a pattern easy to follow – you know three locations they’re likely to strike next. Twisted creatures of the Desolation spill from cave entrances in areas once thought safe, dragging people back into the underground. A powerful, bloodthirsty monster stalks the passes of Svir. It works its way north, leaving carnage and terror in its wake. Its attack pattern indicates it will strike again soon. A mage named Mor’Lavir seeks to become a lich and openly experiments on living souls. It is said within the fortnight he will use his collected relics to complete the foul transformation – unless the ritual is halted. Some say the Night Huntsman has fallen victim to lycanthropy, and is a lupine monster stalking the peaks of Svir. Tomorrow night is the full moon... It’s said Caius Veccus desires new blood in more ways than one – he seeks worthy warriors to become Obsidian Dirks. QUESTS AND BOUNTIES A thoughtslain holds a valuable secret about Caius Veccus, holed up in a cave. The Marrow would pay handsomely for their head; the Night Huntsman might pay more for the creature’s whereabouts. A smuggled cache of Rot Hunter weapons, enchanted to kill the undead, have been intercepted and detained by the Marrow, who don’t yet understand their power. The Rot Hunters are desperate for the weapons’ return. A priest secretly following the old ways has found Holithic relics in the hollows under the Kindlewood. He cannot reclaim them on his own and searches for those who might help for a percentage of the reclamation. An enemy of the Obsidian Dirk stole a lockbox rumored to contain an important family heirloom and large stash of wealth, and buried it somewhere in Svir. The Dirk questions those with ties to the thief, and the Marrow begrudgingly search for it day and night. Marrow and Rot Hunters trapped by a horde of undead have reached an uneasy peace while awaiting rescue. The truce can only last so long, but there may be a reward for those who help one side or the other. The Rot Hunters need someone to recover the intact brain of a rotfiend to brew an antidote to a deadly illness. They’ve promised to make an extra bottle for whomever can deliver. A bounty has been put out on the undead ogre Glagrot to end him once and for all. He lairs in Loris Vail, and the Marrow offer a generous reward for whomever brings them his head. Recover an heirloom blade dropped into the Doomwaters. The blade is unremarkable but a Darkfire Rebel claims it has a part to play in the coming revolution. Recover stolen goods from Silverwise highwaymen lurking in the mountain passes. The accused Silverwise claim the goods are theirs by right. The Marrow at the Halterfin Towers conscript guards at bonus pay to fill holes in the ranks. The Rot Hunters offer to pay for information about the Marrow inner workings.

MONSTER HUNTING IN SVIR D102

ATROCITIES

CLUES/LEADS

Corpses drained of blood

Livestock shredded to bits

Impaled bodies displayed on the road

Victims found mauled

Haphazardly buried bodies

Victims disappearing into caves

Bloody runes at a murder site

Ritual killings

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Beheaded victims with no pattern Victims sapped of life, made husks MONSTER

A witness saw something of note Anomalous weather around the site Mysterious cryptogram or code Teeth or claws left at the scene Victims connected by blood or background Tracks leading deep into Svir Babbling madman has reliable information Monster was wounded, left a trail of blood Day or time of death holds cosmological significance A strange ichor found at the scene WEAKNESS

Eldritch Abomination

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Malevolent Spirit Batlike Creature Warped Chimera Spectral Panther Goat-headed Behemoth Lupine Monstrosity Grave Golem Gargantuan Rotfiend

Simian Atrocity

Bleak iron, silver, or another significant metal Boldwine grape oil Fingernails of an only child Kindlewood arrows Pernum grease Deafening noises Elemental Magic Firedust Sunlight Poultice of leaves from the slaughter thicket

ROT CROWS After decades of exposure to the Desolation, feasting on the flesh of twisted undead creatures, these carrion birds assume a new, twisted form. Now monstrous and carnivorous in their appetites, murders of these rot crows circle the skies of Svir attacking without prejudice. Some say Veccus can see through their eyes.

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CRUX: THE GOLTHEAL BUTCHER Concept: Serial Murder Mystery Themes: Desperation, Paranoia, Prejudice, Pursuit

EVENT Terrible screams echo outside the tavern. As people rush out to see the commotion, a body is found hanging from a nearby building by a cord of white rope. A small, phosphorescent yellow rock hangs around the victim’s neck – a Sarrik totem of peace and protection. The body is identified as Vidar Dorvan, a Silverwise dignitary attempting to make peace between the Sarrik and Silverwise in these times of cultural tension. The Goltheal Silverwise believe the Sarrik’s undeath is against the natural order of things and must be corrected. Within days, the Silverwise dispatch investigator Nikolai Dorvan, cousin of Vidar, who finds the dead less talkative than usual for one of his kind. The newly elected Sarrik leader Ezechai Marked of Cobalt panics as more turn up dead, all with the same Sarrik peace symbol strapped to their corpses. With the already precarious truce in shambles, tensions between the Sarrik and Silverwise boil over. Some suspect these murders are political killings to fracture the treaty forever, while many claim a methodical murderer is to blame – a figure dubbed the Goltheal Butcher. Either way, if the killings are not stopped soon, chaos – or even war – might consume Goltheal entirely. The adventurers begin in the Sarrik-controlled Goltheal caverns when the tenuous peace and pending treaty between Sarrik and Silverwise plunges into ruin by a serial killer called the Goltheal Butcher. Whether they help the Silverwise take control, keep the Sarrik independent, broker a peace themselves, or forego the politics to focus on the Butcher, there will be plenty of intrigue, investigation, and dangerous confrontation. THE SILENT DEAD The Silverwise are spirit talkers, able to commune with the dead – however in Goltheal, their normal channels of communication aren’t working. There is a figurative fog blocking their connection into the Wailing Gray, preventing them from seeking answers from the Butcher’s victims. The thoughtslayers have severed this line of communication, using their profane magic of the Desolation to mask their involvement. This makes spells such as speak with dead unreliable or impossible to use.

PEOPLE This Crux centers around the conflict between the Sarrik leader Ezechai Marked of Cobalt and Silverwise investigator Nikolai Dorvan. Ezechai is a newly elected leader to the Sarrik tribe, eager to prove his abilities and desperate to save his people. He hopes to stop the killings and secure a new and lasting peace treaty. Dorvan seeks to uncover the truth behind the murder of his cousin and the others, proving if this is the work of a madman, or if the killings are political in nature. While the two sides bicker and fight, the Goltheal Butcher continues to work in the shadows, murdering innocents. Malah Storm of Rose is a Sarrik Darkfire Rebellion operative struggling with her Sarrik identity because of her human appearance. She feels the Butcher brings far too much attention to Goltheal, which threatens the Darkfire’s pivotal operations there. 276 DOMINIONS OF ASH: SVIR

THE GOLTHEAL BUTCHER

“You will be purified from this evil realm. It’s going to be a holy moment, and you will thank me with your screams. Receive this gift with a thankful heart.” Note: The Goltheal Butcher is a template designed to be overlaid onto an existing NPC or adventurer. Personality: Outwardly unassuming, but sadistic and losing sanity by the day; enthralled by thoughtslayers, slowly becoming a thoughtslain. Appearance: The Butcher can take many forms but should carry some signature item that, if discovered, acts as a clue to their true identity (a specific scarf, heirloom jewelry, a distinct weapon/tool, etc.) Rumor: Most Silverwise say the Butcher is a Sarrik rebel killing as an act of resistance toward Silverwise beliefs; many Sarrik believe the Butcher is a Silverwise assassin giving reason to pursue war. Goal: Purification of unbelievers by the gift of death. Introduction: As the Butcher can be anyone, their introductory scene should be masked over another person in the Crux. It should not be obvious they are the Butcher from their introduction, but there should be some clue that could become useful later, a verbal or physical tick, a unique item, etc. ANYONE CAN BE THE GOLTHEAL BUTCHER The Butcher NPC acts as a set of characteristics to be applied to any person in Svir, enthralled by the mind-controlling thoughtslayers. Choose the NPC who best fits the narrative, and apply this set of emotional and physical details. An adventurer might even be open to assuming the role, or be the killer without even realizing it due to some magical phenomenon. Use the quirks to give each NPC suspicious behavior, but perhaps let the players use the quirk of the real Butcher as a way to investigate their true identity.

EZECHAI, MARKED OF COBALT

New Tribe Leader (M Sarrik Human)

“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to protect my people – from the Butcher, from the Silverwise, or anyone else. I must always prove to them I am worthy of leadership.” Personality: Headstrong but increasingly desperate. Appearance: Ragged robes, bone talisman marking him as a leader, cobalt dye across his face. Rumor: Ezechai speaks to darker forces for assistance in managing the chaos. Goal: Prevent any further deaths and hold off conflict with the Silverwise. Quirk: Runs hand through hair and scratches neck. Introduction: Ezechai speaks heatedly with three other Sarrik, visibly distraught and holding back an emotional breakdown. The others argue that unless the Butcher is caught and tried for their crimes proving the Sarrik’s innocence, the Silverwise will no longer honor the treaty. Characters who succeed on a DC 14 Intelligence (History) check recall that the Silverwise and Sarrik are historical enemies due to the Silverwise believing the Sarrik have unfairly and unnaturally cheated death. A tenuous peace was reached with a new treaty to be signed by the recently murdered Silverwise diplomat.

NIKOLAI DORVAN

Investigator (M Silverwise Darrow) “It’s long been an open secret that the Sarrik plot against us. I will capture this Butcher myself and find proof that these deaths are not just mindless murder.”

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Personality: Aggressive and condescending; suspicious and coldly logical

Appearance: Fine clothing, ornamented dueling sword, a twisting dragon tattoo from neck to eye.

Rumor: The Silverwise set up these murders under the guise of starting conflict and taking over – whether or not this is true, Dorvan plans to falsify reports to justify open war.

Goal: Find and capture the Goltheal Butcher for interrogation; discover who murdered his cousin; spur Silverwise and Sarrik into conflict.

Quirk: Constantly adjusts clothes and taps rhythmically on armor.

Introduction: Dorvan, flanked by a cleric, two armed Dorvan cousins, and three Silverwise hunting hounds, maintains a meticulously clean workspace with organized notes and dossiers on the victims and potential perpetrators. Dorvan speaks sternly and deliberately to others, but too quietly to be heard without approaching directly. Upon seeing the party, the Silverwise go silent, guards holding hands on their weapons, hounds growling. Dorvan demands to know what the characters want, and refuses any request to speak in private. A DC 16 Intelligence (Investigation) check reveals a small flaw in his notes. Pointing out this error gains some level of Dorvan’s trust, and causes the Silverwise to open up about their efforts. They ask that any information be reported to them before the Sarrik.

MALAH, STORM OF ROSE

Darkfire Rebellion Spy (F Sarrik Halfkin) “We must find the cause of these murders – they make friends of our rebellion skittish and our work in Goltheal more labored than ever.”

CHARACTER CONNECTIONS Iska Easting, a Silverwise, hired you to ensure the Sarrik woman Bethiah, Witch of Crimson ends up dead – preferably pinned on the Butcher. Bethiah, Witch of Crimson, feels threatened. The strange, elderly Sarrik woman pays you a handsome sum to keep her safe. Ezechai is desperate for investigators to counteract and oppose Dorvan, protecting him from undue accusations. The Silverwise offer a large bounty for evidence or witnesses capable of proving the Sarrik planned the attack on the Silverwise ambassador as a political move. A Sarrik council member sends for you (without permission from the tribe leader), begging you to broker a peaceful solution to the rising tensions between Sarrik and Silverwise. A Marrow Lieutenant orders you to infiltrate the Sarrik tribe in order to gather information about their involvement with the Darkfire Rebellion. COUNTDOWN TO PERIL Silverwise dignitary Vidar Dorvan, responsible for the peace treaty with the Sarrik, is found murdered with a ritualistic white rope around a yellow phosphorescent rock tied around his chest – the first victim of the so-called Goltheal Butcher. A crew of Silverwise led by Vidar’s cousin, Nikolai Dorvan, arrives to investigate, accusing the Sarrik of assassinating their ambassador for political reasons. The Sarrik and Silverwise race to find answers as deaths increase. Tensions and distrust simmer between the two groups as blame is pointed and investigations stall. The Silverwise bring in their militia, instituting lockdowns, curfews, and quarantines, sparking outrage from the Sarrik. Despite their efforts, deaths continue. Violent conflicts erupt between the occupying Silverwise and the Sarrik who despise the unjust control. The Butcher’s murders become more grisly and more frequent, while someone important to keeping the peace is targeted. If the Butcher is not found and no peace formed between the factions, Ezechai acts in desperation and makes a deal with the thoughtslayers to gain information about the Butcher. This allows the thoughtslayers to take hold of Goltheal.

Personality: Witty and surprisingly humorous, but emotionally driven and quick-tempered. Appearance: A dark-skinned half-elf woman – almost entirely human with traces of Sarrik undeath. Rumor: Malah is here without the blessing of rebellion leader Asari Duscellis in the hopes of making up for a large error. Goal: Find and kill the Goltheal Butcher, halting a possible conflict before it begins. Quirk: She fidgets with dark, scaled flesh on her cheek – a mark of her Sarrik condition. Introduction: As cover for her recruiting and reconnaissance activity for the Darkfire Rebellion, Malah operates her Aunt Bethiah’s food cart where she sells purposefully mediocre spiced meats. Anyone who approaches the cart is confronted by delicious smells, and given the same invitation to order – the phrase, “Would you prefer fresh or cured meat?” A DC 17 Wisdom (Insight) reveals that one of the letters on her handpainted menu is a cipher used by the Darkfire Rebellion.

277 DOMINIONS OF ASH: SVIR

ESCALATION The tunnels and caves of Goltheal overflow with conflict. The Butcher’s attacks add to the body count, and the failing alliance between the Sarrik and the Silverwise threatens to collapse the peace. The party should feel pressured to make progress through the gradual increase in both murders and cultural tension. Both the Sarrik and Silverwise try to bring the party to their own side, all while the Butcher continues their slaughter. LOCAL CONDITIONS Superstitions are given more weight than usual. Locals are fearful and unwelcoming of outsiders. Armed Sarrik guards patrol. Silverwise militia enact new laws. Political tensions rise and violent outbreaks occur.

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CONFLICT Desperation: Ezechai makes a deal with thoughtslayers to gain information about the killer. Prejudice: Violent conflict breaks out between a group of Silverwise and Sarrik, fueling distrust. Paranoia: The Sarrik lock down the caverns, preventing exit and enforcing strict curfews and patrols until the murderer is found. Pursuit: A townsperson claims to know where the Butcher will strike next, and that the group must move immediately to prevent another death. RISING THREAT Someone dear to Ezechai is found dead. A Sarrik and a Silverwise brawl in the streets, and a secret is blurted in a rage. A murder in a public place causes a dangerous panic. The Silverwise allege they’ve found evidence that the Sarrik are backing the Butcher, which the Sarrik say is forged to fuel political aims. NOTABLE LOCATIONS Cavern Depths: dark, winding tunnels, hidden pathways, strange flora and fauna Sarrik Market: fearful civilians, armed guards, suffering economy Silverwise Quarters: suspicious diplomats, segregation, discussions of war Victim’s Home: eerie atmosphere, strange clues, grieving family SCENES Heated Council: dire accusations, heated arguments, plans of action Question the Witness: shoddy testimony, separate fact from fiction, unfair prejudice On the Chase: rescue an innocent, race through tunnels, avoid traps Confrontation: nowhere left to run, desperate gambits, explosive last stand

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D12 1-3 4-6 7-9 10-12 D20

CLUES A secret cache of phosphorescent rock and white rope. Tracks to a secret tunnel. A hidden witness saw more than they should. Object belonging to an NPC found at the scene of a crime. TWISTS

A priest claiming to speak with the dead offers to perform a 1 ritual at a hidden altar. The results only cause more conflict. An armed Silverwise force arrives – a rival family of the 2-5 Dorvans siding with the Sarrik. A civilian wracked with guilt confesses to planting evidence 6-10 against their enemy. The prime suspect is found dead in the Silverwise quarters. 11-15 They do not bear the same strange marking/symbol of the other victims. A Sarrik rebelling against Ezechai’s orders amasses a 16-19 following and threatens to lead an exodus out of Goltheal. An independent copycat killer begins attacking people. Their 20 work muddies the results and discoveries.

CLIMAX: THE BUTCHER’S LAIR The lair is barely lit with an eerie yellow glow, and an ominous buzz hangs in the air. Muffled cries and groans echo, strange symbols carved into the walls glow an ominous yellow, and various horrifying implements lay scattered on desks. WHERE IS THE BUTCHER’S LAIR? The Butcher’s lair is a subterranean location intended to be placed anywhere a basement, underground cave, or tunnel system could exist, based on the actual identity of the Butcher or where the investigation leads the adventurers. Consider secret tunnels running across Svir, or even the region of Svir Below, as options.

UNFOLDING EVENTS • The Butcher lays traps in a way only they know how to navigate. Any wrong step or careless action trips them. Consider matching the nature of the traps with the chosen identity for the Butcher. • Three innocent victims are held in the back of the lair, wired to cruel and painful traps. They will die if not rescued quickly. • The Butcher leaps from the shadows and attacks, using their knowledge of the lair and its traps to their advantage. • Three thoughtslayer spineweavers fall from the ceiling and attack. • Depending on the party’s allegiances, either the Sarrik or Silverwise – or if peace was brokered, both – arrive to assist.

• The Butcher flees through a backchannel of secret tunnels. The thoughtslayers responsible for the Butcher’s transformation skulk in the shadows, and if given the opportunity attempt to prey on any weakened or paralyzed creatures to create new thoughtslain.

AFTERMATH/CONSEQUENCES • If the Butcher escapes, they hide for some time before killing again. Peace between the Sarrik and Silverwise is unattainable following the failure to resolve the conflict. • If the Sarrik tribe leader Ezechai was forced to work with the thoughtslayers to gain information, they slowly influence him and spread throughout Goltheal. • If the party defeats the Butcher and sides with the Sarrik, the Silverwise are driven from Goltheal, angry and hostile, swearing vengeance on all involved – especially the party. • If the party defeats the Butcher and sides with the Silverwise, reinforcements arrive to enforce peace and the Silverwise occupy Goltheal before working to expel the Sarrik. • If the party defeats the Butcher and helps broker peace between the two cultures, they halt hostilities long enough to negotiate a new treaty and work toward some level of understanding with each other.

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CRUX: THE CRIMSON BETROTHAL Concept: Gruesome vampire wedding Themes: Appeasement, Love, Sacrifice, Tradition

EVENT

Introduction: Magnus talks to his son Desrin, teaching him the words to a song in a language that can’t be understood. They argue about the importance of tradition as Desrin prepares for his wedding to Lady Essa Vanna. A DC 20 Intelligence (History) check reveals this is a banned preLightfall hymn, though the words and melody have been twisted into a dark, vampiric rendition.

EILIN KELLY

You’ve been summoned here to bear witness to a grand occasion. Desrin Hillbrith, son of the notorious and extravagantly wealthy vampire Magnus Hillbrith, is to be married. However, it is not quite the auspicious occasion you imagined. Animals and people have gone missing for weeks, and some whisper of an honorary sacrifice to the vampires. Vampires and daring heroes scheme on how to best use this event to further their own goals while Marrow arrive in droves to maintain the peace. The adventurers are attendees investigating and attending the vampire wedding. Whether they help Magnus ensure his son’s wedding goes without issue, or help Eilin take advantage of this opportunity to take Magnus down, there will be plenty of twisted traditions, mysterious scheming, and dark treachery abound.

PEOPLE This Crux centers around the conflict between Magnus Hillbrith, a wealthy vampire trying to maintain his traditions and amass his influence through his son’s marriage, and Eilin Kelly, a Rot Hunter using this gathering as an opportunity to take out many powerful vampires in one move. Killian Trist, a Marrow captain, is conflicted between the two, wanting to maintain his duty as a Marrow to keep Magnus’ peace, but worried that his daughter is among the kidnapped and may be sacrificed at the event.

Rot Hunters Lieutenant (F Silverwise Human) “Those poor people, captured and imprisoned without hope. We must be their light and shield. The dark creatures must be stopped if anyone is to know peace.” Personality: Stern and serious, practical and dedicated. Appearance: Dull, purely practical equipment; rugged, with tied-back hair and eerie green eyes. Rumor: Someone close to her is among the kidnapped. Goal: Rescue victims from the wedding at any personal cost, and if the opportunity presents itself, kill the gathered vampires. Introduction: Eilin sits on the stump of a tree, fidgeting idly with a large hunting knife. Three others, similarly dressed, sit on the ground around her. She discusses the wedding to come, focused strangely on the details of who will be where during the ceremony. Before she gets to why, she notices the party, putting a hand up to quiet the others. A DC 16 Wisdom (Perception) check catches one of the others mention saving the captured even if they must sacrifice themselves to do so. If agreeable, Eilin asks the party to help spring the trap. Otherwise, they feign as travelers through Svir.

KILLIAN TRIST

Marrow Captain (M Crucian Human)

MAGNUS HILLBRITH

Powerful Duke (M Vampire)

“I’m sworn to service. I must follow orders without fail. I can’t imagine the punishment I’d face if I failed my duty… but he has my daughter.”

“There are two types of poor – those who serve me, and those who feed me. Which will you be today?”

Personality: Outwardly stoic and militaristic, but internally wracked with conflict.

Personality: Boisterous and braggadocious about adventurers he’s killed.

Appearance: Marrow armor with a captain’s insignia; missing ear and a scar across his cheek.

Appearance: Bright clothing and armor to draw attention.

Rumor: He takes orders from Gnaeus, Arcseer of the Dismembered Lord, but is under bribe by Magnus to ignore aspects of the wedding that conflict with the Dismembered Lord’s laws.

Rumor: Recently killed an adventurer whom Caius Veccus wanted alive. Goal: Return to Veccus’ good graces to acquire more land in Svir.

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Goal: Fulfill his duty to enforce peace at the wedding; save his daughter from the vampires’ clutches. Introduction: Killian Trist barks orders to his Marrow soldiers, demanding urgency. One Marrow protests that more time is needed to finish the tasks this short-handed, but Killian cuts them off with a threat before sending them away. He removes his helmet to wipe his brow when he notices the party approaching. A DC 15 Wisdom (Insight) check reveals his nervousness, even beyond the rush to finish their work. D6 1 2

D6 1

CHARACTER CONNECTIONS Bring an offering to Magnus, who will appraise it as a worthy gift or not. The Rot Hunters worry about the increased loss of innocent life and send for you to meet Eilin Kelly to help her prevent excess suffering. Meet with a rival vampire who seeks to sabotage the wedding so his own son can marry Lady Essa Vanna instead, gaining control over the inheritance. Killian Trist desperately needs more people to help keep the Marrow’s peace among feuding vampires. He conscripts guards at double the pay. Desrin is an old friend, and promises to bring you into the vampire fold if you keep your friendship a secret and help his wedding proceedings go smoothly. One of Caius Veccus’ commanders (and rival to Magnus) sends you to spy on Magnus to report if any of his actions break the Dismembered Lord’s laws. COUNTDOWN TO PERIL The wedding of Desrin Hillbrith and Lady Essa Vanna is announced garishly by vampire street performers parading through Svir, handing out invitations to the wealthy and powerful, and marking the poor and weak for abduction. Some attempt to leave Svir, knowing the debauchery and carnage sure to ensue, but they are openly taken prisoner by Marrow to feed the wedding guests. Abductions increase. Powerful and wealthy guests of honor arrive from across Dragongrin bearing exotic and magical wedding gifts. The Red Sail Market is more prominent than ever in Svir – but cannot sell to commoners. A guest of honor makes an attempt on Desrin’s life, but is thwarted by Lady Vanna. The attacker is publicly executed by the Obsidian Dirk, and both Marrow and Dirk double in number. Rumors persist that Desrin is not of pure blood, and some vampire clans oppose the wedding vehemently. Guests of honor leave Svir, and the Rot Hunters attempt to isolate and slay them. The wedding occurs, but goes against ancient vampiric tradition due to Desrin’s unclean bloodline. An all-out-war erupts between the vampire clans of Dragongrin.

ESCALATION Vampire weddings are complex ordeals filled with ancient traditions, esoteric and bloody rituals, scheming rivals, exotic locations, and opportunistic hunters. There will be many opportunities to plan and explore before the wedding ceremony itself. The party should have ample time to investigate, talk to the major players, and explore the area so they can make alliances and strategize before the ceremony begins. D4 1 2 3 4

CONFLICT Appeasement: For Caius Veccus to bless the wedding, he desires a rare antique. Love: A previously spurned vampire seeks to sabotage the wedding over their unrequited love for the bride, Lady Vanna. Sacrifice: Someone must give their life willingly for the ceremony to be complete. Tradition: Vampire laws state the wedding cannot happen – dissent brews.

RISING THREAT

1 2-3 4-5 6

An individual under Caius Veccus’ protection dies. An ancient tradition forbids the vampiric marriage. A gang of mindless thoughtslain kills without prejudice. A foreign attendee reveals a dangerous gift.

D8 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 D10 1-3 4-6 7-9 10 D12 1-3 4-6 7-9 10-12

NOTABLE LOCATIONS Subterranean Caves: shrine to monstrous god, pools of oily black water, labyrinthine Siege Camp: Marrow ballista, protective blue torches, watchtowers Wedding Entrance: patrolling guards, high walls, noble attendees Wedding Feast: countless vampires, garish decor, feast of gore SCENES Cornered Monster: hapless victims, fire spreads, drastic measures Question the Victim: bitterness and loss, thirst for revenge, clue revealed Sneak Into the Wedding: fake invitation, face scrutiny, avoid guards Last Stand: surrounded, outmatched, last words ODDITIES A written confession – a secret revealed. Enchanted lanterns watch attendees. Caches of strange, blessed weapons. Landslides, unsafe roads, rotfiends.

LOCAL CONDITIONS Monster attacks occur nightly. Locals mistrust outsiders. Rot Hunters recruiting. Marrow trainees sent into the field earlier than usual. Many of the living sow fear.

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D20

TWISTS

Pheshi is unable to control the Titanshell, as it begins to fight both sides, causing heavy losses. Ciovok reveals he is working for Xur Kith, and that the dragon 2-5 is the source of his power. Xur Kith attempts to swallow one of the party, but Voidbringer 6-10 intervenes, being killed in the process. It is revealed that this battle was never to be won – they start sealing off the entrance to the Black Shores magically using 11-15 the energies that permeate from Xur Kith – the battle was to keep him occupied. The already unstable time and space in the area are further fractured by the chaos of war and magic. Areas of the battle 16-19 begin to freeze, repeat, or speed and slow as time in the area nears a permanent breaking point. This was all a plan by the Dismembered Lord to lure Xur Kith 20 in, and he uses a perfectly staged ambush to steal the Bleak Dragon’s days, becoming even more powerful than before. 1

CLIMAX: THE RED CEREMONY Magnus’ banquet hall has been elaborately decorated, the ancient stone contrasted with modern finery. The tapestries and clothing are all a crimson red, meant to enhance vampiric appetite for the post-ceremony “festivities.” A large crowd of invitees, Marrow, and vampires mill about and take seats. Marrow space themselves out across the walls and balconies, armed with loaded crossbows. The kidnapped innocents (if not rescued) hang unconsciously from the ceiling by chains.

UNFOLDING EVENTS • Desrin, dressed in stark white, awaits the arrival of his bride Lady Vanna, singing the song his father taught him, careful not to miss a single word. • Lady Vanna approaches and vows are said, and the prisoners hanging above are cut open, causing blood to fall over the ceremony like rain, staining the groom and bride’s clothes a violent crimson.

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• The officiant is secretly one of Eilin’s operatives who attempts to pull a stake to kill Desrin at the altar. • Killian Trist must choose – save (or avenge) his daughter and order the Marrow to attack the vampires, or choose duty and stop anything that would disrupt the wedding song. • Absolute chaos erupts as all sides move into open conflict at the assassination attempt. The Rot Hunters and vampires fight, with the Marrow siding with one or the other depending on Trist and the characters’ actions. • Vampires fight to the death, while the Marrow and Rot Hunters flee if the circumstances become dire enough.

AFTERMATH/CONSEQUENCES • If Eilin’s forces prevail, they claim the estate and hunt down whatever vampires remain before tending to any surviving innocents. • If the vampires win, they chase down any Rot Hunters, slaughtering and stringing them up as examples to future rebels before finishing the ceremony uninterrupted. • If the party disrupts the wedding, saving innocent lives, Eilin commends them, offering a reward and recommendation to meet the infamous Night Huntsman for more work. • Magnus and the Marrow keep notes of those who act against the Dismembered Lord’s laws and mark the party as rebels if they side with the Rot Hunters. • Should the party side with Magnus and ensure the wedding goes off undisturbed, they receive a handsome reward – a personal commendation by Lord of Ash Caius Veccus, and the promise of future work hunting down Svir’s traitors.

EVERGROWING SHADOWS

If left unchecked, Svir’s dangers will overtake it. The Desolation and its servants increase their influence with each passing day, the rotfiends grow in number, and Lord of Ash Caius Veccus consolidates his vampiric power.

LORD OF ASH: CAIUS VECCUS THE BLED CONQUEROR “The breath I cannot take myself, I will take from another.” Some know Caius Veccus as a brilliant tactician and proven warrior. Others call him a traitor and a monster, but no one denies the power and influence he wields. The Dismembered Lord himself trusts Veccus to guard the passage into Grinn, a task the vampire carries out from his heavily guarded fortress, the Ardent Scar. Excelling at quick and decisive military action, the warmonger possesses an insatiable appetite for conquest – and blood. The story goes that Veccus served the Holithic Church during Lightfall, before defecting to the Dismembered Lord at the turn of the tide, becoming a vampire before the end. Now twisted in undeath, Veccus’ duties as Lord of Ash include training the Marrow of the Dismembered Lord, culling the undead population of Svir, and guarding the mountain passage into Grinn.

While it appears Veccus serves the Dismembered Lord with unfaltering loyalty, in truth he grows restless with his station and his insatiable need for blood increases beyond rats, rot crows, and the legion’s prisoners. In desperation, he feeds upon weaker legions of Marrow, blaming their deaths on the many threats in the region, and scours Svir for a way to rid himself of his curse while retaining the immortality it grants – perhaps one day, he can stand where the Dismembered Lord stands now. Encountering Caius Veccus: In addition to his immense strength and cunning, Veccus is manipulative, dangerous, and conceited. He is careful and patient, but decisive and relentless when spurred to action. He takes great pleasure in toying with his enemies, emptying would-be heroes of hope before draining their blood. He often wins his enemies over with his powerful charisma, promises of great treasure, or feigned mercy – instead, he feeds, or turns them into vampiric spawn utterly devoted to him. Reliquary of Ash: Caius’ reliquary is his Bleak-iron longsword. One who slays Veccus and brings the blade before the Dismembered Lord can take his place as Lord of Ash. Though the sword is powerful, it is a conduit for the Dismembered Lord’s will, slowly turning it’s wielder’s mind to fall in line with the Sovereign’s own. Veccus’ vampirism makes him all but immune to this effect, though he feigns subservience. Appearance: Caius Veccus strikes a large, imposing silhouette. A man of distinct but pleasing features in life, a wicked scar blemishes his once-handsome face, missing flesh revealing pointed fangs even with his mouth closed in his distinct sneer. His purple plate armor is lined with golden filigree, festooned with dimly glowing runes of protection. His fine longsword of Bleak-iron hangs at his hip, but he only draws it under dire circumstances, preferring instead to overpower his prey with his bare hands. Powers: Veccus regenerates after feeding, regaining his strength and vitality. He also absorbs the abilities, knowledge, and even spells of those he feeds on for a short time afterward. Those he turns into vampires treat him as a trusted ally until death. Weaknesses: Veccus is ashamed of his visage, hiding his warped face behind masks and veils. When his appearance is insulted, Caius loses his signature calm, attacking haphazardly and without awareness of his surroundings. Origins: Some say Caius Veccus was once a cleric of the Holithic church, tortured for weeks before defecting and turning. Others whisper he willingly gave himself to the curse of vampirism after seeing the beauty of the Dismembered Lord. Many believe he was once a lowly Marrow in the Dismembered Lord’s first regiment, working his way up through the ranks and proving himself in combat. Secrets: Veccus hides his secrets well, but that hasn’t stopped rumors from flowing freely from loose lips. Some say his frequent stays in the Ardent Scar under the guise of leadership and organization are actually driven by paranoia and fear. Others whisper he has fallen in love with a Rot Hunter woman and refuses to march on them for fear of hurting her. Many believe he has sired secret children, long lost sons and daughters who have betrayed him.

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Fortress of Ash: The Ardent Scar is a magnificent structure that once served as the palace to the Cryf leadership of Svir before Lightfall, towering above the trade hub that was fed by the Outway of Svir Below. Veccus fortified and militarized the structure by sealing off the tunnels leading to the Outway, adding ramparts overlooking every direction of Svir, and adding a moat surrounding an additional set of outer walls. The structure’s age shows at its crumbling base, where a crafty individual might find a way through from somewhere in the Svir Mountains or Svir Below. The Black Rail runs directly into the Scar, but that entrance has been sealed off, with the tunnels overrun with undead and more recently the thoughtslayers. Nemesis: The Night Huntsman is one of the few remaining Copper Jackals in Dragongrin, and serves as the leader of the Rot Hunters. The Huntsman and his followers have ambushed dozens of Marrow patrols, harassing Veccus’ minions at every opportunity. It is rumored that the Night Huntsman disfigured Veccus’ face. Though the Huntsman fights for Svir, rumors persist that he secretly wishes to usurp Veccus and become the next Lord of Ash. Legion of Ash: Many Marrow serving under Veccus as recruits develop a deep respect for him, and choose to remain under his command. As a result, Veccus’ Marrow are known for their zealous, unquestioning fervor to his commands. The Obsidian Dirk are hand-chosen as Veccus’ vampire spawn, and are almost exclusively former Marrow. The envy between the Marrow and the Dirk is palpable, often erupting in infighting as they forever strive for Veccus’s favor and praise.

VECCUS STRIVES FOR • The Painwielder: A necrotic object capable of restoring Veccus’ mortality. Veccus wishes to secure the weapon to keep it out of the hands of his enemies. Rumors of its location in the ruins of Svir have surfaced. • Healed Hatred: Veccus and his brother Donovan have been at odds since the Lord of Ash was turned. The tension pains Veccus, and recently, Donovan’s daughter Lilia has taken ill. If only Veccus could save her... • Scrolls of Stolen Days: Veccus grows weary of his need for blood, considering it a weakness. He seeks scrolls inscribed with the secrets of stealing mortal days said to be located in Svir. With these secrets, Veccus could gain true immortality while ridding himself of the bloodlust plaguing him.

VECCUS’ STATE OF POWER This section represents the strength of Caius Veccus’ resources, allies, and enemies. For everything except the secrets and the plot twist, the lower the roll, the worse-off the result for the Lord of Ash. It is intended to be rolled once at the beginning of a session or campaign to generate a starting point, but it can be rolled any time an important enough event occurs to affect the resource or people. D4 1 2 3 4

THE OBSIDIAN DIRK Morale is low among the dirk, and a new vampire gathers followers. Veccus’ hold on the Dirk slips, and though none rebel, discontent festers. Some Dirk express concerns, but most still hold true to Veccus. The Dirk have never been more zealous for their lord Veccus.

284 DOMINIONS OF ASH: SVIR

D6 1 2-3 4-5 6 D8 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8

LEGION OF ASH Recruits arrive slower than ever, and a draft has been instated for Marrow. Marrow lose more than they gain, and concerns over numbers are widely known. Deserters and losses are few and the Marrow are gaining ground in their battles. The Marrow have never had stronger numbers, nor more devoted soldiers. FORTRESS OF ASH Defenses are in shambles due to outside influences, and secret entrances are plenty. Attacks from the undead drain supplies. Defenses are bolstered, with new defenses against undead in place. Maintenance and defenses of the fortress are immaculate. Some call it impenetrable.

D10

VECCUS’ FOES

1-3

The Night Huntsman is more powerful than ever. The Rot Hunters have slain more than half of the Obsidian Dirk. With help from Gnaeus, Veccus is one step ahead of the Rot Hunters’ plans. Veccus deals crippling blows to his foes, weakening them greatly.

4-6 7-9 10 D12

VECCUS’ HINDRANCE

Blood is no longer granting Veccus as much power as it used 1-3 to. Veccus and his top generals disagree strongly on the next 4-6 step, causing chaos. Veccus’ paranoia on thoughtslayers is validated – he fearfully 7-9 culls massive numbers from his own ranks and spends even more time in isolation. The leader of an enemy faction turns out to be Veccus’ 10-12 relative. D20

TWISTS

The Night Huntsman captures a hostage of immense value 1 and demands a meeting in person. A conflict leaves one of them severely wounded. 2-5 Veccus has fallen in love with an enemy. Veccus finds one of the artifacts he strives for, safeguarding 6-10 his reign. Asari Duscellis is found dead, murdered by an assassin, 11-15 throwing the rebellion into chaos. A mysterious witch appears, promising to solve Veccus’ 16-19 problems if he complies with her instructions. 20 Veccus’ niece, Lilia, is actually his daughter.

COUNTDOWN TO RUIN If left unchecked, Svir’s growing undead menace could overwhelm the Marrow and bleed into neighboring regions. The region is a tinderbox of conflict, with multiple factions vying against each other and the undead horde. 1. A Fallen Hero: Caius bites a prominent hero, Kiara Jin, turning her and destroying what little hope the people of Svir had. The newly undead Kiara is placed in command of the Obsidian Dirk. People are less trusting and welcoming of outsiders, and adventurers are turned away from friendly settlements unless able to prove their worth. 2. The Scouring of Svir: Kiara and the Obsidian Dirk ravage the settlements of Svir, hunting rebels by interrogating and killing innocents. Many innocents suffer, and none are safe from the hunt. NPCs friendly to the adventurers may perish and rise as undead. 3. Beaten, Broken, Slain: The Rot Hunters and Darkfire Rebels retreat into hiding as their ranks dwindle. Asari Duscellis continues to fight, but her cause suffers catastrophic losses in desperate skirmishes across Svir. The undead population – especially the rotfiends – booms without the Rot Hunters culling their numbers.

Desolation grows by the day. The rebelling Marrow hire mercenaries to aid in their fight. 9. The Lone Lord of Ash: War claims lives on all sides. Blackrot ravages Svir, and the undead are countless and ferocious – there are few living creatures in the dominion. Veccus loses followers by the day and grows desperate. Losing his edge, he falls into an ambush set by the thoughtslayers. Badly wounded, he flees back to the Ardent Scar, but not before taking one of the thoughtslayers hostage. Svir sits on the edge of a knife. Deserting Marrow might divulge secrets such as the hidden passage into the Ardent Scar, or the secret method for opening the great gates of Svir. 10. The Apocalypse Within: To save his own life, Veccus drinks the blood of the captive thoughtslayer, connecting him with the dark and twisted ruler of the Desolation, Yhaghul the Worldslayer. Yhaghul’s will overtakes Veccus, and he sacrifices countless lives to allow the Desolation to swallow the whole of Svir. Yhaghul enters Dragongrin to slay his greatest adversary – the one called the Dismembered Lord. Svir falls to the thoughtslayers and Marrow stationed in surrounding regions mobilize to face the threat directly.

4. Veccus’ Failure: Lilia, Veccus’ niece, worsens. To save her life, Veccus attempts to turn her, but the young girl doesn’t survive the grisly transformation. Flying into a rage, Veccus gathers his best Marrow and sets out across Svir to set fire to many settlements. Veccus and his Marrow roam Svir, turning many into vampire spawn. The adventurers encounter a higher concentration of Marrow patrols, wandering vampire spawn, and possibly Veccus himself. 5. The Wound Widens: Veccus leaves the wound of the Desolation to fester, and the thoughtslayers invade en masse with the rupture unguarded. The Desolation’s presence in Svir worsens, spilling forth untold horrors. The adventurers discover a friendly NPC is a thoughtslain in service to the thoughtslayers. Blackrot runs rampant and begins to even affect the living who are ill or weak. 6. A War with No Victor: A battle for minds rages. The vampire spawn, unfalteringly loyal to Veccus, clash with the thralls of the thoughtslayers, and the denizens of Svir are caught in the middle without the Night Huntsman or Duscellis’ rebels to rely on. A war between the two factions roils and the region reels as desperate settlements hire mercenaries to protect their borders and escort refugees. 7. A Brother’s Vengeance: Amidst the conflict with the thoughtslayers, Donovan, Veccus’ brother, seeks vengeance for the death of his daughter Lilia. He leads the Night Huntsman and the Rot Hunters into the Ardent Scar through a secret passage, and a fierce battle erupts. Veccus is nearly killed, but manages to prevail, killing both Donovan and the Night Huntsman. The surviving Rot Hunters become vampire spawn in service to Veccus. 8. Deserting Marrow: Doubting Veccus’ leadership with the mounting thoughtslayer invasion, and angry over the Obsidian Dirk’s elevation above the legions, a contingent of Marrow revolt. Veccus retaliates using both Kiara Jin and the Dirk. War rages on multiple fronts, and the

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SVIR BELOW

CRIME-RIDDEN, SUBTERRANEAN CANAL CITIES “For all their bluster, we’re all just pieces on a board, all the way up to the Sovereign. And Svir Below, this place? This is my board – and I write the rules.” – Vim Derosas, Lord of Ash Labyrinthine canals and half-submerged structures house underground trade and rampant crime upon ancient relics.

HISTORY

Then: Before Lightfall, Svir Below served as the hub of trade between Innes and Viste, the region now known as Grinn. Now: The crime-ridden underbelly of Dragongrin brims with gangs, smuggling, corrupt Marrow, and a prolific black market. Beyond: If the Golis Ocean continues to rise, and Deepvault unlocked, Svir Below will be lost to crimson waves and Titan constructs. SVIR BELOW AT-A-GLANCE Terrain: Canals, grottos, rivers, caves, and islands Climate: Humid and dark, with rampant flooding Lord of Ash: Vim and Aut Derosas, twin crime lords Resources: Local and imported black market rarities; canal apples Cultures: Drogus, Zarfvin Factions: Nullity Ring, Dead Roses, Quill & Stone, numerous small gangs Creatures: Fleshcauldron, krokod, Villinavi, fangrul

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KNOW THIS TO SURVIVE

Svir Below is a subterranean hotbed for crime, ruled by the Derosas Twins. Smugglers, forgers, and all manner of lowlevel thug make up the countless gangs, mercenary factions, and black market guilds congregating around the ancient canals, where goods can be ferried safely and securely, and travelers seek less-than-savory services. The Derosas Twins Run the Criminal Underworld: The Derosas Twins – Drogus half-dwarf brother and sister Vim and Aut – are the former leaders of the Dead Roses gang. Now ruling Svir Below, these joint Lords of Ash maintain a sizable number of hand-selected, loyal Marrow peacekeepers, as well as a wide network of kneebreakers and informants. They also command the enigmatic Silent Eight, so-named for the number and the bartermouth symbol of “eight,” signifying death. This powerful spy network of undercover operatives is said to have infiltrated all of the other notable gangs in Svir Below passing along key information, and influencing their politics and conflicts to serve the aims of the Derosas Twins. Gangs War Within the Six Daggers: The Six Daggers is the hub of civilization in Svir Below, and bloody gang wars are constant and abundant within it. While these gangs spill each other’s blood without hesitation, they still operate under a loose code of honor known as the Code of Below. Arguably the most bloody and spanning feud is between the two most powerful gangs – the xenophobic, Zarfvin-led Nullity Ring and the stubborn, Drogus-led Dead Roses. The Mur de Saphir, one of the first and most powerful gangs in Svir Below, were all but snuffed out years ago – though it has seen a resurgence within the chaos of the region. A new gang has emerged, calling themselves the Vulturrin. Wearing identical masks that obscure their faces, they notably do not follow the Code of Below, and instead actively seek to break it. Their sadistic and violent methods seem to be without pattern or reason, and they show a zealous devotion to their cause. Their enigmatic leader known as Papa Vulture is said to be unkillable, and seems to be one step ahead of his

enemies. They grow in number and power by the day in the Slaughterhouse District, positioning themselves to claim it as their own. There are few in Svir Below who do not fear the Vulturrin in some measure. The Fires of Larion Ever Burn: The large southern portion of Svir Below known as Larion suffered a massive fire that spread uncontrollably due to an unfortunate segment of chokewater fueling it. The fire mixed with the volatile arcane waters of the Golis, engulfing an entire portion of the region now known as the Furnace. Though the flames cannot be fully extinguished, they can be calmed to smolder and cinder along Larion’s outskirts. Some say the corpse of a molten Primordial fuels this inextinguishable fire. Any unfortunate creatures within the area were transformed by the magic and flame into molten, elemental creatures known as fleshcauldrons. A hollow shell of their former selves, the fleshcauldrons seek to spread their fire. Some fleshcauldrons grow larger as they feed, and whispers persist of a colossal elemental creature known as the Ashmaker. Quill & Stone Strive for Order: Quill & Stone is a secret order of tomeheart knowledge-seekers whose sole purpose is to restore Svir Below into the hands of a benevolent union of Drogus and Zarfvin leaders. Working with any who prove themselves worthy – tomeheart or not – they recover powerful artifacts, cataloguing and protecting items of historical importance to build their arsenal of order. They seek to quench the fleshcauldrons for good, and beat back the maniacal Villinavi. Some believe their ultimate objective is to infiltrate Deepvault, believing the secrets to save all of Dragongrin lie within. The Villinavi Assimilate All: The most powerful of all the Titan’s constructs, the Villanavi are the weaponized predecessors of the tomehearts, specifically built to guard Deepvault. During Lightfall, the Zarfvin woke the ancient tomehearts, and the Villinavi appeared concurrently, driven to defend the last bastion of the Titan empire. Driven mad by centuries of corrosion warping their minds, they carry no semblance of empathy, though they are brilliant and terrifying in their mathematical cunning. These ancient death machines share an imperfect hive-mind, seeking to expand the Infinite Lock, striking out and taking any parts they can – especially Archans and other Titan scrap. They slowly consume all of Svir Below. The Golis Ocean Sours: The Golis Ocean is an immense underground body of crimson water, said to be made up of the ancient blood of Titans. These depths serve as an almost endless resource for ancient technology and scrap. It is slowly and inexplicably rising, with portions becoming toxic, corrosive, and flammable, making it nearly impossible to salvage and traverse. Fouled segments – named chokewater by the locals – come and go, but are becoming more prolific, especially near Larion. As the Golis swells and spoils, the floating salvage-built barges of the Drogus weather and break, causing many Drogus to move onto the crowded Zarfvin landmasses. Space and supplies become scarcer by the day, fueling feuds between the denizens of Svir Below. CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS OF SVIR BELOW • Corvus is the tradition of “a little something extra” – small tokens of appreciation during a transaction or exchange as a gesture offering a little more than what was expected. • It’s said that washing your hands in the Golis rids them of unseen blood – prolific criminals often make pilgrimages to wash away their sins and atone for guilty deeds. • The smell of spicy meat permeates the air of Svir Below – charred fangrul. No matter what district you find yourself in, eating this rat-like creature is considered good luck.

POWERFUL PEOPLE OF SVIR BELOW

Vim and Aut Derosas: These dual, concurrent Lords of Ash rule over Svir Below at the top of a criminal empire. Some know the twins from their days as street-level criminals, leading the Dead Roses. Others call them sellouts, compromising too much of their kith and themselves to become Lords of Ash. Still, they turn a blind eye to illicit merchants in exchange for a nice cut of the profits, and gang leaders with vital territory are allowed a level of freedom for coin and loyalty. The Derosas Twins are trusted by the Legion of Ash to ensure supplies from Innes travel safely through Svir Below. Excelling at improvising and finding solutions that play both sides of every conflict, Vim and Aut pit newcomers against each other and stoke the fires of deep-seated rivalries, all while staying ahead of friends and hiding their tracks from enemies. Pothenus: This four-armed tomeheart of intricately engraved metal leads the Quill & Stone from within the Rivus district, seeking to uncover the mysteries of Deepvault and Svir Below, researching ways to extinguish the fleshcauldrons once and for all. Methodical and obsessive in his work, he does not relate to people well, and is very literal in his speech and interactions with others. Quintel “Quint” Sieger: Broad-shouldered with rich, brown skin and a neat graying beard, Quint is a street-smart, battlehardened Marrow commander. He is a staunch loyalist to the Dismembered Lord and his Legion, though is known to bend and break lesser rules to get results. He took the position as commander in Svir Below after the last Marrow commander was mysteriously slain. He is vocal about his plans to clean up the crime in Svir Below, slowly weeding out crooked Marrow and watching the Derosas twins vigilantly. Quint is known for his unwavering devotion to his family, and carries a decorated Marrow shortsword, given as a commendation for his duties. He has a reputation for being one of the best sword fighters in Svir Below. Poole “The Mangler” Variston: The infamously authoritarian leader of the Nullity Ring is slender and pale, and has a mop of greasy black hair with a thick mustache accenting his homely face. He is as manipulative as he is xenophobic, hatefully outspoken of his opposition to outsiders coming to the already overpopulated Six Daggers. He and his gang violently fight the influx of the Drogus into the mainlands 287 DOMINIONS OF ASH: SVIR BELOW

of the Dagger, believing that it rightfully belongs to the “natives.” He respects the Derosas, but seeks to defeat them and become sole Lord of Ash. Serroh “Sid” Siddock: Known for her fair-but-hardline personal code of conduct and her open disdain for the Marrow, she was the heir apparent to the Dead Roses when the Derosas Twins left. Often going by Sid, clad in a highcollared coat that can change colors with its surroundings, her pale skin and straw colored hair was marred when she went toe-to-toe with a fleshcauldron. She defeated the beast – but not before it claimed her hands, which she has since replaced with Archan prosthetics. She will stop at nothing to ensure the Dead Roses are the most powerful and prosperous gang in Svir Below. Withertree: The mysterious identity of Withertree is unknown – though their powerful reputation precedes them. Not affiliated with any gang, Withertree is a skilled manipulator who uses their connections to accrue intelligence on their rivals and acquire wealth. Their spy network is eclipsed only by that of their arch-rival the Derosas Twins. It’s no secret that Withertree is gaining followers by the day, and seeks to rule Svir Below. Whispers persist that Withertree strives to see the rise of the enigmatic and deadly Villinavi, and works to restore Deepvault to its former glory. Papa Vulture: Wearing a distinct bird-like beaked mask, the leader of the Vulturren is quickly becoming infamous for his open defiance of the Code of Below and violent tendencies. His deeds point to the fact that he’s a psychotic anarchist mastermind who openly positions himself as an agent of chaos. He is slowly rising to power in the criminal underworld of Svir Below by thrusting the dominion into even more turmoil through mass violence, erratic action and showing no empathy. Papa Vulture openly claims that he will kill the Derosas Twins, though it’s unclear if he wishes to become the Lord of Ash or not. CODE OF BELOW While these gangs spill each other’s blood without hesitation, they still operate under a loose code of honor known as the Code of Below. The code is not formally written, but many in the gangs of Svir Below know its gist, and follow it in spirit. It is largely accepted to have three main tenets: We’re a family. The most important thing to remember is that although we have our rivalries, we’re all Below. We look out for each other to outsiders. We have our differences, but we’ll always side with family. If family isn’t involved, we side with who is just and right (even crime has a limit). Respect the name. Once a member of a gang reaches a certain rank within the family, often called the Named, they become untouchable. Other gangs and families cannot harm them without inciting a full blown war. Bloodshed is Expensive. We will bring bloodshed readily, and often, and never back down from a fight. But – it hurts our pockets, and our operations, so we’d much rather use coin, favors, and negotiations first. Bloodshed will be repaid with bloodshed.

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CHARACTER CONNECTIONS TO SVIR BELOW You have waking visions of a red ocean, set against a black sky, with an alien structure rising from the waves. This place calls to your soul. You’ve escaped Innes where you were a drudge, and Svir Below is your best shot at a new life. You’ve learned a secret about the infamous Deepvault – you can sell it to the highest bidder, or attempt to capitalize on the information yourself. You’ve obtained a map of Svir Below with Titanspeak ruins and marks showing locations. You’ve tracked down one of your loved ones who was captured and made into a drudge – they’ve escaped into Svir Below. Your will is not entirely your own. You are drawn to Svir Below inexplicably, as though something in its depths expects you. You seek the help of the Zarfvin to identify and locate what you believe is a unique Archan. You have the deed to a family home among the canals of Svir Below. First you must find it – then reclaim it if necessary. You’ve found a small copper chunk among your belongings and a parchment with the phrase “Svir Below.” You’ve been contacted by someone from the Order of the Quill & Stone – they say they’re looking for an important artifact, and only you can help them find it. A traveling group of street performers were drinking after a performance, and let slip some information about a hidden port city in Svir Below where there’s safety for any who can find it. Someone close to you was traveling with a Drogus salvage team when they all went missing.

PRIMARY LOCATIONS

The Archan Wall: Once known as “the Outway,” this opening was the largest and safest exit from Svir Below into the eastern reaches of Svir. Villinavi from the Infinite Lock have sealed it off by constructing a skyscraping wall of churning and twisting Archanic parts. The constructs work ceaselessly, and the wall grows and evolves unpredictably in every direction. Some whisper that if Deepvault is a lock, the Archan Wall will be its key. Seemingly alive, it swallows trespassers into its unnatural inner workings if they come too close. The Derosas take advantage of this horrific mechanical anomaly by throwing their enemies “to the Wall.” Bellam’s Flotilla: Headquartered in a series of well-fortified buildings and docks just north of Nacthen, this particularly quirky and festive branch of the Red Sail Market is known just as much for its frequent carnivals, feasts, and celebrations as it is for its bizarre and unique wares. Colloquially named after the loud and lively chain of transports they run peripatetically circuiting from district to district. Merchants aboard hawk illicit wares and Captain Bellam antes hard-earned coin and even rarer information to guests frequenting the onboard gambling dens. Dhokeg District: Known as the “sunken dagger,” the crumbling foundations of this land mass are mostly lost to the Golis. Gangs, fugitives, and those with nowhere else to go squat in its abandoned hovels. Rumors persist that Withertree operates out of this district, but searches have found no tangible sign. Golimar: The center of the Six Daggers and capital of Svir Below, this diverse, central city is a sprawling metropolis of commerce and culture, built upon a twisted foundation of black market dealings and street-level intrigue. Overcrowding makes resources scarce, and crime increases by the day.

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Golis Ocean: Often called the Blood Ocean or the Blood Canals, this crimson body of water, said to be spilled blood of the Titans, spans every corner of Svir Below. Chokewaters appear within more frequently than ever. The Infinite Lock: A mountain-sized, sunken network of gears and antediluvian machinery, this is actually an ancient city-sized lock, massive and complex, protecting the main entrance to the subterranean Titan complex Deepvault from above. Villinavi strike out against parts of Svir Below to expand the Infinite Lock – the most efficient way to protect the valuable Titan dungeon beyond. Larion District: Referred to as “the Furnace,” this oncethriving chain of islands is now a burnt-out cinder after the tragic Fires of Larion, the incident that birthed the horrendous fleshcauldrons. Many fleshcauldrons still dwell here, and the arcane fires can never fully be extinguished. Last Refuge: Larion is all but engulfed in flames, and only one area of it remains. Once serving as sanctuary against the encroaching darkness during Lightfall, it now exists as the front lines against the uncontrollable fires. With the rival gangs unable to find common ground, weak remnants of Marrow, and their civilian recruits, are all that’s left to defend Svir Below. Mirda: This floating barge made entirely of lashed-together salvage – also known as their vald surga, or “the strongest link in the Great Chain” – is the capital of the Drogus in Svir Below. As the Golis Ocean rises, it claims the weakest of Mirda’s settlements, causing many of its denizens to abandon it. These refugees flee to the safety of the Six Daggers, causing overcrowding.

squabbled over constantly by the inhabiting gangs. Slaughterhouse District Rival gangs need battlefields, and this abandoned district obliges. Here, factions fight in open arenas, dense urban settings, and weaponized canal boats to determine disputes over leadership in Svir Below. Killing goes ignored in the Slaughterhouse, so those few who remain are hardened fighters, or fugitives seeking treacherous asylum from the law. Upstart gangs naturally emerge from this environment, scraping out an existence, clawing for power and coin to expand their operations into the other districts. Ulte Borgne District: A whimsical district of drink and excess, this is the home base of the Red Sail Market of Svir Below. It is plagued with an infestation of large rat-like creatures known as fangrul. Vanishing Pass: Deep within a city-sized cavern chamber nest the krokod, whose various parts are renowned by alchemists for their special abilities. Only the most daring hunters delve into the dark labyrinth to retrieve that which would pay them for a lifetime, and still fewer return. A putrid nest of feasting, breeding krokod resides at the cave’s deepest point. GETTING TO SVIR There are countless labyrinthine tunnels and passageways in Svir Below – some secret and untouched, others well known and guarded. Many, if navigated properly, can eventually lead upward into the mountain tunnels of the Dominion of Ash Svir. While there are a handful of tunnels that lead to various places in Svir, many of them spill into the Black Rail – the defunct Archanic railway from decades ago. For more information on Svir, see page 270.

Nachten: Lit night and day by luminescent crystals, Nachten, the City of Always Night, is home to a Mordrivh settlement. The fleshcauldrons set their sights on it, attacking with increasing frequency. Omian Column: In the center of Golimar, this is the Fortress of Ash of the Derosas Twins. Most of their dealings happen in the Precipice, a pub and night club located on the top level of the Column. A lucrative source of income for the Derosas Twins, the column is filled with seedy backrooms and lined with spies and bouncers at every table. This huge, twisting geological formation is hollow in the center, carved out with myriad tunnels, and dotted with many different shaped and sized windows with no visual rhyme or reason. Titan tech patches and terraces hug portions of it. Rivus District: This masterfully architected and constructed home of the Zarfvin of Svir Below is famed for its structural integrity and stability. Many Drogus seek refuge here, causing overcrowding and conflict. The Shields of Rivus: This series of advanced, shifting levees moves and adjusts with the Golis Ocean while ensuring its toxic waters are contained. Zarfvin contractors known as the Algomon are paid by the Sovereign himself to maintain the Shields’ myriad twisting and chirring parts, while staying out of the local gang activity for the sake of a more vital duty. Still, some fear rogue, dangerous parts could sabotage the levees if a powerful gang found a way. The Six Daggers: This centrally located landmass is the largest in Svir Below, and is named for its sextet of pointed land masses with countless canals slicing through it. Each “dagger” holds a district, culminating in Svir’s capital, Golimar, in the center. Each district is made up of patchwork sinking canal cities and surrounding cliffs, tunnels, and waterways. The exact borders often fluctuate, and are

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PERIPHERAL LOCATIONS An abandoned gang hideout only half-cleared of its valuables. Splotches of molten gold pool on the ground, forgotten currency melted by the fleshcauldrons lurking nearby Decrepit dock upon a minor stream, housing a small boat in need of repairs. The water stirs. A row of executed gang members openly displayed as a warning, all missing both hands and wearing the same gang colors/sign. Abandoned excavation site, once used by the Nullity Ring to retrieve ancient Archans and artifacts. They must have found what they were looking for, or left before they could. Crashed ship on the banks of the Golis Ocean with bands of crooked Marrow hiding out inside. The flag flying on the ship’s mast matches no known gangs or merchants. Small nest of vicious krokod. One of the beasts lies dead nearby – a valuable prize for anyone strong or stealthy enough to retrieve it. Emptied mansion from the Holithic era. A sordid gangrelated trade deal goes down inside. The Vulturrin stalk the perimeter, seeking entry. A string of dry islands amidst the canals. A fresh, shallow grave is on one of the landforms, the sound of pounding and muffled shouting emanates from underneath. Hidden chamber, containing a huge, engraved map of Svir Below. The map seems to include unseen parts of Deepvault, the realm beyond the Infinite Lock. Tavern, lively with music, drink, and battle. The gangs frequently fight over this turf, so it changes hands frequently. The establishment’s owner is a Marrow who profits greatly from the conflict.

KROKOD OF SVIR BELOW A primeval creature that stalks the canals and high places of Svir Below, the krokod is an evolutionary fusion of reptile and mammal, appearing as a horrific mix of a bat and a crocodile. Considered an apex predator by most who have come across one and survived, the krokod are a creature feared by all. Thick skin, strong jaws, and clawed forelegs with membranous wings make them Svir Below’s ultimate natural killing machine, but their true lethality lies in their ability to hunt with a mystical form of echolocation, making them dangerous in the water and on land. The Villinavi feed krokod young to the shell of a Titan they are programmed to refurbish, so they constantly hunt for krokod nests.

SUDDEN PERILS Gang fight breaks out: Soldiers from the Nullity Ring, Dead Roses, and another minor gang battle over a deal gone wrong. The fighting is intense, with many bystanders caught in the fray, and any of the three gangs will offer coin or intangible rewards for assistance. Canal flood: A nearby waterway overflows. Bystanders must avoid being pulled into the flashflood, and those caught in the current are pulled into Svir Below’s major canals to drown. A Marrow shakedown: A Marrow force investigating crime bursts in and searches anyone and everyone in the area for anything suspect, questioning about the possession of weapons and harshly inquisitive about motives. Some Marrow are exceptionally vigilant and will turn people in at a moment’s notice, while others are corrupt and will plant evidence and blackmail those involved to cooperate or be imprisoned or worse. The Vulturrin have a mark: A slave trader, Archan hunter, or other figure is on the run, requesting your help under panicked breath. They swear they have been targeted by the Vulturrin, and will pay if you fight them off, or hide them until the threat passes. You’ve trespassed on gang turf: You've accidentally trespassed on guarded gang turf. One member approaches with more hidden ready to ambush, demanding tribute in order to pass through unharmed and alive. A Villinavi stalks from the shadows: An eerie hum can be heard as static charges the air. Your eyes and mouth become dry as you can taste a copper tinge. A large mechanical creature moves from out of the shadows on all fours, rolling and walking at once. Its face is a sunken, emotionless mask. It tilts its head in curiosity then outstretches two unsettlingly humanoid hands in a gesture of welcoming. Krokod lurk in the darkness: The air stirs, and canal waters roil as the creature’s jaws lash out at those nearby. Instead of killing and eating their victims, they prefer to carry them back to the nest to feed their young. A fleshcauldron rages and burns: Fleshcauldrons manifest as an effigy wreathed in ethereal flames, and strike out, attacking any nearby.

Some say the krokod are too perfect to have evolved, and that the Primordials must have created them in response to the Villinavi, but these claims are unsubstantiated. Still, their ties to the timestream explains their ability to predict where prey is found. Blind, they use their sense to hunt – not to hear where you are, but where you are going to be.

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D10 GROWING THREATS AND RUMORS 1 D10 QUESTS AND BOUNTIES The Silent Eight has taken a young member of another gang as a ward to seal an agreement between the two factions. However, the parent of the child is convinced they are using them for some vile purpose, and sends word by Missive Crow. Unsanctioned gang killings in the city are rampant, and dried, decayed roses decorate the corpses of the most recent spree. The Derosas Twins offer coin and privilege for assistance in tracking down the murderer, though they are certain it is the Vulturrin. A serial killer once infamous in Svir now leaves their mark in Svir Below. The Derosas believe that perhaps the killer could be hired on to target the rival Nullity Ring. A spy among the Marrow believes fanatics within Quill & Stone are already paying the murderer. Jeqothel Khuzo claims to have found the solution to the Infinite Lock – the Primordial blood of three krokod, placed strategically along the Archan Wall. He’ll offer anyone who fetches the blood and risks the climb up the wall with a percentage of everything he discovers in Deepvault. A corrupt Marrow’s death is under investigation by Quintel Sieger, who will provide immunity from certain legal offenses in exchange for finding the murderer. However, the deceased soldier’s brother believes Sieger to be at fault, and requests assistance raiding the commander’s camp. Corpses of well-known criminals and corrupted Marrow wash up on the shores of Svir Below. Pothenus claims a fanatic among the Quill & Stone has assembled a gang called the Churning, dedicated to finding order in Svir Below by more violent means, and he knows where to start looking for them. Canal pirates have stolen a major gang’s share of the Dismembered Lord’s Tenth, hiding it somewhere in Svir Below. Marrow reinforcements will soon swarm the city, but in the meantime, many seek the prize. It would be a shame to waste the opportunity. A piece of Mirda sinks, and with it many treasures hidden from the law over the decades. Smugglers, thieves, and other criminals seek willing transporters without connection to the Dismembered Legion to get these gifts to safety in exchange for a cut. Posters of the missing grow more prevalent than those wanted for crimes. Families throughout Svir Below seek help to find their kin, and one claims their sister was carried into Vanishing Pass by “one of those things” – a krokod. Something beckons from the district of a thousand temples. The dreams and visions grow in frequency, drawing you to a scorched shrine, in the center of which is a charred, onyx stone. You feel it has something to do with the Furnace – and the Ashmaker – but you would have to go there to find out for sure.

A gang seizes a prominent bridge, regularly ambushing, holding up, and extorting merchants and civilians crossing into the city. Their operations spread to new roads, and even the canals. The Infinite Lock spreads treacherously close to the Niyar District, and the Villinavi grow increasingly rampant. The Derosas fear that in the midst of the panic, the Nullity Ring and other minor gangs will make moves against them, but the true threat remain the Villinavi. The krokod grow more numerous and restless – something spurs them up from the depths. Their violent calls are often heard from inside Vanishing Pass, and some predict an invasion of all Svir Below. The Golis tides rise, and many claim something gargantuan stirs beneath the churning waves. A prominent leader assembles a submarine crew to investigate. A Zarfvin cult gathers members in Svir Below, determined to infuse the blood of the Primordial krokod into the Titan Villinavi to achieve tremendous power. They have the krokod, but they need to capture a Villinavi alive. Two gangs, the Empty-Handed and the Krokod Sloggers, are scheduled to battle in the Slaughterhouse soon – the perfect opportunity to loot both gangs' headquarters. An alchemist sells a fluid said to treat the myriad diseases in Svir Below, but it's just tepid water. The villain behind the ruse stockpiles the true elixir for shipment to a Sarrik faction in Svir. Pothenus believes the Furnace can be extinguished by unleashing the canals, but many will die in the floods. If the Quill & Stone can’t convince the Dead Roses to raise the Shields of Rivus, they might take matters into their own hands. The Ashmaker grows in size and power, and the fleshcauldron numbers swell as they seize new victims. Though driven by instinct, it appears as though there’s a pattern to where it will strike next. Rikan Winche, an influential Silent Eight, funds a rogue squad of Marrow to help overthrow Vim and Aut, achieving full control over the region. Rikan claims this isn’t traitorous because Vim is being provoked by voices in her head, emanating from the Infinite Lock.

LESSER GANGS OF SVIR BELOW With seemingly countless gangs in Svir Below, there is a loose hierarchy. Everyone knows of the Nullity Ring and the Dead Roses – these are often called the crowned gangs. Formerly crowned gangs who still hold a measure of power such as Mur de Saphir and the Golimar Slashers are known as dethroned gangs. There are many less powerful gangs known as slaughter gangs, named for their constant battling in the Slaughterhouse District to scrape out power and resources. There are many gangs in between vying for power, and no shortage of potential members looking to make a name for themselves along the canals.

GANG WARS OF SVIR BELOW D10

RECENT ACTIVITY

LEADS

Pickpocketing

A witness saw something of note

Tattooed symbol under the right eye

Murder

A cryptic calling card left at the scene

Burglary

Tracks leading away from the crime

Blackmail

Archan that recorded the event

Money laundering

Spy with sensitive information

Protection racket Building weaponized canal boats Piracy

Framed convict who knows the true culprit

Canal Queens

Black jackets with colored straps Bright neon tattoos that glimmer near magic Weapons with matching engraved sigils Subtle hand signal or handshake Unique and uncommon greeting or phrase Branding of a monster in Svir Below

Bread Breakers

Fashionable amulets easily hidden

Grave robbing

Rattling Railers

Matching aquatic boots and gear

Slave rescue or trade

GANG NAME

IDENTIFYING MARK

Patterned scars across a shaved The Golimar Slashers head

Dokheg Daggers

Empty-Handed

Krokod Sloggers

Alleyway Hags

99 Thieves

Marion’s Uglies

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D102

Mysterious, unsigned note The crime occurred on a violent gang’s turf The crime scene falsely looks like amateurs are at work Particular property involved in the crime is left at the scene

CRUX: DEPTHS OF DHOKEG Concept: Submarine salvage gone wrong Themes: Helplessness, Insanity, Salvaging, Recovery

EVENT The last light fades as the doors of the submarine Salvatore creak shut and seal with a hiss. The indoor chambers are even lower quality than you had been warned, but the reward for a successful mission was so obscene it was difficult to decline. The engineer Jaegall, the one who hired you as crewmembers for this voyage, lights up some of the luminescent crystals and turns to you. “She’s a bit rough around the edges, but she runs okay. Lemme introduce you to the pilot and we’ll get ready to roll! We gotta keep this thing on the downlow and on the quick, but we’ll be in and out and rich as a crowned gang soon enough.” You are contracted members of a salvage crew sponsored by an extremely wealthy patron known only as Withertree, on a quest to recover an object known as the Creese, and a large, valuable stash of salvage and treasure. The lost, sunken canal city of Dokheg fell into the Golis Ocean following unexplained fault-line earthquakes and still houses all manner of treasure. Beyond being dangerous, this mission is absolutely illegal, as the Marrow have closed off the area surrounding Dhokeg. But the payoff is worth the risk. Operated by a skeleton crew, the engineer, the pilot, and the party, the sub Salvatore is ready to dive into the Golis Ocean. As the pressure of the depths presses on the submarine, more pressure manifests amongst the crew. A FOCUSED TALE OF DEEP SEA TERROR This Crux is designed to play out in a successive pattern meant to evoke existential, deep-sea terror. It is more linear than others by design, meant to convey a descent into underwater madness. The variety of this Crux comes from the assorted interactions the adventurers have between these pillars, and how they solve problems and react to consequences. In addition, in such close quarters, the rumors about each NPC are known more readily by other NPCs.

PEOPLE This Crux centers around the crew of the Salvatore and the claustrophobic tension the submarine adds to their motives. Tasked with rescuing a missing tomeheart salvager and recovering a large supply of lucrative salvage material, the crew consists of Remi Malmqvist, a man dedicated to the operation and refusing any requests to halt it and secretly on the verge of a sanity break; and Jaegall Murix, a level-headed woman who believes the operation to be far too dangerous to be worth the trouble and wants to turn around. Partway through the operation, the crew finds “the Creese,” the tomeheart salvager Creese Larr, who seems more concerned with their own survival than aiding in any salvage. While guarded about their own motives and the reasons Withertree was willing to pay so much to rescue them, they can be swayed to continue finishing the salvage or to leave, though they will caution against the great danger the salvage will bring.

REMI MALMQVIST

Submarine Pilot (M Drogus Dwarf) “Do you ever wonder if we should be living at the bottom of all this muck and blood instead of up there with all of the trouble and death? Maybe I can find us a place to set down, to see if we can’t stay down here forever.” Personality: Infuriatingly obstinate with teetering sanity. Appearance: Wearing a worn but clean Drogus Navy captain’s uniform; unnaturally pale skin; carries a sharp, ceremonial sword at his waist. Rumor: Remi is so stubborn about completing this mission because he owes Withertree an absurd debt that will be cleared if this is successful. Goal: Finish the job for Withertree no matter the cost. Introduction: Remi can be found checking supplies and doing a walkthrough of the Salvatore. He is overly direct with the party about particularities of sub behaviors and duties, and a bit snobbish and authoritarian in general. Remi immediately begins giving off-handed orders to the party, running over the necessary functions with blinding speed and expectation of immediate, perfect understanding. He constantly fiddles with dials and pays the party only a fraction of attention. A DC 16 Wisdom (Insight) check reveals that Remi is more than just a bit rattled, and seems to have a sense that the mission will fail and everyone on board is doomed.

JAEGALL MURIX Sub Engineer (Zarfvin Halfkin)

“There are a million ways to die down here but only one way to survive. You do what I say, when I say, how I say, or you get us all killed. Understand?” Personality: Affable and well-meaning, but often accidentally condescending, valuing her people over her work. Appearance: Lithe and uncomfortably tall to work on a submersible, always carrying a bag of various instruction and emergency tomes. Rumor: Jaegall is hesitant to undertake this voyage, not out of fear of danger, but because the crew plans on taking the location of the salvage to another company and selling the information to them for a higher cut. Goal: Avoid trouble; convince the party this mission is a lost cause, and that they should all turn back. Introduction: Jaegall, surrounded by a neatly organized set of tools, sits in the engine room making final tweaks to pieces of machinery before the voyage. She is fully engaged in her work and must be interrupted before she acknowledges the party. If interrupted,she takes the opportunity to go over a pre-launch checklist. She earnestly answers questions and tries to get the party up to speed on whatever she knows. If the party gains her favor or trust, or if they succeed at a DC 16 Charisma (Persuasion) check, she tells them the location of the onboard medical supplies and the location of a pair of worn Drogus diving suits in a storage locker – just in case.

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CREESE LARR

Lost Diver (NB Drogus Tomeheart)

“The depths here are immeasurable – I mean this literally because I have an Incitement for attempting to quantify and know such things. I tried countless times waiting for my rescue. There is no bottom to this infernal sea, but something does stir in the darkness...”

3 CREESE REVEALED Initially, the party is led to believe they seek an object known as the Creese, unaware that Creese is actually a tomeheart. Withertree keeps this information a secret because Creese is a valuable asset, and Withertree wanted as few people to know that Creese was down there as possible – especially keeping that information secret from the Dismembered Legion.

Personality: Guarded and cautious, but more open as the party proves themselves competent; coldly delivers morbid jokes in an effort to be more “human.” Appearance: Dull copper in color with a teal wash of oxidation; thick environmental casing and a set of foldable tools. Rumor: Withertree wants Creese Larr back, not just because they are a good employee, but because of some secret and wildly valuable information stored within the tomeheart. Goal: Make it back to the surface; recover salvage goods. Introduction: Creese Larr waits in a sunken portion of the district of Dhokheg, but in desperate need of assistance (see the Countdown to Ruin and Rescue Trouble table). After being saved by the party, they explain the layout of the area, and strongly illustrate the need for their own return to Withertree above any other salvage. If the party succeeds at a DC 16 Intelligence (Investigation) check, they notice that Creese has fresh markings down one of their arms. These markings are deliberate – Creese’s listings of the most significant salvage still below, in order of value, location, and ease of access. Withertree has ordered to keep the items on the list a secret. D6 1 2

CHARACTER CONNECTIONS You owe a gang a great debt and promised them your cut of the reward in return for your life. A Quill & Stone member has promised your choice of a substantial financial reward or favor from the group in return for a specific artifact said to be among the salvage. Withertree has privately promised you an extra cut to report any information worth knowing regarding the voyage’s proceedings or the party and crew. The Marrow have offered reward and protection for anyone providing tips on illegal salvage operations, with an extra bonus if the tip leads to seizure of the unlawfully gained property. A Zarfvin has sent you to gather data on the sunken city, its fall into the sea, and the creatures drawn to it. A powerful Drogus gang leader wants you to convince Creese Larr to return to them instead of Withertree, whispering of secret information they hold. They’ve requested you tell no one else of this deal unless absolutely necessary.

ESCALATION The Golis Ocean is a treacherous place and a submarine is a risky way to navigate it. The submarine should feel claustrophobic and under immense pressure, both from the rising tensions between the crew members and the ever-present horror of the deep sea. The party should feel pressured to juggle solutions to multiple problems simultaneously, managing tenuous interpersonal relationships and dangerous environmental hazards through everincreasing peril. D4 1 2 3 4 D6 1 2-3 4-5 6

D8 1-2

DELIBERATE PERILS This Countdown to Peril is designed to be used in conjunction with the Escalation tables in a specific order to emulate a rising level of tension and a specific progression of trouble and hazards. Some of the entries on the countdown will give cues as to which table to roll on to match the exact situation that is occuring. While this isn’t required, it’s designed to give a variety of dangers and thematic events at specific intervals for tonal effect. 294 DOMINIONS OF ASH: SVIR BELOW

COUNTDOWN TO PERIL A strange sensation washes over the sub, raising concerns and causing discomfort. Roll on the Weird Sensations table. Something goes wrong with the sub that sparks tension among the crew. Remi exhibits signs of excessive stress and becomes hyper-controlling. Roll on the Submarine Malfunction table. The tension between the crew boils over past concern and into conflict. Jaegall becomes more obstinate about opposing Remi. Roll on the Internal Strife table. The submarine arrives at the wrecked ship salvage site. Armed with diving suits kept in the sub, the party can venture into the sea. With a bit of effort, Creese Larr is found, but they are in peril. Roll on the Rescue Trouble table. Remi shows increasing signs of waning sanity, becoming more erratic by the hour. Salvage of the ship’s goods begins, but the area is littered with dangerous obstacles and creatures that complicate the recovery. Roll on the Salvage Dangers table. Remi’s sanity finally breaks, leading him to intentionally crash the sub. Whether or not he is successful, disaster strikes during the struggle, threatening the entire operation and the lives of the crew. Proceed to the Violent Eruption and roll on the Disasters table as a complication (see Climax section for details).

3-4 5-6 7-8

WEIRD SENSATIONS Noises of a deep sea creature come closer and closer, but nothing is known to roam these parts of the sea. Remi is adamant you stay quiet. The collision alarms go off simultaneously even though no actual contact has been made with the sub. You become suddenly aware of the immense pressure all around you – it feels like the walls are closing in. You can’t seem to get the bulkhead door open, no matter how hard or long you try, until suddenly, it opens without issue. SUBMARINE MALFUNCTION A pressure gauge error causes a build-up, and cracks split the hull, spilling water into the chamber. A pipe bursts and dangerous gases flood the sub. The engine room catches fire. The Archanic sensors suddenly show hundreds of creatures closing in. Just as they reach the ship, they disappear from the sensor and it completely shuts off. INTERNAL STRIFE Jaegall attempts to convince the party to murder Remi and turn the sub around. An equipment malfunction that can’t be fixed reeks of sabotage, and sparks tension and distrust. Jaegall and Remi get into an argument ending in a fist fight, both blaming the other and petitioning the party for support. You find out Jaegall was approached to make sure the Creese did not make it back. You don’t know if she accepted or not.

D10 1-3 4-6 7-9 10 D12

RESCUE TROUBLE Creese Larr is surrounded by dangerous sea monsters and injured. Creese is trapped under debris and has a crushed limb. Violent chokewaters roil and heat the area, making it toxic. Creese has been immobilized and is in danger of falling into the depths below. SALVAGE OPPORTUNITIES

1-3 4-6 7-9

Cache of Zarfvin tech, avoid collapsing debris. A series of sealed Drogus crates, sharks swarm nearby. A sunken shipment of Thanium, a sea monster lurks. A notable magic item glimmering beneath a pile of large 10-12 boulders. D20

DISASTER

The Salvatore loses power entirely and comes to rest on a sea 1 ledge. A large breach in the sub’s frame floods the chamber at an 2-5 alarming rate. An enormous sea creature takes interest in the sub and 6-10 begins stalking it. 11-15 The Archanic rebreather has malfunctioned. 16-19 A Villinavi attacks the sub from outside. 20 Chokewater begins to disintegrate the sub from the outside.

CLIMAX: BOILING MAELSTROM With a low, thundering crack, the underwater city shakes, obscuring the area in bubbles and sending pieces of wreckage hurtling through the blood-red water. After a short silence, another rumbling, fiercer this time, revives the chaos. The source of the mysterious fault earthquakes is now woefully evident – a large underwater volcano is erupting, made more powerful and volatile by the raging arcane fires of the Furnace. Its violent bursts the cause of Dokheg’s sinking. If any survive, the crew immediately yells to return to the sub and flee immediately. A massive earthquake rips a chasm through the center of the city. The city, along with thousands of gallons of now-boiling water, begins to fall into the chasm, pulling everything toward it in a massive maelstrom, including the sub and the party. The party only has a few moments to grab what they can and get the sub to safety before they are swallowed by the sea. If that weren’t enough, an additional complication is thrown into the mix (roll on the Disasters table for this result).

UNFOLDING EVENTS • A low, thundering crack starts a massive underwater earthquake, threatening to swallow the entire city, the party, and the sub with it • If the pilot’s waning sanity has not already broken, assuming they still live and are not restrained, they will go insane and turn on the party, attempting to drive the sub deeper into the city to continue salvaging despite the danger. • Large pieces of the city, along with the sea itself, begin falling into the chasm, sucking everything nearby into the maelstrom, leaving only moments to get back to the sub and get away from the affected area. • In addition to the above chaos, roll on the Disasters table and add that result to the chaos. • If the party escapes the maelstrom area, they are free to drive the sub where they like as long as it holds together, but will be heavily encouraged by any surviving crew members to return to Withertree with whatever salvage they managed to get.

AFTERMATH/CONSEQUENCES • If the party does not manage to get the Salvatore out from the maelstrom before they are sucked into the chasm, the sub becomes irreparably damaged in the carnage, and barring some miraculous way of escaping, everyone involved starves, suffocates, or drowns in the depths. • If the entire crew (or at least the crew minus the insane pilot) survives, they are encouraged to bring what salvage they have along with Creese Larr back to Withertree, who honors their agreement as promised to greatly reward them and potentially even offer them more work. • If the party escapes, but decides to flee from Withertree with the salvage, their former patron hires spellcasters to divine their location with the Scrying spell (Spell save DC 17), using the party’s contract signatures as a medium to inflict disadvantage to their saving throws. If their location is divined, Withertree hires powerful gangsters to apprehend the party and bring back their due salvage. • When the party meets Withertree, if they were particularly kind and helpful to Creese Larr, Withertree reveals they wanted the tomeheart back so badly because they held detailed maps of the portions of Svir Below that are underwater – useful for more lucrative salvages. Withertree also offers the party a portion of the maps as thanks, as well as more work if they’re interested.

ESCAPE OR DIE – A WARNING The maelstrom, along with whatever creatures or events are brought about by the Disasters table, are meant to be escaped and not weathered or beaten. Ensure the party is well aware that staying in the area means certain death and that escape is not only the smart option, but practically the only one. Failure in this portion of the Crux has a high chance of leading to many deaths, and proper caution should be taken to ensure the stakes are known, while allowing some characters to sacrifice their lives during the fray to save others.

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CRUX: THE ASTREGARD CONUNDRUM Concept: Daring heist for a powerful relic Themes: Burglary, Ensemble, Scheming, Gang Customs

EVENT This heist will go down in history. Nobody would steal from the Dead Roses Gang – but if they did, now would be the time to do it. You’ve been hired by the notorious Giselle Aveline, the leader of the Mur de Saphir gang, whose reputation is strong as someone who pays well and has good intel. The job is simple, and now is your chance to steal the mythical object known only as Astregard’s Folly. A customary Dinner of Peace is being held on the Dead Roses’ surga hideout, the Grimfly. If peace cannot be made between the Nullity Ring and the Dead Roses over the course of the dinner, it will be an all-out war. In the spirit of Corvus – Svir Below’s custom of “a little extra” – the Grimfly is docked, and a Twicefound carnival is thrown around the ship. Revelers and parades surround the surga, and droves of people mill here and there – the perfect opportunity for notorious figures of Svir Below to blend in and come and go without suspicion. It is an open secret that at the bottom of the Grimfly’s hull, just above the bilge, is a treasure room containing some of the most powerful objects in all of Svir Below, and perhaps all of central Dragongrin. Archans, magical items, a cache of Titan copper – it is even rumored that a Reliquary of Ash rests there. But the most sought after object is something only known as Astregard’s Folly. The adventurers are a group planning and executing a heist against the Dead Roses gang. They begin by gaining access to the dinner on the surga easily among the other revelers. As the dinner takes place around them, they must execute their plan to gain access to the Grimfly, overcome any security measures, secure Astregard’s Folly, and escape.

PLANNING THE HEIST The planning phase is one of the most integral pieces in striking the tone of a classic heist story. Here is the intelligence the adventurers have either gathered themselves or were given by the mysterious figure known as Withertree. They can use this information to plan their methods of executing the heist before the session begins, or roleplay planning it out as the first scene of the session. THE CREW One of the most important elements of a heist is the composition of the crew undertaking it. Is your crew a close-knit group of thieves accustomed to working together, or complete strangers brought together by a shared contact? Are they expert criminals looking for a big score, or a band of daring, opportunistic amateurs? Decide what suits your game best.

INTEL • Hull Entrance: There are only two ways into the hull from the dining room – through the main door, or one of the drainage grates. • Steam Pipes: If the steam is disabled, the pipes can be used to crawl throughout the Grimfly. They are upkept by a scrappy Drogus mechanic who will restore the steam quickly – so move quickly. • Archanic Generator: Disabling this would mean disabling the Archanic traps that litter the Grimfly. Its location is adjacent to the brig. • Swordpoint: The moniker of the infamous treasure room at the bottom of the Grimfly, said to have a lock that no one can break. • Escape: There are only two ways out of the Grimfly from the hull: the front door, or the waste hatch into the bilge. • Another Crew: Withertree has heard rumblings that someone else is making a play for Astregard’s Folly.

PEOPLE This Crux features numerous criminals from the Nullity Ring and Dead Roses factions, and many other high-profile people who would be present at the Dinner of Peace and the Twicefound parade going on around it. Those people act as a backdrop, and the true story centers around the individuals within the Grimfly who can help or hinder the players in their attempt to steal Astregard’s Folly. Each has their own motives, secrets, and connection to one of the aspects of the intel that the party has. How they interact with these people, and the approach that they take will affect the Climax’s difficulty. There is a ticking clock attached to the heist. The laws of honor among the gangs state that no gang will attack another in any way during the Dinner of Peace. They have from the opening toast until dessert to reach peace, and will see potential thieves of Astregard’s Folly as enemies outside this truce. For now, the gangs are preoccupied, but once the dinner ends, the Grimfly will be swarming with threats no longer bound by a code of honor and peace.

JAYSA SILLEN

Marrow Sergeant (F Crucian Human) “For crime to continue to thrive, it must appear as order. It’s sickening how easy it is to interchange the two without consequence.” Intel: Hull Entrance – There are only two ways into the hull from the dining room – through the main door, or one of the drainage grates. The grates are faster, but beware the krokod... Personality: Confident, smarmy, and given to spontaneity. Appearance: Raven black hair shorn closely on the sides with beautifully polished Marrow armor; a tattoo of a wolf typhon peeks out of her armor on her neck. Rumor: She is said to be in the pocket of an up-and-coming gang – likely the Mur de Saphir – the others question her usual mercenary loyalty to other high-bidding factions. Goal: Coin, power, and something to satisfy her love of adrenaline. Quirk: She habitually checks that her weapons are all still in place.

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Introduction: Sillen has gathered a crowd around her near the hull entrance as she tosses a canal apple to a nervous looking low-level street thug who doesn’t appear to have any affiliation. She jeers, working the crowd into a frenzy by throwing her daggers at the terrified man. Sillen instructs that the man put the apple into his mouth. She then makes a comment about how this will be her final throw for the evening, and throws the dagger and it pierces both the apple and the man’s head. “No one lies to me,” she says with a smirk. Nearby, a table of Dead Roses and Nullity Ring argue because dessert was delivered first during the Dinner of Peace. The Nullity Ring takes this as a sleight since the negotiations customarily last the length of dinner and ends after dessert is finished. A DC 17 Intelligence (History) check reveals that serving dessert first was an act of foreshadowing perpetrated by Jana Tantivy, former leader of the Mur de Saphir, when she double-crossed the notorious (but now-fallen) Black Oak Brawlers and robbed them during a Dinner of Peace. The adventurers must make a DC 16 Dexterity (Stealth) check to sneak past her through the door or a grate, and a DC 16 Charisma (Deception) check to fool her if noticed.

BUSKIN COUPLER Mechanic of the Grimfly (M Drogus Dwarf)

“The Roses take good care of me, but get one thing right: I’m loyal to one thing, and that’s the Grimfly – she’s the only thing I have left.“ Intel: Steam Pipes – If the steam is disabled, the pipes can be used to crawl throughout the Grimfly. Upkept by a scrappy Drogus mechanic, the steam patterns can be figured out if matched with the Drogus superstitions about numbers. Personality: Simple in mannerism and speech, but streetwise, and a brilliant mechanic. Appearance: Slender for a dwarf, Coupler remains broad shouldered and muscled, wearing an Archanic toolbelt and oily patchwork clothes with the sleeves rolled up the elbows. Rumor: Coupler has been the mechanic on this surga for as long as it’s been around, and knows every nook and cranny – especially the secret ones. Goal: Coupler makes no secret of his desire to protect the Grimfly and keep it safe and in working order. Quirk: Wheezes and coughs frequently, likely from the constant smoke he inhales working the tunnels of the Grimfly. Introduction: Coupler diligently stalks the halls of the Grimfly, checking valves, inspecting drips, and constantly pulling tools from his belt to make adjustments to the patchwork ship. He sits for a moment, wiping the sweat from his brow, and begins speaking to someone named Parissa. As the conversation carries, she is revealed to be deceased. He speaks freely, and begins to eat a meager lunch of pungent smoked redgill. He frustratedly prates about the “slapdash new additions after the break-in” and the surga being “less secure after all the remodeling.” Characters who succeed on a DC 14 Intelligence (History) check realize that Coupler is referring to a new section of the surga under construction and from the sections blocked off in the main dining room it that it is adjacent to the Swordpoint, the last known location of Astregard’s Folly. If the party befriends Coupler, he could be convinced to help them if they assure him that no harm will come to the Grimfly.

SYLVAIN “DARKEYE” CROZIER Mur de Saphir Prisoner (M Silverwise Elf)

“I know that look – you’re here for the same thing I was here for. Know that the Folly is unlike anything you’ve ever tried to steal before. It… steals something from you instead.” Intel: Sylvain knows how to shut off the power – he’s watched Buskin Coupler do it for the sake of maintenance hundreds of times. Personality: Intelligent, quick witted, and a bit full of himself. Appearance: A once-handsome, tawny-skinned man with thick flowing black hair, and striking ethereal features, now with long scraggly hair. Rumor: Sylvain is the only survivor of a Mur de Saphir attempt on Astregard’s Folly, and he is believed to have information about the security systems surrounding the enigmatic object. Goal: He wants his freedom first, and will do or say anything to get it; afterwards, he seeks revenge. Quirk: Brings up anecdotal past experiences as examples in conversation consistently. Introduction: There is a cluster of holding cells near the Archanic power panel that are all empty but for one. Sylvain sits in the shadows but makes no attempt to hide. He compliments the party and applauds their efforts in a seemingly earnest manner to make himself known, joking about how if they release him, he will get them out of here with Astregard’s Folly. Characters who befriend Sylvain and set him free hear his story of how he was double-crossed, and he will help them turn off the Archanic power to Swordpoint without tripping any alarms. If they succeed on a DC 17 Charisma (Persuasion or Intimidation) check, he tells them all he knows about Astregard’s Folly – it is a painting, there are illusions at play, and be ready to give a part of yourself.

KILDARY DEATHHAND OF HOUSE CALIAR Master Thief (F Crucian Human)

“There’s no crime in Dragongrin – just degrees of survival.” Note: The group may run into Kildary during other parts of the heist, but she is designed to be introduced during the Climax to increase tension. Intel: Swordpoint – She knows its location, the exact kind of lock that guards it, and has practice picking it. Personality: Calculating, cunning and resourceful, with a propensity to state painful truths regardless of feelings. Appearance: A handsome tawny skinned woman with thick flowing black hair, and a masterwork leather apron resting atop stylish clothes. Rumor: Kildary has been hired by Quill & Stone for a high price to steal Astregard’s Folly – the organization believes it can stop the fleshcauldron monster known as Ashmaker. Goal: Steal Astregard’s Folly and escape the Grimfly. Quirk: She never breaks eye contact, and doesn’t blink often. Introduction: When the players arrive at the vault door to Swordpoint, its lock is simple to open. When they open the door, they find a dark room with a single painting on the wall

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– a bright Archanic light shining from above it. Beneath is a plaque that reads “The Execution of the Late King Astregard.” The room is engulfed in magical darkness except for the light above the painting, so its size and shape are difficult to determine. Unless the characters succeed on a DC 19 Wisdom (Perception) they can’t perceive Kildary in the room with them waiting for her chance to steal the painting. She doesn’t immediately attack, but if things do come down to combat, she is a powerful adversary indeed. D6 1 2 3 4 5 6 D6

CHARACTER CONNECTIONS

LOCAL CONDITIONS Loud parade festivities are ongoing and revelers wander in and out of the Grimfly. Periods of constant sound, interspersed with moments of total silence. Security is decreased due to the code of honor. Shady contacts are hiring. Special black market is operating.

D4 1

You owe the figure known as Withertree a favor, and have been called in for this job. You owe a sizeable debt to someone, and this payoff is your ticket out of it. You’re here to help someone else on the job – choose another player to share this connection. You are a former victim of the Dead Roses, and want to steal this to get back at them. You’re looking to scrape out a name for yourself in Svir Below, and finishing this job would solidify you as a player. You’re an undercover agent for a rival gang or the Marrow.

2-3

COUNTDOWN TO PERIL

4-5

Invitations to the Dinner of Peace arrive by way of gangaffiliated Missive Crows. The invites, written in cypher, detail the time and location of the meet, and to “Come unarmed and with compromise on the brain.” In the spirit of Corvus, each invitation also includes an ibled root. The Grimfly is inspected top to bottom by representatives from both the Dead Roses and the Nullity Ring. Marrow, paid under the table, oversee the inspection and keep trespassers away with harsh words and brandished weapons. On the eve of the Dinner of Peace, a small skirmish breaks out between enforcers from the Dead Roses and the Nullity Ring. An intervening Marrow is killed, and neither gang accepts the blame – it’s rumored the fight was staged to sabotage the meeting. Carnival entertainers arrive and begin setting up – several are turned away by gang enforcers for suspicious activity or possessions. One such entertainer, a knife-thrower, was found with a vial of ruqar venom in his vest. He disappeared into the Grimfly between two guards. The festival begins and dinner attendees arrive, exchanging pleasantries and enjoying the carnival around the Grimfly in preparation for the dinner. Enforcers from both gangs engage in some friendly competition at the Feats of Strength booth, and a small scuffle breaks out as a result. The dinner begins, and as the heist becomes apparent, both gangs turn on one another. Bloodshed is certain.

ESCALATION The Grimfly is a massive surga filled with all manner of criminals, illicit activity, and contraband. It’s also a rickety surga, so in addition to scheming rivals, expect treacherous patchwork locations and surprises throughout. There will be an opportunity to plan the heist before the Dinner of Peace, but certainly there will be no telling what the party may find within the halls of the massive criminal surga. If they use their wits, cunning, stealth, and even some brute force, they just might survive.

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2 3 4 D6 1

6 D8 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 D10 1-3 4-6 7-9 10 D12 1-3 4-6 7-9 10-12 D20 1

CONFLICT Burglary: Due to a recent attempt on the Grimfly, security is increased. Ensemble: Two members of the party have a grudge against one another from a job gone bad. Scheming: A pivotal piece of intel is incorrect, forcing improvised planning to succeed. Gang Traditions: It’s customary for someone to be randomly selected to give the toast – it’s one of the party members. RISING THREAT Word stirs that Vim herself is on her way to the dinner. A loyal and unwelcome Marrow caught investigating is now being interrogated – or tortured. A Dead Roses gang member has gone missing from the dinner. A Nullity Ring member is accidentally killed – it could mean war. NOTABLE LOCATIONS Supply Rooms: crates of supplies, secret waterway, equipped canoe Valve Chamber: hot steam blasts, entrance to steam pipes, timed oscillating hatch Gambling Den: crowds of drunkards, easily picked pockets, patrolling guards Grimfly Bilge: putrid waters, vicious krokod, a stowaway with information SCENES Trapped Hallway: arcane sensors, steam obscures, approaching guards Break-in: distractable guards, damaged key, magically secured hatch Hidden in Sight: loot the gangsters, unique weapons and uniforms, a prisoner Brilliant Distraction: explosive device, total mayhem, abandoning ship ODDITIES Stolen Marrow uniforms that could serve as disguises. A hero chained to a pipe on the wall of the Grimfly. Boarding hooks used for climbing wooden walls. Advanced Archan wrapped in mundane cloth. TWISTS

Jaysa Sillen arrives to help complete the heist. Buskin Coupler has a heart attack, and without him tending 2-5 to the steam valves, the Grimfly reaches critical pressure and starts to fall apart. Kildary Deathhand, backed by Quill & Stone warriors, takes 6-10 someone important to the party hostage. The Dead Roses used the Dinner of Peace as a ruse to find 11-15 and hire the most capable thieves in Svir Below – that means you. Villinavi attackers raid the Grimfly, claiming Astregard’s Folly 16-19 for the Infinite Lock. 20 Withertree reveals themselves.

CLIMAX: ASTREGARD’S CONUNDRUM When the players enter Swordpoint, there is far more than meets the eye. Astregard’s Folly looks to be a mundane painting, but it is actually a portal into a demi-plane filled with many rooms brimming with remarkable treasures. The painting is protected by a spell defense system that plays out a powerful series of illusions and charms known as Astregard’s Conundrum.

UNFOLDING EVENTS • Astregard’s Conundrum begins, and the entire room expands and appears as though it is rendered in the same painterly style as the painting – it is difficult to perceive reality. • Kildary is already in the room behind the players and waits for them to enter the Conundrum to immobilize them and gain negotiating leverage. • King Astregard, clutching his own disembodied head by the hair, informs the party that each of them must surrender a secret they have never shared to gain access to the painting. If even one person refuses to offer a secret, monsters appearing in the same style as the painting attack. Anyone experiencing Astregard’s Conundrum appears to be standing still in front of the painting to anyone who’s not in it. • Kildary strikes, making her attempt to take the painting and escape. If the party has befriended her, they work together to escape. If not, the chances of bloodshed are high, as Kildary will not leave easily without the painting.

• On the main deck, Marrow Commander of Svir Below Quintel “Quint” Sieger leads a large-scale raid on the Grimfly. Marrow climb the sides of the surga and burst in through the doors. Jaysa Sillen proves she will do and say anything to get by. She turns and begins to arrest people, acting as though she’s here on behalf of the law-abiding Marrow, and was in danger until the “back-up” arrived. • A large-scale battle erupts between the Marrow and the gangs, on land and upon the Golis Ocean – both a danger and a diversion.

AFTERMATH/CONSEQUENCES • If the adventurers get away with the painting, they are pursued to the farthest corners of Dragongrin, particularly by the Dead Roses gang, who are hell-bent on reclaiming their property. Depending on the patron of the job, the adventurers may become aware of the painting’s true nature, and learn that the former Lord of Ash of Svir Below waits imprisoned within. If they find a way to release the former Lord of Ash, he desires nothing more than to retake his station from the Derosas Twins, and will actively seek the adventurers’ aid to do so. • If Kildary manages to steal away with the painting, she brings it to the Quill & Stone, who release the former Lord of Ash and interrogate him regarding Deepvault and the Infinite Lock. Soon, they will open the seal and gain access to Deepvault. • In either case, the Dinner of Peace is an utter failure. In the wake of the heist, chaos erupts, and a fierce battle occurs in and around the Grimfly, involving the Dead Roses, Nullity Ring, and Marrow soldiers. Many die on all sides. Peace, it is clear, can never be achieved in Svir Below. War is certain now. ITEMS INSIDE THE EXECUTION OF THE LATE KING ASTREGARD If the player characters learn the secret to the painting’s nature, and gain entry into its many rooms, there are many magical items to be found, stored inside over the years. Arcane foods, magical supplies, masterwork weapons, Archans, an old Reliquary of Ash, and even some small caches of Titan Copper can be found within.

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EVERGROWING SHADOWS

Reliquary of Ash: The Reliquary of Ash held by the twins is the subject of much debate by those in the know. They carry several red herrings to throw off prospective usurpers. Some theorize it’s a pair of metal gauntlets they wear, one each on opposite arms. Others say it must be the twin daggers they carry and guard carefully. Some whisper that, in a cunning bid for secrecy, the Reliquary of the twins is a pair of simple buttons sewn into their clothing – the last thing anyone would ever suspect. No one knows the truth but the twins themselves.

LORD OF ASH: VIM AND AUT DEROSAS, TWIN HAVOC

Appearance: Being half-dwarves, Vim and Aut are each taller and broader than most humans, striking imposing statures in the mostly dwarf-populated Svir Below. Vim’s head is half-shaved, a portion of her skull replaced with plates of Titan copper. The Villinavi components in her skull allow her to control a pair of tentacle-like appendages of Titan-make, which she uses to move about quickly and defend herself when necessary. Aut wears the hollow plates of the same Villinavi like armor, enshrouding his skull, shoulders, upper torso, and arms. In battle, Aut charges headlong into the fray, knocking enemies aside with his Villinavi-armored fists and headbutting his opponents into submission.

Without intervention, Svir Below’s gangs will continue to escalate their violence, and unless a way to stop the flames is found, the Furnace will engulf what is left of Svir Below – all of this while the Golis Ocean rises, and the Villinavi battle the people and krokod in the name of the Infinite Lock. The chaos will eventually turn Vim and Aut against one another, and threaten all life in Svir Below.

“If you control the information, you control the people. Have eyes and ears everywhere.” Some see the Derosas Twins as cunning manipulators and talented cutthroats. Others say their run as Lords of Ash came about by a string of luck, and it’s only a matter of time before they are dethroned. The Dismembered Lord himself has tasked the Derosas with controlling the gangs of Svir Below and managing the wealth and power stemming from its salvage, a duty the half-dwarf twins manage from the Omian Column. Excelling at cunning manipulation, the Derosas Twins run Svir Below through clever plots and unseen illicit activities – and when all else fails, brute force. The story goes that the Derosas Twins grew up orphaned and impoverished, scraping by hungry and poor along the canals of their home. Eventually they joined one of Svir Below’s many low-level gangs. Cunning Vim carved them a place in the underworld, backed by the muscle of her brother. Working their way up, the pair eventually founded their own gang: The Dead Roses. After successfully stealing the Reliquary of Ash from the former ruler of Svir Below, they sealed him within the painting known as the Execution of the Late King Astregard and obtained the approval of the Dismembered Lord. Now their duties include keeping Titan relics out of the hands of the Villinavi, snatching powerful relics from Quill & Stone, and ensuring the levees and supply line from Innes to Grinn remains unhindered along the canals. The Derosas Twins are opportunistic in their leadership, following enough of the technicalities of the Dismembered Lord’s rules to keep eyes away from them, but freely skimming funds and taking liberties to aid their own ends and interests. Vim was recently wounded in an ambush by rival gang leaders. To save her life, Aut secured a dangerous experimental Algomon Zarfvin remedy, infusing Villinavi components into Vim’s damaged skull. The procedure worked, but left her changed and cold, less emotive and empathetic even than usual. Aut worries for the fate of his sister – but fears a world without her even more. Encountering the Derosas Twins: The pair are dichotomous in their methods, with Vim cunning and thoughtful, and Aut more gritty and brutish. Vim is cold and calculating, often planning elaborate contingencies. Aut is much more aggressive, picking fights and unleashing torrents of brash insults and demands. Even when Vim appears alone, Aut is nearly always lurking hidden within striking range. In simple terms, Vim is the brains and Aut is the brawn. Both make use of their Titan-tech enhancements to great effect, with Vim lifting and hurling enemies with her mechanized tentacles, and Aut overpowering the most powerful foes with his immense, armored frame.

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Powers: Vim is extremely intelligent, operating a wellconnected circle of spies and informants who provide information on all the events of the region. Aut is brutish and strong, but incredibly quick and delicate in his skills. He is a master of stealth, sleight of hand, and assassination, serving as leader of the strong arm of Derosas power. Weaknesses: Aut is very protective of his sister, especially after her injury, and will go out of his way to ensure she is safe at all times. When separated from her, his tactics falter, falling back on brutish bluntness instead of his usual finesse. Vim’s personality and presence have been affected permanently by her procedure, leaving her former charisma and sharpness duller than before. Origins: Prior to being Lords of Ash, the twins commanded the Dead Roses gang. Through careful planning and strong execution, their gang held power. The story goes that they were nothing but poor, stranded youth who worked their way into a gang and rose through the ranks through cunning and skill. Others whisper that the Twins had been planted by the Dismembered Lord to replace the prior Lord of Ash, who had surpassed their usefulness. Secrets: The twins keep a tight lock on the information that flows about them, and are quick to silence those who know too much. This hasn’t stopped rumors from circling. Vim’s mind is becoming less stable with each passing day, and the imperfect hive-mind of the Villinavi whispers to her – and she is beginning to listen. She acts less and less herself by the day, which worries Aut – to the point where he’s begun planning contingencies of his own to secure their legacy. Fortress of Ash: The Precipice is a pub and night club located on the top level of the Omian Column in the center of the Six Daggers. A lucrative source of income for the Derosas Twins, the column is filled with seedy backrooms and lined with spies and bouncers at every table. There are many secret compartments, and even some wealthy undiscovered Holithic figures buried within the column – as well as some crawl spaces and lesser known entrances and exits and pathways around the column and into the Precipice. The Derosas Twins often hold open court in the Precipice, making themselves accessible to any with an enticing proposition. Any who offend the twins find themselves hurled from the Omian Column by Aut.

Nemesis: Poole Variston continues to amass power and influence in Svir Below. His bold, ruthless actions and ideals have served him well, garnering him continuous faith from his own Nullity Ring. He respects the Dead Roses and the twins, but his ambition is great. While he won’t strike until the time is right and the odds are in his favor, his power grows more and more and he covets the title of Lord of Ash, desiring total control above all else. An equal threat is the enigmatic Papa Vulture of the Vulturrin whose use of bloodshed and chaos is draining much of the Derosas’ resources and focus. His unpredictable nature makes him a potent, rising threat. Legion of Ash: Quintel Sieger runs a tight ship with his Bonehead Platoon – the Marrow in Svir Below operating (theoretically) under the same legion laws as anywhere else. However, some Marrow share the same opportunistic bent as Svir Below’s gangs and Lords of Ash. New gangs emerge within the Legion of Ash, using their power and influence to line their own pockets and suit their own ends, or even joining with the existing gangs in secret, instead of enforcing the conventional laws put forth by the Dismembered Lord. This corruption causes a rift among the loyal Marrow of Svir Below and those who are corrupt.

THE TWINS STRIVE FOR • Cure for Vim: Magic, a powerful Archan, a piece of Primordial – anything to replace the rusting Villinavi components in her head, thereby granting true healing, restoring Vim’s lost personality and wit, and sharpening her back to her former glory. At her full strength, Vim and her brother could ensure control of Svir Below doesn’t slip from their grasp. • Knowledge of the Enemy: Their nemesis, Poole Variston, is said to have a dark secret that if discovered, could be ruinous to him. If they could learn it and wield it against him, their control would go unchallenged by meaningful opposition. Others whisper that his secret is a powerful weapon he seeks to use against the Derosas Ttwins. • Access to the Infinite Lock: Rumor has it that opening the city-sized Infinite Lock is the secret to untold riches – as well as control of the Villinavi. If the twins can gain access to Deepvault through the Infinite Lock, Svir Below will be theirs alone.

DEROSAS TWINS’ STATE OF POWER This section represents the strength of the Derosas Twins’ resources, allies, and enemies. For everything except the secrets and the plot twist, the lower the roll, the worse-off the result for these dual Lords of Ash. It is intended to be rolled once at the beginning of a session or campaign to generate a starting point, but it can be rolled any time an important enough event occurs to affect the resource or people. D4 1 2 3 4

THE SILENT EIGHT Rebellious elements rise within the gang, seeking new leadership. The Silent Eight lick their wounds after a brutal raid – morale is low. Threats are expected in Svir Below, and the Silent Eight can rise to meet them. The Silent Eight relish their duties in the service of their Lords of Ash.

D6 1 2-3 4-5 6 D8 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 D10 1-3 4-6 7-9 10

D12

LEGION OF ASH Quintel Sieger holds little sway over what has become a legion of corrupt gangs. Sieger’s legion thins with losses from recent battles and corruption, and he considers purging the weakest to make an example. Arrests and shakedowns are prevalent, and more powerful factions cool their activity for the time being. Reinforced and reinvigorated by the Sovereign’s laws, the Marrow are prepared to initiate a crackdown. FORTRESS OF ASH The Precipice is compromised by the myriad factions in Svir Below, and the Derosas have fled to the safety of the Grimfly. The defences offered by the Omian Column are weak – passages into the Precipice grow prevalent. Incorruptible guards armed to the teeth protect the Precipice with their lives. The Derosas bolster the Precipice with a mighty weapon – something to assert more control over Svir Below. THE DEROSAS’ FOES Svir Below is plagued by the Vulturrin – their attacks are prolific, in an endless spree of violence and destruction. The Nullity Ring has found a way into Deepvault – what’s obtained there could destroy the Twins. The Derosas’ authority is unrivaled, but the Order of Quill & Stone emboldens. After a bloody victory, the Twins hold concrete sway over Svir Below’s dealings. Even Quintel Sieger sits firmly in their pocket. THE DEROSAS’ HINDRANCE

1-3

Vim’s illness kills her. Aut must deal with Villinavi attacks near Deepvault, 4-6 separating him from his sister. Vim’s illness forces her unconscious – the more brash Aut 7-9 must take full charge. Multiple members of the Dead Roses have been captured by 10-12 another faction. D20

TWISTS

The Quill & Stone resorts to uncharacteristic violence, 1 decimating a whole district. A district falls to the Furnace, and with it, all assets of a 2-5 powerful faction. The former Lord of Ash emerges from inside Deepvault 6-10 wielding a powerful Archan. Quintel Sieger does not exist – only a name repeated by the 11-15 Marrow gang who supplanted him. Aut convinces a third hang to align themselves with him – 16-19 soon, he’ll rule the Dead Roses for good. 20 Vim murders Aut before he becomes too mighty a threat.

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COUNTDOWN TO RUIN Violent gangs already rule the streets, but Svir Below’s most potent threats still terrorize its people and establishments. The Furnace grows even when quenched, the Villinavi expand the Infinite Lock and destroy any in their way, and the vicious krokod menace the canals, increasing all the while in number and boldness. If left unchecked, Svir Below’s threats will overwhelm the Derosas’ control and bleed into neighboring regions. 1. Attack of the Villinavi: The Infinite Lock expands into the Rivus District unexpectedly, and Villinavi capture, kill, and maim hundreds of locals in the process. The Order of Quill & Stone desires to protect the people, but others believe this new addition to Deepvault might be weak enough to offer entry into the superdungeon. Word spreads like wildfire of potential opportunities for Archans and other relics. 2. Scramble for the Infinite Lock: The Derosas organize a specialized team of Dead Roses and skilled outsiders to investigate the area for ways into Deepvault, but they are not alone. The Nullity Ring bribes Marrow guards into leading their own excursion. 3. Clash of the Titans: The Derosas challenge the Nullity Ring to a battle in the Slaughterhouse, believing they’ve obtained a Titan artifact that could destroy them, and heal Vim of her ailments. Unless directly impacted by outsiders, the Dead Roses obliterate the strength of the Nullity Ring, forcing the Zarfvin gang into a “Dinner of Peace” and an unfair truce. 4. The Physician’s Archan: A remarkable artifact is revealed in the swamps of Innes, and rumors abound it has been transported to Svir in secret, remaining hidden from the powers that be. Aut, believing it the key to save his sister, advocates violent raids on enemy territory in search of the object, while Vim recommends patience and the use of tomeheart spies. In the argument, factionalism plagues the Dead Roses. 5. The Death of Vim Derosas: Many expected Vim to die, but Aut still labels the Nullity Ring, Order of Quill & Stone, and all other enemies of the Dead Roses as outlaws to be destroyed for murdering her. Her reliquary dissipates as the life drains from her form, and Aut feels his own reliquary grow in strength. 6. Scramble for Power: Angered by the Derosas’ inability to protect the people, the Nullity Ring takes advantage of Vim’s death, increasing their numbers drastically, and challenging any gang in the Six Daggers who can field fighters to a mass rumble for prominence – any losers who surrender must join the winning gang to bolster its numbers. A large-scale battle in the Slaughterhouse occurs. Unless directly impacted by outside forces, the Nullity Ring is victorious and their numbers grow after the vicious fight. 7. The Rise of the Vulturrin: More powerful than ever, the Vulturrin attack Svir Below en masse. In a surge of chaos, violence and death, they start a riot that engulfs the whole of Svir Below. The largest gang war in Dragongrin’s history – known as the Slaughterhouse War – ensues as all gangs take to the Slaughter District streets, including the Marrow. Countless casualties occur,

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and Papa Vulture is eventually cornered, but manages to decimate the district by purposefully jumping into a fleshcauldron while holding a bundle of explosives. 8. Aut Declares Martial Law: Weakened after the battle with the Nullity Ring and the Slaughterhouse War, and in light of the chaos surrounding Vim’s death, Aut allies himself with Quintel Sieger, who has just as much to lose ff the Twins collapse and he is proven an impotent commander. All travel in and out of the region is outlawed, and gang activity outside that of the Dead Roses banned. 9. Marrow Civil War: According to Svir’s Lord of Ash and designated Marrow commander Caius Veccus, Sieger’s declaration of rule is in direct violation of the Sovereign’s law. Veccus immediately moves his forces into the underground region, and Svir Below is turned into a battlefield between Marrow. Thousands emigrate to new lands – most will find more brutality in their new homes. 10. Aut Unleashes the Golis Ocean: The remaining Derosas Twin, furious about the reckoning wrought onto his world, destroys the Shields of Rivus with an explosive Archan. Svir Below is flooded with the toxic waters, nine-tenths of the population is killed, and the Furnace continues to boil beneath the underground sea. Aut kills himself in this effort, his reliquary lost in the sea – if he can’t have Svir Below, no one can. 11. Down Comes the Ceiling: After some days, the Omian Column is destroyed by the caustic Golis Ocean, and Svir collapses into Svir Below, turning the whole landscape into a mishmash of ruins, tunnels, underground waterways, and caverns. The Sarrik and Thoughtslayers, take their war to this new battleground.

TALAS, THE LIFETREE

SOARING TREE-CITY RAVAGED BY WAR “Those who condemn our fight for Talas fail to understand – life is struggle, violence is progress, and destiny follows those willing to take violent action. Our spilled blood congeals into honor, and we fear not for the future. The traitors who abandoned their oaths shall die, and the Lifetree will be brought home.”

TALAS AT-A-GLANCE Terrain: Massive crisscrossing branches, impassable thickets, root tunnels, urban terrain

– Aldus Bex, Lord of Ash

Lord of Ash: Aldus Bex, Talasar traitor

Talas was once the epicenter of the Old Vale, source of the most ancient magic in the realm, defended by typhon queens and the unmatched Valenus. Now uprooted, its outcast denizens turn on each other, warring at the behest of a faraway Sovereign.

Resources: Dwindling supplies, exotic halyphons, rare fruits

HISTORY

Then: After centuries of anchoring into the region now known as Feygrave, the Valenus commenced with the blasphemous ritual known as the Uprooting, ripping Talas from Dragongrin and causing violent chaos throughout the Lifetree. Now: The Lifetree soars above Dragongrin, and the Valenus Remnant lead a valiant and violent insurgency against Aldus Bex and the occupying Granok Thane forces who invaded the region through the Feymists. Violence dominates Talas, and the fey magic within the withering tree turns abhorrent. Beyond: Depending on who wins the war, Talas may venture farther into the skies, be conquered and brought back to Feygrave, or plummet into the Shattered Sea below. Even the monstrous denizens of the Lifetree have more twisted plans of their own...

Climate: Humid near its core, frigid and still near the Reach and outer branches

Cultures: Talasar, Granok Thane, Mord Factions: Valenus Remnant, Sovereign’s Blade, Adjudicators, Scars of Bex, Vertus, New Senate Creatures: Witherslain, Goodchildren, halyphon, wild beasts of the Reach

KNOW THIS TO SURVIVE

Lord of Ash Aldus Bex and his Granok Thane legions occupy the soaring Lifetree after a violent invasion, though an explosive insurgency wars with his efforts. Meanwhile, Talas’ Uprooting churns out horrid side-effects, and ancient beings from the Feymists placate their own goals among the doomed, skyward battleground. Aldus Bex Occupies the Lifetree: Immediately after the Uprooting, the Dismembered Lord seized the opportunity to bring Talas into his domain. By resurrecting Aldus Bex – a prominent Valenus warrior who was murdered for his support of the Uprooting – the Lord of Ash of Talas was declared. With the support of the Feyhold Legion in Feygrave, an army of Granok Thane companies, and the mystical healing magic of the Dismembered Lord keeping him alive, Bex took full control of the Lifetree, and declared martial law thereafter. His quick domination of the soaring region does little to grant him peace, however. A mysterious figure called Rettina leads the Valenus Remnant in a focused insurgency, and the longer Bex takes to pacify the seditious occupants of Talas, the greater chance of the Dismembered Lord taking back the resurrection granted, putting a more capable Lord of Ash in Aldus Bex’s place.

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The Sovereign’s Blade Fights for Their Reward: It’s no secret that the Dismembered Lord mustered as much support for Aldus Bex’s war as possible from any reliable sources available – and the Granok Thane mercenary company known as the Sovereign’s Blade is the greatest manifestation of this. Like any other mercenary company, this one required payment – but rather than an exchange of coin or goods, the Dismembered Lord promised them something invaluable: a permanent home for the Granok Thane in Dragongrin. If Talas is brought back to the mainland, it will become a beacon of their culture, and a new, unfathomably wealthy epicenter of the Red Sail Market. For such a cause, the Sovereign’s Blade will fight endlessly, recruiting countless, patriotic Granok Thane from every corner of Dragongrin. As the Lifetree’s magic grows weaker by the day, they must act quickly or their potential homeland will wither and die beneath them. The Withering Spreads Like a Plague: The Withering, also known as “Bex’s mark,” is a pestilence that is new to Talas, beginning to infect the Lifetree’s denizens shortly after the Crowngate was destroyed. The destruction released longdormant fungal spores in the air, which, once ingested, causes the fungus to spread throughout the body. Once the spores reach the bones, it uses them as a plant would use soil to grow vine-like tendrils throughout the body. These “bonevines” use the host’s flesh and organs to draw nutrients, causing the infected to appear withered and gaunt, which gives the disease its name. When the spores reach the brain, the Withering hijacks the host’s mind, taking control of those it infects, using them as hosts to spread the awful sickness. Those being controlled in this way are called witherslain. Over the course of a week, it compels the creature to leave the safety of its dwelling place and descend to a low point of Talas now being called the Blister. It is there they stand against their will, and the bonevines erupt from them anchoring them into the ground. A large spore-releasing stalk then bursts from the victim’s head spewing the disease. The Blister has new victims each passing week. If a cure isn’t found soon, Talas will become a thriving topiary of lifeless cadavers. The Valenus Remnant Defend the Life Tree: From the shadows of Talas’ looming branches, the mysterious Rettina directs her insurgent forces throughout the Lifetree, relentlessly sabotaging the efforts of Sovereign’s Blade, all while the Valenus Remnant’s foothold shrinks. Despite being labeled as traitors by the Feyhold Legion in Feygrave, her forces remain loyal to the cause of a free Talas outside the tainted realm of the Dismembered Lord. This violent insurrection perpetuates a bloody war that claims lives on all sides, including some unfortunate few non-combatants still living upon the Lifetree. The primary headquarters of the insurgency is unknown, despite the Lifetree’s finite size, but all of Bex’s intelligence points to the most powerful, estranged, and volatile location in Talas – the Reach. The Crowngate Becomes the Reach: For the two decades following Lightfall, the soaring Lifetree of Talas was accessible from the soil of Dragongrin by a series of magical passageways called Feymist Crossings. Many of the crossings led to a transportation hub in Talas known as the Crowngate, the primary, lawful way to enter the dominion. To slow the invasion of Aldus Bex’s forces, the Valenus Remnant used powerful magic to destroy the Crowngate. The resulting explosion did destroy the majority of the Feymist Crossings but it also left a savage frontier of floating debris now known as the Reach. This twisted place emanates volatile magic, houses vicious fey wildlife, allegedly conceals the rebellious Valenus Remnant, and emboldens strange entities from beyond the material plane.

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Mother Silurian and Her Children Seek Faces: Long ago, after millenia of peace within the Old Vale, typhon leader Kumon Orth and Mother Silurian went to sleep, leaving the defense of the magical homeland in the hands of the capable Valenus. After the Uprooting, Orth was left in Feygrave, while the faerie queen remained safe inside her cocoon at the top of Talas, the Lifetree. But upon the Crowngate’s destruction, and the creation of the inexplicable Reach, Mother Silurian was awakened prematurely, her cocoon left in tatters and shreds, and her macabre form as unfinished and blasphemous as the state of the Lifetree itself. Now, even as Talas erupts into civil war, her minions scout from the Reach to bring back fresh meat for her brood. Rumored to steal away the faces of victims to wear upon her own incomplete visage of knotted roots, she also wraps those captured into cocoons of their own, to awaken as Goodchildren. The Adjudicators Pass Judgement: The oaths taken by the Valenus were not to some arbitrary sigil or ideology, but to the Adjudicators – astral beings who travel between worlds, ensuring fey magic thrives where it needs to, and yields where it does not belong. The Talasar have forever lived underneath the Adjudicators, always paying homage to the ancient beings who guarded over the Old Vale, and perpetually fearful of their swift and bloody punishment for failure. Some say they are the oldest fey creatures, forever watching over a larger network of worlds known as Arbitron. In a recent event, the Adjudicators manifested in Talas itself to pronounce the Lifetree too far gone to be rejuvenated by the magic of the Old Vale. From here on out, they have written off the region as a lost cause, and will stubbornly defend the Feymists from any toxic energies which have tainted it – the Raddika and Feymist Crossings to and from Talas are hereby banished from use. CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS OF TALAS Upon coming of age, all Valenus venture into the wilds, alone and naked, to forge their own weapons, and use them to slay powerful beasts. Those “wilds” used to be Feyhold, but now that Talas has taken flight, the Reach serves as the perfect substitute. Only when the potential warrior returns to civilization with the pelt of a manticore or other mythical monster are they considered Valenus. Upon retirement from this charge, all Valenus are bestowed with a symbolic sword, carved from the wood of the Lifetree itself. If an outsider proves themselves worthy, they can earn this honor.

POWERFUL PEOPLE OF TALAS

Lord of Ash Aldus Bex: Once the leader of the Valenus and chief protector of the Lifetree and Talasar culture, Aldus Bex was quick to change heart once Talas took flight. Many believe he saw the Uprooting as the ultimate betrayal of the Feymists, while others say the Dismembered Lord offered him more than he could possibly refuse to take up the reliquary and lead the assault by the Sovereign’s Blade. The latter theory was proven undeniable when Bex was slain upon a skyward battlefield – the result of betrayal and ambush by his former legion. The Dismembered Lord patched his wounds with magic from the Bleak, ensuring Aldus Bex would be a faithful servant to a ruler who could revoke the blessing at any moment. Even as Bex entertains the idea that perhaps he made the wrong choice, he is now strapped to the cause. He leads a small Marrow contingent called the Scars of Bex and trusts almost no one.

Mother Silurian: At the epicenter of the Reach is the imploded Crowngate, around which the shattered remnants of Mother Silurian’s cocoon perpetually hover. From here, the faerie queen syphons fey magic from the rupture, slowly increasing her power, and collecting denizens of the Feymists who venture through into the Reach. From her sundered cocoon, she ensnares the populace of Talas into her fold, stealing their faces for her own and converting them into Goodchildren who in turn “recruit” even more into what is gradually becoming a small army. She believes the Adjudicators have underestimated her ability to turn their abandonment of Talas against them, and plans to not only conquer the Lifetree, but perhaps take the war into the Feymists, against the Adjudicators themselves. D10 1

Rettina: Few know her true identity, but the actions of her people speak louder than any appearance. When she gives an order, the Valenus Remnant follows, and no enemy contingent or valuable supply line is safe from her insurgency. Some say she is actually Lady Charon, the powerful warlock who led the movement to uproot Talas, while others claim “she” is not a woman at all. Her people are valiant, but even the bravest can fall at the hands of starvation. As the occupation increases its pressure, she considers bargaining with Mother Silurian of the Reach, offering sacrifices to the faerie in exchange for help in the war – a blasphemous scheme, to be sure.

Vuxa Thanium: The Dismembered Lord felt that a prominent Valenus leader such as Aldus Bex would help bring more followers to the side of the Sovereign, but the Granok Thane who follow him demanded their own immediate commander. Vuxa fills the role well, and some even say she’s the brain behind all major strategic movements and activity made by the Sovereign’s Blade. She’s loyal to the Sovereign, which means she’s loyal to Bex, but her people increasingly pressure her to demand more from him, or even to pursue the position of Lord of Ash herself.

3 4 5 6

8 9

CHARACTER CONNECTIONS TO TALAS Talas is your homeland, and you feel compelled to fight for its survival on one of the two warring sides. You know a rogue member of the Feyhold Legion who can provide entry. You’ve been visited by an ancient Adjudicator from the Feymists. For some reason, they require you to make for Talas, though you’re not sure how you’ll get there. You carry a gnarled branch, an heirloom of sorts. It draws you ever closer to Talas, the Lifetree from whence it came. You were a foreigner visiting Talas when the war broke out. You’ve been trapped here ever since. You’re related to a famed halyphon trainer from Talas, but you haven’t heard from them in a long time. You’re acquainted with an enigmatic Mord named Zuvir Kam, who has spread a discreet word requiring help in Talas. A loved one was allegedly near the Crowngate when it exploded, and their family needs proof of their demise in order to move on. You know an alchemist who prates constantly about the strange, Withering bark from the Lifetree, and how they’d love to get their hands on it. You or your parents were born on Talas before the Uprooting, and you long to visit your ancestral homeland. Strange fey creatures permeate your dreams, the most prominent being a gigantic, faceless faerie. “Do not be afraid,” she speaks, “come to me.” You somehow know where she is referring to.

Adjudicator Burnpetal: The mysterious, interplanar Adjudicators from the Feymists cannot be swayed, having already passed their judgement that Talas is a lost cause. It was Burnpetal who delivered the news to the warring populace. The Lifetree shook, and their voice reverberated through every branch and scrap of wind – “Leave your discrepancies on the outside. Bring them into the Feymists, and all will be destroyed.” If the Feymists are breached by the rot and Withering takes root in Talas, Adjudicator Burnpetal will bring an end to all that is fey, wiping the slate clean before moving on to some other world. Mother Silurian will have something to say about that, however, and as she grows in power, Burnpetal and the other Adjudicators fear she may lead the Lifetree’s war into the Feymists. Zuvir Kam the Arbiter: With skin the slate gray of stone and impressive, sweeping eyebrows of stark white, the Mord dwarf known as Zuvir Kam strikes an impressive figure as he wanders Talas with a small cadre of followers and armed protectors. Originally hailing from Varnholme, and noted for his attempt to broker peace prior to the Uprooting, Kam now avails for an end to the conflict plaguing the Lifetree, as well as the Withering rotting it from within. Keen and sharpminded, Kam has entrenched himself with both the Valenus Remnant and the current regime of Aldus Bex. Rumors abound that Kam possesses ulterior motives – shadowy goals that would result in transplanting Talas in Varnholme, reshaping the landscape and allowing Elderstone to take root within the sacred Lifetree. 305 DOMINIONS OF ASH: TALAS

PRIMARY LOCATIONS

Academy of Axius: All Talasar are born into the warrior class, and many once trained here, on the hallowed grounds of the Academy of Axius, nicknamed “Burl Academy” because it is housed within one of the Lifetree’s massive burls. Once a bustling martial school churning out legions of Valenus soldiers, it now serves as a training ground and fortified outpost for Vuxa Thanium and her Sovereign’s Blade. The Blister: Below Rapola within the roots of the Lifetree there is a macabre garden made up of victims of the disease known as the Withering. In its final throes, the Withering controls its victims, compelling them to come here as roots burst from them. With a death toll numbering in the hundreds, these grisly topiaries stand as a reminder of Bex’s failure. This awful place could be the key to the cure for this dreaded sickness. The Bloodied Branch: The main path into Caepolaen is a sobering and bloody sight. Nailed to a gnarled branch by wooden weapons – the symbol of a Valenus’ retirement – Bex’s enemies decompose for all to see. The birds and beasts of Talas pick at the rotting bodies, leaving behind macabre visages of ragged flesh and exposed bone. Caepolaen, City in the Sky: This treetop metropolis was once among the most beautiful settlements in Dragongrin, but now is overrun by poverty, starvation, and disease. The Sovereign’s Blade patrols the decrepit and sunthorn-lit roads, keeping the population in line. At the city’s heart looms a spire of floating rubble – the remains of the old senate house, bombarded and destroyed by the Sovereign’s Blade. The obliterated remnant of democracy now serves as Aldus Bex’s aerial Fortress of Ash. Cossus Avidius: This former Talasar fortress rests upon a massive chunk of earth strangled by a spiraling root from the Lifetree. This location now houses the mercenary company the Sovereign’s Blade, whose rowdy warriors maintain several barracks here. There is also a tavern here called the Shaking Limb, named for how raucous its denizens get. It’s said that the bar is the best place to get information about the surface of Dragongrin proper while in Talas. The Elesius: Rows of trenches and weaponized palisades guard the Sovereign’s Blade’s front against the violence emanating from the Reach and Valorieth Canopy. This perpetual battlefield is in constant retreat, as the canopy grows more dangerous. Inatha’s Haven: Somewhere within or adjacent to Rapola, City of the Dead, is the rumored headquarters of the Vertus – a growing group of civilians and non-combatants displaced by the war. Seemingly impossible to find, the denizens of this macabre and secret headquarters consider turning their operation into a violent takeover of Talas. Moldernest: Perched in the highest boughs of the Reach, this strange, dark mass houses Talas’ largest halyphon population. Feeding and breeding within, the nest is a grotesque network of winding tunnels lined with refuse and bones. Numerous and varied halyphon dwell within, striking out more regularly as the war disrupts their ecosystem and natural food supply. Pethice Prison: Miscreants disobeying the wills of Aldus Bex or the Sovereign’s Blade often disappear without a trace, and many believe they are imprisoned here, at the bottom of Talas’ exposed roots. In the center of this brutal prison is the dreaded Pit to Eternity – a massive hole where condemned are thrown from Talas into the sky below. Praesidius: The largest city in Talas, and where most of its denizens lived before the war erupted. Now a warzone, its

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labyrinthine streets and alleys the sites of skirmishes and guerilla warfare, its buildings serving as makeshift barracks and staging points as the front lines of the war shift endlessly. No corner of the city is untouched by the carnage and destruction of the war. Qarsus Observatory: This observatory was built after the Uprooting in a joint effort between the Talasar and the Zarfvin. Outfitted with experimental Archanic equipment said to be capable of seeing as far as Varnholme, its equipment is also said to be capable of unbelievable feats. Rumors swirl that the devices within can peer into the Bleak, steal glimpses of the Desolation, and even see beyond the fabric of the living into the Wailing Gray. It’s rumored that fringe researchers still conduct dangerous experiments even in the face of war. Rapola, City of the Dead: Throughout the hollowed sections of the Lifetree, Talas keeps its dead. This sprawling necropolis of spiraling wood and stone branches off into an immeasurable number of labyrinthine corridors and secret passages – the havens for wretches, criminals, and the rumored Vertus whose goal is to save as many civilians from the war as possible. The Reach: Once the Crowngate – the twin portal to the Rootgate – the Reach is now a deadly sprawl of splintered branches and crumbling boulders. Sharing the magical properties of the Lifetree’s levitation, it is a labyrinth of floating, drifting chunks of earth and twisted, shattered branches. It is a place of unmatched peril, where great heights and natural hazards pair with the twisted creatures and vile magic of Mother Silurian. Rettina’s Last Stand: No one truly knows where the sole fortress of the Valenus Remnant persists, though many believe it to be in the Valorieth Canopy. Only those permitted entry live to tell the tale of the massive swathe of dense foliage, concealing a well-protected spherical fortress, at the center of which sits Rettina’s personal quarters and Feymist Crossing. The Rootgate: This sundered portal into the Feymists was irreparably damaged during the Uprooting. The Sovereign’s Blade constructed a massive trench system to defend it against the Valenus Remnant who believe destroying it is the key to their victory in Talas, and the Adjudicators on the other side protect the fey plane against possible incursion from the tainted Lifetree. The Rootgate is a labyrinth, and only the strongest and well-trained survivalists could ever make it to its center – the entrance to the Feymists. Rootways and Vine Bridges: Travel through Talas is difficult due to its dense foliage and Aldus Bex’s restrictions of certain tunnels and pathways, but not even the most watchful can keep all the routes undiscovered. Passages tunneled through roots and massive bridges of sturdy vines are not only used as roads or secret smuggling routes, but sometimes as whole settlements themselves. Temple of the Procyon: The Talasar have always worshipped ancient All-makers as a culture. However, when the Lifetree was torn from Dragongrin, a measure of its peoples’ faith was damaged as well. Once dedicated to the All-makers and the Uthiryl, the temple now serves instead as a makeshift fortress for the Sovereign’s Blade, who hold little reverence for the gods of the Talasar. Dissent grows among devout Talasar who will not stand by as their temple is defiled. Valorieth Canopy: Beneath the volatile and creeping Reach is a dense forest of Talas’ myriad vines, roots, and growth. In this mesmerizing forest within the Lifetree, gigantic birds and beasts now thrive, many of which are violent and carnivorous, and some believe Rettina’s Last Stand – the hidden fortress of the Valenus Remnant – is concealed within this place.

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Whisperway: Sprawling underneath the Reach is a lesser known, far more dangerous entry through the Rootgate. Here, where the portal extends into a hidden underground area, cavernous branches teem with mutated life and abhorrent creatures from beyond plague those who venture close to the Feymists. It serves as a prominent route for those wishing to get through under Bex’s nose. Zinlen Slipway: This decrepit drydock on the edge of Talas holds what was once the source of an experimental aerial navy, before the Uprooting rendered the operation useless due to a waning supply of fey magic. Here, a small number of light airships sit rusted, dusty, and perpetually under construction, surrounding the only fully built craft, the Venorin. Now that myriad magics engulf the Lifetree, many of the magical devices in the Zinlen Slipway once again come to life. D10 1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10

D8 1

PERIPHERAL LOCATIONS A meager but well fortified Valenus Remnant camp perched on a narrow branch, swaying in the wind. A stone temple revering the Old Vale, toppled and overtaken by plant growth. A rickety rope bridge sways between two branches – it appears to be the only path across. A hollow leads deep into the trunk of the Lifetree. A strange mist permeates, with dark figures moving within. The Withering consumed this settlement, now abandoned, corrupted, and ethereal. A pillar-like branch rises up, etched with Talasar writing going back eons. The freshest scrawling reads: “Talas aloft signals the doom of all.” A pair of Blades stand guard over a rune-etched stone platform and urge passersby to keep moving – for what reason, they cannot say. A hollowed-out burl houses a tavern and market of oddities operating in secret. A watchtower stands upon a massive boulder, entangled with roots. The Sovereign’s Blade controls the tower – for now. A face seems to peer out from the twisted bark of the Lifetree. Rumors say an offering of blood wakes the fey spirit slumbering within.

D102 1 2 3 4 5

HALYPHONS Most often with the body of mixed mammalian pairs, this winged creature is said to have diverged from the typhon. These mythical monstrosities vary greatly in form and magic, including griffons, rocs, winged manticores, sphinxes, chimeras, and more within their ranks. Now, after the Uprooting, the halyphons in Talas are among the last of their kind, clawing and gnashing through life in the Reach. Some can be tamed by those bold enough to ensnare them, while others are far more intelligent than most of the Lifetree’s other denizens.

BATTLES FOR TALAS

Rettina’s insurgency fights throughout Talas, using the surprise attack as their primary method, and other factions wield violence to make their own gains in the Lifetree. For these reasons, battles occur anywhere, unpredictably, and between a variety of factions. Roll on the following tables to generate the combat, and optionally, roll a d6 twice to decide who is involved in the skirmish. You can choose to ignore duplicates, or be inspired by narrative infighting between former allies. 1: Valenus Remnant 2: Sovereign’s Blade 3: Monsters 4: Marrow 5: Vertus 6: Mother Silurian.

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6 7 8 9 10 D102 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

SUDDEN PERILS Blinding mist: An overwhelming fog covers the area, concealing any thing you are not close enough to touch. A party of Valenus rangers will hear your calls, helping or capturing you depending on your loyalties in the war. Wrong place, wrong time: A skirmish breaks out between traveling Sovereign’s Blade forces and ambushing Valenus. You can tip the scales either way, but after the fight, a pack of hunting halyphons attacks the weakened victors. Crumbling Lifetree: A gargantuan branch from above you comes tumbling down, crushing anything in its wake. Its fall is stopped some distance below you, and docile samples of the Withering can be examined in the rotten branch. Maddened Goodchildren: The fluttering of bladelike wings emanate around you, and 1d4 of Mother Silurian’s Goodchildren arrive to steal your faces. Their wings are valuable for their natural edges and use in elixirs, though such uses are blasphemous to the Valenus. Withering spores: The bark of the Lifetree spews a toxic muck into your faces and the air. Only those who hold their breath for 1d4 minutes, or those with the most physical resolve will thwart the first stages of the Withering’s corruption. Atmospheric Bleakstorm: The skies rage with crimson lightning, acid rain, and violent winds. The aerial Bleakstorm enhances the Withering wherever it makes contact. Witherslain ambush: Horrifying Witherslain emerge from rotten bark and attack immediately. One of them is only halfway taken, crying and apologizing while lashing out at you, though none can be saved. Starving Vertus: You are ambushed by swathes of malnourished civilians displaced by the war. They only desire your rations and supplies, but one of them posits that you would also be useful as tasty food. BATTLE SITE

CONDITIONS

Dense thicket Floating island of knotted wood Halyphon nest Dim tunnel Open grove of carnivorous flora Urban center Charred remains of previous battle Thicket of dead foliage Floating islands and the sky Varying branches at different heights

Raging fires Isolated regiment Violent wildlife Crumbling structure Withering spores Duel between commanders Magical traps Reinforcements Pitch black night Civilians in the fray

THREAT

ATROCITIES OF WAR

Siege halyphon Monsters of the Reach Elite unit Witherslain ambush Faction leader Goodchildren Powerful commander Violently altering terrain Oxygen depletion Unforeseen faction from elsewhere

Experimental weapons Prisoner execution Total betrayal Huge explosion Unabashed killing of civilians Unleashing the Bleak Bloodthirsty soldiers Prisoner brutality Weaponized Withering Looting the bodies

D10 GROWING THREATS AND RUMORS 1

As the Withering expands, it grows as sentient as any other living thing in Talas. It has begun organizing its spread into the major population centers, and into Rapola, the City of the Dead. Who knows what it could do with the corpses of the ancients? Food and base supplies are running dangerously low now that the Adjudicators are guarding the main passages through the Feymists. Soon, even the most obscure Feymist Crossings will be closed off, and the people of Talas will starve. The higher Talas soars, the more frigid the air becomes, especially near the Dying Edge of the Lifetree. Soon, nothing will grow here, and denizens of the region will start to freeze. Perhaps Mother Silurian can help using her awesome powers? The Withering is targeting the tunnels throughout Talas, cutting off what few passages there are left in the region. Only if these passages are burned out with fire will the Withering retreat, though the Lifetree will be nothing more than a charred husk in these areas. The Reach is spreading. Some say Mother Silurian is using her waxing powers to expand her domain, while others believe it’s the result of the Adjudicator’s withdrawing their control of the fey magic in Talas and the rest of Dragongrin. An explosion of fey magic near the Reach has unleashed countless monsters through the resulting portal. If the scourge continues, the surrounding area will be overwhelmed, and Mother Silurian will find swathes of new recruits to take into her mysterious fold. Those under the Sovereign’s Blade occupation begin to view those from any culture other than Talasar or Granok Thane as a potential insurgent, not to be trusted. Some experienced commanders have taken to capturing, interrogating, and murdering them. The Vertus have grown into such great numbers as to justify turning their humanitarian mission into an aggressive and violent takeover of Talas. Vuxa Thanium is plotting to seize power from Aldus Bex. The Sovereign’s Blade would be pleased with a new hegemonic position within Talas, but the Valenus Remnant and citizenry among the Lifetree would view the coup and resulting Granok Thane unity as an ultimate threat. Something has changed on the other side of the Rootgate. The fey energies are growing more powerful, as if the Adjudicators have changed their mind – or been destroyed by something else within the Feymists.

D10 QUESTS AND BOUNTIES

New Feymist crossings are required to transfer supplies into Talas, and the treacherous Reach is the best way to find them. Those who do are offered military rank within the Sovereign’s Blade, or an alliance with the Copper Jackals by more humanitarian organizations. The citizens of Caepolaen are stirring under the weight of starvation and disease, and will soon rise up. The Sovereign’s Blade will offer coin to any who put down potential insurgents, and the Valenus Remnant freely gives supplies to any who would transfer them into the city. An innocent person is about to be executed as a Valenus traitor, and their loved one offers a cache of military supplies to any who put a stop to it. It’s hard to believe anything would take precedence over the war in Talas, but a Skull of Marrow believe an escaped Copper Jackal hiding among the Lifetree is worth finding. Any who help bring them in is offered a permanent officer position in the Legion, and the Copper Jackals offer safety aboard the Copper Sun to any who help bring the Jackal to the skyward wonder. Rumors of a rising faction of non-combatants circle around the occupying Sovereign’s Blade, and intelligence shows they could be operating out of Rapola, City of the Dead. Granok leadership offers supplies and open transit throughout Talas for any who investigate. A Mord contingent allied with Zuvir Kam desires to introduce their Elderstone to the differing energies in Talas. Expose it with the Withering and the Reach, and they will offer you valuable Elderstone and knowledge. For every two halyphons you bring to the small Marrow contingent in Talas, they will return one to you, tamed and trained. Witherslain have overrun a Sovereign’s Blade outpost near the Reach – both sides in the war offer favor to those who reclaim it for their own use. Samples of the Withering are becoming easier to come by, but the dangers of handling it keep all but the boldest from trying. Civilian alchemists in Caepolaen will offer magical elixirs to any who deliver it. You are visited by the faceless Mother Silurian in a dream, but from within her horrifying visage of knotted roots, a beautiful voice emanates. “We can bring peace to Talas, and return the Old Vale to the world. But first, I need you to come to me.”

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CRUX: FIRST FLIGHT OF THE VENORIN Concept: Aerial Dogfight Themes: Urgency, Perception, Pursuit, Danger

EVENT “Take to arms. The breach is open. Take to arms. The breach is open.” The strange voice sounds in your mind as you approach the Zinlen Slipway. What does it mean? The Slipway has been decrepit for years, the Archan-infused skyships within now mere relics of the past – lost potentials and might-have-beens. Yet the message keeps calling, and the influential factions of Talas make moves for what could be the greatest prize of the war. In the midst of the scramble, it is rumored that a magical relic of the Old Vale has somehow been reactivated within the Venorin – the docked capital ship, scavenged of all but its most important supplies. By seizing this powerful force, the Venorin might be made operational once again, toppling the status quo in Talas. Whether fighting for what could be used as a weapon for the Valenus Remnant or Sovereign’s Blade, or hijacking the craft for an escape or other purpose, the adventurers have their own reasons to participate. At the start, the Venorin is under heavy guard by the Scars of Bex, waiting for an experienced Archanist known only as Sealer to finish investigating the interior of the craft. They must find a way aboard, take to the skies, defend it from attackers, and discover the true meaning behind the message.

PEOPLE The aerial battle portrayed by this Crux involves the adventurers and a handful of enemies contesting for control of the Venorin. Aboard the craft, the players will encounter three other personalities: Sealer, who struggles to discover the Venorin’s true purpose as soon as the adventurers arrive, Lex, an intelligent and trusted mount dedicated to the defense of the craft and location of its true handler, and the Venorin itself, whose magical machinations are infused with the soul of its creator – an ancient elf with motivations of her own. There will be many opportunities for the adventurers to provide solace to these three personalities and more, by securing the Venorin and using it for many potential purposes.

CODE NAME “SEALER”

Conscripted Archanist (F Zarfvin Dwarf) “It’s – it’s not what I expected. I’m not sure what that was to begin with, but whatever is happening here – whatever has activated the Venorin – it wants to be free.” Personality: Frantic, jittery, and plainly afraid of something she does not understand. Appearance: Black stains on her forehead from wiping sweat with her grimy hands. Rumor: She is distrusted by Aldus Bex and the Scars of Bex, who believe she has connections aboard the Copper Sun. If she is able to pilot the Venorin, she will bring it to the sanctuary of rebels.

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Goal: Discover the meaning of the Venorin’s message. Introduction: Sealer yelps at the first sight of you, stumbles backward, and drops her tools through a crevasse in the floor. “Who are you,” she whispers, adamant everyone keep their voices down to avoid detection by the guards outside. After a short exchange, she begs for help fetching her tools which are just out of reach of her arms. Once they are obtained, she completes her work, punctuating the final turn of a wrench with an audible, “uh oh…”

LEX Halyphon Mount (F Chimera)

Her purrs tremble through your arm, welcoming the soft strokes along her lion’s mane. She presses her head into your chest, unravels her broad eagle’s wings, and you hear a voice inside your mind – it whispers “friend.” Personality: Loyal to her handlers, though protective of the Venorin – she speaks in single words and simple phrases, which the recipient hears inside their mind. Appearance: Lion’s head and mane, atop a reptilian’s body coated with large feathered wings. Rumor: She will kill anyone who threatens the intelligence infused inside the Venorin. Goal: Submerge the Venorin into the sea, far from any hands who would pervert its beauty. Introduction: From a dark corner of the room, a slow, steady growl emanates. Large bestial eyes glow in the shadows, and broad white fangs drop drool onto the deck. The halyphon stalks outward toward you, and postures in a way that experienced handlers would comprehend as a sort of greeting. If the adventurers are peaceable, they gain Lex as a loyal, flying mount. If they are not, they must contend with this vicious enemy inside the small room of the Venorin.

THE VENORIN

“Take to arms. The breach is open. Take to arms. The breach is open. Take to arms. The breach is open. Take to arms. The breach is open…” Personality: Singular and focused, speaking only one phrase until Sealer irritably shuts the illusory noise off. Appearance: The Venorin is a large ship with many chambers, and strange, twisted magic creeping through the walls. Rumor: The Venorin is infused with the sentient soul of its ancient, elven architect – and is bent on doing her will will even today. Goal: The Venorin’s goals vary depending on the results of the Twists Escalation Table, and can only be interpreted by Sealer at the end of the scenario. Introduction: There it is, amidst dozens of lesser vessels whose valuable machinations have been stripped away over the years since Lightfall – the Venorin. The clamps affixing it to the Slipway are overtaken with vines and other foliage, and a small Skull of Marrow guard it from potential threats. Distracted by an argument between them, the soldiers have left an open hatch unprotected, creating the perfect way into the skyship. As you move closer, the voice inside your mind grows in volume.

D6 1 2 3

5 6

D6 1

CHARACTER CONNECTIONS You heard the Venorin’s call in your dreams, and follow quickly to your summons. You have reason to believe the location of the Copper Sun is somewhere aboard the Venorin – a wondrous prize for any who would take it. You are descended from Elian Karnicus, the Talasar architect who constructed the ship, and feel you have a right to see it. The Dismembered Legion has put out discreet bounties on those with any information pertaining to the Zinlen Slipway and the ships contained there – you’ve come across that quest. One of the vying factions in Talas has contracted you with investigating and capturing the decrepit Venorin. You are close friends with a Zarfvin dwarf named Holith – code named “Sealer” – and received a harried message from them requesting help. COUNTDOWN TO PERIL The adventurers board the Venorin to find Lex the halyphon protecting Sealer while she works. Only after this introduction does the ship jolt out of position and attempt to take off, without any input from those inside. A series of obstacles must be overcome to detach the activated Venorin from the Slipway, seizing it from the Marrow guards and taking it into the skies. However, the skyship slowly begins plummeting to the sea below. Sealer requests one of the more experienced adventurers go to the Bridge and solve the problem pulling the Venorin downward. Once it’s complete, full power emanates throughout the skyship, and it begins soaring away from the Lifetree. Volatile dangers occur in the Withering-covered Archan Room, demanding remedy, or else the Venorin will be doomed in mid-flight. Aerial attacks from Sovereign’s Blade glider pilots or Valenus Remnant halyphon riders threaten the venture, as well as the lives of the adventurers. Lex and the gliders in the Hangar can be utilized to destroy the enemies while Sealer works out what is happening. Sealer discovers the true purpose behind the message, and the ultimate mission of the Venorin. How the adventurers deal with this depends on their stance on the Venorin’s goals.

ESCALATION The fight for the Venorin is quick and decisive, requiring a valiant defense coupled with skilled engineering. Each table in this section correlates with a physical location on or around the Venorin, and the threats and encounters which await the adventurers there. The previous Countdown to Peril is numbered with the locations for ease of use, but the encounters may be completed in any order. LOCAL CONDITIONS Frigid air surrounds the open area. Withering and other strange magic seems to exist within the Venorin. Multiple parties arrive all at once to capture the ship.

D4 1 2

3 4 D6 1 2-3 4-5 6 D8 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 D10 1-3 4-6 7-9 10

D12

THE GANGPLANK Urgency: Scars of Bex soldiers rush to the Venorin. Disable the landing clamps quickly to take off. Perception: Valenus Remnant scouts are watching – it’s easier to dodge their arrows while embarking if you see them. Pursuit: You or someone you love is rushing to board the Venorin, but they are chased by enemies who will catch them without intervention. Combat: 1d4 members of the Scars of Bex board before liftoff – throw them from the ship. THE BRIDGE Activate an Archan at the exact same time as Sealer activates the one she’s working on, so the ship stops spinning in place. Use the arcane cannon to keep your enemies from immediately pursuing you from the Lifetree – the Venorin seems to be working to make the shots more difficult. An unseen boarding party is climbing up the sides of the ship. Throw them into the endless abyss below. Find the emergency lockdown and disable it, allowing the Venorin to take to the skies. THE ARCHAN ROOM Explosion: sparking Archans need repair, flames erupt, seal off the chamber Limited Power: Venorin begins shutting down, needs magical sacrifice, spellcasters feel the call Repairs Required: find the problem amidst the Withering, carefully adjust it so it doesn’t explode Remove the Withering: torch or freeze the room, manifested witherslain attacks THE HANGAR The gliders are defended by tomehearts corrupted by the Withering. The gliders require repairs and adjusted parts before they are in working order. The exit hatch for the gliders is stuck, requiring strength or wits to open before the crafts can depart. The teetering Venorin is rocked by an arcane spell, and the gliders slide in your direction. Dodge them before taking to the skies. THE SKIES

Mother Silurian’s Goodchildren attack the soaring ship – blast them with the main cannon before they can cause any damage. A skilled Sovereign’s Blade halyphon rider threatens one of 4-6 your allies. Get the drop on them. Enemies prepare to take flight from the Slipway. Strafe the 7-9 area to keep them from contesting you. Valenus Remnant glider pilots aim to drop onto the soaring 10-12 ship and hijack it. Stop them in the skies and on the deck. 1-3

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D20

AFTERMATH/CONSEQUENCES

TWISTS

Spirits from the Wailing Gray have found a way out of their hell, through the Venorin itself. After years of slowly creeping aboard, the Withering 2-5 reactivates the Venorin into twisted, sentient life. Mother Silurian activated the Venorin from afar, hoping to 6-10 crash it into the sea to prevent it from being used by her enemies. The Copper Sun is close, and its proximity has activated the 11-15 Venorin, which now makes for its location. Rettina’s Valenus Remnant was slowly and secretly 16-19 reassembling the Venorin before the Scars of Bex arrived – they activated it to trigger a predictable enemy response. The activation is coming from Grinn – the Dismembered Lord 20 activated the ship to bring it back to the mainland. 1

CLIMAX: THE PLUNGE No matter the cause of the Venorin’s activation, its true energy is bonded with the Lifetree itself. Whether the Twist determines why it moves away from Talas, or the Venorin itself has decided to do so, when it gets too far away from Talas, it will lose its reclaimed power and begin free-falling into the sea below. As soon as this process begins, the Venorin’s voice begins saying “the breach will be closed” over and over, as if the destruction of the craft is the true goal of the elven soul infused into its infrastructure.

UNFOLDING EVENTS • Sealer reveals the true reason for the Venorin’s reactivation, as interpreted by the Twist, and reports the information to the adventurers. • All enemies make a last-ditch effort to take the Venorin, attacking haphazardly, all at once. • The Venorin enters a distant area of open sky, where the frigid temperature threatens to freeze all but the most physically emboldened. • Sealer feels as if she’s found a way to override the skyship’s programming, though it would require making headway back to Talas. She leaves the decision up to the adventurers, though is adamant the Venorin is to be kept out of the hands of the Dismembered Legion. • If the adventurers opt to continue their current course, the Venorin begins plummeting quickly to the sea below. Depending on previous decisions or your choices as a Game Master, they might be rescued by any of the vying factions in Talas, or even the Copper Sun itself. • If the Venorin continues its helpless dive into the sea, the adventurers may take Lex and the gliders in an attempt to land safely elsewhere. However, there are too few mounts to allow for Sealer to join them.

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• If the Venorin ends up in the hands of the Sovereign’s Blade, they promote those who delivered it to admirals in their new fleet of skyships, and arm the craft with a massive supply of weaponry for use against the Valenus Remnant. • If the Valenus Remnant claim the Venorin, they will use it as a new, armored base to defend Rettina and her most secret plans, and the adventurers will have access to its gliders any time they wish. • If Mother Silurian’s Goodchildren conquer the Venorin, they will use it as a massive bomb to be flown directly into the Rootgate. • If the Venorin is intercepted and rescued by the Copper Sun, the powerful Titan airship lends enough power to allow the skyship to move beyond Talas. The adventurers are welcome to join the rebels and refugees aboard the skyward city, though they’ll be expected to defend it. • If the Dismembered Legion captures the Venorin, the Sovereign lends it enough power to return it to Grinn, where it will become a massive, aerial defense fortress for use by the Marrow throughout Dragongrin.

CRUX: BATTLE FOR THE ROOTGATE Concept: Devastating Battle Themes: Combat, Destruction, Sacrifice, Bravery

EVENT Steel reverberates against steel, and a magical spell explodes above your heads. Underneath your feet, the wide branch of the Lifetree quakes before cracking down its center, breaking between you and the relative safety of the inner part of the limb. You breathe deeply and make a run for it, making the jump to safety by the skin of your blade. A fellow soldier grasps your arm and pulls you away from the chasm, shouting “we’ve got to get out of here!” But you know that’s not an option. The Rootgate is at stake, and you cannot fail. The adventurers begin in the thick of combat, fighting for their very lives and the lives of those around them, to accomplish a mission set by their chosen side.

PEOPLE The Battle for the Rootgate involves hundreds of participants on both sides, and almost every encounter should feel like it’s smothered with grimy, bloody, sweaty bodies screaming as they drive their weapons into their foes. However, the combat circles around three primary figures – Karlin Errant, a Valenus Remnant lieutenant looking to secure the Rootgate for her allies, Barrik Steel, a Granok Thane elf seeking glory in the eyes of his commander, and a Vertus informant known only as “the Word,” who provides critical intelligence to the players during the fight. While the Word appears at a specific time during the fight, you may introduce the two leaders at any time you choose.

KARLIN ERRANT

Valenus Remnant Lieutenant (F Talasar Elf) “They once gave me the choice to retire, and I foolishly took it. Now, I know we’ve only got two choices in this place – die with honor, or die ashamed. I’ve made my choice. Have you?” Personality: Hardened, unphased by mortality, brutality, or explosive magic Appearance: Wears the natural camouflage of a guerilla, with a wooden sword at her side Rumor: She’s somehow related to Rettina, and aims to get the insurgent leader off of Talas. Goal: Die in battle with honor, and some semblance of hope that the Valenus Remnant might be victorious.

BARRIK STEEL Sovereign’s Blade Commander (M Granok Thane Elf)

“I was once one of the Talasar, and now they are my enemy. Bad move on their part.” Personality: Easy to anger, often killing his own soldiers who fail to perform their duties. Appearance: Grimy armor from repeated conflict, and a Marrow helm to symbolize his service to the Sovereign. Rumor: He’s setting up his forces for a suicide mission during the battle. Goal: Emerge glorious in the eyes of Vuxa Thanium. Introduction: Barrik’s steel drives hard through the ribcage of his own Granok Thane warrior, whose eyes darken before Barrik’s own. He slides the corpse off the blade and holds the bloody Thanium in the air toward the front line. His soldiers charge forward without question, and his gaze lands upon you inquisitively. You can feel what he’s thinking – what will you do?

THE WORD Vital Informant (NB Crucian Tomeheart)

“I had a purpose – a mission. Now, I am empty. What shall I do with the information inside me?” Personality: The Word has only recently Awakened, losing its original purpose and struggling to find a cause in the battle. For this reason, it is confused, often asking basic questions like, “what is the Rootgate” or “remind me, who is fighting again?” Appearance: Tall and skeletal with glowing blue lights in the cracks between its limbs, and a faceless head. Rumor: The Dismembered Lord knew the Word would Awaken during its time in Talas, and has implanted misinformation in its mind, disguised as truth. Goal (Sovereign’s Blade): The Sovereign’s Blade wishes to push the Word toward its Incitement, revealing its original purpose. A DC 18 Intelligence check using Tinker’s Tools will accomplish this feat, but it will only work after some minutes, and the Word will die from the effort after 1d10 days. Goal (Valenus Remnant): The Valenus Remnant desires the tomeheart to defect to their cause, revealing all its stored information to Rettina and her forces. Three DC 18 Charisma (Persuasion) checks over the course of 1d10 days will convince it to do so. Introduction: You finally see it – the tomeheart you were told was lost behind enemy lines, wandering through the battlefield as if disoriented. Now’s your chance to capture it for the cause, but it looks as if the enemy has the same idea.

Introduction: An explosion rocks the Lifetree, and all take cover. Only Karlin Errant, lieutenant of Rettina’s forces remains standing, unphased, completing her orders to nearby officers. One by one, her subordinates scatter to their duties. When no more remain, she turns to you...

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THE PRISONER OF WAR For additional immersion in the horrible nature of war, use the following template to create an enemy captive with the applicable physical and emotional characteristics. The template can be used with any NPC you create, or even one of the player’s characters. •

•

D6 1 2 3 4 5 6

D6 1

3 4 5 6

Quiet: The prisoner spends most of their time with a gag in their mouth, and even when it is removed they rarely give away information freely. DC 17 Charisma (Persuasion or Intimidation) to get them talking. Bloodied: They’ve been beaten down by fists or the arduous nature of combat. Their face is bloody, and their clothes are mottled with mud and grime. Offering them clean clothes is a good way to coerce them to talk. Bound: Their hands are tied, or their head and wrists placed into stockades. A discreet blade or lockpick will set them free if they’re kept angry and left alone for too long. Informed: The prisoner knows something even greater than the rumor they already withhold, and might reveal the information, should the party offer them a peaceful resolution to their predicament, as well as a way off of Talas.

CHARACTER CONNECTIONS You are a hardened combatant for one side of the conflict, experienced enough to lead a squad of your own. You’ve been caught in the thick of the battle, and your only choice is to choose a side, or escape the fighting. You’re related to one of the leaders, and have arrived in Talas for this specific purpose. You were hired to track down a tomeheart called “the Word,” and intelligence points to this location. The battle was a surprise you never expected. You are a spy for one of the vying factions of Talas, planted into one of the battle’s sides. For some obscure reason, your fate is tied with that of the Rootgate. You must either defend it, or breach the defenses and claim it – it’s your only hope. COUNTDOWN TO PERIL The battle is initiated when the Valenus Remnant assaults the first line of defenses – a group of warriors standing guard around a trench system behind them. The Sovereign’s Blade retreats into the trenches, where the Valenus Remnant finds arduous hand-to-hand combat awaiting them. Beyond the trench line lies a broad, open branch, peppered with dangers. The Sovereign’s Blade pulls back in order to draw the Valenus Remnant farther into the fray. The Word is seen in the fray, and both sides of the conflict make a move for this high-profile target. As the conflict draws closer to the Rootgate, the characters and their allies take decisive and secretive action against the opposition. The final battle occurs before the Rootgate, and the fate of all Talas is caught in the balance.

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ESCALATION The battle moves from one location to the next, as the Valenus Remnant attempt to push their enemies back, and the Sovereign’s Blade plan strategic retreats to take full advantage of the defenses around the Rootgate. To the Sovereign’s Blade, pulling back does not necessarily signify loss, as the defenses grow more complex and brutal as they move closer to the epicenter. No matter which side the party has decided to support, the battle should escalate in order of the defenses as described in the following tables. LOCAL CONDITIONS Constant fire from ranged attacks. Screams permeate the environment. Dense foliage provides cover and concealment. Unbearable heat and dwindling water supply.

D4 1 2 3 4 D6 1 2-3 4-5 6 D8 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8

THE CHARGE Combat: Swathes of enemies stand before you – lead the fight and destroy them. Destruction: Flames erupt from underneath your feet – an unforeseen trap. Sacrifice: Someone must serve as a distraction so that the true assault can take place on the flank. Bravery: The front line is almost completely wiped out, but you must continue to fight. THE THICK OF IT Magical smoke smothers the battlefield – all you cannot touch is concealed. Heavily armored berserkers threaten your position. An endless volley of arrows falls upon you – run for cover, or pay the price. You’re surrounded by enemies. THE LONG BRANCH Fiery Field: ignited foliage, collapsing columns of wood, jump through the flames Onslaught: halyphons attack, dropping bombs, soldiers grabbed and dropped to their deaths Minefield: hidden traps, persistent ranged fire, soldier in need of rescue Detonation: branch is sundered, immense concussion, leap the chasm

D10

THE WORD

1-3

The Word wanders aimlessly through the crossfire. The Word fights for the opposition. You must defeat their companions and take them alive. The Word is hiding in a small trench, and will defend itself before engaging in diplomacy. The Word is separated into parts. They must be carried to safety and reassembled.

4-6 7-9 10

D12

THE OPERATION

Flank the enemy by climbing across a treacherous outer branch, behind their position. 4-6 Underground tunnels are used to get behind enemy lines. 7-9 Drop down onto the enemy from above. Gather as many dead and wounded from the battlefield as 10-12 you can – but the enemy is relentless. 1-3

D20

TWISTS

Rettina herself joins the fray – one final battle to secure Talas 1 for her people. The battle is a ruse, orchestrated by a third faction who 2-5 arrives near the end to lay claim over the Rootgate. 6-10 Mother Silurian’s Goodchildren descend on the combatants. 11-15 Aldus Bex arrives to lead the Sovereign’s Blade. The whole Lifetree shakes under the Bleakstorm now 16-19 surrounding it. The Adjudicators emerge from the Rootgate to put an end to 20 the fighting.

CLIMAX: THE ROOTGATE The Sovereign’s Blade stands before the Rootgate with arms drawn, and the exhausted Valenus Remnant threatens to seize it from their grasp. Now, on the sloping roots of Talas, the final showdown is initiated – the prize is control over the most important location in the region.

UNFOLDING EVENTS • The leaders offer rousing speeches to both sides, increasing morale. War cries are heard throughout the battlefield. • Both sides charge simultaneously – a final effort in the name of victory.

• The armies clash into a fray. The ground becomes muddy with blood, and soldiers the characters have come to know fall quickly beneath enemy blades. • In the midst of the chaos, one leader spots another. Both engage in a duel to the death, protected on all sides by a dense crowd of fighters – if uninterrupted, the opposing leader is victorious. • The Sovereign’s Blade unleashes a mass of caged Witherslain in the direction of the Valenus Remnant. However, the results are unpredictable, as the horrifying monsters attack anyone they can see. • The battle draws near the Rootgate as both sides are weakened by the fighting. At the very end, reinforcements belonging to the party’s chosen side arrive to help, but the conflict is far from decided.

AFTERMATH/CONSEQUENCES • If the Sovereign’s Blade is victorious, the Rootgate remains secure. In the coming days, Aldus Bex orders the purge of all remaining Valenus Remnant from the Lifetree. • If the Valenus Remnant wins the battle, they gain full control of the Rootgate, and attempt to establish diplomatic relations with the Adjudicators. If they state their case properly, the interplanar beings in the Feymists grant them enough power to move Talas into another world entirely – though those who depart would never be seen again. • If the Rootgate is destroyed, the surrounding battlefield erupts in fey magic, and the Withering takes over the area with immense speed. • If neither side achieves victory because they all but destroy themselves in the fighting, Mother Silurian takes the opportunity to assault a defenseless Talas from the Reach.

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EVERGROWING SHADOWS

Behind Talas’ destructive civil war, even more is brewing. Aldus Bex seeks a way out of his predicament, and the mighty Mother Silurian gathers an army to conquer the Lifetree and syphon its power for her own malevolent purposes.

LORD OF ASH: ALDUS BEX THE SLAIN “The world’s worst is over. Now we must make it a better place for our children. If blood must be shed for the cause, it will be as water over the sapling of a new Talas.” Aldus Bex’s mission is simple. He will bring peace to Talas using the iron fist of the Sovereign’s Blade, and bring the Lifetree back to Dragongrin in the name of the Dismembered Lord. Bex supervises this charge from the sundered senate house, an irreparably damaged Fortress of Ash, floating high above Caepolaen, the City in the Sky. He excels in personal combat, but feels he is losing control over the Sovereign’s Blade he was meant to command. The story goes that Aldus Bex was once the most revered general among the Talasar, but now after the Uprooting, his name has become synonymous with “traitor,” even among those who follow him. The Granok Thane among the Sovereign’s Blade are especially judgemental toward the leader, given their cultural ties to loyalty and honor, and many hope one of their own can seize the mantle of power amidst the chaos of war. On the surface, Bex was promoted to Lord of Ash for his Talasar heritage and Valenus background – both useful tools to coerce the Valenus Remnant to abandoning their cause and joining the ranks of the righteous. However, Bex believes the Dismembered Lord fears a unified Granok Thane presence in Talas as much as he fears losing the Lifetree altogether, and Bex is the Sovereign’s ace in the hole. Someone whose presence can lead to a schism within the Granok ranks, igniting a civil war within a civil war – the perfect environment for the Sovereign to maintain control of his realm. Encountering Aldus Bex: For a warrior leader, Aldus Bex has lost some of his harsh and abrupt insight, exchanging it for mindful thoughts about the future. The reasoning is plain to see along his throat – a strange, mirage-like wound, forever sealed by the arcane power of the Dismembered Lord. He feels confident his path will end in his death, by the blades of his enemies, or the undoing of the healing magic by the very one who bestowed it upon him. For this reason, he is as quick to execute potential threats as he is to consider how the Dismembered Lord would view his transgressions. Reliquary of Ash: Bex’s reliquary is his mortal wound itself. The healing power bestowed upon him by the Dismembered Lord was given simultaneously with the honor of command, and the only way to claim it is to slay Bex himself, and bring his head before the Sovereign. Appearance: Aldus Bex is unmistakably Valenus in his dress. With a lean, well-muscled frame and Thanium plating atop light, woven armor, the elf stands a foot taller than those around him, armed with a gladius at his side and a vicious halberd always at hand. He openly reveals many of his wounds at all times, to either showcase the power of the Dismembered Lord, or remind his enemies that he is truly unkillable.

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Powers: Bex’s reliquary offers him strange insights into the myriad potential futures of the Lifetree. He often describes in great detail what it would look like if his forces were to declare true hegemony over Talas, and also how the region would react to a Valenus Remnant victory. Still more futures present themselves, however, and Bex’s mind begins to wander into more terrible visions of a Talas overwhelmed by Mother Silurian and her monsters. Weaknesses: Sometimes, it looks as if Aldus Bex uses his halberd as a walking stick, finding it difficult to perform basic functions after his first death. It’s possible the magical properties of his healed wounds wane with increased distance between Talas and the Dismembered Lord’s power. Origins: Some say Aldus Bex was the only prominent general among the Talasar who recommended the denizens of the Lifetree stand against the Dismembered Lord during Lightfall, but was promptly shut down by the powers that be. Others whisper he was a high-profile spy for the Dismembered Lord even before Lightfall, providing valuable information to the future Sovereign in exchange for his power. Many believe that either way, Bex is a true warrior – Valenus through and through. Secrets: The longer he holds the healing reliquary of the Dismembered Lord within his throat, the more Bex feels its strange side-effects. He catches glimpses into many futures, mostly in his dreams, and he is dead in all of them. Knowing this, he scrambles for any possible way out of this predicament. Fortress of Ash: The old senate house of Talas, floating high above the city of Caepolaen, is the reclusive fortress of Aldus Bex. The structure is still commonly referred to by its old name, as Bex figured changing it would signify him as a conqueror rather than a keeper of ancient tradition. Defended by his own Scars of Bex, the Sovereign’s Blade have no place here – Bex simply doesn’t trust them enough. Nemesis: The enigmatic Rettina, leader of the Valenus Remnant insurgency in Talas, is the obvious nemesis of Lord of Ash Aldus Bex. Her forces infiltrate his own, sabotage supply lines, and even open up full-scale battles within Talas’ dense foliage. It is rumored that Rettina is the Talasar leader who shut down Bex’s suggestion to oppose the Dismembered Lord during Lightfall, and that the tables have truly turned. Legion of Ash: Because Bex was granted the backing of the Sovereign’s Blade – a Granok Thane mercenary company – the Marrow contingent following him is the smallest Legion of Ash in all Dragongrin. Known colloquially as the Scars of Bex, this small squad operates chiefly as informants and saboteurs, known for their efficient use of torture in interrogation to garner intelligence from their enemies. Despite their covert and dishonorable nature, the Scars of Bex is ironically the only faction Aldus Bex trusts completely – for now...

BEX STRIVES FOR • The Everlife: Some believe the Withering bears the gift of immortality, since even the Lifetree lives on empowered after contact with its smothering death. Bex dedicates supplies to experimentation with the Blister, and while it may seem as though he’s attempting to cure the Withering, he’s hoping it yields results that can save him from death, even without the Sovereign’s help. • The Siegepike Gauntlet: As Aldus Bex’s defenses grow more precarious, he desires new ways to defend himself, setting his eyes on the weapon of Adjudicator Burnpetal. This mystical gauntlet manifests a spectral spear on command, said to be able to slice holes in reality, paving new roads between the planes – the perfect escape route for Bex. • Caius Veccus’ Blessing: Bex’s Marrow contingent is limited, and he fears the Sovereign’s Blade will make a run for his position. More soldiers would help prevent this, and he believes the new best route to Talas is through the Desolation in Svir.

BEX’S STATE OF POWER D4 1 2 3 4 D6 1 2-3 4-5 6 D8 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 D10 1-3 4-6 7-9 10

THE SCARS OF BEX The dishonorable and demoralized saboteurs turn their efforts to overthrowing Bex. The Scars of Bex lacks reinforcements, and the senate house is less secure than ever. The Scars destroyed an enemy supply line, pilfering masterwork gear for their own. The bolstered Scars obey Bex’s every order, and willingly give their lives to save his. THE SOVEREIGN’S BLADE Vuxa Thanium’s forces begin departing Talas due to many demoralizing losses. The Blade is running low on supplies, and will soon pilfer from the citizens themselves. Vuxa’s forces are emboldened after gaining many halyphon mounts. They plan an attack. Pockets of insurgency are rare, and the Remnant is cornered near the Reach. FORTRESS OF ASH The old senate house begins crumbling to the city below, and Bex goes into hiding. Enemies have infiltrated the ranks of those who guard the old senate house. Halyphon guardians are tamed and trained to protect Bex’s fortress, killing infiltrators. More of a citadel than a senate house, magic in the fortress prevents all but Bex from lying. BEX’S FOES Rettina’s forces are fully prepared to launch a devastating attack on the Rootgate. Vuxa Thanium will soon make an attempt on Bex’s life, claiming power. An enemy attack is imminent, but Bex knows exactly where it will take place – the trap is set. Bex sets a secret meeting with Mother Silurian to bargain how best to divide Talas.

D12

BEX’S HINDRANCE

It seems as if the magical healing granted by the Sovereign is 1-3 waning. The citizens see Bex as a traitor, and Caepolaen will soon rise 4-6 up against him. After a recent assault, Bex orders the execution of hundreds 7-9 of traitors, including those within his own ranks. Many in Bex’s forces begin to succumb to the Withering... 10-12 some say that even Bex himself has contracted it and seeks a cure. D20

TWISTS

Rettina’s forces destroy the old senate house with a magical weapon, killing Bex. Bex sends out a single messenger to negotiate with Rettina – 2-5 he plans to defect. Bex discovers new power within the airships of the Zinlen 6-10 Slipway – he plans to use them in the war. Mother Silurian begins attacking the top of the Lifetree, 11-15 destroying the Valenus Remnant in the area and setting a new foothold. Bex discovers the secrets of Everlife within the Withering, and 16-19 casts off the chains of the Dismembered Lord. Talas is his, and his alone. Rettina’s head is brought before Aldus Bex by someone he 20 once distrusted. 1

COUNTDOWN TO RUIN More than violent war threatens the existence of Talas. Even as the Valenus Remnant leads an underground resistance against Aldus Bex and the Sovereign’s Blade, far more terrifying powers plot to conquer the Lifetree and syphon its magic. If left unchecked, these interplanar forces will destroy the region, and ethereal forces will claim the battlefield as their own. 1. Doom Declared: Adjudicator Burnpetal pronounces that Talas is doomed. The Adjudicators will allow its existence in order to preserve the new natural course of history dictated by the Dismembered Lord, but the Feymists are hereby banned to those who would use them to spread his tainted environment. The forces in the Lifetree are now truly isolated, save for a few secret Feymist Crossings that have so far gone under the radar. People begin starving. 2. Dissent: Soon after the citizens trapped in Talas are forced to watch their loved ones die due to starvation, their regret of the Uprooting manifests in city-wide protests. Currency is abolished by the New Senate – a faction opposing all dictatorial decisions by the Lord of Ash. Celebrations are held in the streets, and the visages of Aldus Bex, Vuxa Thanium, and the Dismembered Lord are publicly burned. 3. Aldus Bex Declares Curfew: Regiments of the Sovereign’s Blade are pulled from the front lines to quell unrest in Caepolaen. Those who resist any order given by Bex’s forces are to be neutralized, and whole swathes of captured traitors are executed, their bodies put on display. It is rumored some of the executed were innocent, and that the facade was just a show to inspire fear.

317 DOMINIONS OF ASH: TALAS

4. The Purge: In response to the iron fist of a dictator, whole neighborhoods within Caepolaen, and entire settlements along the Lifetree become fortresses of sympathisers to the New Senate. In the midst of this mass defection to the opposition, Lord of Ash Aldus Bex obliterates half of the City in the Sky using armed forces and arcane weapons. All those suspect are put to death, and Pethice Prison is emptied, its occupants thrown into the sea below Talas. 5. The Unforeseen Incursion: In turning their attention to the civil strife within Talas, many fail to see the most terrible threat accelerate its creeping invasion of the Lifetree. The Withering takes hold of the entire trunk, through the Rapola necropolis and down to the defended perimeter of the Rootgate. Witherslain are a constant threat, and in an effort to kill two birds with one stone, Aldus Bex transfers his forces from Caepolaen to other areas, turning the rebellious ancient city into a wasteland of horrid Withering. 6. Mother Silurian Makes Her Move: Believing she can harness the magic of both Talas and the Withering to embolden her strength and forces, Mother Silurian invades Talas from the Reach using an army of Goodchildren and vicious halyphons against all denizens. The Valenus Remnant is forced to relocate Rettina’s Last Stand to an unsecured location close to the Sovereign’s Blade. If the two enemies cannot unite against their common enemy, the Sovereign’s Blade will obliterate the Valenus Remnant once and for all, but at great cost to their numbers. 7. Honorable Traitors: In the face of great losses in battle, and the new horrific threat of Mother Silurian, many Granok Thane abandon their posts. The road out of Talas is dangerous, and almost all are killed in the effort by Adjudicators, loyalists, Witherslain, and Goodchildren alike. Without any security, Talas is overrun by fey creatures and other monsters, and Mother Silurian constructs a new cocoon within the Withering necropolis. As punishment for incompetence, the Dismembered Lord reverses Aldus Bex’s reliquary, and the former Lord of Ash bleeds out as he once did before. 8. War for the Feymists: After an order from the hibernating Mother Silurian, her forces sweep toward the Rootgate in an effort to invade the Feymists. The Adjudicators themselves emerge from the portal to defend it against the onslaught, and horrible battle rages for days. Branches are cut in mass numbers by strange magic, and the eldritch powers unleashed serve to amplify the Withering, causing the disease’s symptoms to onset more rapidly. 9. The Withering Devours the Living: As war rages, the Withering has an explosive surge when in a desperate attempt at survival one of the sides – it’s unclear who – tried to use it as a chemical weapon. The plan did not go as intended, and misfired, spewing deadly spores throughout the whole of Talas in an arcane explosion. In the coming weeks, two thirds of those on Talas succumb to the disease, with those remaining evidently immune in some way. Mother Suilurian and her Goodchildren are immune to the disease, stalking the branches unchecked. All but a few people in hiding have been killed by the war, and Talas becomes a wasted frontier of Dragongrin.

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10. The Fall of the Rootgate: Upon realizing that Mother Silurian’s power has grown far beyond what they ever guessed, the Adjudicators order the complete destruction of the Rootgate, sealing off the Feymists for good. Talas is now the dominion of Mother Silurian and her Goodchildren, almost all of which have willingly become tainted by the Withering. These hybrid monstrosities guard the skies surrounding the realm from any outside incursion, and Mother Silurian visits all the world’s Talasar in their dreams, offering persuasive prosperity to any who come to Talas to serve her. 11. The Endgame: Over time, Mother Silurian’s cocoon grows to surround the entire trunk of Talas itself, and when she hatches, she is one with the tree. Now, a horrifying and twisted golem of Withered wood, dead foliage, and rotten fey magic, Mother Silurian plummets into the sea, rises again, and storms her way across Dragongrin to a new home. She plants herself into Uldane, where the Bleak is most potent, becoming the Bleaktree – a terrible shadow of Talas, now harnessing the power of the Bleak to grow exponentially. Soon, Mother Silurian will conquer Svir...

ULDANE

BARREN, BLEAK-SCARRED WASTELAND “Uldane is a treasure that has been marred, tainted, and corroded. Yes it is maimed, but it survived, and it continues to survive. We could learn something from this place. Pay attention.” – Sureau the Stormbreather, Lord of Ash Crimson badlands devastated by an endless stream of incessantly growing Bleak – horrific creatures stirring within.

HISTORY

Then: Centuries ago, Uldane was the homeland of the sprawling and militant Granok Thane empire, but when they gambled with war against the rest of the world, all was taken from them. Now: During Lightfall, the Dismembered Lord unleashed the Bleak into Dragongrin, and no region was more impacted by its wrath than Uldane. The Bleak now festers there permanently and intensely. Beyond: The Everbleak grows in size and intensity, expanding into the borderlands of Uldane’s few civilized locations, now terrorized by violent storms and creatures from other planes. If left unchecked, the Everbleak will overtake Uldane, then move into central Dragongrin. ULDANE AT-A-GLANCE Terrain: Badlands, plateaus, sands, and sparse scrubland Climate: Constant Bleakstorms, glimmerwinds, endless lightning, harsh wind and storms Lord of Ash: Sureau the Stormbreather Resources: Scant scrub vegetation, small game, sparse water – mostly tainted by the Bleak Cultures: Granok Thane, Sarrik; Mord and Holmir outcasts Factions: Straysoul Howlers, Rasping Whisper, Skragga, Genesa Creatures: Doomsayers, Doomfang gnolls, kytes, iniquitous, hags

KNOW THIS TO SURVIVE

The warlock Sureau reigns over the scarred crimson wastes as its Lord of Ash, keeping its dangerous creatures and factions in check, and ensuring the Bleak doesn’t overtake the region. In her attempts to know her most dangerous threats intimately, she is rumored to conduct experiments within the Everbleak – something she claims protects all of Dragongrin from its dangers. Sureau the Stormbreather Rules the Wasteland: Mysterious and powerful, Sureau is always three steps ahead of enemies, and her appetite for the unknown is insatiable – she now sets her sights on understanding the Bleak. She keeps well-trained battalions of Marrow marauders and Bleakwalkers around her, all trained to survive in the harshest conditions, and do her bidding no matter the cost. Sureau also commands the Skragga – hags of the Bleak serving as soothsayers, oracles, and mystics – many of whom believe the Lord of Ash to be their reincarnated queen. Straysoul Howlers Seek to End the Bleak: Led by the Granok Thane mercenary Sebanos Straysoul, the Howlers were once a mercenary company set to restore the ancient homeland of Uldane to its former glory, reclaiming it for the Granok Thane – a task demanding that the Everbleak be ended, once and for all. Utilizing an armored column of weaponized battle wagons known as devastators as mobile bases of operation, the Straysoul Howlers believe the way to diminish the Everbleak in Uldane is to destroy the creatures within – they just need more soldiers. Rasping Whisper Seek a Cure: Led by the Sarrik Shezrada, Taker of Violet, the Rasping Whisper seeks to end the reign of Sureau the Stormbreather, claiming hegemony over the Bleak for themselves. Many within their ranks believe the warlock Lord of Ash actually controls the Everbleak from Alveolus while keeping her people distracted from her true motives. If only the Whisper held the reins to such power, they could use the focused, harnessed Bleak to grant the Sarrik their humanity back, and perhaps even save Dragongrin. Shezrada’s

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forces use a specially crafted, arcane paint only visible to Sarrik to mark their territory – it glows brightly through the Bleak and sandstorms, allowing them to traverse it more easily. Doomsayers Feast on the World’s End: The Doomsayers – extraplanar creatures whose origins are wreathed in mystery – are led by Valgror. Many believe they are harbingers of a world brought to its end, having arrived just before the final plunge into chaos. Some even believe the Doomsayers will be the ones to literally speak Dragongrin’s demise into existence. The Doomsayers and their lesser kin, the Doomfang gnolls, seem to have brokered an unorthodox peace with Lord of Ash Sureau the Stormbreather, and with the Dismembered Lord himself. Though it is unclear what the creatures gain from the arrangement, their alliance places them firmly within the ranks of the Dismembered Legion. The Doomsayers and Doomfang gnolls lair in the former capital of the Granok Thane, Guldroch the Brighthold. The Iniquitous Seize Opportunity: As the Bleak scrapes the edges of reality from Uldane, the veils between this realm and others is little more than a threadbare cloth. Like any untreated wound, there are ghastly consequences of the Bleak endlessly seeping into the material plane. Darker, more eternal evils that slumber between the fabric of the realms are beginning to stir, and forces that have not been reckoned with for millennia are slowly turning their immortal gazes to this fissure into the material planes. One such force are the infernal creatures known as the iniquitous. These devils, demons, and fiends see Dragongrin as a ripe theatre to stage their infernal schemes, and more and more are slipping into the realm each day. All Falls Under the Shadow of the C’War: There are countless twisted creatures that dwell in the Bleak known as Bleakfiends. And while these creatures come in myriad shapes and sizes, there is one creature within the Bleak whose power is unmatched. Deep within the Everbleak dwells the C’War – a creature said to be the last living Primordial, a colossal being, neither benevolent or malevolent, but instead operating only on its primal hunger. Preferring to feed on the remains of the dragons, it digs deep into their grins to feast upon their remains, empowering itself and growing more supernaturally twisted with each meal. While Uldane has seemingly countless grins, the C’War has been feeding here for a long time, stalking from the Everbleak to feed, only to return to the arcane maelstrom once more. However, as the food supply dwindles, it spends more and more time outside of the Everbleak, edging ever closer to civilization, seeking more grins to sustain its appetite. THE THIN MEMBRANE OF REALITY IN ULDANE The constant arcane energies that permeate in Uldane are immeasurable. As the Bleak corrodes the fabric of reality, it thins the walls between other realms into blurred veils, sometimes easily traversable between one plane to another. Bleakfiends and infernals from outer planes, spirits from the Wailing Gray, and even abominations from the Desolation can manifest in Uldane with ease – even accidentally – due to its volatile conditions. To generate Bleakstorms and other strange occurrences from the Bleak, go to the Bleak Wonder on page 390.

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INFESTED SITE Using this overlay, any one of the previous locations can be overwhelmed by the vicious insectoid predators known as kytes. The effects may change in flavor depending on which location is used, but they all bear the following consequences: •

•

Obliterated Surroundings: All wooden structures, windows, and other fragilities have been destroyed by the swarming kytes. Many of the sites in this location are now utilized as disgusting nests for small packs of the creatures. Devoid of Life: The kytes have massacred and fed upon all living things in the area, and any survivors have long fled, leaving both worthless and valuable belongings behind. Everything from large game to rats and mice are gone, and even flora native to the region is used to construct the putrid nest in the center of the location. Wretched Hive: In the center of the location is a disgusting, coagulated mixture of hardened vomit and fecal matter – the prime environment for the gargantuan mating ball swarming around it. The only way to destroy the infestation is to destroy this central hive, and doing so will force the kytes to retreat into the Everbleak, or find a new location for their feeding.

POWERFUL PEOPLE OF ULDANE

Lord of Ash Sureau the Stormbreather: With origins clouded in mystery and a reputation forged through tyranny and bloodshed, the human known as Sureau the Stormbreather rules the blasted landscape of Uldane with a steely, immovable grip. She is rarely seen without her unique breathing mechanism, which includes a mask and a braid of tubing that disappears into her armor. Hell-bent on discovering the secrets of the Bleak and manipulating its esoteric energies, Sureau’s greatest achievement was brokering an unprecedented alliance with the Doomsayers and Doomfang gnolls, who serve now in the Dismembered Legion as shock troops and unmatched assassins. It’s said Sureau, ruling from her fortress of Alveolus, is on the cusp now of some great discovery – one that will shake Dragongrin to its foundations.

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CHARACTER CONNECTIONS TO ULDANE An oracle had a vision of your future – they saw you standing before a shadowed creature surrounded by thrashing lightning. You’ve been told this creature is the primordial C’War. You’ve embarked on a spiritual pilgrimage to a sacred site located high in the mountains and plateaus of Uldane. You’ve always been something of a daredevil, and Uldane will truly test your resolve. Someone close to you was last seen traversing the Rattling Flats, but never returned. You must find them and bring their fate to light. Rogue elements of a discreet faction have hired you to capture a Doomsayer from the epicenter of their existence – the Everbleak of Uldane. You fear the enemies on your tail, and believe the only chance for your survival is to go where no one else would dare venture. Your persistent pursuit of knowledge regarding the Bleak has led you to its source. You were drawn to Uldane, and feel as if the immediate contact with its volatile lands is a sign that your destiny lies within its wastes – something draws you to the Everbleak. You’ve been banished to Uldane, to live out the rest of your days among the hazards and terrors there. You’ve been offered the distinct honor of training Lord of Ash Sureau the Stormbreather’s own personal retinue in a specific skill.

KYTES Horrifying aerial insectoids with razor sharp limbs, the kytes first swarmed from the Everbleak mere years ago. They range from frantically fluttering bugs the size of a small dog, to huge creatures with jaws that cut through limbs and wagons in a single bite. Some say they were running from something, and as they slowly migrate south, a few believe they still are. All that is known is that their numbers increase by the day. Soon, not even the Sovereign will be able to contain them.

Sebanos Straysoul: Uldane has changed Sebanos – and some say not for the better. Once a promising young commander in the Granok Thane, this weathered and scarred festir now wears the bleached skull of a Doomsayer as a macabre helm and wages a perpetual and losing war against the horrors emerging from the Bleak. Initially charged with retaking Uldane for the Granok Thane, Sebanos lost many hundreds of warriors in the desperate campaign, and watched as his homeland crumbled around him, overtaken by the Bleak and those attempting to wield it. Somewhere along the way, Sebanos abandoned hope and embraced inevitability, committing to holding blasted Uldane as long as he was able – knowing full well one day the region will be his doom. Shezrada, Taker of Violet: The leader of the Rasping Whispers is a short, human Sarrik claiming to see the Bleak not as a murky storm, but as a dazzling rainbow of color. Rumored to read the future in the colors, she aims to obtain mastery over the sacred Bleak – the key to which lies in overthrowing Sureau and occupying Alveolus. Marked with angular violet paint, she is highly regarded by most of her Sarrik followers as a priestess and powerful magic-wielder, though some claim her fixation on the Bleak is a dangerous obsession rather than a virtue. Her desire to cure the plight of the Sarrik is controversial, with some claiming they should be prideful of their new culture, instead of reverting back to a time they can’t even remember.

Lokeron Inveth: Much like the Bleak they revere, Lokeron Inveth is an enigma, even to those who claim to know them best. A festir possessing a strange and intoxicating – if slightly monstrous – allure, Lokeron leads the Genesa mostly out of necessity. Indoctrinating his zealous Genesa with tales of great unclaimed power within the Bleak, they follow their leader unquestioningly, believing that they are the rightful heirs to Dragongrin. Many Genesa are hexbound who have betrayed their patrons and seek a new master to serve, though any who prove their loyalty are welcome. Lokeron vastly prefers solitude, but relies on the diligence of many to unlock the secrets of the Bleak and wield its most volatile energies. Once a promising student of Numitor Krieg, the current Manoeuvrer upon the Council of Ash, Lokeron forsook the Sovereign and his vision of the future in order to further embrace the chaos of the Bleak – and attune to its alien nature. Lokeron Inveth: Much like the Bleak they revere, Lokeron Inveth is an enigma, even to those who claim to know them best. A festir possessing a strange and intoxicating – if slightly monstrous – allure, Lokeron leads the Genesa mostly out of necessity. Lokeron vastly prefers solitude, but relies on the diligence of many to unlock the secrets of the Bleak and wield its most volatile energies. Once a promising student of Numitor Krieg, the current Manoeuvrer upon the Council of Ash, Lokeron forsook the Sovereign and his vision of the future in order to further embrace the chaos of the Bleak – and attune to its alien nature. Valgror, He Who Ripped Wide the Door: At first, the bestial Doomsayers and their gnoll brethren might seem feral and leaderless – more animalistic than militaristic. But Valgror, known as He Who Ripped Wide the Door, is as dauntless and cunning as any general among the armies of Dragongrin. Bred to fight and kill, the Doomsayers emerged in Dragongrin through the Bleak – and Valgror stood at their head, having forced his way through the gateway and earning his unique moniker. Not the largest nor the strongest among his kind, Valgror nonetheless earned his position and title, and wears a strange circlet of alien metal which signifies such. He and his bestial warriors serve now in the Dismembered Legion alongside Marrow and Warmakers, an alliance which promises to be as fruitful for Valgror and his people as it is for the Sovereign. Ereshkreige the Fate-Merchant: Appearing as a fortuneteller wrapped in an extravagant cloak, Ereshkreige is the most powerful iniquitous in Uldane, and perhaps all Dragongrin. He resides atop Sanctuary Plateau, awaiting those who dare make the dangerous and extensive climb over multiple days. The cards he uses to divine futures are enchanted with shifting artwork, said to bear the exact likenesses of the parties in question. While the Fate-Merchant takes delight in the suffering of others, he rarely uses his immense power directly, instead preferring to bargain fragments of his power to those who seek his divination, in exchange for a level of servitude that increases over time. He sees this extortion as a means to a powerful end, or as simple entertainment, pushing his victims to ruin their own lives while he laughs from afar. He experiences the senses of all who have taken his power simultaneously and constantly, often berating them telepathically against their will or acting as a tempting voice in their head, pushing them to do evil or self-destructive acts. His nefarious nature is hidden by a charismatic demeanor, only revealing his cruelty after unwitting victims are bound by his contract.

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PRIMARY LOCATIONS

Alveolus: From a distance, the fortress of Alveolus, seat of Sureau Stormbreather, appears as a steel behemoth, spiderlike limbs askew, smoke belching from a gaping maw. In actuality, Alveolus is a massive lung which breathes in tainted air and recycles it. Titan tech powers Alveolus, and rumors swirl that the Bleak enhances the apparatus, drawn from the winds of Uldane. Doomsayers and Marrow marauders roam Alveolus’ corridors, and excursions of Bleakwalkers set out daily on roamers. Aristea Shores: They say to sail along Aristea Shores is to operate a charity – if you had any goods to start with, the pirates swarming the waters between Uldane and Varnholme are sure to take them off your hands. A few wretched ports dot the coastline, utilized as hives of scum and villainy for outcasts and criminals, and rivalries between major factions in the region often play out using the various pirate clans as proxies. Balenel Rapids: This broad, snaking river is known for its treacherous rapids and sickly purplish hue, colored by the strange minerals that reside in its banks. If boiled, the water is potable, though many who come here encounter dangerous iniquitous – fiends from beyond the material plane – including the infamous Fate-Merchant. Braun’s Ten Staves: These ten man-made rock formations of varying heights were carved into ornate pillars long before the first Granok Thane arrived in Uldane centuries ago. These landmarks stand out against the surrounding flatlands, and are commonly used for navigation around the local area. It is common to find Granok Thane encampments filled with merchants and traveling caches of supplies set up between the Staves. Brighthead Towers: Genesa’s faction headquarters is difficult to find, by design. Rock towers that sit above an aquifer of relatively fresh water are notable landmarks, but as they are almost always covered in the Everbleak, few dare to take the risk. By channeling the water through the rock as an aquifer, the Genesa have eked out an existence, and the Bleak around them hones their strange abilities. Broken Way: Once known as the Unbroken Way, it was the most advanced, developed roadway in Dragongrin, offering easy trade routes and quick, safe passage throughout Uldane. Now named for its missing segments and abrupt dead ends, what remains of the Broken Way is used by the region’s many factions to navigate the blasted landscape. Cenotaph of Avad Til: This enormous statue honors the most famous Granok Thane general of all time – Avad Til. His likeness casts a shadow over all of Uldane, and the silhouette of the skyscraping monument can be seen on the horizon no matter where you stand. The embellished history of the warlord is chiseled onto every inch of the statue’s surface, as well as his treatises on strategy, warfare, and philosophy. It is said that there are countless secrets hidden within the words, but many consider them pointless artifacts of the past. Everbleak: Since Lightfall, the Bleak has become increasingly more volatile in Uldane, and a constant, gargantuan Bleakstorm has formed, and is growing in its northernmost reaches. Dubbed the Everbleak, this raging storm lines the northern horizon, and twisted creatures spill from it relentlessly. Many ancient settlements have become ruins in the midst of the Everbleak, and one can only assume it will continue growing until all Dragongrin is consumed.

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Gaff: Before it was buried by sand-wreathed Bleakstorms and abandoned, this massive, advanced city was responsible for more than half of the Thanium production for Uldane. The only portion of it still visible once rested upon a hilltop – the rest of its myriad pathways and connected districts now buried beneath Uldane. This is the current headquarters of the Straysoul Howlers, where they build, maintain, and upgrade their devastators. Guldroch, the Brighthold: Ruined by the crushing force of endless Bleakstorms, Guldroch was once the capital city and legendary fortress of the Granok Thane when they ruled the region. The Straysoul Howlers hope to reclaim and restore it once they can end the Everbleak, though the fortress is now overrun by Doomsayers and Doomfang gnolls. Henning’s Pits: Once the premier quarry for the primary materials used to synthesize Thanium, and a prominent hub of Granok Thane activity in all Dragongrin, Henning’s Pits are now considered a Marrow conscript’s worst tour of duty. Under perpetual assault by creatures from the Everbleak to the north, the legionaries guarding the facility are often stalwart defenders of the Sovereign’s supplies, or distraught soldiers with drawn faces, assured this will be their last station before they die. Khark Peaks: Enormous, sprawling, dagger-like formations on the horizon, these unpredictable volcanoes are known to spew elemental energies from their summits, and crimson lightning often strikes between the peaks. The journey up each mountain is treacherous, through razor sharp geological formations with few pathways, but the glowing crystals and powerful onyx shrapnel spewed by the volcanic activity are often too valuable to ignore. Lucent Vale: Once a vibrant meadow of rolling green fields, the Lucent Vale is now a fetid and lamented bog filled with acidic mud and dead trees. Few derive any fraction of use from the site, but Drogus settlers have found success using Stilters – small surga balanced on Archanic stilts, traversing the bog for valuable chemicals and ancient relics. Hags are frequently spotted in the Vale. New Glouver: It’s hard to believe Old Glouver was once secondary in beauty and life to another settlement, but you understand when you feast your eyes on the immense, barren crater that was once the site of Uldane’s most prestigious metropolis. Few structures remain after the C’War ravaged the settlement of most life in its search for sustenance. Shortly after the unstable earth beneath it opened up, swallowing what remained. Still, treasure hunters willing to risk life and climb into the chasm, looking for valuables of old Uldane. Old Glouver: Uldane is host to few permanent settlements due to its largely uninhabitable environment, but in the midst of the wasteland, Old Glouver persists. Many dregs across, and walled in by high fences of Thanium, the westernmost city in all of Uldane is a cultural melting pot, home to many strange and exotic goods from across the realm, and a natural stage for tension and intrigue between factions. An enigmatic festir rules here with justice, said to have a plan to rise up. The Rattling Flats: The name of this barren expanse is somewhat tongue-in-cheek. This area used to be flat, but the neverending, rainless lightning storms that have ravaged them have sculpted the area into bizarre, scorched shapes. It is common for those who have to journey through them to work in large caravans and stockpile food and water before leaving, as finding sources of either is nearly impossible.

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The Razors: This small canyon is unnaturally chiseled by erosion by the Bleak, that flows like a river through it. The rock walls and stretches of the ground have been refined down to imperceptible, razor sharp edges that shred most equipment and all organic material that contact it, and the waters flowing through the canyon give off adverse effects as unpredictable as the Everbleak itself. The Red Wastes: Another name for Uldane itself, swathes of crimson badlands dot the entirety of Uldane. The entire landscape consists of dry scrublands with little vegetation, and hazardous wastes plagued with unpredictable weather conditions. Closer to the traditional centers of ancient civilizations, routes along the Broken Way are prevalent, if not well-worn and dusty. If you aren’t in another named location, you’re in a stretch of the Red Wastes. Sanctuary Plateau: This towering red rock plateau is the highest geographical point in the region, overlooking a huge portion of Uldane. Requiring an intense and dangerous climb over multiple days, the journey is attempted rarely as a spiritual pilgrimage, and those who have made it to the top are said to return changed – if they return at all. Ereshkreige the Fate-Merchant has long resided there, bargaining with those few who have made the climb, and offering an unrivaled glimpse into the future. Shimmering Port: Once the largest port in Uldane, and the hub of trade and travel, the waters around Shimmering Port have since completely dried up, and while the port and surrounding fortresses lie in ruin, many Granok Thane ships of old rest in what is now a muddy swath of land. These beached crafts now serve as base of operations for the Rasping Whisper.

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PERIPHERAL LOCATIONS A broken down Granok Thane battle wagon swarmed by small kytes. It contains a chest of unworked Thanium inside. Sandy hills with Sarrik banners planted on the highest points. Detailed sand paintings, half ruined by wind, cover portions of the hills, though the site appears to have been abandoned in a hurry. Rocky outcropping stained with purple blood. A half-dead lesser iniquitous is impaled to the ground by a large spear, and promises a gift to the one who frees and heals it. The enormous carcass of a creature from the Bleak, exposed to the elements and rotting. Other creatures feast on its flesh, and might take notice of you as you approach. Recently dug pit, haphazardly created by some gargantuan monster. Closer inspection reveals a dragon’s grin once resided at the bottom, but has now been removed, destroyed, or eaten. Bleak magic has liquified the earth in an area two dregs across, turning the landscape into a mysteriously churning muck. The arcane energies can be more easily bottled in this form, but direct exposure to the mixture bears chaotic effects. Colossal footprint, with an obliterated campsite in its center. Some equipment can be salvaged, and the gigantic tracks lead further north. Granok Thane settlement, constructed before their final defeat in Uldane. Relics of old can be found in the plaza at its center, but vicious beasts rove the decrepit streets. Some ancient cataclysm artificially created this vertical cliff, with a pool of glowing water at its base, and impossibly jagged rocks at the top. Something howls from above, and birds begin circling. Titanic archway, whose broad stone faces are coated in sheets of char and discoloration. The runes engraved in the stone glow faintly through the marring wrought by the Bleak, though more effort is needed to fully read them.

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SUDDEN PERILS Deadly winds: Heavy gusts emanate from faraway volatile Bleakstorms. The air becomes a noxious fume, and sand and earth turn to shrapnel against your flesh. You must find shelter, or risk certain death. Bleakwalkers search for a test: Marrow Bleakwalkers, fresh out of a long stint of taking shelter from a particularly bad Bleakstorm, are starving and eager to find action. More aggressive than normal, they will attack on sight unless they recognize you as allies. You encounter the Rasping Whisper: Remnants of the faction led by Shezrada, Taker of Violet, have made camp in an underground tunnel system nearby, and their spies watch your approach. If you’ve made friends with the Sarrik, they’ll invite you in for the night. Otherwise, they’ll be quick to ambush and surround you from ready-made holes. A violent Bleakstorm erupts: Before you understand what’s happening, you’re surrounded in the Bleak. The sky erupts with blood red lightning from dense, crimson clouds. If you don’t find shelter fast, the arcane stormwinds – and the horrible things dwelling within them – will kill you. A vile hag spews curses upon you: One of the hags of the Skragga appears, attempting to lay a prophetic curse upon you, weaving words of a horror to come. You must find a way to disrupt or resist the spell, lest her words become your future set in stone. A cryptic voice gives warning: You hear a whisper, quiet but perfectly clear, warning you of a coming kyte swarm. As if on cue, the hoard of bugs chirrs violently on the horizon – you must hide or fight off the swarm off to survive. Afterwards, the voice tells you to ascend Sanctuary Plateau for a gift, which you will feel compelled to follow. Doomsayers and gnolls seek to feast: Before you understand what’s happening, the monstrous hunting party is upon you. Ferocious Doomfang gnolls fight to the death, and their Doomsayer leader cracks the sky with a deafening roar. More are coming – there is no victory here. An emptied grin collapses: The ground underneath you opens up into a fray of falling earth. The dragon’s corpse once held the grin aloft, but something has eaten it. After surviving the fall, the twisted creatures birthed by the grin’s magic stand between you and a way out.

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GROWING THREATS AND RUMORS The legendary C’War feasts upon the ancient grins, and grows stronger and stranger with each meal. The supply of dead dragons will soon run out, and the C’War will head south – we’re all doomed. Doomsayers loyal to only themselves and their monstrous gnoll minions are roving Uldane in great packs, rumored to destroy whole villages with the combined roar of their unimaginable voices. The fabric of reality bends under the enormous pressure wrought by the Everbleak. If left unchecked, the creatures emerging from the storms are the least of our worries – the Bleak will consume all of Dragongrin down to the borders of Jahar. Ereshkreige, the Fate-Merchant grows in power and the number of those in his service increases exponentially. His servants promise him the throne of Uldane, then Svir, and finally Grinn – an Iniquitous Lord to rule one and all. The cure for the Sarrik’s plight has been uncovered in the northernmost reaches of Uldane, and the Rasping Whisper is hell-bent on finding it. For some reason, Marrow legions have been dispatched to stop them, and soon an all-out war between Sovereign and Sarrik will begin. The Straysoul Howlers are declining dramatically in number, and have made a deal with something supernaturally horrific in order to control the Everbleak’s expansion through Uldane. This deal with the devil will lead to mass death in Uldane and beyond. The kytes of Uldane are breeding faster than ever before, in gargantuan swathes of crawling, carnivorous mating balls, and making their way south in a frenzy. What is driving them away from Uldane, and can anyone hope to fend off the kytes or the source of their scourge? The Rattling Flats are being traversed by a deadly group of Sarrik cannibals known as the Roamers, who have taken the Granok Thane fortress of Hardhearth for their own, conducting strange experiments within. The grins are awakening. Long-dead dragons now stir with the rejuvenating magic of the Bleak, and gain their power by feasting on its monstrous creatures. Soon, they will terrorize Dragongrin once more. Those exposed to the Everbleak and survive are rumored to be altered in strange and significant ways. Genesa have begun sojourning into its depths attempting to make themselves more powerful. They are preparing for an approaching event called the Rupture.

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FORMER GLORY

DESTRUCTION

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Beautiful lake of crystal blue water Well-built, expansive fortress Granok merchant settlement

Tranquil, dripping caverns

Smooth, trickling falls

Scorched by fire

Meadow of breathtaking beauty Forest teeming with wildlife Ancient imperial monument Series of majestic religious temples Granok Thane metropolis

Warped physical appearance by the Bleak Under a constant Bleakstorm Obliterated by C’War

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Tainted and filthy Covered by a landslide Dry and devoid of life The ground has opened up into a chasm

Conquered by the Desolation Toxic to those nearby

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QUESTS AND BOUNTIES The Straysoul Howlers are preparing for an attack on a location infested with vicious kytes, and need drivers and warriors to fill the battle wagons. Join them in the assault, and be rewarded with gear and conquered loot. Marrow legionaries are venturing into Guldroch to parlay with a prominent Doomsayer and her clan of Doomfang gnolls. The meeting should be uneventful, but they require scouts to patrol the area’s outskirts for traps and other surprises. Giants from Skuld Grimfrost in Varnholme have fled to Uldane after committing an atrocity. Their leader will pay handsomely in Bleakfrost to anyone who brings them to justice. A caravan was recently lost in the Razors, and the Granok warrior-merchant who sponsored it is assembling a team to recover the goods and find out who is responsible for its demise. If you help him, you’ll get a decent amount of the goods, and information pointing to a previously unseen enemy... Lord of Ash Sureau the Stormbreather requires any who will infiltrate the Straysoul Howlers for valuable information regarding the Bleak. Those whose information helps her predict and understand its movements will be rewarded with coin, homes, and powerful positioning. Something is destroying the ancient grins in Uldane, and with them, all the arcane valuables inside. For every grin you loot for its relics and resources, Holmir shatterfarers will pay you in Yngsblot from across the sea in Varnholme. The Rasping Whisper has reported that water is slowly pooling in the Shimmering Port once again, but it is purple and murky. They’re seeking arcane experts to take a look, and another powerful faction discreetly asks you to spy on them during the trip, looking for weaknesses in their headquarters. Lokeron Inveth is offering arcane goods and covering all applicable funerary expenses to anyone who willingly subjects themselves to her faction’s experiments. Festir are offered half the reward, while dwarves are offered double. The Dismembered Legion is looking for bold spirits to infiltrate Gaff and sabotage or steal one of the Straysoul Howlers’ devastators. The Sovereign needs to know what these strange people are up to, and what they’re building. All communications have ceased between southern Uldane and a more remote settlement to the north, and a weary spy fears the worst for the scroll they’ve recently sent via Missive Crow. If you investigate the area and come back with the scroll – or proof of its destruction – they’ll funnel information to you monthly. FORMER GLORIES OF ULDANE

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Cache of Thanium Pockets of fresh water Edible berries tainted by the Bleak Hidden crates of fermented foods

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Waterways of blood

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Small creatures to hunt

Discreet hot spring Wrecked caravan with medical Demonic prison of drudges supplies Doomsayer nemesis Sealed barrel of water Swarming with kytes Valuable relic of an ancient ruler Shipment of Yngsblot from Wraiths and ghouls Varnholme

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CRUX: THE LONG BLEAK NIGHT Concept: Survive a night under attack Themes: Outlast, Timing, Construction, Arcane

LYSARKAS, HEALER OF SILVER

Marrow Sergeant Paladin and Protector (M Sarrik Elf) “The Sarrik who shelter here cannot defend themselves. We must take responsibility for their lives and assure they are not harmed by our recklessness” Personality: Kind, concerned for those who can’t defend themselves, but fierce in battle.

EVENT Uldane is a volatile wasteland, and even the most skilled can be careless, finding themselves murdered not by blades, but by the elements themselves. Some Straysoul sorcerers and Genesa find ways to predict the unpredictable currents of Bleak, using their knowledge to remain safe in the wilds of the farthest north. If only you had known those ways before you ended up here... Now, as your future is placed into the treacherous hands of fate, only friends, meager supplies, and the cover bestowed by an abandoned settlement can save you. As the sun begins to set, a feeling of dread washes over you as dark, roiling, purple clouds grow on the horizon at breakneck speed. The sight is unmistakable. A Bleakstorm approaches, and you will need shelter if you hope to survive the night. An abandoned settlement looms, though you will have to hurry to make it there in time. To make matters worse, gnoll scouting parties are spotted moving across the flats – a common sign of a following horde. The night will be long and treacherous. The adventurers begin wandering through the flat wastes of Uldane, heading towards their next destination when a Bleakstorm threatens them. A large, abandoned building seems to be the only cover, a necessity if they hope to survive. However, the abandoned building is not empty, and a horde of Doomfang gnolls march in the Bleakstorm’s wake. Different threats will arise throughout the storm, and proper defense planning will be a necessity, else the party may find themselves overrun. GRADUAL INCREASE IN NUMBERS The People in this Crux are designed to be introduced into the adventure one after the other, slowly but surely turning up the tension as each new faction is added to the defended structure. First, the party encounters the Sarrik in need of assistance. Second, after the preparations are made but just before the attack, Malere and the Death Defiants arrive, requesting entry into the structure as well. Lastly, Kogth and his gnoll minions begin their assault.

PEOPLE This Crux centers around the conflict between the Sarrik paladin Lysarkas, Healer of Silver, and the gnoll Kogth. Lysarkas cares for a small group of Sarrik taking shelter in an abandoned structure. Kogth is in service of a Doomsayer, scouting potential locations where Bleakstorms are prone to strike, in order to further the destruction that the sadistic Doomsayer then drinks in. After the defenses have been prepared, a Granok Thane devastator arrives, led by the dwarf Malere, leader of a small company called the Death Defiants. With the gnolls and storm approaching the structure, the Granok Thane ask to be taken in, though doing so would compromise the defenses, which may not be rebuilt in time to properly stave off the attack. To let them in is to risk your deaths, but to leave them outside is to ensure theirs.

326 DOMINIONS OF ASH: ULDANE

Appearance: Dull armor streaked with glimmering silver dye, and equipped with a greatsword marked with a sacred emblem. Rumor: He only cares for these Sarrik out of obligation related to a tragic failure in his past. Goal: Defend the less capable Sarrik who take shelter here. Quirk: Habitually grabs his sword by the hilt and slightly draws the blade before putting it back. Introduction: As the party seeks shelter in the abandoned structure, they are disrupted by a greatsword’s glowing blade that strikes the wall next to the leading person. Lysarkas steps from around the corner to confront them, keeping the blade drawn and ready until he determines the party will not harm the Sarrik in the next room over. Characters who succeed on a DC 14 Intelligence (Religion) check will know he is a paladin dedicated to using Sarrik magic of sacred colors to help those in need.

MALERE OF THE DEATH DEFIANTS Battle Wagon Captain (F Granok Thane Dwarf)

“We have fought too hard to survive for this to be the day we die. We can help you fight if you just let us in!” Personality: Proud, but fearful of the coming invasion, and more desperate as the attack progresses. Appearance: Thanium armor, short black hair, facial scar, twin shortswords, and crossbow. Rumor: Previously, Malere has worked with the Doomsayers, convincing others to lower defenses to allow the Doomsayers to attack more easily. Goal: Convince the party and Sarrik to let the Granok Thane in for shelter after the defenses have been raised. Quirk: Idly spins blades and traces patterns on the ground using them. Introduction: After the defenses of the structure have been fortified by Lysarkas, a smaller, aged devastator approaches, and Malere and a handful of Granok Thane climb out. Malere shouts to whoever she can see that her people will die in the storm if they are not let in, and that they will help defend the structure in return for being allowed in. She even threatens to attack the structure herself if refused. A DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check will notice that if the defenses are taken down, there may not even be enough time to fortify again if the Granok Thane are allowed in. Lysarkas will remark that it is too risky to allow them to enter.

KOGTH Herald of the Doomsayer (M Gnoll) There are no intelligible words, but in their supernatural tones, you understand their meaning: “WE ARE THE END. WE ARE DEATH. DESPAIR, AND KNOW THAT YOU WITNESS THE END OF ALL THINGS.”

Personality: Predatory and prone to sudden, brief bursts of bloodthirsty mania and rage. Appearance: Particularly large for a gnoll, with dark matted fur that writhes like fire, and a spear and scepter. Rumor: The Doomfang gnolls are utterly merciless, and are sure to spare no one if they break through. Goal: Destroy the structure and prepare it for the coming Doomsayer. Quirk: Has a shadow whose movements don’t match his, except during fits of rage. Introduction: As the Bleakstorm hits the abandoned structure, a hoard of Doomfang gnolls can be seen cresting the hill. Kogth stands above the rest, shrieking and lifting both his spear and scepter to the sky. A crimson bolt of lightning strikes the scepter, arcing over to the spear and wreathing it in the red lightning of the Bleak. Kogth then begins babbling in strange tongues as the gnolls smash into the outer defenses. A DC 14 Intelligence (Arcana) check will reveal that Kogth draws his power from the Bleakstorm overhead, and lasting out the storm will greatly hamper the gnolls abilities to conduct the assault.

ESCALATION The coming Bleakstorm and gnoll hoards threaten the lives of the Sarrik who reside in the abandoned structure, as well as all others seeking shelter there. As the storm builds to a frenzy, it will take careful planning and precise execution to survive the night. The party should feel pressured to make difficult moral decisions and to develop careful defensive plans. LOCAL CONDITIONS Paranoia and suspicion among perceived allies is commonplace. Fearful innocents cower in need of hope in order to fight effectively. Arcane static is felt throughout the structure as the Bleakstorm persists outside.

D4 1 2 3 4

D6 1

2 3 4

CHARACTER CONNECTIONS A wanderer once told you of a benevolent silver spirit who helps the lost. They are found in an abandoned building far into the flats, and you remember their words as you seek shelter. The Granok Thane have sent you to scout out ahead of them, following behind to hear your report. Your loved ones are among the Sarrik, and you’d die to protect them. You are a spy for the Granok Thane, charged with lowering the defenses to allow Malere’s forces into safety, and otherwise ensuring the success of the Death Defiants. You are a merchant, Missive Crow, scout, or other traveler tasked with reporting notable movements of monstrous creatures and the Bleak to Lord of Ash Sureau.

1-2

You owe a life debt to another taking refuge in the structure – their fate will be the same as yours.

3-4

D6 1 2-3 4-5 6

5-6 D6 1

COUNTDOWN TO PERIL The party sees the Bleakstorm approaching quickly on the horizon and approaches a nearby abandoned structure for shelter. The Sarrik paladin Lysarkas confronts them, guarding a small cluster of Sarrik. Lysarkas works with the party to start bolstering the structure for the coming storm, and all witness a gnoll scouting party, signalling a following horde. After defenses are complete, Malere and the Death Defiants arrive asking for shelter, which would require dismantling the defenses. The defenses may not be able to be rebuilt in time if they are allowed to enter, but they promise to fight if allowed. The Bleakstorm hits and the gnolls’ full force arrives and prepares to attack. Kogth calls the Bleak to enchant his spear and the gnolls charge. If Malere’s forces were allowed in, the fight is brutal. Kogth, calling out to the Doomsayer to arrive and revel in the destruction, uses his magic to call down lightning from the Bleakstorm on the structure and sends waves of Bleak radiating through the gaps in the defenses. If Malere’s forces were allowed in, the gaps can more easily be plugged. The Bleakstorm intensifies and the gnolls briefly scatter as Kogth calls out in glee. As a rumble shakes the earth, the roof of the structure is smashed suddenly, raining rubble. A Doomsayer leaps down from the gap and attacks wildly.

7-8 D10 1-3 4-6 7-9 10

D12

CONFLICT Outlast: The attack will only cease when the Bleakstorm passes. Timing: The outer defenses are sharp spikes which must be raised at the exact time of the gnoll assault. Construction: Traps and other hidden defenses – including an alchemical fire trench – must be placed in a hurry. Arcane: Magic users find their powers are chaotic and difficult to use reliably. RISING THREAT A weak point is noticed in the walls last minute. One of the Sarrik staying here suffers a medical emergency. They will need attention to survive. The Granok Thane threaten to break into the structure if they are not allowed to enter. The structure’s basement contains hidden entrances to underground tunnels which could be used by the attackers to breach the defenses. NOTABLE LOCATIONS Basement: fearful innocents, reverberating shouts from above, falling dust Central Room: rattling walls, barking orders, projectiles fired through the cracks Outer Trench: suicide mission, fiery trap, last chance to strike before the clash Battle Wagon: outside the structure, cramped quarters, armored defenses SCENES Angry Accusation: distrust, threat of infighting, blades drawn Save the Stranded: trapped ally outside, cries for help, must act quickly Wave of Gnolls: swathes of foes, mass bloodshed, shouts and battlecries Brace the Walls: strength in numbers, keep the enemies out, blades slip through the cracks DEFENSES

Fence of sharpened posts, rigged to raise with the pull of a 1-3 rope. Trench planted with volatile arcane energies, rigged to erupt 4-6 when enemies cross it. Fortified walls armed with spears, easily slipped through 7-9 holes toward incoming foes. Overhang structure set to implode downward onto enemies 10-12 at the walls. 327 DOMINIONS OF ASH: ULDANE

D20

TWISTS

The Doomsayer did not end up here by chance. It was looking for something. Something that Lysarkas had stolen from it. Malere’s forces are working with the Doomsayers, and lower 2-5 the defenses. The voice of the Fate-Merchant perforates your mind, 6-10 directing you towards success. The Dismembered Legion arrives, prepared to assist the 11-15 defense in exchange for the cowering Sarrik. Swarms of kytes stream down from the skies, attacking ally 16-19 and enemy alike. The C’War takes notice of the fight, and emerges into the fray. 20 Nearly all flee. 1

CLIMAX: DOOM SPOKEN A thunderclap booms directly overhead as the Bleakstorm continues to roar. The Doomfang gnolls fall silent for a moment before turning their attention upwards. Slowly, they all begin cackling and banging their weapons on shields or the ground. A crackling snap rips through the ceiling of the structure and bricks rain down. A Doomsayer leaps through the gap, landing with a smash as a wave of Bleak and lightning ripple out from the creature. The Doomsayer twists a greataxe in its hands. The gnolls pause for a moment to behold it before returning to their frenzied attack, now bolstered by their leader. The Bleakstorm continues to rage until the Doomsayer is defeated.

UNFOLDING EVENTS • The gnolls pause suddenly as thunder roars directly overhead. In a swift crack, the ceiling collapses, raining bricks down on all below as a Doomsayer leaps through the gap, sending a burst of bleak and lightning rippling from it. • Kogth and the Doomsayer press the attack, the gnolls bolstered by their leader. The final line between the enemy and the cowering Sarrik is close to falling.

328 DOMINIONS OF ASH: ULDANE

• The Bleakstorm continues to rage, now sending lightning bolts streaking through the opening in the ceiling, felling friend and foe alike. • When the Doomsayer is killed, the Bleakstorm fades away, taking Kogth’s magic with it. Kogth and the gnolls begin to scatter and flee. • Once the battle begins to die down, Lysarkas rushes to where the noncombatants have been hiding to ensure they are still alive.

AFTERMATH/CONSEQUENCES • If Lysarkas and all the Sarrik hiding here survive, he will thank the party, allowing them to rest under his protection and freely resupply. He will also let the party know where they can find the Rasping Whispers. • If Malere and the majority of her Granok Thane were accepted into the structure and survive the battle, she will offer to take the party with her as the battle wagon continues, either taking them to meet Sebanos Straysoul or dropping them off at a point on the way. If they were left to die outside the structure, their allies will always view the party as enemies. • If the hiding Sarrik are found and killed, Lysarkas will fall into despair, wandering off in a haze into the flatlands, never to be seen again. • If the structure falls to the Doomfang gnolls and the Doomsayer, they will slaughter everyone they can find without hesitation or mercy.

CRUX: LAST RIDE OF THE DEATHBAT Concept: Battlewagon Chase Against a Primordial Themes: Pursuit, Risk, Speed, High Stakes

EVENT You see the C’War emerge from an enormous roiling cloud of Bleak miles in the distance. You sit on the deck of an experimental devastator battle wagon known as the Deathbat. You know that the C’War is starving, and is simply looking for food, but the grins that it digs up for sustenance have grown scarce where it dwells in the Everbleak, and it’s creeping further and further south. And that means devastation and destruction – not because the creature is malicious, but because it is an enormous force of nature. You can’t stop the creature, but you could guide it. With some modifications to the Deathbat, and with the proper bait, you can lead the creature to a food source using the path of least destruction. But it would be deadly – and you might not come back alive. This could be the last ride of the Deathbat. The party will play the crew of the devastator battle wagon known as the Deathbat, and they will go on a daring chase. Using a durable, experimental kite that resembles a dragon (called the drakewing), they will try to bait the C’War to a food source so it doesn’t destroy any cities or settlements. The C’War is gargantuan, so when it appears in the distance emerging from the Bleak, the party will have time to plan their mission quickly before setting off on the chase. A PULSE-POUNDING, ESCALATING CHASE This Crux is designed to play out in three phases of escalating danger before the climax – embarking, pursuit, and havoc. It is more linear than others by design, meant to convey a steady rise in the stakes. Each NPC has a challenge specific to the phase of the chase, and tables in the escalation section correlate with each phase. The variety of this Crux comes from the assorted interactions the adventurers have between these pillars, and how they solve problems and react to consequences. In addition, in such close quarters, the rumors about each NPC are known more readily by other NPCs.

PEOPLE This Crux centers around the crew of the Deathbat, and the life-or-death stakes and risks that they must undertake to attempt to steer the C’War away using the experimental drakewing kite. The creature is akin to a force of nature and if it catches them, it could easily decimate the battle wagon – if it doesn’t attempt to eat them. Working as a team, some of the main sources of conflict will be in disagreeing on a course of action in such a dire situation where time is of the essence. The crew consists of three members of the Storm Slayer company of Granok Thane. Zevana, the captain and driver of the Deathbat who believes that the C’War is bad luck, Dur Zag, a C’War expert who believes they know how to guide and deal with the creature, and Krokar, a festir engineer who has modified the Deathbat with Archanic technology.

KROKAR OF THE STORM SLAYERS

Mechanic (M Granok Thane Festir)

“There are about a dozen devastators, but the Deathbat is very special. I’ve modified her using an Archanic engine – you’ve never seen a battle wagon move like this.” Phase: Embarking Personality: Wildly intelligent, very gentle and patient. Appearance: Bestial in appearance, massive in stature, and covered in thick crimson fur. An Archanic toolbelt at his hip. Rumor: He is using fringe magic to make his creations work, and they are taking a toll on his body and mind. Goal: Keep the Deathbat in pristine mechanical shape, and unharmed. Quirk: Uses words and phrases from centuries ago that many of this era wouldn’t know readily Introduction: The ground rumbles as C’War stomps forward in the distance. Krokar points at two of the party, shouting for them to join him at the Archan engine and telling them to turn dials or connect wires in a hurry. While the two are helping, he yells out to the others to grab all their possessions and load them into the Deathbat immediately, or else leave it behind, and that they have only a few minutes to prepare to depart. A DC 14 Intelligence check with tinker’s tools or Archan tools, made with advantage as Krokar shouts help, must be made by the two who help him with the engine to get it running. Afterwards, he’ll yell for someone to man the ballista that sits on top of the devastator.

DUR ZAG, PRIMORDIAL BREAKER C’War Expert (NB Grimdul Darrow)

“Such an amazing creature… It might be the strongest creature in Dragongrin and yet it wanders the wastes aimlessly for food. It’s beautiful in its simplicity, really. If only all powerful entities were content with such a life.” Phase: Pursuit Personality: Curious and enthusiastic about C’War, and eager to help and inform Appearance: Neatly kept leather clothing, tied back brown hair, Thanium and Primordial bone pendant. Rumor: Dur Zag would be just as content to witness C’War destroy the Deathbat and die in its wake as they would be successfully leading it. Goal: Observe the C’War and the effectiveness of the dragon kite bait. Quirk: Consistently inserts the words “Well, uh, you see…” before speaking. Introduction: As the Deathbat roars to life and begins to speed forward, Dur Zag rushes onto the top deck with clear excitement on their face. They call to the party to join them at the back of the devastator to see the next part of the plan. They pull a lever on a large container attached at the back and a metal hatch falls open. A large kite called the drakewing, made of Thanium, primordial bone, and red dyed primordial leather falls out before the wings burst open, fashioned in the shape of a dragon. A DC 14 Intelligence (Nature) check will recall what food source for the C’war is nearest and where it is.

329 DOMINIONS OF ASH: ULDANE

ZEVANA OF THE STORM SLAYERS Deathbat Driver (F Granok Thane Human)

“Sure we’re in a wasteland with maybe one other driver – but that puts me in the top two.”

Phase: Havoc Personality: Cavalier, cocky and a quipster, but with a good heart. Appearance: Wearing a minimalist Granok Thane uniform; dark-tinted leather goggles rest on her shaven head; she has a repeating crossbow. Rumor: She is ill with an incurable disease, and only has a few months to live, making her eager to take this dangerous mission to die on her own terms.

Goal: Stop the C’War from harming anyone. Quirk: Painfully superstitious of omens and portents. Introduction: From the front seat of the control area, Zevana calls out that there’s a big problem, and for someone to come help her immediately. Some of the pedals and controls for the Deathbat have begun to lock, slowing the devastator down as C’War begins to gain ground on it. She will need help maintaining control of the Deathbat as she works to fix the controls. A DC 16 Dexterity (Land Vehicles) check will be required to keep the Deathbat on course while Zevana makes the necessary repairs and adjustments. DELIBERATE PERILS This Countdown to Peril is designed to be used in conjunction with the Escalation tables and the phases in a specific order to emulate a rising level of tension and a specific progression of trouble and hazards. Some of the entries on the countdown will give cues as to which table to roll on to match the exact situation that is occuring. While this isn’t required, it’s designed to give a variety of dangers and thematic events at specific intervals for tonal effect. D6 1 2

4 5 6

CHARACTER CONNECTIONS The Storm Slayers saved your life before, and you feel compelled to return the favor. Primordial researchers are eager to receive records of such a monumental event and have hired you to document the occasion. One of the Rasping Whispers has heard of the event, and hopes to have you influence the direction that the C’War is led to suit their needs. You’ve been sent to extract information regarding the Deathbat and other devastators that will expose potential weaknesses, but you’ve grown fond of your new companions. All missions require a good spotter and scout. You’re just the person for the job, though you fear you’ll be used as bait. The C’War destroyed a person or location you cherished, and you’ll do anything to ensure no one else suffers the same fate.

ESCALATION The C’War, while not malevolent, is always hungry. Being caught by it would almost certainly mean death. The journey will not be a smooth ride, as complications abound. The party should be constantly aware of how near C’War is to them and how much any one mistake could cost. These tables are meant to be used in order, in conjunction with the Countdown to Peril. At any point, roll on the C’War Effects table to make the creature seem present and dangerous. D4 1 2 3 4

C’WAR FOOD SOURCE

1 2-3 4-5 6

A recently unearthed dragon’s grin. Massive hive of kyte and their queen. Guldroch, the Brighthold, Doomsayer fortress. An enormous leviathan off the shore of Uldane.

1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8

DOMINIONS OF ASH: ULDANE

EMBARKING CONFLICTS The Archanic engine works, but will need double the fuel first thought. A glimmerwind rolls in; its phantasmal effects make the way unclear. One of the people involved is spooked, and must be reconvinced to go on the mission. An argument erupts between two of the crew members about how to proceed.

330

COUNTDOWN TO PERIL As the party stands around the Deathbat, the ground rumbles and C’War can be seen on the horizon exiting the Everbleak. Krokar calls for help to get the Deathbat started and for all crew members to get any belongings on board. Roll on the Embarking Conflicts table. Dur Zag climbs to the back of the Deathbat and calls for the party to witness the unveiling of the drakewing, using it to grab the C'War’s attention and luring it. Roll on the C’War Food Source table. As the C'War chases, the journey becomes more complicated, and any mistake or slowdown may cause the C'War to catch up and crush the Deathbat underfoot. Roll on the Pursuit Conflicts table. Zevana calls out for help as some of the controls lock up. Additionally, as she and another crew member work to keep the Deathbat on track and fixed, further complications risk the mission. Roll on the Havoc table. With fuel running low and the final stretch approaching, the final obstacles must be overcome before the bridge leading to the food source can be crossed. Roll on the C'War Effects table. Nearing the destination, the only obstacle that remains is to cross the bridge over Jesterhead Ravine and finish the journey. With the C'War gaining ground, panic sets in as the bridge over the ravine is noticed to have been destroyed. Proceed to The Jump climax and roll on the Twists table.

PURSUIT CONFLICTS The way is blocked, and you must go into even more treacherous terrain. A very beneficial shortcut presents itself, though it’s risky... The Archanic engine is overheating, losing speed, threatening to burn out. The drakewing twists – someone will need to climb the chain to untangle it...

D10

HAVOC

1-3

7-9 10

A Doomsayer descends upon the Deathbat. Cannibalistic, Sarrik Roamers join the chase on Archanic vehicles. A Bleakstorm erupts in your path demanding a new route. A swarm of kyte chases the Deathbat.

D12

C’WAR EFFECTS

4-6

Heavy steps crack the earth; avoid falling in. Toppled structures impede the roadway. Deafening roar is disorienting. Surroundings are crushed causing enormous falling and 10-12 flying debris. 1-3 4-6 7-9

D20

TWISTS

Sureau is controlling C'War. The Doomsayers and gnolls unify and fell the creature, eating 2-5 it. 6-10 C'War is actually looking for a place to lay her eggs. Kytes have infested C'War, eating it from the inside; the beast 11-15 is frenzied. C'War is sick and dying, and was looking for a place to do so 16-19 peacefully. 20 C'War has emerged to fight a larger monster from the Bleak.

CLIMAX: THE JUMP The final stretch of road lays before you as you approach the bridge that leads over The Razors and to the feeding ground you’re searching for. Panic sets in amongst the crew as the bridge is noticed to be broken, leaving only a slightly angled fragment left extending over the razor sharp fields below. There isn’t enough fuel to change course and you can’t afford to slow down or turn back with the C’War so close behind. There is only one choice that remains. You’ll have to make the jump. JESTERHEAD RAVINE AND FAILURE Jesterhead Ravine (often just called “Jesterhead”) is not formally on the map of Uldane. It is a movable location designed to be placed as the final obstacle to overcome in whichever path the party has chosen for their journey. The Jump represents a particularly high stakes moment. If the Deathbat falls into the ravine, it will likely be damaged to the point of being unsalvageable. Even if the party survives a crash, journeying out of Jesterhead Ravine will be treacherous, and supplies will be low following the unexpected catastrophe. C’War, losing sight of the destroyed drakewing, will move on to find food elsewhere, likely leading to the destruction of an important city nearby.

UNFOLDING EVENTS • As the final stretches to the feeding source lay before you, the bridge over Jesterhead is noticed to be broken, and with no other options, the driver decides to accelerate, hoping to make the jump. There is a long, treacherous stretch between the Deathbat and the ravine, so it won’t be an easy ride. • The party must succeed in a skill challenge, getting five successes before netting three failures in order to get the Deathbat over the ravine. Consider using the Deathbat Skill Challenges table in this section which lists an ability score and some related ideas for challenges. Use any skills that apply to the challenge at the GM’s discretion.

• If the jump is made successfully, C’war will also miraculously leap over the gap, grabbing hold of the drakewing in the process. The final stretch to the feeding ground will be made with relative ease. • If the party fails the skill challenge, the Deathbat will tumble into Jesterhead Ravine, destroying the vehicle, likely killing some of the crew, and stranding the rest.

AFTERMATH/CONSEQUENCES • If the party fails to make the jump, the Deathbat will plummet into Jesterhead Ravine, losing all function and likely being destroyed beyond repair. Many of the crew will likely die in the fall, and any survivors will have an incredibly difficult journey out of Jesterhead on low supplies. • If the jump is made successfully, C’War will be brought successfully to the feeding grounds chosen. Regardless of location, the Granok Thane will take them back to Gaff and reward them with a piece of custom enchanted Thanium gear each and offer to aid on a task of the party’s choice. • If C’War is brought to the dragon’s grin, it will burrow down to it before feasting on the dragon’s corpse, halting the growth of the grin around it. Content with the meal, C’War returns to the Everbleak and will be satiated … for now. • If C’War is brought to the kyte hive, it will begin tearing through it, eating as it goes. It will consume the queen and destroy large swaths of the hive in the process, greatly hindering the kyte and their coordination. A properly planned attack on the hive may be able to wipe it clean out of Uldane and rid the land of the oversized pests. • If C’War is brought to Guldroch, it will begin to attack the walls of the fortress, tearing a massive hole in the structure. While the Doomsayers will be able to drive the creature away eventually, they will lose many Doomfang gnolls and Doomsayers in the process and the opening in the walls will be too big to repair quickly. Perhaps it could be enough advantage to siege successfully. • If C’War is brought to the leviathan, it will swim into the crimson waters, feasting on the sea beast’s corpse. Content with the meal, C’War will soon swim to Feygrave seeking food. DEATHBAT SKILL CHALLENGES D6

ABILITY

RELATED CHALLENGE

Strength

Dexterity

Constitution

Intelligence

Wisdom

Charisma

Climb outside to unjam a tire, wrestle the steering wheel to stay on course. Quick steering between obstacles, stay standing over deeply pitted terrain. Stay conscious after a brutal impact, hold your stomach after a lurching drop. Recall geography to avoid a hazard, conceive a shortcut. Sense impending danger, anticipate C’War’s movement or be crushed. Attempt to influence C’War, keep your courage in the face of death.

331 DOMINIONS OF ASH: ULDANE

EVERGROWING SHADOWS

Utterly focused on the Bleak and harnessing its arcane energy, Sureau conducts numerous experiments with the aid of her hag soothsayers, the Skragga, who operate a similar function to the Dismembered Lord’s famed Crucible. Though powerful and capable, Sureau and the Skragga dabble in the unknown, and invite destruction upon Uldane with their meddling.

LORD OF ASH: SUREAU THE STORMBREATHER “This world is not mine, but I intend to reshape it nonetheless.” The young warlock known as Sureau appeared in Dragongrin at some point after Lightfall, and quickly rose to hold one of the realm’s highest and most respected stations. Seemingly human in appearance, though undeniably alien in her methods and motives, Sureau is an enigma wrapped in a riddle, possessing an intimate knowledge of both the Bleak and the magic of the Sovereign. The Dismembered Lord trusts Sureau implicitly, sharing with her both great knowledge and power. Her close relationship with the Sovereign, as well as her appointment as Lord of Ash in Uldane, remain mysteries to the Council of Ash, who spend considerable time and resources investigating her origin. The Doomsayers and their lesser brethren, the Doomfang gnolls, have allied with Sureau, and by extension the Sovereign. The Lord of Ash brokered a historic truce with the Doomsayers, convincing them to not only remain in Dragongrin after emerging from the Bleak, but to serve in the Dismembered Legion as unstoppable shock troops. This alliance has secured Sureau’s position for years to come. For unknown reasons, Sureau wears a breathing apparatus at all times. The mask creates a strange and constant hum, punctuated by Sureau’s raspy exhalations. Her voice, quiet yet powerful, takes on a tinny, static-laced quality, reverberating within the mask. It’s said Sureau can remove the mask within Alveolus, though none can confirm, as her chambers are secured against all but a chosen few.

commands unfathomable sway over her Marrow as well as the Doomsayers now inhabiting Uldane and serving among her ranks. Weaknesses: Sureau seemingly cannot breathe without the assistance of her respirator mask. If removed, she has mere minutes to recover the mask or reach an otherwise safe location, and her abilities are greatly reduced in the meantime. Origins: Some say Sureau is the lost daughter of Ghul Varras, the man who became the Dismembered Lord. Others posit that she hails from another world, journeying through the Bleak to reach Dragongrin. And many believe that Sureau the Stormbreather is the Bleak manifest – an avatar of the storm given physical form and sent to preside over Uldane as its matriarch of lightning and blood. Secrets: Sureau is a mystery to many, and guards her secrets closely. Her true origin, confounding to most, lies in another timeline – a separate version of Dragongrin – where she shares a strange but significant link to the Dismembered Lord. See the Sureau’s Secrets table for more ideas on the Lord of Ash’s true origin. D4 1

SUREAU’S SECRETS Sureau served on the Council of Ash in another version of Dragongrin where the Dismembered Lord failed and Grinn disappeared forever, flung into the Bleak. She survived, and hopes to prevent the same fate befalling this Dragongrin. Sureau is the daughter of Ghul Varras, hailing from a timeline where her father died before he could see his grand vision come to fruition. She has come to this Dragongrin to ensure that her father does not fail again. Sureau is the last fragment of another timeline’s Dismembered Lord – a living Reliquary of Ash given physical form. She has journeyed to this Dragongrin seeking answers, hoping to resurrect the Sovereign of her own world. Sureau is Ghul Varras, hailing from another timeline where she has yet to conquer Dragongrin and ascend to the seat of the Sovereign. She intends to learn all she can from this Dragongrin’s Dismembered Lord, then return to her world to oversee her own Lightfall.

Encountering Sureau: Sureau is no warrior, and trusts in the skills of her followers. She is almost always accompanied by the Skragga, ancient hags who serve the Lord of Ash and provide unique insight, as well as powerful magic. Sureau doesn’t shy away from a fight, wielding considerable arcane abilities as well as a wicked blade. Sureau’s spells manifest as wind, lightning, and thunder, harnessing the pure and unfettered Bleak as others might wield a sword.

Fortress of Ash: Alveolus is a towering respirator, constantly cycling the tainted, Bleak-charged air of Uldane. Its looming stacks and winding pipes give the appearance of a leviathan insect, poised on the blasted horizon, chittering against the backdrop of a perpetual Bleakstorm. Alveolus is a tightly secured fortress, traversed only by Sureau’s most trusted Marrow and Doomsayers.

Reliquary of Ash: Surea’s respirator mask serves as her Reliquary of Ash. Imbued with a fraction of the Sovereign’s power and enchanted with the Bleak, the strange symbols etched into the mask’s surface glow with a violet-red energy when Sureau shows intense emotion or conjures magic, spewing forth a virulent smoke with each exhalation.

Nemesis: Sebanos Straysoul, commander of the Straysoul Howlers, represents Sureau’s greatest rival in Uldane. Initially commanded to retake Uldane for the Granok Thane, in recent years Sebanos and his followers instead hound Sureau and her Marrow at every turn, fighting desperately against the horrors emerging from the Bleak and tampering with Sureau’s further experiments with its energies.

Appearance: Few know the true countenance of the one called Sureau the Stormbreather, for her face is almost always obscured by her breathing mask veined with Titan copper tubing, cloaked in a crimson hood. She wears at all times a fully enclosed and sealed protective suit. She carries a wicked, curved blade, but rarely brandishes it in a fight, preferring instead to conjure magic. Powers: Sureau is a warlock, and as such commands considerable arcane power. She is capable of calling forth the Bleak and manipulating its energies to bolster her spells. In addition to her magical abilities, Sureau is a decent fighter who wields a sword and fights defensively. Her greatest asset is her mind – a sharp and alien cunning that 332 DOMINIONS OF ASH: ULDANE

Legion of Ash: Uldane breeds hard, brutal creatures – and the Marrow serving there are no different. Far from the rank-andfile shield wall soldiers of the southern regions, most Marrow serving in Uldane are marauders or Bleakwalkers, barbaric and brutal fighters and scouts who weather both the Bleak and the horrors it manifests. In addition to the Marrow under her command, Sureau continues to foster the alliance with the Doomsayers and Doomfang gnolls.

SUREAU STRIVES FOR • Bleak Riddles: The Bleak represents to Sureau the next frontier of Dragongrin, a horizon beyond Uldane. By studying the storms wracking Uldane, and tampering with their arcane energies, Sureau hopes to unlock the mysteries shrouding the volatile arcane source and further entrench her mastery of it. • Domination of Uldane: Uldane is a wild place, untamed and barbarous. The land and its people shrug against the shackles of the Sovereign, resisting his rule and embracing chaos. Sureau seeks to put Uldane beneath her heel, quashing rebellion and securing the region as a valuable asset for the Dismembered Lord. • The Culverin: Sureau’s greatest aspiration is to complete the Culverin – a conceptual weapon revealed to her by the Skragga. Believing the weapon’s completion to be her destiny, Sureau’s Bleak experiments ultimately provide insight into the Culverin’s construction – and its destructive capability

SUREAU’S STATE OF POWER D4 1 2 3 4 D6 1 2-3 4-5 6 D8 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8

THE SKRAGGA The Skragga scheme behind Sureau’s back, feeding her lies. Though selfishly motivated, the Skragga ultimately wish for Sureau. Utterly devoted to Sureau, the Skragga protect her interests at all costs. The Skragga operate at the height of their power, gazing clearly into the future.

TWISTS

The Doomsayers have watched Dragongrin die many times 1 already – it is inevitable. The Doomsayers demand further appeasement in order to 2-5 maintain the alliance. The Skragga witness Sureau’s death – at the hands of another 6-10 Lord of Ash. One of the Skragga betrays Sureau, leading her into an 11-15 ambush. Sebanos launches a full-scale assault on Alveolus, with the 16-19 aid of traitors inside. Sureau is the harbinger of a full-scale invasion from another 20 version of Dragongrin.

FORTRESS OF ASH Alveolus has stopped functioning, sitting now as a dark, abandoned machine. Though formidable, Alveolus suffers frequent malfunctions and breakdowns. Alveolus is secure and fortified, operating at peak efficiency. Alveolus is perfected, harnessing Bleak energy as a potent weapon. SUREAU’S FOES The Howlers range unopposed, controlling most of Uldane. The Howlers gain ground and territory, pushing Marrow back to Alveolus. The Howlers suffer losses with Bleakstorms on one flank and Marrow on the other. The Howlers are routed, divided and desperate.

D20

THE LEGION OF ASH

1-3

7-9

SUREAU’S HINDRANCE

Surea’s exposure to the Bleak has created complications with 1-3 her physiology. Sureau’s respirator has begun malfunctioning at inopportune 4-6 times. Sureau’s affliction has weakened her considerably, and she 7-9 must remain in Alveolus. Sureau’s presence in this timeline has fractured her spirit, 10-12 and she cannot return.

Uldane’s Marrow are rogue, ranging and raiding without a care for orders. The Marrow suffer heavy losses to the near-constant Bleakstorms. Though battered, the Marrow of Uldane fight on, unfazed. The Marrow marauders and Bleakwalkers are some of the finest in Dragongrin.

D10 4-6

D12

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COUNTDOWN TO RUIN Sureau’s obsession with the Bleak, and the experimental weapon known as the Culverin, strains her relationships with the Skragga and the Doomsayers. Dependent on the insight of the Skragga and the martial might of the Doomsayers, Sureau teeters on the edge of oblivion as the Culverin nears its completion. 1. Hunting C’War: The Culverin, an experimental Bleakpowered cannon, nears completion, but Sureau requires the flesh and bone of the C’War in order to forge the final components. She enlists Valgror and his Doomsayers to hunt the legendary leviathan and harvest the necessary resources, and brokers an unprecedented truce with Sebanos Straysoul in order to defeat the C’War. 2. Strange Allies: United against C’War, the Doomsayers and Straysoul Howlers set aside their conflict and embark on a great hunt across Uldane, tracking C’War on the Straysoul devastators and cornering it in the Lucent Vale, where it topples into the bogs, immobile. A fierce battle ensues, and many Doomsayers and Howlers are lost – but ultimately C’War is felled, put down by none other than Valgror himself. 3. Harvesting C’War: C’War is butchered, pieced out, and harvested over many weeks, its flesh and bone shipped to Alveolus. Onlookers come for miles to see the corpse of the mighty beast of the Bleak. With their mission completed, the temporary truce ends, and Sebanos and his followers depart into the badlands once more. 4. Culverin Completed: Integrating C’War’s remains into the Titan tech of Alveolus, Sureau completes the Culverin, realizing a dream years in the making. She vows to use the Culverin to subjugate Uldane and harness the Bleak for the Sovereign – to finally control Dragongrin’s most volatile element. 5. The Skragga Depart: The Skragga deliver a cryptic warning: Do not activate the Culverin, or invite the ruin of all. Sureau, in a rage, dismisses the Skragga under her command, condemning them to exile in the badlands of Uldane. None will stand between her and her pursuit. 6. The Culverin Fires: Harnessing immense energy through Alveolus’ Titan-tech respirator, Sureau channels the Bleak into the Culverin and activates it, targeting Gaff as a show of power. A dazzling beam of virulent violet energy, braided with blood-red lightning, emits from the Culverin, obliterating Sebanos and his Howlers in an instant. 7. Rupturing the Bleak: The Culverin works – too well. As it fires, draining its reserves of Bleak energy, the Culverin also rips into the Bleak itself, rupturing the arcane veil and disrupting its frequencies across Uldane. Devastating Bleakstorms wrack the region, tearing it apart. Sureau rushes to undo her mistake. 8. The Bleak Bleeds: For days, the Bleak bleeds into Uldane, belching forth horrors from across the planes and lashing out with pure, unfiltered arcane magic. Uldane is torn apart, and Sureau loses all control of the Bleak. The Doomsayers revolt, enraged at the blatant disregard for the Bleak.

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9. They Speaketh Only Doom: As Uldane is consumed by the evergrowing Bleak, the Doomsayers, led by Valgror, assault Alveolus and dismantle the Culverin. Sureau defends herself and attempts to escape, but is obliterated when Valgror speaks her doom. The Stormbreather breathes her last, erased from this timeline as if she never existed. 10. The Bleak Consumes: The Doomsayers see the end of Dragongrin, and await its coming, feasting on the sorrow and destruction. The Bleak, unshackled, tears across Uldane and consumes the region entirely. The rest of Dragongrin is next.

VARNHOLME

FRIGID FRONTIER ISLAND OF DEEP MAGIC “Though harsh and strange, Varnholme remains the last place in Dragongrin unmarred by Lightfall. It’s hardly worth defending – just an unscorched, clapperless bell, the only surviving remnant of the fire.” – Raluca Starlek the Pilgrim, Silverwise Eloquent Ice-capped mountains tower over evergreen forests, untouched by the Evergrowing Shadow of the Dismembered Lord – for now...

HISTORY

Then: For centuries, the clans of Varnholme united under tribal nations known as skulds, raiding the mainlands of Dragongrin from their remote lands. Now: Varnholme suffers under a lack of resources, and the soothsayers deliver a grim prophecy. As the skulds feud over its cryptic meaning, tensions rise and traditions are cast aside. Beyond: The Dismembered Lord has set his eyes on invading Varnholme. If the people of Varnholme cannot set aside their differences and unite, they will fall one by one to the invasion force, eventually succumbing to the Sovereign’s rule. VARNHOLME AT-A-GLANCE Terrain: Ice-capped mountains, dense forests, rolling hills, fjords, meandering rivers Climate: Frigid north with temperate, seasonal southlands Rulers: Jarl Grinrender, Jarl Vogg, Jarl Rit Resources: Dwindling game and vegetation, Bleakfrost, Elderstone Cultures: Holmir, Mord

THE FAILED INVASION OF VARNHOLME During Lightfall the Dismembered Lord attempted to invade Varnholme, starting with the village of Torrakr – but soon after landing, the majority of his legions withdrew from the island region. Some say it was the powerful ancient magic known as Imminence that drove the Sovereign away. Others whisper it was a lack of resources as the Varnholme winter set in. A few believe the potential futures shown by the Crucible forced him to retreat, and many speak of darker reasons known only to the Sovereign himself. For two decades, Varnholme has remained relatively untouched by the Dismembered Legion – but some believe that is all about to change.

KNOW THIS TO SURVIVE

No Lord of Ash rules Varnholme, and thus the island is an independent nation, not considered a Dominion of Ash – yet. The Dismembered Legion has little presence outside the port city of Torrakr, and Sovereign-instated customs such as the Tenth are wholly foreign. Clans gather in loose nationstates known as skulds which clash, form alliances, or choose solitary survival as resources dwindle. The Age of Death Looms: For the first time in an age, Varnholme undergoes drastic change. Each winter grows longer, the fish in the sea become fewer and fewer, and crop yields dwindle with each harvest. The mystics, spies, and soothsayers all agree – all signs point to something ominous and life-changing for Varnholme and its people. Though few agree on what the impending event is, all refer to it as the coming Age of Death. Some say it is the rise of the long-dead Frozen King within the Maw of Black Ice. Others whisper it is not a tragic ending, but a new beginning – the death of the old ways to make way for a new dawn. Many believe the Age of Death will begin with the Dismembered Lord’s imminent invasion of Varnholme.

Factions: Drengraven, Thrymskegg, Drekk, Grimfrost Creatures: Eòghann, svalagg, Fenril, giants

335 DOMINIONS OF ASH: VARNHOLME

THE PROPHESIED AGE OF DEATH Frozen fires burn to black The sun and moons hang low Sword in scabbard, axe in back Reversing friend and foe A grin across the face will spread Keep old, but take new breath Refrain, O age of death

Skuld Drengraven Prepares for War: Led by Jarl Ingrid Grinrender, this mighty skuld clearly sees the oncoming threat of the Dismembered Lord, though her actions are seen as heretical to other skulds who cling to the Veidr. Jarl Grinrender also embraces magic and mysticism beyond what is normally accepted. She seeks to unite the people of Varnholme – Holmir, Mord, Dörmung, and otherwise – against the Sovereign and his Dismembered Legion. Skuld Thrymskegg Embrace Grinflesh: Jarl Iskar Degermark’s skuld is slandered as a cult, preparing for the Age of Death in formerly forbidden ways. Their dangerously potent Yngsblot, a substance distilled from reagents found in the ancient dragon’s graves, grants them immense focus, strength, stamina, and enhanced arcane abilities, though not without cost. Over time, the elixir twists their flesh in abhorrent ways related to the properties of the grin used to make the Yngsblot – an ailment called grinflesh. However, Skuld Thrymskegg believes the end justifies the means. Skuld Drekk Looks Beyond the Elderstone: Led by Jarl Utyl Rit, all Mord have a deep connection with the mystical, powerful crystals known as Elderstone. Once their most healing and abundant resource, the power of the crystals has waned in the wake of Lightfall. Now, many Mord grow ill, unable to wield the blighted crystals tainted by the Bleak. In a time of impending cultural extinction, Skuld Drekk is dedicated to outlandish experiments to discover and execute the next evolution of the Elderstone, and those who stand in their way are often met with vicious reprisal. If they cannot enhance the ancient veins of crystal, they will lose the most potent amplifier of their power. While members of Skuld Drekk are typically Mord, other cultures and factions have made quick allies in these dark times. Skuld Grimfrost Struggles in the North: United and ruled by the fierce half-giant Jarl Beiskr Vogg, the Skuld Grimfrost consists of giants of various cultures and kinds from the reaches of Leeth in northern Varnholme. They work together to survive in the barren reaches, and now resort to alliances with the other denizens of the region for basic necessities such as food and medicine. They hold the secrets to Bleakfrost, the highly volatile Bleak, frozen in the land’s glacial wastes. The alloy forged from the material is sacred to their faith, used to craft incredible tools, weapons, and armor. As the wild game they hunt becomes scarcer and the vegetation they rely upon dwindles, Skuld Grimfrost approaches famine, and conflict brims between their varied cultures. Of late, they contend with a plague of powerful creatures called the Fenril, monstrous tribes that serve the powerful magic of the Eòghann now streaming from the Maw of Black Ice. They seek a way to survive, and grow desperate and violent. Some even suggest turning to the powers of the Bleakfrost to cultivate new sustenance – though Vogg refuses refusing to break their sacred laws. The Keening Twists the Landscape: Varnholme is considered by many to be a blessed land that is a gift to its people – the land itself a source of primal and ancestral power. However much is changing rapidly, and the soothsayers of the 336 DOMINIONS OF ASH: VARNHOLME

skulds claim that ancient Varnholme groans against its fates as its people act uncharacteristically, betraying the blessings of the land and bringing war upon its face. Though some scoff at such a foolhardy claim, none can deny the manifestation of a strange, otherworldly phenomenon the soothsayers call the Keening. These pockets of ancient, deep magic are said to emanate from Varnholme itself, causing strange magical surges and unnatural effects on the landscape and people. Eòghann Emerge from Black Ice: These demi-gods have been frozen in the Maw of Black Ice for centuries, vastly weakened by their lack of worshipers. The massive form of Yendrid – the largest and most powerful Eòghann – was discovered by the Fenril, the trolls, ogres, and feral festir beastfolk indigenous to Leeth. The Fenril tribes began to serve her and her lesser Eòghann, giving their worship, and bringing her sacrifices of blood. The Fenril are striking out deeper and deeper in the lowlands of Varnholme, raiding and kidnapping – and in some cases swaying lesser skulds to worship the Eòghann. More and more Eòghann rise each day, gathering more worshipers and spilling more sacrificial blood. They seek to raise Yendrid and the rest of the Eòghann. CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS OF VARNHOLME • It’s tradition to always leave a seat empty at your table. Lone travelers are always offered this seat, as well as a place to sleep, in case it is wrothful Yngvildr walking as a mortal. Some believe their deceased ancestors feast with them upon this seat. • Varnholme’s dwellers fear and hate the undead – what they call draugr. They are an abomination, for the valiant dead should never return from the afterlife. For this reason, all bodies are ritually cremated, the fire started by specially kept, ever-burning dragonfires of the grins the Holmir slay. • Lying is seen as a terrible crime, and the brutal honesty of the region can seem crass and rude to outsiders. However, due to the custom of Oathspeak, words said cannot be taken back. Whatever a person declares before others must be true, else they are a coward and deceiver. In many clans, this is punishable by exile or even death.

POWERFUL PEOPLE OF VARNHOLME

Jarl Ingrid Grinrender: Wielding Mawcutter, the ancestral dragonbone axe of her skuld, Jarl Ingrid wears armor of wyrmscale and a pale cloak of tyl fur. Despite her impressive stature, Ingrid walks with a pronounced limp – an eternal echo of a wound sustained in a skirmish against the giant Beiskr Vogg. Jarl of the most powerful skuld in Varnholme, the Drengraven, Ingrid has risen through the ranks by gaining the respect of her peers and by the strength of her axe. She clearly sees the oncoming threat of the Dismembered Lord, loosening her once-stringent views of the Veidr – the Holmir’s commitment to taking only what they need in the name of honor, she also suggests that openly warring with one another needs to stop. This shift is much to the chagrin of other clans and skulds, also embracing magic and mysticism more than any before her. She knows that to wage an unprepared war against the Dismembered Lord is folly, and that her people must first stockpile supplies from the grins and look to the Bleakfrost weapons and armor forged by the Dormung to defeat such a foe. Jarl Iskar Degermark: Broad and muscled, Jarl Iskar bears knotted, pale tattoos upon his rich brown skin. He wears a thick, intricately braided beard woven with dragon teeth. Once a former Grin Eater loyal to Ingrid Grinrender, he now leads Skuld Thrymskegg. This uncompromising Holmir broke from his leader when in his eyes she disregarded the Veidr. While many agree with Degermark’s sentiments, others label him as an outcast and a traitor – especially as he has recently found common cause with the Morden of Skuld Drekk, working together to find increasingly odd and rare items to create the Thrymskegg’s extreme Yngsblot. He hides the everincreasing effects of the Yngsblot he ingests. Jarl Utyl Rit: This ashen-skinned elf is gaunt and gangled, his deep crimson Mord robes hanging on the posts of his shoulders and draping down. A snarled smile curls around sharp white teeth. The leader of Skuld Drekk, this centuriesold and powerful warlock also schemes between the other skulds. To Utyl Rit and his followers, there is no better way to ensure the Elderstone’s future than through the power of the grins. While some Mord want to use that power to usurp any who oppose them, others aim to use it to escape to an entirely different plane of existence. With Imminence waning, they believe they must act quickly to preserve the Elderstone, and all that is Mord. Jarl Beiskr Vogg: Massive, with grooves carved throughout his pale blue skin, tusks jutting from his bottom jaw, Vogg is a half-giant, powerful in war and strategy. The leader of the monstrous Dormung clans of the north, he rules the giants,

trolls, ogres, and beastfolk with a fair but brutally powerful hand. He downplays the threat of the Dismembered Lord to his people to keep order as they face famine. He has secretly been offered a deal by Utyl Rit to trade the secrets of the Bleakfrost for food and supplies for his people even though this is against their sacred customs. He considers what must be done to ensure the survival of his people. Yendrid: She is the most powerful and ancient of the ancient spirits of Varnholme, the Eòghann. Gargantuan and twisted, she is half-buried in the Maw of Black Ice, the size of a small city. She is so large that unless she makes herself known, travellers believe they are on any other twisted frost-bitten mountain in Leeth. She leads her worshipping Fenril and her lesser Eòghann but cannot move – she simply doesn’t have the worshipers to grant her enough power to rise. Eòghann followers and mortal minions under her sway travel from all over Varnholme to heap gifts and give sacrifices to her half-buried face. If she can gather enough worshipers, she can emerge. Aracel Gracelaw of House Maegar: This darrow Crucian is muscled but thin, with jet black, short cropped hair framing her jade, almond-shaped eyes. She travels with two others: a Warmaker named Blindfire, and Mal Raxin a retired, decorated Marrow Praetor donning one-of-a-kind altered armor. Aracel is a negotiator, someone who has crossed over to begin the talks of surrender with the different clans before the Dismembered Lord’s invasions. Instead of trying to assure surrender, there are other options… The Sovereign also seeks to convince a new Lord of Ash to rise up and rule Varnholme under the banner of the Dismembered Lord. She appraises different clan leaders, and even members of the party to take up the mantle. OATH OF THE FROZEN KING In a land of grim magic, Holmir necromancers have taken the loose laws regarding regicide to the extreme. It is rumored that in the farthest reaches of Varnholme, the most ancient in the bloodline of kings has been brought back to wretched life after centuries of entombment using Imminence magic. This “good king” of old demands their claim to the throne of Varnholme be recognized – those refusing to take the oath will be dispatched, or transformed into servants. D10 1 2 3

5 6 7 8 9 10

CHARACTER CONNECTIONS TO VARNHOLME A shipwreck once left you stranded in Varnholme. Your patron has sent you to Varnholme to acquire some of the famed Yngsblot of Skuld Thrymskegg. Your kin journeyed to the Maw of Black Ice to uncover the secrets of the Frozen King, and never returned. A discreet Marrow force approached you in secret, offering you coin and permissions to scout the southwestern coast of Varnholme for all potential threats. If you tell anyone, they will find and kill you. The monsters who killed those you love hail from the Grimfrost of Varnholme – you must make way to the icy wasteland to exact revenge. You’ve contracted grinflesh, though fail to understand it. The answers reside in Varnholme. You hear prophecies in your dreams, lamenting the so-called “Age of Death.” Why have they chosen you? You fear for your future, and wish to speak to an oracle of a prominent skuld to discover what awaits you. A rogue shatterfarer wronged you – you’ve heard they operate out of Torrakr. From the twisted jungles of Zamon, you’ve caught word of a method to harness the powerful Keening. You feel you might make a hearty profit in Varnholme, if you can figure it out.

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PRIMARY LOCATIONS

Asgol, the Entombed Kingdom: At first glance the Mord capital of Asgol appears as a spartan, utilitarian city. They conduct business here with any non-Mord, and allow travellers and emissaries to stay within. Beneath the city lies the sprawling, subterranean metropolis of the Entombed Kingdom. It is said that its tunnels span beneath the entire upper third of the Lowlands, housing both Mordrivh and Morden at odds, and forever vying for power over Varnholme. Skuld Drekk controls this area for now, as far south as the Odra Zul mountain range, fiercely protecting its surrounding tunnels of Elderstone. Coldwell Bay: Varnholme’s most frequented body of water, sitting central to Uldane, Grinn, and Varnholme. Ships of all sizes constantly moor here or depart, turning the adjacent coastal settlements into a major trade hub. The large settlement of Korgever watches over the bay, its Thrymskegg longboats and patrols ever-vigilant. Danamhar Shores: The southern beaches of Varnholme are unnaturally filled with the bones of all shapes and sizes of sea creatures washed up on the shore, so much so that the entire beach is made up of them, and their powder. The increasing salinity of the Shattered Seas is rumored to be the culprit for this mass death, though most skulds have largely abandoned the area, believing it to be cursed or haunted. Some believe it’s the perfect location for the Dismembered Lord to begin his invasion. Helgad: For centuries, Holmir skulds have brought their most prized remains plucked from the grins and displayed them here. This place is considered sacred to all in Varnholme and many beyond its shores, who travel hundreds of dregs to have their runes cast and their futures foretold. Many oracles are found here, but most famously the triplet siblings, the Witches of Nidhall – the seers who first spoke the Prophecy of the Age of Death.

Lowlands: The southern portion of Varnholme that boasts more temperate weather, and is home to many humanoid skulds. Lungrivim: Even though it is located in Leeth, this hot lake and the surrounding forest is a crossroads of cultures in the region. For many centuries the peoples of Dragongrin have gathered here for the Degeth – the annual competitive games. The games are fast-approaching, and even in tense times any skulds not participating would be seen as dishonorable. Maw of Black Ice: This series of mountains and tundra are dotted with massive shards of dark-hued ice, each said to be a prison for vile demigods of a forgotten age known as the Eòghann, among other strange creatures. The beastly Fenril tribes have begun to gather here, and work tirelessly chipping away at the black ice shards. They enslave or sacrifice any who unwittingly travel too close. Nemira’s Spear: The massive fjord spans the entirety of Varnholme, dividing the northern lands of Leeth from the southern Lowlands. It once acted as an unspoken neutral zone and informal border between the two lands, though with the increasing scarcity that plagues the dominion, tensions mount, and lines are crossed. Raiding parties from Leeth have begun crossing into the Lowlands and vice versa, both seeking food and supplies to feed their people – no pillaging or bloodshed has occurred yet, but it is only a matter of time. Nidhall Forest: This frigid forest of dead trees, completely frozen to their core, is home to the trolls and beastfolk of the Dormung who worship the Eòghann and give them their power. Their dark rituals draw the attention of darker, elder gods, all of which seek new followers and sacrifices. Odra Zul Mountains: This reaching mountain range and massive cave system attached to Asgol is controlled by Skuld Drekk, and contains most of the waning veins of Elderstone. Myriad settlements controlled by Skuld Drekk persist along the crimson luminescent tunnels.

Ighon: This dominant Holmir settlement is close to both clean water, fertile forest, and several large grins. Home to Ingrid Grinrender and Skuld Drengraven, myriad structures of wyrmbone stand tall and pale around the city, while the plethora of wildlife which once roamed its reaches now dwindles. The ensuing unrest leaves many in a state of unrest, and some of Drengraven’s own ranks stir against Jarl Grinrender.

Orthir: This imposing, series of rough-hewn settlements are flanked on either side by mountains, with sprawling wooden palisades surrounding massive stone and wood buildings – all to the scale of the giants. Guard towers dot the perimeter with a powerful iron wall encircling it. Within, Dormung of all kith dwell, the smaller structures woven throughout the larger ones with little organization. Skuggiril persists off the coast, and boats ferry back and forth day and night.

Korgevir: This sprawling evergreen forest is dotted with fortresses and settlements of Skuld Thrymskegg. A central portion of it was constructed atop a massive grin, now used to create their Yngsblot. Ethereal Svalagg stags move among its thickets and brush, and some say the shadows themselves steal people and replace them with doppelgangers. Many believe the forest to be haunted or cursed.

Sagroth: Mordrivh refugees eke out a meager existence in this seemingly mundane settlement. However, it is rumored that this is a vast, subterranean structure of the Mord, where a cell of Morden renegades thrives. Rumors persist that they have uncovered an untouched grin, and are using Imminence to revive the draconic creatures within. This tampering is causing a slow, steady leak of the Desolation, and some say, if traversed properly, can serve as a portal to Svir.

Leeth: The icy northern portion of Varnholme that is home to its most treacherous mountains and tundras, as well as the clans of the giants (most notably the Dormung), and tribes of beastfolk, trolls, and ogres (most notably the Fenril). Loralath: The site of a great and violent war between the skulds long ago – the countless ships that sunk in battle with one another still litter this portion of the Shattered Seas. It stands as a reminder that peace between skulds is the way to persist in a place such as Dragongrin. Legends say that caches of weapons, treasure, potent Yngsblot, and more lie beneath the waves in the bellies of the countless shipwrecks.

338 DOMINIONS OF ASH: VARNHOLME

Skuggiril: This massive glacier-island off the coast of Varnholme is inhabited and mined by the Dormung. It is a prime source of Bleakfrost, and the home of prison camps filled with drudge mages harvest and cultivate the Bleakfrost so their masters can forge it into legendary items. Swordshadow Fjords: Gargantuan swords jut from the cliffs, and within each of their shadows is a smattering of ports and fortressess of numerous skulds. The swords, strangely enough, do not seem to be Titan or Primordial in their origin, but are whispered to be from the first giants of Dragongrin long ago. Believed to be a place of good luck and protection, its denizens craft boats and set them to sail among the rivers of Varnholme and Shattered Seas.

339 DOMINIONS OF ASH: VARNHOLME

D10 1

3 4 5

7 8 9 10

PERIPHERAL LOCATIONS Icy chasm with jagged rocks and a steaming, rapid river at its bottom. The walls are too slick to climb, and only a decrepit, pre-Lightfall bridge connects both sides. Abandoned town of a long-forgotten skuld. All the buildings are dug downward, into the ice, with no emerging structures on the surface. Every few minutes, the ground shakes momentarily. Small forest of petrified trees, each emitting a strange, pungent stench. Some local terrors are drawn to it for its sustenance and flavor. Entrance to an underground cavern, teeming with both Elderstone, and the twisted Morden protecting it. Shallow river crossing, flanked on both sides by strange statues of ancient Holmir queens. Their eyes were once crafted of pure diamond, but only one gem remains. Small hamlet of people foreign to Varnholme, all of which sought out a new life among the wastes, away from the horrors of home – but something new now terrorizes them. Rolling hills of Keening, haunted by perpetually angered spirits. They desire something from you before granting your freedom from the neverending landscape. Steaming hot spring, bubbling up around a small island of Bleakfrost. Two Yotnir giants bask in the waters nearby. Decrepit stone circle, once used to track astronomical changes, but now overrun by Varnholme’s renegade bandits. Minor grin used to distill potent Yngsblot. The magical energies of the ancient grave have twisted its Holmir guardians into a cult of bloodletting cannibals.

Torrakr: When the Sovereign’s Marrow landed on the coast of Varnholme, they quickly conquered the small fishing village of Torrakr and established a forward base for the invasion. Not three weeks later, the legions inexplicably withdrew, leaving behind a meager, walled outpost housing fewer than fifty Marrow. In the decades since, Torrakr flourished as a free port, expanding into a minor city untouched by the skulds and their rigid traditions. A haven for reavers, pirates, and thieves, Torrakr is a den of crime and underhanded deals, all overseen by retired, aging Marrow who take a cut and look the other way. With the prophecy of the Age of Death casting its shadow across Varnholme, many wonder if Torrakr might be the site of conflict once more. Twinhelm Isle: This island rests off the eastern shores of Varnholme … typically. It seems to move along the horizon unpredictably for those trying to reach it. Rumors persist that a cache of potent and sustainable Bleakfrost awaits any who can seize it. Tales of a large, monstrous creature stalking its forests have been reaching the mainland as of late, though none who venture there seem to return. Winter’s Tongue: The southernmost tip of Varnholme’s northern region of Leeth, this is home to frozen mountains and icy fjords, and is the keep where the fabled Frozen King was entombed after his execution. Rumors persist that things within this keep have begun to stir, and that its dark energies call out seeking servants. Zimmath Sher: This group of standing stones is attuned to the three moons and Fadestar of Arbitron, measuring and predicting their movements in the sky. The Holmir onced used this sacred place to perform rituals to honor their deceased elders, but with the Keening so rampant, restless spirits now plague the stones and drive others away. These stones can be used to craft objects that are harmful to spirits.

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D8 1

SUDDEN PERILS The Keening manifests: The landscape around you alters to an endless horizon of rolling hills, before tapping into your own heart’s desire. Roll on the Keening tables in this section. Enraged Yotnir: Giants ambush you from a nearby hill. If you have nothing to offer them, or have not made an alliance with Yotnir-friendly factions in Varnholme, they will take you prisoner – or eat you... Quaking earth: The ice beneath you shakes, and begins to split. After a chasm is opened, Eòghann emerge from the abyss, taking the forms of myriad mythical monsters. Marrow scouting party: The Dismembered Legion remains far from Varnholme’s shores – which is why you are surprised to see their kneebreakers approach you with militant movements. Depending on your allegiances, they may be peaceful, but they’ll demand your silence regarding their presence in the region. A banshee manifests: You hear a piercing shriek, and an emaciated, withered hag floats before you, spectral in appearance. She reaches her arms out and descends upon you. Helping her may grant you some much-needed favor in this harsh environment. Beastfolk encircle you: Three goat-headed humanoids wielding axes approach on their ungulate legs speaking in a long-dead language. Likely a drudge-finding party, looking for escapees or new blood to add to their ranks. The Keening shifts the landscape: Though subtle, the magic of the Keening causes the landscape around you to warp and shift, and after several hours of travel, you wind up right where you started. A svalagg approaches: The majestic stag with enormous antlers lets off a trail of ethereal, colorful wisp, and a peaceful sound like the singing of a beautiful woman can be heard. You receive a vision of the future...

CURSED SITE Using this overlay, any one of the previous locations can be transformed into a cursed site. The effects of the curse on the site, and those nearby, varies depending on which of Varnholme’s skulds bestowed the curse upon it. Drengraven: Ingrid Grinrender’s most skilled sorcerer bestowed an aura of non-violence upon the site. Nobody may willingly do harm to others while here, though many get around the curse using forbidden mind-control from beyond its borders. The only way to lift the curse is to kill the one who created it. Thrymskegg: It is revealed that a dragon’s grin exists underneath the site, and arcane masters boosted by Yngblot use their powers to enhance its effect on the surrounding area. Macabre trees of sinew, bone, and scales emerge throughout the site, and spores released from the unnatural forest spread disease to all nearby. The curse can be lifted by removing or destroying the grin. Drekk: Utyl Rit and his zealots created a strange fog around the site, inhabited by terrifying creatures who drag looters and travelers into the mist and devour them. The curse can be lifted by finding and destroying the enchanted Elderstone crystal hidden somewhere nearby. Grimfrost: Jarl Vogg unleashed a scourge of his Dörmung followers onto the site, destroying everything and everyone in their path, and taking up permanent residence themselves. He swears he never gave the order, and that those responsible are acting on their own accord. The only way to remove them is to convince them to leave – or destroy them...

D10 GROWING THREATS AND RUMORS Jarl Grinrender plans an assault on Thrymskegg’s most prominent holdings one fortnight from now – though because the information is out, it will probably happen sooner. The Keening is more than a magical mishap, but another plane of existence, merging itself with Dragongrin’s frayed edges – the spirits thriving there are building an invasion force. King Eirick, long entombed within the Maw of Black Ice, has returned to life through the power of necromancy, and now conjures a massive undead force. The Mord of Asgol and the opposing Morden of Sagroth prepare to finalize their grievances in a single, bloody battle over control of the Elderstone. Both sides offer jewelry and weapons to recruited soldiers. Skuld Grimfrost has discovered an unnatural way to raise Yendrid, and have struck a deal with her – but doing so would destroy the entire area surrounding her massive, underground frame, and her wrath would be great. Jarl Rit’s holdings have been attacked, one by one, over the last month. He blames a minor skuld, but he’s not yet sure which – he’ll destroy them all to get to the bottom of this. Marrow scouts have been spotted near Danamhar Shores – sure signs of the Dismembered Lord’s impending invasion. But why were members of a Crucian house seen with them? Jarl Vogg has discovered a list of names of those wishing to destroy him and his holdings. One of the adventurers (or their relatives) is at the top of the list. Skuggiril is sinking. It’s only a matter of time before the world’s only large cache of Bleakfrost is gone forever. Minor skulds of Varnholme are drawn to Jarl Ingrid Grinrender’s call for alliance, but many bring more violent theories regarding the Veidr to the cause, and outlying settlements are feeling their wrath. Grinrender now considers embracing the violence herself.

8 9

THE KEENING OF VARNHOLME

No one truly knows what causes the Keening – only that its effects are drastically unpredictable from person to person. It’s difficult to realize when you’re in the Keening, and all too often it’s only revealed once a traveler is good and lost. Have the adventurers roll a DC 16 Wisdom check to realize what’s happening, as soon as they begin to wonder. For each Keening, there’s a way to escape. The Illusory Lure in the tables below should give off hints pertaining to the way out, while the Threat attempts to destroy the adventurers. D10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

SCENERY

ILLUSORY LURE

Inviting grove of apple trees Lost child asking for help Dense fog enveloping Inescapable repeating road everything Never-ending bridge over a Strangely colored cloth blown stream by wind Unexpected crossroad Dancing wil ‘o’ wisp Field of sweet-smelling Runic patterns throughout clovers the sky Endless rolling hills Persuasive, disembodied voice Inverted forest, roots in Dead ancestors summon you the sky to follow Beach of roving sand, with a Eòghann mimic voices of sea of black friends Steed or other animal, Teetering glacier constantly roving Giants’ bones, jutting from Exact copy of you, claiming to the ground be you

D10 QUESTS AND BOUNTIES 1

D102

“It’s just a banner, yes. But it’s sacred to us,” says the Holmir before you. She’ll pay you to return the colorful cloth from the Yotnir who stole it from her. A heavily-guarded wagon filled with barreled Yngsblot actually contains one cask filled with Elderstone jewelry being smuggled to the mainland. If you seize it, you’ll get to keep all the Yngsblot, or five pieces of the jewelry – your choice. A ship in the harbor named “Riptide” contains a prize too great to ignore – the child of Ingrid Grinrender, imprisoned in its bilge. She will reward any rescuers with land, titles, and coin. An Elderstone quarry has turned a strange color, and a collection of Morden fanatics believe the crystals now bear a new form of magic – one that will allow them to live indefinitely. They’ll offer half a dozen ships to those who claim it, but their enemies will pay handsomely to those who thwart them. A well-equipped up-and-coming leader of Skuld Karver believes they should rule all of Varnholme. They seem to have the gear, motivation, and loyal supporters to accomplish the task, but they need help starting the coup – they’ll offer high-ranking positions to those who help them achieve power. A grin remains undiscovered, and a Yngsblot-fermenting hermit will offer whoever secures it access to their Yngsblot, as well as a cut from all future profits. When Yendrid awakes, the entire area above her body will be obliterated, including a rare root that grows only in the freezing mountains, priceless for their sap – the key ingredient to a truth-telling serum. If the root is retrieved, a Holmir merchant will give you half the supply worth of serum when it’s done. Marrow kneebreakers desire information pertaining to a rumored meeting between the four dominant skulds of Varnholme. They attempt to conscript you in secret, offering the release of valuable prisoners in exchange. Steal a cache of Elderstone for use in experiments with Yngsblot, and the minor skuld will reward you with positions in their clan. The work may even be enough to bring them to a position of power in Varnholme. A clockmaker from Grinn is investigating the paranormal phenomenon known as the Keening. All magical and Titan devices built to keep time work differently in Varnholme, depending on their positions in the region. If half of you measure this phenomenon in the far west of Varnholme and the other half do the same in far east of Varnholme, he’ll reward you with coin and information. THREAT

ESCAPE Find water that flows backward Speak a secret Keep going – to reverse direction is doom Path only found with eyes closed Recite the name of something haunting you Slay the threats in the area

Wailing banshee

Changelings

Malevolent fey

Headless horseman

Eòghann

Twisted Holmir bandits Undead from the Maw of Swear an unspeakable oath Black Ice Starved castaways, lost in the Spill your own blood Keening Pay sacrifice to the threats in Arctic beasts the area Awoken dragon’s grin Dig into the earth

7 8 9 10

SVALAGG These ethereal staglike creatures are enigmatic and magical in their purpose and origin. Some say they are the spirits of lesser deities who take the form of deer. Others say they are fairie shapeshifters who represent safety and protection capable of granting wishes. Many believe that seeing a svalagg is an omen – though good or bad differs from person to person. 341 DOMINIONS OF ASH: VARNHOLME

CRUX: FEAST OF A THOUSAND SKULLS Concept: Survive Contact with an Evil, Starving Eòghann Themes: Fear, Survival, Worship, Mortality

KINNET VINDR:

Thrall of Odrokn (M Holmir Dwarf) “It’s not a glamorous job, but it’s honorable. I tend to these quiet islands, making sure they stay as uneventful and beautiful as today.” Personality: Outwardly warm and welcoming, always smiling

EVENT Bleakfrost is a powerful resource in Varnholme. This frozen arcane energy can be used to forge magical weapons, arcane medicines, and potent, unspoiling food. Until now, the Grimfrost Skuld of the north have been the only ones with access to this precious resource, guarding its secrets and locations closely. However, rumors have surfaced of a new pocket of Bleakfrost in the uncontrolled Twinhelm Isle off the coast of Varnholme. You must find the Bleakfrost and bring some back as proof, and your skuld would have good reason to lay their claim to Twinhelm. Your boat drifts within the fjords, icy winds stinging your face. You have been chosen to find the Bleakfrost because of your unique skill set, but also your discretion – this mission must be kept a secret. No one in your skuld but the leadership and your party know about your aims here – not even your families. As your boat glides onto the shores of Twinhelm, its beauty overwhelms you, but you cannot shake the eerie feeling of something unsettling about this place. You set off to find the Bleakfrost and secure your skuld’s place of power in the region. The adventurers begin on the shores of the uncontested island of Twinhelm off the coast of Varnholme. They are immediately noticed by the Eòghann Odrokn, a demi-god who controls the surface of the island, and serves under the mother of its kind, Yendrid. Odrokn will attempt to cause strife among the party using illusory magic, and bending the Keening so that they are fearful, angry and hopeless when it confronts them to worship it. THE KEENING This Crux heavily features the magical effect known as the Keening, including options for its specific effects on the island of Twinhelm influenced by the Eòghann Odrokn. To generate additional Keening effects, refer to the Keening of Varnholme tables earlier in this chapter.

PEOPLE The people in this Crux are either thralls of Odrokn, or powerful illusory constructs conjured up by the demi-god. Their aim is to do whatever is needed so that the party will not feel threatened or lied to, but so their master can cause the party fear, distress and any other forms of suffering to prepare them like a feast for their eventual meeting with the creature. Odrokn is an ancient creature and does not speak, but communicates by projecting twisted visions and unsettling, broken telepathic messages. While it would normally plague a creature for a mortal lifetime to feast on its agony and demand its worship, it has been starving for centuries and seeks to feast much sooner.

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Appearance: A hearty Holmir warrior, straw-like hair, in pristine armor of the old age of Varnholme Rumor: Kinnet has been alive on this island as a thrall of Odrokn for centuries, having been granted unnaturally long life Goal: Feed any souls he can to his starving master Quirk: Constantly twitches his large nose back and forth Introduction: Kinnet is walking down the beach as if on patrol, and approaches the party with a hearty smile and a jubilant wave. He is visibly excited to have visitors. He explains that he is from Skuld Bega, tasked with watching this dull and uneventful island – a welcome fresh start after he lost his wife and child to sickness. Characters who succeed on a DC 12 Intelligence (History) check will know that Skuld Bega hasn’t been prominent for centuries, though there are scant surviving members. Characters who succeed on a DC 18 Wisdom (Insight) check will note hidden fear in Kinnet.

VEHNOD Beastfolk Hunter (F Fenril)

“I seek the ancient black goat that stalks these woods. My worship will be my blade in its belly.” Personality: Tenacious, callous, and determined Appearance: With the head of a goat set atop a female bipedal body, adorned in leathers, carrying an etched bow Rumor: Vehnod has been cast out by her tribe because she openly despises the Eòghann, refusing to serve them. Goal: Find and kill the Eòghann that is plaguing her Quirk: Pops her joints often – most frequently her ungulate legs Introduction: Vehnod immediately suspects the party are thralls of Odrokn, or illusions created by the creature. She is an adept warrior, and will not enact immediate violence, though she’ll knock a Bleakfrost-tipped arrow until the party can prove otherwise. A DC 17 Charisma check or a roleplay interaction that can convince her will cause her to show relief, and share some of her information about harming the creature. The Eòghann is susceptible to the Bleakfrost that is occuring in the area, and in its raw form, it can harm the creature, and weaken its magical sway. She tells the party of a location that she is scouting for the Bleakfrost. Choose a suitable narrative location, or roll on the Location tables in the Escalation section of this Crux.

AYA MIRATIL Seeker of Odrokn (F Mord Halfkin)

“Help! Help me! There is something after me and my sister! It can see into my soul. We need your help – I beg you.” Personality: Desperate, nervous, and stammering Appearance: A gray-skinned half-elf woman with angular features, unarmed in commoner clothes Rumor: Aya seeks out the Eòghann to offer servitude and worship in exchange for power Goal: She has communicated with Odrokn and has promised the party as a sacrifice Quirk: She goes for extended periods of time without blinking Introduction: Aya feigns being in danger to appear helpless, though she is a master manipulator. She explains that she and her sister were exiled on Twinhelm by her skuld for not following their traditions of the Elder Tenet of the Mord. A DC 16 Intelligence (History) check will reveal that it is highly unlikely the Mord would go through the trouble to do this, and her story doesn’t add up. She will attempt to lead the party to her wounded sister, but she does not have a sister, and will work to lead the party to Odrokn to show her loyalty. D6 1 2 3 4 5 6 D6 1

CHARACTER CONNECTIONS Your skuld’s jarl has commanded you to go to the island to secure the Bleakfrost at any cost for the sake of your people. You and those you love struggle to eat, and a rival skuld has offered you a tidy sum to report to them the details regarding the Bleakfrost on Twinhelm. In a moment of error, you lost your honor, and you seek to restore good name with this mission to find the Bleakfrost. You've been experiencing visions of Twinhelm, and the creature that dwells there. Your journey is playing out identical to your vision... at the end of which you always die. You have been hired to find someone who went missing on Twinhelm a season ago. The oracle has commanded to your clan that it is your destiny to visit Twinhelm to find the Bleakfrost. COUNTDOWN TO PERIL Shortly after arrival, once their attentions are elsewhere, the party's boat will go missing. This is the work of Odrokn or one of its thralls, the boat is not destroyed, but moved to the Eòghann's lair. The sun will stay in the same place in the sky indefinitely, and night never comes, as the party treks across the island looking for the Bleakfrost. However, time is actually passing at twice the normal rate. Odrokn will begin to send powerful signals of pain, and fear and doubt across the island. Hundreds of birds flock over the island whipping themselves into a frenzy, raining to the ground dead. Dark clouds roll across the sky, blotting out the sun, causing the island to fall into complete darkness. The sky is void of its moons, and non-magical light sources are dim. Odrokn's power grows and illusions are rampant across the island. A number of Odrokn's ancient thralls are sent forth from its lair in an effort to manipulate the party toward the creature's lair. They are from all ages of Varnholme and without any semblance of sanity. A powerful storm rolls over the island. The Shattered Seas roil, deadly winds blow, waves batter the Twinhelm, and the island floods as the power of Odrokn is revealed.

ESCALATION The island of Twinhelm is a place warped by the ancient magic of the Eòghann. It exists just outside of the normal timeline of Varnholme, and is given to wild effects of the Keening. Odrokn feeds on fear and suffering, growing more powerful with the dread it causes, so it will do all it can to evoke terror and pain. The party should feel a slow descent into the magical sway of Odrokn not realizing how dire the situation is until it is far too late. LOCAL CONDITIONS The island is eerily devoid of wildlife of any kind, and unnaturally quiet. Odrokn stalks the woods freely, though is masterful at staying hidden. A palpable sense of something wrong hangs in the air. D4 1 2 3 4 D6 1 2-3 4-5 6 D8 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 D10 1-3 4-6 7-9 10 D12

CONFLICT Fear: The entire party is torn to shreds by a shadowy creature – it is revealed to be a vision seen by a party member or NPC. Survival: Any food that the party has immediately rots, and any water instantly becomes mud. Worship: An NPC or party member worships a deity that isn't Odrokn; trees split, the earth shakes, strange sounds are heard in the distance. Mortality: A prominent, competent Holmir warrior is found dead, brutally slain, runes painted on the corpse. UNNATURAL OCCURRENCES Thousands of worms begin to crawl from the earth until the ground is no longer visible. Clouds above form a large, toothy mouth, slowly closing over Twinhelm. Dozens of oddly shaped effigies of varying sizes made of sticks and straw hang from the trees. Heavy rain erupts from the clouds. Upon closer inspection the drops are small spiders. NOTABLE LOCATIONS Shallow Cave: slapdash shelter, scrawled runes, water source, antique weapon Ritual Site: effigies, signs of struggle, lurking cultists, sickening feeling Petrified Forest: gnarled trees, shortcuts, standing stones, mazelike Steep Path: carved stairs, icy rocks, breath visible, secret entrance SCENES Survive the Elements: natural hazards, rock formations, unsure footing, fearful words Tensions Rise: frustration, accusations, arguments, blame Bleakfrost Found: motherload, glimmer of hope, muchneeded rest, celebration Revere the Ancients: statue garden, existential feeling, powerful illusion, palpable fear ILLUSIONS OF ODROKN

You see a child. It is you as a juvenile, and it mouths the word 1-3 “help.” A nithing pole speaks – this horse skull atop a stake spits 4-6 curses and secrets. You continually see a large, bestial shape in your peripheral 7-9 vision – it gets closer. You are floating, light as air – when you come to, you have 10-12 climbed to a high place unknowingly, about to step off. 343 DOMINIONS OF ASH: VARNHOLME

D20

TWISTS

A group of powerful mages has enslaved the Odrokn, they force the creature to do evil. An armed group of Drengraven appear to investigate the 2-5 Bleakfrost, bolstering the forces of the party. There was never any Bleakfrost – the skulds send food for the 6-10 Eòghann to keep peace. The Eòghann Yendrid communicates with the party, offering 11-15 to help them kill Odrokn if they promise to owe her a favor in return. Odrokn has just given birth to several Eòghann younglings – 16-19 she struggles to feed them. Since the party arrived on the shore, they have been enthralled by the Odrokn, this entire adventure has taken 20 place in their minds as they rest within the creature’s lair to be feasted upon. 1

CLIMAX: ODROKN The lair of Odrokn has an acrid stench, with everything appearing more dull in color and sensation. A scaled, yellowing wall surrounds this place – it is a wall of the mummified and decomposing corpses of those who worship Odrokn. Upon closer inspection, groaning can be heard – the wall is still living, though centuries old, kept alive unnaturally. Odrokn breaks down the wills of its followers until they willingly lay on the wall to suffer for centuries becoming part of the Feast of a Thousand Skulls. ENCOUNTERING ODROKN Odrokn is an ancient spirit who has little empathy for mortals. Though it does understand communication, it will be difficult to reason with it in any meaningful way. By its nature it feeds off of suffering and fear, but it isn’t necessarily violent. It would rather its prey alive to feast on its misery as long as possible. Odrokn appears as an enormous, goat-like monster with six legs, bright yellow eyes, skeletal antlers, and mottled black flesh. It has two pairs of powerful humanoid arms with sharp bones protruding from multitudinous places.

UNFOLDING EVENTS • Odrokn changes the landscape magically. Trees in every direction. An enormous runic symbol made of skulls rests in soft mud. Effigies hang from the trees. Its silhouette is just beyond the trees. • Odrokn psychically shows the party thousands of years in a single moment, displaying the building of the corpse wall from the first follower to the most recent. They are compelled to climb onto the wall, joining the Odrokn. • Odrokn emits the same words to everyone as it steps into full view – “Worship me.” Its thralls bow in subservience. The creature attempts to subdue with magic and illusion any who do not bow down. • Kinnet has a huge smile and tears in his eyes, speaking to a wife and daughter that only he can see. Vehnod attacks the creature without hesitation. Aya is unable to overcome the sway of Odrokn, and willingly lays down and joins the corpse wall. • Odrokn creates illusions of the adventurers and their party. Rather than attack, he uses them to try and convince the party that they are, in fact, simply figments of Odrokn’s creation, made solely to bolster the wall with their souls.

344 DOMINIONS OF ASH: VARNHOLME

• The island begins to act more and more erratically. Birds frenzy and fall from the sky, the sun rises and falls as though days pass in seconds, a great storm surrounds the island, and the island itself – along with everything on it – begins to turn entirely to ice. BATTLING ODROKN Odrokn is ancient and cunning, and wishes to be worshiped, and though it is not averse to violence, knows bloodshed rarely gets it what it desires. Make no mistake however, Odrokn is a powerful demi-god, and even in its weakened state uses its copious magic and twisted form to do battle ferociously with the party should it come to that.

AFTERMATH/CONSEQUENCES • If the party cannot escape the lure of Odrokn’s charms and illusions, they are made part of the wall forever. Odrokn continues to lure others to the island in hopes of becoming godlike once again. • Kinnet, Aya and any other illusions and constructs of Odrokn seem to die in agonizing misery, calling for help from the party if they’re within earshot. • If the party can obtain some Bleakfrost and escape the island, they can choose which skuld they return to share their information. Whether they dispatched Odrokn and plan to harvest the Bleakfrost, or if they struck a deal, sending more to their deaths in exchange for more Bleakfrost. • If the party can defeat Odrokn, an Eòghann approaches them after a number of days, offering them assistance for their skuld, or privately for more discreet matters. • Depending on the fate of Odrokn, the Keening itself is strengthened or weakened by the destruction or worship of such a powerful demi-god. The party will become targets of other Eòghann, whether to bargain for help, destroy them or simply to congratulate them on killing a god outside of time.

CRUX: THE AGE OF DEATH Concept: Pivotal Meeting to Unite the Skulds of Varnholme Themes: Tradition, Loyalty, Negotiation, Temptation

EVENT The Age of Death has begun with the arrival of a single ship from Grinn. From across the Shattered Seas, the Sovereign has sent Aracel Gracelaw of House Maegar and her retinue to bring terms of surrender to the people of Varnholme. The Dismembered Legion’s ships will arrive on the shores by the next full moon loaded with Marrow, Warmakers and even Doomsayers... what happens when they arrive is entirely up to the skulds of Varnholme. A meeting of Gracelaw, and the most prominent skulds of Drengraven, Grimfrost and Drekk has been called in Helgad, home of the powerful oracles known as the Witches of Nidhall. Each skuld has been permitted to bring advisors, leaders, witnesses and warriors – though this place is considered sacred, and it is forbidden to carry weapons or spill blood here, or else you’ll face the wrath of Yngvildr and even the lesser gods. The witches cast their runes, and speak the prophecy of the Age of Death, each reciting a line in turn. They cut themselves, and spill blood onto the earth, blessing the negotiations to begin. Gracelaw explains that each person involved in the negotiations will have their turn to speak and then a decision must be made before she returns to the Sovereign. The adventurers begin in the large feasting hall in Helgad, where the leaders of the skulds are seated, with an empty seat at the table as per tradition. The Sovereign demands the surrender of the people of Varnholme. The skulds must consider their position in the matter, and give Aracel their formal answer for her to return to the Sovereign. Whether they encourage their represented skuld to fight, surrender, or something wholly different, there will be plenty of negotiations, confrontation, and the future of Varnholme rests in their hands. NO BLOOD, NO LIES Under any circumstances these negotiations would be toilsome and tense, but two things make them even more complicated: no one may shed blood due to the laws of the oracles of Helgad, and no one may lie under penalty of exile or death through custom of Oathspeak. If the party breaks either of these tenets, the results could be dire.

While the skulds argue over tradition, a course of action, and air past grievances, Arecel Gracelaw considers each of the jarls, sizing them up and doing all she can to learn everything about them, their motives and their desires and they let reveal more and more about themselves as their tempers rise and negotiations go in circles.

ARACEL GRACELAW

Sovereign’s Ambassador (NB Crucian Darrow) “The terms of surrender are simple. Swear your loyalty to the Sovereign. I know you will not lie. The strongest among you will rule the others.” Personality: Passionate, but analytical and disciplined Appearance: Polished crimson armor, cropped black hair framing almond shaped eyes, a golden signet necklace with the Sovereign’s Seal upon it Rumor: Enamored with the idea of the Eòghann, wishing to experience one Goal: Secure the surrender of Varnholme, identify potential Lords of Ash Quirk: Overly sensitive about their Darrow stature, often overcompensates. Introduction: Arecel is the only one in the negotiations who doesn’t sit. She paces slowly up and down the feasting table, looking over each of the Jarls. Her retinue flanks her, but at a distance, the Warmarker named Blindfire and the retired Marrow Praetor Mal Raxin. She comments about the customary empty seat at the table, explaining that where she’s from, it’s bad luck to leave an empty seat at the table. An DC 16 Intelligence (History) check will reveal that this is not any sort of Crucian custom, and that she’s lying – likely as a power play. She surveys the onlookers of each of the skulds, and her eyes find a member of the party. She points and says “You. Can you tell me why it’s bad luck to leave an empty seat at the table?” Since there is no particular Crucian custom to speak of, characters who succeed in either roleplaying an answer that Arecel likes, or at a DC 14 Charisma check to impress her is asked to sit at the table and have a say in the negotiations.

INGRID GRINRENDER Jarl of the Drengraven (F Holmir Human)

“There is a reason that this Dismembered Lord has not set foot in Varnholme for twenty winters – and that reason is you, and you, and I. If we are divided, that reason is no more.” Personality: Pragmatic until her temper gets the best of her

PEOPLE

Appearance: Stark blonde hair in thick braids on one side, a dragon skull on her shoulder

This Crux centers around the existing conflicts and tumultuous pasts that the jarls of these skulds share. Jarl Beiskr Vogg of the Grimfrost, Jarl Utyl Rit of the Drekk, and Jarl Ingrid Grinrender of the Drengraven are in attendance. Jarl Iskar Degermark has notably refused the negotiations with no representative from the Thrymskegg clan present. Each of the jarls has different aims, and are of a different mindset of how the threat of the Sovereign should be handled. As each side airs grievances, there is a danger of the negotiations breaking down entirely between the skulds. conversely, each skuld also has powerful resources that they control that, while powerful on their own, could prove pivotal if combined. No one skuld could stave off the Dismembered Legion, but perhaps two – or even more – could stand a chance if war erupted.

Rumor: Ingrid is with child, and the father is the jarl of a minor skuld. Goal: Unite the clans of Varnholme to stand as one against the invading Sovereign. Quirk: Avoids smiling to hide a less than perfect smile

345 DOMINIONS OF ASH: VARNHOLME

Introduction: Upon her turn to speak, Ingrid stands and speaks passionately and uses a mixture of tradition, history and humor to explain what she thinks the prophecy means – that the Dismembered Lord is afraid of the skulds uniting in Varnholme. She implores all of the Jarls to put aside their differences, to consider that the and commit to standing together against this honorless outsider who sends someone else in their stead for negotiations. She then speaks directly to the onlookers and addresses a few by name, asking if they stand with her. They answer “aye.” She then points to a member of the party and asks: “What about ye? Do you stand with me? With Varnholme?” Characters who do not succeed on a DC 14 Charisma check will answer honestly whatever that may be.

UTYL RIT Jarl of the Drekk (M Mord Elf)

“In my time I’ve seen tyrants rise and fall, but this Sovereign only seems to rise. We can choose to rise with him, or fall beneath his might… let us be sensible.”

Goal: To never bend the knee to any, and protect his people at all costs – even if that means war. Quirk: Runs his pale pink tongue across his yellowing tusks absentmindedly Introduction: When Vogg stands, he towers over the rest of the group. He breathes in deeply, and after a pregnant pause, cracks a joke in his thick Dörmung accent about Gracelaw’s retenue, saying he wishes he could find two dogs so loyal. The Warmaker Blindfire takes a step toward Vogg, but Arecel lifts her hand, and the construct stops. “Good dog,” Vogg continues. “See?” he says. “We are in control here.” He then goes on to explain that he is no superstitious fool, and that the prophecy is what we make of it. A DC 16 Wisdom (Insight) check reveals that Vogg only half believes what he’s saying, and is uncertain about the future. D6 1

Personality: Discerning and condescending; cunning and coldly logical

Appearance: Crimson and gold robes, twin ornamented Elderstone daggers, ashen gray flesh

Rumor: Utyl has met with Arecel herself and has made an agreement to become the Lord of Ash of Varnholme. Goal: To ally with the Dismembered Lord, becoming Lord of Ash of Varnholme, ruling the other skulds with his promised legion of Marrow. Quirk: Blinks for elongated periods of time while speaking Introduction: When it is his turn to speak, Rit passive aggressively and masterfully deconstructs the other jarl’s interpretations of the prophecy while making it sound as though he is speaking favorably about them. He then goes on to explain the benevolence of the Sovereign, speaking of how coming under the rule of the Dismembered Legion would solve their problems with supply, and help them solve their ever-lengthening winters. A DC 17 Intelligence (Investigation) check reveals that Rit is lying about something (work with the GM to decide which of his details is false and why). If negotiations appear as though they are not going his way, he will let loose known secrets about a jarls who is outnegotiating him.

4 5 6 D6 1

BEISKR VOGG Jarl of the Grimfrost (M Dormung Halfkin)

“I remember this Dismembered Lord. His toy boats came to our shores not long ago. He saw the Dormung, and sailed away. This time, I’ll be there to greet his cowardice personally.”

Note: The group may run into Kildary during other parts of the heist, but she is designed to be introduced during the Climax to increase tension. Personality: Gruff but charming, with a surprisingly dry wit Appearance: Massive, grooves carved throughout his pale blue skin, tusks Rumor: Having recurring dreams in which he sees the destruction that the Dismembered Lord will cause, and is torn

346 DOMINIONS OF ASH: VARNHOLME

CHARACTER CONNECTIONS A summoned skuld member asks you to go to the meeting in their stead, they believe you a better fit to make a difference. You owe the Grimfrost a favor, and are being forced to attend the meeting as a witness and agree to anything Jarl Beiskr Vogg says. A Morden enclave has offered you a large sum of gold to sway the negotiations toward serving the Sovereign. You truly believe in the Drengraven's cause, and that it is the best course for Varnholme. An oracle has told you that if you do not attend the meeting you will surely die. You are working as a Thrymskegg spy, gathering information about the coming war. COUNTDOWN TO PERIL The Witches of Nidhall open the negotiations with a ceremonial casting of the runes, cutting themselves, allowing their blood to spill on the ground. A heavy silence rings in the air until Gracelaw begins to speak confidently. A gang of Skuld Karver arrive demanding to be invited to the meeting. They insist they have the true meaning to the prophecy, and will share if given a seat. A banshee can be heard wailing in the distance, screaming a single word from the prophecy which spurs further arguments between the jarls about what it means, and the calamity of what's to come. An oracle interrupts, saying that to continue properly a toast must be given. Wine is poured, though a customary toast must be given by those who the runes demand – it is a member of the party... A wild-eyed zealot charges Arecel screaming "for the honor of Drengraven!" Before they take two steps, there is a dagger in their neck, thrown by Praetor Raxin. They were paid by Rit, who uses it as an opportunity to show Drengraven's dishonor. Rit publicly tells Arecel that he will return to Grinn with her and present himself as the Lord of Ash, and she accepts. He forces all of the Jarls to commit to his rule, or mark themselves as traitors.

ESCALATION The weight of the negotiations is palpable and tensions rise as the jarls and the negotiator of the Sovereign attempt to come to an agreement. As each new jarl speaks of what they believe the prophecy to be, they garner followers from the crowd of onlookers. The party should feel pressured to assist in the negotiations of whichever jarl they side with, intervening and coercing during the negotiations within the bounds of their station and position. The looming danger is that the talks will be derailed, dissolving completely leaving no hope of the skulds uniting. LOCAL CONDITIONS Candles of strange wax burn in every building in the surrounding area, and various animals have been offered in slaughter. There is a special Yngsblot said to reveal the truth being eaten by many, and each skuld has guards and patrols who are on edge.

D4 1 2 3 4 D6 1 2-3 4-5 6

D8 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 D10 1-3 4-6 7-9 10 D12 1-3 4-6 7-9 10-12

CONFLICT Tradition: Ingrid Grinrender is accused by Utyl Rut of being unworthy of her title of jarl for dishonoring Veidr. Loyalty: Aracel Gracelaw offers any jarl who submits to the Soverign tonight immediate food, water and supplies. Negotiation: Beiskr Vogg accuses the Drengraven of stealing Bleakfrost, an act that should be answered with war. Temptation: Aracel Gracelaw identifies someone in the party as a suitable Lord of Ash. RISING THREAT Two jarls keep sniping at each other with increasingly escalating barbs. A messenger comes with reports that an important member of a skuld has been mortally wounded. Animosity between the onlookers stirs as they grow short tempered and squabble. An Eòghann is nearby weaving dark visions, and causing many to feel uneasy and mistrusting – it prepares for a feast of its arguing victims. NOTABLE COMMENTS “War is severe medicine, but sometimes it is the only cure for the ailment from which we suffer.” “Tradition that cannot withstand a good question is no tradition I revere.” “Right here. Right now. Between us. That is where peace starts. From there it can spread.” “Only the dead have seen the true end of war. Do you wish to see the end of it?” NEGOTIATION MOMENTS A Good Laugh: in spite of the dire consequences a joke is made and the room erupts Falsehoods: someone is caught telling a lie, breaking the custom of Oathspeak Disclosure: a powerful secret about someone is revealed Confrontation: tension is at a fever pitch, and shoving begins SECRETS A murder from the past resurfaces Lineage is proven to be a lie A sacred tradition is being broken in secret Have betrayed those closest to them

D20

TWISTS

Someone poisons Beiskr Vogg’s mead, slaying the half-giant. The oracle cites an ancient law that will settle the matter 2-5 using trial by combat, the fighters are chosen... Aracel is swayed by the words of the people and decides to 6-10 defect. All Varnholme denizens draw hidden weapons, attacking 11-15 Aracel and her retenue Utyl Rut drives and Elderstone dagger deep into Arecel’s 16-19 neck, killing her instantly. Ingrid Drengraven accepts Arecel’s offer, accepting the 20 position as the Lord of Ash of Varnholme.

CLIMAX: THE DECISION Candles burning low, wine and mead are nearing their end. The stench of sweat hangs in the air as hoarse voices cease to talk. Aracel Gracelaw calls for a vote, asking each jarl to give her their answer. Do they swear loyalty to the Sovereign, or claim treason?

UNFOLDING EVENTS • Aracel Gracelaw first asks the jarls to stand, she then demands an answer from Jarl Grindrender. To any who do not swear loyalty to the Sovereign, she says: “You are a traitor, sentenced to death upon my return.” • Aracel casts a powerful spell, silencing and binding the three witches. She then says, “Very well. Then we will start with you.” Unless she is stopped, she will use the spell to kill the witches by stopping their hearts, not technically breaking their law of no bloodshed. • Aracel demands an answer from Jarl Vogg. If he has not been swayed by the goings on, he tells her: “You’d better bring more than a Dismembered Lord and two dogs if you hope to defeat Grimfrost.” • For any who did not swear loyalty to the Sovereign, Aracel chooses one (a part member if possible) and reveals a secret from the Secrets table. It is somehow linked to them • Aracel asks Utyl Rit to swear loyalty to the Sovereign. Unless he has been swayed in the negotiations, he will do so. If no one else has been offered the Lord of Ash position, Aracel offers it to Rit. • The Witches of Nidhall return in a fit of screaming and agony, saying that the Age of Death is here, in this room, that one among them will bring it forth, and that if all here die, Varnholme will be saved.

AFTERMATH/CONSEQUENCES • If Aracel and her retenue select a candidate for the Lord of Ash, she has them choose a Reliquary of Ash to be blessed by the Sovereign, and they are ordered to go with her to Grinn. • If Aracel and her retinue are killed or detained, spies of the Sovereign will report it back, and ships will set sail for Varnholme prepared for war before the new moon. • If there were any secrets revealed that would cause retaliation from another skuld or individual, those events are set in motion, and will strike when the party is least expecting it. • If the party side with Aracel, they will be asked to return to Grinn with her to be introduced to some powerful members of her Crucian house for potential work. • If the party sides with a jarl, they will ask the party to return with them to their home, giving them work as guards and an opportunity to prove themselves in the wake of the conflict to come. 347 DOMINIONS OF ASH: VARNHOLME

EVERGROWING SHADOWS

Varnholme will be invaded by the Sovereign, it is only a matter of how and when. Will the skulds unite, or will one rule over all others for the first time in half a millennium? Perhaps the Dismembered Legion will overrun Varnholme, picking it clean of tradition and history, and place a puppet on a single throne. It is the most pivotal time in Varnholme’s history. Everything is about to change...

THRONE IN WAITING: SEIZING POWER There are countless skulds in Varnholme, but the four most prominent are the Drengraven, Dörmung, Drekk, and Thrymskegg. As power shifts in the region, these four have the highest potential of becoming the ruling power in the wake of the Dismembered Lord’s invasion. While the powerful skulds hold sway, the lesser skulds are not to be discounted in such a volatile, shifting political environment.

SKULD DRENGRAVEN Headquarters: Ighoneld, the longhouse of Ingrid Grinrender, formerly the hall of the legendary Jarl Cnut Fairhair, is centerpieced by a roaring fire, flanked by a circular formation of 13 wyrmbone pillars, each carved into the likeness of a great Jarl of Varnholme. Located in the center of Ighon, it was once a site fit for celebration and hearty drinking, but now the hall is plagued by conflict. Her supporters are quick friends to those who would help her, but those in her ranks who view her actions as dishonorable to the ancient Veidr harass them. Rebels forcibly against Grinrender’s seeming abandonment of the Veidr frequently harass her supporters, while those prepared to follow Ingrid into battle against the Dismembered Lord are quick friends to those who would help her. As the adventurers first enter, the leader of a minor skuld shouts their dismay at the jarl, before casting off their signets of Drengraven and storming out. Elite Warriors: The Saxa are Ingrid Grinrender’s six most trusted warriors, skilled in the arts of swordplay, archery, daggers, unarmed combat, sorcery, and beast-taming, respectively. They follow her everywhere, and any assault on the jarl is an assault on the Saxa. Troubles: It’s no secret Skuld Drengraven is in the midst of internal feud, but the reality is far more catastrophic than mere bickering – the skuld approaches open rebellion by the day. Some supporters buckle under the pressure of families and persuasive outsiders, allowing Skuld Drekk and the Mord to infiltrate her ranks. Soon, a bloodbath will overwhelm Ighoneld. Secrets: Grinrender and Skuld Drengraven were forced out of Hadhall when it was overrun by plaguing mist and monstrous creatures. While most of the jarl’s supporters claim Skuld Drekk is responsible for the curse, Ingrid claims the Dismembered Lord committed the atrocity. Only she and her closest advisors know the curse was wrought upon Hadhall by Grinrender herself in an effort to frighten the denizens of Varnholme into uniting under her banner. She will only grant this information to those she trusts explicitly, though a concerned advisor may alert the adventurers to the crime in an effort to overthrow her.

348 DOMINIONS OF ASH: VARNHOLME

SKULD GRIMFROST Headquarters: The Hringhal is home to the giant Jarl, Beiskr Vogg. Only the most knowledgeable travelers can easily find the legendary location within the Nidhall Forest. Only those who offer homage to Yendrid, commander of the Eòghann, while traveling through the Keening which surrounds Hringhall are granted entry. Once passage is permitted, the endless phantasmal hills transform to the interior of an enormous cavern, with two separate waterways – one cold and one hot – streaming, pouring into a pool in its center. Unseen behind the steaming water sits Vogg, who greets all adventurers with the words, “You have paid sacrifice to the Eòghann. Now, what have you for me?” Only when especially intrigued or angered does he reveal his likeness by stepping through the steam. Elite Warriors: The Hvammr serve as Vogg’s most dangerous combat forces, and represent Skuld Grimfrost’s spiritual heritage. These enormous mastodons are trained by troll beastkeepers to obliterate all enemies on the battlefield, often mounted by projectile-hurling platoons within huge howdahs. Some say their memory of Skuld Grimfrost is infinite, and they inherently know the rightful jarl of the skuld. In a ceremony upon the death of the former ruler, the Hvammr are charged with choosing the new heir to the throne. Troubles: Vogg’s dealings with the Mord brings more trouble than the giant bargained for. He believes the Elderstone can be empowered by the Bleakfrost, and that the energies created can accelerate the raising of Yendrid, the Eòghann most revered by his people. However, persistent contact with the crystals and their wielders affect him adversely. His personality begins to split in two – one side loyal to his people, and the other believing the Mord are the rightful rulers of Varnholme. His supporters are beginning to notice. Secrets: Jarl Beiskr Vogg enjoys ruling, but in truth he believes the Hvammr made a mistake choosing him. His mother once drunkenly confessed that he is the bastard son of another giant, so he was shocked when Skuld Grimfrost’s sacred mastodons approached him during the selection ceremony. Was his mother lying, or is the Bleak affecting the Hvammrs’ memories? Or is it possible the Hvammr have chosen him despite this? He fears his actual father – an honorable giant named Olak Gravr – will expose the truth to the rest of the skuld.

SKULD DREKK Headquarters: Nobody truly knows where the Buried Hall is located, for in order to get there, one must allow their guides to place shards of Elderstone underneath their tongues and strap their mouths shut with cloth. The stone kills anyone who swallows it, and keeps others from remembering the location in question. Many claim to remember various parts of the route, though the memories are vague like those of a fever dream. Most of the journey is reportedly via waterway, and the last thing remembered is heading down a staircase with the Akhatex, Utyl Rit’s personal guard. The Buried Hall at the bottom is decorated by glowing Elderstone veins, breaching through walls of smooth stone – evidence that its location is adjacent to Odra Zul. A traditional roaring fire burns at one side, and Utyl Rit sits on an elevated platform at the other, flanked by his closest advisors. He greets with an apology for the shard of Elderstone in their mouths, though a DC 12 Wisdom (Insight) check reveals his words are not genuine.

Elite Warriors: The Akhatex, Jarl Rit’s personal retinue of masked warlocks, guard the precious Elderstone veins throughout Odra Zul, and utilize the tunnels to travel between the locations of Varnholme quickly and discreetly. When not delivering messages and summons to Rit’s rivals and partners, they experiment with the crystals in an attempt to synthesize a new, potent form of Elderstone – one that can withstand contact with the Bleak. Their progress coincides with an increased Keening in the area, and some believe they unleash terrible curses at the behest of their jarl. Troubles: Jarl Rit has a contact within Skuld Thrymskegg who offers Yngsblot in exchange for Elderstone, supplies, and information, but many in the Drekk ranks grow addicted to the elixir. Rit feels if he doesn’t continue the supply, his empowered forces will become enraged, and even the Akhatex will overthrow him, taking the Lord of Ash position for themselves. Secrets: Utyl Rit knows he has a shoe-in to become Lord of Ash once the Dismembered Lord’s invasion force arrives, and in the meantime liberally reports information on potential resistance to the Sovereign’s agents. His tenure as jarl of Clan Thrymkegg will come to an end once he is offered the Reliquary, and he knows many of his people will feel betrayed by his actions. His conscious weighs on him when in the presence of direct family.

SKULD THRYMSKEGG Headquarters: Byrdhgrin is set deep into the side of the Odra Zul Mountains, the final resting place of Modir, Skuld Thrymskegg’s most revered dragon. Skormunder, the headquarters to Jarl Iskar Degermark’s people lies within the grin, defended by a series of guard posts in the ravines and caverns leading to a great hall embedded in the beast’s abdomen. Guests are presented with potent and valuable Yngsblot, rigged to flow through hollow bones like dripping aqueducts – a sure sign of the great wealth flaunted by Degermark. The ceilings disappear into the darkness of the beast’s chest cavity, where the light cannot reach. However, a faint, low beating can be heard, like a dissonant drum in the perceived distance above. Degermark, seated at a low table inlaid with the sigil of Skuld Thrymskegg, and flanked by ornate pillars and various servants and advisors, explains that the sound is the beating of Modir’s heart – the Yngsblot keeps her in a permanent, yet docile state of life. Elite Warriors: The Serkra are Degermark’s ravenous, loyal berserkers, tattooed with scarred, jarring, asymmetrical designs, and driven into great rages by the Yngsblot they consume so readily. Their putrid teeth are dyed red by the constant consumption, and they eagerly await Degermark’s

order to initiate bloodshed, even during peaceful meetings and celebrations. Troubles: For years, the cherished Yngsblot flowed from Modir’s mummified remains without issue, but now, Skuld Thrymskegg’s headquarters is changing. From the wing to wing, and foot to maw, the grin becomes unpredictable. Not only is it a losing battle to map all the new twisted locales within, but violent creatures emerge from the farthest reaches within the mountain itself. When one wing is cleared, another is overrun. When enemies are rooted out, a new cavern system connects with Skormunder, and an outpouring of monsters is born anew. Iskar Degermark keeps this information hidden from all visitors, but strange noises and noticeable palpitations in Modir’s beating heart become difficult to conceal. Secrets: In one of the many rooms of Skormunder, hidden from prying eyes and ears of even his most trusted advisors is Degermark’s first born son. Some monstrous thing was born from his wife – the outcome of some curse brought on by an Eòghann. Degermark’s wife Mathilda begins to believe the child’s condition is a result of Degermark’s addiction to especially potent Yngsblot. SKULD GENERATOR D10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 D102

SKULD TYPE

JARL IS...

Hunters and trackers Warmongers Sellswords Coastal reavers Fishermen Farmers Nomadic wanderers Expert sailors Betrayers and sneak thieves Mystics and runecasters

Trusting to a fault Wildly superstitious Has a revered bloodline Fighting to regain honor Young, but wise Well respected Xenophobic Brutal and cold Quick-tempered Wealthy beyond measure

REPUTATION

GOALS

Superior boatbuilders

Honorable above all

3 4 5

Cunning and Shrewd Bloodthirsty Stubborn

Slow to change

Unmatched in war Primarily monstrous humanoids

Conquer new grins Marry off their children for political gain Honoring Yngvildr Expand into faraway lands Upholding the old ways Learning the secrets of the arcane Slay monsters Reclaiming relics of their ancestors Protecting a long-guarded secret. Conquering other skulds

8 9

Weak and decrepit

Dishonorable

D102 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

SKULD NAME Blot Mal Ulf Gun Hil Yot Arn Rhav Yng Draug

vulf nir mundr mung vardr nul dri nul mir eth 349 DOMINIONS OF ASH: VARNHOLME

BALANCE OF POWER This section represents the strength of the various skulds, as well as the effects of the prophecy of the Age of Death. It is intended to be rolled once at the beginning of a session or campaign to generate a starting point, but it can be rolled any time an important enough event occurs to affect the resources or people of the skulds. D4 1 2 3 4 D6 1 2-3 4-5 6 D8 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8

SKULD DRENGRAVEN Outsiders have infiltrated the Saxa, who now plan an attempt on Ingrid Grinrender’s life. Drengraven loses many followers to a neighboring skuld who plans to attack soon. Rebellious insurgents have been cast out, and Drengraven is more unified than ever. Drengraven is strong – Grinrender’s supporters infiltrate other skulds, clans, and guilds. SKULD GRIMFROST Jarl Beiskr Vogg has gone mad, and his Hvammr become wilder by the day. Many of Vogg’s minions turn to raiding and killing, abandoning their posts for the easy profit. New sources of Bleakfrost present themselves, and the subjects of Skuld Grimfrost have never been better equipped. Vogg has allied with Holmir shipbuilders, and will soon order his bolstered forces to invade Grinn preemptively. SKULD DREKK Great swathes of Elderstone are rendered useless by the Bleak, and an exodus of Drekk from Varnholme begins. After an infiltration by another skuld, the whereabouts of the Buried Hall are known widely. Morale among the Akhatex is at an all-time-high after a prophecy from Helgad predicts their rise to power. Marrow legionaries reinforce the ranks of a powerful Skuld Drekk, preparing Jarl Rit for lordship over the Dominion.

350 DOMINIONS OF ASH: VARNHOLME

D10 1-3 4-6 7-9 10 D12

SKULD THRYMSKEGG Something is awakening in the grins controlled by Skuld Thrymskegg, and many desert them in fear. Rumors of Siegren’s monstrous offspring begin circulating, and Skuld Thrymskegg’s people are growing disloyal.. Degermark’s Serkr are making headway clearing the halls and catacombs of Skormunder – there hasn’t been a breach in some time. The Yngsblot makes the Serkr more powerful, frothing for battle – and Iskar Degermark is happier for it. MINOR SKULDS

Elements within two major skulds combine forces, forming a 1-3 new skuld with increasing power and leverage. Multiple minor skulds have received the same vision, 4-6 doubting the powers that be. They seek to be taken more seriously, or else war is on the horizon. The number of minor skulds in Varnholme decreases 7-9 drastically, with most members joining one of the major skulds. The Dismembered Lord has agents within the minor skulds, 10-12 and plans to use them to seize power under his banner. D20

PORTENTS OF PROPHECY

Lightning from immense Bleakstorms sets fires to three 1 isolated villages, simultaneously. A Triune Eclipse – when the star of Arbitron is concealed by 2-5 all three moons – darkens the world for an entire day. 6-10 Blood is spilled at an important meeting, honoring a truce. A prominent alliance in Varnholme has been betrayed after 11-15 the imprisonment of one skuld’s members. Byrdhgrin spills out through Skormunder, destroying 16-19 the headquarters of Skuld Thrymskegg and killing Jarl Degermark. The Sovereign’s navy anchors offshore – a sure sign of the 20 new order to replace the old.

COUNTDOWN TO RUIN Varnholme is a power vacuum destined to collapse under the weight of disagreement and shortage. If allowed, the Dismembered Lord will dominate the region, but he still fears a union of the skulds to resist his forces. The region’s future is left entirely to the hands of fate and prophecy. 1. Panic Under Prophecy: The prophecy emanating from Helgad has the entire region stirring. Ships fill to the brim with fearful refugees seeking new lives on Dragongrin’s coastlines, only to be turned away upon arrival. Those ships that fail to disembark upon more secretive shores either make way back to Varnholme, or are sunk by the Dismembered Legion’s navies – some consider these the first casualties of the coming war. 2. Unity or Death: The Age of Death is upon Varnholme, and most of the region trembles underneath the ramifications of potential conflict, both from outside and within. Before too many people flee the land aboard private vessels, Jarl Grinrender calls for a meeting among the skulds and wonders who will show up. She aims to unify the clans of Varnholme under one banner to firmly oppose the Dismembered Lord, but those she asks for help have motivations all their own.

5. The Maw Opens: In the midst of the brutal conflict, the Frozen King and his undead armies pour from his tomb in a surprise, mass assault against the Sovereign, Jarl Grinrender, and all else who stand in his way. Bent on ruling over Varnholme once again, the shock of his attack drives people away from the land. Even without ships to sail, many flee the undead menace by swimming across the violent sea. Almost all drown, while those very few picked up by rogue ships find a life of drudgery awaits them. 6. Rule Over Ashes: After the bloodiest war waged since Lightfall, the Sovereign emerges victorious over Jarl Grinrender’s forces, and even the Frozen King’s armies are beaten back. While the undead lick their rotting wounds and prepare for the next onslaught, the Dismembered Lord names a new Lord of Ash in Varnholme. The poorest realm in Dragongrin – even more impoverished than Uldane – is plagued with rebels and roving undead. The new ruler certainly lords over a heap of ashes.

3. Shortage: Supply in Varnholme is at an all-time low, and everywhere, the starving and malnourished beg for sustenance. Corpses pile up on muddy roads, or burn in mass cremations, while minor skulds without the proper supply lines of their major counterparts resort to war, and even cannibalism to survive the coming darkness. Criminal activity is at an all-time high, and even the thieves’ guilds on Dragongrin’s mainland journey to Varnholme in small vessels to get in on the action before it’s too late. 4. The Sovereign’s Invasion: With Varnholme on the brink of starvation, the Dismembered Legion lands at Torrakr and Danamhar Shores. Jarl Grinrender and any she was able to unify under her banner fight an open war against the Sovereign. Battle lines are drawn, and the skilled and well-equipped legions slowly press into Varnholme from these two main beachheads. Skulds with honor or without choice flock to Grinrender’s war – better to fight than starve.

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ZAMON

LIVING, EVER-EXPANDING SEA OF TREES “I was once stuck in the jungles of Zamon for more than a week with the best Grimdul tracker money could buy. We only escaped when we realized the jungle itself was changing. If you have a map of Zamon, I’d burn it for warmth.” – Alvir Linnewith, Master Mapwright Endless jungle engulfs what was once the mighty Oedran Empire – this is the last, darkest frontier of Dragongrin.

HISTORY

Then: Once home to the mighty Oedran Empire and their hired craftspeople the Zarfvin – until the Oedran mysteriously disappeared seemingly overnight. Now: A sprawling jungle overtakes Oedran ruins, growing rampantly and unchecked. Many say the jungle itself acts as if alive, even enthralling weaker minds. The Zarfvin and Grimdul brave its many dangers to collect invaluable supplies, while Marrow Valewardens cull the jungle. Beyond: If not stopped, the living jungle inches ever closer to its mysterious goals, while the Dismembered Lord plots to utilize the jungle for a darker purpose. ZAMON AT-A-GLANCE Terrain: Sprawling, vibrant jungles shrouding long-forgotten ruins Climate: Sweltering, humid, rainy, dense, recent earthquakes and flooding Lord of Ash: Laryss Highfury of House Galtheon Resources: Oedran artifacts, Primordial valens, exotic creatures Cultures: Zarfvin, Grimdul Factions: Nivarr Alliance, Dur Yara clan, Alloy of Mercy, Shields of Highfury, Bleeding Crown, Valewardens Creatures: Puppeteer monarchs, dread animals, hedraton, xol, gorrad

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KNOW THIS TO SURVIVE

The young Crucian Laryss Highfury of House Galtheon was “gifted” his role as Lord of Ash without following the normal protocols of presenting a Reliquary of Ash to the Sovereign. He was chosen ahead of other more qualified candidates with no explanation. While his title may be unearned, he is proving to be cunning and surprisingly capable. Laryss Highfury of House Galtheon Stakes a Claim: Fresh from Grinn’s prestigious and wealthy House Galtheon, Laryss Highfury has just arrived in Zamon to rule as its Lord of Ash. Zamon is not a sought-after post given its savage surroundings, small economic value, and sparse culture. Even still, many Crucian are appalled at Highfury’s newfound position, decrying it as an obvious act of nepotism and bribery – especially since it ignores the Crucian custom of the Sovereign’s Path. Despite the obvious political staging, and rumors that his position was bought or won through unorthodox means, none deny that Highfury, despite his young age, is a brilliant strategist and orator. Highfury commands a battalion of Marrow Valewardens, masters of survival, tracking, and hunting, who cull the jungles and execute his secret plots. Highfury also commands the Shields of Highfury, skilled Crucian house guards equipped with special Thanium armor designed to shield their minds from the living jungle’s sway. The Jungles of Zamon Live: Zamon is a dangerous place, brimming with deadly creatures, environmental hazards, and resourceful survivalists. In Zamon, it is rumored that even the jungle itself is a threat, said to have a will of its own. The towering trees and their roots, vines, and branches strike quicker than any monstrous creature, and known pathways shift constantly, stranding travelers with little hope of finding their way. This phenomenon grows more intense and evident the closer one travels to the Ocean of Trees in the southern region of Zamon, where it is rumored that the jungle itself acts as a violent, deadly predator. The jungle’s strange nature and unchecked growth allows for terrifying mega flora and fauna to develop within, creating a deadly, amplified food chain to exist throughout the region.

Amalgam Leads the Hedraton: Since Lightfall, the Zarfvin of Zamon have attempted to construct tomehearts of their own, but were unsuccessful in replicating the Titan’s original designs, leaving their creations functional, but unsophisticated and inferior. Having uncovered Oedran secrets of fusing Primordial remains into designs, the Zarfvin created several prototypes of a new tomeheart that was a fusion of Primordial bone and experimental Archanic technology. Dubbed the Hedraton, these new tomehearts were somehow innately linked to the living jungle, and, having an intellect far beyond even the brilliant Zarfvin, refused to be subservient. Awed and afraid of what they had created, the Zarfvin destroyed all but one of the prototypes. This single Hedraton killed countless Zarfvin while escaping into the jungle. Now calling itself Amalgam, it is reclaiming the Oedran constructs that litter the jungle and using their parts to create horrific Hedraton of its own. Amalgam and the Hedraton grow in number, calling themselves the Alloy of Mercy, and have begun plundering Titan tech, Primordial remains, and delving into Oedran ruins to fuel an unknown plan deep within their burgeoning settlement of Matu (“Home” in Oedran), where the sentient jungle seems to welcome the constructs and even shield them from outsiders. The Nivarr Alliance Strains: Led by Vyresh, the Refractull Architect, this Zarfvin-founded faction is resourceful and flexible in their approach. Vyresh has done the unprecedented, negotiating with the Grimdul Dur Yara clan in Zamon to forge an experimental partnership known as the Nivarr Alliance. The Dur Yara Clan are charged with a task known as the Great Plunder: it is their duty is to harvest a majority of the Primordial remains used by all Grimdul throughout Dragongrin in their structures, tools, weapons, and armor. Through this mutually beneficial relationship, both Zarfvin and Grimdul alike thrive in the dangerous jungle. The Zarfvin use powerful Titan tech wards to prevent the jungle from shifting, establishing safe havens and base camps within the jungle. The Zarfvin offer respite to the nomadic Grimdul and supply them with Titan tech, which the Grimdul use to venture deeper into the jungle, harvesting Primordial D10 1 2

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CHARACTER CONNECTIONS TO ZAMON The dread creature who took a loved one from you still lurks in the wilds of Zamon – you seek vengeance. Strange dreams plague your sleep – ruins overtaken by jungle, teeming with beasts, whispering incessantly in a tongue you don’t know. Zamon calls to you. They say it’s folly to map Zamon. But that hasn’t stopped your patron from paying handsomely for a list of safe paths through the jungle. With supplies at home dwindling, you’ve set off after stories of Primordial corpses hidden in the jungle. Just one corpse could supply your whole town. You’ve heard that the most cutting-edge Titan technology is created by the Zarfvin of the Nivarr Alliance. Perhaps they can make you what you need. They say there’s nothing south of Zamon – that it marks the furthest edge of Dragongrin. But what if there’s more – a land untouched by the Sovereign’s shadow? There’s plenty of work to be had in the merchant city of Kurgi, from which countless expeditions set out into the wilds of Zamon. Quick and copious gold awaits the bold and the foolish. It’s said that many Oedran ruins are etched with eerily accurate prophecies that glimpse into the future – you seek answers about your destiny. A loved one has been stricken with a strange disease, and a strange, rare plant of Zamon offers hope for a cure. A distant relation left you a cache of curiosities, chief among them a faded map of the Oedran Empire before its fall, clearly showing locations that have been swallowed by jungle.

corpses for supplies and uncovering Oedran ruins. In return, the Grimdul offer back a percentage of all Primordial parts they harvest, and safely guide the Zarfvin to Oedran ruins and Titan remains for salvaging. Though Vyresh formally controls the alliance and is open to strategy, tensions are rising between him and the Dur Yara clan’s leader Jantaghan Jukka Gant. Gant has become less dependable in his duties after recently taking on a new belief he calls the Doomwind. The Order of the Old Vale is Disrupted: The strange nature of Zamon’s living, moving jungle is wreaking havoc on the natural order of the wildlife within – the Old Vale is warped and strained. The jungle’s constant shifting disrupts the growth cycle of plants, and makes it impossible for predators to hunt normally. Many creatures struggle for survival, though it has most notably changed the behavior of the once peaceful gorrad. Appearing as fully sized gorillas with the lower halves of enormous spiders, they are typically herbivores. Now far more territorial, the gorrad have turned to carnivorous tendencies to survive. Once weaving their webs as protective measures, they spin them instead to catch – and devour – prey. The Bleeding Crown Gathers Followers: Led by former Drogus treasure hunter Janne Larson, this religious faction wield power they claim comes from the lost Oedran deity Vah. Wherever they acquire their power, it is undeniable that they are able to perform healing and minor miracles. They gain followers by the day, and are reclaiming Oedran structures as temples. They have managed to activate and control dormant Oedran automatons which are a formidable match for Amalgam and the Hedraton. Believing the living jungle is against the will of Vah, they seek to stop its growth, or more drastically find the source of its sentience and end it. CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS OF ZAMON • Travelers know to heed the call of the beautifully hued vinewings, birds whose innate connection to the wilds of Zamon often signals impending shifts in the jungle landscape. The presence of the vinewings is seen as good fortune by many native to the region. • Oedran Obelisks naturally ward off predators, and serve as makeshift camps for many weary wanderers. The foreboding structures and their scrawled prophecies often set the mind on edge, despite their protection. • It’s considered incredibly bad luck to map Zamon – to do so is to invite the jungle to shift wildly around you. Mapwrights and pathfinders are held in low regard by the Grimdul in particular, who prefer to adapt to the ever-changing jungle rather than attempt to make sense of its maddening paths. 353 DOMINIONS OF ASH: ZAMON

POWERFUL PEOPLE OF ZAMON

Lord of Ash Laryss Highfury of House Galtheon: A remarkably young and inexperienced Lord of Ash, it is rumored he was given the position by way of bribery and nepotism through his exceptionally wealthy and influential noble House Galtheon back in Grinn. Though untested and arguably undeserving of his station, Highfury is an exceptionally cunning and gifted strategist. The Dismembered Lord, to the surprise of many, approved his position and has entrusted him with a devious secret plot – he is tasked with weaving curious magical wards throughout the living jungle for a yet unknown reason. Vyresh, the Refractull Architect: Head of the Nivarr Alliance, the elf Vyresh has led the Zarfvin in Zamon to great prosperity through her landmark alliance with the Grimdul. Remarkably intelligent and innovative, Vyresh earned her role as leader after developing profound improvements to the system of Archan wards the Zarfvin use to keep their base camps safe from the shifting jungle. Though no Zarfvin would question her intelligence, some call into question her methods, criticizing her alliance with the Grimdul as revealing too many secrets of Zarfvin technology – something frowned upon in Zarfvin society. Despite this, she commands a high degree of respect from the majority, often operating on the cutting edge of Archan development despite her time commitment to the leadership of the alliance. She is said to be one of the few surviving creators of the Hedraton. Jantaghan Jukka Gant, Harvest Granter: This human Grimdul is the third in the Dur Yara family line to oversee the Great Plunder, the export of valuable resources from Zamon to the rest of the Grimdul and select highest bidders throughout Dragongrin. Gant was never the same when his father was killed deep in the jungle by an unknown creature. It was after this that Gant started hearing whispers coming from the jungle itself. The voices grew louder near the Ocean of Trees, speaking truth to him, comforting him in his time of loss, and giving him a new revelation for all Grimdul: a new Soulwind known as the Doomwind. Proselytizing the new beliefs has caused a rift in some Grimdul, as announcing a new wind is heresy of the highest order. Despite this, many Grimdul remain loyal to Gant, and some even subscribe to the belief in the Doomwind. Gant’s growing belief in this force and his insistence on preparing for apocalyptic events has taken his focus off of the Great Plunder. This is putting a strain on the relationship with his Zarfvin allies within the Nivarr Alliance, as they feel he grows more and more distant and unreliable in his duties. Orenmir Ghostwalker, Valewarden Captain: This Talasar elf is the Marrow commander in Zamon, often leading from the front and blazing trails through the dangerous wilds. A master hunter, tracker, climber, navigator, and all-around survivalist, Ghostwalker is one of only a few to know the reasoning behind the Marrow carving the runed wards throughout the jungle. Rugged and practical, Ghostwalker tends to favor the most effective strategies, using ambushes, deceptions, and traps over a direct conflict whenever possible, though they remain surprisingly honest and direct in regards to speech. Their knowledge of Zamon is said to be second to none, having an expertise so refined they appear nearly clairvoyant when navigating the shifting jungles, hence the name Ghostwalker. Amalgam: Composed chiefly of pale white Primordial bone accented with silver, experimental Archanic plating, the cunning and often cruel Amalgam is the only surviving Hedraton prototype created by the Zarfvin. After killing many of its creators and other Zarfvin, Amalgam disappeared into 354 DOMINIONS OF ASH: ZAMON

the wilds of Zamon, eventually resurfacing as the founder of the construct enclave of Matu. Amalgam’s unique creation linked its consciousness to the jungle’s sentience as well as the old Oedran constructs. Using these constructs and willing tomehearts, Amalgam builds an army of Hedraton within the Ocean of Trees, all modified with Primordial bone. The Hedtraton become more experimental and gruesome with each one’s construction. It is said that Amalgam believes itself to be the avatar of the sentient jungle, a chosen vessel to enact its will. Janne Larson, Light of Vah: After getting on the wrong side of the Dead Roses in Svir Below, Larson left her fellow Drogus to flee somewhere no sensible person would chase her. Larson ended up in Zamon, but in her salvaging found faith. She had what she believes is a divine appointment with the Oedran deity of Sun and Light – Vah. Claiming to be following the will of Vah, she has rekindled the Bleeding Crown, a name found in holy texts of the deity. She gathers followers by the day, and claims she hears the voice clearly. She seeks the Points of the Crown, prophesied chosen followers, and claims Vah is who told her how to reactivate the Oedran constructs – who follow her commands without question.

PRIMARY LOCATIONS

Drogga Hollows: This series of caves houses strange crystals which the xol in the area eat, giving them exceptionally hardened skin. If the crystals could be mined they would be worth a fortune – and perhaps have the same effect on other creatures – but the xol infestation makes it impossible. Emerald Port: A harbor on the southern edge of Zamon, originally a hub of Oedran trade, it’s been run by the Granok Thane since Lightfall. Fortified to withstand attacks by sea and to stave off threats from the surrounding jungles and its horrors. It is a densely populated community that draws many outsiders, and houses Zamon’s only Red Sail Market. Its sister city, Ruby Port, perches on Jahar’s coast to the north. Fictill Fortress: This sprawling Zarfvin city is a jewel within the jungle, boasting grand technology and academic institutes. Walled and closed-off to outsiders, it nevertheless opens its gates for those bearing gifts of reclaimed relics. The Zarfvin amass Titan tech here from the days of the Oedran and house and supply Grimdul nomads in exchange for safe passage through the wilds. Hedago: One of only a few permanent Grimdul settlements in Dragongrin, Hedago is a series of sturdy structures built for the Grimdul by the Zarfvin, surrounded by tents and banners. This is where the Great Plunder is headquartered near the Ocean of Trees. Highspire Reaches: Long-abandoned transportation system of the Oedran, in which Archanic capsules suspended from a continuous moving wire that travels through the canopy. The Alloy of Mercy has refurbished the Highspire. Kurgi: A large trading city nestled into the cliffs surrounding a beautiful lagoon in the eastern portion of Zamon. One enters Kurgi by traversing through the bleached-white jaws of a Primordial corpse. Many expeditions into the shifting wilds of Zamon begin in Kurgi, and ad hoc guilds of explorers and scavengers rise and fall with the ebb and flow of the jungle. Recently, a contingent of Highfury’s Marrow have occupied a portion of the city, threatening its sovereign nature and sowing tension among its various factions. The Lashed Obelisk: Fractured and crumbling, this Oedran Obelisk remains standing thanks to a massive chain of Titan copper wrapped about its broken form. Particularly large and

355 DOMINIONS OF ASH: ZAMON

foreboding, the Obelisk and its cryptic scrawlings draw many to it – most recently followers of the Bleeding Crown. It’s said countless scholars have gone mad attempting to decipher the runes etching its surface – and they wander the nearby wilds still, each with a piece of the secrets that drove them mad. Matu: The secluded enclave of Amalgam and the Alloy of Mercy sits atop the ruins of an Oedran temple within the Ocean of Trees, rebuilt using both salvaged Titan metal and Primordial bone. The city proudly welcomes any constructs, namely tomehearts desiring to evolve and become Hedratons – but “flesh-and-bloods” often find themselves aggressively turned away or even outright attacked. Ocean of Trees: A sprawling, dense section of jungle covering the southeast portion of Zamon entirely. Its outer edge slowly slopes into a chasm with gargantuan trees. It is said there is no bottom, and that the trees run deep into the earth. The enormous lizards known as the xol are countless within its depths, and are beginning to strike out further and further into Zamon’s jungles. Amalgam and the Hedraton have claimed this as their home, constructing Matu within it. Qothokeme’s Wandering Waters: Named after the Grimdul who first discovered its pattern, this large body of water shifts locations constantly, carried by the ever-shifting jungle. At any given time it can be a lake, waterfalls, forking rivers, or a still and stagnant swamp depending on the jungle’s behavior and elevations. Its movement often brings great floods as the torrent settles and transforms. In the aftermath, the abundance of fresh water again draws wildlife to its banks. Packs of wild and vicious xol are known to use the jungles around the Wandering Waters as a hunting ground, leading the Grimdul nomads to search for its location each time. Remnant Chasm: This plunging pit disappears into darkness, ringed by dense jungle and riddled with Primordial fossils embedded in its sheer sides. Makeshift walkways spiral downwards, frequented by Zarfvin excavators and others who desire to dig up and study the ancient, colossal creatures. It’s said none have yet reached the bottom of the Chasm, but that something miraculous waits in the darkness. The Runegrove: A clearing made by the Marrow Valewardens in the heart of the jungle. Marked with Zarfvin wards to make it safe from the shifting jungle, the Valewardens inscribe all manner of strange runic markings into the trees and ground, religiously and relentlessly guarding it from any and all outsiders. Sarrius: Once the proudest highborne Oedran city, Sarrius now lies in ruins, overrun by gigantic xol. The fractured remnant of the great empire's crown jewel, it was fractured and half-swallowed by an earthquake. The xol breed among the ruins, drawn to the city by some mysterious force, and their numbers grow by the day. The Searing Heart: This chain of volcanic mountains is too scorching for the sentient jungles of Zamon to grow, constantly spewing a stream of molten lava. The volcanoes have been agitated by the recent earthquakes in the dominion, and are set to erupt. Said to hold many secrets, the Bleeding Crown make pilgrimages to it – rumors say they have found lost temples among the crags and calderas. The Shattered Hand: Once the Library of Leorna, housing books, scrolls, and relics from various periods of time in Dragongrin – and some other realms. It was controlled by the Nivarr Alliance until it collapsed into the earth after a series of recent violent earthquakes, and is now known as the Shattered Hand. Sothell Confluence: A Zarfvin outpost built after the original Sothell was destroyed in an experiment. It is currently under siege by the Hedraton who claim it holds a lost key. 356 DOMINIONS OF ASH: ZAMON

Thunder Reach: A small outpost that once belonged to the Granok Thane as a Red Sail Market, now the fortress of the Valewardens of Laryss Highfury. They use this outpost as headquarters to stage their various excursions, as well as hold briefings, training, and to resupply. From here, the Valewarden Bridges are most numerous, with more being built daily, reaching deeper and deeper into Zamon. Trithigon Peak: Cresting the treeline of the jungle and named after the Zarfvin who died attempting to climb it, this large mountain has been called unclimbable by most. Due to the frequency of earthquakes and rainstorms, mudslides and rockslides constantly ravage the mountainside. Its untouched nature leads many to believe that great stores of Primordial corpses and perhaps even Oedran caches are awaiting the first who summit the treacherous peak. Valewarden Bridges: These rope bridges strung high within the trees with accompanying rope ladders are crafted by the Valewarden Marrow. They extend from the outpost of Thunder Reach, sprawling through many sections of northern Zamon, being expanded daily by the Valewardens. Vocula Reema: This massive Oedran city is half-buried and wracked by near-constant tremors and earthquakes. Fabled for its bridges spanning structures, the Bleeding Crown maintain a presence here, delving deep into its devastated structures. Oedran constructs stir among the ruins, said to obey the Bleeding Crown alone. The Winding Track: Though much of the jungle shifts and changes constantly, this path leading into the Ocean of Trees is a rare constant. Though its proximity to the Ocean makes it dangerous, it is used as a last resort navigation and transportation waypoint for those lost. DREAD CREATURES Dread animals are a direct evolutionary result of the powerful sentient jungle of Zamon. These beasts are often larger, stronger, and more feral breeds of common animals, often appearing more primal. D10 1

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PERIPHERAL LOCATIONS Destroyed Valewarden outpost overgrown by plants. Marrow bodies lie with vines growing through them, absorbing blood like water. Two Primordial corpses stripped down to the bone, interlocked together in a seemingly impossible formation. Feral xol nest in the skeletal structure. Oedran Obelisk toppled over from the shifting jungles and earthquakes. A strange whirring echoes from within the now horizontal structure. Open clearing devoid of trees. Dozens of vinewings lay dead scattered across the open grass, with more occasionally falling from the sky. An especially large gorrad nest inside of an almost entirely intact set of Titan armor – their webs obscure this priceless treasure. Zarfvin dig site guarded by Grimdul nomads. Strange, metallic banners flutter, fastened to the Grimdul spears – they seem to be affecting the plantlife in the area. A makeshift camp pitched within the ribcage of a half-buried Primordial. Firelight flickers from between the massive ribs. A hollowed-out set of trees serves as a dwelling to an eccentric hermit who claims to know the dark secrets the jungle whispers. A jagged cavern revealed by a recent earthquake, clogged with gnarled roots and dripping with mud. Light seems to emanate from deep within. A raging river cuts its way through the jungle, carving a path through the dense wilds. A pack of xol drink from the water.

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SUDDEN PERILS The jungle shifts: The trees surrounding you shake suddenly and violently, altering the paths that wind through the jungle. If you can’t find a way to orient yourself, you’ll become lost in the ever-changing terrain. An earthquake erupts: The ground cracks and splits, sending trees crashing down and wildlife scattering. You risk death unless you survive the collapsing environment or find a safe haven until it subsides. The Valewardens ambush: Unless you can spot it, you hear a crack, and feel a sharp pain as a trap closes around your leg and pulls you off the ground. Marrow Valewardens leap from behind trees with bows drawn. Gorrad webs ensnare: The thick, powerful webs of the gorrad are hidden well within the brush, and unless spotted, have ensnared you in their adhesive ichor. The pack of nearby gorrad who wove the webs close in on the area to check the vibrations. Dread panthers stalk: A massive dread panther crouches over the mangled mess of some now unidentifiable creature, feasting on its prey. Its ears twitch and its eyes rise to meet yours. Hedraton plunder: Hedraton constructs crunch through the jungle brush in search of Oedran ruins to plunder. While some have been commanded to capture those they meet, most use lethal force on any creatures not allied with the Alloy of Mercy. Puppeteer monarch weaves its spell: Serenity and calm permeate the area, and a refreshing peace overcomes you. These are hallucinogenic effects of the butterfly, and increase to the point of euphoria. If any resist the magic of the butterfly, they see the area for what it truly is – an arcane aura digesting the creatures within it alive while the massive butterfly rests on a nearby tree. The jungle whispers: You feel a voice inside your mind – a wordless whisper in the depths of your being that you somehow understand. The jungle compels you to present yourself to it, and guides you where to go...

D10 QUESTS AND BOUNTIES A rogue Marrow sergeant and their followers fortify an Oedran ruin to wait out the “coming storm.” A band of Grimdul, said to be preparing for the coming of the Doomwind, have seized a Marrow outpost in the name of Jukka Gant. Gant claims no ownership of their actions. A dread tiger, said to be the largest ever seen, stalks the hanging rope bridges of the Marrow Valewardens. Its head and hide would fetch a fair price. A hidden Oedran Obelisk contains the last puzzle piece sought by the Nivarr Alliance. Locating the Obelisk and recording its inscriptions would buy favor and fortune from the guild. A large Hedraton known only as Pummeler guards the road leading to Matu, turning any “flesh-and-bloods” away or attacking them outright. Zarfvin ambassadors seeking entrance into Matu require escorts. A Red Sail Market caravan attempts the impossible – ranging overland from the Emerald Port to Ruby Port in Jahar. For reasons undisclosed the goods cannot be transported over the Shattered Sea. They seek additional guards to protect this valuable shipment. A growing contingent of Ixis orcs of Innes weave their necromantic magic deep within Zamon’s jungles, violating several treaties in the process. The local Marrow need it taken care of quickly and quietly. The discovery of a dragon’s grin draws an expedition of Holmir from Varnholme. Unfamiliar with the territory, they hope to enlist the aid of a guide to lead them. An elusive group of albino gorrad are said to live on the highest peaks of the Searing Heart. Dead or alive they fetch a fortune in the Red Sail Market, sought after for their meat, as trophies, or to make magical charms. Grimdul of Jahar arrive in Zamon to treat with the ostracized clan of Dur Yara. They seek to enlist the aid of others to watch their backs while traveling through the treacherous jungle.

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DEADLY JUNGLES OF ZAMON D10

D10 GROWING THREATS AND RUMORS 1

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Followers of the Bleeding Crown set fires in the dryer parts of the jungle in honor of Vah, causing changes in the wildlife habitats and risking small settlements. A xol matriarch crowned with feathers leads a particularly large and invasive herd, culling local wildlife and prowling the formerly safe paths for easy prey. An Oedran Obelisk deep within the jungle has begun to glow and hum with an unnatural vibration. It is said to have incredible healing properties to those in its aura. Amalgam has sent out a call to all tomehearts, welcoming them into Matu, promising to improve and evolve them, making them into one of his Hedraton. A cache of precious stones is said to wait within the twisted wilds, dropped by a wayward thief taken by the Shadow of Zamon. The hilt of a strange and ancient blade protrudes from the knotted roots of a massive tree. None can pull it free. A Zarfvin dig site recently fell prey to Zamon’s predatory wildlife, and the excavators fled, leaving behind their tools and findings. It’s said they were exhuming an intact Primordial. A Grimdul warden recently stumbled upon a yet undiscovered Oedran road, cutting through the heart of the Ocean of Trees – but where does it lead? A zealot shouts at passersby on the streets of Emerald Port. They claim to know the voice the Bleeding Crown is hearing – and it isn’t Vah... A secret taproom beneath Kurgi serves a strange and intoxicating brew distilled from fragments of puppeteer monarch wings. One sip, it’s whispered, and your greatest desire – or fear – appears before you.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 D102 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

LOCALE

CONTENTS

Thick trees and a clearing Canopy of vines over a chasm Thundering waterfall Near-impassable thickets Abandoned, overgrown fortress Sticky tar pit with myriad bones Narrow path hugging a steep ledge

Oedran labor machines

Ancient Oedran road Cavern entrance to a tunnel system Raging river dotted by jagged rocks

Massive, buried Primordial skull A xol breeding ground Nivarr Alliance camp Marrow Valewarden outpost Alloy of Mercy dig site Nest of starving gorrad Cultic ritual held by followers of Vah Teetering Oedran structures Dur Yara Doomwind shrine

HAZARD

SECRET

Flash flood Puppeteer monarch Active Oedran constructs Powerful earthquake Jungle shifts violently Dread beasts stalking Xol Territorial Hedraton Jungle persuasion to attack allies Volcanic eruption

Sacrificial cult operated here Zarfvin experiments conducted Red Sail Market site destroyed Under watch by the Lord of Ash Location of stolen goods Cursed by Vah Featured in a Doomwind prophecy Underground Oedran labyrinth Hiding place for refugees Jungle’s sway is weaker here 357

DOMINIONS OF ASH: ZAMON

CRUX: TEMPLE OF THE SEARING HEART Concept: Battle Over Lost Tech in an Ancient Ruin Themes: Reclamation, Discovery, Prophecy, Veneration

EVENT Whether for wealth, fame, or the thrill of exploration, you’ve joined an expedition through the ever-shifting jungle to find an Oedran ruin called the Shattered Hand. A Zarfvin tomeheart named Halthon has built a device they claim will restore a large Prime Archan held deep in the heart of the ruins. This Archan supposedly allows tomehearts to connect telepathically with each other across any distance, used briefly before it became defunct decades ago. A Grimdul named Midzekeme has agreed to help guide the expedition to the ruins, though he expresses concern that this Prime Archan may be linked to a prophetic vision he experienced and will cause problems for the wildlife. What great treasures and dangers await deep within the living jungle, among the sprawling ruins of the Shattered Hand?

Quirk: Archan-tooled arms clink robotically against plating. Introduction: Halthon stands over an elven Zarfvin woman, watching her eagerly as she tinkers with an Archan. The woman explains to Halthon how her improvement will greatly increase the Archan’s efficiency. As the party approaches, Halthon taps the woman on the shoulder to alert her to the guests, and she abruptly cuts off her explanation, not wanting to divulge secrets to strangers. Halthon greets the party curtly before launching immediately into an explanation of the expedition to come. While Halthon avoids explaining the Prime Archan they seek to repair specifically, a DC 14 Charisma (Persuasion) convinces them to go into its details.

MIDZEKEME, FIERCE FRENZY

Jungle Guide (M Grimdul Human)

“I saw a vision. A vision of the wildlife of Zamon sent to frenzy, with flame and smoke pouring from their ears and eyes and mouths. I saw a silver sun hung in a purple sky as the trees morphed into machines, and everywhere there was chaos. This cannot be allowed to be true.” Personality: Brooding and spiritual, pessimistic but dutiful.

The adventurers begin in Fictill Fortress, with preparations nearly complete. In mere hours, the expedition to the Shattered Hand begins. Whether the adventurers choose to help Halthon repair the rumored Prime Archan or help Midzekeme destroy it, they will be faced with many dangers within the jungle, and perhaps even greater secrets lie waiting for them to discover.

Appearance: Green survivalist clothing, worn windblade, xol mount, spiritual pendant.

PEOPLE

Quirk: Frequently tells parables about the Soulwinds.

This Crux centers around the conflict between the Zarfvin Halthon and the Grimdul Midzekeme. Halthon has built a replacement part that will allow them to operate a one-of-akind Prime Archan called the Plexus deep in the heart of the Shattered Hand, a series of Oedran ruins. This Prime Archan is said to be able to telepathically link to any tomeheart, regardless of distance. Midzekeme, the Grimdul who will guide Halthon to these ruins, hopes to dismantle the Archan entirely, claiming to have received a prophetic vision that it would cause chaos throughout the jungle far worse than any of its benefits.

Introduction: Midzekeme stands beside a saddled xol, inserting various implements and supplies into the saddlebags. He exchanges small talk with a tall Grimdul next to him, who is telling Midzekeme a story about how the Flamewind granted him victory against a dangerous foe. The tall Grimdul is engaged in the story, but turns to notice the party approaching, cutting off the tale before the climax. A DC 17 Intelligence (Religion) check reveals that the tall Grimdul and Midzekeme are both wearing pendants related to the Doomwind, though they are obscured by their clothing.

While the expedition descends further into the ruins, a Hedraton known as Outrider leads a horde of Hedraton into the ruins, hoping to claim the Prime Archan in its depths for Amalgam, to use for the Alloy of Mercy to draw more tomehearts to journey to Zamon to join their cause.

HALTHON, OVALESSENT ARBITER

Archan Restoration Expert (NB Zarfvin Tomeheart) “Imagine a world of connections, where we can communicate with each other from anywhere. Imagine what progress we’d make in mere moments with so many minds working as one.” Personality: Wary but determined. Appearance: Silver plating with purple anodized highlights. Four arms, with the lesser two outfitted with Archanic tools.

Rumor: Midzekeme is not actually concerned for the wildlife, but is affiliated with the Dur Yara – he believes the Prime Archan is connected to the Doomwind’s prophecies. Goal: Dismantle the Plexus to prevent the adverse effects it would have on the wildlife in Zamon.

OUTRIDER Alloy of Mercy’s Vanguard (NB Awakened Hedraton Construct) “With this claim, Amalgam’s message will be heard across all corners of this world. Soon all of our kind will march to us here to celebrate our evolution.” Personality: Outspoken and committed leader, an eloquent orator for Amalgam’s gospel. Appearance: Horrific patchwork of Primordial bone and palegreen tomeheart parts – a large blade in place of one hand. Rumor: Outrider does not actually have their own sentience or will, but is merely a puppet controlled by Amalgam to act as a supporter to keep others in line.

Rumor: Halthon actually stole the design for the part from another Zarvfin, hoping to capitalize on their work.

Goal: Take control of Plexus to broadcast to all tomehearts everywhere that they should claim their proper birthright in Zamon by joining the Alloy of Mercy – all will be accepted.

Goal: Activate the Plexus and use it to further the work of the Nivarr Alliance.

Quirk: Unable to comprehend points of view contrary to the Alloy of Mercy.

358 DOMINIONS OF ASH: ZAMON

Introduction: The thunderous steps of the Hedraton echo in the corridors of the Shattered Hand, coming to a stop as Outrider enters the room, stretching their multiple bladed limbs in a display of power and pride. As the other Hedtraon file into the room taking battle stances, Outrider calls out to the party, demanding they yield the Plexus to the Alloy of Mercy or be killed. A DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check spots rubble that can be converted to makeshift cover before the constructs charge. D6 1

D6 1

CHARACTER CONNECTIONS The Annulus Directive that Halthon is a part of is looking for worthy recruits. Helping Halthon repair the Plexus would prove your worth as a candidate. Marrow Valewardens have offered to pay handsomely for anyone who can provide whereabouts of critical Oedran ruins in the area and details of their contents, construction, and condition. A Grimdul allied to the Dur Yara claims to have glimpsed a prophecy in which you were portrayed in a great mural that showed a great monster and a tall spire, a description that matches a mural deep in the ruins. A rival to Halthon has hired you to gather proof that Halthon has stolen the part being brought to the Shattered Hand, and will pay you double to sabotage the mission’s success if the theft can be proven. You hear a wordless whisper resonate within your mind, conveying a feeling too strong to be ignored as your own impulse. A great secret lies in the Shattered Hand – a secret the jungle of Zamon wants you to find. The Bleeding Crown has asked you to retrieve an old Oedran relic said to be buried amongst their ruins – a relic rumored to bring Vah’s holy flames upon the jungles to purify it. COUNTDOWN TO PERIL Zarfvin tomeheart Halthon completes an Archan device that they believe will allow them to operate an Archan in the remote Oedran ruins of the Shattered Hand called the Plexus. The Grimdul Midzekeme agrees to guide Halthon to the Shattered Hand as long as more people will be gathered to join their expedition. The dangerous trek through the shifting jungles begins and the group must work through many dangerous environments and creatures to get to the Shattered Hand. After arriving at the Shattered Hand, the party must delve deep through the old ruins, which have been wracked by natural disasters and flooded in some areas, finding a path through the rubble and creatures who have made their homes there to get down to the depths where the Prime Archan lays. The final, deepest chamber of the Shattered Hand sprawls from its entryway. The Plexus is built into one of the walls. Oedran murals depicting the truth of their disappearance line the walls of the chamber. As the party works to repair or dismantle Plexus, Outrider bursts in with a horde of Hedraton, demanding the party surrender control of the Prime Archan or die.

ESCALATION The jungles of Zamon and the Oedran ruins of the Shattered Hand brim with dangerous environments and creatures. The secret conflicting motives of Halthon and Midzekeme simmers and Outrider’s assault looms. The party should feel unsafe and pressured to ease the conflicts of the others who join them, culminating in a difficult confrontation at the location of the Plexus. LOCAL CONDITIONS The wildlife of Zamon grows more aggressive and feral the closer the party gets to the Shattered Hand. Minor earthquakes and monsoons occur frequently. The jungle itself seems to dissuade them from approaching. D4 1 2 3 4 D6 1 2-3 4-5 6

CONFLICT Reclamation: Others from within the Nivarr Alliance seek to find and claim the Plexus, gaining infamy for the find. Discovery: A clue pertaining to the disappearance of the Odedran culture comes to light. Prophecy: Midzekeme has hidden a portion of the prophecy he saw that foretells the death of someone. Veneration: The journey to the Shattered Hand becomes a spiritual pilgrimage for both Halthon and Midzekeme. RISING THREAT The Valewardens take interest in the expedition and begin stalking the party. The jungle shifts and the path is lost. Midzekeme refuses to show a new way until Halthon agrees to tell him all that is known about the Plexus. A dread beast ambushes the party outside the Shattered Hand, harrying their progress. Ancient traps and Oedran guardians activate and defend the site of the Plexus.

PUPPETEER MONARCHS Even the most serene and beautiful creatures of Zamon are deadly and horrifying, and none more so than the puppeteer monarchs. These massive butterflies, up to 8 feet in wingspan, are hauntingly beautiful and peaceful in demeanor, but use powerful illusion and enchantment spells to lure foolish adventurers deep into dangerous parts of the jungle, digesting them using an arcane aura that accompanies the illusions before using their corpses to lay eggs within.

359 DOMINIONS OF ASH: ZAMON

D8 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8

NOTABLE LOCATIONS Jungle Overgrowth: living environments, stalking creatures, harsh weather Flooded Chamber: unstable footing, deep murky waters, sharp debris Narrow Bridge: slippery path, plunging depths, oppressive shadows Cipher Room: sealed door, cryptic puzzle, clues elsewhere

D10

SCENES

1-3 4-6

Embarking: gathering supplies, planning route, setting out Storms Brew: pummeling rain, howling wind, distant thunder Heated Argument: hurled accusations, brewing suspicion, threats Confrontation: necessary decision, violent fallout, desperate escape

7-9 10 D12

OEDRAN RELICS

Vah’s Finger: This dagger can wreath itself in flames 1-3 harmless to the wielder. Excavator’s Rope: A 50-foot length of rope that goes rigid on 4-6 command. Homing Stones: Two stones that detect each other at any 7-9 distance. Fist of Eck: A powerful gauntlet that increases the strength 10-12 of its wearer. D20

TWISTS

Halthon uses the Plexus to wrest control of the Hedraton 1 from Amalgam. Activating the Plexus awakens something deep within the 2-5 Ocean of Trees – a gargantuan Oedran construct that arises and walks. Midzekeme knows the true use of the Plexus allows some 6-10 measure of control of the jungles of Zamon, and plans to seize its power himself. If the machine is activated, the jungle’s sentience is amplified 11-15 making its sway over living creatures in Zamon virtually irresistible. The Plexus has been altered by the shifting of the earth and the passage of time. Activating the machine allows 16-19 communication with tomehearts but has a chance to drive them into a rage. The Plexus turns out to be an early prototype of what later 20 became the Dismembered Lord’s Crucible.

CLIMAX: TRUTH REVEALED The heavy stone doors creak and rattle on their frame as they’re pushed open, leading into a massive rectangular chamber. At the back of the hall lies a massive Prime Archan, covering the entirety of the wall. As Halthon approaches the towering machine, Midzekeme is drawn to the murals covering the walls, examining them carefully and muttering a prayer to the Soulwinds. The murals reveal an astounding secret depicting the Oedran people performing a ritual with a dark, faceless entity. They show the Oedran vanishing as a culture, joining their consciousness with the creature, which is revealed to be a giant elder Primordial. The final panel depicts what the intent of the ritual was, the joined consciousnesses of the Primordial and the Oedran civilization have combined to become the living jungle of Zamon. Halthon requires help fixing the machine, though Midzekeme tries to convince the party to destroy it instead, citing his prophecy. Before the machine can be entirely fixed or dismantled, Outrider arrives with a horde of Hedraton behind, demanding the party surrender the machine or be killed in the name of the Alloy of Mercy. 360 DOMINIONS OF ASH: ZAMON

UNFOLDING EVENTS • The murals on the wall reveal a great secret – that the Oedran never disappeared from Zamon. They, alongside an elder Primordial, have blended their consciousness together and are the jungle. • Midzekeme and Halthon argue about what should be done with the machine – to dismantle it to prevent its use or to repair it and make use of it. • Outrider arrives behind the party with a horde of Hedraton, demanding the party surrender the machine or die. • If the party doesn’t surrender, battle ensues, with Halthon continuing to try to repair the Prime Archan during the battle and Midzekeme helping the party fight. • If the party did not begin dismantling the machine and survives 5 rounds, Halthon completes repairs of the machine and activates it, disrupting Amalgam’s control of the Hedraton as a burst of signals blast from the machine, causing them to deactivate. • Whether the Plexus is activated or not, a massive earthquake shakes every part of the Shattered Hand, and portions of it begin caving in. The Plexus can potentially be saved from – or destroyed by – the falling debris.

AFTERMATH/CONSEQUENCES • If the Plexus is dismantled, tensions between the Zarfvin and the Grimdul increase as the Zarfvin begin to believe the Grimdul are intentionally holding them back from progress. Midzekeme refers the party to meet with Jantaghan Jukka Gant, Harvest Granter. • If the Plexus is repaired and activated by any party, it emits a frequency which drives the wildlife around the jungle into more maddened, aggressive behavior. The Grimdul begin having significant trouble managing their xol as a result. • If Halthon controls the Plexus in the end, it is used to connect any tomehearts who desire to do so together telepathically, hoping to usher in a new era of creativity through the collective connection. They will also refer the party to Vyresh, the Refractull Architect. • If the party fails at any stage, Outrider seizes control of the Plexus and uses it to broadcast Amalgam’s message to tomehearts across the world, causing many to begin trekking to Zamon to join up with the movement.

CRUX: IF IT BLEEDS Concept: Pursued Through the Jungle Themes: Chase, Hunt, Predator, Ambush

EVENT The Grimdul of Zamon recite many stories – tales of their ancestors, of legendary deeds, of battles fought and loved ones lost. But some stories are told only in hushed tones, around dying fires, with wary, watchful eyes – stories like the Shadow of Zamon. For years, it’s said, the Shadow has stalked the wilds of Zamon like death itself, descending upon the wayward and the lost in the darkness. Unseen, unheard before it’s too late, the Shadow leaves only blood in its wake, carrying its victims deep into the jungle for some nefarious purpose. “In Zamon,” it’s said, “the darkness watches.” The adventurers journey through the wilds of Zamon on a dire but necessary mission, seeking out cultists of the Bleeding Crown. In the midst of their task, the adventurers discover a nefarious secret, and become the unwitting prey of the Shadow of Zamon. Using all their skills and tools, as well as the jungle itself, they must outwit, outrun, and outlast this fearsome predator if they have any hope of survival. WHAT IS THE SHADOW OF ZAMON? A tireless hunter and fearsome predator, the Shadow of Zamon is a legendary creature among the people of the jungle, particularly the Grimdul. Something of a fable, it’s not clear exactly who or what the Shadow is, or how long it has stalked the wilds of Zamon. But one thing is for certain: the Shadow of Zamon will not stop in its hunt.

Introduction: Emerging from a cloud of fragrant smoke, features obscured in darkness, the Grimdul known as Khoro Xel, Blood Healer, nods to you. “They told me to expect great things from you,” he says. “But I prefer actions over words.” Working directly under Jukka Gant, Jantaghan of the Dur Yara, Xel garners much respect and admiration for his legendary deeds, but there’s something else just beneath the worn features and bloodstained armor. A successful DC 16 Wisdom (Insight) check reveals an insecurity to Xel’s words and movements – almost like he’s unsure of his current path. The Grimdul warrior conceals it well, though, steadfast as he delivers your mission.

AUNYA, PRIONAR OBSERVER

Nivarr Agent (F Zarfvin Darrow)

“I know more about the Oedran than almost anyone – I’ve studied them for decades. That makes me valuable to a lot of parties.” Personality: Cautious yet curious, with a sharp mind and quick wit. Appearance: Sun-bronzed skin and dark, coiled hair swept back, garbed in rugged travel gear and carrying nearly a dozen scroll cases. Rumor: Knows what waits at the bottom of the Ocean of Trees – and dares not speak of it. Goal: Return to the Nivarr Alliance with word of her findings. Quirk: Constantly checks and re-checks her scroll cases.

For ideas on the identity of the Shadow of Zamon, see the Shadow Identity table.

PEOPLE This Crux involves an incursion into the shifting wilds of Zamon, overseen by the Grimdul halfkin Khoro Xel, lieutenant of the Dur Yara tribe serving under Jantaghan Jukka Gant. The mission, intended as a strike against the cult known as the Bleeding Crown, eventually reveals an underhanded plot by Xel to capture Aunya, Prionar Observer, an agent of the Nivarr Alliance and keeper of Oedran secrets. The party eventually encounters the Shadow of Zamon, a relentless hunter who stalks them through the maddening jungle.

KHORO XEL

Dur Yara Lieutenant (M Grimdul Halfkin) “Someone accused you of being the best. Either prove ‘em right or get on home.” Personality: Capable and collected, with an air of importance granted by his station Appearance: Elf-blooded halfkin with hair braided neatly, and well-maintained leather armor and longbow Rumor: He plots against the Nivarr Alliance and wishes to restore Grimdul dominance of Zamon Goal: Rout the Bleeding Crown and acquire Aunya Quirk: Smokes a long, wooden pipe when nervous or contemplative

361 DOMINIONS OF ASH: ZAMON

Introduction: Held hostage among the cultists of the Bleeding Crown – though the cult grants her a measure of freedom – Aunya sits, poring over her scrolls with feverish focus. She’s quick to hide them as the adventurers approach, and though grateful for the rescue, questions their motives. “Who sent you? And for what purpose? Am I to return to the Nivarr, or do you intend to leverage my knowledge as well?” A successful DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check calms Aunya’s nerves and wins a modicum of trust, though only out of necessity. An adventurer with ties to the Nivarr Alliance has advantage on the check. She promises a favor owed if you help her escape. D6 1 2 3 4 5 6 D6 1

2 3

5 6

CHARACTER CONNECTIONS The Shadow of Zamon claimed a loved one – you seek vengeance against the creature. A friend was swayed by the faith of the Bleeding Crown, and you hope to win them back. The Nivarr Alliance hopes to rescue a lost agent named Aunya, and enlists your aid. A trusted ally among the Grimdul suspects Khoro Xel of plotting against his people. Keep an eye on him, will you? An Oedran prophecy has always stuck with you: “With the fall of the Shadow, the light returns to Zamon.” You served alongside Khoro Xel in past skirmishes, and he knows you to be the best at what you do. COUNTDOWN TO PERIL The party travels through Zamon, accompanied by Khoro Xel. The mission is simple: locate the Bleeding Crown camp, put down any resistance, and return with rescued hostages. En route to the Bleeding Crown camp, the party comes upon the bodies of three slain Grimdul scouts, horribly mutilated as with claws or ragged blades. The Bleeding Crown cultists defend their camp to the death, crying out for aid from Vha. The fight is fierce. Aunya, a Zarfvin agent held hostage by the Bleeding Crown, joins the party, hoping to return to the Nivarr Alliance. It’s revealed that securing Aunya for the Grimdul was Xel’s goal all along – for good or ill. The party falls prey to the Shadow of Zamon, which stalks them through the jungle relentlessly, and harries their progress at every turn. The adventurers must decide: turn and fight, or run.

FIGHT OF FLIGHT? The adventurers might engage the Shadow of Zamon directly, but they quickly learn they are outmatched. Encourage the adventurers to engage the Shadow on their terms: setting traps, using bait, and utilizing the environment to their advantage. Reward them for strategizing, but keep the threat level high – the bulk of this Crux should involve a pitched chase through the wilds of Zamon, rather than outright combat.

ESCALATION Once Aunya is secured, the adventurers must decide where to go: return to the Grimdul with Xel, or take Aunya to her people in the Nivarr Alliance. Either way, they run afoul of the Shadow of Zamon. As they fight and flee through Zamon, the party must contend with natural hazards, severe weather, and the traps and ambushes of the Shadow itself. LOCAL CONDITIONS Shadows move among the trees. Strange howls split the night. Beasts turn up mutilated. Weather and dense wilds provide ample cover for ambushes from unseen enemies.

362 DOMINIONS OF ASH: ZAMON

D4 1 2 3 4

CONFLICT Chase: The party feels as if someone – or something – is following them through the jungle. Hunt: A capable group of Bleeding Crown warriors catches wind of the party. Predator: Someone in the party catches a glimpse of the Shadow of Zamon – though it is impossible to prove. Ambush: Under cover of darkness, during storms, from dense foliage, the Shadow attacks.

RISING THREAT

1 2-3 4-5 6

Xel or Aunya is slain by the Shadow. Marrow Valewardens have mounted a hunt of their own. More bodies are discovered. The Shadow reveals itself.

NOTABLE LOCATIONS

1-2 3-4

Jungle Path: winding way, encroaching trees, deep shadows Fallen Tree: slick surface, long fall, distant howl Abandoned Village: bloodied corpses, smoldering ruins, strange footprints Mud Pits: sucking mud, sudden downpour, coursing streams

5-6 7-8 D10

SCENES

7-9

Nighttime Ambush: silver moonlight, looming shadow, sudden attack Lost in the Wilderness: maddening jungle, pursuer near, shifting wilds Deception Revealed: lies exposed, manipulation, guilt

Final Confrontation: it ends here, outmatched, trap sprung

1-3 4-6

D12

SHADOW IDENTITY

Dread Xol: A large, particularly fearsome reptilian xol, warped and reshaped by the living jungle of Zamon. This 1-3 dread xol moves silently and kills quickly, dragging its prey off to consume. Oedran Specter: A spiritual remnant of the Oedran Empire, haunting the jungles as a tireless specter. This undead being 4-6 appears in an eternal cycle, claiming victims to appease some hunger before falling silent once again. Avatar of Vha: A powerful cultist of the Bleeding Crown, granted supernatural abilities by the entity known as Vah. 7-9 Bestial and driven by religious zealotry, this twisted creature stops at nothing to appease their deity. Fallen Hero: The husk of a former hero, driven mad by seclusion in the darkness of Zamon. This warrior of Lightfall 10-12 atones for past mistakes with violence, insanely viewing all they encounter as an agent of the Dismembered Lord. D20

TWISTS

Xel is aware of the Shadow of Zamon – in fact, he hopes to 1 harness it to take down the Nivarr Alliance. The Shadow of Zamon is not one creature, but in fact several 2-5 working in tandem. The Shadow doesn’t kill indiscriminately – its victims all share 6-10 a strange connection. An Oedran weapon capable of killing the Shadow waits in a 11-15 nearby ruin. The jungle seems to aid the Shadow, working to slow the 16-19 adventurers while clearing a path for the Shadow to ambush them. Aunya has studied the Shadow of Zamon becoming enamored 20 with it, bringing it new prey to observe its hunt time and again.

CLIMAX: THE STORM AND THE CHASE After continuously harrying their progress through Zamon, the Shadow strikes one last time during a tumultuous storm. Heavy rain obscures the senses and leads to rampant flooding, while wind, thunder, and lightning further confound the adventurers and provide ample concealment from which the Shadow strikes. A final, desperate chase unfolds – and the adventurers must survive long enough to reach safety, or fight the Shadow to end this once and for all.

UNFOLDING EVENTS • The storm rolls in fiercely and suddenly, overtaking the adventurers as they near their destination. Fierce, lashing rain pummels them, while howling wind creates an ever-present din. Thunder and lightning soon follow as a brutal monsoon manifests. • The Shadow of Zamon strikes, using the storm to its advantage. It attacks what it perceives as the weakest in the party first, then retreats, only to strike again a moment later, seemingly attacking from all directions at once. • The adventurers must choose: flee through the storm and hope to outrun the Shadow, or turn and fight, utilizing every advantage to overcome the power of the Shadow.

AFTERMATH/CONSEQUENCES • If the adventurers return Aunya to the Grimdul, Xel uses her as a bargaining chip with the Nivarr Alliance, affording his people more sway and a greater threshold in the partnership. • If the adventurers return Aunya to her people, Xel is enraged, but can do little beyond disparaging the adventurers and harming their reputation among the Grimdul. The Zarfvin are grateful, and grant the adventurers full access to their facilities at Fictill Fortress. • If the adventurers flee from the Shadow, it continues to stalk the wilds of Zamon, growing more and more infamous. They may encounter their pursuer again at a later time, finding it even more fearsome. • If the adventurers fight and defeat the Shadow, they are heralded as great hunters, and earn the moniker Shadowsbane among the Grimdul. The jungles of Zamon are somewhat safer to traverse thanks to the efforts of the adventurers.

363 DOMINIONS OF ASH: ZAMON

EVERGROWING SHADOWS

Many factions in Zamon are working to collect as many Primordial remains and Oedran artifacts as they can. The jungle itself, under the influence of the Oedran consciousness, is constantly combating these forces. Though these factions may fight amongst themselves, continuing on this path, Zamon will eventually become a plundered ruin of trees left to die. Lord of Ash Laryss Highfury also works to further his rumored secret plot, despite the target on his back.

LORD OF ASH: LARYSS HIGHFURY OF HOUSE GALTHEON “The jungle speaks to me. The Dismembered Lord chose me to control the jungle and with its power I’ll control the whole of Dragongrin.” Despite being a brilliant tactician and charismatic leader, few can think of a good reason the Dismembered Lord chose Laryss to watch over Zamon. Being a mere twenty years young, rumors abound of the position being a gift in exchange for some great deed by House Galtheon in Grinn – though the details remain wreathed in mystery. Those with more realistic views of the Dismembered Lord’s machinations know something else is afoot. Highfury believes he has a higher calling, and is the only person suited for the task at hand. Having had his nomination as Lord of Ash approved by the Dismembered Lord, Highfury carries with him a great sense of entitlement and arrogance. This, coupled with his constant protection of the Shields of Highfury, reinforces the idea that he’s more important than even the other Lords of Ash. Some feel that his constant protection is necessary, due to this lack of actual combat skill, he’s the most likely target for would-be Lords of Ash looking for a seat of power. Highfury simply sees it as a necessary cost for his great importance. It’s true that Highfury is wanted for some great ascension by the Dismembered Lord, but the details of this are known to very few. Ancient Oedran writings suggest the jungles of Zamon require a sacrifice of great importance to enact control of it, and Highfury is it. Putting Highfury in charge of Zamon allowed the Sovereign to seem somewhat grateful of house Galtheon while installing a perfect scapegoat for his quest to control Zamon. ABOVE THE SOVEREIGN’S PATH? Laryss Highfury is causing an uproar among the Crucian houses because he has notably ignored the path of political achievements followed by the Crucian known as the Sovereign’s Path. The path itself begins at age 17, and with Highfury being a mere three years older and holding the title of Lord of Ash, he is forgoing the complex, bureaucratic system of jobs and responsibilities required by those who wish to lead among the Sovereign’s chosen. For the Crucian a lord must be no younger than 40 and have achieved many successes. Highfury has bypassed this entirely, secretly chosen as the Dismembered Lord’s sacrifice to offer the jungle in an attempt to control it. Those most upset are the ones who rightfully earned the spot of Lord of Ash in Zamon, and rumors swirl that they will stop at nothing to see that he fails – or worse.

Encountering Laryss Highfury: Though Highfury is not an imposing physical threat, he is a cunning mastermind. While not particularly skilled with sword or spell, Highfury is tactically brilliant, executing complex machinations and plots – typically several steps ahead of his foes. Highfury is never seen with fewer than half a dozen Shields of Highfury, and frequently many more, who diligently guard him at all hours. If his skilled oration cannot convince his enemies to his side, 364 DOMINIONS OF ASH: ZAMON

his cunning plans and well-laid traps often bring their end before they realize they’ve been outsmarted. Reliquary of Ash: Highfury’s reliquary is a gold-accented, stark-white Oedran mantle that he wears at all times. His arrogance about the Dismembered Lord’s need for his skills blinds him to the fact that the Oedran artifact allows him to be tracked easily by the Dismembered Lord’s Crucible. Appearance: Laryss Highfury is tall and thin. Though barely twenty years old, Highfury carries himself with supreme confidence, standing straight and adopting the pompous, stern demeanor House Galtheon is known for. He proudly wears his specially-tailored Crucian clothing that is both light and durable – a congratulatory gift from his mother. Highfury is never without his stark-white Oedran mantle, filigreed with the gold of a long-gone era of Dragongrin. Powers: Highfury has no supernatural abilities, but manages to secure rule through his genius-level intellect, incredibly eloquent oration, deep and rich understanding of tactics and planning, and his calm demeanor and quick mind. Weaknesses: Highfury has an overpowering phobia of dying by poison, falling into fits of terror if he becomes even mildly ill, or merely believes he has been. The nightmares he suffers most nights involve him being poisoned in various ways. Laryss was afflicted with this fear when he nearly lost his father to being poisoned once when he was a boy. Thought his father survived, he was never the same. Origins: Highfury was bred for leadership by the immensely wealthy and influential House Galtheon in Grinn. It is an open secret that House Galtheon bribed the Council of Ash to get Highfury the position of Lord of Ash, though many still find it hard to believe that the Dismembered Lord approved the nomination. Secrets: Highfury’s Oedran mantle grants him protection from anyone being able to read his thoughts – thought that is a secret only he knows. He is fully aware of the Dismembered Lord’s plan to make him a sacrifice unto the jungle. His plan is simple: prove he is too valuable to sacrifice, and find another way to control the jungle. Fortress of Ash: Thunder Reach, the Marrow outpost at the apex of the Valewarden Bridges. Highfury and a few of his trusted advisors use a secret Red Sail storehouse that exists below the ground at Thunder Reach. They use it as a war room to devise their true plans for the dominion – feigning different plans publicly. Nemesis: Due to the disconnectedness of Zamon in an economic and importance sense, Laryss has many enemies, chief among them is the Nivarr Alliance. This Grimdul / Zarfvin partnership poses a large threat in the form of discovering the secrets of this living jungle before Laryss can. Legion of Ash: Laryss controls and directs the Valewardens, Marrow masters of survival that thrive in the ever-changing wilderness of Zamon. Additionally, he commands the competent and deadly Shields of Highfury, the equivalent to his own personal Crucian army. In concert with his sound leadership skills and eloquent oration, the Marrow Valewardens and Shields of Highfury Highfury controls are fiercely loyal.

HIGHFURY STRIVES FOR • To Outwit Amalgam: Having learned of Amalgam’s deeds and seeing the construct’s brilliance and potential, Highfury believes Amalgam to be the only true threat to his plans, and knows it must be stopped. There is,however, a part of Highfury that respects Amalgam’s

strategies, and feels exilierated to finally have an intellectual equal to match wits with. • The Dronicus Stele: Many believe the deepest secrets of Oedran technology are locked within this artifact, rumored to be in the ruins of the Library of Leorna (the Shattered Hand). Possessing the Dronicus Stele could be the key to controlling the jungle. • Fracturing in the Nivarr Alliance: The unprecedented partnership between the Grimdul and Zarfvin of Zamon is a great danger to the Sovereign. Destabilizing this alliance covertly would allow Highfury full control of Zamon’s Primordial remains and Oedran ruins.

HIGHFURY’S STATE OF POWER This section represents the strength of Laryss Highfury’s resources, allies, and enemies. For everything except the secrets and the plot twist, the lower the roll, the worse-off the result for the Lord of Ash. It is intended to be rolled once at the beginning of a session or campaign to generate a starting point, but it can be rolled any time an important enough event occurs to affect the resource or people. D4 1 2 3 4 D6 1 2-3 4-5 6 D8 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8

SHIELDS OF HIGHFURY The Shields of Highfury have lost all confidence in Highfury. Though loyal, Highfury’s arrogance and ease of achieving his power means the Shields do their duty and little else. In their constant protection of Highfury, the Shields have seen his competence, and are loyal. The Shields are steadfast in their loyalty and protect Highfury to their death. LEGION OF ASH The Valewardens are disappearing faster than they can be replenished and trained to brave the jungles. There are only a handful of veteran Valewardens left doing their best to train new recruits. The Valewardens are gaining ground, clearing and marking more and more of the jungle by the day. The Valewardens serve without question, making progress controlling the jungle. FORTRESS OF ASH There have been multiple attempts on Highfury’s life and the underground war room of Thunder Reach has been compromised. The jungle continues to encroach on the outpost, the Valewardens work daily to cull what they can. Thunder Reach is beginning to expand, more bridges added and more of the jungle cleared and pushed back. Thunder Reach sprawls like never before, under the watchful eye of Highfury and his machinations.

D10 1-3 4-6 7-9 10 D12

HIGHFURY’S FOES Amalgam and the Hedraton continue to grow in numbers and are amassing a formidable force. The Bleeding Crown controls a small army of awakened Oedran constructs. Highfury’s silver tongue has allowed him to drive a wedge between the Zarfvin and Grimdul of the area, weakening the Nivarr Alliance greatly. The Valewarden’s have found a way to control the living jungle to some degree. HIGHFURY’S HINDRANCE

Though charismatic, Highfury has yet to do anything to prove 1-3 his ability as a leader, weakening his position despite being the Lord of Ash. Highfury continues to train with a master swordsman, but he 4-6 doesn’t seem to be improving, damaging the legion’s opinions of him and making him a potential target. Highfury’s Reliquary mars his mind. He begins to hear a 7-9 mysterious voice clearly in his mind that is not his own. Highfury’s fascination with Amalgam clouds his mind – the 10-12 construct is able to manipulate the Lord of Ash, and plans an assassination. D20

TWISTS

The Dronicus Stele is a living Oedran construct that roams 1 the jungle. Highfury’s realizes that he must ally himself with the jungle 2-5 to survive, and begins communing with it. Amalgam agrees to help Laryss stand against the 6-10 Dismembered Lord with the help of his Hedraton. The jungle has been amassing carcasses of creatures, and has 11-15 constructed itself a makeshift body. The Bleeding Crown find a way to activate the volcano in the 16-19 Searing Heart, the explosion burns down a third of the jungle The Dismembered Lord let Laryss peer into the Crucible 20 before coming to Zamon. He will not be sacrificed ... but that must appear to be the plan...

COUNTDOWN TO RUIN If left unchecked, Zamon’s consciousness will discover the secret that it searches for to transcend into a form of the Bleak. The Dismembered Lord is planning to allow this to happen, to harness this new form of Bleak as an extraordinary energy source. 1. The New Lord Arrives: Laryss Highfury arrives in the jungles of Zamon, bringing with him the Shields of Highfury. The Lord of Ash takes immediate command, using the Marrow Valewardens to execute a secret plot the Dismembered Lord has assigned to him, inscribing secret symbols and wards throughout the Jungle. 2. The Alloy of Mercy Gathers: Amalgam awakens, linked to the jungle’s sentience, and begins building Hedraton followers using defunct Oedran constructs and willing tomehearts. They quickly construct a haven for the newly forged constructs – Matu, located in the Ocean of Trees. 3. The Jungle Learns: The sentience of the jungle connected to Amalgam focuses on bringing more awakened tomehearts into their ranks. Doing so allows it to access the troves of knowledge within the newly linked tomehearts. The consciousness rapidly learns, expediting its steps to take a new form.

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4. The Alliance Weakens: With attacks from the Alloy of Mercy increasing and the Dur Yara’s Doomwind beliefs adding tensions to the relationship between the Zarfvin and Grimdul, the Nivarr Alliance begins to have trouble maintaining its supply lines. 5. Ambush Tactics: Under Laryss Highfury, the Marrow Valewardens thrive, and a string of successful ambushes against Nivarr Alliance members leads to a tighter grip of control and increased fear amongst Zarfvin and Grimdul in Zamon. Highfury’s control over Zamon results in increased spans of jungle marked with the Dismembered Lord’s wards. 6. Relic Hoarder: Amalgam and the Alloy of Mercy uncover an Oedran secret that allows them to mount focused expeditions to hidden Oedran ruins throughout the jungle. They hoard the spoils and are able to add countless Hedraton to their ranks. Tomehearts flock to Zamon at alarming rates to join in the movement and lend their banks of knowledge to the cause. 7. Fires of the Crown: Claiming they are listening to the voice of Vah, the Bleeding Crown begin to actively set fires throughout the jungle, destroying many Primordial corpses, Archans, and even Oedran ruins. The jungle retaliates by targeting the Bleeding Crown, slaughtering all but a handful. 8. Clash of the Minds: Amalgam and the Alloy of Mercy finally face off against Highfury and his Legion of Ash. The battle is legendary, as these brilliant master strategists attempt to best one another. Losses are substantial on both sides, though in the end it is Highfury who is victorious, though badly wounded. With the death of Amalgam, the Hedraton scatter, and the jungle’s power wanes.

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9. Exodus: Highfury commands a mass evacuation of Zamon, decreeing that all who live there must leave. The Valewardens and Shields of Highfury lead a massive caravan of refugees through the jungle into Jahar. Janne Larson and the remaining Bleeding Crown refuse to flee, claiming that soon their god Vah will return to take control. 10. Evolved and Ascended: Laryss Highfury stays behind, offering himself to the jungle as the Dismembered Lord had ordained all along. Stripped of his Oedran mantle, the jungle’s sentience permeates within his mind – and he allows it to. With the brilliant Highfury as its new living avatar, and using all of the resources that Amalgam had gathered, the consciousness of the living jungle is finally able to transcend and evolve into a new form. Unleashing an arcane explosion on an unfathomable scale, much of the jungle is incinerated in the blast, and the sentience of the Primordial and Oedran Empire takes a new form – a cloud of noxious Bleak. However, the Dismembered Lord and Highfury predicted this and prepared. The runes they had carved throughout the jungle act as a web of wards created to trap the energy in stasis. The wards cripple the new Bleakform of the jungle, preventing it from moving or acting freely, confining it to Zamon. The Dismembered Lord is able to siphon this energy, gaining even more power. Highfury is recalled to Grinn and greatly commended for his role in the Dismembered Lord’s plan, though his exposure to the Bleak poisoned him. If he recovers, he could take up an even greater role elsewhere in Dragongrin.

DARKNESS OF DRAGONGRIN Dragongrin is a grim and brutal place brimming with deadly threats, where a simple act of mercy can get you imprisoned or killed. Morally gray choices are often necessary to ensure one’s own survival, and sometimes violence is the only answer. When embarking on adventures in a world like Dragongrin, consider using the following guidelines to navigate running a game that faithfully presents the setting while also being fun and comfortable for everyone at the table.

LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

Although Dragongrin is a place of terrible evils, grim toil, and deep tragedy, it’s also a place with a spark of hope intact. Each day, more would-be heroes choose a treacherous path of defying the Sovereign, choosing to cast off the weight of the crushing oppression thrust upon them. As written, even though Dragongrin is evil, it is meant to be a place of hope – putting mortals into grim and perilous situations so that they can find the inner strength to rise above, and succeed. The will of people surviving in a land where evil reigns supreme is a powerful thing, and the relationships forged in surviving insurmountable odds is potent and tangible. A Dead Man’s Guide to Dragongrin is not intended to promote violence, nor does it celebrate evil. It’s intended to highlight goodness overcoming evil. To make that journey meaningful, the evil wields dread power – and in turn, those who rise against it must be mighty and unshaken in their resolve.

HEROES IN DRAGONGRIN

In Dragongrin, openly brazen heroes are not typically welcome. In a land ruled by the Dismembered Lord, with his Marrow swiftly exacting his will, blatant heroism means pushing against the grain and bringing unwanted attention – and most often swift retribution. Most believe that any who blatantly raise arms against the Dismembered Lord foolishly rally toward a swift death – or worse. Those who choose to take meaningful and long-lasting action against the evils of the land do so discreetly. Those of this ilk often draw others like themselves, forming groups of adventurers.

MORALLY GRAY AND WORSE The volatile and dangerous social climate of Dragongrin also lends itself to people whose morality shifts with each situation, doing what they must to survive. These individuals may not necessarily be evil, but put their own self preservation before anything else, doing and saying what they must to survive another day. Darker still are those individuals who have allied themselves with the Dismembered Lord and his legions. Whether they are hedging their bets by choosing the side they are certain will stay in power, or they truly believe in the beauty and might of the Dismembered Lord and his will, there are those in Dragongrin who will actively work against any who oppose their mighty Sovereign.

INFAMOUS ADVENTURERS Dragongrin uses an optional subsystem in which player characters can gain Infamy points for their deeds. Infamy is not necessarily reserved only for those who do good deeds, and can be for those who commit atrocities as well. See the Infamy rules on page 370 for more information.

HANDLING DARK THEMES

Dragongrin is markedly more evil and brutal than some other campaign settings. It’s important to explicitly state that just because the world is “evil” doesn’t mean that every player at the table is interested in exploring darker themes. Nothing in this book is intended to celebrate dark themes, but showcases them tastefully and respectfully as evils to overcome in a way that’s accessible and respectful to people of all play styles and tastes. Consider some basic guidelines when embarking into the dark world of Dragongrin. • Unless something was discussed, assume that the default answer to including dark subject matter in a game is “no.” • Not sure what everyone would consider to be “dark subject matter?” Consider having a Session 0 – a special preparatory session outlined later in this chapter. • If someone doesn’t feel comfortable with a topic or theme, they shouldn’t have to explain why – that’s uncomfortable and invasive more often than not. • Consider keeping things general and basic rather than specific and detailed – “you hit the monster with a devastating blow” rather than “you split the monsters skull, and its brains ooze out the back, blood spraying you in the face.” • Have more sinister things happen “off-screen.” Frame things like “as the axe swings toward his neck, we fade to black, switching to a scene in the castle.” USE MOVIE RATINGS AS GUIDELINES When in doubt, a good shared reference for boundaries are film ratings. Though the system isn’t perfect, it can be a quick and reasonable starting point. Consider choosing one below for your session or campaign for a quick start – though a Session 0 is recommended. • • • • •

G – Nothing that would likely offend parents if their children watched. PG – Some material may not be suitable for younger children, but it’s generally fairly tame. PG-13 – Potentially contains subject matter and language not fitting for pre-teens. R – Contains adult material. Not suited for anyone younger than later teens. NC-17 – Clearly, emphatically adult. Proceed with caution.

DARKNESS, LIGHT, AND THE GRAY BETWEEN It’s imperative to keep in mind that there is a spectrum for every topic. Think of it as shades of black and white with a lot of gray in between. Someone might be okay with their character trapped in a crate, but not okay with a vivid description of the stuffy and stagnant air, the pure darkness, and the sensation of the space closing in on them, invoking feelings of claustrophobia. Someone might be okay with giant spiders in the game, but don’t want vivid descriptions of their 367 DARKNESS OF DRAGONGRIN

shining, chittering mandibles dripping with the blood of a fresh kill stirring feelings of arachnophobia. If you’re unsure of someone’s level of comfort with a topic, tread lightly and don’t assume they want every brutal detail. Below, find a list of subjects to consider carefully before including in a game without warning. These are by no means “off limits,” but should be approached with care and with consent from everyone at the table. These are only a sampling – remember that every individual is different.

SUBJECTS TO CONSIDER CAREFULLY • • • • • • • • • •

Sexual harassment or assault Loss of control or consent Harming children or animals Real-world disease, illness, or medical condition Self-harm or suicide Miscarriage or abortion Abduction or torture Blood and gore Romance and intimate relationships Real-world topics or current events

NO EXPLANATION NEEDED If you choose not to give consent to a particular scene or scenario, you do not need to explain why consent wasn’t given. There are myriad, valid reasons why a topic doesn’t feel fun to you, and you are not required to give a specific explanation why this is the case. The most important thing to focus on is that the subject makes you feel uncomfortable, and that you don’t want it to be a part of your tabletop gaming experience. You absolutely don’t have to explain your consent – or lack thereof. If you refuse content, you are not responsible to help the group understand why.

SAFETY TOOLS

It’s highly suggested that you decide on some safety tools for your game. These are powerful tools that allow people to feel safe in your games. We put forth a handful of tools, though these are not considered to be exhaustive. Consider searching online for other tools that you feel would make your game complete. NOT AN EXHAUSTIVE SOURCE There is far more to be said about what subject matter should be included in a tabletop RPG than what is included in this section. This is just a starting point and basic guideline to ensure that you can play in a Dragongrin that is suitable to your tastes.

THE STOPLIGHT METHOD The stoplight method is designed to allow players to put forth their own “stoplights,” much like traffic signals. A red light is a hard stop, a yellow light is intended to slow down, and a green light is intended to continue play. • Red Lights: These are topics, subject matter, and situations that you do not want included in the game under any circumstances, without exception. No explanation needs to be given – these topics and situations are off-limits. • Yellow Lights: These aren’t red lights, so their inclusion isn’t forbidden, but it’s definitely conditional. This subject matter should be handled with great care, and isn’t something you’re interested in exploring in great detail.

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• Green Lights: These are things you absolutely want to see in the game. These are the concepts, situations, and experiences that make you want to come back to the game again and again.

USING STOPLIGHT CARDS Give each player three notecards, each with a colored circle – one red, one yellow, one green – to represent each stoplight. Players are encouraged to use these cards during play. When a situation arises when a player would like to express themselves with either a red, yellow, or green card, they lay their card in the middle of the table.

WHEN TO PLAY STOPLIGHT CARDS “Yes! This is awesome! Let’s keep this up!” (Green Card) “I’m feeling a little unsure of where this is headed, so let’s proceed with caution.” (Yellow Card) “Let’s fade to black or get out of this situation as soon as possible.” (Red Card) You can optionally use this method by creating one set of cards for the table (or a few sets for larger tables) for community use – just be sure all players can reach them quickly and easily during play. ONLINE STOPLIGHTS Online tabletop gaming grows in popularity every day, but using the stoplight method and other safety tools can be less intuitive during online games. If your preferred online gaming space provides the option to “whisper” or privately message during a game, encourage your players to use this functionality to let you know when they’re feeling uncomfortable. Or consider implementing a verbal stoplight system through the use of the realtime chat functionality. In this situation, typing “red light,” “yellow light,” or “green light” functions the same as using the stoplight cards in person.

BALANCING DARKNESS AND LIGHT

Dragongrin is whatever the Game Masters and players decide it to be. It’s important that with the dark themes that are included in Dragongrin that everyone participating in the game is aware of the sorts of conflicts that may arise, and agrees upon boundaries of subject matter. The best way to do this is with a Session 0, expounded upon later in this section.

DRAGONGRIN SESSION 0 Session 0 is a planning session where the gaming group collaboratively lays the foundations for a new campaign together. This session involves the group deciding the kind of campaign they want to play, sometimes through discussion and other means, but usually by answering a list of specific questions. The answers to these questions help manage everyone’s expectations, and work to determine details about the setting, rules, characters, and themes so everyone agrees on the campaign. A Session 0 provides a devoted opportunity before the campaign for the gaming group to agree on what kind of game they’d like to play, and for each player to explicitly say what would be fun for them. This can be especially important in a world like Dragongrin with varied subject matter that tends to be darker in tone.

SESSION 0 QUESTIONS Intro to Tabletop Games (If applicable) 1. Is anyone here entirely new to tabletop gaming? If so, what are the expectations and up-front need-to-knows before we begin? The Setting 2. Where in Dragongrin is the game set? What are the pillars of that area? 3. What aspects of the world do we want to explore most deeply? 4. What questions or mysteries do we eventually want answers to? What is this campaign about?

Desires and Restrictions 11. What do you really want to see and get out of this game? What would make you most excited to play? What types of encounters and interactions are you most interested in? 12. What subject matter will be allowed? What will not be included in the game under any circumstances? What will be alluded to or happen “off-screen” but not be directly described or engaged with? 13. What safety tools will be used to ensure that everyone at the table feels comfortable, respected, and free to express themselves and voice concerns? Rules 14. What system will we be playing in? Will we be using any third-party or homebrew rules outside of 5e and A Dead Man’s Guide to Dragongrin? 15. How much focus will we put onto the mechanics being strict and rules-as-written (RAW), versus focusing on story and moment-to-moment judgment calls? Schedule 16. When will the game be played? How frequently? What day and time will sessions happen? How long will sessions run? 17. What is the standard course of action if someone is unable to play? Will the game continue without them or be postponed until the next scheduled time? Misc 18. Is there anything else that needs to be addressed or discussed before the game begins? GUIDED SESSION 0 VIDEOS For some video tutorials on why Session 0s are important, as well as an example Session 0 in Dragongrin, and a bonus video of the Session 0 questions by themselves for those not comfortable leading their own just yet, visit news.absolutetabletop.com/ Session0.

5. What is the overall pitch of the game’s story? 6. What sort of tone are we going for, as a rule of thumb (give examples)? The Characters 7. What characters will everyone be playing, both mechanically and narratively? 8. Will the party know each other at the start of the game? If so, how? 9. What connections, direct or indirect, do the characters have to one another and to the world? What sorts of secrets and backstories might the characters have? 10. Where will the party begin the game, and with what direction, if any? PLAYING EVIL CHARACTERS Decide explicitly and up front if anyone will be allowed to play evil or villainous characters. In many tabletop RPGs, it is assumed that the party is working together, so explicitly decide if this is not the case. Consider if you’ll allow things like betrayals, deception, stealing from other party members, and anything else that might go against the spirit of banding together for survival in a dark world. If these things arise and take players by surprise, their reactions can be far more volatile than if expectations are set beforehand. 369 DARKNESS OF DRAGONGRIN

INFAMY The campaign setting of Dragongrin has a strong emphasis on the theme “heroes aren’t welcome,” and the Infamy system is a way to reinforce that theme, focusing on the extraordinarily difficult nature of taking action that’s true to a character’s convictions even though it may mean getting them killed. In a typical campaign, characters don’t gain Infamy by doing the day-to-day things needed to survive in a harsh environment like Dragongrin – making difficult choices is part of everyday life. However, sometimes characters are faced with an opportunity to do something truly heroic or noteworthy in the face of the Evergrowing Shadows of the Dismembered Lord or the other evils that proliferate the realm. These actions generate Infamy. INFAMY ISN’T MORALITY Infamy is not necessarily reserved only for those who do good deeds. Infamy can be for those who commit atrocities as well. See the Darkness of Dragongrin section on page 367 for more information on the role of good and evil people in the realm.

GAINING INFAMY

Infamy is measured from 0 to 10, where 0 is unknown and 10 is known worldwide. In Dragongrin, all attention draws dangerous and friendly eyes alike. The more you make waves, the more people take notice. Infamy changes based on how active and impactful the party is in the world and can have good and bad consequences alike. Typically, Game Masters grant a single point of Infamy when characters act in a way that is heroic and contrary to the status quo of what is accepted in Dragongrin – though Infamy can be granted for heinous acts as well. Infamy has a maximum score of 10 and is gained a single point at a time except in rare cases. The number of Infamy points a character or party has dictates the Infamy table rolled on when the situation arises. This is considered their Effective Infamy. The Game Master decides when an Infamy table should be rolled on. Some typical examples would be: staying in the same place for more than a few days, doing something publicly that would draw attention, or being spotted by agents of an adversary. Game Masters can also choose not to grant Infamy if the players can justify avoiding it through good roleplaying or clever thinking. VARIABLE LEVELS Infamy assumes that the party is at roughly the same character level and notoriety. In the event that the party is scaled unevenly for any reason, use the Infamy of the character with the highest level as the party’s Effective Infamy.

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MINIMUM INFAMY

As the party levels up, they gain a Minimum Infamy, a number that their Infamy cannot drop below regardless of timeframe. Characters can also obtain Minimum Infamy by accomplishing great deeds that affect the world around them significantly, at the GMs discretion. LEVEL

MINIMUM EFFECTIVE INFAMY

5 10 15 20

2 4 6 8

GROUP INFAMY

Characters who commonly act together as an adventuring party will begin to gain Infamy as a group. This isn’t a separate pool of Infamy, just an optional way to use the existing Infamy system. Rather than being notorious by one’s self, they would be notable for their association with a specific group. Once a group accrues an Infamy score of 3 or more, the locals begin calling them something based on the nature of their deeds (the Liberators, the Provokers), or another notable facet of the group (the Winds of Uldane, Those That Remain). Work with the party to come up with something fitting. Group Infamy can also optionally be applied to NPC factions and groups as well. INFAMOUS FROM THE START The Infamy subsystem is designed to start at 0 and count up as people make difficult choices in Dragongrin. However, in some cases, it could make for interesting stories to have a party member – or an entire party – who begins a one-shot or campaign with Infamy. Perhaps it’s a single notorious person putting the rest of the group in danger? Maybe the party is notorious for inciting a rebellion and the story is them surviving the consequences? Consider the ways you can use Infamy to make the world feel more alive and interesting to the players.

INFAMY ENCOUNTERS

As characters gain Infamy, people begin to recognize them, and depending on their affiliations and views, others begin to act accordingly. Use the tables below to determine what happens when Infamy begins to draw attention. INFAMY INVERTED Instead of rolling on the Infamy tables, an individual or the party could instead conceivably attempt to use their Infamy to achieve specific goals. Things like attempting to gain an audience with a specific person, or try to get access to a rare reagent or make use of a magical object. The success of these attempts is entirely up to the Game Master. To make a determination of how plausible the goal in question is, consider looking at the other entries on the Infamy Level table to get a sense of what may be achievable at that tier.

BEING RECOGNIZED

Infamy is meant to be a narrative system used by the GM when it makes sense for the story and would cause the most conflict. However, as an optional method to decide if Infamy comes into play, you can leave it to a die roll. In the appropriate area that matches the scope of the party’s Effective Infamy (as listed in the Infamy Recognition table), you may have adventurers roll a skill check to try to go

unnoticed. This can be Deception, Performance, Persuasion or another skill appropriate in the situation. The target DC is 10 + the Effective Infamy level. On failure, the character or party is noticed, and Infamy comes into play.

LIGHT AND DARK

While all notable actions raise awareness in Dragongrin, different deeds draw different eyes. Good deeds may cause hero and rebel factions to notice the party but make enemies with the Marrow, while evil deeds may cause the Marrow to look favorably on the party while heroes will seek to destroy them. Whatever your Effective Infamy, determine which column to roll on based on the sorts of deeds the party is known for, rolling Light if they have been doing good, Dark if they are committing evil acts, or neutral if they are not known one way or the other – or if you want the encounter to ignore their morality for the raw notoriety instead. BEYOND THE INFAMY TABLES The entries included on the Infamy tables are by no means exhaustive, and are intended to act as narrative examples of the kinds of situations Infamy may thrust an adventurer or party into. Explore any Infamy encounter scenarios that make sense narratively for your game.

INFAMY RECOGNITION INFAMY 0 1 2-3 4-5 6-7 8-9 10

IMPACT Completely Unknown. You won’t be recognized by anyone you are not directly associated with. People in the immediate local area glance with mild recognition. Supporters subtly comment their appreciation and enemies caution against further action. You are known in small towns or sections of large cities as an up-and-comer. Most keep their distance for fear of association, but the most zealous allies offer small favors and staunch rivals will attempt to interfere with your plans. At level 3, many parties are given a moniker relating to their deeds. Whole cities and frontiers begin to recognize you, and your name begins to carry weight. Your name and your appearance begin to become widely known. Supporters put in effort to support your cause and enemies take serious efforts to track you down and oppose you. You have become an important person throughout the entire Dominion of Ash you operate in, and the Lord of Ash and faction leaders are aware of you by name. Supporters begin to flock in small crowds to aid in your aims and entire factions dedicate time and energy to undermine your efforts, if not kill you outright. You are known throughout multiple Dominions of Ash of Dragongrin. Your name and appearance is known by the most important people in the world. Supporters go out of their way to find and aid you, and prominent and powerful enemies openly scheme against you. Everybody in Dragongrin knows your name, and your impact in the world will go down in history. The Dismembered Lord himself marks you as important. Supporters would do anything to help and protect you, and enemies plot your downfall at every turn. INFAMY LEVEL 1

D6 1 2 3

LIGHT

NEUTRAL

A commoner offers you all the coin they have for help with a small quest. A drudge senses some good in you, and tips you off to upcoming danger. A low-level kneebreaker has no one else to turn to – they ask for help investigating their superiors for recent crimes.

A local gang member seeks to make an A particular merchant cuts you small deals. example of you. Someone from your past recognizes you and You and others like you are urged to keep reaches out to reconnect. open eyes and ears for rebellious chatter. You’re asked to become an honorary Someone’s cherished friend is missing, and kneebreaker in response to some recent you look like the kind of person who can help. losses. The toughest person in town isn’t too happy Supplies are more expensive in this area – to have any competition – they’re coming shopkeepers make sure of it. after you. A start-up faction of mercenaries wants to A Marrow reminds you to avoid the town recruit you to bolster their numbers. square tomorrow – it’s Remembrance Day... A drunk commoner who lost their loved one A shopkeeper refuses to acknowledge you blames you, reciting details of the death and doesn’t make eye contact. slurred, though in great detail.

A rival spreads false rumors about you.

Someone offers to vouch for you to a local leader.

A local in the area is kidnapped and you’re asked for by name.

DARK

371 DARKNESS OF DRAGONGRIN

INFAMY LEVEL 2-3 D6 1

2 3 4

LIGHT Marrow send kneebreakers to warn you about your actions, and attempt to rough you up to send a message. A retired local hero reveals their identity to you and offers you a finely made weapon of theirs. People maintain a wide berth while walking past you in the streets. Someone picks a fight with you in the street – they’re looking to show their loyalty to the Marrow publicly. A group of street thugs surrounds you, threatening that you’re getting too bold, and they’re here to teach you a lesson. Local guards have been killed lately, and numbers are low – the captain of the watch asks for you by appearance, wanting to learn your name.

NEUTRAL

DARK

A local leader approaches you to consult for their security detail.

A low-level criminal group seeks to recruit you into their bandit ring.

Many locals keep their distance from you for fear of association, avoiding you if possible.

A Marrow sergeant confronts you, telling you that you work for them now.

Powerful figures in a city ask you to secure their wealthier urban centers from crime. There’s an event at the local tavern, and the owners are looking for some muscle to keep things from getting too rowdy.

You’re recruited to find and re-capture an escaped rebel.

A traveler recognizes you and offers information about a nearby ruin.

You’re invited to a tavern notorious for only allowing Marrow.

You become the pet project of an upstart eloquent who isn’t very skilled, but passionately uses you in songs and poems.

You’re approached by someone looking to sell some illicit goods. This is a rare opportunity.

You are offered a list of minor criminals and asked to keep an eye on them.

INFAMY LEVEL 4-5 D6

LIGHT

NEUTRAL

DARK

A hefty bounty has been placed on your head – and you’re worth more dead than alive.

You are offered access to an exclusive job listing of bounties by a local guild or faction.

A powerful bounty hunter has learned sensitive information, and you’re approached by a third party to end them quietly.

A band of Undying Light rebels reach out for help rescuing others taken prisoner by Marrow.

You’ve got a feeling someone is tracking you, and recent evidence has all but proven it.

The Marrow regiment in the area needs a new torturer, and thinks you fit the bill.

One of your party is approached to be part of a heist crew.

A commoner who was short on their Tenth has sold out information about your exact whereabouts – they believe they’re doing the right thing trying to stop you. Someone you’ve wronged in the past has An urgent message is delivered from a nearby It’s difficult to walk down the street without returned to leverage you into doing their dirty settlement. They need your help. getting a job offer. work. Poorly drawn wanted posters containing your The mayor of the largest settlement in the A thematically fitting meal is named after you likeness begin appearing in the area with dominion requests your presence during a at a local inn or tavern. various “charges” written on them. parade. A lieutenant in a prominent local faction A local troupe of street performers has been A Lord of Ash wishes to present you with a approaches you personally for recruitment to dramatically reenacting one of your latest medal for your services in the name of the their cause. exploits on a street corner. Sovereign. Your exploits are gaining notoriety and the local Red Sail Market has a list of various items they’d like you to be on the lookout for.

INFAMY LEVEL 6-7 D6

LIGHT

The Lord of Ash publicly posts that there is a reward for your whereabouts.

An upstart adventuring party approaches you offering their services, you simply need to command them.

You’re marked for public execution for the actions you’ve taken in the past.

The Lord of Ash in your most frequented dominion is being penalized for not putting an end to you sooner.

You come upon a celebration in your honor.

Some people have happened upon the Lord of Ash’s reliquary. They believe it is safest in your hands.

372 DARKNESS OF DRAGONGRIN

NEUTRAL

DARK

A former Lord of Ash will pay you all they have left if you help get them out of the Dominion of Ash safely. You are considered an important person within the Dominion of Ash, among the ranks of those listed. Anytime you enter a new location, word spreads quickly that you’re in the area – it’s near impossible to blend in. Your name is now used as a synonym for an action or deed you’ve accomplished in the past. Silence falls when you walk into crowded establishments.

You are approached by some turncoats who attempt to coerce you to lead a coup against the current Lord of Ash.

A commoner asks for your autograph and some advice.

Local heroes are hunting you down to pay for your heinous acts. They look to see you hang.

A major local faction marks you as someone who “needs to be made an example of.” You are presented with an honorary rank within the Dismembered Legion, even if you have never served. A Lord of Ash, eager to utilize your abilities, summons you to assassinate a rival Lord of Ash. A Marrow tells you your Tenth is paid.

INFAMY LEVEL 8-9 D6

LIGHT

An emissary from the Copper Sun seeks you out for a meeting with their leadership.

Drudges throughout the realm speak of your heroism in a coded language, and smile whenever they see you.

The Dismembered Legion is planning a raid on your most favored establishment to send a message.

You’re more accepted in black markets than in any public market, and people often think of you when they need to transport illicit goods. The Undying Light wishes to relocate you to a secure and private quarters, which will also serve as a headquarters for the organization. Your name has been put on a very short list: you are an individual that a prominent faction will heal – or resurrect – should the need arise.

NEUTRAL

DARK

A powerful faction leader seeks you out The Council of Ash seeks to hire you to because they have discovered a Prime Archan infiltrate – and bring down – the Copper Sun. and need protection. The Dismembered Lord requests for you to be Children pretend to be you while playbrought to Grinn as Crucian – his own chosen fighting in the streets. people. Granok Thane mercenaries wish to make you an honorary member of their ranks, and allow The Copper Jackals have labeled you as a you to take a Granok name if you join them “threat to Light,” and are now hunting for you. for missions. A powerful Holmir clan requires a new jarl, and you are the type of leader they could use.

A Lord of Ash desires to make you their own personal guard and retinue.

You see your name and face on a “wanted” poster for some deed you previously accomplished.

You’ve been summoned by a Lord of Ash from a neighboring Dominion of Ash – they wish to employ you for a secret, specific task.

A prominent weapon you’ve used in the past has been uncovered and is being auctioned off for unfathomable prices.

A typhon seeks an audience with you to question you for your deeds of imbalance and destruction upon the area.

INFAMY LEVEL 10 D6 1 2

LIGHT

NEUTRAL

DARK

The Copper Jackals need a competent new leader, and seek you out for the job. Ghosts of heroes slain in Lightfall are reaching out to you in dreams, urging you to ignite the torch of Good once again. You are the most wanted person in Dragongrin, and deals with people are hard to come by. A distant traveler from a land they call Enchea explains that Dragongrin is lost, and seeks to recruit you to turn the tide in a world-ending war in another realm. You have been given access to the Undying Light’s armory, stocked with Archans, magic items and Valens. You may take whatever weapons you need so long as you return them.

You are asked to lead a powerful faction that spans multiple dominions. Wherever you go in the realm, people sing songs and tell tales of your exploits – some in favor of you, others dripping venom.

Your prowess is so impressive that you are approached to join the Council of Ash.

The leader of the Doomsayers desires to “speak your doom” personally, and hunts you relentlessly.

In the wake of a Lord of Ash’s death, you are requested to take their place.

A dominant highway across Dragongrin has been notably renamed after you.

Your face has been imprinted on an official currency and distributed throughout the realm – all know your wretched visage of evil.

Notorious and powerful threats from deep inside a Savage Frontier believe you could be an asset to them.

Monstrous creatures from across Dragongrin flock to worship you as their twisted leader.

Assassins are on your tail, and there’s no telling which of your many deeds caused the mark on your head.

You get a request of audience asking for help with a quest – it’s from a typhon.

The saga of your exploits is considered mandatory for any respectable eloquents to have in their repertoire, and tales, poems and songs of your exploits are known by virtually all in the realm.

The Dismembered Lord has taken notice of you. He is looking for your kind to advance his Evergrowing Shadows...

373 DARKNESS OF DRAGONGRIN

TREACHEROUS TRAVEL Treacherous Travel is a narrative subsystem that sets out to make travel interesting, focusing on the most important conflicts. It focuses less on the mundane elements of travel, and provides the tools to generate travel montages composed of Scenes and Glances, allowing the Game Master (GM) and party to spend as little or as much time on travel as desired – whilst ensuring it is always interesting. Treacherous Travel is a versatile tool that can be used to prepare journeys ahead of time, or to randomly improvise an impromptu travel during a session.

DREGS A dreg is an approximate unit of measure that refers to how long it would take a person to travel at a normal pace by foot from sunrise to sunset. This is how distance is most commonly measured in Dragongrin. Due to its inexact nature, it’s a subjective measurement, though it’s commonly accepted that if one was pressed it would translate to between 15 and 25 miles per day.

GLANCES A Glance is a momentary description of something seen or done along the way on the party’s journey – unique facets that stand out above the rest of the moments of the trip. Optionally, add a skill roll and take away resources on failures to show the grueling nature of travel. Unless the party specifically opts into exploring them, they are not played out.

SCENES Scenes are less frequent events compared to Glances, but with more depth. Using the Scenes table as a prompt, or deciding for yourself, create a Scene that will be played out fully by the party. Consider keeping them episodic and brief by default, primarily using them as ways to provoke party interaction, reflection, and interesting, evocative moments. A Scene may be interesting enough to grow into something longer – perhaps even taking an entire session to resolve.

DOMINIONS OF ASH AND TRAVEL In most cases the party will be traveling through Dominions of Ash. To create a sense of verisimilitude and depth, consider where the party is travelling when narrating the results of the tables. Using people, locations, and other details from the dominions ensures that travel doesn’t feel disconnected or separate from the world. A dangerous NPC encounter featuring environmental hazards looks and feels different in the dense jungles of Zamon than in the blasted sandsteel desert of Jahar for example.

CALCULATING TREACHEROUS TRAVEL

Treacherous Travel is a narratively-focused subsystem, though there are guidelines for how many Scenes and Glances typically fit into a dreg: a day of travel typically holds two Glances, or one Scene. This narratively represents that while many things may occur throughout the journey, it is typically only interesting to spend time on the elements that move the story or character relationships forward.

374 DARKNESS OF DRAGONGRIN

GUIDELINES, NOT RULES These are only guidelines, and the number of Scenes or Glances in a particular journey is entirely up to the Game Master. Additionally some locations within Dragongrin may be more difficult to traverse than others. To illustrate a particularly arduous journey, the GM may use two or three Scenes per dreg. Conversely, to illustrate an especially seamless journey, the GM may only use one Glance for every three dregs of travel. FULLY NARRATIVE TRAVEL For purely narrative travel through Dragongrin, consider using only Glances, allowing the party members to explain how the events and effects unfolded in retrospect.

EXCURSIONS – LENGTHY TRAVEL Travel beyond six or seven dregs and beyond is considered an excursion. Unless travel is the main focus of the narrative, this can become tedious and distract from the main story. Consider that anything beyond two or three Scenes, or three or more Glances may cause travel to become the focus of the game. To avoid this, decide on a number of Scenes or Glances that suits the pace of the game. Conversely, you can choose to run an entire session or campaign focusing on an excursion, where the journey is the focal point of the narrative, using the tables to generate the story beats.

PREPARING TREACHEROUS TRAVEL To use Treacherous Travel as a prep tool, simply determine how many dregs the journey would take. On a sheet of paper, draw a large square for each dreg of the journey. Then, within each dreg, draw a circle with either an “s” for Scene or “g” for a Glance. Roll on the corresponding table making notes for the details of each.

LANDMARKS AND MILESTONES To create a sense of actually moving through the world as Scenes and Glances play out, use milestones to narrate the progress of the party. Consider doing this at the beginning of the journey, then again in the middle, and once more when they arrive. For example, if the adventurers set out toward a mountain range in Innes, three example milestones would be: • “As you set off, you see the pale brown mountain range on the horizon. It pierces the sky, almost as if in another world entirely.” • “You notice the details of the mountain range becoming clearer. It feels more tangible than before, and its tawny face beckons you to press on.” • “As you approach the craggy pass that leads to the mountain, the gravity of its enormity is palpable. The details of the ancient stone are tangible, and its steep roadways await. You have arrived.” To make your own milestones, write down the start of these three sentences: “As you set off,” “You notice,” and “As you approach,” filling out the details that make sense for your journey. For locations that aren’t large enough to be seen from afar, use any details that would show the changing locales such as environment, weather, etc. – anything that can signal progress.

SCENE GENERATOR INFAMY AND TRAVEL If anyone in the party has Infamy, travel provides an excellent opportunity to feature its effects. Learn more about the Infamy subsystem on page 370.

SPEED OF TRAVEL It is assumed that travel in Dragongrin is done carefully by virtue of the dangers lurking in every corner. A cautious but steady pace is assumed when calculating dregs. However, if the party wishes to travel at a hasty pace, they may optionally do so. This will allow them to travel twice as fast, but with consequences – they can travel two dregs in one day, but must roll twice on the Glance or Scene tables. SAILING THE SHATTERED SEAS Treacherous Travel can easily be used when sailing on the Shattered Seas. Consider generating the Scenes or Glances you would normally, and then narratively alter them to occur on open waters. Note that on the open water, distance can be measured differently. GLANCE GENERATOR D20 EVENT AND OPTIONAL EFFECT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Inclement weather: Constitution save or gain a level of exhaustion Beautiful sight to behold: Gain Inspiration Merchants on the road: Buy from the Red Sail Market Scuffle with minor threat: Succeed a skill check/attack roll or take minor damage Safe haven: Gain the effects of a short rest Missive Crow delivery: Brief correspondence from an NPC or enemy Targeted by Marrow: Gain a point of Infamy Glimmerwinds: Gain 1d4 temporary hit points Narrowly escape Bleakstorm: Roll on Bleak Effects table on page 396 Ancient or hidden location stumbled upon: You learn a secret about the area Venomous plants or creatures: Everyone in the party gains the poisoned condition Hunting or foraging success: Everyone in the party gains 2 rations Powerful foes: Lose 1d10 hit points A shortcut found: Take up to a dreg off of the estimated travel time at the GM’s discretion Resources are taxed: Expend one character ability with a short rest reset time A friendly faction grants refuge: Gain the effects of a long rest Difficult travel: Choose 10gp worth of equipment, items etc. to be lost Waylaid: An unexpected delay adds an extra dreg to the journey Valen discovery: Roll on the Valens table on page 411 Archan discovery: Roll on the Archans table on page 401

D203

TONE

EVENT

RELATED TO

1 2

Dark Hopeful

NPC encounter Interplayer conversation

Tense

Moral quandary

4 5 6 7 8

Dangerous Glorious Apathetic Chaotic Peaceful

Combat Exploration Secret revealed Nature strikes Grim omen

Tragic

Mysterious occurrence

10 11

Calm Intimate

Meet other traveller(s) Sacred day celebration

Philosophical Route must be changed

13 14 15

Whimsical Forceful Reverent

Volatile

17 18

Macabre Irreverent

Supernatural occurrence Enemy is made Bond is formed Public execution witnessed Mortal wound Betrayal

PC’s Background Beautiful location Recent party difficulty Villain NPC connection Important item Wealth or power Lightfall Party member’s past Tradition Crucial resources Treacherous location Party’s goals Faction Legend or folktale

Victorious

Desolation Tear

Desperate

Bleakstorm

Promise or oath City or settlement Mission or quest Dismembered Legion Lord of Ash

STRIKING A TONE If you want a consistent feel throughout the entirety of the trip, consider rolling on the tone column only once, and have each Scene reinforce that overall feeling. If you want to explore the moment to moment drama of travelling, reroll every Scene to get a variety of expressions and tones. Also consider that the tone may be what it is before an event, which might alter it dramatically – a hopeful tone becoming tense or dark if a combat erupts, for example.

375 DARKNESS OF DRAGONGRIN

BRUTAL CHAMPIONS In Dragongrin, some people fight for survival, only using violence when forced into a corner – others relish in spilling blood every chance they get. Either way, skirmishes are a regular part of life in Dragongrin, often decisive, tragic, and markedly brutal. This section provides thematic, optional rules and narrative elements to use along with the standard rules for 5e combat to evoke that grim feeling. THE BLADE PLAYS NO FAVORITES The brutality of these rules is a bloody two-way street, and work the same way for the party and monsters alike. When choosing which optional combat rules work best for your campaign, remember that the player characters will be equally subject to their brutality.

VARIANT RULES FOR BRUTAL COMBAT All of the rules in this section can be used in any combination, and are intended to make combat in Dragongrin feel more deadly, visceral, grim, and gritty. It is not recommended that all of these optional rules be implemented simultaneously (the effects would likely be devastating or difficult to keep track of). Game Masters (GMs) are in no way required to implement them, but if they are so inclined, we encourage them to choose at most one or two of the listed options to cause combat to be deadlier than normal. Choose the options you feel will enhance your game’s tone. Many of these variant rules involve injury and similar flaws of the flesh, and as such won’t make much narrative sense if they are applied to constructs, undead, and other such inorganic creatures. Where a GM feels it applies, inorganic creatures can be immune or susceptible to the effects of some of these variant rules. Each variant rule is named, followed by a summary of what it affects, along with a description. Tables that are used by some of the variant rules follow later in the section. OPTIONAL RULES AND PLAYER AWARENESS Many players choose their character options with care in an effort to play characters that feel competent, powerful, and unique. It’s important that any optional rules that may hamstring or drastically change a player character’s competence level is well known and decided upon mutually. For instance, if the campaign the GM prepares features options that drastically reduce or eliminate healing magic, it would feel frustrating for a player if their character’s main capabilities were rendered useless. An excellent way to decide which optional rules to use as a group is with a Session 0 – a planning session for a campaign. They are covered in depth at the beginning of this section on page 367.

Also consider that the choice of variant brutal combat rules does not have to be static. Depending on the specific creatures or circumstances involved, consider choosing variant rules for the duration of a specific encounter or in a particular location. Be certain to announce any variant rules changes that apply so everyone is aware of them and can play their characters accordingly.

376 DARKNESS OF DRAGONGRIN

BRUTALITY, NOT HOSTILITY These rules, despite their additions to difficulty, are not meant to be used as an antagonistic or hostile division between GM and players. These rules will make combat feel more grim and difficult – and some players may want to feel heroic and capable. Only use these rules if the whole table seeks to add difficulty and danger to combat, and will enjoy the struggles the rules may cause.

Arcana Vulnere: (Healing) Roughly meaning “wounds without magic,” this rule incorporates restrictions or the removal of magical healing. There are two degrees of arcana vulnere. • Moderate: All magical healing is halved, with a minimum of 1 hit point restored. • Extreme: Spells that provide magical healing are removed altogether from the game. This does not typically affect resurrection magic, but for extreme brutality pair with the optional rule Into the Wailing Gray or What’s Dead is Dead. Battered: (Hit points) A new condition that causes detrimental effects to occur when a creature is reduced to half or fewer of their maximum hit points. This encourages players to keep an eye on their hit points and play more thoughtfully. See the Battered table later in this section for the specifics of each effect and how they are applied. Critical Consequences: (Critical hits) In addition to the damage dealt, critical hits also cause the target to suffer other mechanical consequences. See the Critical Consequences table later in this section for the specifics of each effect. Critical Fumbles: (Critical hits) If a player rolls a 1 on an attack roll, they score a critical fumble, and in addition to automatically missing the attack, also rolls on the Critical Consequences table later in this section, rolling with a d12 instead of a d20, and suffers the effects. Deadly Critical Hits: (Critical hits) A portion of the dice pool rolled for critical hit damage automatically deals max damage. Instead of rolling twice as many damage dice, treat the additional damage dice being rolled as having rolled their maximum value, and add that to the damage roll. For example, instead of a critical hit with a longsword dealing 2d8+4 damage, it instead deals 1d8+4+8 damage. Frenzy: (Damage, hit points) Enemies have fewer hit points, but can deal much more damage. Decrease enemy hit points by half, but they can also make one additional single attack per turn. This rule doesn’t follow the symmetry of most of these other variant rules, and is intended to make combats more dramatic and fast-paced. Death’s Door: (Death saving throws) Death saving throws have a DC of 15 instead of 10. BLIND DEATH SAVES To ratchet up the tension, the GM can make all death saving throws in secret – such as behind a GM screen. This means a player won’t know how close their character is to death. This uncertainty increases tension and builds suspense, and often causes other party members to react with more urgency to come to the aid of the fallen.

Into the Wailing Gray: (Resurrection) Resurrections are difficult and unreliable, and not as simple as casting a spell. Any resurrection spells that would normally use spell slots and components instead become complex rituals requiring exotic components and dangerous excursions into the Wailing Gray. See Resurrection later in this section for more details. One Last Chance: (Resurrection) Typically, someone can only undergo a resurrection journey one time. After that, their soul simply can’t bear the weight of another journey from undeath. Using this rule, you can only be resurrected a single time – no matter the means – before you are dead forever. Rest Only in Hiding: (Rests) A long rest can only be taken while concealed. In Dragongrin, danger lurks everywhere, and any rest taken out in the open will be interrupted. The GM decides if a suitable hiding spot can be found. If the characters cannot conceivably conceal themselves for up to 8 hours, they can only take a short rest. Slaughter: (Damage) Enemies deal maximum damage rather than rolling. This rule doesn’t follow the symmetry of most of these other variant rules, and is intended to make combats more challenging and tense. Maiming: (Critical hits) When a creature scores a critical hit on an attack roll, roll on the Maimed table in this section, and the target also suffers the effect in addition to any damage done. These are devastating, debilitating effects that could end an adventurer’s career. Unresponsive: (Unconsciousness) You can only regain consciousness from healing or succesful death saves once per combat. After, you still regain hit points when healed, but remain unconscious and stabilized until the end of the combat.

TOO MUCH REST AND NARRATIVE CONDITIONS Optionally, any time the players take more than one short rest in a day, their idle time and the dark circumstances of Dragongrin take their toll – consider giving a randomly chosen character a narrative condition found in the Optional Rules section on page 385. D12/D20 CRITICAL CONSEQUENCES 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Weary and Worn: (Rests) Short rests take 8 hours and long rests take 24 hours. For even more brutality, short rests take 24 hours and long rests take two full days. This method is especially hindering to spellcasters, so use it with extreme caution in a game with magic users.

What’s Dead Is Dead: (Resurrection) There is no return from death – in Dragongrin, what’s dead is dead. The only way to come back from the cold grip of death is to rise as a monstrous undead.

D12 BATTERED 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Bleeding Out: You take 1d4 damage at the beginning of each of your turns. Winded: You gain one level of exhaustion. Painful Wound: Whenever you take an action, you also take 1 point of damage due to exertion. Hobbled: Your movement speed is reduced to 10 feet. Disoriented: One hostile creature in range can immediately use their reaction to make a weapon attack against you. Enervated: Roll all damage dice twice and choose the lower result. Seeing Red: Pick a creature that you can see. Any attacks you make that are not made against that creature are made with disadvantage until that creature dies or until combat ends. Shaken: Attack rolls on your next turn are made with disadvantage. Walloped: You gain the deafened condition. Adrenaline Rush: You gain 1d4 temporary hit points. Cut Above the Eyes: You gain the blinded condition until you use an action to wipe away the blood; after, your first attack each round is rolled with disadvantage. Stupor: You gain the stunned condition until the end of your next turn.

17 18 19 20

Immediately following this attack, any hostile creatures that can see the target may use their reaction to make one weapon attack against the target. Attack rolls made by the target are made with disadvantage until the end of its next turn. The target may not use any Attack actions until the end of its next turn. The target cannot move until the end of its next turn. All attack rolls against the target are made with advantage until the end of its next turn. The target’s Armor Class is reduced by 2 until the end of its next turn. The target may not regain hit points until the end of its next turn. Saving throws made by the target are made with disadvantage until the end of its next turn. The target’s speed is reduced by half and it cannot take reactions until the end of its next turn. The target is knocked back 5 feet and drops anything it is holding. The target gains 1 level of exhaustion. The target is knocked prone. The attack ignores any damage resistances, and deals an additional damage die. An object that the target is wearing or carrying of the attacker’s choosing is knocked from them (pouch, bag, etc.). The target is momentarily dazed, and the attacker may use a reaction to immediately take the Disengage action and move up to 5 feet. The target gains the blinded condition until the end of its next turn. The target is dazed and gains the incapacitated condition until the end of its next turn. The target becomes frightened of the attacker until the end of its next turn. The target instantly drops to 0 hit points and begins to make death saving throws. The target is maimed – roll on the Maimed table.

BATTERED When a creature is reduced to half or fewer of their maximum hit points, they immediately gain the battered condition. The GM rolls on the Battered table (or allows the player to roll), or alternatively chooses a result based on the narrative and the description of the damage. Unless otherwise noted, a creature with the battered condition can only lose the battered condition when their hit points are restored to their maximum, or until combat is over. Some effects on the Battered table are instantaneous, while others are ongoing, persisting until the battered condition is removed.

CRITICAL CONSEQUENCES In addition to dealing deadly amounts of damage, critical hits also come with consequences that affect the battle for a short time after the blow is struck. In addition to the damage that the critical hit deals, roll on the consequence table to see what other effects the critical hit causes to the target. 377 DARKNESS OF DRAGONGRIN

MATERIAL COMPONENT SUBSTITUTION

MAIMED An optional additional effect of critical hits, maimings are lasting, debilitating effects – so use them with caution. Additionally, maimings cannot be healed quickly by mundane medicine or lesser magical healing such as lower-level spells or potions. Unless otherwise noted, a maimed character remains maimed unless they receive magical healing of 6th level or higher, or the equivalent, such as the heal and regenerate spells. When a creature becomes maimed, roll on the Maiming table on page 379.

MAIMINGS FROM VARIED SOURCES While the consequences a creature suffers from maiming are specific and clear, the source of the damage is left largely unspecified by design. A limb lost by incineration to a blistering fireball is described differently than one hacked off by a blunt axe – but the resulting missing limb is the final outcome for both. When deciding the specifics of how the maiming occurs, consider the weapon used and the creatures involved, and craft the description around that. GRAPHIC VIOLENCE WARNING Many maiming descriptions are graphic and violent. Be sure everyone at the table is interested in exploring this depth of physical harm and its vivid description. To ensure that everyone at your table is up for it, go to the opening section of this chapter on page 367.

Some of the maimed effects have narrative implications. Work with the GM to decide the details of how they may come into play (if at all). MAIMING AND THE STORIES THAT FOLLOW While these injuries can be debilitating and tragic, and have the potential to end a player character’s adventuring career, they can also be tremendous sources of conflict and instead begin a new chapter in a powerful story. The journey a character takes to overcome their injuries can be one of the most unique, interesting, and meaningful portions of the campaign. There are also myriad quest opportunities if the party seeks out spellcasters powerful enough to heal their maimed state. Who would help them, and what do they seek in return?

RESURRECTION RULES Death in Dragongrin is meant to feel severe and permanent. Returning from the cold grip of death is intended to be difficult, costly, and downright dangerous. Use these variant resurrection rules to evoke these themes of making character death more punishing in your Dragongrin campaign. RESURRECTION CONSIDERATIONS There are some costly, powerful resurrection spells that can be cast by only the most powerful and adept mages in Dragongrin. Consider that if the party has found the means and/or methods to cast powerful spells such as revivify, true resurrection, and others like it, the GM may consider bypassing some of the difficulties of traversing the Wailing Gray or other limitations of variant resurrection rules.

The resurrection spell requires the material component of a diamond worth at least 1,000 gold pieces, which the spell consumes. To make this spell more thematic to Dragongrin, consider making the material component required something equal in value, but unique to the realm. Roll for or choose some of the following optional material components the spell consumes – which can change from spellcaster to spellcaster – or create your own. D12 MATERIAL COMPONENT SUBSTITUTION 1 2 3 4 5 6

A relic or Prime Archan Willing Tomeheart sacrifice Still-functioning heart of a typhon Still-active Reliquary of Ash Mummified dragon head from a grin Fresh meat carved from C’War

RESURRECTION AND WAILING GRAY In these variant resurrection rules, bringing a soul back from the dead is far more involved than merely casting a spell. In Dragongrin, the afterlife is commonly known as the Wailing Gray, and to resurrect a creature, its soul must be retrieved from its colorless depths that exist in another ethereal realm. Everything in the Wailing Gray is void of color, save the bright crimson hue of blood. When a creature in Dragongrin dies, its soul is said to enter the Wailing Gray, where their own essence conjures a series of horrific and otherworldly locations modeled after their deepest fears, most painfully destroyed hopes and deepest regrets. Now known as a graysoul, within this place they feel very much alive, perceiving that they have flesh, bone, and even blood, though they are actually phantasmal souls. Tragically, this only allows for them to feel the pain of the vile monsters that dwell within the Wailing Gray tearing them apart over and over again. SURVIVING GRAYSOULS The longer a graysoul exists in the Wailing Gray, the more likely it is that the Nameless have devoured them until they have no memories left. There are, however, some cunning and resilient graysouls who have persisted within the Wailing Gray and manage to outsmart and even cull the Nameless, keeping their memories.

Within the Wailing Gray, graysouls are doomed to die and die over and over again, hunted by unfathomable creatures known as the Nameless of the Gray. Every time they are slain, they lose pieces of their memories from their life in Dragongrin, but their ethereal “bodies” regenerate only to have it happen all over again. The Nameless always devour a graysoul down to its bones, and within a short time, they painfully regenerate – vital organs first, then muscle and sinew, then skin and hair and the rest – but the eyes always regenerate last – and the blood becomes just a little more gray with the loss of each memory. Eventually, when a graysoul’s last memory leaves them, they become one of Nameless themselves, living only to hunt and devour new graysouls in an endless cycle.

RESURRECTION RITUALS AND JOURNEYS Using this variant rule, in order to resurrect someone, you must open a Gray Door and then perform a specific ritual or journey to retrieve the graysoul from the Wailing Gray. The method you use depends on how long the person has been dead and within the Wailing Gray. Before a Gray Door can be opened, the soul of the dead individual must be located.

378 DARKNESS OF DRAGONGRIN

D100

MAIMING

D100

Your head is struck with unfathomable force, and obliterated beyond recognition. You die instantly.

33-34

You are snapped, sliced, or broken in half. You die instantly.

35-36

Your skull is crushed, your brain is severely damaged, and you lose all cognitive function. You are still alive, but gain the incapacitated condition. You cannot communicate cognitively.

37-38

Your spine is shattered, and you gain the paralyzed condition.

39-40

You are impaled, and a vital organ is nicked. You drop to 0 hit points and begin making death saving throws. If you survive, your character’s primary hit die from your class is lowered by one (from a d8 to a d6, etc.). If the hit die is already a d4, reduce all d4 hit die rolls by 1. This reduces your current maximum hit points, affects any hit points gained at future levels, and changes your hit die for the purposes of regaining hit points during rests. You are struck in the back of the neck, and paralyzed from the waist down. Your speed on foot is 0 feet, but you can crawl 5 feet per round. You may not use the Dash action, and you have disadvantage on Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks and Dexterity saving throws.

41-43

Your throat is brutally struck, crushing your windpipe and making it difficult to breathe. Each day, when you gain your first level of exhaustion, you gain two levels of exhaustion instead.

44-46

Your nose is torn from your face, leaving a gaping hole. You gain a skeletal visage and have advantage on all Charisma (Intimidation) checks.

Your eyes are destroyed. You gain the blinded condition.

47-50

Your ears are destroyed. You gain the deafened condition.

51-54

9-10

11-12

13-14

15-16 17-18 19-20

21-22

23-24

25-26

27-28

29-30

31-32

Your leg is crushed or severed above the knee. Your speed on foot is halved, and you must use a cane or crutch to move. You fall prone after using the Dash action and have disadvantage on Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks and Dexterity saving throws. You suffer intense internal trauma. Before you take an action in combat, you must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, you lose your action and can’t take reactions until the start of your next turn. Your abdomen is shredded and bruised, and your viscera are mangled. When you suffer damage, you suffer an additional point of damage. Your lower spine and pelvis are shattered and split. You’ll never be able to move the same way again. Your Armor Class is reduced by 1. Your kneecaps are crushed and shattered, and they’ll never be the same. You roll initiative checks with disadvantage. A tendon in your leg strains, tears, then snaps in two. You have disadvantage on all Dexterity checks that require use of your legs and all Dexterity saving throws. Your chest takes a wicked blow. A vital internal organ such as the heart or a lung is damaged, and you gain a permanent level of exhaustion that can never be removed except through magical means. Your chin is struck with intense force. Your jaw is shattered, and you bite your tongue off, rendering you unable to speak. You cannot take any action that requires you to speak (the verbal components to spells, for example). Your mouth is struck with immense force and you damage your tongue. You have disadvantage on all Charisma checks involving speaking. Both of your hands are maimed, mangled, or severed. You can no longer hold any objects that require the use of your hands. You automatically fail any Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) checks. You suffer brain damage from a brutal blow to the head. You have disadvantage on all Intelligence checks and saving throws. Your personality may change as well. Your face is disfigured badly. You have disadvantage on Charisma (Persuasion) and Charisma (Performance) checks, but advantage on Charisma (Intimidation) checks.

MAIMING Your arm or hand is shattered, mangled, or severed. You can now only hold a single object at a time. You gain disadvantage on Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) checks. Your knee is destroyed. Your speed on foot is reduced by 5 feet. You must make a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw after using the Dash action. If you fail the save, you fall prone. Your mouth is shredded, and your teeth shattered, affecting your ability to speak. You have disadvantage on Charisma (Persuasion) checks. A large nerve cluster is struck. You are in constant pain and have disadvantage on all Strength checks and saving throws.

Your pelvis is shattered. You have disadvantage on all Dexterity checks and saving throws. One eye is utterly destroyed. You have disadvantage on any ranged attack rolls and Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.

55-58

Your ribs splinter like dry wood. You have disadvantage on all Strength checks and saving throws.

59-62

The muscles in your upper arm are annihilated. You’ll never be as strong as you once were. Reduce all damage rolls with weapons by 1 (minimum 1).

63-66

You are struck in the collar bone with devastating force and it shatters. Reduce your Armor Class by 1.

67-70 71-74 75-78

79-82

83-87

88-92

Your hands and arms suffer severe trauma and the nerves will never fully recover. Your hands and arms shake violently, and all damage rolls with weapons are reduced by 2 (minimum 1). Your lungs are collapsed and will never fully recover. You have disadvantage on all Constitution checks and saving throws. You lose three fingers on your main weapon hand. Reduce all attack rolls made with that hand by 1. An intense blow to the abdomen bruises your vitals. Your adrenal glands are most affected – increase your movement speed by 5 feet, but reduce your maximum hit points by 1d4. Your temper grows and your behavior can be impulsive. Your shoulder takes a massive trauma, shattering the joint. You have disadvantage with any weapon attack that requires two hands, and while wielding a shield, the Armor Class bonus of that shield is reduced by 1. You were struck in the chest with indescribable force, nearly in the heart. You survived, but now fear for your mortality. You have disadvantage on all saving throws against fear effects. In some cases, you may even avoid combat for fear of dying.

93-97

Your face is fractured, leaving it misshapen. Luckily, the lasting damage is merely cosmetic.

98-99

Your nose is broken. It will heal crooked, but otherwise is merely cosmetic.

You are lucky. The wound is minor, and you gain a scar that’s little more than cosmetic. Roll again on this table but ignore the effects, using the result to determine the location.

379 DARKNESS OF DRAGONGRIN

GRAY DOORS

D20 GRAY RITUAL ENCOUNTERS

When a spell is cast that would bring a character back to life, instead a Gray Door is open – a portal to the Wailing Gray. This is the portal through which you retrieve the creature’s soul to resurrect them. GRAY DOORS AND FORBIDDANCE There is a spell called Dorvan’s unopened door on page 160 that assists with protecting Gray Doors. This is not the only spell that can prevent travel between the Wailing Gray and the material plane. The forbiddance spell can also affect Gray Doors. The spell prevents new doors from opening in the area and seals any doors currently open, creating an unbreakable window into the Wailing Gray. In addition, when you cast forbiddance, you may select aberrations for the spell’s damaging effect. To prevent any creatures from the Wailing Gray from entering the zone, a caster should protect against undead and aberrations.

LOCATING A SOUL IN THE WAILING GRAY Locating a soul in the Wailing Gray can be done by touching a dead creature that has been dead for no more than a century, that didn’t die of old age, and that isn’t undead. The character attempting to find their soul then makes either an Intelligence (Arcana), Intelligence (Religion), or other check as decided by the GM, the DC of which is decided by how long the target creature has been dead. This can be attempted once per day. With each subsequent resurrection that a target creature undergoes, the DC to find them increases by 2 automatically. In the case that a soul cannot be located in the Wailing Gray, it can mean that the attempt made was too weak – or that their soul is gone forever, devoured by the nameless within. There’s no way to be sure. For added tension, the GM can roll to locate the soul in secret so the party doesn’t know which it is more likely to be. DIFFICULTY OF RESURRECTION The GM ultimately decides if – and how – a soul may be found and recovered from the Wailing Gray in Dragongrin. They can choose to handle the locating of the soul mechanically using the rules in this section, or by other methods they choose. It can also be handled completely narratively, requiring no dice rolls or mechanics. DIFFICULTY OF RESURRECTION DEATH DURATION DC

DIFFICULTY

REQUIRED

Hours Days Weeks Months Years

Easy Moderate Difficult Daunting Nearly impossible

Gray Ritual Gray Ritual Gray Journey Gray Journey Gray Journey

10 15 20 25 30

GRAY RITUALS If a body has only been dead for a matter of hours or days, a Gray Ritual can be performed to attempt to retrieve it. In these cases a Gray Door can be opened directly to where the graysoul is within the Wailing Gray, allowing those attempting the resurrection to remain in the material realm of Dragongrin, but opening a rift large enough to pull the graysoul through. While this allows the graysoul to be pulled back into the land of the living without needing to enter into the Wailing Gray, it allows vile creatures of all kinds – especially Nameless of the Gray – to spill from the Gray Door. If a Gray Ritual encounter doesn’t include creatures, assume Nameless of the Gray burst forth.

380 DARKNESS OF DRAGONGRIN

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

A mouth the size of the Gray Door opens behind rows of razorsharp teeth. Indecipherable runes burn into the ground, revealing dark secrets of those nearby. Hundreds – perhaps thousands – of eyeless ravens explode from the Gray Door. Ghostly faces appear on all non-living surfaces, charming the living. A bizarre house of dirt and stone forms around the party. A phantasmal knight atop a skeletal horse seeks the blood of the living. As far the eye can see is pure darkness, spectral light centered on the party. Pools of black liquid form, and creatures made entirely of teeth emerge. The area grows freezing cold as a notable dead figure appears to fight. Everyone in the area appears skeletal and gaunt as skeletons emerge from the portal. The mortal earth on this side of the Gray Door begins to crack and slowly crumble. The ground shifts and moves – you stand atop a giant living creature. All present in the area become spectres, leaving their bodies until the ritual finishes. A violent thunderstorm erupts, and torrents of bone and teeth rain down brutally. Adventurers of equal power level to the party emerge from the Gray Door. The ritual is above a mass grave, and the corpses rise in ire. Thoughtslayers from the Desolation spill forth. Nameless of the Gray fuse together to form a gargantuan creature. Gouts of colorless flame erupt from random points on the ground. Floating lights encircle the Gray Door, sapping hope and joy.

GRAY JOURNEYS If a body has been dead for weeks, months, or years, a Gray Ritual will not suffice, and a Gray Journey must be performed to attempt to retrieve it. A Gray Journey requires exotic spell components and bizarre rituals to transport the souls of any willing creatures in close proximity into the Wailing Gray to recover the graysoul. Their physical forms remain behind, unconscious but stable until their souls return. The souls of the willing living creatures who enter the Wailing Gray do so deep within its depths and within a day’s travel of the graysoul. Any who enter the Wailing Gray are at risk of losing themselves in its depths. They must find the graysoul and return to the place through which they entered the Wailing Gray. Any soul who lingers within the Wailing Gray too long becomes a graysoul themselves. Unless a party member is an expert in such things, a Gray Journey is not to be taken on lightly, and someone will likely be needed to conduct the ritual and act as a guardian for the party, or their chances of return are slim. This guardian typically does not accompany the party into the Wailing Gray, but helps them enter and exit the deadly, dismal realm, as well as watches over their physical forms. To discover the whereabouts of a graysoul in the Wailing Gray, roll on the Gray Journey Locations and Gray Journey Encounters tables and combine the results. Optionally, continue to roll on these tables to generate endless portions of the Wailing Gray to explore.

TRAVERSING THE GRAY The Wailing Gray is a strange, paranormal plane of existence, and therefore doesn’t follow the same logic as a material, physical location. Behaving more as a chaotic fugue state, it is a series of disparate “sites” manifested by fragmented memories, connected by endless stretches of void. The layout and orientation changes constantly, and you go deeper and deeper into its depths with each passing hour.

D20 GRAY JOURNEY ENCOUNTERS 1 2 3 4

D20 GRAY JOURNEY LOCATIONS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Abandoned combat arena of glistening onyx stone Jagged, hewn stairways that lead into the hazy gray sky Floating, slowly rotating hamlet Crooked towering metropolis of non-euclidean geometry Single, narrow bridge spanning an endless chasm Cathedral of gearworks and platforms Floating conglomeration of fractured rock formations Ravaged and scorched field; small colorless fires still burn Myriad, deep craters with cities resting in them Forest of bone and ash A picturesque landscape of a small town, unsettlingly perfect A single watchtower emerging from an enormous skull Atop the gargantuan, decaying corpse of a 1: dragon 2: Titan 3: Primordial 4: typhon A sprawling metropolis seemingly carved of bone Inky black ocean dotted with vessels Prison of souls and its surrounding fences and fortifications Twisted castle with sprawling towers Large, perfectly-formed onyx cubes rest in a bed of roiling smoke Blasted, crater-filled doomscape of ash and jagged cliffs A colossal canyon that cuts across an endless horizon

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Skeletal birds swoop overhead calling out the secrets of the party An invisible creature approaches, so large it shakes the ground as it moves A group of capable Silverwise hunters cull the creatures within this place Ruinous battlefield littered with massacred corpses sprayed a vibrant crimson A newly killed graysoul offers the party untold riches if they aid in their return Colorless beastfolk sell maps of souls – and the surrounding area For at least a dreg there are “scriptures” written in blood about the King in Red A pack of Nameless have cornered a pair of graysouls Two colorless armies line the horizon and prepare to charge Enormous, colorless wasps make an angular, dripping nest A perfect replica of a familiar place manifests, but reveals a secret Colorless, cunning bounty hunters seek souls for the highest bidder The party encounters someone else they loved dearly who is dead A pure-white, sphinx-like creature poses impossible riddles to any it senses A single Astral Adjudicator seals an errant Feymist crossing A spectral hunter of Nameless stalks atop a skeletal horse A gibbering, extraplanar creature from the Desolation prowls the shadows A grim and grisly Red Sail Market within – its sails appear vibrant red... A half-dozen sets of graysoul bones begin to regenerate An infernal appears, offering help in return for souls and servitude

RESURRECTIONS AND STOLEN DAYS In the optional rules portion of this chapter there are rules regarding the number of “days” or potential future moments that a creature has in Dragongrin. If you choose to use those variant rules there is a portion that also interacts with resurrections. For more information, see those optional rules on page 385.

381 DARKNESS OF DRAGONGRIN

D20 MAJOR RESURRECTION EFFECTS 1 2

10 11 12 13 14

Dulled Senses: You don’t feel sensations as strongly as you used to. Food tastes faint and ashen. Touch is not comforting or satisfying, and even pain is hollow. Detached: Life and death don’t carry as much weight as they did before. Emotional care and mercy feel foreign as concepts. Haunted: Creatures from the Wailing Grey follow you and await your return. You see their shapes in the shadows and feel their stares on you always, but especially in times of mortal danger. Paranoid: The Wailing Grey has scarred you and you fear going back. You are more on edge and prone to bouts of hyperawareness, and extremely slow to trust strangers, especially in high-risk situations. Relentless Vengeance: You’ve become fixated on killing to the one who killed you. Even people who look or act similarly to them might set off this impulse. Bloodlust: The hunger of the Wailing Gray has filled you, and you gladly send souls to its domain. You find satisfaction in violence and death. Obsessed: You were almost robbed of the chance to achieve your goals once and will not be robbed again. You become obsessed with accomplishing your goals and will not be distracted from them. Unnatural: Living animals and beasts treat you as hostile, you cannot have a mount, animal companion or familiar that is an animal. If you have spells or features that allow you to obtain such a companion, it appears instead as an aberrant or undead version that follows the same stats, with the exception of its type. Dark Dweller: Sunlight is a bane to you. While in sunlight, you have disadvantage on attack rolls, as well as on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight. Lingering Undeath: Your creature type becomes undead. You no longer need food or water, but you crave the taste of flesh or blood. Restless: You require distractions and a specific rite or ceremony to be performed to gain the benefits of a long test. Death Sense: You can sense where freshly dead bodies are, usually a day or two old, up to a week. Painless: You no longer feel physical pain. Gain 1d4 permanent hit points, but you can’t feel a thing, good or bad. Emptied Vessel: Your soul has left your body and not fully returned, and you attract ghosts and dark creatures seeking a host. Cycle of Rot: Each day you slowly decompose as the day goes on, showing signs of rot with each passing hour, emitting the stench of death. Upon completing a long rest your flesh is renewed and the process begins again. Desolation Marked: In your return to life, your soul was marked by the inky darkness of the Desolation. You are strongly compelled to know its mysteries. Dead Scrawlings: A portion – or all – of your flesh has been tattooed or marked with strange writings in a language you do not understand. You know not its origin, but you feel in your soul it is of great importance. Chosen: Your return was foretold by the writings of a faction, faith, or culture. Some believe it is for good, most for ill, but both sides seek you out. Different Days: The timeline you returned to feels misaligned. You have vivid memories that you alone remember. A close relationship you once had no longer exists. Work with the GM to decide the details. Undead Anatomy: Critical hits scored against you only do normal damage. However, you only gain half the normal hit points from magical healing.

382 DARKNESS OF DRAGONGRIN

RESURRECTION EFFECTS Even if one does manage to return from the Wailing Gray, it is an extremely strenuous process that changes them forever. Whenever someone is resurrected in Dragongrin, roll on the Resurrection Effects tables to see what lasting effects the horrifying process has scarred them with. For someone who was dead a short time, consider rolling on the Minor Resurrection Effects table. For someone who was dead for an extended amount of time, consider rolling on both the Major and Minor Effects tables, applying both effects. D20 MINOR RESURRECTION EFFECTS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

You feel an uncontrollable empathy and understanding – even a connection – with the Dismembered Lord. Your shadow is not your shape. It is strange and otherworldly. Your eyes glow faintly, more evident in the darkness. Your tongue blackens and your speech sounds unsettling. You always feel cold, and your skin is chilled and clammy no matter what. Your reflection shows you as you were when you died, with all injuries fresh. Food you touch spoils, drinks you hold that aren’t water sour and turn. Your blood is gray, and you bleed half as much as before you were brought back. The only thing that satisfies your hunger is fresh dirt. When you laugh, sing, or yell, a strange and sinister voice joins you. A single color appears ashen gray to your eyes. The sound of your own name causes you to wince as though you’ve heard a nail scraping a rusted shield. You possess vivid memories of a person close to you that no one else seems to know or remember. A small, jet black animal follows you always from a distance – a bird, rat, cat, or something more otherworldly... You see strange shapes writhing in any darkness you encounter. Light sources dim and flicker when you are near them – though they occasionally surge and burn more brightly. As though dropped into your mind all at once, you now know a set of songs and stories about a single topic in Dragongrin. You can speak and understand a single new language – though you cannot read or write it. You always feel hungry and thirsty, no matter how much you eat or drink. You emit a strange but distinct aroma such as fresh rain, burning coals, bitter fruit – or something much worse...

GLIMMER AND DOOM In Dragongrin, magic items are rare, mystical, and sought after. Carrying a magic item and letting its existence become known is essentially inviting those more powerful than you to come and take it away. Whether it’s a Marrow who shakes you down, a prydagger who attempts to cut your throat to pilfer it, or a Lord of Ash who directly commands you to surrender it – magic items are not often brandished openly, and hold exceptional value in Dragongrin.

FINDING MAGIC ITEMS

One seldom – if ever – finds magic items available for purchase. It’s likely that any notable magic item isn’t lying around unclaimed, but is more likely in the possession of a Lord of Ash, buried in a dragon’s grin, or hidden away in a typhon’s vault. By making magic items more rare, it allows the players to experience a greater level of excitement and hope when they find one, and by putting them in the possession of those who oppress them, it makes the world feel more unfair and draconian. Though not common, some unclaimed magic items lie scattered across the realm of Dragongrin. Places like less traversed savage frontiers within Dominions of Ash, longburied grins of dragons, vaults of typhons, and shipwrecks under the Shattered Seas could hold treasures untold. MAGIC ITEMS IN THIS BOOK There are some places canonically within A Dead Man’s Guide to Dragongrin which mention specific magic items, such as the unclaimed Reliquary of Ash in Feygrave. No matter what the text of this book says, the Game Master (GM) has final say over where – and if – those items exist within a session or campaign, and can change or omit them to suit the story.

DESCRIBING ITEMS

To evoke the grim and gritty tone in Dragongrin, consider describing most items as old and worn, and of substandard quality. While this won’t typically make any mechanical difference, it keeps an undertone of scarcity and worn living. If shiny new equipment is rare, even mundane equipment in good condition can be valuable and draw attention. VARIANT RULE: MAGIC ITEM AND INFAMY Magic items draw attention, and rarely the good kind. As an optional rule, any magic item adorned prominently or used openly automatically increases your Infamy rating by one point for as long as the item can be easily seen. For especially tense and gritty games, even high-quality mundane items might qualify for increased scrutiny and increase in Infamy.

REWARDS

Rewards are anything given in recognition of the party’s services and achievements that is not a named magic item or gold. In some situations, a social reward, favor owed, or access to specific information can be more valuable to the player characters than a magic item. Rewards also allow the GM to distribute treasure without saturating the party with magic items, or diminishing the value of the Sovereign’s coinage. REWARDS D12

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

PERSON

REWARD

Close Relative Shady Contact Local Commoner Old Friend Respected Scholar Wealthy Merchant Powerful Guild Influential Faction Ranking Marrow Influential Politician Religious Leader Lord of Ash

Freedom (for you or another) Full pardon of any crimes Access to a secret library Honor restored or granted Rare book of lost lore Transcription of a secret ritual Forgotten song or story Acceptance into culture or faction A favor owed A personal servant Seat of power and a title Truthful answer from a powerful sage

MAGIC ITEM RARITY GUIDELINES

The 5e guidelines encourage magic items to be rare and unique. In Dragongrin, that is taken a step further, making them even more scarce and extraordinary. When a player character acquires an item in Dragongrin, it should evoke a sense of awe and wonder, further emphasizing the feeling of hope, even in a dark realm. Consider this modified version of the magic item rarity guidelines for use in Dragongrin. MAGIC ITEM RARITY GUIDELINES Common: 3rd level or higher Uncommon: 3rd level or higher Rare: 6th level or higher Very Rare: 12th level or higher Legendary: 18th level or higher

ARCHANS AND VALENS

Archans and Valens can make great alternative rewards for exploration, completion of quests, and items found on notable slain foes. While both of these objects are similar to magic items, they each provide their own unique tonal quality that can make sessions or campaigns more dynamic. Valens allow for a measured way to introduce magic items and give players a sense of deciding for themselves what they want to possess and work toward. Archans, with their quality rating, limitations, and their ability to be combined and altered, make for both dynamic and lower risk rewards compared to standard magic items.

383 DARKNESS OF DRAGONGRIN

STORIES AND RARITY

To add more depth to a magic item, consider adding some story elements. For magic items that are either rare, very rare, or legendary, consider rolling on the following tables to generate rumored whereabouts, who seeks it, notable history, and a notable condition when found. D20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

RUMORED WHEREABOUTS Circulated within the Red Sail Market Sealed away in a typhon vault Buried deep in a dragon’s grin Being fenced in a nearby city In the collection of a notable figure Being smuggled across a dominion On the black market Wielded by a Marrow commander Lost in the Bleak Hidden by an unexpected person Aboard the Copper Sun Being prepared for a powerful ritual Possessed by a group of monsters Lost within a Dominion of Ash In the depths of the Shattered Seas Inside a Warmaker Lost within the Desolation Within the lair of a powerful monster In the possession of a Lord of Ash In the Spire of Knowing in Grinn WHO SEEKS IT?

D20

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

TYPE

STATION

Wealthy Cowardly Ambitious Reckless Respected Powerful Charming Incompetent Kind hearted Stoic Resourceful Disciplined Smug Cautious Influential Well-trained Religious Paranoid Greedy Suspicious

Marrow Hexbound or Spellblood Undying Light Marauder or Berserker Mystic or Creature Cultural Diplomat Faction Member or Leader Retired Adventurer Warden or Rook Spellscrawl or Scetic Eloquent or Valewalker Copper Jackal Dious or Oathscarred Criminal Lord of Ash Servant Commoner Ranking Marrow Infamous Hero or Villain Warmaker Lord of Ash

384 DARKNESS OF DRAGONGRIN

D20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 D20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

NOTABLE HISTORY Wielded by a famous Granok Thane general Spent notable time lost in the Desolation Used by a Silverwise to slay a vile monster Once experimented on by the Oedran A relic of the lost people of Viste Found by a Drogus who made a fortune on it Said to be evidence that the gods exist Was in the house coffers of the Crucian for some time Was revered by the Ardor as divine Was an iconic symbol of freedom in Lightfall Taken as a trophy of war by the Talasar Hoarded by the Mord for many years Said to have come from within the Bleak Commissioned by a powerful figure Used in an infamous assassination The Zarfvin used it to create specific Archans Notably has a fake replica Said to possess a unique Hue by the Sarrik Wielded by a Holmir leader who culled a deadly grin Had prophetic significance to the Grimdul WHEN FOUND Broken in half, but repairable Wrapped in canvas with divine writings Signs of recent modifications or repairs A piece is cracked or broken off Profaned by the Desolation Has an accompanying journal of its history Is cursed Is one among two identical fakes Bathed in dried blood that won’t come off Is the weapon in a terrible scheme Filthy beyond recognition It changes shape, transforming There is a map with it, marking other treasure Looks surprisingly new and vibrant Emits strange whispers All color drained from it Forever changed by the Bleak Another group finds it at the same time It glows with strange energy Fetches a tremendous reward

OPTIONAL RULES Presented here are some optional additions and modifications to enhance the existing 5e rules framework, and tune it to feel more thematic to Dragongrin. Apply these new rules carefully, and always after discussing as a group. For grittier combat rules, see Brutal Champions on page 376.

NARRATIVE CONDITIONS

Narrative conditions are story-driven circumstances that alter a creature’s situation in a variety of ways. Most conditions are driven by conflict, and will tax the player, bringing negative effects. However a few of them can be seen as beneficial (such as Infamy). Narrative conditions are much more abstracted and storydriven than the standard, mechanical conditions of 5e. Conditions in 5e have particular mechanical effects caused by specific circumstances, such as monster attacks or spells. Narrative conditions are non-mechanical plot devices, designed to be flexible and informed by what best suits the story at the moment. The precise cause and specifics of a narrative condition are meant to be something that the Game Master (GM) decides. A narrative condition lasts until resolved (low supply is countered by purchasing food, water, or ammunition, for example), or if that story element resolves itself naturally or narratively (such as finding a stolen supply crate, or receiving rations and water as a quest reward, for example). While there are some specific examples how narrative conditions may be solved – these are meant to be inspirational – ultimately the GM decides how and when a narrative condition is lifted by working with the players.

OPTIONAL RULE: SAVING THROWS AND SKILL CHECKS Using a saving throw or skill check before imposing a narrative condition can create some great story moments. The GM can decide which check or saving throw is most fitting, or ask the player to describe how they would overcome the obstacle. These are meant to be heavily narrative. For example, if a player character is attempting to avoid the infamous narrative condition, the GM can call for a Charisma (Performance) check, giving the player character an opportunity to spin the situation in a different light to onlookers. Or if the GM asks what the player character would like to roll to avoid gaining the low supply condition, they can say they use their Intelligence (Investigation) roll to collect some of their errant crossbow bolts, or Wisdom (Survival) to attempt to find food and water. Most narrative conditions have an additional roll table of inspirational options offering narrative cues. Consider rolling on this before calling for saving throws or skill checks so the player character understands the exact challenge they face.

OPTIONAL RULE: PREPARATION If you have inspiration and are faced with gaining a narrative condition, you can spend the inspiration to ignore that narrative condition by being prepared. Additionally, if you have inspiration, you can spend it to prevent another willing creature from gaining a narrative condition.

Unless the GM decides it wouldn’t make sense, the effects of narrative conditions stack. If multiple situations or effects impose the same narrative condition on a creature, each instance is separate and needs its own resolution. So if you have two instances of low supply – food and ammo, for example – you’d need to buy both to get rid of both instances of that narrative condition. TREACHEROUS TRAVEL AND THE PASSAGE OF TIME Narrative conditions can also be especially useful when they are imposed on player characters after the passage of time. For example, if the party has just finished a short or long rest in an especially dangerous area, you may consider imposing a narrative condition. Narrative conditions are also perfect for use with the Treacherous Travel subsystem, imposing them on players during the Scenes and Glances. Read more about that system on page 374.

BALANCING THE NARRATIVE Narrative conditions are not for every game style. For more cut and dry simulation style games, their fluid and improvised nature can actually feel unfair and potentially even in violation of player agency. If you have a party that meticulously plans by purchasing ample arrows, food, and water, imposing the low supply narrative condition will feel illogical and forced. Be sure that the group is open to the use of narrative conditions before imposing them.

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NARRATIVE CONDITION DESCRIPTIONS The following descriptions give narrative guidelines to the player and GM to decide what happens to a creature when it is subjected to a narrative condition. Narrative conditions are often specific to an exact situation and are often chosen, with exact story details being decided by the GM or collaboratively between the GM and any players.

ESCALATING NARRATIVE CONDITIONS TABLE You may optionally roll for narrative conditions randomly. To control the severity of what can occur, the table is divided into tiers of intensity and danger each assigned to different dice. It begins with a d4 which features more minor short-term effects, increases to a d6, d8, and d10 featuring more and more treacherous entries, and ends with a d12 – which adds the most permanent and severe outcomes. D4/D6/D8/D10/D12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

ESCALATING NARRATIVE CONDITIONS Low Supply Battleworn Burdened Jaded Wanted Hunted Unhinged Infamous Enthralled Crux Afflicted Cursed

AFFLICTED You become ill. This can be something you caught as a result of your travels and adventures, from another source entirely, or something you were predisposed to get. Work with your Game Master to decide the cause and cure – if there is one.

D4 1 2 3 4

AFFLICTED Mysterious illness plaguing many You’ve had it for some time, mistaking symptoms as something else Rare, strange condition related to magic Hereditary sickness that becomes known

BATTLEWORN The trials and travails of combat and skirmishes have taken its toll on your weapons or armor. This condition is removed if you pay to have the weapon or armor repaired. D4 1 2 3 4

BATTLEWORN Weapon broken – the GM chooses a non-magic weapon or shield that breaks Worn armor – reduce your AC by 1 Worn weapon – weapon damage is halved Equipment broken – GM chooses a non-magic piece of equipment, which breaks

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BURDENED As if life wasn’t trying enough in Dragongrin, things become even more difficult for you. You gain a new burden. Work with the GM to choose a suitable new burden or roll on the Burdens table on page 166. Optionally, roll below for a narrative twist on the burden’s origins. This condition is removed if you resolve your burden. D4 1 2 3 4

BURDENED There’s a darker secret to this burden This is a problem from your past resurfacing You owe someone a favor; the burden is theirs There’s been a mix-up, but it’s too late to explain

CRUX The Dismembered Lord’s enigmatic Crucible foresees upcoming pivotal events known as Cruxes, and it has foreseen that you are to play a part in one. Though the device cannot glean outcomes, it can sometimes vaguely perceive how the Dismembered Legion must interact with the situation. This condition is removed if the event comes to pass or is somehow subverted. D4 1 2 3 4

CRUX An Arcseer seeks you out to question you The Dismembered Legion must help you complete a task The Dismembered Legion will stop your goals Destined to play a bigger part (work with the GM to escalate the current story)

EXISTING CRUXES For this narrative condition, consider thrusting the party into an existing Crux from a Dominion of Ash. You can also optionally generate a new story using the Crucible portion of this book found on page 424.

CURSED A curse befalls you or an item you carry. The curse might originate from a pact in your family history, a misdeed of yours or an ancestor’s, or a supernatural force from beyond the Material Plane. Work with your GM to decide the nature of the curse, which can only be removed through righting a wrong or performing a specific and ancient ritual. D4 1 2 3 4

CURSED An item or object Fractured timeline Otherworldly force Dragongrin’s past

UNHINGED You’ve brushed up against one of the many wondrous, titanic, or horrific things that exists in Dragongrin. Your brush with something cosmically larger or horrific than yourself has caused an existential panic in you. You aren’t afflicted with madness – but this is certainly one step closer. This condition is removed if you seek help or take necessary downtime to recover. D4 1 2 3 4

UNHINGED Brush with a typhon or dragon Witnessing a largely intact Titan or Primordial Experiencing or surviving a Bleakstorm Narrowly surviving a Desolation Tear

ENTHRALLED

WANTED

One of the many wondrous facets of Dragongrin has fascinated you intensely, and holds your attention captive. You have an unbalanced desire to learn more about this subject. This condition is removed if your curiosity is sated.

You are wanted for a crime. This condition is removed if you can clear your name with the proper authorities, find someone else who is guilty, grease some palms, or worse… You are wanted by:

D4 1 2 3 4

ENTHRALLED The Sovereign and the Dismembered Legion Titans or Primordials Dragons or typhons The Bleak or Yhaghul

HUNTED A creature, person, monster, or force hunts you relentlessly for reasons unique to them. They will stop at nothing until they track you down for their cause. This condition is removed if you face the hunter. D4 1 2 3 4

HUNTED There is a bounty on your head A seeker of revenge trails you Someone seeks you and you alone for help An unspeakable monster or entity stalks you

INFAMOUS An act you committed is gaining notoriety, whether you intend it or not. Gain a point of Infamy, and roll on the appropriate Infamy table on page 370. Optionally, roll below for a narrative twist on why and how the Infamy was gained. D4 1 2 3 4

INFAMOUS You are mistaken for someone else with Infamy Your acts are misconstrued or blown out of proportion Unknown factors were revealed, changing context You meant to be noticed, and it worked.

JADED You are becoming numb to the cold, dark days of Dragongrin. You have difficulty caring about much at all – in some cases even your own well being or the safety of others. This condition is removed if you experience a ray of hope in the darkness – some sort of touching or warm moment that helps you recall that there is some good worth fighting for in Dragongrin. D4 1 2 3 4

JADED You witnessed something awful Forced to commit something heinous Lost someone or something dear Were betrayed, snubbed, or lied to

LOW SUPPLY Your supplies are unexpectedly taxed, and you are running low. Roll or choose the option that fits the situation best. D4 1 2 3 4

LOW SUPPLY Food – enough for one last meal Water – one good gulp left Ammo – down to the last two shots Coin – down to your last gold wraith

D4 1 2 3 4

WANTED Local criminal or miscreant Faction leader or notable figure Marrow or any rank Lord of Ash or their lieutenant

STOLEN DAYS

In Dragongrin, there are some narrative elements that refer to “stealing days,” or “stolen days.” At a high level, this is the Dismembered Lord’s way of persisting in his stitchedtogether timeline where he rules supreme. The exact method and specifics of how to steal days is purposefully left general and vague for the sake of flexible narrative, and to keep an element of mystique and mystery in the concept. However, even though the method itself is left narrative by design, the specific amount of “days” that a creature has to steal may come into question in certain situations.

STEALING DAYS When your days are “stolen”, they are pilfered from your potential future, making your lifespan shorter than it would have been. Although it is referred to as “stealing days,” the effect is counted in years. Whenever an effect would “steal a character’s days,” the GM rolls dice that are equivalent to the power level of the effect. This can often be a single die from a d4 to a d100, but can also be any combination of dice the GM sees fit. After the dice are rolled, their results are totaled. That total equals the number of years taken off a player character’s life. When a character reaches 0 years, they die instantly. When this occurs, powerful ripple effects occur, such as flash Bleakstorms and Desolation Tears. This anomaly also glows brightly on the Sovereign’s Crucible, and Arcseers soon investigate the incident and question all associated with it. OPTIONAL: DEATH TAKES ITS TOLL A near death experience takes a toll on a creature. For a grimmer version of Dragongrin, use the Stolen Days rule to make falling in combat more meaningful. When a creature drops to 0 hit points, in addition to the normal rules for death, the GM announces “Death Takes its Toll” and rolls 1d10. That many years are deducted from the character’s lifespan.

NUMBER OF DAYS If the specific number of stolen days factor into a session or campaign, the GM makes a secret roll to determine each creature’s number of days. This number acts as a pool of days that can be stolen. NOT FORTUNE TELLING The number of days in a character’s lifespan is not a ticking clock that determines exactly when they will die, nor is it a guarantee of how long they will survive. It is simply the number of potential living moments, hours, and days a creature’s mortal vessel can withstand reasonably without being harmed or falling ill. The GM always has the final say when adjudicating these matters.

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Dragongrin heritages and cultures have been included to provide a reference. We have also added the standard 5e races to this list so you can use the Stolen Days mechanic in worlds and games outside of Dragongrin. HERITAGES

MAXIMUM AGE

Darrow1 Dwarf1,2 Elf1,2 Festir1 Halfling2 Halfkin1 Human1,2 Dragonborn2 Gnome2 Half-Elf2 Half-Orc2 Tiefling2

90 + 3d10 years 325 + 3d20 years 65 + 2d100 years 50 + 4d10 years 220 + 2d20 Generate using the character’s chosen heritage 70 + 2d20 years 50 + 4d10 years 350 + 15d10 years 150 + 5d10 years 50 + 3d10 years 70 + 3d20 years

1. Heritage from A Dead Man’s Guide to Dragongrin 2. Race from 5e

OPTIONAL RULE: FINAL DAYS Having days stolen is a brutal and punishing process, and the endless torrents of the timelines are relentless. Once a player character has less than a year left, the timeline they exist in treats them as though they are expiring. With their body and soul taxed, the timeline sees them as no longer existing. From this point, the player character has one gaming session left to live. Inform the player character of this and work with them to make their final session significant and purposeful, encouraging players to make their deaths meaningful to the campaign.

OPTIONAL RULE: BECOMING A SARRIK When a character’s days reach zero, instead of dying outright, they can potentially become a sarrik. A sarrik is a paradoxical undead who has had all of their days stolen in Dragongrin, yet enough of them remains to continue to exist within the timeline. A GM may choose to allow a player character whose days have all been stolen to achieve this narratively if it makes for the best story. To determine if a creature who has no more days becomes a sarrik, you must make a series of death saving throws. Roll a d20 – if the roll is 10 or higher, you succeed; 9 or lower, and you fail. While a success or failure has no effect by itself, they accumulate. Continue to roll until you either reach three successes or three failures. If you acquire three successes, you transform into a sarrik. You have no memory of your life before, and your new culture becomes sarrik. You keep your clothing and gear. If you reach three failures, you disappear from the timeline entirely. When you make a death saving throw and roll a 1 on the d20, it counts as two failures. If you roll a 20 on the d20, it counts as two successes.

SACRIFICING YEARS FOR SPELL COMPONENTS A spellcasting player may spend their own years in return for momentary power, but it comes at great cost. When casting a spell using all of the existing rules for magic in 5e, a player may replace any spell component with a value greater than 1 gp at the time of casting a spell for the cost of 1d10 year per 1,000 gp worth of material (rounded up). This means that most spells will be 1d10 years lost, a few will be 2d10 – 5d10 lost, and mower powerful spells – such as true resurrection – would 388 DARKNESS OF DRAGONGRIN

be 25d10 (in place of a 25,000 gp diamond needed). While this method can be useful when material components or gold are scarce – this is also a perilous gamble. Only the GM knows your number of remaining days and you could kill yourself – or worse. If you accidentally expend more years than you have remaining your spell completes as normal, but then any other consequences and effects (such as a flash Bleakstorm or Desolation Tear) occurs immediately.

GATHERING PLAYERS

Dragongrin is a sprawling realm with many different facets. If you’re looking for players to join you on your adventures in Dragongrin, it can be much easier to do so if they know the exact kind of game you intend to run, and which concepts of the world you’re looking to focus on. An excellent way to align expectations is by using a formatted document known as an interest post. Interest posts are essentially advertisements for your session or campaign. By clearly defining the overall concept and themes of the game, as well as the commitments of time and scope of the sessions, you’ll likely get more interest from interested players who are inspired and excited by your game concept. Many interest posts are posted in various online communities, but they can also be printed and posted in physical locations such as local gaming stores and school campuses. FINDING PLAYERS There are many places to find players for your games. A common place to look is in groups of people you already know and get along with such as friends, family, and co-workers. Additionally, many local gaming shops have frequent ongoing games accepting new players, or are looking for GMs run games. One of the most flexible and modern ways to find players is to look online. By using social media, websites, and various other online avenues, you can game with people from around the world. A great place for this is the Absolute Tabletop: Official Group Facebook group – we formally invite you to come and be a part of the community.

Consider including the following prompts in your interest post: Session/Campaign Name: Presenting a fun and thematic title can get players excited for your game. Names like “Call of the Void” or “Welcome to Ravenrock” feels cinematic and get potential players inspired and interested. Concept: An elevator pitch for your game, such as “monster hunting in a dark forest” or “underwater cult mystery,” gives a clear idea of what the players should hope to expect. Themes: These are the overarching subjects to be explored during gameplay. Consider choosing two or three. Using keywords such as “betrayal,” “survival,” “intrigue,” “war,” or “stealth” go a long way to manage player expectations. Game Pitch: This is a brief write-up that sells the game. Get creative, and get players excited to be a part of the story. Some options to inspire you are: opening monologue from an NPC describing their problem, a thematic opening scene that presents a problem, or a letter a patron begging for help. Use whatever methods inspire you, but also consider keeping it to a few paragraphs so people are more likely to read. Inspiration: This an optional list of any other popular media that can act as thematic inspiration. Consider using wellknown films, television shows, books, comics, and other

media as an immediate shared reference to get the vision of your game across. Setting: This is the world in which your game takes place. It can be one of your own creation, a published setting such as Dragongrin, a world from a popular work of fiction, or anything in between. System: This is the set of tabletop roleplaying rules you’ll use to dictate the mechanical aspects of your game. Scope: This is the number of sessions the campaign is expected to last. This can be as short as a single session (called a one-shot), a cluster of three or more games (called a trilogy or mini-campaign) or a campaign (which can span months or even years). When: This is the frequency and time that the agreed-upon number of sessions will occur. Players: Specify the number of seats reserved for players. Character Creation: These are the mechanical requirements and rules-specific elements people will use as the guidelines to create their characters. It typically includes character level, ability score generation methods, and any other guidelines or prohibited options. Location: Will the game take place online? In person at someone’s home? At the local gaming shop? Requirements: List any specifics that the players may need such as dice unique to the rules system, specific books, or in the case of online games, a microphone and/or webcam and any software required. CRUXES AND INTEREST POSTS The beginning of the Cruxes – the mini adventure toolkits in the Dominions of Ash – can be used seamlessly to flesh out an interest post. By using everything from the Crux’s title through the event portion, you’ll have the session/campaign name, concept, themes, and game pitch ready to post. With the quick addition of anything specific such as number of players, class options or restrictions, scheduling, or any other details, you can have an interest post ready in no time.

EXAMPLE INTEREST POST GLADIATORS OF GORR ARENA Concept: Brutal Gladiatorial Games

The winners of the gladiatorial games earn their patron and themselves a request of Shar Lagash, and Maug’Tarak tradition states that no reasonable offer can be denied. Some factions fight for glory and renown in the eyes of Shar Lagash, or new lands for the Marrow along the Sovereign’s Road, while others use the games as a way to earn a profit in the arena’s gambling dens. Many factions field champions, though few are historically successful in the arena, choosing only the best sellswords available as combatants. The adventurers are potential combatants invited by one of these factions, or public bystanders looking to investigate the assured corruption of Shar Lagash by the Ixis. Perhaps Ivan Chrider’s offer of prestige and gold is enough to sway the party into the fold of his fledgling company, though the mighty Peacemakers – supplied by and loyal to the Dismembered Legion – might find a use for you in exchange for precious sway over the Marrow in Innes. The adventurers might even side with those bent on disrupting the event more than earning anything for it, freeling enslaved gladiators or seizing the ultimate prize of the games – the opportunity to request Shar Lagash face them in single combat for the position of Innes’ Lord of Ash. Inspiration: Gladiator, Troy, 300 Setting: Dragongrin (Innes) System: 5e, A Dead Man’s Guide to Dragongrin Scope: Trilogy When: Every other Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. Eastern Players: 4-5 Character Creation: Level 6, any class, heritage and culture allowed, standard array stats or point buy, one bauble Archan rolled randomly Format: Online Requirements: Microphone, webcam NEW PLAYERS AND SESSION 0 When finding new players, consider conducting an introductory session – also known as a session 0 – to align expectations. A session 0 ensures that people who may not know each other well are all on the same page in terms of what subject matter is allowed and expected – and what sorts of things are less accepted or prohibited. See more about conducting a session 0 on page 367.

Themes: Battle, Gambling, Alliance, Intrigue Game Pitch: The Foul Moon looms in the sky, and the games are about to begin. Skilled wizards and worthy warriors from across Innes have been invited by the Dominion of Ash’s most powerful factions to seek their patronage in the arena. The orcs believe that trial by combat is sacred, and every perigee of the Foul Moon, Shar Lagash hosts an invitation-only, team combat event. Factions earn the honor and respect of the orcs can field a team of champions.

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THE BLEAK A festering magical maelstrom that pummels Dragongrin endlessly, manifesting in powerful, frequent arcane storms.

“Our Sovereign struck a mortal wound into reality itself – the Bleak bled from that wound, festering still even today.” – Peji Ukerne, former Seat of the Polymath

HISTORY

• Then: The Bleak did not exist until the end of Lightfall. At the end of the war, the Dismembered Lord conjured the Bleak from nothingness using it as the borders that divide the realm into the Dominions of Ash. • Now: The Bleak becomes more volatile and prevalent by the day – its effects growing more extreme and treacherous, its storms more numerous than ever. • Beyond: Unless restrained or controlled, the Bleak will continue to grow in power and size, and what was once frequent arcane storms will become a single, endless magical tempest that engulfs Dragongrin indefinitely.

WHAT IS KNOWN

• Chaotic and volatile, it is an untamable, unforgiving magical maelstrom that transforms or obliterates everything it touches. • The Bleak is more active and tangible in Dragongrin than most realms. • Mostly prominent above the oceans of the realm, it commonly brings its unpredictable and destructive tempests to the landmasses of the realm in the form of Bleakstorms and Bleakrifts.

WHAT IS DISPUTED

• Some say that the Bleak is the source of arcane power in the realm, its volatile energies fueling the spells of the magic users in Dragongrin. • Others whisper you can survive a Bleakstorm if you can find its zenith – a calm eye of the storm – though it’s not always located at its center. • Many believe that darker, more eternal evils that slumber between the fabric of the realms are beginning to stir, and forces that have not been reckoned with for millennia are slowly turning their immortal gazes to this fissure into the material planes of Dragongrin.

WHAT IS UNKNOWN

• Within the Bleak lies the path to other far-off realms, though the way is undefined and deadly. • If the Bleak is manipulated in a specific way, it can be a place to create your own localized reality and start over, escaping the evils of Dragongrin. • The arcane energy that makes up the Bleak is the direct result of a laceration in Imminence itself, bleeding the Bleak onto the material plane from a great planar wound caused by the Sovereign.

390 WONDERS: THE BLEAK

CHARACTER CONNECTIONS TO THE BLEAK Perhaps the Bleak shaped who you are as a character. For a character connection to the Bleak, consider the Bleakscarred character Background, which offers ties to the Bleak, abilities and roll tables of how the Bleak affected you. It can be found in the Backgrounds portion of the Character Creation chapter on page 103.

DISCOVERING THE BLEAK

Bleakstorms: The Bleak manifests most commonly as blood red or deep purple arcane storms varying in size, type and intensity. Much like a natural storm is comprised of winds, rain, clouds and lightning, a Bleakstorm is made up of the same, but with various manifestations of Bleak, combined to make one entity. Bleakstorms can contain Glimmerwinds, Bleakveils, Cheerless, a Zenith, and can cause planar tears known as Bleakrifts. Often accompanied by weather anomalies and strange effects, Bleakstorms are mysterious and magical, and grow in number and intensity each day in Dragongrin. Glimmerwinds: Less intensive portions of a Bleakstorm are known as Glimmerwinds. Deceptively serene, these winds have powerful arcane effects, though often lack the severe weather conditions of the rest of the Bleakstorm. Bleakveils: Bleakveils are wall-like portions of Bleak that can reach as far as the sky. They can appear singularly, or in number forming maze-like walls of Bleak. Bleakveils can occur within any Bleakstorm, but are most commonly found at the borders of the Dominions of Ash – they are not always present, but the Dismembered Lord uses these swaths of Bleak as palisades to deter those from traveling into other regions off sanctioned roads. Bleakrifts: Bleakrifts are tears in the fabric of reality caused by the constant grating and scraping of the Bleak against the thinning walls of the realm of Dragongrin. Varying in size and shape, these holes in the cosmos have varying effects and behavior. Some lead to other realms afar, while others spew vile creatures from the unknown reaches of the darkest planes. Some say that passage to the Desolation, the Feymists, and even other times and places can be found by passing through Bleakrifts. The Cheerless: Though the Bleak is a most often a grim and volatile maelstrom of magic, there are pockets of it that are less erratic, and even moldable by those who are masters of magic. Able to be shaped, and formed like a memory – but so real and vivid that it can be lived in. Known as a Cheerless, these phenomena can become so powerful that it becomes a location that others can get to. Some say the Cheerless is whatever the creator of it wills it to be, while others say that you don’t choose the Cheerless that manifests – it chooses you. Weather Anomalies: In addition to the trappings of a powerful thunderstorm – lightning, winds, torrents of rain – bizarre and deadly weather anomalies are present in and around Bleakstorms. It’s not uncommon to experience searing hot wind, acidic hail, and even rain that deafens or causes silence.

Zenith: Most Bleak storms of moderate size or larger have a zenith – a relatively safe area within – though it shifts quickly and often has the most Bleak energy. It’s a 50/50 chance, but half the time the zenith is serene, and the other half it is erupting with volatile effects – but any port in a Bleakstorm will do in some cases. To enter the safety of the zenith, you must pass through the most powerful and erratic part of the storm – the zenith wall. While the zenith of a storm often shifts erratically, if you are within it, and don’t succumb to the dangers of its wall, you may actually have a chance to survive. Strange Effects: Bleakstorms are comprised of strange arcane energy, and as a result have myriad weird effects that occur when contact is made with them. These strange effects range from minor to major – and even deadly. Entering and Exiting a Bleakstorm: If you are caught in a Bleakstorm, exiting them is not as simple as walking out. These odd storms are strange and extraplanar and therefore the laws of reality don’t apply normally. Often to exit a Bleakstorm it takes acts of staggering physical strength, arcane knowledge or feats of wisdom. Bleakfiends: There are all manner of fiendish, twisted creatures that dwell in the roiling arcane mists of the Bleak. Aberrations, outsiders and other vile creatures spill from its crimson depths regularly. Choose a fitting monster, or narratively generate one using the Bleakfiend generator in this section. The C’War is a creature that dwells in the Bleak of Uldane, though it is unclear what type of creature it is – some say it is a colossal Bleakfiend, while others say it is the last living Primordial. BLEAKWARD The Bleak is so prevalent in the northern parts of the realm of Dragongrin, especially in the Dominion of Ash of Uldane, that frequently the cardinal direction of North is colloquially referred to as “Bleakward.”

ENCOUNTERING THE BLEAK

This section is designed to create a Bleakstorm by using the Drop Dice Adventure Generator™ method. You’ll roll some dice across a piece of paper and watch your Bleakstorm take shape using the provided tables. You can use as many or as few dice as you’d like – each die represents a different part of a Bleakstorm, so the more dice you use, the larger the Bleakstorm will be. ODDITIES WITHIN THE BLEAK All of the Dice Drop Adventure GeneratorTM tables have an additional column on the right hand side containing letters A-Z. These are oddities that will allow you to add narrative flavor to the Bleakstorm you generate. Jot down these letters as you would any other details from the result you roll. Cross reference the letter to the oddities table in this section. There are uncommon oddities which are unique but not overly bombastic, and wondrous oddities are meant to be larger story beats and epic occurrences.

1. Grab a blank sheet of paper and a fistful of polyhedral dice. You’ll need one each of the following: d4, d6, d8, d10, d00, d12, and d20. 2. Decide how large you want your Bleakstorm to be. You can use as many or as few dice as you want – the more dice the larger it will be.

4. Slide the dice around to create your preferred Bleakstorm shape and draw an outline around each die. 5. Next to each outline, note the die type as well as the result of the roll, and any letters in the right-hand column for the Oddities tables. 6. Remove the dice, and draw a storm-shaped outline around your existing traced shapes – this is now the rough map of your Bleakstorm. 7. Use the provided tables to discover what each section of the Bleakstorm contains, notating it on your prep. 8. To add various additional elements to your Bleakstorm sections, refer to the Oddities section. Optionally choose either an uncommon or wondrous occurrence, notating those details. 9. Now fill in any holes with elements from the Dominion of Ash your Bleakstorm occurs in, and you’re ready to go! THE D4 AND D100 These are the only two tables that don’t act as sections of a Bleakstorm. The d4 handles the distance of the Bleakstorm, but it can still be used as a portion of the storm by noting the letter in the right-hand column and referring to the Oddities tables. The d100 table is not a section of the storm, and is meant to be used by taking the results of the d10 and d00, and referring to the table for growing threats and potential plot hooks related to the Bleakstorm. D4 1 2

D6 1 2

DISTANCE Engulfing You: The Bleakstorm is upon you, and you’re lost within its crimson, arcane plumes Periphery: You are on the outskirts of an existing manifestation of the Bleak that twists and roils – but it could shift at any moment... Forming Nearby: The sky swirls and harsh winds blow, as the deep crimson and purple coils of clouds begin to twist, shaping into a Bleakstorm nearby Far Off: You can see the Bleak ravaging the landscape on the horizon, though it is approaching your direction rapidly.

A B

BLEAKVEIL A single wall of Bleak riddled with holes large enough to get through – though they ebb and flow, and shift and move – it would be difficult to time a way through. Shifting, snaking curtain of Bleak energy, protected by devastating webs of constant lightning. Slender, almost imperceptible Bleakveil that packs a punch when in contact with biological matter. The ground at its base swirls and fries, and only the most stalwart can get through, though not without suffering. Summoned by the Dismembered Lord himself to serve as a boundary between dominions of Dragongrin, this Bleakveil is now trapped and carried inside a larger storm. A strangely calm Bleakveil festers, its colors shifting like oil on water. Shapes seem to move beyond – figures on the other side, attempting to cross through. Pillars of volatile lightning wrack the ground in a curtain of destructive power, lashing out intermittently at nearby creatures and objects.

E F

3. Roll the dice across your sheet of paper. These dice now represent the different sections of your Bleakstorm.

391 WONDERS: THE BLEAK

D8 1 2 3 4 5 6

D10 1

2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10

CHEERLESS

D00

A powerful mage has set up an ideal day that they relive over and over. If found, they will tell a somber tale of a lost loved one. A fiend lurks, seeking souls to acquire. This Cheerless hosts the most visceral and horrifying memory of the first person to pass into it. A tranquil eye in the storm is surrounded by churning, spiraling Bleak. In its midst is a meadow inhabited by all the beings killed by the storm – they seek vengeance. An ancient battle endlessly recreates itself amid the swirling Bleak, raging again and again for all time. The ruin of a once-great city is restored within the Bleak, teeming with life and wondrous technology. A solitary figure greets you – a person from your past, lost long ago. They call to you, beckoning you closer. A glimpse into a time long past – or is it the future? You do not recognize this place, or these people, but an odd sense of familiarity strikes you. You’ve been here before – or is that you will be here someday? A legendary event plays out before you, though it transpires differently than you’ve heard countless times before. Is this a skewed version – or the truth?

L M

N O P

GLIMMERWINDS A soft wind blows sounding like glass crushing underfoot. In its wake, a spectral battle of Lightfall begins to replay – its apparitional denizens interact with you. The entire area of the storm becomes colorless, existing only in black and white. Fermented chemicals fill the air – each character in the area begins to become inebriated if they are subject to those effects. Senses are coalesced here. You smell emotions, feel sounds, and hear colors. Spectral images play out in the arcane energies around you. Some are memories, others are portents, and still others are difficult to decipher. A glimmerwind carries whispers only you can hear – voices you recognize, others you don’t. They speak secrets and profanities, emanating from all around you. Nearby vegetation dies suddenly, withering as the glimmerwind passes. The wind is furious, battering you with unprecedented strength and speed, carrying debris with it. A passing wind carries frigid ice, blood red in color. The temperature plunges, freezing liquids, while shards of ice slash like minuscule daggers. A roaring wind, charged with volatile arcane energy, lashes out at nearby creatures with crimson lightning.

T 50 U V W

X Y 70 Z A B

392 WONDERS: THE BLEAK

WEATHER ANOMALIES Balefrost: As quickly as this Bleakstorm began, it starts to spew razor sharp ice and sleet, and copious amounts of freezing snow. From the snow, creatures of jagged fractal ice begin to generate – all shapes and sizes. Searing Hail: As a Bleakstorm rages around you, chunks of hail begin falling from the sky. As more of the chunks gather on the ground you notice their sickly, grayishpurple hue. As it begins to melt, it sizzles and begins eating through the ground. When these stones begin to melt en masse, the entire ground will be covered in pale, purple acid. Ocean Graves: The Bleak begins to churn and move like great waves in an ocean, though it remains waterless. The area begins to appear as the ocean floor, though dry, and shipwrecks of vessels claimed in the Bleak begin to materialize. In some cases, skeletal crews that once manned the ships emerge from the wreckage. Lightning Spheres: A massive ball of blood red lightning is belched from the Bleakstorm, throwing white hot sparks as it strikes the ground – but it doesn’t dissipate immediately. It slowly dims and disappears over time. Various spheres of Bleak lightning begin to fall from the sky in all shapes and sizes – some as small as a pebble, and some as large as a horse. Hush Rain: Rain begins to eschew from the Bleak, but makes no sound. And as it falls, anything its drops touch also make no sound. In this rain, no sound can be made, nor heard. As the area – and any creatures affected – begin to dry off, the effects wear off as well. Hellwind: Powerful, searing hot winds blow unrelentingly, carrying the strange stench of rotting things. Sometimes these winds get so hot that they blister and burn any caught in its barrage. Greater Glimmerwinds: A lucid shroud of arcane essence hangs in the air, shimmering in a haze. Inside of this haze reality occurs in a fugue-state, and dreams can become reality. Perhaps the past manifests itself as crimson specters, causing a great tragedy that occurred on this site to play out again, or perhaps the thoughts of the creatures in the haze are made manifest. This shroud of arcane essence can be gone just as soon as it appeared. Dragon’s Teeth: Small, vicious cyclones begin to form, spinning wildly. If two of these cyclones strike one another, they intertwine wildly. The longer this storm occurs, the more of them intertwine, forming a treacherous wall that looks like pointed fangs in some great mouth – hence the name. Bleakmist: The area becomes covered in a thick, reddish mist that churns slowly, unaffected by natural winds. Within this crimson fog, spectral shadows and shapes can be gleaned. Large, powerful footsteps can be heard within. This mist seems to be a tether to another realm for as long as it remains. Soul Swamp: The Bleak seeps deeply into the soil here, forming a thick, grueling muck, peppered with gelatinous monsters and frequented by lightning strikes. Whole new lifeforms can take shape here, and some say the swamp can manifest a creature of mud and water that replicates the movements, silhouette, and abilities of any adventurer it attacks.

D12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

D100

ZENITH Hundreds of crimson flowers made of Bleak grow rapidly and die in an endless loop. All objects and creatures in this location are transparent, though they remain corporeal. All sounds made in this place are melodic, and pleasing to the ear. A forest of bone begins to sprout from the earth, and grows uncontrollably. Powerful lightning strikes into the zenith from the walls surrounding it. Spiked tentacles erupt from the ground, grabbing at all who are near. The Zenith has been invaded by monstrous creatures from the Bleak, intent on occupying the space and murdering all trespassers. Strange, glassy mosaics stand in the zenith, abstract in nature but instilling powerful emotions in onlookers. Pools of liquid, irradiated by the Bleak, bubble and swell. A serene calm pervades the zenith, despite the Bleak swirling around its border. A massive rune mars the ground within the zenith, glowing and humming with latent arcane energy. The bones of a massive draconic creature emerge within the zenith.

D20 M

2-3

O P

31-35

36-40

41-45

46-50

6-7

Q 8-9

R S

10-11

12-13

14-15

16-17

18-19

GROWING THREATS

You receive a letter from a close friend or family member – your loved one entered a Bleakveil weeks ago, and has not 1-5 returned since. They are now presumed dead, and you’re the most able to venture into the Bleak to reclaim what’s left of their remains. A monstrous warlock with the ability to harness the Bleak now wreaks havoc on a settlement to which you have close 6-10 ties. The common consensus is that killing the beast will stop the death and destruction, but it is revealed they are simply a dog on a leash. A traveler who long ago traveled into the Bleak and returned 11-15 to tell the tale is gathering adventurers. They wish to return to the Bleak and save something they left behind. Bleakstorms rage across the region, seemingly random in their movements. A noted scholar believes there is a pattern 16-20 behind the Bleakstorms – and that someone or something manipulates them. The Bleakveils between regions are shifting in ways that benefit one Lord of Ash at the expense of another. If the 21-25 problem isn’t solved, tensions will rise, and the people caught in the fray will suffer. 26-30

4-5

Monsters pour from ravaging Bleakstorms like never before – some of which have been extinct for centuries. An isolated party of cartographers and researchers are trapped in the middle of three terrible Bleakstorms – a strange coincidence. Perhaps their rival Zarvfin scavenging operation is behind it. What won’t they do to keep hegemony? Valewardens across Dragongrin have guided travelers through the Bleak for decades. Now, a band of rogue rangers are stranding innocent victims in the Bleak after stealing their valuables. The more they do this, the larger the group becomes. An Arcseer is experimenting on innocent victims by exposing them directly to the Bleak. Some say the affected turn into something wretched, and others believe the Arcseer is building an army. There has been a notable weakening in the Bleak across Dragongrin – a sure sign that soon, an onslaught of Bleakstorms will ravage the realm.

D100

BLEAKRIFT A gaping hole opens above, and a massive swirling portal begins to suck everything into itself. The ground opens up, swallowing anything in the area of the storm. A void ten feet high siphons all surrounding matter into it, scrambles the matter chaotically, and spews out what is absorbed as earth golems. This Bleakrift tears through the mouth and eyes of a woman stranded in this storm. A hill, halfway torn asunder, now disperses energies and fiends from the Desolation. It also serves as a portal into the grim plane. The rift opens in the heart of the youngest adventurer, and if others cannot carefully quell the violent eruption, the victim and all surroundings will be lost. A ruined structure emerges from a Bleakrift, ripping apart the landscape. A rift yawns open and begins pulling all nearby creatures and objects into itself. Lashes of lightning, like tentacles, unfurl from the Bleakrift, grasping anything they can. A whirling, cyclonic rift rips open, hurling debris. Gallons and gallons of water spill from a gaping Bleakrift, flooding the area with a torrent.

Y Z A B C

D E F G H I

GROWING THREATS

A Bleakrift has opened directly above an active volcano, and 51-55 lava now spews into the surrounding area, accompanied by fire-tainted monsters from the Desolation.

56-60

The flora localized within a Bleakveil is growing and becoming sentient and maddened. Soon, these gargantuan plant golems will be large enough to contest even the most valiant Marrow legion.

61-65

Millions of people wake after experiencing the same dream, depicting a massive city being engulfed by a Bleakstorm.

Whole crop yields surrounding a constantly raging 66-70 Bleakstorm are dying off, and the blight is spreading now faster than ever before.

71-75

A Bleakstorm is rumored to be the cause of a growing spree of murders in a nearby town. The killers are driven mad by the energies, and their deeds grow in number. Soon, the settlement will erupt with chaos. A tunnel dug underneath a Bleakveil has been used for years to smuggle drudges and illicit goods across the 76-80 border, but now those who emerge from the passages are forever changed.

A dragon’s grin, ravaged by a Bleakstorm, threatens to poison the Holmir settlement within – and perhaps even 81-85 raise the dead beast as some terrible reincarnation of an ancient monstrosity.

An alchemist has found a way to contain an entire Bleakstorm within a small, crystal sphere – when broken, 86-90 the storm is unleashed. It is rumored they are constructing more...

Crimson lightning has spread across the sky perpetually for 91-95 days, and swirling funnel clouds now grow in the clouds of Bleak above.

Marrow Legions have been spotted constructing defenses 96-00 just outside a Bleakveil, as if preparing for some sort of assault. They seem blatantly worried.

393 WONDERS: THE BLEAK

394 WONDERS: THE BLEAK

395 WONDERS: THE BLEAK

ESCALATING EFFECTS The Bleak Effects table is divided into two tiers of intensity and danger within a Bleakstorm. For more minor, short-term effects, roll a d10. For truly strange, more permanent effects, roll a d20. D10/D20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

14 15 16

18 19

BLEAK EFFECTS Strange tendrils of energy entangle your limbs. Halve your movement speed until you exit the Bleak. Memories flee. You forget one language you are proficient in until you exit the Bleak. Exhaustion seizes you. Until you exit the Bleak, you cannot benefit from rests. Nightmarish visions manifest. You have disadvantage on Perception checks until you exit the Bleak. Noxious fumes overwhelm your senses. You become poisoned for 1d6 minutes. Iron sears your flesh. Until you exit the Bleak, you cannot hold metal weapons or wear metal armor. Your mind fragments. Until you leave the Bleak, you lose proficiency in one skill of the GM’s choosing. Until you leave the Bleak, you can no longer discern color. Everything takes on a strange, crimson hue. The sound of your own name pains you. Until you exit the Bleak, if you hear your name, take 1d6 force damage. Thunder echoes incessantly in your mind. Until you exit the Bleak, you are deafened. You become a conduit for Bleak energy. Until you exit the Bleak, once per round, you deal 1d4 lightning damage to a creature within 5 feet of you. You lose one cherished childhood memory. In an instance where you would recall the memory, you instead experience an unsettling familiarity. You gain the ability to hear at greater distances than before, and some voices you feel are emanating from other planes entirely. Periodically, the world around you transforms into the visage of another plane of existence. During these rare episodes, it feels like you are actually in this other place. The Bleak is infused into your blood. Your veins become black, and you are slightly heavier than you were before. Your flesh is covered head to toe with strange patters, like supernatural lightning scars. One limb is replaced with a monstrous, scaled set of claws. Your unarmed strikes deal 1d6 slashing damage, but you can no longer hold weapons with the heavy property. Your pupils are replaced with flickering runes. You can sense magical auras as with the detect magic spell, but you also see everything in a decayed, rotting state. The Bleak reshapes you. Reduce your highest ability score by 1 and increase your lowest ability score by 2. You must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or your blood begins to supernaturally boil. You drop to 0 hit points and become unconscious, and immediately start making death saving throws.

396 WONDERS: THE BLEAK

D6 1 2 3 4 5 6 D6 1 2 3 4 5 6

EXITING THE BLEAK NARRATIVELY You must clearly recall and recite your earliest childhood memory. You must speak your deepest regret aloud. Blood and life is required, and it must be given freely, not taken. The Bleak offers a question in an uncommon tongue. You must answer back in kind. You must willingly abandon the memory of a dearly loved family member You must choose to face your most terrible fear. EXITING THE BLEAK MECHANICALLY Strength: Pushing through a physical manifestation of Bleak Dexterity: Leaping through a small opening to safety Constitution: Pushing through pummeling wind and slicing rain Intelligence: Reading the arcane patterns of the storm to find its exit Wisdom: Overcoming illusory images conjured by the Bleak to find the true exit Charisma: Keeping your sanity about you as you press out of the storm

must bring about. She left the Lifetree behind to study the Bleak. She hopes to find a way to dispel it permanently, and hopefully repairing the fractures in the people of Talas.

IMPORTANT PEOPLE CONNECTED TO THE BLEAK

While most in Dragongrin have a fear of the Bleak and avoid it, there are some who seek its secrets, but there are few who are able to survive its mystery and power well enough for any meaningful discovery. These notable individuals have gleaned the deep secrets of the arcane maelstrom. Morson Membry: Viewing the Bleak as the introduction of a brand new element into Dragongrin, Morson seeks to wrangle, wield and, if at all possible, bottle the power of the Bleak. Having been removed from his Annulus Directive due to his unwavering obsession, Morson struck out on his own to explore how the Bleak can be harnessed. Morson is convinced the Bleak isn’t just some environmental weather effect. Having heard stories of some being able to control it, he pours his life into following, chasing and studying the Bleak. So far he’s managed to find a way to capture and distill minuscule amounts of Bleak energy. He guards his secret feverishly and has grown paranoid as a result. This discovery could change the world, and maybe even save it.

Diavla, the Barren One: The last of her line, this lauded and deeply connected Mord recently and unexpectedly left her station suddenly leaving a power vacuum for other non-Mord to fill in – a great sleight against her culture's ways. The Bleak reacts powerfully to her Elderstone orb. She believes she can harness the Bleak to bring her father back from the dead, but in doing is said to be causing powerful Bleakrifts in her wake.

BLEAKFIENDS

Use the below table to generate one of the countless Bleakfiends that lurk in the arcane mists of the Bleak. Roll for the creatures form, intelligence level, and a twisted feature. D6 1 2 3 4 5 6

Fael'shala Yrlen: Once caught in an awful Bleakstorm, Fael’shala saw the future of Talas, one without war and no longer under the thumb of the Dismembered Lord. Having found herself in a Cheerless, she saw a future she believes she

FORM

INTELLIGENCE TWISTED FEATURE

Bestial Humanoid Amorphous Swarm Crossbred Symbiote and Host

Sentient Primitive Hivemind Mindless Instinct-driven Elder Creature

Exo-skeleton Thorns/Barbs Multiple limbs Acidic blood Shape-shifter Tentacles

ODDITIES ABC A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

UNCOMMON

WONDROUS

Strange stones etched with runes Emotions show as color and light here, making them unhidable.

An Archan is uncovered A slave caravan of a Deathmaw seeking to sell and acquire new goods. A group of adventurers who are half Bleak, crying out in warning, Local monsters, mummified where they stand reliving their demise in a loop Bones of a giant creature revealed by winds Lake of crimson appears full of strange fish Creatures in this area gain above average intelligence A sword with a blade made entirely of Bleak rising out of the ground Ash falls from the sky, and the stench of burning is present – though All structures in the area groan, and shake, and begin to move – no flames forming creatures and lumbering away Scorched shapes in the area form a bizarre pattern Lost Battalion – Marrow lost in time – appear All of the locals in this area have lost their memory temporarily The fully preserved corpse of a dragon sans grin fills this area Plants and stones in the area drip pure silver A tear into the Desolation has opened up and horrors spill forth A powerful monster from another Dominion of Ash was trapped in You see glimpses of the Dismembered Lord’s life years before the storm, and is revealed Lightfall. Several archaic tablets depicting a story – if assembled correctly The area seems as though it was made of oil paint, and is malleable. An insatiable hunger overtakes any creatures in this area Time slows and stops at different rates in the area Scattered pages of a journal with scrawlings of the Bleak A dozen tiny creatures frozen in place within amber stones A perfectly detailed miniature replica of the location rests in its Large Archanic spiders weave intricate webs of razor sharp steel center, complete with dolls of the party Sound in this area is amplified greatly so that even whispers are a This place is identical to what it currently is – but 100 years in the deafening roar past. All fluid in the area becomes thicker – including blood and sweat Figures identical to your party peer through a Bleakveil at you. The area has become soft and muddy, with a strange plant growing A group of skittering creatures with the faces of the people dearest to from it you seeks to strike a bargain A great flying ship from another world comes crashing through into A decommissioned tomeheart lies destroyed in this area this plane Flashes of a Holithic Church ritual execution replay in this area Spectral form of a dragon or typhon appears The vegetation begins to grow quickly and uncontrollably in this Creatures age rapidly in this place – years every minute. area Some local creatures have been melded into one horrific being A deathmaw shaman wearing the bleached skull of a dragon A glistening sheen covers everything in this area The glistening, pristine helm of a Titan peeks from the earth This portion of the Bleakstorm has transported you to an entirely Black rain falls from the sky different Dominion of Ash Everything in the area is bleached white irreversibly An infernal lord seeks to strike a deal with anyone willing This area suddenly becomes bright as though in direct light of the Living Primordial emerges from the Bleak sun Rampant static electricity Living lightning emerges 397 WONDERS: THE BLEAK

TITANS “We can’t dream to know what immaculate and impossible thoughts that the Titans had when they crafted their marvels. Yet we run around with mere pieces and parts of their greatness claiming power – but showing just how inferior we are.” – Kuv Bez, Mord Archivist These colossal, ancient creatures are responsible for the most prolific creation – and the utmost destruction that Dragongrin has arguably ever seen.

HISTORY

• Then: Once the most powerful, dominant, and technologically advanced creatures in Dragongrin – and arguably the cosmos of Arbitron, the Titans are still unmatched in their alloys, weapons, and deep and spanning knowledge. • Now: Most believe the downfall of the Titans is to the benefit of all in Dragongrin – the remnants known as Archans, and the magnificent beings called tomehearts, are just a few of the ways this “dead” technology can be used for new gain. • Beyond: More than ever, new Archans, Titan remains, vaults – and even rumors of living typhons – are rampant in the realm. It’s possible that the creations of the Titans could rise up and become a dominant force in the realm once again.

WHAT IS KNOWN

• The remains of the Titans and their achievements can be seen throughout all of Dragongrin in varying degrees – there is no denying their existence or influence. • Pieces of the Titans’ impressive and advanced technology known as Archans still litter the realm to this day. They are some of the most powerful relics in the known world, and some are waiting to be discovered. • No culture in Dragongrin reveres and understands the mighty and enigmatic Titans and the remains of their technology like the Zarfvin. Possessing the largest collection of Archans, Titan remains, and writings, they are the foremost experts on the Titans in Dragongrin.

WHAT IS DISPUTED

• Some say that the Titans still watch over Dragongrin from within Deepvault, and that to those worthy, they act as patrons or demi-gods. Some even claim that one day they will return to the realm and quickly and easily end the Dismembered Lord’s reign. • Many say that at the end, the Titans and Primordials banded together to attempt to destroy the unkillable dragons. This culminated in a mutually-decided extinction-grade energy weapon – the Annihilator – being designed by the Titans and detonated. • It’s said that the Titan structure known as Deepvault was actually built as a bunker, and that the detonation of the Annihilator is the reason that the dismantled and sundered remains of the Titans and Primordials litter the realm. It is also whispered that this is what obliterated the dragons, eventually resulting in the grins.

398 WONDERS: TITANS

WHAT IS UNKNOWN

• Rumors persist that it was the Titans who first discovered the secrets to the immeasurably powerful creation force known as Imminence. It is said these secrets lay waiting to be re-discovered. • It is unknown if any living Titans still persist in the realm, though whispers linger that there are voices calling out in the farthest reaches of deadly places like Aqueanus and Deepvault in Svir Below. • It’s unclear how many Titans survived but left Dragongrin, foreseeing a great doom that would someday befall the realm. Leaving behind remnants of their empire, they easily had the means for interplanar technology to travel the stars and forge paths across the vast cosmos, colonizing other worlds and leaving Dragongrin at their backs.

DISCOVERING THE TITANS

The Age of Annihilation: Some say the Titans sealed their own fate with their hubris, allowing unbridled progress to derail their culture and set them on the path of war and destruction. During the time of war that would come to be known in history as the Age of Annihilation, the Titans reigned with technological might, and the tide was turning in the war. Carving the elemental Primordials down with advanced weaponry and tactics, the war was all but won. Until the dragons. The ultimate Primordial weapon, the dragons began to shift the war. As scores of Titans died, they devised an answer to the mighty draconic horde – the typhons. While the typhons helped to hold the dragons at bay, they were not enough, and the dragons began to produce dragonbound – lesser draconic servants – in vast numbers. These dragon lords and their armies began to overtake even their Primordial creators who were once their masters. The Age of Annihilation is said to get its name for the extinctionlevel energy weapon that the Titans used to end the dragons’ fast-approaching reign. Typhons: The typhons are arguably the Titans’ most perfect and unsurpassed achievement. Created by the Titans to combat the dragons, they were organically designed to be the antithesis of dragons, and the two are mortal enemies. Rather than being draconic and reptilian, they are an approximation of mammalian creatures. Since typhons are created – not born or hatched – they never know adolescence, cannot reproduce, and they do not age. Though engineered and created, typhons are organic creatures, not constructs. They bleed, need healing, and require food and water like any other living creature, though they will live for eons if they don’t die of injury. There are rumors that some typhons still survive in Dragongrin even today. Upon their creation, typhons are granted a crown, spectral traces of the ancient magical power imbued into the typhons by their titanic masters. With a crown comes a charge, or a purpose, gifting the typhons with a power set that matches their task. Crowns also manifest in various ways, from vibrant and cracking to dim and phantasmal – though always appearing as an arcane third eye above the beast’s head. The color of a typhon’s crown color doesn’t dictate its function or personality. Furthermore a typhon’s charge and purpose doesn’t dictate it’s character. Like any creature in nature, its personality is dictated by its instincts, biological makeup and personality, and its crown color is varied.

A typhon’s heart is made of the mystical material known as Titan Copper, and the more powerful ones also have bones of the same material. This material has untold power, and is used by the Copper Jackals in Dragongrin to grant themselves power beyond measure. D102

FORM

CROWN

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Stag Lion Bear Gorilla Boar Bat Badger Wolf Ram Horse

Protector Hunter Empath Collector Displacer Destroyer Aether Adjudicator Constructor Commander

ORNAMENTATION

CHARACTER

Antlers Tusks Razor-edged feathers Horns and spikes Additional limbs Barbs and spines Runic brands or scars Hardened, protruding bones Additional wings Exposed Archanic heart

Calculating Aggressive Spiritual Wild Manipulative Idealistic Obsessive Investigative Disciplined Jovial

D102 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Titan Vaults: The ancient Titan empire once spanned the whole of Dragongrin, and there are no Titan structures that are more prolific than their enormous and powerful vaults. Now typically buried by the extinction-grade event that the Titans used the vaults to protect themselves, their inventions and their knowledge. They also used them as safe living quarters. The remains of these vaults can be found scattered across every part of Dragongrin in various states of disrepair. Typhons are known to find these vaults of their former masters and lair there, repurposing and rebuilding them in secret, protecting the ancient property of their masters to this day. It is said that some typhons survived the Age of Annihilation by seeking refuge in these vaults, attempting to hibernate within them until the end of the war. Living typhons who survived are said to take the scraps of decimated vaults and rebuild their own in other locations using what salvageable pieces they can. To do this they gain followers and thralls. The most well-known and infamous vaults is Deepvault, in Svir Below (page 286). Whispered to be the last refuge of the Titans built during the Age of Annihilation, some whisper that some still survive within its depths even today. Atop Deepvault is the city-sized, ever-shifting security measure known as the Infinite Lock. Still crawling with Villinavi, the secrets of Deepvault lay unclaimed even today. D12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 D6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

TITAN VAULT Archive or library Forges Massive vehicle(s) Menagerie Museum Observatory Prison Quarry or mine Energy source Stronghold Workshop or test site Choose two and combine them THE TITANS WERE... Carving: Scaffolding, half-finished sculptures, sculpting tools Distilling: Drums, tanks and vats of arcane liquids Drilling: Rigs, containers, and deep holes littering the area Excavating: Scaffolding, drop-offs, networks of ladders Irrigating: Pipes, ducts, pools of liquid, enormous tools Mining: Pits, walkways and vehicles to transport Building: Archanic tools, piles of materials, scaffolding, debris Experimenting: Strange devices, unfinished objects, odd energy

399 WONDERS: TITANS

D20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

REMAINS OF THE TITANS Twisting, worm-like tunnels – once a Titan arm. Glistening metal unearthed looks like pools of still copper. A Titan helmet, top half unburied – doors and scaffolding built onto it. A mangled Titan foot with a gargantuan shackle around it. Pieces of a whole Titan, unearthed in a fetal position. A colossal crater that was a mass grave. Countless Titan pieces and parts. Pieces of an enormous broken Titan weapon litter the landscape. Top half of a Titan, clutching its throat, mostly submerged in a body of water. A Titan hand that has been dismantled and formed into a wall around a settlement. Shattered Titan legs, twisted, appearing as a metal flower in bloom. A Titan’s hand and forearm acting as a dam to a water source. A Titan’s back is unearthed, its spine like a great serpent, head buried. Two hands, buried from the wrist down, grasp at the world. The shredded, mangled remains of a Titan torso, forming a bridge. Two colossal, twin swords jutting from the earth for miles. The chest cavity of a Titan, sprawling trade city within it. An entire Titan is pinned to the geography with its own sword. A Titan’s un-helmeted face – its appearance incomprehensible. Titanic and Primordial remains, dealing mutual killing blows. An unearthed, fully intact Titan, hollowed out with creatures living in it.

Constructs Beyond Compare: The Titans built incredibly advanced, intelligent constructs known as Archanites that were so well constructed, they survive to this day. There are scores of Archanite varieties, but two types are still prolific in Dragongrin today: the powerful and magical Villinavi (constructed as weaponized guardians of the Titan vaults) and the versatile and utilitarian tomehearts (forged as living libraries – repositories of Titan information and history). The Villinavi can be seen still guarding various vaults in Dragongrin – though are most concentrated in Dominion of Ash Svir Below guarding the ancient and powerful location known as Deepvault. Tomehearts roam the realm fulfilling their functions ceaselessly – though some have gained sentience, becoming awakened. See more about playing an awakened tomeheart on page 37 in the Heritage portion of the Character Creation section.

ARCHANS

The Titans created many marvels of technology and feats of ingenuity, but none were more powerful and prolific than the Archans. Adventurers unearth remnants of their reign across the realm.

ARCHAN HUNTING IN DRAGONGRIN Excavating Archans, the artifacts of the Titans, is one of the few ways adventurers can gain true objects of power in Dragongrin. Titan technology, ancient and mysterious, utilizes a melding of magic and metal known as Archanics, which is powerful but finite. Skilled adventurers can attempt to manipulate Archanics to repair, dismantle, or even combine these items and wield their power against the dangers of Dragongrin, but tampering with Titan tech often leads to unpredictable effects – some fortuitous, some not. Be warned – while adventurers seek Archans in Dragongrin, so do the dark forces of the Dismembered Lord. Marrow and other more deadly servants of Grinn move quickly and decisively to secure these powerful magical items for themselves and their masters.

WHEN TO SEARCH? The frequency of Titan relics in a session or campaign is entirely up to the Game Master (GM) and they may elect to use the rules presented in this chapter to allow adventurers to uncover and repair these wondrous objects. Here are some guidelines to consider when choosing how often Archans will be featured. Consider that Dragongrin is a land littered with the remains of the Titans, so it’s possible to find Archans virtually anywhere in the realm. Many creatures over the centuries have unearthed Archans, so they are more scarce than they once were, but it’s still possible to hunt for and find them. The default guideline for how often a player can search for Archans is once per day. This frequency attempts to strike a balance between players having the satisfaction of hunting for and finding Archans to advance their creations, but also mitigate the risk that a game’s non-Archan focused story will not be overshadowed by the relics of the Titans. Note that even though the players may search for Archans at a default once per day, they still need to roll on the Archan Power Level table, which uses a 3d6 table for measured probability that finding something powerful and intact is very low. If you would rather feature Archans more or less in your game, use the Archan Hunting Frequency table as a guideline to increase or decrease the amount of times the players can hunt for Archans.

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ARCHAN HUNTING FREQUENCY RARITY

FREQUENCY

Rare Normal Abundant Archan Hunting Game

Once per week Once per day Once per short or long rest No frequency cap

MULTIPLE PEOPLE SEARCHING FOR ARCHANS These rules are designed for one or two at a time searching for Archans. The number of people searching in an area won’t necessarily increase the amount of Archans that would be found. If more than a couple of people want to search for Archans at a time, consider having them take turns, or roll to decide who will get to do so. Optionally consider that the search for Archans is a group effort with a group yield, much like finding magic items in a dungeon. Encourage sharing Archans with the party member who would most benefit rather than treating it as a personal search and gain. ARCHAN RULES This section details the mechanics and processes involved to use and interact with Archans in-game. Archans that are discovered can be combined with one another, or dismantled, detailed further in the Tinkering With Archans section that follows. Archans have different power levels and are in various conditions when discovered. No two Archans are the same, and so they have different descriptions and anomalies.

MANAGING ARCHAN POWER LEVELS Each Archan power level has a corresponding Properties table. The more powerful the Archan, the more powerful the effect granted by its properties. Additionally, the Properties, Anomalies, and Malfunctions tables are divided into two tiers to easily manage the potency of Archans and their effects within each power level. For less powerful properties and effects, roll a d10. For more powerful properties and effects, roll a d20.

CONDITIONS AND USAGE DICE Each Archan has a condition denoting how flawed or worn it is when discovered. Archans can be ruined, fragmented, or intact. Each Archan condition has a usage die associated with it that represents its reliability. The worse the condition, the lower the usage die. Each time you use an Archan, you must roll the usage die denoted by its condition. If the result is a 1 or 2, you must roll on the Malfunctions table and downgrade the usage die to the next lowest die: from a d10 to a d8, from a d8 to a d6, and from a d6 to a d4. If the result on a d4 usage die is a 1 or 2, the Archan is destroyed beyond repair, and disintegrates into dust. Its time on this world has ended. An Archan’s condition is determined either at the GM’s choice or determined randomly by rolling 3d6 (see the Archan Condition table that follows).

When you need to generate an Archan upon first finding one, you roll on the following tables: • • • • •

Power Level table Condition table Description table (appropriate to its power level) Properties table (appropriate to its power level) Anomaly table

ARCHAN POWER LEVELS Each Archan has a power level that determines its size and capability – from bauble, to contraption, to relic. While Archans are magical in nature, they are malleable and finite, and are not directly comparable to other magic items. But relatively, baubles are akin to common or uncommon magic items, contraptions are akin to rare or very rare magic items, and relics are akin to legendary items and artifacts. An Archan’s power level is determined either at the GM’s choice or determined randomly by rolling 3d6 (see the Archan Power Level table that follows). ARCHAN POWER LEVEL LEVEL

DESCRIPTION

A small but useful Titan trinket. Roll once on the Bauble Properties table. A moderately intricate piece of Titan technology. Roll Contraption once on the Bauble Properties table and once on the Contraption Properties table. A complex and powerful piece of Titan technology. Roll Relic once on the Contraption Properties table and once on the Relic Properties table. A truly magnificent and legendary piece of Titan technology. Cannot be rolled for randomly or created Prime by simply combining two Archans. See details on Prime Archans later in this section. Bauble

ARCHAN CONDITIONS CONDITION

USAGE DIE

Ruined

Fragmented

Intact

d10

DESCRIPTION The Archan is barely functioning – any use could be its last. This Archan is usable, but dwindling. This Archan is in excellent condition for its age.

ACTIVATING AN ARCHAN Activating a property of an Archan requires an action and a free hand, even if the Archan casts a spell that normally requires a bonus action. After activating the Archan’s property and resolving its effects, you must roll the Archan’s usage die and resolve any malfunctions.

AEONIC FATIGUE Some Archans, after expending a significant amount of energy to create notably powerful effects, need time to recharge. Such Archans have an Aeonic Fatigue value. Archans that have an Aeonic Fatigue can be used a number of times per long rest equal to their Aeonic Fatigue (AF). Once their Aeonic Fatigue is reached, they become inert and cannot be activated until they are recharged. Activating an Archan with an Aeonic Fatigue value still requires a roll of its usage die as normal. The Aeonic Fatigue for an Archan is listed on the table as (AF) followed by a number. For example, an Archan that can only be used once between rests would be listed as (AF: 1) on the table.

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TUNING AEONIC FATIGUE GMs may want to consider changing the Aeonic Fatigue value for some Archans, at their discretion. Some of the effects are very powerful and could potentially be disruptive to certain stories if overused, while for other games, effects of such caliber would cause no issue at all.

ARCHANIC PROPERTIES AND STUDY Archans are rare and mysterious, and are not easily understood. For an adventurer to discover what an Archan does or attempt to tinker with them, they must spend at least a short rest studying their nature. At the end of that time you learn what the Archan does, how it works, and any properties associated with it. To generate an Archan’s properties, roll on the Archan Properties table that follows. By default, there is no limit to the number of Archans a player can have outside of normal rules of equipment and carrying capacity. VARIANT RULE: ARCHANIC DISCOVERY While the description of an Archan is evident from the moment it is found, its properties don’t have to be clear immediately. For narrative flair and a sense of mysterious thrill and anticipation, consider waiting until the adventurer is able to spend the short rest studying the Archan before even rolling for its properties. This can allow for a feeling of discovery in the moment. To take this concept one step further, one could even wait to roll on any applicable anomalies until the Archan is used, discovering them in the moment as well.

VARIANT RULE: ARCHANIC ATTUNEMENT Some GMs may want to limit the number of Archans that an adventurer can carry, in order to strike a specific narrative tone or power level in a session or campaign. To achieve this, consider using optional rules for Archanic attunement. Two options are presented to choose from. Option 1: Archans require a creature to form a bond with them before their magical properties can be used. This bond is called Archanic attunement. Archanic attunement follows the same rules for the attunement of magical items, and each Archan counts as a magical item for attunement. Option 2: Archans are dangerously powerful, and a mortal cannot wield more than three in their possession at any given time. If they do, the power of the Archans wears on the wielder. If a creature possesses more than three Archans at one time, they perpetually have one level of exhaustion for each Archan they carry beyond three, and they roll all Archan usage dice twice, using the lower result of the two rolls.

ARCHAN ANOMALIES Archans have anomalies, which are typically apparent within moments of discovering or manipulating them. They are cues as to what the object’s function was when it was crafted centuries ago by the Titans. Since many Archans are repurposed fragments of larger technologies, these cues can often be misleading or incomplete, providing more mysteries than answers. An Archan’s anomaly is generated on the Archan Anomaly section that follows.

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3D6 3-12 13-16 17-18 3D6 3-12 13-16 17-18

ARCHAN POWER LEVEL Bauble Contraption Relic ARCHAN CONDITION Ruined Fragmented Intact

ARCHAN DESCRIPTIONS AND APPEARANCE Archans originate from a mysterious and ancient culture, and by design are strange in form and appearance. Most Archans are pieces of a former whole – components of larger, more complex mechanisms lost to time. Despite their broken, piecemeal nature, Archans still carry leftover magic. Perhaps the swath of material you found would make a fine pair of boots, a well-fitting pair of gloves, or a flowing scarf. Maybe the metal object you found would make a fine sword, an eye-catching ornamentation, or a bladed staff. Use your imagination to discover the Archan’s exact shape and appearance – especially when combining them. For inspiration, roll on either the Archan description tables tied to each power level, or use the Archan Appearance Generator for an entirely unique appearance. D20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

BAUBLE DESCRIPTIONS A fist-sized copper sphere with revolving sections A cylindrical container with runic markings The mangled hand of an ancient construct A fanning set of oxidized blades A metal baton adorned with an angular figurine Long, flowing metallic garments lined with copper weave A silver-white container with an intricate lock on each side A translucent orb, filled with a vibrantly hued liquid Two glistening circular rings with a chunk of brass connecting them A cube comprised of layers of complex clockwork An insectoid-shaped brass figurine inlaid with copper filigree A metallic container evoking a blooming flower A prismatic, polyhedral gemstone that shifts hues A metal canister filled with unnatural darkness A pair of long-necked, transparent containers strung to a thick strand of metal A splintered shard of rippled steel An angular, brass tube adorned with crystal A piece of malleable stone with spiraling etchings that shift every few moments A small container with a spout and handles inlaid with slowly revolving gears A small, reflective onyx pyramid

INNOVATING ARCHANS While these tables represent many possible options and abilities that Archans might have, they are not entirely comprehensive. If another effect is desired, feel free to adjust or create new Archans that can accomplish the needs of the item, whether crafted through combinations by the player or given as a reward by the GM.

D20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

BAUBLE PROPERTIES Casts the light cantrip without the need for material components. Indicates the nearest source of food or fresh water within 5 miles. Projects your voice out to 300 feet for 12 seconds. Casts the minor illusion cantrip without the need for material components. Creates a permanent, palm-sized, glowing mark on any surface. Can create a small spark to light a torch, campfire, or other small flame. If used against a creature, it acts as an improvised melee weapon that deals 1d4 fire damage on a hit. Grants you advantage on your next ability check or saving throw. (AF: 5) Translates up to 100 spoken or written words of any language into Crucian. Grants you advantage on Charisma (Performance) checks for 24 hours. Marks one creature within 30 feet and tracks their location for 1 hour. This can only mark one creature in this way at one time. Activating this Archan again switches the target to the new creature. Pushes a single object within 30 feet of you weighing up to 5 pounds that isn’t being worn or carried up to 15 feet in a straight line away from you. Grants you advantage on all Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks for 1 hour. (AF: 3) A single weapon you carry deals an extra 1d6 radiant or force damage (your choice) for the next hour. (AF: 3) Casts the magic missile spell as a 1st-level spell. (AF: 3) Fills any container with up to 1 gallon of fresh water. Summons a spectral beast of CR 1/2 or lower that obeys your commands, acts on your initiative, and vanishes after 10 minutes. Only one beast can be summoned this way at a time. Grants you advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks for 1 hour. (AF: 3) Grants you advantage on Charisma (Deception) checks for 1 hour. (AF: 3) Indicates the relative direction of a single creature of which you know the true name, which you announce as you activate this Archan. Casts the charm person spell as a 1st-level spell. (DC 14)

ARCHANS AS EQUIPMENT In instances where Archans match or are integrated into other items, consider attaching the equipment stats to the Archan. For example, an Archan bauble that can function as a longsword may have both the properties of a longsword and the below abilities, or leather armor may have Archans woven into it.

D20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 D20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

CONTRAPTION DESCRIPTIONS A segmented pole with a swiveling middle, and razor edges on each end A plated, fist-sized cover affixed with copper tubes A length of slender, circular metal bedecked with shimmering copper pinions A circular dish with a thick magnifying lens in its center A curved, metallic dome rimmed with sawtooth edges A metal band with tensile coils keeping it open or closed A conical brass tube with holes and valves of varying size Three brass spheres interlocked with tubes An arced sighting mechanism with indiscernible adjusters A broad, octagonal piece of reinforced metal alloy A heart-shaped length of a highly elastic substance with flecks of strange metal A curved piece of rippled brass whose ends are joined by taut wire A worn pouch of metal weave with myriad pockets An intricate container of small silver discs adhered magnetically A cylindrical, barrel-shaped object with a taut membrane pulled over both ends Shafts of strange metal with razor ends A hollow dodecahedron filled with a variety of thin, razor-sharp shards Flat pieces of rigid, fibrous material joined by rotating bolts A tangle of thick, tensile strands woven into a circlet A long segment of thick, sharpened metal that can separate into three parts CONTRAPTION PROPERTIES Allows you to see through solid surfaces up to 1 feet thick for 1 minute. (AF: 1) Casts the knock spell. (AF: 3) Removes 1 level of exhaustion from a single creature within reach. (AF: 3) Grants you advantage on ability checks that use one skill of your choice for 1 hour. (AF: 3) Casts the burning hands spell as a 1st-level spell (DC 15). (AF: 3) Grants you advantage on initiative checks for 1 hour. (AF: 3) Allows you to speak a single language for 1 hour. (AF: 3) Makes you immune to the effects of extreme cold and heat for 1 hour. (AF: 1) Allows you to breathe underwater and gain a swim speed of 30 feet for 1 hour. (AF: 3) Grants you resistance to poison damage and advantage on saving throws against poison for 1 hour. (AF: 3) Casts the levitate spell without the need for material components. (AF: 3) Allows you to ignore difficult terrain and doubles your walking speed for 10 minutes. (AF: 2) Casts the shatter spell as a 2nd-level spell (DC 15) without the need for material components. (AF: 2) Summons two flying swords that obey your commands, act on your initiative, and vanish after 10 minutes. Only one use of this Archan can be active at one time. (AF: 1) Creates a container, with an average lock and key, that can hold 6 cubic feet or 150 pounds. (AF: 1) Creates a single melee weapon of your choice. (AF: 1) Creates a single ranged weapon of your choice. (AF: 1) Casts the speak with dead spell without the need for material components. (AF: 1) Casts the blink spell. (AF: 3) Casts the magic weapon spell as a 2nd-level spell. 403 WONDERS: TITANS

D20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

RELIC DESCRIPTIONS Crystalline pages bound with wirework – glyphs appear sporadically A sharp piece of scrap with a dilating head, affixed to a sturdy handle A large outer garment made of interwoven wires and textile A leather band with glowing lenses set into it A broad, pliable strap with a number of loops and pockets The heavy oblong controller to some larger device A large piece of glistening, crimson metal with two large handles set into it A bolt of shimmering, rugged fabric with tiny pieces of crystal woven throughout A burnished piece of copper with a stout, fist-sized chamber attached to a long, loose cylinder A metal disk of interconnected spinning plates whose runic patterns align A large conical object that conjures illusory images from other locations briefly A spherical instrument consisting of multiple moving arms linked by a movable joint An obsidian tesseract with a small copper ball at its center A shaped piece of reinforced metal with leather straps and lenses set into it Two transparent triangular chambers, filled with liquid that can pass from one to the other An ornate, heavy case with a hinged lid filled with complex clockwork A gangled copse of wire akin to a wispy tree, each piece razor sharp and posable A metal chunk whose shape and size can be manipulated by adjusting a series of rounded buttons and bolts A mechanism with copper teeth set on flexible links that circulate around the object’s edge A swath of sleek, translucent fabric that adheres to any shape it touches

D20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

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RELIC PROPERTIES Casts the misty step spell. (AF: 3) Grants you resistance to non-magical damage for 1 hour. (AF: 1) Grants you truesight up to 30 feet for 1 hour. (AF: 1) Casts the fly spell as a 3rd-level spell without the need for material components. (AF: 3) Reveals a random secret about a creature of your choice that you can see. Work with the GM on what it is. Creates a magical weapon of your choice that has a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls and vanishes after 24 hours. (AF: 1) Casts the magic missile spell as a 6th-level spell (8 darts). (AF: 1) Casts the dimension door spell without the need for material components. (AF: 3) Grants you the ability to automatically succeed on the next saving throw you make. (AF: 3) Grants you the ability to survive without food, water, and air for 24 hours. (AF: 1) Casts the tiny hut spell without the need for material components. (AF: 1) Casts the cure wounds spell as a 5th level spell, using +5 as the spellcasting modifier. (AF: 2) Casts the charm monster spell as a 4th-level spell (DC 16) without the need for material components. (AF:2) Creates a steel defender that obeys your commands, acts on your initiative, and vanishes after 1 hour. (AF: 1) Casts the wall of force spell without the need for material components. (AF: 1) Casts the fireball spell as a 3rd-level spell (DC 16) without the need for material components. (AF: 3) Casts the call lightning spell as a 3rd-level spell (DC 16) that takes the form of a minor Bleakstorm, and deals bleak damage instead of lightning damage. (AF: 2) Improves the condition of one other Archan by one tier. (AF: 1) Creates an animated armor that obeys your commands, acts on your initiative, and vanishes after 1 hour. (AF: 1) Casts the raise dead spell without the need for material components. (AF: 1)

MALFUNCTIONS

VARIANT: ARCHAN APPEARANCE

When you roll a 1 or 2 on an Archan’s usage die, the Archan malfunctions. The GM can choose what goes wrong, or roll on the table below for an effect. If a malfunction requires a saving throw, the DC is equal to 14, but can change at the GM’s discretion.

Each Archan power level has an associated Description Table that is designed to narratively fit its potency. Optionally, to generate your own Archan appearances outside of the tables provided, you can roll on the following Archan Appearance Generator table.

D20 1 2 3

5 6 7

14 15 16 17 18

ARCHAN APPEARANCE GENERATOR

MALFUNCTIONS The Archan emits a terrifying, illusory image from eons ago. You must succeed on a DC 14 Charisma saving throw or drop the Archan and become frightened for 1 minute. The Archan saps your strength. You must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or gain 1 level of exhaustion. The Archan transforms. Roll new anomalies and properties to replace its existing ones. The Archan emits a thunderclap. Each creature within 30 feet of the Archan must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw, taking 9 (2d8) thunder damage and become deafened for 1 minute on a failed save. The Archan combusts. You must succeed on a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw or take 9 (2d8) fire damage. The Archan shorts and sparks. You must succeed on a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw or take 13 (3d8) lightning damage. The Archan’s ancient energy lashes out at nearby creatures. It casts the magic missile spell as a 1st-level spell, targeting up to three creatures at random within range. Gravity increases around you. You must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or take 9 (2d8) force damage and become prone. The Archan emits a blinding flash of white-hot light. Each creature within 30 feet of the Archan must succeed on a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw or become blinded for 1 minute. Your nerve endings tingle with Archanic energy and your reaction time slows. Your next ability check, saving throw, or attack roll is made with disadvantage. The Archan awakens ancient, malignant spirits. You must succeed on a DC 14 Charisma saving throw or take 11 (2d10) necrotic damage and gain 1 level of exhaustion. The Archan fills your mind with indecipherable runes and schematics. You must succeed on a DC 14 Intelligence saving throw or take 7 (2d6) psychic damage and become stunned until the end of your next turn. The Archan expels a toxic gas. You must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or become poisoned until you finish a short rest. The Archan heats to a searing temperature. You must drop the Archan or take 3 (1d6) fire damage at the start of each of your turns for the next minute. The Archan casts the darkness spell, centered on itself. An otherworldly presence speaks through the Archan. You must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or take 11 (2d10) psychic damage. The Archan emits a klaxon audible out to 1 mile. The Archan creates a violent Bleakstorm that mimics the effects of the sleet storm spell (DC 14) centered on the Archan. It lasts for 1 minute. The Archan emits a powerful shockwave. Each creature within 60 feet of the Archan must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or take 13 (3d8) force damage and become prone. The Archan opens a planar rift. You must succeed on a DC 14 Charisma saving throw or take 13 (3d8) force damage and disappear from this plane. You reappear in the same space after 1 minute.

D203

MATERIAL

SHAPE

EXTRA

Gear Cylinder Mechanical Hand Strange Figurine

Silver Etchings Strange Knobs Shifting Layers Dilating in Shape

Blade

Pulleys and Levers

Flat Stone Polished Brass Oxidized Silver Burnished Copper Stone-encrusted Onyx Pitted Alloy

Metal Links

8 9

Mottled Brick Slick Gemstone

Granite Scales

Unmelting Ice

Canvas and Rivets

Obsidian

14 15 16

Rippled Steel Fine Metal Chain Woven Wires

Semi-hard Smoke

18 19 20

Crystal Glistening Gold Titan Copper

1 2 3 4 5

D20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Compound Eye

Glowing Coils Infinitesimal Gauntlet Engravings Ring Absorbs Light Interlocking Cube Porous and Spongy Behaves Ziggurat Organically Satchel Phases Complex Sphere Clockwork Embossed with Collapsible Rod Glyphs Dodecahedron Flexible/Bendable Helm or Mask Secreting Resin Interlocking Chain Translucent Sheen Compartments of Container of Liquid Liquid Shield or fragment Slick with Oils Fractal Tooth Prismatic Asymmetrical Skull Eerie Transparency

ANOMALIES A plume of thick smokes emits from the Archan upon using it This Archan floats in any liquid When activated, this Archan unfolds into an entirely different shape before returning to its original shape Provokes malicious thoughts in the mind of the bearer when activated Exotic flora spring up wherever this Archan rests for longer than 1 minute When activated, a haunting song of Titan origin emits from this Archan Oozes a thick, bitter oil from its surface when activated Insects are drawn to the Archan as though it were a source of light Feels pleasantly warm to the touch after being activated After activation, this Archan vanishes from sight, returning to its visible state after 1 minute Gives off intense, varied smells after activation This Archan becomes exceptionally heavy during activation Causes all metal in the area to warm as though they’ve sat in the hot sun The Archan stains cloth that touches it a vibrant crimson Eschews a highly flammable coal dust Casts light in the shape of a starmap Subtly shifts the weather in the area after being activated This Archan gives off a pale, otherworldly light A rune appears on this Archan’s surface after activation Causes troubling dreams in the wielder 405 WONDERS: TITANS

TINKERING WITH ARCHANS With the proper tools (such as Archan tools, tinker’s tools, or other tools, at the GM’s discretion), you can attempt to repair, combine, or dismantle an Archan with a successful Intelligence check during a short or long rest, the DC and cost of which is denoted in the Archan Tinker DCs and Material Requirements table. ARCHAN TINKER DCS AND MATERIAL REQUIREMENTS POWER LEVEL

TINKER DC

GOLD REQUIRED

Bauble Contraption Relic

14 18 22

5 20 100

OPTIONAL RULE: INCREASED COST As written, the amount of gold required to tinker with Archans is on the lower side to match the thematic scarcity of Dragongrin. If the party has access to a reasonable amount of wealth, these costs may be too low. Conversely, these costs can be lowered further or even eliminated in games where that makes sense. The GM can change the gold required for tinkering with Archans as suited for the game.

REPAIRING With a successful Intelligence check using appropriate tools, you can repair an Archan, increasing that item’s usage die by one step up to a maximum of its original usage die. If the result of the Intelligence check is a natural 20, you can increase that Archan’s usage die by two steps up to a maximum of its original usage die. If the result of the Intelligence check is a natural 1, the Archan’s usage die is reduced by one step. If the usage die was a d4, the Archan is destroyed.

COMBINING With a successful Intelligence check using appropriate tools, you can combine any two Archans of the same power level into an Archan of the next power level. For example, two baubles can be combined to make a contraption, and two contraptions can be combined to make a relic. If the result of the Intelligence check is a natural 1, each Archan’s usage die is reduced by one step. If either usage die was a d4, that Archan is destroyed. If you successfully combine two Archans, the condition and usage die of the new Archan matches the lower condition and usage dice of the two original Archans. For example, an Archan created by combining a ruined Archan and a fragmented Archan would have the ruined condition. If you create a new Archan, you must roll on the Anomalies table and the Properties table as denoted by the new Archan’s condition, replacing its existing properties and anomaly.

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DISMANTLING With a successful Intelligence check using appropriate tools, you can dismantle a relic or a contraption into two lesser Archans. For example, a relic can be dismantled into two contraptions, and a contraption can be dismantled into two baubles. If the result of the Intelligence check is a natural 1, each Archan’s usage die is reduced by one step. If either usage die was a d4, that Archan is destroyed. When you successfully dismantle an Archan, the conditions and usage dice of the new Archans are the same as the Archan that was dismantled. You must roll on the Anomalies table and the Properties table as denoted by the new Archan’s condition, replacing its existing properties and anomaly.

PRIME ARCHANS Prime Archans are the pinnacle of all Archanic construction, reaching heights of power and majesty that only the most prolific and virtuoso of Titans have ever crafted. Almost every single Prime Archan that has existed has been lost, either buried so far into the ruins of ages past or destroyed by the inexorable decays of time and war. As such, Prime Archans cannot be found randomly in the way that lower level Archans can. One of the only known surviving Prime Archans is the Plexus, located deep in the heart of Zamon, featured in the Crux: Temple of the Searing Heart.

CREATING A PRIME ARCHAN Prime Archans cannot be found or created in the same way that other Archans can. They cannot be rolled randomly or created by combining Archans. They must be created by the party or given as a high-level reward for a significant story arc. The process of creating a Prime Archan is a process that does not span days or weeks, but may take an entire campaign, or even multiple, to complete. They represent the absolute pinnacle of technology and magic items in Dragongrin. While some examples are given in the Prime Archan Examples and Inspirations table below, Prime Archans can be as complex or powerful as the table decides, but should require suitably exotic and valuable materials based on its scope. These materials may require entire quests just to find and obtain. Because of their flexible nature and potential for great power, Prime Archans are always allowed only at GM discretion, and with great care and time put into their craftsmanship, both in and out of character. Prime Archans do not have a quality or usage die, and are permanent unless destroyed or changed by significant narrative means. However, depending on their abilities, they may still have an Aeonic Fatigue. Also consider that Prime Archans can be so complex that it would take far more than a simple, single interaction with a set of Tinker or Archan tools to make a meaningful difference on the object. Entire campaigns can be set around maintaining or repairing substantial Prime Archans such as the flying city the Copper Sun.

D10

PRIME ARCHAN EXAMPLES AND INSPIRATIONS The Plexus – Located in Dominion of Ash Zamon – is a towering structure capable of creating a link signal between all the Tomehearts in Dragongrin, allowing them to freely communicate and share information with each other over any distance instantaneously. An entire Archanic tower that can alter its shape and layout automatically and house people and equipment inside it. This tower cannot be detected by divination magic and contains traps and defenses that can distinguish friend from foe on their own. A mechanical sword hilt that springs a blade of pure magical energy from it, counting as a legendary magic weapon such as a vorpal sword. An entire intelligent Archanic construct rivaling even the greatest of the Titan’s creations. Use the stats of an appropriate shield guardian or even golem to model this marvel of a creation, based on GM discretion and the quality and rarity of materials and construction. The creation, though sentient, follows your orders exactly. A platform inlaid into the ground itself that gathers magical energy, and once charged, can teleport any who stand inside its rune-marked circle anywhere in Dragongrin, or perhaps even beyond it safely with incredible accuracy. Also counts as a sigil sequence for the purposes of spells like teleportation circle. A self-running foundry that can churn out mundane items and equipment on its own, as long as it has the materials necessary to do so.

D10

PRIME ARCHAN EXAMPLES AND INSPIRATIONS A suit of Archanic armor that acts as an exoskeleton that has the capability to reproduce magical effects such as flight, blasting spells from its gauntlets, and perhaps even a measure of construct intelligence built in. Consider having the player build this armor one piece at a time, helm, arms, legs, torso, etc. An Archanic vehicle that can traverse any terrain easily, is submersible, and can achieve flight. The craft’s size, capacity and other features can be determined by the builder and GM. An Archanic device that can tune in to the frequency of the typhons, by focusing on their Titan construction. It can find typhons wherever they are, dead or alive. If the typhon is alive, this device can be used to control their every move. An Archan that is so concentrated in its quality and construction that it is as though the Titans are living again through the object. The Nullifier – located in Dominion of Ash Svir – is a device that staves of the Desolation. It has been recently altered to act as a subterranean drilling vessel capable of traveling underground. The Copper Sun – the largest Prime Archan ever discovered, was made into an enormous flying vessel by the Holithic Church before Lightfall. Now home to the Copper Jackals and Undying Light.

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PRIMORDIALS “Aaaak-men taaakli shen. Promorshi-fauxen. Xhetemen?” – Titanspeak proverb These gargantuan creatures were the most powerful apex predators that Dragongrin has ever seen, and ruled the realm with their unchecked elemental fury.

HISTORY

• Then: These gargantuan creatures were the most powerful apex predators that Dragongrin has ever seen, and ruled the realm with their unchecked elemental fury. They clashed with the Titans in the Age of Annihilation. • Now: The carcasses of the Primordials still litter Dragongrin, and their remains are potent and valuable sources of raw materials. The remains of the Primordials are used to craft remarkable objects known as Valens. • Beyond: Some say that they can still sense the essence of the Primordials even today. These voices call out, longing to rule the realm again. If they can gain followers, some say the Primordials can return to Dragongrin to rule in their elemental fury.

WHAT IS KNOWN

• The corpses of the Primordials litter the landscape of Dragongrin, and can be harvested for their bone, organs, hide, and even blood. These especially potent materials can be made to make items of unmatched quality known as Valens. • No culture in Dragongrin deifies and connects with the powerful and mysterious Primordials more than the Grimdul of Zamon. They are masters of Valens and openly claim that they are the proper heirs to the carcasses of the colossal creatures, acting as custodians to the gift of their remains. • Centuries ago, the Oedran empire was once the largest and most sprawling civilization in all of Dragongrin, and their history shows deep and unique ties to the Primordials – evidence of this can still be found deep in the jungles of Zamon.

WHAT IS DISPUTED

• Many believe that the Ocean of Trees in the heart of Zamon was actually a purposeful refuge dug by the Primordials, a virtually bottomless trench to keep them safe during the Age of Annihilation. • Many say that at the end, the Primordials understood the unstoppable killer they had created in the dragons, and instinctively knew allying with the Titans was the only way to avoid eventual extermination by their creations. This culminated in a mutually-decided extinctiongrade energy weapon designed by the Titans called the Annihilator. Its detonation meant the end of many Primordials. • It is unknown if the voices that people claim are the Primordials actually belong to the near-extinct creatures – let alone if they’re speaking at all. Some even say that the Dismembered Lord tricks those foolish enough to listen with a false voice.

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WHAT IS UNKNOWN

• It’s impossible to know how many Primordials survived the Annihilator. Were all but a few obliterated into the pieces that litter Dragongrin today? How many escaped into the Ocean of Trees? • Some say that the essence of the Primordials still exists today in Dragongrin, and this is where the power of the Old Vale comes from. It’s believed by some that to wield druidic magic in Dragongrin is to use the very quintessence of the Primordials to create magical effects. • Rumors persist that the Primordials were linked to the immeasurably powerful creation force known as Imminence by their very nature, having a connection to it biologically. It is said the secrets to unlocking Imminence lies waiting among the remains of the ancient Primordials.

DISCOVERING PRIMORDIALS

The Age of Annihilation: Some believe that the Primordials were the chaotic antithesis to the Titans’ orderly advancements, destined to war with them. During the Age of Annihilation – the time of war between the Primordials and Titans – the Primordials were initially beat back by the calculating and organized Titans. It was then that the Primordials hatched their most cunning and powerful brood that Dragongrin has ever seen, birthing the dragons from their elemental essences. The Titans struck back with the creation of their mighty typhons. While this act of retaliation did stem the tide, the unprecedented occurred and the dragons turned on their Primordial masters. Growing in numbers by spawning their own armies of lesser draconic creatures called dragonbound, the dragons were set to usurp all life in Dragongrin. Eventually realizing that the only way to truly cull the undefeatable dragons would be at the cost of much – or all – life in the realm, they struck a truce with the Titans. In a final push that cost the Primordials many lives, they held the dragons at bay long enough to allow the Titans to activate their world-ending device, the Annihilator.

Organic Ties to Imminence: The Primordials had an innate, but peripheral relationship with the force of Imminence, though it was instinctual at best. Acting most often as an unconscious effect to avoid conflict, travel or hunt, many Primordials had the ability to effectively act almost a full minute in the future. This proved to make them difficult to ambush and kill, and to outsiders their functional use of these instincts appeared as sheer chaos as the Primordials would react and respond, positioning themselves for events that would happen moments in the future. Elemental Nature: The Primordials are immense creatures of leathery flesh, but are also composed of raw elemental energy. Their titanic frames are covered in virtually impenetrable, dry scaly skin, but from between the reptilian cracks spew magma, spit lightning, and gush torrents of water. Their elemental nature goes beyond the basic elements of earth, wind, water, and fire, extending into deeper fusions of esoteric facets of creation. Unmatched in their elemental fury, the Primordials are even said to be the source of lesser elementals in the realm. Some even whisper that this elemental quintessence can still be tapped into and wielded as an arcane force – such as

the Soulwind magic of the Grimdul. This elemental energy is volatile, however, and is said to be the cause of the vile, magma-spewing creatures known as the fleshcauldrons in Dominion of Ash Svir Below. D20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 D20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

ELEMENTAL NATURE Lightning Ice Wind and storm Dust and ash Ooze Smoke Flame and cinder Steam Light and radiance Ore Earth and stone Snow and frost Fungus Shadow Deluge and water Flowing magma Ectoplasm Flood Mist Blood REMAINS OF THE PRIMORDIALS A fully intact Primordial that has been flayed into a tent city. A volcano is actually a Primordial – the crater is its gaping, smoking mouth. The head of a Primordial and the Titan axe that severed it. A gargantuan split ribcage creating bones spires carved into dwellings. Razor sharp spines jutting from the ground creating cliffs. A lush, forest growing from a shattered Primordial hand. Primordial head cleaved in two, horizontally. A mangled Primordial leg connecting a canyon. Full Primordial wrestling a dragon, its popped spine clutched in grasped fists. A barbed Primordial tail that dips into and out of the earth in arches. Primordial arm, shoulder, and chest flayed and split. Primordial cloven in three, spread across the horizon. Primordial mother protecting several young, all slain. Two dead Primordials, interlocked, guarding the nest of their petrified young. The eviscerated lower half of a Primordial forming a waterfall. The liquified viscera of the Primordial forms lakes – islands of bone dot them. Titan and Primordial remains, dealing mutual killing blows. An enormous chest cavity run through with a complex Archan. A Primordial’s maw clamped around a Titan helm. Mass grave of Primordials, intact corpses for dregs.

Dragons and Grins: The dragons were bred to be calculating, cunning, and predatory – and they achieved the purpose for which they were created perfectly. So much so, that the dragons eventually turned on the Primordials and threatened to usurp the whole of Dragongrin. The dragons were destroyed by a weapon called the Annihilator, but at great cost – nearly all of the Titans and Primordials were as well. The grins may merely be the resting places of dead beasts, but the infusion of the Bleak into the realm, coupled with the obscure activities of the world’s most enigmatic cultures, has turned them into living, evolving complexes. Often containing chambers of multiple sizes throughout both the corpse of the dragon as well as the outlying underground area, these living dungeons vary greatly in their twisted effects. The grins’ physical attributes and effects on those who traverse them are related to the essence of the dead dragon within them. Legend says that all the dragons had distinct personalities, unaffected by scale color or some fictional semblance of strict moral alignment. Graves of dragons who once desired revenge will spread that emotional discharge to those who frequent them, while dragons who favored gold and jewels will inhabit grins coated in large veins of beautiful crystals. Other grins are altogether unpredictable. Few arcane powers in Dragongrin have the ability to create life where before there was none, but the grins are an exception to this rule. All manner of draconic creatures, including drakes, kobolds, serpentfolk, wyverns, demidragons, and the renowned Dragonkin emerge from the grins with wholly sentient personalities of their own. Some in the realm empathize with these newfound people without a home, but most are quickly terrified by such beings – a fact which causes these Dragonbound to form packs, tribes, clans, and nations to defend their lives against fearful outsiders. DRAGON GENERATOR D20

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

NAME

TITLE

Atyr Xersik Sarnaiax Helkhir Kornuun Onoth Vindavain Drathok Ghaglunith Thonoth Mal Eugmiral Qraxis Bastrath Krivyg Cranauth Aurogz Folvollan Ramoch Drikon Wroz'gal

the Bonescraper Titan Eater the Defiler the Sleephaunter the Doomspewer Wrathmaker the Usurper Eater of Hope the Unyielding Screechtongue the Belligerent Champion Slayer the Devourer the Nightmare the Starving One the Chosen of a Thousand Eyes the Unbreakable Ender of Good Lord of Wyrms

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D10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 D10 1 2 3 4 5 6

DRAGON’S NATURE Conqueror: Overtake lands by use of military might, with an insatiable appetite for war and conquest. Infiltrator: Quietly infiltrating factions and armies, secretly destroying them from within. Primal: Not capable of sentient thought, operating by its visceral, primal instincts. Mastermind: Brilliant tactician and leader, gathers droves of loyal followers and powerful connections. Trickster: Uses the weaknesses of others to sow seeds of self-destruction. Amoral and loving of conflict. Destroyer: Seeks to lay waste to all things, leaving all it touches in a heap of detritus and ash. Sufferer: Forced to be evil by an outside force such as a curse, or to achieve a greater good. Corruptor: Taints existing things of beauty, order and balance, making it a twisted shadow of what it was. Zealot: Blindly fights for a cause, religion, tradition or idea, purging all who do not adhere to their truth. Insidious: An atrocity that revels in being a malevolent and deadly force of iniquity. DRAGONBOUND Drakes Kobolds Serpentfolk Wyverns Dragonkin Demidragons

C’War the Last Primordial: Deep within the Everbleak of Dominion of Ash Uldane dwells the C’War – a creature said to be the last living Primordial, a colossal being, neither benevolent or malevolent, but instead operating only on its primal hunger. Preferring to feed on the remains of the dragons, it digs deep into their grins to feast, empowering itself and growing more supernaturally twisted with each meal. The C’War’s elemental essence is notably absent from its anatomy. Many speculate that this shows a sign of the creature’s diminishing state and age or signs of being malnourished. Others claim the C’War’s essence has evolved beyond the base elements and that its elemental fury stems now from the Bleak itself. Traces of the Oedran: Despite their timeless nature, the Primordials have seemingly been lost to the ages. That is, save for the ruins and artifacts of the Oedran Empire. Once a grand, sprawling civilization whose interconnected metropolitan settlements were built from the bones of the Primordials, now their legacy has devolved into the myriad ruins of Zamon and beyond, where the vast plethora of Primordial bones can be discovered, excavated, and repurposed. Roll on the following table to generate an Oedran site, keeping in mind that almost all of these extremely rare locations are constructed of Primordial bone. OEDRAN SITE GENERATOR D12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

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OEDRAN SITE

UNIQUE FACET

Observatory Temple Amphitheater Tower Primordial bone tunnels Dormitory Grand palace Barracks Sacred henge Prison Road or highway Throne room

Recently excavated Roving enemies Buried Houses a powerful relic Disease-infested Decrepit – on the verge of collapse Hall of traps guards a reward Haunted by Oedran ghosts Astronomical clues Pristine – all is preserved Secret code Mummies

VALENS

The Primordials once roamed the entirety of Dragongrin. Now believed to be extinct, their Titanic carcasses litter the realm, often buried beneath eons of the elements and progress of civilization. Finding and excavating Primordial remains and harvesting raw materials from their corpses will allow adventurers an opportunity to craft objects and items known as Valens. By using Primordial bone, blood, hide and organs, Valens can take the form of weapons, armor, objects, potions, other consumables and more. Dependant on the materials used to craft them, Valens are similar to the common objects they are modeled after, but if an adventurer is skilled enough, they can also be imbued with more powerful traits. Beware – like any other resource, the adventurers will not be the only ones seeking Primordial corpses, and the materials harvested from them. Valens and the materials harvested to craft them are worth their weight in gold.

WHEN TO SEARCH? The frequency of Primordial remains – and subsequently the possibility of Valens – in a session or campaign is entirely up to the Game Master, and they may elect to use the rules presented in this chapter to allow adventurers to excavate and harvest the materials to craft exceptional items. Here are some guidelines to consider when choosing how often Primordial remains and Valens will be featured. Consider that Dragongrin is a land littered with the carcasses of the Primordials, so it’s possible to stumble upon their remains virtually anywhere in the realm. Many creatures over the centuries have unearthed the Primordial corpses and picked them clean, so they are more scarce than they once were, but it’s still possible to hunt for and find them. The default guideline for how often a player can search for Primordial remains is once per day. This frequency attempts to strike a balance between players having the satisfaction of hunting for and finding remains to harvest materials and craft Valens, but also mitigate the risk that a game’s non-Valen focused story will not be overshadowed by hunting, excavating and crafting. Note that even though the players may search for Primordial remains at a default once per day, they still need to roll on the Primordial Size table, which uses a d12 for measured probability in the amount of materials they may find. If you would rather feature Valens more or less in your game, use the Primordial Hunting Frequency table as a guideline to increase or decrease the amount of times the players can hunt for the creature’s corpses to harvest materials. PRIMORDIAL HUNTING FREQUENCY Rare Normal Abundant Primordial hunting game

Once per week Once per day Once per short or long rest No frequency cap

MULTIPLE PEOPLE SEARCHING FOR PRIMORDIALS These rules are designed for one or two players at a time searching for Primordial corpses to harvest. The number of people searching in an area won’t necessarily increase the amount of remains that would be found. If more than a couple of people want to search to harvest Valen materials at a time, consider having them take turns, or roll to decide who will get to do so. Optionally consider that the search for Primordial remains is a group effort with a group yield, much like finding magic items in a dungeon. Encourage sharing harvested materials with the party member who would most benefit rather than treating it as a personal search and gain.

SIZE OF PRIMORDIAL REMAINS The literal size of the Primordial remains have no mechanical effect on Valens, but consider using the shape, size and location of the remains as a powerful narrative tool to create a sense of wonder. While the Primordials were titanic in size, remains of all shapes and sizes dot the landscape. Perhaps the adventuring party will find an entire carcass freshly unearthed by a Bleakstorm? Or maybe they just find a portion of the creature torn asunder by time and elements, and scattered across the landscape. VALEN MATERIAL TYPE Bone Blood Hide Organs

Primordial bones are incredibly sturdy, but can be crafted by the right tools and skills. They make great lightweight substitutes for metal weapons and armor. The blood of the Primordials carries with it magical properties. It is most often combined with other materials as a reagent in crafting a variety of potions and salves. Primordial hide is unnaturally flexible for how tough it is. Skilled crafters can tan Primordial hide into leather and work that leather into tools and armor. Organs harvested from Primordials are used in a variety of strange rituals and enchantments. Some can even be consumed to provide strange effects on the body.

VALEN MATERIAL TYPES Most Primordials will afford one type of material that is still usable, which is determined by rolling on the Valen Material Type table. Once obtained, that material can be used to craft certain types of items and equipment based on its type.

UNEARTHING VALENS When searching for and excavating Valens, each time you harvest you roll on the Valen Harvest table to see what material type that corpse still has undecayed, and how much material you are able to harvest. Use the following rules to randomize the type of material found, and determine what that material can craft, and how successfully the material can be worked. VALEN HARVEST D12 1-2 3 4-5 6 7-8 9 10-11 12

VALEN MATERIAL TYPE 1 unit of bone 2 units of bone 1 unit of blood 2 units of blood 1 unit of hide 2 units of hide 1 unit of organs 2 units of organs

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VALEN DESCRIPTIONS Primordials are primal and often elemental creatures, and as a result, have a large variety of appearances and properties. As such, the descriptions of Valens and their resulting crafts are very flexible in the way they can appear. Primordial hide might appear rough and rocky despite its flexibility, or it could appear as sleek and scaly. Primordial blood might be thick and red, black and ichorous, or even dazzling and odd colors that shimmer. A Primordial’s organ might slick a weapon in flammable oil or douse it in an icy magical sheen. In general, allowing players the flexibility to describe their Valens and the crafts they make with them so they can create the aesthetic they’d like is both easier and usually more fun than dictating it ahead of time and requiring their craft suit the description.

CRAFTING MATERIALS AND VALENS Certain items made with Valens may, in description, require other materials in small quantities. For example, a Valen hide cloak requiring a metal clasp, or a Valen bone bow requiring a string. Unless the tracking of mundane materials is extremely important to the feel of your game, it is assumed that players crafting with Valens will automatically be able to obtain and craft with those materials as part of the Valen process. MATERIALS

PRIMORDIAL BONE EQUIPMENT OPTIONS

The Valen materials harvested from Primordials can be used to craft a variety of different items and equipment. Each different material can be used to craft certain items according to their type. Certain equipment will require more than one unit of that material. In general, players should be able to choose freely what item they will make with their materials, as long as it is reasonable they could create even a crude and basic form of it.

Any simple weapon Any set of tools, arcane or druidic focus, or holy 1 unit of bone symbol A suit of armor equivalent to a chain shirt or scale 1 unit of bone mail 1 unit of bone 20 arrows, bolts or sling bullets An appropriate musical instrument, at GM’s 1 unit of bone discretion Small mundane equipment other than weapons and 1 unit of bone armor at GM’s discretion A single martial weapon that does not have the heavy 2 units of bone property 2 units of bone Medium Armor, or armor equivalent to Chain Mail

No rolls are required for the act of crafting the Valen, though a Quality Roll is made to see how well the item turns out. To craft a Valen, one hour of time for each unit of materials used is required. For instance, to create a simple weapon from one harvested unit of bone would take one hour, and to craft an intricate consumable enchantment from three harvested units of organ would take three hours.

2 units of bone A shield A special talisman that counts as a stone of good 2 units of bone luck, requiring attunement as normal 2 units of bone Ring of animal influence Medium equipment other than weapons and armor at 2 units of bone GM’s discretion 3 units of bone Martial weapon with the heavy property

CRAFTING WITH VALENS

QUALITY ROLLS When you craft an item using Valens, your skill with Valens plays a direct part in how well that item turns out. Primordial remains are notoriously difficult to work with, requiring specific Valen Tools in order to be able to craft them into usable equipment. While crafters of any skill who own valen tools will be able to successfully create crude versions of any item, those well trained in the difficult art of working with Valens will be able to create higher quality items. Whenever you craft an item with valens, roll a d20, adding an attribute appropriate to the item being created, and adding your proficiency bonus if you are proficient with valen tools, and consult the below Quality Effects table to determine how the creation is modified. Additionally, if you roll a natural 20 on the roll, the creation costs one less unit of material to make than it otherwise would, as long as it originally cost more than 1 unit. This cannot be used to craft something you wouldn’t have had materials to make before the roll.

PRIMORDIAL INFLUENCE Primordials are magical creatures whose influence on the world continues to radiate to this day, even with most of them dead. Their consciousness resides not just in their minds, but throughout their entire bodies, and it seeps into anything that it can influence. Crafters must take great care when working with Valens, or else the primal influence of the Primordials might begin to affect them. If you roll low enough on the Quality Effects roll, consult the Primordial Influence table to see how you are affected by their lingering consciousness.

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1 unit of bone

3 units of bone A suit of armor equivalent to plate 3 units of bone A rowboat or canoe A suit of armor of resistance (counts as chain mail). 3 units of bone The crafter chooses the damage resistance instead of the GM or rolling randomly A specially carved talisman that harnesses Primordial Influence to protect you. As long as the source is not a Primordial, you have advantage against effects that would charm you or require you 3 units of bone to take actions against your will and you are immune to effects that would read your thoughts. This item counts toward attunement as a magic item, but you begin attuned to it automatically upon crafting it if desired. Large equipment other than weapons and armor at 3 units of bone GM’s discretion

MATERIALS 1 unit of blood 1 unit of blood 1 unit of blood 1 unit of blood 1 unit of blood 1 unit of blood 2 units of blood 2 units of blood 2 units of blood 2 units of blood 2 units of blood 2 units of blood 3 units of blood 3 units of blood 3 units of bone 3 units of blood 3 units of blood 3 units of bone

PRIMORDIAL BLOOD BREWING OPTIONS Potion of healing that restores 2d4+2 hit points Potion of hill giant strength Potion of lesser restoration Flask of oil of etherealness Two flasks of acid, alchemist’s fire, or poison Any potion or oil of up to common or uncommon rarity, or a custom minor effect at GM’s discretion Potion of superior healing that restores 8d4+8 hit points Potion of fire giant strength Flask of oil of sharpness Potion of greater restoration Potion of invulnerability Any potion or oil of rare rarity, or a custom moderate effect at GM’s discretion Potion of supreme healing that restores 10d4+20 hit points Potion of storm giant strength Potion of invisibility Potion of regeneration A special potion that when consumed, causes an extremely detailed vision of an important location or event yet to be discovered Any potion or oil of very rare or legendary rarity, or a custom major effect at GM’s discretion

MATERIALS

PRIMORDIAL HIDE EQUIPMENT OPTIONS

1 unit of hide 1 unit of hide 1 unit of hide 1 unit of hide 1 unit of hide

A suit of light armor Cured hide jerky equivalent to 10 rations Traveler’s clothing Cloak of elvenkind Water-proof backpack or sack Appropriate small equipment other than weapons and armor, at the GM’s discretion A suit of hide armor or the equivalent A finely crafted saddle and bridle that grant you advantage on any ability check using Animal Handling while riding a creature that wears it. Fine clothing Cloak of protection that grants +1 to AC and saving throws. Bracers of archery or bracers of defense Appropriate medium equipment other than weapons and armor, at the GM’s discretion Alchemy jug

1 unit of hide 2 units of hide 2 unit of hide 2 units of hide 2 units of hide 2 units of hide 2 units of hide 3 units of hide 3 units of hide 3 units of hide 3 units of hide 3 units of hide 3 units of hide

Cloak of the manta ray or cloak of arachnida Boots of elvenkind, boots of striding and springing, or boots of the winterlands Gloves of missile snaring Bag of holding or similar magical leather container Appropriate large equipment other than weapons and armor, at the GM’s discretion

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MATERIALS

1 unit of organs

2 units of organs

PRIMORDIAL ORGAN EQUIPMENT OPTIONS Choose one of the following damage types: acid, cold, fire, force, lightning, necrotic, poison, psychic, radiant, or thunder. For 10 minutes, your weapon deals an extra 1d4 damage of the chosen type when it hits. Once you use an organ in this way, this effect can be applied up to 4 additional times before the organ is used up. You prepare the organ as food and its magic lends to its effectiveness. You gain 10 pieces of Valen food, which function as per the spell goodberry, except they don’t expire after any duration. You ritualistically consume or prepare the organ to create a magical effect equivalent to a level 1 spell of your choice. If the spell requires an attack roll or saving throw, use +3 as the spellcasting modifier or 11 as the DC. You know the ways of reading the future from the oddities in Primordial organs. You cast the spell augury, consuming the organ in place of any components. You are able to cast a strange ritual which transforms the piece of organ tissue into a small living creature. Cast the spell find familiar. The effects of the spell are identical, except the creature appears as a tiny, rudimentary Primordial. You may still only have one familiar at a time, including both those made this way and by casting the spell as normal. You use the organ to create a minor magical effect or enhancement at the GM’s discretion. Choose one of the following damage types: acid, cold, fire, force, lightning, necrotic, poison, psychic, radiant, or thunder. For 10 minutes, your weapon deals an extra 1d8 damage of the chosen type when it hits, and the weapon counts as magical for the duration. Once you use an organ in this way, this effect can be applied up to 4 additional times before the organ is used up. You ritualistically consume or prepare the organ to create a magical effect equivalent to a level 2 spell of your choice. If the spell requires an attack roll or saving throw, use +5 as the spellcasting modifier or 13 as the DC.

MATERIALS

2 units of organs

2 units of organs 2 units of organs

3 units of organs

3 units of organs 3 units of organs

414 WONDERS: PRIMORDIALS

PRIMORDIAL ORGAN EQUIPMENT OPTIONS You coat one piece of ammunition in the oils and ichor of the organ, naming a type of creature as you do so. That ammunition counts as an arrow of slaying, except that you gain advantage on the attack used to fire it and the creature gets no saving throw to reduce the damage. You manipulate and alter the properties of the organs, using them as a utilitarian “filler”. You may use 2 units of organs in place of 1 material of another type for the purpose of crafting Valens. You cast the spell conjure animals, except that the creatures appear as small, lesser Primordials instead of as mundane beasts. You use the organ to create a moderate magical effect or enhancement at the GM’s discretion. Choose one of the following damage types: acid, cold, fire, force, lightning, necrotic, poison, psychic, radiant, or thunder. For 10 minutes, your weapon deals an extra 1d12 damage of the chosen type when it hits, and the weapon gains +1 to hit and damage rolls and counts as magical for the duration. After you first use an organ in this way, this effect can be applied up to 4 additional times before the organ is used up. You ritualistically consume or prepare the organ to create a magical effect equivalent to a level 3 spell of your choice. If the spell requires an attack roll or saving throw, use +7 as the spellcasting modifier or 15 as the DC. You cast the spell commune, using the organs in place of any components. Instead of any deity or divine proxy, you connect to the essence of a greater Primordial. The Primordial’s knowledge is at the GM’s discretion, but they tend to have knowledge of old history, esoteric matters, or primal and elemental domains. You cast the spell conjure elemental, consuming the organs in place of any components. You must concentrate on the spell as normal for the purposes of controlling the elemental. You create a single feather token. The GM chooses the kind of token or determines it randomly using the d100 Feather Token table. You use the organ to create a major magical effect or enchantment at the GM’s discretion.

VALEN CRAFTING ROLL 1-9 10-14

QUALITY EFFECTS You create the item with its normal statistics and roll on the Primordial Influence table below. You create the item with its normal statistics. Choose one of the following options (only if applicable): • •

15-19

• • • •

The crafted weapon or ammunition gives a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls (It is not considered magical) Choose Magic or Silvered: The weapon is considered that type for the purposes of overcoming resistances Armor gives a +1 bonus to AC Armor loses the STR requirement and disadvantage on Stealth rolls The potion or organ effect increases its die by one size or doubles in duration Any minor effect or modification at the GM’s discretion

Choose one of the following options (only if applicable): •

20-24

The crafted weapon or ammunition gives a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls (It is not considered magical) • Armor gives a +2 bonus to AC • Choose two applicable effects from the 15-19 row • The potion or organ effect increases its die by two sizes or triples in duration • Any moderate effect or modification at the GM’s discretion Choose one of the following options (only if applicable): •

25+

• • • •

D10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

The crafted weapon or ammunition gives a +3 bonus to attack and damage rolls (It is not considered magical) Armor gives a +3 bonus to AC Choose two applicable effects from either the 1519 or 20-24 rows The potion or organ effect increases its die by three sizes or quadruples in duration Any major effect or modification at the GM’s discretion

PRIMORDIAL INFLUENCE Nature is sacred and must be protected. All things exist to one day be destroyed. Everything will one day end. Survival of the fittest is the truest way to judge worth. Balance is impossible to achieve, but must be attempted, no matter the cost. Nature speaks a truer language than mortals – and has a message for right now. Memories are a weakness, to dwell in the past. The future is all that matters. Civilization is a fleeting infection on the wild and savage world. The only way to ensure survival is to serve a more powerful creature. There is life beyond death – but only for the spirit, within the Old Vale. Chaos is the way, unbridled and feral.

PRIMORDIAL INFLUENCE DURATION Each time you succumb to the Primordial Influence, it becomes more difficult to resist and shake its effects on you. When you are affected by Primordial Influence, roll a d10. If it is the first time you’ve been affected, that is the number of hours you are influenced. Each additional time you roll on the Primordial Influence table, the unit upgrades to days, weeks, months, and then years. Afterwards, the effect becomes permanent and you no longer roll on the Influence table. PRIMORDIAL INFLUENCE VARIANT: RESISTING THE EFFECT The durations and ability to resist Primordial Influence are intentionally very narrative and undefined. While some players are content to roleplay it out of their own volition and give into the effects, others may want options to resist defined durations to the influence. Consider allowing for saving throws to act normally if desired.

REWORKING VALENS You can dismantle a Valen into its raw materials. By destroying the item, you gain an amount of units of Valen material of the same type it was made from equal to one less than the amount of units it cost to make. You cannot rework Valens that only cost 1 unit to make without destroying them entirely. When you reduce a Valen to its materials in this way, it loses any Quality Effects that it had been made with, though you still roll to add them as normal when the material is used to craft something new.

EXTREME QUANTITIES AND COMBINATIONS While the above tables, barring specific GM restriction, are guaranteed use choices for specific Valen materials, projects of greater or more complex scope can be attempted. These projects might require significant amounts of materials, or combinations of different types of materials, in order to create. For example, it might be possible to build an entire warship out of Valens if a massive quantity of bone and hide was amassed by the party, or a legendary ritual of immense power and danger might be able to be attempted with significant amounts of blood and organs. Creations of these types are always allowed only at the discretion of the GM, and may require special story reasons for how the knowledge and skill to create such grand projects is to be obtained.

415 WONDERS: PRIMORDIALS

THE DISMEMBERED LEGION The relentless war machine of the Dismembered Lord, tasked with keeping order in the Dominions of Ash and enacting the Sovereign’s will.

“The Dismembered Legion is Dragongrin. No realm is better than the soldiers serving it, and Dragongrin’s is second to none. Don’t look at the Marrow as a cage barring you in, but instead as a wall keeping worse things out.” – Caius Veccus, Lord of Ash

HISTORY

• Then: Once the Sovereign defeated the opposition, he used Granok Thane mercenaries to keep order and maintain supply lines. The Dismembered Legion was founded soon after, made up initially of the armed followers who served the Sovereign during Lightfall. • Now: The Dismembered Legion is stronger than ever, with near-limitless resources, an influx of recruits, and an ever-expanding byway known as the Sovereign’s Road. Nothing can stand in the way of this military juggernaut. • Beyond: Growing in power each day, with its hold on even the furthest reaches of Dragongrin tightening, if the Legion is left unchecked, the chances of uprising die forever.

WHAT IS KNOWN

• The Dismembered Legion maintains a sizable presence in every region of Dragongrin, save Talas and Varnholme. Recruits are sourced from across Dragongrin, and most find their way to Svir for training, outfitting, and distribution. All are trained to communicate in Fracture – a language of symbols and unrelated metaphors used to describe mission objectives or other subjects when discretion is needed. • Many Marrow and Warmakers carry Mandibles – short-range arcane communicators that utilize Titan copper in their construction. This capability for instant communication makes Marrow units incredibly mobile and quick to react. • The Sovereign outfits his Dismembered Legion in the finest weapons and armor Dragongrin has to offer, and they are expected to maintain that gear impeccably. From the pale white of the Marrow boneplate armor to the obsidian sheen of their Bleakiron weapons, the arms and armor of the Marrow and Warmakers strike fear and reverence into the hearts of the common people.

WHAT IS DISPUTED

• Some Marrow units owe deeper loyalty to their commanders than to the Dismembered Lord, who they see ruling as a distant despot. Some fear uprisings and coups within the Dismembered Legion serving in more remote regions of Dragongrin. • Marrow recruits must complete rigorous training and tests of loyalty in order to serve – the nature of these tests vary from recruit to recruit, but some especially undisciplined Marrow are ordered to expose loved ones as traitors, or even execute them personally. • There is an unsettling lack of rhyme and reason as to what catches the Dismembered Legion’s ire and what is allowed to persist under the Sovereign’s all-seeing

416 WONDERS: DISMEMBERED LEGION

shadow. Rumors persist that a powerful relic is the method to his dark madness.

WHAT IS UNKNOWN

• There are many rumors and myths of how a mortal can become a Lord of Ash, though none but the Lords of Ash themselves and higher ranking officers of the Dismembered Legion know the intricacies of such things. • It is not known how many Marrow there truly are, though it seems as though their ranks are endless, with new recruits filtering into Svir each training cycle. • The Dismembered Legion has a way of knowing deeply specific details of events with frightening accuracy before they occur, as if they are able to peer into the future of the realm, though it is a mystery how.

JOINING THE DISMEMBERED LEGION

If you are still in service as a Marrow, consider taking the Marrow character background to flesh out the details of your service further. It can be found in the Backgrounds portion of the Character Creation chapter on page 97. You can optionally choose or roll to decide how you were recruited on the Recruitment table. PLAYING THE DISMEMBERED LEGION IN MIXED PARTIES Unless all members of the party are allied with the Dismembered Legion, this will introduce a unique dynamic to the game where some in the group may begin with opposing goals and allegiances. Consider having a discussion as a group and make an agreement before the game starts that this may not necessarily be a cooperative game, and that players can choose to play their characters in line with their goals and allegiances – though they may conflict.

Recruitment

MARROW

Where are you from, and what drove you to sacrifice a life of possibility (or poverty) to join the ranks of the Marrow? Use the tables below to determine your homeland and reasons for recruitment.

The endless ranks of the Sovereign’s soldiers, clad in bonewhite plated armor and bearing the sigil of the Dismembered Legion, stand as the most feared and tangible sign of the Dismembered Lord’s boundless power in Dragongrin. Marrow are the finest standing fighting force the realm has ever seen, boasting hundreds of thousands of able-bodied soldiers outfitted with the finest weapons and armor, trained exhaustively in warfare and law enforcement, and prevalent throughout Dragongrin.

D20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

REASON FOR ENLISTMENT Enslaved by the Lord of Ash into service Volunteered willingly for the Dismembered Lord As an alternative punishment for crimes Pressured by family or comrades Sought purpose in a chaotic world Strong desire to travel the realm of Dragongrin Avenge a friend or loved one slain while serving Better your own martial ability Reap the financial benefits of service after retirement Drafted Excessive patriotism after an unprecedented rebel attack Infiltrate the Dismembered Lord’s forces as a rebel Bring discipline and structure to your life It was the only avenue to gain a formal education An attempt to restore honor Fulfilling a promise or obligation Financial trouble Blackmailed into enlisting You feel it is your destiny It’s better to fight on the winning side, than die on the losing one

Important People Connected to the Dismembered Legion The Dismembered Legion has countless commanding officers and notable people, but these roles are the most paramount to the organization, and are offices that change members over time. Seat of the Manoeuvrer: Grand general of the Dismembered Legions and overseer of all military movement throughout Dragongrin. The seat was established and is still held by Numitor Krieg, a skilled mage and one of the Dismembered Lord’s first and most faithful followers. Breaker of Bone: The office of the person entrusted by the Dismembered Lord himself to guard the passage into Grinn from the Ardent Scar in Svir as well as forging recruits into strong Marrow soldiers. The name alludes to their role in taking the recruits to the edge of their limits, and then going beyond – as well as referring to the harsh punishments they enact to those who do not follow their commands. The Octant: This position is always held by an Arcseer whose sole role is to audit, monitor, and investigate the inner working of the Dismembered Legion, responsible for using their Arcsight to see any potential disturbances before they occur, and ensure that they do not happen.

DISCOVERING THE LEGION

In Dragongrin, evil reigns, and heroism can get you killed. The Dismembered Lord is Sovereign, his power seemingly limitless. He came to rule when the forces of good fell to the might of the Dismembered Legion in a series of catastrophic events known as Lightfall. But not all who rise against the darkness are struck down so firmly.

MARROW OATH By his forge, I am a blade. By his protection, I am a wall. By his courage, I am unafraid. By his scars, I am Marrow. By our oaths, we are Legion. THE MARROW WILL FIND YOU The Marrow can be found virtually everywhere in Dragongrin, which means that as a Game Master, they can be used as an everpresent threat. Many of the roll-tables and generators throughout this book are already seeded with entries that mention the Marrow, but it is feasible to inject Marrow into virtually anywhere that they aren’t. This means that nearly every roll table in this book, if given a slight tweak, can feature a Marrow of any rank or specialization, making them as omnipresent as needed. For an especially terrifying threat, consider using a Warmaker or Doomsayer.

NO DOUBLE STANDARDS ON THE FRONT When Marrow are stationed in areas rife with conflict, or even on the front lines of an all-out war, all soldiers, no matter their rank, are made to sleep on the ground and share in only the most basic comforts. This doesn’t stop certain Praetors from having their own command tents, and the Sovereign has more important things to do than scold every officer whose drudges carry their own personal sleeping cot, but such deeds often garner disrespect and dissent from their troops.

MARROW RANKS Marrow rank is more than just a glorified symbol upon armor, but a literal symbol of a soldier’s responsibilities in the Dismembered Legion. Upon promotion, a Marrow is guaranteed new responsibilities, including the leading or training of troops, and even the strategic decision making inherent in large-scale warfare. In any unit of the Dismembered Legion, whether it’s a small Skull or massive Legionis, the highest ranking Marrow serves as its leader. In the common circumstance when two or more Marrow are equal in rank, the soldier with the longest tenure served is treated as the leader. What follows is a list of Marrow ranks, including the usual responsibilities granted to them.

MARROW RECRUIT The Marrow are the wall between peace and chaos, and many flock to its ranks to fulfill the Sovereign’s mission for serenity in the realm. Still others are conscripted, forced into service as penalty for their crimes, or feel inclined to serve as a way to follow in the footsteps of their forebears. However different, all recruits are first sent to Svir unaware of what dangers await them. The only job of a recruit is to survive the terrors and crags. Those who live through this deployment are granted their blades and declared Marrow. 417 WONDERS: DISMEMBERED LEGION

MARROW PEACEKEEPER The peacekeepers are a common sight throughout Dragongrin, distinctive and fearsome in their skull helms and crimson veils. Whether enforcing laws, quelling resistance, or forcibly acquiring Tenths, peacekeepers are the first to respond to dissent – and typically do so with intimidation and violence. The peacekeepers are not typically a military force, but instead act as a civil force, responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and the maintenance of public order.

MARROW LEGIONARY The legionaries of the Marrow are frontline troops, trained for war. Heavily armed and armored, the legionaries excel standing shoulder-to-shoulder in a shield wall with longspears. But even alone, an expertly trained, well-outfitted, well-paid Marrow legionary presents a deadly threat. Nearly all units of Marrow contain legionaries, whose sole job is to deliver the Sovereign’s swift fist to any and all opposition.

MARROW SERGEANT Specialized Marrow serve the Dismembered Lord and his regents, the Lords of Ash, across Dragongrin. Depending on the nature of the terrain and their grisly work, Marrow equip themselves with unique weapons and tools, or receive specialized training. Sergeants are often charged with leading Skulls of their own.

MARROW CAPTAIN Captains earn their positions through tireless loyalty and valor to their Sovereign. They often lead whole Spines of Marrow, heading up valiant offensives and answering only to their immediate commander.

MARROW COMMANDER The commanders of the Marrow are tried and tested warriors and tacticians, hand-picked from among only the most loyal and distinguished of the Dismembered Lord’s legionaries. Many Marrow commanders are veterans of Lightfall, officers who led the shadowy legions against the forces of good. Others are young, ambitious military leaders, favored by the Dismembered Lord for their tenacity and potential. Commanders often lead large Fractis of Marrow, orchestrating large-scale combat movements from the relative safety of a command tent – though some commanders are renowned for joining their forces on the battlefield.

LORD OF ASH The regions in Dragongrin are known as Dominions of Ash, ruled by Lords of Ash, the regents of the Sovereign. These despots and dictators see to the realm-wide tasks delegated to them by the Dismembered Lord, including commanding regiments of the Dismembered Legion, and meting out justice in the dominions as they see fit. It is said that any who defeat a Lord of Ash can take their position, though attempting such a task spells certain doom and a stained soul. Though mostly customary, Lords of Ash are still commissioned as officers under the Dismembered Lord – even those who keep this position secret from those living under their control. Becoming a Lord of Ash: The simplest way to become a Lord of Ash is to kill the standing lord and seize their Reliquary – but truthfully, one need only reclaim the Reliquary and bring it before the Dismembered Lord in Grinn. The Dismembered Lord must then give his blessing, and the new Lord of Ash may choose a new Reliquary. An interim title exists in the event of a Lord of Ash’s death or disappearance, with their

418 WONDERS: DISMEMBERED LEGION

second-in-command or the equivalent holding a temporary office. They become Standing Lord of Ash until someone claims the Reliquary or a new Lord of Ash is appointed by the Dismembered Lord.

MARROW SPECIALISTS Specialized Marrow serve the Dismembered Lord and his regents, the Lords of Ash, across Dragongrin. Depending on the nature of the terrain and their grisly work, Marrow equip themselves with unique weapons and tools, or receive specialized training. Note that these variants may affect the challenge rating of the Marrow, providing a slightly steeper challenge for most player characters. This list is numbered to choose one at random for encounters or tables by rolling a d10. MOUNTED MARROW While there is no formal standing Marrow cavalry, every Marrow is trained to ride in the Apex Equestrian large stables and training grounds inside the Ardent Scar, Fortress of Ash of Caius Veccus. While every Marrow is taught to ride, not all are particularly adept at it, though some excel greatly and prefer it, volunteering to serve in cavalry for various missions. Regionally, many Marrow are often trained on the exotic mounts of the regions they are stationed in, such as the Xol of Jahar and even the Tyl of Innes.

MARROW ARCSEER The most feared among the Marrow are the arcseers, faithful mounted champions of the Dismembered Lord. Wielding arcane magic like a blade against the heart of dissention, arcseers operate alone or in pairs searching out potential disturbances in the Sovereign’s timeline with their distinct and powerful magical helms. Each arcseer has a mount known as a sigilscarred. Bred exclusively for the Dismembered Legion by a sect of Grimdul who serve the Sovereign, these especially brutish and powerful mounts have been magically altered, with a powerful sigil carved into their faces. This mark allows the Arceer’s helm that bears the same sigil to see through the eyes of their mount, and vice versa. The Arcseers soar above the realm, serving as the Dismembered Lord’s eyes across his domain.

MARROW DUNESTRIDER The dunestriders traverse arid areas of Dragongrin, such as the shifting sandsteel of Jahar and remote areas of Uldane. They wear lighter armor and wield spears and longbows for ranging across the badlands. Dunestriders often utilize mounts, such as the reptilian xol of Jahar.

MARROW PRAETOR Praetors represent the best of the best – legends among the Marrow. Serving as personal guards to the Council of Ash and the Dismembered Lord himself, the Praetors are distinct in their blood-red armor.

MARROW SIEGEBREAKER The siegebreakers are powerful, armored warriors that are designed to face especially dangerous and brutish foes. Often called “crushers” or “riotbreakers” they see action when resistance and upheaval reaches a peak. These specialized Marrow wield destructive armament and reinforced weapons and armor designed to quell resistance with deadly efficiency, including armored faceplates in lieu of the standard crimson veil.

MARROW VALEWARDEN Dissention brews in the wilds of Dragongrin – and the valewardens snuff it out. Trained to track and range through the dense wilderness of regions such as Talas, Feygrave, and Zamon, the valewardens move quickly and quietly, eschewing heavy armor and weapons for speed and stealth. KNEEBREAKERS Kneebreakers are not Marrow – they lack the training and armament of a true soldier of the Legions. Rather, a kneebreaker is a deputized lawkeeper, overseen by Marrow and tasked with day-to-day peacekeeping and the annual collection of the Tenth, particularly in more remote settlements where the Legions maintain a lesser presence. Kneebreakers often operate in secret, maintaining their identities as common people to spy on others and subvert resistance wherever it takes root.

MARROW TASK FORCES It’s not uncommon to encounter specialized task forces of Marrow soldiers, each specializing in a different role. For instance, Marrow dispatched to deal with a contingent of the Undying Light might include peacekeepers as frontline

fighters, riotbreakers as support troops, and a bleakwalker to handle the rogue spellcasters. Or a squad of dunewalkers might join with marauders to take down a particularly nasty sand wyrm in Jahar. The Marrow are, if nothing else, efficient, and they don’t hesitate to pick the best soldiers for the job. THE LOST LEGION A Marrow legend speaks of the Lost Legion. The story goes that a Skull of Marrow held off creatures from within a Bleakstorm for two days without rest, and finally, on the third day, the Bleakstorm overtook them. It is said that when there’s a Bleakstorm, if you look closely enough, you can see the silhouettes of the Lost Legion marching within it. Many Marrow believe the Lost Legion watches over them, and if a Marrow is missing in action, or dies in the line of duty, some say they “joined the Lost Legion.”

WEAPONS ARMOR AND EQUIPMENT Marrow weapons, armor and equipment are some of the finest in all of Dragongrin. The Soverign spares no expense in equipping and arming his legion. Their weapons are specially made in the Dominon of Ash of Aqueanus, a place where an amplifying phenomenon known as the Exalting allows for forging and crafting equipment for the legion that would otherwise be impossible.

STANDARD ISSUE Boneplate: Lightweight alloy that is heat and cold resistant, made in Aqueanus. Uses Primordial bone in the process of forging to create incredibly durable, supple, and lightweight metal plating. Bleakiron: Bleakiron is metal forged using the heat and magic of the Bleak in a mysterious and volatile process. It can be smelted and shaped by those skilled enough, and has inherent magical properties. Objects made from Bleakiron are virtually indestructible. Helm and Veil: The helm and veil of the Marrow are granted to each recruit only after they complete their training. When they recite their oath, the helm and veil are placed on their heads after the final lines. Shortsword and Dagger: Also granted to recruits upon completion of their training, the Bleakiron shortsword and dagger of a Marrow are weapons without equal. A common adage among the Marrow “A sword to defend the Sovereign, and a dagger to defend yourself.” STANDARDIZATION OF UNIFORMS With the exception of various Marrow specialists who wear uniforms and carry equipment specified to their area of expertise, Marrow uniforms and armor are largely undifferentiated, though some commanding officers allow their Marrow to decorate their uniforms to some extent, especially in fringe or frontier units. Uniforms are not gender-specific, but instead are fitted to the wearer.

VEHICLES AND SIEGE EQUIPMENT It’s not often that the Dismembered Legion besieges an entire city. After all, the Dismembered Lord so handily won the realm for himself that most of the major settlements easily fell in line behind the new hegemony. However, the Sovereign’s armies are still equipped with armored machinations bent on destruction.

419 WONDERS: DISMEMBERED LEGION

These units include siege towers, trebuchets, catapults, and huge battering rams, as well as massive creatures such as mammoths from Varnholme and gigantic halyphons from Feygrave or Talas. Among the ranks of the Marrow are armored vehicles known as bloodwheels, commonly known for cutting down swathes of enemy combatants in battle, transporting high-profile goods, and protecting Marrow commanders who would rather be in the thick of combat than in some comfortable tent behind the front lines.

THE FINGERS

WARMAKER GENERATOR D102

RETIREMENT At any point after the first four years of service, a Marrow may retire from duty and gain a home or allotment of land, the prestige of which is directly correlated with their rank in the legions. In times of horrible conflict or disastrous war, the Dismembered Lord might ban retirement altogether. If the DM deems it applicable to the current story, they should inform the Marrow player that such a retirement would require illegally going AWOL.

WARMAKERS Warmakers are sentient constructs and brutal war machines that were built by the Zarfvin specifically for the Sovereign. Early Warmakers based on Tomehearts didn’t function the way the Dismembered Lord wanted - they kept awakening and developing consciousness. Only when they reverseengineered a Villinavi from Deepvault in the Dominion of Ash of Svir Below did the Warmakers take form. All of those early Warmakers were destroyed, melted down, turned to slag. The current version of the Warmakers are malleable, and flexible, an alloy of Bleakiron, and other rare elements such as Primordial bone and Titan Copper. This allows them to shift in shape within reason, forming blades with their arms, though they are not able to fully transform or breakdown into liquid. The new Warmakers needed a potent power source to function, and the Zarfvin solved this issue by allowing the constructs to open their bodies and receive creatures as a power source, slowly draining their life force in addition to their memories.

WARMAKER NAMES Warmarker names are given to inspire fear and awe, and are meant to sound markedly harsh and dreadful. Use the two name columns in the Warmaker generator to create a unique name. Get creative with the configuration by switching around the results, connecting them into a compound word, connecting them with “of the ‘’ or “the,” or even come up with an additional word on-the-fly that sounds fitting . For example, with the results of “Hope” and “Eater” you can end up with “Hopeeater,” “Eater of Hope,’’ or even “Icon of Hope Eaten” – or anything else that evokes a Warmaker worthy of fear.

420 WONDERS: DISMEMBERED LEGION

CREATURE WITHIN

NAME 1

NAME 2

Rebel leader

Hope

Eater

Mind

Ender

Mercy

Crusher

Peace

Render

Iron

Feaster

Light

Ripper

Broad and decked with spikes Slender and sleek Amorphous, with fluid and altering armor Gigantic and menacing Four-legged and doglike Open chest, exposing the prisoner within Serpentlike

Everchanging

Arachnid

Like a standard Drudge Marrow

1 2 3

These large obelisks carry the Dismembered Legion through small, controlled Bleakrifts to various locations across Dragongrin. This action takes a great deal of power, and usually means spot Bleakstorms for hours after the teleportation – sometimes days.

APPEARANCE

4 5 6

Former Lord of Ash Fabled, well-traveled eloquent Deranged creature Innocent bystander Marrow

Copper Jackal Truth Renowned missing Steel person Religious Foe servant Heart

Claimer Grinder Carver Crucifier

DOOMSAYERS The Doomsayers and their lesser kin, the gnolls, are extraplanar creatures who come from within the Bleak. They are harbingers of a world brought to its end, arriving just before the final plunge into chaos, because they thrive on speaking the world’s literal doom and seeing it through. Their current leader is Valgror, and has brokered an unorthodox peace with Lord of Ash Sureau the Stormbreather, and with the Dismembered Lord himself to be a part of the Dismembered Legion. While they generally follow orders directly from the Stormbreather and the Dismembered Lord, tales speak of them laying waste to entire battlefields, not listening to reason, or following the command of any mortal. The arrangement the creatures have with the Dismembered Lord is a simple one – he has structured a section of the Bleak in Uldane within the Everbleak to play out the world ending over and over in an enormous and powerful Cheerless. The creatures speak doom ceaselessly, feasting on the demise of a world perpetually. Some say the world caught in the loop of the Cheerless is an alternate timeline of Dragongrin, while others say it is another realm entirely that the Dismembered Lord plucked from the cosmos to relive their doom forever. But one thing is certain – based on the way the people scream and attempt to escape immediately at the beginning of each new dawn of the loop… it’s certain they remember the previous times their lives have been eaten by the Doomsayers. This endless feast of pain and fear solidifies the Doomsayers alliance with the Dismembered Legion, placing them firmly within the ranks of the Sovereign and ensuring they will assist in his aims. Should the Cheerless within the Everbleak be disrupted, however, that would be another story entirely. DOOMSAYERS IN DRAGONGRIN The Doomsayers play a prominent part in the Dominion of Ash of Uldane which can be found on page 319.

DOOMSAYER GENERATOR D102

APPEARANCE

DOOM SPOKEN

NAME

Black fur with crimson eyes

Shockwave

Surbagg

Large, but lean

Flesh-stripping winds

Kigrog

Firestorm

Uushmar

Meteor shower

Lashik

Earthquake

Xuruk

Mass death

Thraksh

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Regal posture with a silver coat Mottled fur with scarred patches Black and white with golden accents Hairless and strange Brown with a black stomach Deep green fur with empty eyes All a single color Black with a white stripe along the back

Plague and pestilence Never-ending storms and floods Violent winds Gargantuan sinkhole

Borgakh Akhaten Zax Yregh

DISMEMBERED LEGION MILITARY UNITS The Dismembered Legion is divided into military units consisting of varying numbers. Presented here are some guidelines. These are general rules and numbers, and do not account for the full flexibility of the Dismembered Legion and their variety of compositions. HOW NUMEROUS IS THE LEGION? The Dismembered Legion is a dynamic, growing entity, and the true number of the number of standing and reserve troops is unknown. The legion does maintain a powerful presence in nearly every Dominion of Ash in Dragongrin, so it is common to see the Marrow in every corner of Dragongrin – a seemingly endless amount of soldiers serving the Soveriegn.

CONSTRUCTING THE LEGION

Use the Marrow generators below to create unique, but regimented Skulls of Marrow. Roll as many dice of various types that you’d like (up to 10) to decide the makeup of your Marrow Skull. The tables are weighted to generally produce a Skull with the correct ranks if you roll a full set of dice, but if you roll a multiple high-ranking Marrow, come up with a reason they might be working together. If you want your Skull to be made up of specialists, or if you want to attach a few specialists to the Skull, roll on the d00 Marrow Specialist table. To infuse your Marrow with even more personality, roll 2d20 on the Marrow Personality table. This will give you a rough idea of their personality and goal and help differentiate them from any other Marrow the adventurers might encounter. The rest of the tables allow you to add other creatures, vessels, and operatives to your Marrow Skull. To add a Warmaker, roll 3d10 on the Warmaker Generator table to decide their appearance, the creature within them and their name. You can

also roll 3d10 on the Doomsayer Generator to generate their appearance, the doom they speak and their name. To add siege weapons or vessels to your generated Marrow Skull, roll a d6 on the Siege Weapons table or the Vessels table. Alternatively, choose the support equipment or ships that match the mission the Skull is embarking on. To come up with the mission this particular Skull was deployed to complete, roll 3d00 on the Mission Generator table. Lastly, decide on the name of the Marrow Skull by rolling 2d20 on the Marrow Unit Name Generator table below or by choosing one you feel fits the rest of the details. COPYCAT LEGIONS When the Roman Legions were the most dominant fighting force in the world, other nations trembled at the thunderous march of Roman boots. The legion dominated everywhere that it reached, and a natural response to this problem is for other leaders to ask ‘Why can’t we do that?’ In response, many nations created what were called copycat legions. However, it soon became clear that even though one could equip men in the same gear and train them to fight in tight formation, they were not of the same stock as Roman legionaries – for a Roman legionary is not just gear and training. Indeed, a Roman legionary is raised in Roman society, taught from the youngest age certain cultural values, sharing a religion, sharing many things that make them uniquely tough, uniquely Roman. They are led by ambitious Roman generals, whose culture has imbued in them a sense of ultimate ambition. In Dragongrin, the Marrow are the greatest fighting force the world has ever seen. They are an extension of the Dismembered Lord’s will, their training and leadership second to none. Many other cultures have attempted to create copycat legionaries, but the quality is always lesser. The copycat legions do not have the Marrow’s belief in the empire, their certainty of superiority, or the terrifying leadership of the Marrow. Many cultures have mighty warriors, legendary in their prowess. Many of the archetypes provided in this book are culture specific. This does not mean that a Granok Thane can’t be a Jantari Rider, or a Silverwise can’t be a Thaumavore. Those who are native to that culture may look down upon these so-called ‘copycat’ warriors, but their quality is not in question.

GENERATING LARGER UNITS These generators are helpful for constructing smaller evocative groups of detailed Marrow (Skulls and single soldiers). You can choose to generate larger organizational units, but we recommend that instead you use the following guidelines to generate the more important portions of the unit, focusing on the parts you need, and abstracting the rest, generating any Marrow as needed. For vehicles, vessels or siege equipment that requires a roll to determine the quantity, see how many will be generated, then roll or choose that many from the Siege Weaponry or Sea Vessels tables. Spine (100 Marrow): Generate a Captain and and Arcseer and/or Warmaker. Optionally roll for a single vehicle, vessel or piece siege equipment. Fractis (1,000 Marrow): Generate a Commander, a Captain, an Arcseer, and a Warmaker. Optionally roll 1d4 vehicles, vessels or pieces of siege equipment. Roll a d100. On the result of 80-100, also generate a Doomsayer. Legionis (2,000) Marrow): Choose the Lord of Ash who leads them, generate two prominent Commanders, two Arcseers, a head Warmaker, and two Doomsayers. Optionally, you can roll 1d8 various vehicles, vessels or pieces of siege equipment. 421 WONDERS: DISMEMBERED LEGION

MARROW GENERATOR D20 1-2 3-4 5-10 11-17 18–19 20 D00 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 00

MARROW RANK Recruit Peacekeeper Legionary Sergeant Captain Commander

1-3 4-6 7-9

PERSONALITY

Honorable and fair

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

19 20 D6 1 2 3 4 5 6

Transport Supply Capture

Exacting and stern, thought witty Sadistic, possessing geniuslevel intellect

GOAL Break an addiction Bring a mole or spy to justice Resolve guilt Steal from the Tenth Spy on a rival Marrow unit Rise in rank Change their station or job Fight as an ancestor once did Revenge Defend their homeland Escape from their oath Cure a sickness they have Find peace within Find acceptance Cause bloodshed Solve an ancient mystery Repay a life debt Give their life to the Sovereign's cause Forge a legacy Become a Lord of Ash

SIEGE WEAPONRY Battering ram Trebuchet Ballista Siege Tower Battlewagon/devastator Fingers

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INVOLVING

COMPLICATION

Risking Everything Important Person Skirmishes

Route is impassible Secret is revealed Severe time limit Arcseer suspects treason Rivals seek the same goal

10-12 Rescue

Notable Location

13-15 Recruit

The Tenth

16-18 Arm

Peripheral Location

Someone must die

Dire weather slows progress Insurgency occurs 22-24 Medical Aid Regional Monster nearby Incorrect intel was 25-27 Chase Savage Frontier given 28-30 Assault Secret weapon Ambush 31-33 Contact Local faction Turncoat in the midst Enemy gains upper 34-36 Damage Control Unexpected death hand 37-39 Reconnaissance Leader in danger Low supplies Someone close is 40-42 Escort Backbreaking labor poisoned 43-45 Disrupt Love Forced march Equipment lost or 46-48 Construct Red Sail Market stolen Powerful monster 49-52 Eradicate Superstitions attacks Deception 53-56 Investigate Incompetent person discovered Higher rank takes 57-59 Defend Strange creature command Success costs 60-62 Repair Plot of land something dear Larger objective is 63-64 Disaster Relief Debt comes due revealed Upholding a 65-87 Patrol Bleakstorm promise 88-90 Destroy Pestilence Mission is top secret 91-93 Infiltrate Archans Oath will be broken 94-96 Disarm Fragile peace Ally betrays Lord of Ash changes 97-99 Survive Primordial remains orders 100 Assassinate Pre-Lightfall secret Crucible sees conflict 19-21 Protect

Tidebreaker Galley Cargo ship Destroyer Stormwrought Submersible

D1003 OBJECTIVE

Riotbreaker Beastkeeper Marauder Dunestrider Marine Stitcher Valewarden Bleakwalker Arcseer Praetor

Generous and forgiving, though hides it Cocky with the skills to back it Keen-minded and diligent Bigoted and loud-mouthed Level-headed and analytical Moody and crass Quiet but determined Opinionated and impatient Suspicious but patient Naive but gifted in combat prowess Smart-mouthed but forgiving Curious and attentive Courageous and passionate Uncivilized and failing upward Impulsive and quick tempered Pessimistic and easily annoyed Friendly though cunning

SEA VESSELS

1 2 3 4 5 6

MISSION GENERATOR

MARROW SPECIALIST

MARROW PERSONALITY D202

Betrayal

MILITARY UNIT NAME GENERATOR Use the following table to generate a random Marrow unit, and freely adjust the results to achieve your desired tone. For example, instead of “The Sovereign’s Skull,” you might prefer “Skull of the Sovereign,” or choose a different leader’s name entirely to showcase a unit that’s more loyal to their own commander than the Dismembered Lord himself – a true crime. MARROW FORTIFICATIONS Marrow are trained to be as proficient in battle as they are in constructing the field encampments they inhabit. For this reason, almost all legionary camps are similar in shape and layout – an hourglass-shaped perimeter of defenses. These fortifications are almost always temporary, but the longer a camp is allowed to remain, the more substantial its civilian population becomes. Small forward bases have been known to become burgeoning metropolitan centers given enough time. STORMWROUGHT VESSELS A Zarfvin innovation, Stormwrought vessels are Archanically altered with augmentations such as steering mechanisms, propulsions systems, and even Archanic weapons and fortifications. They are rare and expensive, and often difficult to upkeep, and are most prominently seen in the Dismembered Legion. They are often designed with an interface that allows a tomeheart to connect to the ship, granting them the ability to control the Archanic pieces. This process often involves the tomeheart draining the magical fluid from within their frames directly into the Archanic conduits within the vessel. The majority of tomeheart pilots are not awakened, and serve mindlessly, taking commands from the vessel’s commanding officers without hesitation or questioning.

MILITARY UNIT NAME GENERATOR D202 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

NAME 1

NAME 2

The Sovereign’s Crushing Unkillable The Last The First Devastating Unyielding Hellmouth’s Swarming Ripping Iron Old Blasted Bloody Fortunate The Chosen Tavern-tipping Lucky Stained Definitive

Wicked Riders Wall Dogs Shards Wolves Fire Axe Throng Shadow Gravemakers Blades Justice Rupture Disciples Peacewardens Levellers Butchers Guardians Tenthbringers

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THE CRUCIBLE The Dismembered Lord achieved world domination using the most powerful and enigmatic relic referred to in hushed tones as the Crucible. The Crucible foresees potential future events known as Cruxes. Cruxes represent critical yet adjustable moments in time, and the Dismembered Lord manipulates these epicenters of reality to cultivate his perfect empire. The Crucible is an enigmatic machine that is widely believed to be a rumor – and for those who do believe in it, they don’t know exactly what it is. To this day, the unfathomable device allows the Sovereign access into myriad potential futures, undiscovered outcomes, and newly revealed paths through time. Some believe his sporadic freeing of drudges, among other erratic behaviors, are subtle methods of altering the timeline, and a few believe he’s steering the world toward a predestined destruction, whether he wants to or not. The Crucible acts as a “heat map” for the Dismembered Lord, showing potential anomalies in his perfectly built timeline. These anomalies that could disrupt the timeline can be equally positive and negative – the Crucible doesn’t take morality into account. This can be used as a powerful narrative tool to explain why certain things are allowed to happen under the watch of the Dismembered Lord and others are not, answering the question “why would any good be allowed?” In addition, the Dismembered Legion will prioritize Cruxes over other events. Some large scale events may go unnoticed if what the party is doing doesn’t show up on the Crucible, while other smaller scale events may – use this to great narrative effect, but wield it carefully as it can easily feel unfair if abused. THE CRUCIBLE AS A STORYTELLING TOOL So long as it isn’t abused, the Crucible can be used as a simple way to explain certain plot occurrences with reasonable believability. What would happen if the Crucible targeted a group of individuals, seemingly at random, drawing them together and forcing them to set aside differences in order to survive? These individuals, desperate to understand why the Crucible has its sights on them, would form an adventuring party. Sounds like your campaign in Dragongrin just kicked off.

Where does the Crucible come from? • Some say the Crucible is the unholy fusion of Archans, Primordial bone, Titan Copper wrought from the hearts and bones of the typhons drenched in inky, eldritch elements from the darkness of the Desolation. It is spoken in whispers that it was wrought by the hands of the Dismembered Lord himself, only seen by his eyes and touched by his hands. • Many believe that Zarfvin engineers and Drogus salvagers uncovered the Crucible, toiling for years to repair and piece the ancient machine together, only to have it taken from them by the Dismembered Lord. • Others whisper that the tomehearts of Dragongrin share an intrinsic link to the Crucible, and that the machine peers through their eyes, forging a construct network to absorb data and triangulate Cruxes.

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• The inscrutable machine may trace its origins back even further, emerging from the molten forge of a fledgling universe. The deepest minds of Torvid Deepspeaker, who supposedly discovered the Crucible and unlocked its secrets, cannot fully fathom the extent of the Crucible’s odd whims. Some speculate that the Crucible is a sentient entity, godlike in its omniscence but reliant on mortal beings to carry out its directives and see to Cruxes across Dragongrin. It begs the question: Who truly rules Dragongrin? The tyrant who wields the Crucible as a weapon of foresight, or the machine itself?

Foreseen In the Crucible This section of the book uses the Crucible as a framing device to create adventures for Dragongrin. The Crucible foresees important events before they occur, and by using this powerful ability, you can create conflicts, encounters, and adventures using the various tools below. Each of these tools is designed to be used by itself, focusing on different types and styles of game prep, but they can easily be used together to build fully fleshed out narratives.

Scenes

These are dramatic inciting incidents that use the narrative technique of jumping directly into the story to immediately to inspire the GM to ask “what happens next?” These scenes have focus characters that are not the party by design, creating a sense that the world is alive, and that events are happening that aren’t focused on the party. They’re meant to feel like opening scenes to a larger story whose details are waiting to be discovered. All of the scenes are specific in their conflict, but general in other details to make them easily reskinned or reused with the people that make the most sense for any campaign or session. This also allows the party to be featured as the subject of the scenes easily with a simple change of some minor details. Scenes are comprised of the following parts: CUTAWAYS AND FLASHBACKS Due to their nature these scenes can easily act as cutaways – narrative beats that “cut away” from the main action to introduce new information in a different location. Additionally they can serve as flashbacks revealing information in a cinematic way.

Name: An archetypical name that signals what the scene will feature. Opening Scene: A brief description of the main idea of the scene. Set-up: A description of how the scene unfolds, and the important people and events within it. Unknowns: This is a series of questions to flesh out the scene to make it more fitting to a specific session or campaign. Answering the questions differently will also increase the usability of the scenes.

1. Convoy

Unknowns:

Opening Scene: A convoy of Dismembered Legion vehicles passes through, a symbol of war and security through force.

1. Another person or group knows the relic’s location and seeks it. Who are they?

Set-up: A Marrow Captain sits with other Marrow within a war wagon, their presence intimidating. They use humor to break the tension showing that underneath their militant persona, they’re a likeable person. Seconds later, the convoy is hit with a disruptive arcane blast, and as the Marrow Captain dives for cover, they see the carnage that it has wrought. Marrow bodies are strewn about, and plumes of smoke and colorful fire spew from the explosion. They look down to see a chunk of the war wagon is lodged within their chest, as someone steps toward them through the smoke…

2. The relic had a positive effect on the area which now fades. What was it?

Unknowns: 1. Who has committed this bombing? Why? 2. Who approaches through the smoke? Friend? Foe? Monster? 3. Someone nearby is a witness, who is it? 4. One of the surviving Marrow is not who they appear – who are they?

2. Intelligent Monsters

3. Someone opposing the Arcseer is among the Marrow ranks. Who is it? Why? 4. What power does the relic hold? And at what cost?

4. On the Run Opening Scene: Desperate fugitives sprint through tight alleyways, their pursuers hot on their tails. Set-up: The fugitives run right into the party, and their leader begs for their help in hiding. There are hiding places on a nearby rooftop, underneath a covered wagon, or – if time is less permitting – inside a ditch filled with fecal sludge. Their pursuers briefly interrogate the party before darting off in the opposite direction. Soon after, the desperate fugitives thank their rescuers and ask for an escort just a little farther. “I’ll pay,” says their leader, though it seems collecting the reward will require some additional efforts. Unknowns:

Opening Scene: A group of local monsters stalks in a cluster, moving quickly with purpose.

1. How many fugitives are there, and what valuable item is one of them carrying?

Set-up: First appearing as a roving band of instinct-driven creatures, their movements are a purposeful formation, and they begin communicating through advanced gestures and hand movements. A leader can be identified, and appears to be directing these intelligent monsters in a hunt for food. A powerful predator that was previously unseen strikes, attacking what appears to be the youngest, weakest monster, and the others muster to help, making a battle formation. In a bid of desperation, the leader reveals a powerful object, brandishing it at the predator...

2. Who is pursuing them? Are local kneebreakers also on their tail?

Unknowns: 1. What has made these monsters intelligent? Is it the object they wield? 2. What is the object? An Archan? A Valen? Something else? 3. What is the predator? Another monster? A powerful person? A group? 4. What effect does the object have on the surrounding area?

3. Relic Revealed Opening Scene: Lanterns and light spells pierce through the dense fog. An unearthed chunk of pure crystal juts from a landform, holding a relic within it. Set-up: An especially gaunt Arcseer hops from their dread halyphon mount walking past many loyal Marrow. They are the head of the regions alchemy and magic division, and have located the Crown Courageous, a significant artifact related to Imminence. The object contains vast power and they plan to use it to conquer more than just this dominion. With a gesture of a hand, and the squeeze of a fist, the crystal surrounding the relic cracks and shatters. They take the crown and place it on their head. Energy surges through every part of them – but the reaction is different than expected. “I see it all so clearly now,” they rasp as they mount their halyphon and take flight.

3. Which fugitive already knows a member of the party? How? 4. What can they pay with? Coin, servitude, or stolen goods?

5. Other Worlds Opening Scene: Surroundings shake, and perceptions are warped, as the environment opens up to the Feymists, Desolation, or other alternate realities. Set-up: The landscape shifts in ways appropriate to the parallel universe currently encroaching on the material plane. Frightened people attempt to flee the scene while a desperate mother calls out for her missing child. Select few seem to notice no change at all, while others are driven completely mad by the palpable change. Soon, the ground opens up to reveal a vast pit, potent with the powers of the other plane, and bystanders plummet into its depths. Unknowns: 1. Which member of the party falls in first? Which bystander screams for their help? 2. What monstrous beings emerge from the opening and attack? 3. What or who caused this natural occurrence? Are they in view of the epicenter? 4. When the occurrence ends, who is left on the “other side”?

6. Codes and Keys Opening Scene: The party gazes at a mysterious cypher, an ancient puzzle holding untold secrets. Set-up: You’ve made it. Past the traps and behind locked doors was a forgotten secret, a cypher puzzle box no one has spoken of for millenia. A box of Titan copper polished and gleaming as the day it was created, a filigree of interlocking 425 THE CRUCIBLE

mechanisms whose solution was forgotten lifetimes ago. Carefully etched into the smooth, flat bottom is a small note. Unknowns:

Unknowns: 1. Which member of the party is ordered to fight for the Lord of Ash?

1. What opens the box? Do pieces need arranging? Do words need be spoken? Does it only open when exposed to another material such as Elderstone or Primordial bone?

2. Which prominent hero stands against the leader of the dominion?

2. What does the etching say, and in what language is it written?

4. Why would a Lord of Ash allow so many to stand against them? Did the Sovereign order this?

3. In which book or scroll has a party member seen this box? Does it have a twin somewhere in the realm? 4. What’s inside the box? Where does this clue lead, and who is waiting for the party there?

7. The Black Market Opening Scene: The reeking, reverberating tunnels open up into chambers of vibrant music and pungent Holithic frankincense. Outcasts from all regions and cultures eye you suspiciously, until a Zarfvin merchant offers to buy something you’ve got on you. Set-up: While the merchant pressures the party to part with their goods, one member of the party notices someone they recognize – Tess. The two lock eyes for a brief moment, and Tess’s face fills with terror now that she’s been recognized. She shakes her head quickly and continues walking. If she’s confronted, her discreet tail of bounty hunters bursts forward and attempts to detain her. If she’s left alone, the party will soon be questioned about a notorious smuggler named “the Tax” that they know is nearby. A picture of Tess is provided, and the party is promised immense gains by turning her over. Unknowns: 1. Who was Tess before, and how did she get into this mess now? 2. What illicit substance is peddled by a Mord elf? Which party member is especially allergic? 3. Who is selling vials of perfume at inordinate prices, and why are intelligent buyers still interested? 4. Which faction of bounty hunters is after Tess? Who do they work for, and where is their lair?

8. The Duel Opening Scene: Crowds amass for the event of the decade in this dominion, and the weeklong rumors are proven true – the standing Lord of Ash has been challenged to single combat. If defeated, the challenger will become leader. If not, their whole rebellious movement is enslaved. Set-up: “Let us begin,” speaks the Lord of Ash, quieting the crowd and commencing the festivities. Many have come to see the duel, but no one expected the Lord of Ash to allow others to join in the combat. As people begin to arm themselves and choose sides, the challenger has noticeably accumulated more numbers, even after a few stand with their lord out of fear. If there’s a time to supplant the leader of this dominion, it’s now – will you side with fortune or treason?

3. An arbitrary rule is created in the midst of preparations. What weapon or fighting style is banned?

9. The Grinraid Opening Scene: Swords are drawn and spears rhythmically slammed against Marrow shields. The legionaries swarm the nest of monsters – all creatures of the dark shall bow to the Dismembered Lord or die. Set-up: Legionaries swarm through all known available entrances, unleashing violence upon the vicious monsters defending the monster nest. One by one, the Marrow secure each chamber. Brutal melees and chaotic firefights rage throughout the grin, until all are brought under the heel of the Dismembered Lord. Still, something is amiss even after the hostilities are ended, and the Special Investigator Cherub is concerned about the state of the nest. Unknowns: 1. Are there prisoners contained in one of the chambers? 2. Are there any unknown entrances to the nest? Who or what escaped through it? 3. What part of the area begins to animate into horrid life after the battle? What does Cherub believe is causing it? 4. Is it a coincidence Special Investigator Cherub was brought along? Or is she looking for something else?

10. Construction of Hope Opening Scene: Three riders approach a deep ravine. As the horizon is crested, a large object under construction comes into view – like the Copper Sun, but made of another material entirely... Set-up: The rebel commander smiles and looks to the riders to the right and left. To the builder on the right, they compliment their masterwork in constructing the Aphelion, a smaller scale Copper Sun, constructed with mostly reclaimed Primordial bone, hide, and flesh. The rider on the left offers the rebel commander a drink from a canteen. It’s a distraction, and in an act of betrayal, a knife is forced into the flesh of the commander’s neck. The builder is no fighter, and attempts to run. In their final act, the commander overpowers the betrayer, killing them. The commander’s dying words are “you must... finish... as planned.” Unknowns: 1. What faction is constructing the Aphelion? For what purpose? 2. Who was the betrayer? Did they act out of hate? Fear? Greed? 3. Where are the rebels getting their Valens and other Primordial parts? 4. What effect does the Aphelion have on the surrounding area?

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11. The Witch Hunt Opening Scene: Riders make way through the night, torches ignited and weapons drawn. The ominous drones of ritual chanting emanate from somewhere in the distance. Set-up: The riders charge into the blasphemous fray, and a vicious combat follows. Soon, the defeated cultists scatter, and their leader stands surrounded by the party. Soon after dropping their weapon, Emmanuel the Deathseer falls to his knees and screams “our faith be stolen like money from the eyes of the dead!” The group laughs and jeers at the false prophet, and soon Emmanuel realizes he will be executed for his unlicensed gospels. “You may slay me know, and take my freedoms once and for all, but I swear to you my people and I are innocent worshipers. Spare us, and I will lead you to the vindication you seek.” They do ask for one additional thing in return… Unknowns: 1. What notorious criminal was seen among the cultists, but who escaped? 2. Does Emmanuel desire official protection, or rights for their coven? 3. There’s a palpable energy in the air – what were they summoning? 4. “... stolen like money from the eyes of the dead” rings in your ears. Where have you heard it before?

12. The Wicked Circus Opening Scene: The party passes by a wall of “MISSING” posters. The number has tripled since the Red Sail Market arrived some weeks ago. Set-up: In the midst of the roaring festivities, a crowd forms around a performance of wild creatures. Three halyphons perform amazing feats and magical tricks at the behest of their trainer. A short time into the performance, the town drunkard Donovan yells out, “Annalei, my darling daughter! They’ve taken her!” He gestures wildly at one of the halyphons, and attempts to charge into the ring before being stopped by the crowd. “It’s her! It’s my daughter!” The crowd sneers at the old hermit, and the trainer brushes off the comments. “A mere trick of the halyphon,” he claims, but not before you remember Annalei’s sketched face upon the wall. Donovan weeps in a nearby tavern. Unknowns: 1. Is it possible Donovan’s daughter was turned to a halyphon? What ancient magic of the fey makes this possible? 2. Has Donovan gone mad by some other malady? Would an alchemist be the culprit? 3. In what ways would the halyphons make contact with their families, alerting them to their plight? 4. Gold comes quickly to the circus, but what is the primary use for the halyphons?

13. The Undying Light Appears

bone-white armor scorched and shattered. From within the Marrow ranks, traitors reveal themselves, ripping off helms and turning their blades on the legionaries beside them. “Remember Lightfall!” the ambushers cry. Within seconds, a fierce battle rages as the Marrow regroup to defend the caravan, and the assailants press the assault. “It’s the Undying Light,” the Marrow sergeant barks. “Form up, legionaries! Form up and lock shields!” Unknowns: 1. Who are these agents of the Undying Light? 2. How did the Undying Light infiltrate the Marrow ranks and track their movements? 3. How far are Marrow reinforcements, and when will they arrive to assist? 4. What do the Marrow protect that is seemingly important to the Undying Light?

14. The Fallen Peacemaker Opening Scene: The injured tyl limps into view, a massive, bear-like beast saddled with a rider slumped and motionless. Blood drips from the rider, their fist clutching a stained and tarnished missive. Set-up: The tyl carries a slain Peacemaker tasked with delivering a critical message for a local leader. The message is stained with blood, but undeniably vital, detailing plans to enact the Crucible’s cruel will in the area. Should the leader be warned, they may be able to act in time to save lives and stave off destruction, but doing so would be to oppose the will of the Sovereign. Unknowns: 1. Who is this local leader, and why is the message addressed to them? 2. Is the dead Peacemaker carrying anything else strange or valuable? 3. What plans does the missive detail? What does the Crucible foresee? 4. Is the tyl mount friendly to strangers? Does it allow its rider to be removed?

15. The Prime Archan Opening Scene: Inside a structure covered in cobwebs and lost to time, a single explorer seeks a relic. Set-up: Inside of a structure of some sort – perhaps it’s a grin, a Titan structure, or Oedran temple – it’s impossible to tell in the torch light. It’s evident by the cobwebs and dust that wherever it is, it’s been untouched by people in a long time. We see a relic hunter take a step, holding a torch up to a strange relief depicting a long lost story depicting what can only be a powerful Prime Archan. They don’t notice the enormous spider that stalks toward them from the shadows – but not just any spider. This beast has merged with the Prime Archan, it’s eight copper eyes gleaming. Unknowns:

Opening Scene: Marrow march alongside a caravan of goods, prisoners, or important figures, escorting precious resources to a fortified destination. They glance about warily, beleaguered from travel and eager to reach the safety of familiar lands.

1. What is this structure? How old is it, and who built it?

Set-up: Ambush! From either side of the Marrow column, figures emerge from hiding, brandishing steel and slinging spells. Before they can react, a dozen Marrow fall, their

4. What if the spider isn’t hostile? What if the relic hunter is worthy?

2. Has the spider merged with the Archan? Or is the Prime Archan an arachnid construct? 3. Who is this explorer, and why are they here? What is their deepest trouble?

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16. Chosen of Imminence

Unknowns:

Opening Scene: In a small town, an adolescent exhibits strange, uncontrollable powers... we gaze upon the unfortunate aftermath.

1. Underneath Malice’s floorboards is a basement prison filled with drudges. What infamous rebel leader is held here?

Set-up: Rain falls in sheets in the town square, and the wounded and dead lay scattered. Moments ago an adolescent had an explosive outburst of unbridled arcane power – they wield the power of Imminence. They look shocked at their smoking hands, tears streaming down their face, hidden by the rainfall. A powerful, confident voice calls out from behind them. “I’m going to have to ask you to come with me...”

2. Valuable clothing is found in the chest beside their bed, and a hidden compartment contains a strange key. What does it unlock?

Unknowns: 1. Why does this adolescent possess Imminence? Did they seek this? 2. Was the outburst in anger – a lost temper? Or was it fear? Totally unbidden? 3. Who calls out to the adolescent? Someone there to help? Or to capture or harm? 4. Who else knows about the adolescent? Who else would gain from capturing them?

17. The Twisted Dream Opening Scene: The party finds themselves standing in the middle of a beautiful green pasture. After the scenery changes to a desolate wasteland, they quickly become aware they are sharing a dream. Set-up: Soon after the scenery changes, those knowledgeable guess correctly they are dreaming of Grinn – green and fertile to those who belong, and desolate to those who do not. In the perceived distance, a darkness stirs and grows, expanding across the horizon. Soon, the darkness washes over the party like a violent storm, and myriad terrifying, monstrous creatures swarm around them. In the surrounding darkness, visceral screams pierce through the blistering winds. The fray soon becomes unbearable, and one member of the party is pulled into the storm just before the landscape turns back into green pastures. Before the party stands a single headstone. They read the name, then wake up. Unknowns: 1. What name is on the headstone? The party member? A loved one? The true name of the Dismembered Lord? 2. What monsters are seen? Those from the Bleak, Desolation, or ancient dragons? Something else? 3. Are any of the screams recognizable from a party member’s past? 4. What is found in the pockets of a party member after the dream, but wasn’t there before?

18. The Infiltration Opening Scene: In the dead of night, rogues and spies climb the walls and breach the defenses of a fortress, dispatching unsuspecting guards as they go. Set-up: With the party’s help, the initial defenses are bypassed flawlessly, until a squad of guards discover the infiltrators. One makes a run to the alarms, while the others attempt to hold off the party and their allies. Drudgekeeper Malice will awaken and alert the rest of the fortress if the alarm sounds. However, if the party is successful at maintaining their discretion, Malice remains peacefully asleep inside their locked quarters.

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3. If Malice is killed, another powerful figure linked to her mind will know. Who is it? Who will they send? 4. Are there any commoners living within the fortress? Would they support Malice, or take advantage of the occurrence and rise up?

19. The Brawl Opening Scene: Hollering combatants hurl obscenities and weapons, while the choked gurgles of Marrow Sergeant Chopin spew onto the strangling arm of his assailant – the fight is on. Set-up: The Marrow squad is caught off guard by the attack. Weapons are drawn and a fray commences, with Sergeant Chopin at its epicenter. Around his neck is the brawny arm of a known escaped drudge, who has seemingly won a very quick duel against them. Kneebreakers fight their way to the leader, but won’t get there in time without help from the party, and friends and enemies are potentially made on both sides. Unknowns: 1. How does the party know Sergeant Chopin? Why was he attacked? Is the fight a distraction? 2. What improvised weapons surround the area? Who races for them when the fight starts? 3. Who sneaks away from the free-for-all with a stolen purse? What is in it? 4. What third party or outlying faction joins the fight just when all seems won or lost?

20. Uncovered Tomb Opening Scene: Delvers stumble and crawl through cramped passageways lit only by their torches, until they come upon an ancient door. Set-up: Investigator Chavreau brushes layers of dust and cobwebs from the archaic writing upon the massive door, attempting to translate the vague remnants. Upon examination, it appears to be a bygone ode to a revered dragon, oddly composed by a Primordial-worshipping Oedran queen. The sonnet is incomplete, however, leaving a whole section of the engraved door untouched. Unknowns: 1. What trap goes off when the ode’s remainder is recited or engraved? 2. Does the door open when exposed to Primordial or dragon remains? 3. Who tracked the party to this tomb? 4. Who or what is buried within? What ancient beast defends them?

ADVENTURE GENERATOR

This set of tables is designed to provide the narrative pieces to begin an adventure. Offering a variety of options to build a specific story, the entries on these tables are general by design for ease of use with the existing tools in the rest of this books such as the Dominions of Ash, the Wonders and the other generators. The generator is designed to have the GM roll on each table once noting the results – but use as little or as few of the options as needed, and then decide how those things connect to craft your story. The adventure generator is comprised of the following: Task: The main goal of the story, the quest object or adventure hook that will get the party interested. Complication: The thing that will keep the party from completing the task easily, causing conflict. Patron: The patron is the person or creature needing the task completed. They have archetypes as well as their station in Dragongrin and their personal goals outside of the task at hand. You can optionally use this portion of the table to generate any other people needed for the story. Oddities: Circumstantial items, objects and ideas that will bring variety and narrative flavor to the adventure. Using the oddities will also increase replayability of any results that may be repeated, altering their context to more easily forge a new story. Rewards: These are the things that the party will gain for their efforts and achievements in completing the task. Some of them are objects and items, while others are social and narrative rewards. QUEST GENERATOR D202 TASK 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

PATRON D203

TYPE

STATION

GOAL

Wealthy

Follow a prophecy

Cowardly

Ambitious

Reckless

Marrow Hexbound or Spellblood Undying Light Marauder or Berserker

Respected

Powerful

Charming

Incompetent

Kind hearted

Stoic

Resourceful

Disciplined

Smug

Cautious

Influential

16 17

Well-trained Religious

Paranoid

19 20

Greedy Suspicious

COMPLICATION

Others race to achieve the same goal Someone is lying about key Interrogate information Steal or Kidnap Consequences of the past resurface Any who participate are said to be Excavate or Discover cursed Dismembered Legion takes notice, Escape intervening The task and outcome must remain Infiltrate or Spy secret A reputation will be damaged Petition or Conscript irreparably A long-accepted truth will be Salvage or Rebuild challenged Destroy or Eradicate Someone seeks revenge at all costs Survive Task goes against the Sovereign's laws Retrieve or Rescue Stirs supernatural energies Protect Task is illegal or taboo Investigate An ancient evil will be strengthened Task is considered blasphemous by Petition or Convince the locals Potential to reignite an old conflict Explore looms An oath will be broken to complete Reinforce or Construct the task Attack or Slay A debt is owed, and will come due A trap has been set, and will be Transport or Escort sprung Journey Details of the task are false Completion of the task will incite an Decipher or Transcribe uprising

Restore honor Fulfill a debt Lift a curse

Avoid capture and punishment Cultural Diplomat Defeat a rival Faction Member or Escape a Leader consequence Retired Adventurer Find an individual Find a sense of Warden or Rook purpose Spellscrawl or Following orders Scetic Eloquent or Riches and Valewalker provisions Copper Jackal Act on a dream Dious or Mend a Oathscarred relationship Criminal Save their family Lord of Ash Prove or disprove a Servant rumor Commoner Slay a monster Ranking Marrow Possess an object Infamous Hero or Revolt against Villain power Warmaker Win a bet Lord of Ash Enact vengeance Mystic or Creature

INCIDENTALS

Locate

D20

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

ODDITIES

REWARDS

Corpse Precious cargo Rare animal or monster Evidence Archan or Valen Map, letter or book Important figure Rebellion Powerful relic or weapon Vehicle or property Ceremony or celebration Treason or betrayal Unusual trial (by combat, secret) Assassination Religious artifact Commoner with an important role Curse or Oath Capture or arrest Natural disaster Bloody battle

An Archan or Valen Freedom (for you or another) Full pardon of any crimes Access to a secret library Honor restored or imbued Rare arcane formula Well-bred mount Family heirloom or rare antique A favor owed Truthful answer from a powerful sage A personal servant Wealth Acceptance into culture or faction Execution of a foe Seat of power and a title Magical healing Rare book of lost lore Transcription of a secret ritual Forgotten song or story Property or vehicle

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THEMES, TWISTS, GROWING DANGERS

These optional tables offer variety, and give the GM narrative, conflict-generating tools that can be used easily to add a new context to the information gathered from the scenes or adventure generator. Themes: These are ideas for central topics or ideas that will be featured in your session or campaign. Using a theme gives a main idea to the story’s purpose. Consider rolling on the themes table to decide how the elements from the other portions of this section will be featured to align with the story you’re setting forth to tell. Twists: These are unexpected narrative twists and turns designed to surprise the party by changing the context of what they already understand or believe. Used properly twists can be satisfying, providing surprising but inevitable outcomes to stories.

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Growing Dangers: Growing dangers are meant to act as forces outside of the current narrative. This table is designed to be specific in its conflict, but general enough in its details to be useful in any location in Dragongrin, featuring any people. USING GENERATED ADVENTURES IN THE DOMINIONS Dominions of Ash are burgeoning with threats and adventure, and the tables and options included can be used seamlessly with these adventure creation tools. To tie your unique adventure into an existing dominion, consider interchanging some of the details. Replace an NPC in a scene with one of the dominion’s Powerful People, or weave a character connection or peripheral location into the plot. There are no limits to how you can use the information harmoniously to build adventures that will feel alive and plausible anywhere in Dragongrin.

D100 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

THEMES Leadership Chaos versus Order Travel War Losing or Keeping Hope Heroics Grief Immortality Honor Lost Beating the Odds Truth Reunion Tragedy Family Clash of Culture Destiny Justice Love Conspiracy Violence Coming of Age Survival Sanity and Insanity Perseverance Gray Morality Generations Deception Infamy Protecting What is Sacred Consequences of Actions Suffering Redemption Dreams in a Dark Realm Rebellion or Revolution Valor Knowledge versus Ignorance Upholding or Breaking the Law What’s in a Name Greed Power and Corruption Artistic Pursuits Trust Technology Crime Darkness versus Light Selflessness Society Innocence Progress Temptation

D100 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100

THEMES Pride Death Patriotism Secrecy Marriage Sweat of the Brow Commemoration and Celebration History Judgment Injustice Overcoming Fear, Weakness or Vice Nature and the Elements Faith and Belief Identity Regret Perfection Destruction of Beauty Loyalty Loneliness Change versus Tradition Revenge Betrayal Beauty in Darkness Morality Shifting Power Fear Hate Fate versus Free Will Time Vanity Place in the Cosmos Companionship Fulfillment of Purpose Memories Manipulation Mercy Consequences of the Past Risk versus Opportunity Forgiveness Solitude Seeking Happiness Opportunity Self Preservation Will to Survive Hope Wealth and Power Jealousy and Envy Abuse of Power Freedom versus Captivity Coping with Failure

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D100 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

GROWING DANGERS

TWISTS Key information turns out to be false. An ambush awaits. Something good is proven to have a dark side. An important ally is killed or captured. The party are implicated as criminals. A bad omen presents itself – though some may see it as a good one. An illness strikes, sparing no one – a cure must be found. A bribe is offered – perhaps from an unlikely place. A double-agent is revealed – and must be protected. One of the party is captured or detained. The enemies have seized an important object, and must be pursued immediately. An important person reveals they are working with the enemy. An important ally is not who or what they claim to be. The objective is more heavily protected than anticipated. Enemy reinforcements arrive. Local religious customs prohibit the heroes from using certain abilities. The objective has been destroyed or otherwise lost – a new plan must be concocted. The quest changes entirely, and the heroes must react quickly to achieve their new objective. A secret is uncovered, changing everything. A key figure is captured. These events are a diversion for something more sinister. The enemy turns out to be much larger and more ferocious than expected. An item necessary to complete the quest has vanished. The child of a local culture mysteriously has important, related information The enemy is in possession of a magical weapon of mass destruction. The villains are a rogue party of a known faction. A large-scale war will break out if the quest isn’t completed. A slain enemy returns, badly maimed or undead. A dangerous and taboo ritual is required to make progress. Someone or something of value must be surrendered in order to complete the quest. The enemy has discovered a serious weakness of the party. It’s too late to make a difference. Extreme weather covers the encounter area. A member of the opposition offers to aid the party. The situation changes – foes now share an objective. A supernatural occurrence brings a grisly, unexpected effect. Someone close is revealed to be the enemy. A large-scale battle breaks out in proximity, unrelated to the situation at hand. The outcome of an event will benefit a foe. A Bleakstorm begins to form nearby. A Desolation Tear begins to manifest. The objective turns out to be something especially dangerous – perhaps deadly. A vehicle comes crashing into the location. An unlikely alliance is struck. A secret connection is uncovered. A large, natural predator emerges on the hunt. A connection is made between two seemingly unrelated people or events. A more powerful evil is at work – they reveal themselves. A reason for peace – even if temporary – makes itself evident. Roll twice more on this table. Both results occur. If they are the same result, raise the stakes and make things more dire.

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1. Elaborate written plans to unseat a Lord of Ash have been discovered, and the Dominion of Ash is bedlam. It is unknown who drafted the plot, and until they are discovered, none are free from scrutiny. 2. The missive crows in the area have been targeted, and many have already been captured, wounded or killed. Two things need to be done immediately: find those responsible, and deliver several important tardy missives. 3. Select locations in the area are being vandalized with its occupants being brutally sacrificed. Profane eldritch marks – if deciphered – read “the gods of the Desolation live.” 4. A fortune hunter seeks a particularly dangerous object, and must use a macabre arcane method to uncover its location. 5. A powerful magic user is imbuing local monsters with advanced intelligence, controlling them to enact a dark plan. 6. The powerful leader of a local culture has begun detaining and questioning any people not of their culture and imprisoning many of them – whispers persist of a dark tradition being observed. 7. When the Triune Moons are in certain alignments, a lycanthrope is leaving a trail of bloodshed – but some whisper that there is too distinct of a pattern to the killings for a mindless beast. 8. A festival calling all renowned eloquents with agitators warrants to come and play is happening nearby – though it is whispered that the true reason is to mask the sound of something nefarious nearby. 9. A local Archanic has found a way to forge a new kind of weapon, but the side effects of the process are erratic and dangerous. They are still in high demand, nonetheless. 10. Something is changing all of the local water into tainted ichor. A local dious is charging a tax to purify the water, but some say they are the cause in the first place. 11. A rogue Doomsayer is gathering followers, granting protection, food, water, and equipment to any who swear to serve… a war is coming. 12. A large creature said to look much like a smaller variation of the mighty C’War of Uldane stalks the countryside seeking food for its endless appetite. Some offer gold to slay it – and a higher price to capture it. 13. Someone is summoning infernal creatures from beyond this realm, and they are altering the environment – weather conditions become more severe each day. 14. A small militia claiming to be from a timeline in which they won Lightfall say they have important information that can help cripple the Dismembered Legion. They’re seeking recruits. 15. A group of mages is promising protection to all who come and stay in their compound. Many flock to it – though none seem to leave. 16. A group of unawakened tomehearts have begun erecting a structure that they simply refer to as the Planisphere. It is connecting the thoughts of sentient creatures in the area – though they claim that is merely a side-effect of its true purpose.

17. A local crime lord is giving all of their possessions away to the locals – money, objects, supplies. They claim it is to “repent” and to get into the graces of their new master “before the coming storm.”

30. A local Zarfvin annulus directive is being led by a particularly well-connected Mord, and they are industrializing the entire region. Archanic machines are cropping up all over taking the jobs of the commoners.

18. A famous adventuring party said to have been killed during Lightfall has resurfaced, and are using guerilla tactics against the Dismembered Legion in the area. This is making the legion far more strict and brutal to the common denizens of the area.

31. A fabled general store – the Magenta Pig – disappeared without explanation during Lightfall. Folks are saying they have been seeing the Pig appearing on various hilltops with black smoke spewing from the chimney, and bizarre lights and sounds coming within.

19. A notable Grimdul is leading all of the mounts in the area away to freedom to “escape their unjust captivity and follow the Soulwinds.” Rumblings persist that this Grimdul has a dark past, and is up to no good...

32. A deathmaw has a magical illness, and its mind is being eaten. In its feverish madness, it lashing out with all of its mouths to everything it sees, causing death, pain and destruction across the area – and also spreading the sickness...

20. After returning from a diplomatic sojourn, a local leader has had a drastic change in their ideals, and is acting the opposite of how they were before leaving. Some need for things to go back to the status quo, others wish to protect this shift. 21. A tribe of berserkers is renowned for crafting unmatched Valens, and have come to the area claiming that the land is ripe with undiscovered Primordial corpses. They have begun digging up areas without asking. 22. A local settlement has been overrun by monsters – but the creatures don’t appear to be harming the inhabitants. They gather within its borders as if charmed… waiting for something… 23. Chroniclers from all over are being ordered to this area, taken to a location in secret to record as much as possible on what is being referred to as the Occurrence. Some say so many are needed because they are going mad, others say it’s because they’re transcending... 24. A series of grisly, ritualistic killings have occurred, each victim sharing various characteristics. The most recent victim was someone beloved by the local Lord of Ash, and now the entire dominion is locked down and under scrutiny. 25. A group of Silverwise have uncovered a buried Oedran library, and while nearly all of the books are destroyed, they can get answers by communing with the long-dead sages and librarians who died within. The answers of Dragongrin’s greatest mysteries – from dragons and Titans to Imminence and Primordials – are being uncovered. 26. Rumors swirl that a greedy Marrow Captain and much of their regiment were just slain. Details are fuzzy on who committed the deed, but their notably large stash of treasure, Archans and Valens is theoretically unguarded for the moment. 27. A local faction is attempting to buy out local’s homes, businesses, and animals. They are keeping the reasons secret, but they seem to have bottomless pockets. 28. A powerful Warden who knows the workings of the Feymists intimately is taking children – though they claim it is only mistreated ones. The Warden is calling them his “family,” training them in the ways of the Old Vale. 29. People and animals within an area are acting strangely and in extreme cases, some are even harming themselves. Odd anomalies of weather and unnatural occurrences are taking place. Whispers persist that this place was the site of a long-closed Desolation Tear…

33. A group of powerful kyojin warriors act as the bodyguards of an Ardor who notorious for selling others into drudgery – especially other freed Ardor. People are going missing, but the kyojin owe a life debt to the Ardor, and are forced by honor to protect them. 34. Sets of children’s toys keeps showing up in local shops for sale, though none of the shopkeepers have any knowledge of where they are coming from. More and more of these toys are appearing each week. Someone claims to have discovered their dark secret, but they have disappeared. 35. A Mord seeks protection and is paying immeasurable riches and favors. They need an escort to Grinn, and they are certain many will attempt to harm them. It is almost certain they have a Reliquary of Ash. 36. A large, grotesque monster stalks an area. Despite multiple sightings the creature is proving difficult to track, and multiple eyewitness reports claim that the creature is protecting those in the area, not hunting them. A local monster hunter begs to differ, and is planning a hunt. 37. Locals are seeing a location in their dreams, perceiving its shape in mundane objects – being drawn to it even though they don’t know its exact location. It is a wounded typhon, awakened from its hibernation, sending a message for aid. 38. All of the elderly people in the area are showing signs of improved strength, health and vigor, eventually becoming stronger than even the most young strapping warriors. However as their vitality improves, so does an ill temperament and propensity for violence. 39. A famous mapwright has been hired to produce an accurate map of the area for the Dismembered Legion, however unusual circumstances surround the project – the first two mapwrights went missing. The new mapwright is looking for help getting the job done, while it is rumored others will stop at nothing to ensure its failure. 40. A Marrow Sergeant who disappeared into a Savage Frontier is said to have had a holy experience, hearing from a god. They have cast off their bone-white armament, replacing it with a holy garb, and are steadily gaining followers. 41. A group of free Ardor is offering themselves as a labor force locally, and are working for mere food and board. Their outspoken leader is very persuasive. They are having clandestine meetings by firelight each night, and rumors persist that they are a cult. 433 THE CRUCIBLE

42. Strange insects are appearing in swarms, infesting the area. They feast on metal as though it were crops, and if not stopped will devour all metallic objects in the region. 43. Countless monsters are fleeing the local Savage Frontier, and are all flocking to a specific location – as if they are being summoned or controlled. 44. A local prison releases dozens of criminals without warning or explanation. The criminals begin to reintegrate into the population, but begin to be targeted as victims for a sinister scheme as if released on purpose. 45. A town has become notorious for being a place to have Archanics integrated into one’s body, augmenting them in various ways. This is not technically legal, and a large black market has cropped up around the sale and practice of Archanic augmentations. 46. A Drogus surga has appeared on the shore recently. They claim that Titan remains are in the depths below, and divers drag the Shattered Seas constantly. They help rebuild anything decrepit, and are kind to locals, but the people have begun having nightmares since they arrived. 47. Sightings of long dead historical figures become common – they give political diatribes and stir unrest with the populace. Some whisper it is a powerful illusionist with aims to usurp the existing Lord of Ash. 48. A spellscrawl is rumored to have a tatter of a magical painting that allows creatures to enter into it. They wish to retreat within to begin an experiment that could change Dragongrin forever, and will need people to come within to assist. They also need people to keep the tatter of the painting – and all those inside – safe. 49. A recent Bleakstorm has unearthed a half-buried battle site from Lightfall, revealing the remains of countless tomehearts. The remains begin to reaminate, recharged by the Bleakstorm. They share a consciousness, and only speak one word over and over. 50. A powerful, sentient undead creature has taken residence in an abandoned locale, and is brokering a peace with the locals. The details are murky, but rumors say the creature will not bother anyone, as long as certain, strange terms are met.

54. A broken Titan Ring has been discovered. Though it is damaged, and does not lead to the Copper Sun, it does lead to another Titan Ring in an unexpected location. If repaired it could possibly lead elsewhere... 55. A Mord diplomat has taken a sudden and intense interest in a local orphanage. They have purchased it outright, and staffed it entirely with Mord. It seems to be benevolent and harmless so far, and it is assumed they are Mordrivh, though some of the children have begun to act… strangely. 56. Crucians have set up what they are calling ‘benevolence camps’, places where locals can take shelter, get food and water, and even get minor healing. This is actually a complex trap to sap the life energies of anyone who enters. 57. The remains of a secret city of a local culture have been found hidden amongst the geography of the Dominion of Ash. Within it, there are heretical teachings that go against much of what the culture stands for today. Many seek to destroy it, others seek to possess it at all costs. 58. Strange stones are being found throughout the area. They look unlike anything native to the region, and give off an unsettling aura when they are near. They are dragon eggs. 59. A traveling hexbound circus has come to town and are behaving benevolently, bringing joy and laughter to all who visit. Whispers persist that whoever – or whatever – they serve has a darker purpose. 60. A missive crow attempts to deliver a letter that is very old, and it is addressed to someone who has been deceased for some time. Scrawled upon the envelope is the phrase “Utmost Importance” in an uncommon language. 61. A Granok Thane band claim to be in possession of an Archan so powerful that it must be stored in three separate pieces to avoid an apocalyptic event… and one of the pieces has gone missing. 62. A traveling caravan is roving about the area. It looks exotic and strange, as it out of time, and when it stops, everyone who is within it look exactly identical – and their numbers seem to be growing...

51. The local Talasar are being called upon to uphold an ancient oath that will require them to enter a portion of the Feymists that are being used illicitly by a foe as a labyrinthine magical prison.

63. A vaccine is needed to stop an epidemic, and the only place the herbs required grow is in the Savage Frontier of the Dominion of Ash… in the scat of a deadly indiginous creature.

52. Several powerful, ancient weapons have been found in the area. Copper in color, and inlaid with the inscription +VASTEHK+, they are believed to have been smithed by a Titan of the same name for human servants at some point. Rumors persist that the smith’s vault is nearby.

64. A powerful typhon is said to have been spotted in the area, though there is no proof of it. Some say it’s a ruse for the Red Sail Market to drive up costs. Typhon hunters have begun to show up searching for the creature’s vault nonetheless.

53. Inanimate objects within the area have begun to become animated. They don’t attack, but incessantly seek each other, slowly combining and becoming something larger. Some say there is a pattern to which objects are animated...

65. The children in the area claim to hear a voice – though no adults can hear it. Many think that the children are fibbing, though they have no way of knowing the things the voice is purportedly saying.

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66. A Holmir clan is selling potent Yngsblot to the locals, and while it was a blessing at first, is having strange side effects and a particularly addictive effect. They are running low on supplies, and are eyeing a grin to take to continue their operations.

78. A powerful eloquent has returned from the Wailing Gray and has brought with them an entirely new kind of music that has a unique effect on all who hear it. Some say the songs grant them blessings… others say it plagues them with curses.

67. There was a strange light in the sky, then a flash, and then a shaking and shattering of the earth. Now, there is a large crater nearby, and though the dust is stilled stirred up, something – or somethings can be seen moving within.

79. A traveling group called the Road to Faith are a traveling group of various temples of many religions, old and new. They offer insights into the faiths they represent, and are reportedly in possession of many religious items and texts of significance.

68. A local alchemist has created a liquid food substitute, and while it is helping to keep the local populace fed, it’s seeming to have some side effects – minor hallucinogenic properties in high quantities and… powerful cravings.

80. There are reports of a newly unearthed grin in the area, though some of the details don’t quite line up. There’s no question that a new structure was discovered, but exactly what it is must be explored to know for sure.

69. A local resource-gathering camp has become strangely and suddenly abandoned. There are no signs of the laborers, and no witnesses of how or why they left. The only clue is a strange symbol carved in various places throughout.

81. As of late, many graves have been dug up, overturned or robbed. Nearly every local burial ground has been a target. Now though… living people are going missing.

70. In a large clearing, there is a miniature replica of the area complete with toy creatures and people. No one seems to know how it got there, but if watched closely, the replica shifts, showing points in the future. Rumors persist that any who approach are sucked within it. 71. A group of Thoughtslayers are said to be serving locals by helping them to forget all of the awful memories they have. Oddly, the monsters are not taking those they help as thralls, and seem to be genuinely trying to help. 72. Some local Sarrik are seeing the Color of Valens, a particularly vibrant set of green hues imperceptible to any non-Sarrik. They believe that any lands that bear this tinge are marked for greatness, and seek to possess them at any cost. 73. An academy for learning how to fight and survive opens locally. They seek instructors, students, and laborers, and begin an effort to list all of the odd jobs and tasks that need doing in the area. 74. A sudden and violent feud has erupted between two local cultures. It has escalated rapidly, on the verge of burgeoning into all-out-war. Locals are being forced to choose sides, while the Dismembered Legion conspicuously stands by idly. 75. Larger, more feral dread animals begin cropping up in the area, and local geography begins to warp and grow. This has brought hunters and gatherers from all around who wish to reap larger bounties. 76. A Red Sail Market announces that it is staying in an area indefinitely. They bought a local tavern, and have set up their tents and stalls around it. Almost immediately, local competition starts having “accidents” such as fires and injuries. 77. A new Marrow Commander has been stationed in the area, and they have a unique outlook on the Sovereign’s laws. The status quo has changed drastically, and many are in opposition – though some favor the change. Conflicts erupt daily.

82. A grave has been robbed, revealing that one of the crypts held a Titan Copper burial mask. An oathscarred has sworn to recover it, though they believe that the family who hired them may be involved in the crime, and seeks to prove it. 83. A distant traveler has arrived in the area, claiming to be from another world. They have a strong sense of idealism, and have set up a “work for hire” guild for anyone who wishes to do adventurous work for hire. 84. An eccentric local crime lord is dipping his enemies in gold and putting them on display as a sign of wealth and martial power. Rumors swirl that the process is magical… and that those on display are still alive within. 85. Mordrivh and Morden are having an intense battle behind the scenes, playing a deadly back and forth game to usurp each other. Their high-minded, calculated actions are causing copious collateral damage among the commoners. 86. No matter their standard diet, all of the creatures in the area are developing a powerful taste for raw, fresh meat. The ecosystem is bending under the demand for so much meat, and things are getting more brutal by the day. 87. A spellblood drift insists that a massive Bleakstorm is brewing – the likes of which has never been seen – and that any who stay in the area will perish. Others whisper that they are trying to clear the area for a secret purpose. 88. A local inn and tavern is known for being an “Archan museum,” though it’s common knowledge that the Archans are chintzy imitations. However rumors swirl that the owner has just come into possession of a genuinely powerful Archan. 89. A mysterious helmed figure has rallied outcasts, monstrous humanoids and outsiders under a single cause. Some say it is actually a low-ranking Marrow who feels that the Dismembered Legion in the area have grown complacent, seeking to refine them by inciting a controlled conflict.

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90. A member of a relic hunting guild is outspoken about wanting to visit another plane of existence. They are making contacts in the area, and rumor has it they are prodding at powerful doorways to things such as the Wailing Gray, the Desolation, and the Bleak, overconfident they can control or mitigate the side effects. 91. Strange creatures have begun to attack travellers and locals alike. The slayings have traces of the Old Vale – rare flora grow from the corpses of the victims. 92. A powerful dious was performing healings – and even resurrections in some rare cases – but have recently become gravely ill themselves. Those that they healed are showing the same strange symptoms... 93. An Archanic printing press is allowing for the reproduction of books quickly and accurately. The device has been outlawed by the Dismembered Legion, but it is being moved around, making it difficult to find. Some say the outlawing is false, and the books are misinformation written and distributed by the legion. 94. A moving island can be seen off of the coast of the Dominion of Ash. The island, and several miles around it on the mainland experience strangely out of place, severe weather conditions. 95. A valewalker is planting trees, and using an Imminence spell to age the trees rapidly. Dragonbound from a nearby grin are said to be striking a deal to use the magic on dragon eggs.

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96. A retired, wealthy marauder is putting on a Thrice Iron tournament, a tradition from a lost age of Dragongrin. Anyone is permitted to enter, and the prize – though secret – is said to be invaluable. Whispers of rebellion stir. 97. Any magic users in the area are aging more rapidly than normal – some more quickly than others, and seemingly whenever they use their magic. A meeting of the casters in the area has been called to address the problem. 98. A rook has uncovered the location of a crashed, experimental, Archanic vessel. They are putting together a team of specialists to break into the highly secure craft, retrieving its contents. A local Drogus crime lord has other plans, and is assembling a crew of their own. 99. Unbeknownst to any locals, a Primordial remains rest at the bottom of a spring. Any who drink the water experience a surge in mental and physical power – though the Primordial’s consciousness begins communicating before long. 100. A figure calling themselves the Usurper claims to be the Dismembered Lord from another timeline in which they have achieved a utopia. They offer passage to their Dragongrin to any who wish to enter.

MONSTRUM AUTURNUM Dragongrin is a realm besieged by monsters. Natural predators, twisted abominations of the Bleak, shadowed beasts of the Desolation, and ancient beings of the Old Vale – and beyond them, the monstrous tendencies of mortals. Presented here, find lore and game statistics for the Marrow legions of the Sovereign. In addition, discover the Behemoths of the Bleak – ancient and terrible powers.

MARROW

KNEEBREAKER Kneebreakers are not Marrow – they lack the training and armament of a true soldier of the Legions. Rather, kneebreakers are deputized lawkeepers, overseen by Marrow and tasked with day-to-day peacekeeping and the annual collection of the Tenth, particularly in more remote settlements where the Legions maintain a lesser presence.

MARROW PEACEKEEPER Medium humanoid (any race), any lawful alignment Armor Class: 16 (half plate) Hit Points: 27 (5d8 + 5) Speed: 30 feet STR

DEX

CON

INT

WIS

CHA

15 (+2)

12 (+1)

13 (+1)

10 (+0)

11 (+0)

12 (+1)

Skills: Athletics +4, Intimidation +3, Perception +2 Senses: Passive Perception 12

KNEEBREAKER

Languages: Crucian and one other language

Medium humanoid (any race), any alignment

Challenge: 1 (200 XP)

Armor Class: 12 (studded leather)

Brute: A melee weapon deals one extra die of its damage when the Marrow peacekeeper hits with it (included in the attack).

Hit Points: 22 (4d8 + 4) Speed: 30 feet STR

DEX

CON

INT

WIS

CHA

15 (+2)

12 (+1)

13 (+1)

10 (+0)

11 (+0)

12 (+1)

Skills: Athletics +4, Intimidation +3, Perception +2 Senses: Passive Perception 12 Languages: Crucian and one other language Challenge: 1/2 (100 XP)

Pack Tactics: The kneebreaker has advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one ally of the kneebreaker is within 5 feet of that creature and the ally isn’t incapacitated.

Formation Tactics: The Marrow peacekeeper has advantage on saving throws against being charmed, frightened, grappled, or restrained while it is within 5 feet of at least one ally.

ACTIONS Mace: Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d6 + 2) bludgeoning damage. Shortsword: Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d6 + 2) slashing damage. Light Crossbow: Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, range 80/320, one target. Hit: 5 (1d8 + 1) piercing damage. MARROW PEACEKEEPER VARIANTS Depending on the nature of their work, a peacekeeper carries a variety of weapons and tools. •

ACTIONS Mace: Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) bludgeoning damage. Light Crossbow: Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, range 80/320, one target. Hit: 5 (1d8 + 1) piercing damage.

•

Mancatcher: Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (2d4 + 2) piercing damage. If the target is Medium or smaller, it is grappled (escape DC 11). Each time a creature grappled by the mancatcher attempts to escape and fails the check, that creature takes 2 (1d4) piercing damage. The Marrow peacekeeper cannot make an attack with the mancatcher while grappling a creature with it. Hooked Net: Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 5/15 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage. If the target is Medium or smaller, it is restrained. A creature can use its action to make a DC 10 Strength check to free itself or another creature in a net, ending the effect on a success. MONSTRUM AUTURNUM

437

Medium humanoid (any race), any lawful alignment Armor Class: 18 (half plate, shield) Hit Points: 39 (6d8 + 12) Speed: 30 feet STR

DEX

CON

INT

WIS

CHA

16 (+3)

12 (+1)

14 (+2)

10 (+0)

11 (+0)

12 (+1)

Skills: Athletics +5, Intimidation +3, Perception +2 Senses: Passive Perception 12 Languages: Crucian and one other language Challenge: 3 (700 XP)

Formation Tactics: The Marrow legionary has advantage on saving throws against being charmed, frightened, grappled, or restrained while it is within 5 feet of at least one ally. Shield Wall: The Marrow legionary increases its AC by 2 while it is within 5 feet of at least one ally.

ACTIONS Multiattack: The Marrow legionary makes two melee attacks. Longspear: Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) piercing damage. Shortsword: Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) slashing damage. Light Crossbow: Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, range 80/320, one target. Hit: 5 (1d8 + 1) piercing damage.

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• • •

MARROW LEGIONARY

438

MARROW LEGIONARY VARIANTS Legionaries favor the longspear for its reach and versatility, but are trained in a variety of weapons. Halberd: Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d10 + 3) slashing damage. Longsword: Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) slashing damage. Heavy Crossbow: Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, range 100/400, one target. Hit: 6 (1d10 + 1) piercing damage.

MARROW COMMANDER

MARROW SPECIALISTS

The commanders of the Marrow are tried and tested warriors and tacticians, hand-picked from among only the most loyal and distinguished of the Dismembered Lord’s legionaries. Many Marrow commanders are veterans of Lightfall, officers who led the shadowy legions against the forces of good. Others are young, ambitious military leaders, favored by the Dismembered Lord for their tenacity and potential.

Specialized Marrow serve the Dismembered Lord and his regents, the Lords of Ash, across Dragongrin. Depending on the nature of the terrain and their grisly work, Marrow equip themselves with unique weapons and tools, or receive specialized training. Note that these variants may affect the challenge rating of the Marrow, providing a slightly steeper challenge for most player characters.

MARROW COMMANDER Medium humanoid (any race), any lawful alignment Armor Class: 20 (plate, shield) Hit Points: 65 (10d8 + 20) Speed: 30 feet STR

DEX

CON

INT

WIS

CHA

17 (+4)

12 (+1)

14 (+2)

12 (+1)

11 (+0)

15 (+2)

Saving Throws: STR +6, CHA +5 Skills: Athletics +7, Intimidation +5, Perception +3 Senses: Passive Perception 13 Languages: Crucian and one other language Challenge: 5 (1,800 XP) Formation Tactics: The Marrow commander has advantage on saving throws against being charmed, frightened, grappled, or restrained while it is within 5 feet of at least one ally. Martial Advantage: Once per turn, the Marrow commander can deal an extra 10 (3d6) damage to a creature it hits with a weapon attack if that creature is within 5 feet of an ally of the Marrow commander and that ally isn’t incapacitated.

ACTIONS Multiattack: The Marrow commander makes two melee attacks. Flail: Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage. Shortsword: Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6 + 4) slashing damage. Light Crossbow: Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, range 80/320, one target. Hit: 5 (1d8 + 1) piercing damage. MARROW COMMANDER VARIANTS Whether on horseback commanding legionaries from behind a shield wall, or on-foot wielding a wicked longsword, Marrow commanders are among the most dangerous of the Dismembered Lord’s servants. • •

Longsword: Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) slashing damage. Heavy Crossbow: Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, range 100/400, one target. Hit: 6 (1d10 + 1) piercing damage. 439 MONSTRUM AUTURNUM

MARROW ARCSEER

MARROW DUNESTRIDER

The most feared among the Marrow are the Arcseers, faithful mounted champions of the Dismembered Lord. Wielding arcane magic like a blade against the heart of dissention, Arcseers operate alone or in pairs on their soaring halyphon mounts, serving as the Dismembered Lord’s eyes across his domain.

The dunestriders traverse arid areas of Dragongrin, such as the shifting sandsteel of Jahar and remote areas of Uldane. They wear lighter armor and wield spears and longbows for ranging across the badlands. Dunestriders often utilize mounts, such as the reptilian xol of Jahar.

Arcseers are Marrow commanders with the following changes: • Arcseers have a Charisma score of 17 (+3). • Arcseers have an AC of 18 (no shield). • Arcseers are proficient in the Arcana skill (+4). • Arcseers have truesight out to a range of 60 feet. Arcseers are 5th-level spellcasters. Their spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 14, +6 to hit with spell attacks). They have the following sorcerer spells prepared: • Cantrips (at will): blade ward, firebolt, mage hand, true strike • 1st level (4 slots): feather fall, magic missile, shield, witch bolt • 2nd level (3 slots): darkness, detect thoughts, misty step • 3rd level (2 slots): counterspell, tongues

MARROW BEASTKEEPER Throughout Dragongrin, Marrow rely on mounts, hounds, and beast companions to scout and traverse dangerous environs. The beastkeepers tend to these animals, training, feeding, and deploying into the field. Beastkeepers are Marrow peacekeepers with the following changes: • Beastkeepers have a Wisdom score of 14 (+2) • Beastkeepers are proficient in the Animal Handling skill (+4). • Beastkeepers have an AC of 15 (studded leather). • Beastkeepers lose the Brute trait, instead gaining Beast Companionship: As a bonus action, the Marrow beastkeeper commands a friendly beast that can hear it, allowing the beast to immediately take an Attack action with advantage. • Instead of a mace, beastkeepers wield spears, dealing 5 (1d6 + 3) piercing damage.

MARROW BLEAKWALKER As the Bleak grows more prevalent across Dragongrin, a need arises for hardy Marrow trained to contend with its arcane and often unforeseen effects. Bleakwalkers specialize in weathering and negating magical effects, as well as combating enemy spellcasters. Bleakwalkers are Marrow peacekeepers with the following changes: • Bleakwalkers are proficient in the Arcana skill (+2). • Bleakwalkers have an AC of 18 (shield). • Bleakwalkers lose the Shield Wall trait, instead gaining Antimagic Aura: The Marrow Bleakwalker has advantage on saving throws against spells, and any creature making a spell attack against the Bleakwalker has disadvantage on the attack roll.

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Dunestriders are Marrow legionaries with the following changes: • Dunestriders have a Dexterity score of 16 (+3) and a Wisdom score of 14 (+2). • Dunestriders have an AC of 15 (studded leather). • Dunestriders have a move speed of 40 feet. • Dunestriders are proficient in the Survival skill (+4). • Dunestriders can make two ranged attacks. • Instead of light crossbows, dunestriders wield longbows, dealing 7 (1d8 + 3) piercing damage.

MARROW MARAUDER The marauders are prevalent in the brutal frontiers of Dragongrin, such as the blasted lands of Uldane and the primal realm of Varnholme. They are powerful combatants, relying on brutal strength and martial prowess to fell the largest and most dangerous foes opposing the Dismembered Lord. Marauders eschew the shield walls of other Marrow, preferring instead to charge into combat. Marauders are Marrow legionaries with the following changes: • Marauders have a Strength score of 17 (+3) and a Constitution score of 16 (+3). • Marauders have 45 hit points (6d8 + 18). • Marauders have an AC of 16 (no shield). • Marauders lose the Shield Wall trait, instead gaining Reckless: At the start of its turn, the Marrow marauder can gain advantage on all melee weapon attack rolls during that turn, but attack rolls against it have advantage until the start of its next turn. • Instead of longspears, marauders wield greataxes, dealing 9 (1d12 + 3) slashing damage.

MARROW MARINE The Dismembered Lord’s soldiers maintain control of the entirety of the realm, including the farthest reaches of Dragongrin’s Shattered Seas. Trained to survive on meager rations yet still operate at peak combat efficiency, the Marrow marines expertly board and commandeer ships, as well as quell coastal rebellions and insurgencies threatening the Sovereign’s rule. Marines are Marrow legionaries with the following changes: • Marines have a Dexterity score of 16 (+3). • Marines have an AC of 15 (studded leather). • Marines lose the Shield Wall trait, instead gaining Amphibious Assault: The Marrow marine’s movement speed cannot be reduced due to water. In addition, if the Marrow marine begins its turn within 5 feet of an ally, it gains an additional 10 feet of movement until the end of its turn. • Instead of longspears, marines carry boarding irons, which have identical statistics to handaxes, dealing 6 (1d6 + 3) slashing damage, and giving the wielder advantage on Athletics (Strength) checks made to climb. • Instead of light crossbows, marines wield heavy crossbows, dealing 8 (1d10 + 3) piercing damage.

MARROW PRAETOR

MARROW VALEWARDEN

Praetors represent the best of the best – legends among the Marrow. Serving as personal guards to the Council of Ash and the Dismembered Lord himself, the Praetors are distinct in their blood-red armor, cloaks, and double-bladed swords.

Dissention brews in the wilds of Dragongrin – and the valewardens snuff it out. Trained to track and range through the dense wilderness of regions such as Talas, Feygrave, and Zamon, the valewardens move quickly and quietly, eschewing heavy armor and weapons for speed and stealth.

Praetors are Marrow legionaries with the following changes: • Praetors have an AC of 18 (no shield; plate) • Praetors lose the Shield Wall trait, instead gaining Cleave Through: Once per round, when the Marrow Praetor reduces a creature to 0 hit points, it can immediately use its reaction to make an attack against another creature within range. • Instead of longspears, Praetors carry double-bladed swords, which are two-handed, heavy weapons that deal 6 (1d6 + 3) slashing damage, and allow the wielder to make a second attack with their bonus action (dealing 1d6 slashing damage), as with two-weapon fighting.

MARROW SIEGEBREAKER The siegebreakers see action in regions of frequent resistance and upheaval, such as Innes. These specialized Marrow wield destructive armament designed to quell resistance with deadly efficiency. Siegebreakers are Marrow peacekeepers with the following changes: • Siegebreakers have a Strength score of 16 (+3). • Siegebreakers have an AC of 18 (shield). • Siegebreakers have an additional action, Alchemist’s Fire: The Marrow siegebreaker throws a flask of alchemist’s fire. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 5/20 ft., one target. Hit: 2 (1d4) fire damage at the start of each of the target’s turns. A creature can end this damage by using its action to make a DC 10 Dexterity check to extinguish the flames.

Valewardens are Marrow legionaries with the following changes: • Valewardens have a Dexterity score of 16 (+3) and a Wisdom score of 14 (+2). • Valewardens have an AC of 15 (studded leather). • Valewardens are proficient in the Survival skill (+4) and the Stealth skill (+5), and add double their proficiency to the Perception skill (+5). • Valewardens lose the Shield Wall trait, instead gaining Keen Hearing and Sight: The Marrow valewarden has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or sight. • Instead of longspears, valewardens wield scimitars, dealing 6 (1d6 + 3) slashing damage. MARROW TASK FORCES It’s not uncommon to encounter specialized task forces of Marrow soldiers, each specializing in a different role. For instance, Marrow dispatched to deal with a contingent of the Undying Light might include peacekeepers as frontline fighters, riotbreakers as support troops, and a Bleakwalkers to handle the rogue spellcasters. Or a squad of dunestriders might join with marauders to take down a particularly nasty tyrant wurm in Jahar. The Marrow are, if nothing else, efficient, and they don’t hesitate to pick the best soldiers for the job.

MARROW STITCHER The stitchers are dispatched in areas with rampant undead, such as Svir, northern Varnholme, and in the areas of Innes where the necromantic Ixis orcs practice their profane craft. They wield clerical magic in tandem with their martial abilities, specializing in detecting and combating undead, as well as healing their fellow Marrow. Stitchers are Marrow legionaries with the following changes: • Stitchers have a Wisdom score of 16 (+3). • Stitchers have proficiency in the Medicine skill (+5). • Instead of a longspear, stitchers wield maces, dealing 6 (1d6 + 3) damage. Stitchers are 5th-level spellcasters. Their spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 13, +5 to hit with spell attacks). They have the following cleric spells prepared: • • • •

Cantrips (at will): light, sacred flame, spare the dying 1st level (4 slots): bless, cure wounds, detect evil and good 2nd level (3 slots): augury, lesser restoration 3rd level (2 slots): dispel magic, spirit guardians

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C’WAR

A name spoken in whispers, even among its worshipers, C’War is said to be the last living Primordial – albeit one twisted by the energies of the Bleak in which it dwells. Emerging to feast upon the remains of dragons in the far, blasted reaches of Uldane, the C’War is a legendary, titanic force of nature, as unstoppable as a lightning storm and as destructive as an earthquake.

C’WAR Gargantuan monstrosity (Primordial), chaotic neutral Armor Class: 24 (natural armor) Hit Points: 676 (33d20 + 330) Speed: 40 feet, burrow 40 feet STR

DEX

CON

INT

WIS

CHA

28 (+9)

11 (+0)

30 (+10)

7 (-2)

14 (+2)

10 (+0)

Bleak Breath (Recharge 5–6): C’War exhales a beam of pure Bleak energy in a 90-foot line that is 5 feet wide. Each creature in that line must make a DC 19 Dexterity saving throw, taking 66 (12d10) Bleak damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Swallow: C’War makes one bite attack against a Large or smaller creature it is grappling. If the attack hits, the target takes the bite’s damage, the target is swallowed, and the grapple ends. While swallowed, the creature is blinded and restrained, it has total cover against attacks and other effects outside C’War, and it takes 56 (16d6) acid damage at the start of each of C’War’s turns. If C’War takes 60 damage or more on a single turn from a creature inside it, C’War must succeed on a DC 20 Constitution saving throw at the end of that turn or regurgitate all swallowed creatures, which fall prone in a space within 10 feet of C’War. If C’War dies, a swallowed creature is no longer restrained by it and can escape from the corpse by using 30 feet of movement, exiting prone.

LEGENDARY ACTIONS Saving Throws: STR +18, CON +19, WIS +11 Damage Immunities: Bleak, Poison, Psychic; Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks Condition Immunities: Charmed, Frightened, Paralyzed, Poisoned Senses: Blindsight 60 ft., Darkvision 120 ft., Passive Perception 12 Languages: Primordial Challenge: 30 (115,000 XP)

Absorb the Elements: Whenever C’War is subjected to acid, cold, fire, or lightning damage, it takes no damage and instead regains a number of hit points equal to the damage dealt. Legendary Resistance (3/Day): If C’War fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead. Magic Resistance: C’War has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. Siege Monster: C’War deals double damage to objects and structures.

ACTIONS Multiattack: C’War can make three attacks: one with its bite and two with its claws. It can use its Swallow instead of its bite. Bite: Melee Weapon Attack: +18 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 35 (4d12 + 9) piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it is grappled (escape DC 19). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, and C’War can’t bite another target. Claw: Melee Weapon Attack: +18 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 27 (4d8 + 9) slashing damage.

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C’War can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. C’War regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn. Attack: C’War makes one claw attack. Move: C’War moves up to half its speed.

XUR KITH

Xur Kith the Ruptured, Waster of Cities and Slayer of Titans, has returned to Dragongrin. Xur is a massive and ancient red dragon, as cunning as it is ruthless. A legendary figure in Dragongrin lore, Xur Kith was a leader among its species. With a wingspan capable of eclipsing the sun, and scales harder than steel, Xur was most feared for its matchless command of the arcane maelstrom that plagues Dragongrin known as the Bleak.

XUR KITH Gargantuan dragon, neutral evil Armor Class: 22 (natural armor) Hit Points: 490 (28d20 + 196) Speed: 40 feet, climb 40 feet, fly 80 feet STR

DEX

CON

INT

WIS

CHA

25 (+7)

15 (+2)

24 (+7)

30 (+10)

18 (+4)

23 (+6)

Saving Throws: STR +14, CON +14, INT +17, WIS +11 Skills: Perception +18, Stealth +9 Damage Immunities: Bleak, Lightning, Psychic Condition Immunities: Exhaustion, Frightened, Paralyzed, Petrified Senses: Blindsight 60 ft., Darkvision 120 ft., Passive Perception 28 Languages: Crucian, Draconic, Bleakspeech, Primordial Challenge: 24 (62,000 XP) Legendary Resistance (3/Day): If Xur Kith fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead. Bleakstrider: Xur Kith can cast the misty step spell at-will, and can use it to teleport up to 60 feet to an unoccupied space that it can see.

ACTIONS Multiattack: Xur Kith makes three attacks: one with its bite and two with its claws.

Claw: Melee Weapon Attack: +14 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d6 + 7) slashing damage. Tail: Melee Weapon Attack: +14 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (2d8 + 7) bludgeoning damage. Inhale Days: Xur Kith draws in the air surrounding him, causing a sickening, otherworldly roar that saps life and steals memories. Each creature within 60 feet of Xur Kith must succeed on a DC 22 Constitution saving throw or take 11 (2d10) psychic damage. Xur Kith regains hit points equal to the total damage dealt to all affected creatures. Breath of the Bleak (Recharge 5-6): Xur Kith exhales pure Bleak energy in a 60-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 22 Constitution saving throw, taking 31 (9d6) Bleak damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. In addition, a corporeal creature that fails the saving throw immediately vanishes and is exiled to the Bleak along with everything it is carrying and wearing for 1 minute. While inside the Bleak, an affected creature has a movement speed of 15 feet, and can only affect and be affected by other creatures in the Bleak. An affected creature ignores all objects and effects that aren’t in the Bleak, allowing it to move through objects it perceives on the Material Plane. An affected creature repeats the saving throw at the end of each of its turns. On a success, the creature immediately returns to the Material Plane in the space it currently occupies, and cannot be exiled to the Bleak by Xur Kith’s Breath of the Bleak for 24 hours (though it can still be damaged by it). On a failure, the creature takes an additional 31 (9d6) Bleak damage and remains exiled in the Bleak. A creature reduced to 0 hit points by this damage is disintegrated by the Bleak, and can only be restored by a form of resurrection that doesn’t require a body, such as a wish spell.

LEGENDARY ACTIONS Xur Kith can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. Xur Kith regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn. Tempest Winds: Until the start of its next turn, all ranged weapon attacks against Xur Kith have disadvantage. Tail Attack: Xur Kith makes a tail attack. Bleakstride (Costs 2 Actions): Xur Kith can use its Bleakstrider trait.

Bite: Melee Weapon Attack: +14 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 18 (2d10 + 7) piercing damage plus 14 (4d6) lightning damage.

443 MONSTRUM AUTURNUM

LAIR ACTIONS On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), Xur Kith takes a lair action and generates one of the following effects. Xur Kith can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row: Unmaking Maelstrom: Blistering arcane winds rage around Xur Kith. Each creature within 60 feet of Xur Kith must succeed on a DC 22 Strength saving throw or fall prone. An affected creature is then pulled 30 feet closer to Xur Kith and takes 13 (2d12) bludgeoning damage. A creature that ends this movement within 5 feet of Xur Kith takes an additional 13 (2d12) bludgeoning damage. Summon Storms: Four Bleakstorms, each a 30-foot-high cylinder with a 20-foot-radius, appear in unoccupied spaces within Xur Kith’s lair. The Bleakstorms heavily obscure vision and the ground in their area is considered difficult terrain. Each creature that begins its turn in the area or enters the area of a Bleakstorm on its turn must succeed on a DC 22 Constitution save or become grappled by the ethereal fabric of the Bleak (escape DC 21). The Bleakstorms last until Xur Kith uses this lair action again or dies. Spectral Servants: Xur Kith summons four specters from the Bleak that appear in unoccupied spaces within its lair. The

444 MONSTRUM AUTURNUM

specters immediately move toward the nearest hostile creature and attack, acting each round after that on initiative count 20. The specters remain until destroyed or until Xur Kith uses this lair action again to summon four new specters. The specters have the following changes: • • •

They have immunity to Bleak and lightning damage. They lose the Sunlight Sensitivity trait. Their Life Drain attack deals lightning damage instead of necrotic damage. REGIONAL EFFECTS The region containing Xur Kith’s tomb is warped by the Bleak, which creates one or more of the following effects: •

•

• •

A roiling, crimson storm looms on the horizon, never growing closer but belching blood-red lightning that silhouettes hulking shapes, which disappear as quickly as they manifested. Thirst for arcane knowledge becomes insatiable within 5 miles of Xur Kith’s lair. The Bleak whispers its secrets, and lures the curious into the perils of its vast and limitless knowledge. Bleakstorms and their lesser counterparts – glimmerwinds – are rampant within 5 miles of Xur Kith’s lair. Though many believe that Xur Kith is impossible to truly kill, if the ancient dragon is kept trapped within the Bleak by the arcane seals in its lair, the conditions surrounding the tomb return to normal over the course of 1d10 days.

YHAGHUL

Once a great creator of worlds, the godlike being now known as Yhaghul the Worldslayer fell into shadow long ago, imprisoned within the barren darkness of the Desolation. The thoughtslayers and their minions serve Yhaghul’s twisted whims in Dragongrin, paving the way for their distant master to conquer and destroy. Yhaghul has yet to fully manifest within Dragongrin – truthfully, if he did, it would mean an end to all things. But at times, when the moons above loom in just the right configuration, Yhaghul slips through a tear in the Desolation and brings his madness to bear in the form of an aspect – a sliver of his full power and presence taking the form of a massive, eldritch arachnid.

ASPECT OF YHAGHUL Gargantuan aberration, chaotic evil

Hit Points: 350 (20d20 + 140)

Magic Resistance: The aspect of Yhaghul has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. Probing Telepathy: If a creature communicates telepathically with the aspect of Yhaghul, the aspect learns the creature’s greatest fear if the aspect can see the creature. Spider Climb: The aspect of Yhaghul can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.

ACTIONS

Speed: 40 feet, climb 40 feet STR

DEX

CON

INT

WIS

CHA

24 (+7)

12 (+1)

24 (+7)

16 (+3)

20 (+5)

24 (+7)

Saving Throws: STR +12, CON +12, CHA +12 Damage Immunities: Necrotic, Poison Condition Immunities: Exhaustion, Frightened, Poisoned Senses: Darkvision 120 ft., Passive Perception 15 Challenge: 18 (20,000 XP)

• At will: detect thoughts, command, comprehend languages

Web Sense: While in contact with a web, the aspect of Yhaghul knows the exact location of any other creature in contact with the same web.

Armor Class: 21 (natural armor)

Languages: Telepathy 120 ft.

Innate Spellcasting: The aspect of Yhaghul’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 20). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no components:

Multiattack: The aspect of Yhaghul makes two attacks: one with its bite and two with its claws. Bite: Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 18 (2d10 + 7) piercing damage plus 14 (4d6) necrotic damage. Claw: Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d6 + 7) slashing damage. Summon Spineweavers (Recharge 4–6): The aspect of Yhaghul summons 1d4 thoughtslayer spineweavers (use giant spider statistics) in unoccupied spaces it can see within 60 feet of it. The spineweavers immediately move towards the nearest hostile creature and attack, acting each round after that on the aspect of Yhaghul’s initiative. Desolate Webs (Recharge 5–6): The aspect of Yhaghul hurls a web of purest shadow, targeting a 30-foot square area it can see within 60 feet of it. Each creature in the area must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or become restrained by the webbing. As an action, a restrained creature can make a DC 20 Strength check. On a success, the creature escapes from the web; on a failure, the creature takes 14 (4d6) necrotic damage. The effect ends for all restrained creatures if the webbing is destroyed. The webbing has AC 12, 30 hit points, vulnerability to fire and radiant damage, and immunity to bludgeoning, necrotic, poison, and psychic damage.

445 MONSTRUM AUTURNUM

THE DISMEMBERED LORD “By his might, we survive. By his sight, we see far. By his scars, we persist.” – Book of the Sovereign (Chapter X, Verse VII) The man once known as Ghul Varras is an enigmatic figure. When the phrase “evil has won” is uttered in Dragongrin, the Dismembered Lord is that evil. The Dismembered Lord rules mostly unopposed in Dragongrin. He identifies opposition before it takes root using a powerful, mysterious device known as the Crucible. By peering into infinite futures, resistance and rebellion are halted in their infancy, and allies are bolstered and victory assured. The Crucible foresees all, and the Dismembered Lord reigns supreme. SOVEREIGN OR DISMEMBERED LORD? The all-seeing ruler of Dragongrin is often referred to by one of two names: The Sovereign, or The Dismembered Lord. To those who wish to honor him, the title of Sovereign shows respect and reverence. To those who wish to demonize and disrespect him, Dismembered Lord is often used pejoratively.

THE RISE OF THE DISMEMBERED LORD

The story of how the Sovereign came to power is different depending on who you ask. Presented here are two viewpoints – the first is translated from the holy texts and scriptures from the Seat of the Polymath on the Council of Ash. The second is combined accounts gathered from various pre-Lightfall sources. It is unclear by design which version is most true, though as with any history, it is purely a matter of perspective, and some truth lies in each version.

I Lo, the Vistians were misguided, and like a ruby resting in the trough of a swine, sat the squandered, precious gift of Imminence. Eeking out a pitiful existence, they longed for one among them worthy and skilled enough to wield the power rightfully theirs – a true Sovereign among them.

Centuries ago, in what we now know as Grinn, there was a land called Viste. The people there, the Vistians, were one of the few cultures in history who had a working knowledge of the immensely powerful and volatile magical force known as Imminence. Revering the magic and understanding its erratic nature, they forbade direct manipulation of Imminence. As Imminence was a force tied to the flow of time, some chosen Vistians – called Sovereigns – had permission to bathe in its peripheral waves of energy, allowing them to see small glimpses of the future. The Vistians, a people of practicality and moderation, prospered for many years.

II The Holithic wolves stalked into Viste, frothing at the mouth with heresy and greed. It was the very force of Imminence that had drawn them, its antediluvian nature crying out. This was what fate commanded – the Vistians would shake their complacency and seize their destiny once and for all.

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The Holithic Church brought war to the doorstep of Viste and its people, ending a golden age of peace and camaraderie in Dragongrin. Once a beacon of genuine truth and peace, the Holithic Church had since descended into corruption and cowardice, twisted by power struggles, greed, and bureaucracy. Pressing ever outward, conquering nations under the guise of bringing them true salvation, they attempted to subjugate Viste, forcing mass conversions to their faith under threat of death. The Vistians fought well, but slowly lost ground. Defeat would not be immediate, but without change, would be inevitable.

III After centuries of weak candidates and unworthy sheep, Imminence had finally chosen its Sovereign – Ghul Varras. Knowing his destiny would be arduous and marked with sacrifice, Ghul Varras selflessly submitted to the rulers of the land. The standing Vistian council was envious and afraid of the change Varras would bring, and did all they could to stop his ascent to his destiny.

There was one among the Vistians who was vocally critical of his government’s strategies in the war. A charismatic sorcerer named Ghul Varras, particularly adept as a mage (especially with divination magic), had greater ambitions for his people – and for himself. As an advisor to the general of the Vistian army, he used his divination to execute powerful arcane communication. Ghul Varras used his command of magic to send battle plans and orders by spell rather than by letter or messenger. He was convinced he had a better strategy to resist the armies of the Holithic Church. Ghul Varras thought that by tapping further into the vision-granting magic of Imminence, the Vistians would be able to predict the strategies of the Holithic Church and outmaneuver them with their knowledge of the future. He was derided by those leading the council, however, as it was heretical to even suggest bending Imminence to one’s own will. Ghul Varras, with ego bruised, would not be dissuaded so easily.

IV Though the council did all in their power to hoard Imminence for themselves, Ghul Varras knew he must pursue his destiny – and as it always does, Imminence found a way. Risking everything, and at great personal cost, Ghul Varras wielded Imminence and learned its true nature. This would eventually save his people.

In secret, and breaking revered Vistian customs, Ghul Varras began experimenting with channeling the Imminence, prodding at the edges of its power, slowly progressing from being passively influenced by its power to exercising the most basic control over it. Doing so put the Vistian people at risk because of Imminence’s volatility, but still Ghul Varras continued. With his great magical skill, he found he could easily intensify the visions of the future into more clear, more definite observations.

VIII

In an act of cowardice, hubris, or both, the Vistian general who led Ghul Varras made a grave tactical error, costing her and many of her soldiers their lives. Keeping his wits about him, Ghul Varras carried out the general’s dying wish: that he alone took command of the soldiers. With a heavy heart, Ghul Varras rose to the challenge, using Imminence to honor the legacy of those fallen before him.

It was whispered the council struck an agreement with the Holithic Church, and were discussing terms of surrender. The minds of some of Ghul Varras’ most trusted advisors were so poisoned by the council, they began working against him from within the ranks. Knowing there were spies within his midst, Ghul Varras was forced to use Imminence more frequently and with increasing potency, shifting plans drastically and often to keep those who sought to betray him guessing. Ghul Varras knew that if they continued this way, needless bloodshed would continue. He searched endlessly for a peaceful solution within countless timelines – and found one. He implored his advisors to sit with him so he could show them. When they gathered, a coup was revealed, and an attempt was made to assassinate Ghul Varras while he was looking into the future. In the attack, he lost control, and the great power lashed.

Ghul Varras’ superior was slain in battle, sacrificing herself to save her remaining soldiers. With most of the soldiers under the general’s command now dead, and the remaining few fearful, Ghul Varras seized the chance. Instead of sending word of the general’s passing to those in power, he continued to send orders via magic, supplanting the general’s strategies with his own tactics bolstered by his visions of Imminence. Using feigned retreats and unpredictable maneuvers, he won many battles. By the time word of the general’s passing spread, Ghul Varras had already gained the trust of the Vistian soldiers with a steadily increasing streak of military victories.

VI The Vistian soldiers, finally serving under a leader worthy of their immense fighting power, insisted that Ghul Varras become their general. Not confident in the council’s ability to secure the future of their people, the Vistian soldiers no longer followed the whims of the council. To keep peace, Ghul Varras reluctantly accepted the role, committing to serve with honor.

Though derided by the council for his deception and ordered to stand down and submit for punishment, Ghul Varras had built enough loyal followers through his victories that he instead declared himself the new general, and with full support of the Vistian armies, became ruler of Viste through widely accepted martial law.

VII Some within the council plotted to rise up against Ghul Varras, and began sowing seeds of discord within the ranks of the soldiers, painting him as a heretic with their traditionalist views for wielding Imminence. Spreading lies and false prophecy claiming Ghul Varras was destined to die in battle, they used the last of their clout, slinking as low as staging portents and omens to deceive those in Ghul Varras’s command. This damaged the war efforts gravely.

Now more confident than ever, Ghul Varras dove deeper into Imminence’s infinite power, not only navigating the immediate future, but exploring the spidering reaches of various possible timelines in greater detail. In this, he took note of something unmistakable – in every timeline he followed to its end, he saw himself perish in the war – always taking a severe injury to the head. He continued searching for a single timeline in which he didn’t die, but in every single timeline, the outcome was the same – his brutal death – always beset by the same unmistakable, ominous omen.

Ghul Varras began behaving erratically, attempting to avoid the countless inevitable futures ending in his death. Throwing away perfectly laid strategies and weeks of planning, he sought to avoid his demise, even at great cost to the war effort and the mounting casualties of his troops. Slowly losing the faith and loyalty of his army, and becoming increasingly desperate, the day came when he saw the same unmistakable omen he had seen in his visions – the harbinger of his death. In a panic, he forewent all wariness of Imminence’s danger, and attempted to wield the entirety of its power with his own might. Desperately trying to use Imminence to force time to bend to his own desires, he sought to forge an entirely new timeline in which he did not die.

IX With the daggers of his betrayers deep in his back, Ghul Varras did all he could to control the powerful surge of Imminence. Using the elementary understanding of Imminence that most Vistian possess, his advisors attempted to assist in culling the powerful force. Their actions proved far more damaging than good, as their inexperience only increased the volatility and danger of the situation. Responding in panic, they fled – a dire mistake. Their mishandling of Imminence caused it to rupture, releasing the force known as the Bleak into the realm of Dragongrin.

Ghul Varras was successful that day. Wielding the force of Imminence like a mighty blade, he was able to rend the very fabric of time, changing fate itself, carving himself a new timeline. And in majesty and power equal to this deed, there was also consequence. The volatile force of Imminence was bent past mortal limits, and being wielded improperly it tore as if wounded, spilling the Bleak out of itself like ichorous blood into Dragongrin.

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X When the Bleak was unleashed, it nearly destroyed the entirety of Dragongrin. Near death, and using what little strength he had left, Ghul Varras selflessly acted on behalf of the realm. He held the Bleak at bay and safely corrected the ruptured form of Imminence. But being so near to such powerful forces took their dark toll. Much of his humanity was eroded away in his self sacrifice, leaving him forever changed, truly proving himself to be the chosen one – the true Sovereign, meant to wield Imminence. By his might, we survive. By his sight, we see far. By his scars, we persist.

The power tore Ghul Varras’ body to pieces, though by force of will and careful magical control of what he could command of Imminence and the Bleak, he was able to hold his essence to his shattered form. The arcane explosion sent ripples throughout the whole of Dragongrin, warping reality, obliterating allies and enemies alike. Not only were all of the Holithic armies present at the battle unmade – so was every last one of the Vistians. This horrifying event would become known as Lightfall. With his scars lined with pure Imminence, the power to affect and steal time was firmly within his grasp. He began to build a great kingdom for himself, claiming the title of the one true Sovereign, though referred to by many by a different name, reflecting his new, disembodied form – the Dismembered Lord.

TENETS OF THE DISMEMBERED LORD

The Sovereign is complex, and his nature is difficult for mortals to wholly perceive. These tenets encompass only some of what is known about the Dismembered Lord, as countless tomes could be filled with the mysteries surrounding the creature once known as Ghul Varras. Evergrowing Shadows: This is the proper, formal name of the concept of the Dismembered Lord’s will, strategies, and unbridled power combined into one. Referring to his control of the Bleak, the entirety of Dismembered Legion, and even time itself, the Evergrowing Shadows are an abstraction that encompassess the most powerful and terrifying facets of the Sovereign and the resources at his disposal. Lich of Stolen Days: The Dismembered Lord steals the “days” of creatures, draining moments of time from their lives to add to his own. By way of this unnatural process, the Dismembered Lord continues to cheat death and forge a timeline reflecting his exact desires. It is not entirely clear how this process works, but it is certain that the Dismembered Lord is always on the hunt for the most potent, ripe days to steal. Time Stitched Together: Each version of Dragongrin in which the Dismembered Lord exists is one cobbled together unnaturally from the tattered remnants of stolen days. These realms of patchwork time are extremely volatile, and could tear into oblivion if they become too erratic and unsustainable. This explains many anomalies in Dragongrin. • Feymists Cauterized: The sprawling tunnels of natural energy are cauterized and sealed shut in Dragongrin. Cut off from the source, these tunnels rot and slowly die. • The Desolation: It’s whispered that the Desolation was able to latch on to Dragongrin like a tick on a hound, taking advantage of the thinned reality caused from the time stoppage.

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• The Wailing Gray: This is a byproduct of time warped and slowed to a crawl – or even stopped. When a creature’s body dies, their soul is stuck in a horrific, gray limbo because their souls have nowhere else to go. Some say this place is the outlands of the Desolation. • The Keening: Existing only in Varnholme until now, this mysterious, almost illusory energy persists at the far reaches of borrowed time, where the magic at the end of time’s tapestry mixes in strange ways with the ancient Holmir magic pervasive in the region. It shifts landscapes and summons monsters from various other timelines, and even from the imaginations of those venturing within. The Crucible: The Dismembered Lord’s divination machine acts as a heat map, showing the Dismembered Lord which eventualities may occur. Some of these eventualities are good for his favored timeline, and others are not. The Arcseers are sent to find the Cruxes – intersections where alternate timelines branch off, and where anomalies are most present – and manipulate their outcomes for the most stable version of the timeline. If the Dismembered Lord does or does not take action in a particular situation, it is because he has chosen to allow the result that is most beneficial to keeping Dragongrin – and himself – stable and intact. You can learn more about the Crucible’s strange nature, using its prophecies as tools to craft your own adventures on page 424. INFINITE TIMELINES, INFINITE SHADOWS The Crucible foresees countless timelines, all existing as their own fully functioning entities, marching on with the passing of each moment. There are innumerable versions of Dragongrin, each believing they are the most important one. Canonically speaking, this book was designed with the idea that each Game Master’s specific version of Dragongrin is a unique timeline that fully and formally exists. For every new Dragongrin created by a gaming group, a new timeline is forged in the cosmos.

Illusion of Omnipotence: Many believe the Dismembered Lord is an all-seeing, all-powerful god. While he is exceptional, he is not omniscient – though he is the most powerful in Dragongrin. The Dismembered Lord is not truly omnipotent, though he says otherwise in his messaging to his people. Using a combination of powerful divination magic, a network of powerful servants, and the Crucible, his perceived omnipotence is believable indeed. Grinn: The homeland of the Dismembered Lord both before and after Lightfall, Grinn is a place the Sovereign keeps out of time, existing perpetually outside the normal temporal stream. It is an idealized timeline, carefully crafted and curated by the Dismembered Lord, and maintained by his servants using the Crucible. The Council of Ash schemes over the realm and its people like a game, moving its pieces strategically while the Crucian houses within vie for power and station – all set against the backdrop of unstable and crumbling edges of broken time. Explore Grinn on page 220. The Spire of Knowing: This is the inner sanctum of the Dismembered Lord – a tower with many levels and powerful magical effects that govern and protect it. If the Dismembered Lord chooses to do battle with a mortal, this is where he stages it. If anyone is foolish enough to engage the Dismembered Lord in a physical conflict, he teleports them to the bottom floor of the spire. If they can work their way through the challenges within and make it to his inner sanctum on the upper level, he believes them to be at least a worthy enough opponent. If they fail to survive the floors of the Spire of Knowing, they are too weak to be a challenge.

Sightless Time: While the Dismembered Lord doesn’t necessarily believe that Sightless Time is an actual being, he does believe that time is a powerful and primeval force of nature, and constantly tries to correct itself. The more the Dismembered Lord manipulates and warps time, the more severe the repercussions become. The day will come when even the Dismembered Lord’s unmatched arcane power won’t be enough to keep the entropic tides of time at bay any longer as the cosmos of Arbitron seeks balance. Controlling the Bleak: When the Dismembered Lord was torn asunder, a connection was forged with the Bleak which holds a measure of his dismembered form together. The Dismembered Lord does have some measure of control over the Bleak, and he uses it to divide the Dominions of Ash using phenomena known as Bleakveils. These intermittent walls of Bleak are used as a deterrent to control the flow of travel between the Dominions of Ash, and keep any substantial forces from making easy alliances across borders. Additionally, when a Bleakstorm has occurred in an area, it makes it clearer and more precise for the Crucible to get a reading on possible Cruxes. The Dismembered Lord and his servants will often send specific Bleakstorms to an area to monitor it more closely on the Crucible.

SECRETS OF THE DISMEMBERED LORD

Dragongrin is composed of layers of intrigue, agendas, and propaganda, and at the top of it all is the Dismembered Lord himself, who controls far more of the ground-level details of the realm than any mortal would feel comfortable admitting. The illusion of control in Dragongrin is a powerful weapon that he allows the passive masses to wield. Letting someone believe that they made a meaningful difference is a powerful way to control them. If the Dismembered Lord wants people to believe – or disbelieve – something, he knows exactly whose mouth to put the words in. The following are secrets that only the Dismembered Lord himself knows, and represent the highest level of his machinations. Keep in mind that players should not be privy to this information until the GM decides it is pertinent to the story. Why is the Crucian the primary language? This official “common” tongue of Dragongrin began as an obscure dialect of the language of Viste, the homeland of Ghul Varras. Crucian is an efficient and organized tongue following strict rules of grammar and usage – but there’s more to it than meets the ear. Why didn’t the Dismembered Lord simply use his own native tongue without alterations as the standardized language for Dragongrin? It is because the Sovereign is a powerful divination sorcerer, and the Crucian language was designed by him to be a large tapestry of words. Its phrases, sounds, and syllables act as a mass-scale spell effect. With everyone speaking it, and adhering to the strict rules of grammar and usage, it acts as a mass produced, arcane echolocation that allows him to see individuals more clearly using the Crucible. Why does the Dismembered Lord allow religions in Dragongrin? If you control faith, you control the people. The Dismembered Lord speaks on behalf of the gods and powers of the realm. He makes dious and oathscarred think they are hearing from their gods, but in truth it is him controlling them, feeding them his will in a way that is believable enough to sound like their gods, but still gets him the outcome he desires. This is not to say that the Sovereign is the voice of every deity in Dragongrin at all times – but he can be any one of them at any given time.

Why didn’t he invade Varnholme? Though he would never admit it, there is some measure of fear in the Sovereign when it comes to the invasion of Varnholme. Any time he has set his gaze toward that goal, he experienced traces of the same unmistakable ominous omen that occured when he first foresaw his death. Something has shifted, though. There is a Holmir prophecy coming to pass called the Age of Death that has altered timelines and eventualities. Varnholme is finally open to the Dismembered Lord and his legions, and he sends those to treat on his behalf even now to negotiate the terms of Varnholme’s surrender. Explore this story in the Dominion of Ash Varnholme on page 335. Why the Copper Sun? The Copper Sun is the flying Prime Archan that seemingly escapes the Sovereign’s grasp at every turn. The ever elusive flying sanctuary stays hidden, acting as a beacon of hope for the common people who imagine it as a utopia. And that is precisely why the Sovereign allows the Copper Sun to persist. The Copper Sun gives people hope to live another day, and people with hope toil harder and are less violent. Also, the Dismembered Lord is cunning and calculating. He knows that giving the common people of the realm a utopia that they hope to someday escape to makes it more likely they’ll be more dismissive of the situation around them, holding out for the sweet by-and-by of the Copper Sun. What of the Undying Light? The Undying Light is a rebel organization that fights against the Sovereign and his Dismembered Legion, but it is actually a “controlled burn,” allowed to operate in the realm by the Sovereign himself. None in the Undying Light are aware of this but their leader, someone that the Dismembered Lord personally chooses in accordance with wisdom provided by the Crucible with each changing of the guard, always going by the codename Bleeding Gazelle. The Undying Light are allowed a certain measure of “wins,” granting hope to their ranks and the common folk. But in return, they perform missions that directly stop dangerous Cruxes from occurring and have other benefits to the Dismembered Lord – without ever realizing that they are doing so. Where did the Vistians go? The Vistians were deeply tied into the magic of Imminence. When it was torn asunder, every single Vistian was affected. The power that Ghul Varras was able to draw from to keep himself stitched together during the catastrophic event that almost ended him was the essence of his people. Most of them were unmade, selfishly burned up like organic fuel by Ghul Varras. The rest were changed forever, becoming the paradoxical undead known as the Sarrik. With their memories wiped clean, it was simple for Ghul Varras to manipulate the rest of the realm into believing in the two fictional races the Cryf and the Gwyn, two names from Vistian fairy tales. The Vistians were erased from existence, with the Dismembered Lord being their last remaining Sovereign.

GAME MASTER ADVICE AND MECHANICS

The Dismembered Lord is a mythical figure, so quantifying him and featuring in a session or campaign can be a daunting task for even the most skilled Game Master (GM). This section gives some advice and information to feature the Dismembered Lord at your table in a way that you feel satisfied with.

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THE DISMEMBERED LORD IN YOUR DRAGONGRIN There are many ways to depict the Dismembered Lord in Dragongrin, and there is no wrong way. It also doesn’t have to be static or binary – the Dismembered Lord is a powerful being, and his form and might can shift over the course of a campaign. In most campaigns, the Dismembered Lord stands as a titanic background figure – a presence felt more than he is seen, heard, or interacted with, but if the party does interact with him, you should be the one to decide what that would look and feel like – or if it’s even possible. The following are some starting points as you consider how the Dismembered Lord would manifest in your Dragongrin.

HE IS THE EVERGROWING SHADOW The Dismembered Lord’s power and reach is seen in the thunderous march of his countless legion, it’s heard in the piercing howl of Doomsayers that serve him, and it’s felt in the desperation of a family struggling to pay the Tenth. But he himself is smoke and shadow – a formless evil that rules from the darkest, unreachable places. Consider a Dragongrin where it is impossible for the players to ever truly face the Dismembered Lord in the putrid flesh. He is a force of nature. A titanic, omnipresent evil that is as powerful and unfathomable as the Bleak itself. You cannot fight the tide, you cannot strike the wind, and you cannot attempt to do battle against the Dismembered Lord.

DARK AND DISTANT, HE STANDS The Dismembered Lord cannot be bothered with the trivial affairs of the realm. He is its Sovereign, its protector, and he must keep an ever-vigilant gaze on the planes beyond, protecting Dragongrin from extraplanar threats. He is not benevolent in this cause – it is self-preservation. The fall of the realm to an outside threat would mean the unravelling of the Dismembered Lord himself. Consider a Dragongrin where the Dismembered Lord is a present threat that walks among the people of the realm – he is no stranger. It is not unheard of for the Dismembered Lord to sojourn the blasted sands of Jahar attempting to feel the heat of the Fadestar against his unraveling flesh, or to visit the most prominent and powerful inmates of Thasz Khet prison in Aqueanus. It would not be difficult to face the Dismembered Lord as he traverses the realm – and certainly he is longing for foes worthy enough to prove his superiority against.

THE SOVEREIGN’S MIGHT IS KNOWN BY ALL The Dismembered Lord revels in the span of his mighty kingdom and travels it ceaselessly. He is seen marching among his Marrow, supping with Lords of Ash, appearing at sacred day festivals in his honor, and even seen teaching among the children of the villages and towns that span the realm. Consider a Dragongrin where the Dismembered Lord is a present threat that walks among the people of the realm – but he is no stranger. It is not unheard of for the Dismembered Lord to sojourn the blasted sands of Jahar attempting to feel the heat of the Fadestar against his unraveling flesh, or to visit the most prominent and powerful inmates of Thasz Khet prison in Aqueanus. It would not be difficult to face the Dismembered Lord as he traverses the realm – and certainly he is longing for foes worthy enough to prove his superiority

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against. MECHANICS FOR AN ALL POWERFUL EVIL? It can be argued that codifying and quantifying a legendary, seemingly unkillable evil can take some of the mystery and mystique away from the concept. Just because the Dismembered Lord exists physically in your Dragongrin doesn’t mean he is able to be killed. Consider carefully that if the party believes that the Dismembered Lord can be killed, they may very well try. It is up to you whether or not the Dismembered Lord has a mechanical stat block. Provided in this section is a 5e compatible stat block if you choose to use it.

YOUR DISMEMBERED LORD Make your Dismembered Lord whoever – or whatever you wish. There are no limitations. This is your Dragongrin, and your Sovereign should be one that suits the exact story you’re trying to tell.

WHAT IF GHUL VARRAS WAS NOT A SORCERER? The Dismembered Lord is a cunning sorcerer, a Mage of Death and Time who attempted to wield the powers of Imminence and failed. But what if Ghul Varras, the person who became the Sovereign, was someone much different indeed? Consider how that would change the Dismembered Legion, and how the Sovereign chose to rule Dragongrin.

ARCHETYPE INSPIRATION • Brutal Abomination: A matchless martial warrior, a marauder who was undefeatable in combat. • Icon of Pain: A devout priest of a religion, a powerful dious whose command of the divine was undeniable. • Thief of Eternity: A cunning mastermind, and a cutthroat rook who was a step ahead of everyone else.

DISMEMBERED LORD TWISTS • Not just one person, but a council acting as one. • A false figurehead designed to keep an empire in check. • An office that one can attain – if they kill the existing Sovereign.

FIGHTING THE DISMEMBERED LORD

Meeting the Dismembered Lord on the field of battle is something that will not happen often, and should not be taken lightly. He is a lich of stolen days with the ability to see into the future so the fight will not be an easy one – it is almost impossible to catch the Dismembered Lord by surprise. If you are fighting the Dismembered Lord, it is because he is choosing to do so. In life, Ghul Varras was confident – some even say conceited – so if the Dismembered Lord feels that the party could actually pose a challenge, it’s likely he would accept a plucky adventuring party’s challenge to combat. The Sovereign will not waste his time with easily defeatable foes. To vet his adversaries, he pits them against the challenges that await in his military fortress, the Spire of Knowing. The spire is a multi-floored tower full of unique and deadly threats, with the Dismembered Lord’s Inner Sanctum at its apex. If an adventuring party can make their way to the top and reach his Inner Sanctum, then they are deemed worthy foes. As such, the Dismembered Lord will likely take pleasure in dismantling them and in shattering their false hope of victory through combat.

COMBAT OUTSIDE THE SPIRE OF KNOWING If anyone attempts to attack the Dismembered Lord out in the open, and he feels they have potential to be worthy opponents, he will immediately teleport all involved in the combat to the Spire of Knowing. There are no mechanical rules for this, but the Dismembered Lord is a powerful mage, and an undying thief of days, and will choose where the fight takes place. If the party has an exceptionally clever, reasonable reason that the GM agrees with, it is possible to fight the Dismembered Lord outside of his Spire of Knowing.

IMPORTANT MECHANICAL DISTINCTIONS The Dismembered Lord is intended to feel like an epic, highstakes fight. While it is not an impossible battle, the party will need to be prepared for a number of mechanical effects that are punishing and designed to evoke the Dismembered Lord’s power and might. Here are some important mechanical distinctions to keep in mind when preparing the fight with the Dismembered Lord. CHALLENGE TUNING THE SOVEREIGN Feel free to tune – or even exclude – these mechanics to build the Dismembered Lord combat experience you’re imagining, but be warned they were included to deliberately make the Sovereign of Dragongrin feel more deadly, yet still beatable.

Bleakslag: This ability causes waves of chaotic and powerful Bleak detritus to wash off of the Dismembered Lord during the battle. Each time the ability is used, it will likely cause a different effect, and each one can potentially be hugely disruptive to a party’s well-schemed plans. This ability will hopefully force the party to have to improvise and think on their feet, reinforcing the Dismembered Lord’s upper hand in such a fight. Beckon the Darkest Timeline: Using this ability allows the Dismembered Lord to summon an evil copy of one of the party members to this timeline momentarily, and under his control, force them to use a weapon or spell attack of theirs, since the copy has identical characteristics to the target, including magical equipment, ability scores, and spells. This is very powerful and versatile, and would allow the Dismembered Lord to use unique attack and spell combinations that could foil the party’s best laid plans. Dead is Dead: As written, if a player character dies when fighting the Dismembered Lord, he immediately absorbs them into himself, and they cannot be resurrected. There are no exceptions to this rule as it is presented. When you fight the Sovereign, dead is dead. Legendary Resistance in Each Form: The Dismembered Lord’s humanoid and monstrous forms each have a seperate pool of usages for their legendary resistance ability. The humanoid form gets three usages, and the monstrous form also gets three usages. BECKON THE DARKEST TIMELINE It is a popular trope in the world’s most popular fantasy roleplaying game to have party members provide the GM with a copy of their character sheet to use against them as “shadow versions” or copies of themselves. Beckon the Darkest Timeline is meant to be a streamlined version of this trope, but far simplified relying only on their weapon and spell attacks, rather than the full gambit of their multiple page character sheet. Additionally, so that the battlefield doesn’t become overwhelmingly cluttered with new enemies, creatures summoned with the Beckon the Darkest Timeline ability disappear after making their attack.

Negating These Effects: These are powerful effects – for the unprepared. Consider that building up to a fight with the Dismembered Lord is meant to be a campaign-ending event, the culmination of years of preparation and exploring. In their adventures the party can learn of the powers of the Dismembered Lord and potentially prepare themselves with magic weapons, powerful Archans, and other creative means to protect themselves from these debilitating effects.

PHASES OF FIGHTING THE DISMEMBERED LORD Fighting the Dismembered Lord is a narrative experience that is presented in phases that happen in a specific order spanning different locations, tonal elements and play style opportunities. The phases are as follows and are explained in more detail in their respective sections: 1. The Spire of Knowing: Multi-floored tower of varying threats 2. Inner Sanctum: Spire of Knowing’s apex; the Sovereign’s lair 3. Humanoid Form: Combat with the Sovereign appearing as a powerful sorcerer 4. Wielding Imminence: Narrative break from combat with opportunity for roleplay 5. Monstrous Form: Deadlier combat with a monstrous Dismembered Lord 6. Aftermath and Consequences: A narrative dénouement exploring the fallout of events

SPIRE OF KNOWING The Spire of Knowing is the highest of the Dark Spires of Grinn, and is the lair of the Dismembered Lord. The party must ascend its floors to reach the Sovereign’s inner sanctum. Each floor of the spire has a scene generator and an exit encounter. FLOORS OF THE SPIRE FLOOR

NAME

DESCRIPTION

The Palisades

Halls of Knowing

III

The Momentarium

Crucible

Walled outer courtyard with fortifications and buildings Libraries and meeting rooms of the Sovereign A museum of moments, time prison, and torture chambers Labyrinthine housing for the Sovereign’s timeline viewer

HOW VAST IS THE SPIRE? The Spire of Knowing is affected by the Dismembered Lord’s warping of time and reality, and therefore its size and shape do not adhere to normal physics. It can be as large or as small as you’d like, and its exact dimensions are left undefined to remain narratively flexible. There is inspiration in this section for four distinct floors that the party must battle through before arriving at the inner sanctum of the Dismembered Lord at the spire’s apex. Add or take away floors, and generate as many or as few rooms as fits your game.

Scene Generators: Each floor of the Spire of Knowing has a roll table with thematic entries. Use these tables to generate and explore the threats and locations specific to the floor of the Spire of Knowing.

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Exit Encounters: Each floor has an especially challenging, thematic encounter intended to be placed in front of the party before they can ascend to the next floor of the spire. Place the exit encounter narratively at the end of any scenes that have been generated. Never a Cloud in the Sky: There is an unsettling lack of distinct weather patterns in the region of Grinn. Precipitation is nonexistent, the climate is always temperate within the Dark Spires, and even the winds sit unnaturally still. Even though this weather should feel “perfect,” many notice its eerie absence. You’ll never freeze in Grinn, but you’ll never feel a cool breeze on your face either.

THE PALISADES Towering black spires and iron palisades surround a sprawling, perfectly manicured courtyard. Not a soul can be found. The Dismembered Lord values strategy, cunning, and brilliance in his foes first and foremost. The Palisades exist just outside of time, and have an eerie, otherworldly feel. They are meant to feel like a vexing puzzle that must be solved to gain entrance to the next floor of the spire. D10 PALISADES INSPIRATION 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Obsidian statues of Marrow, wielding various weapons Graveyard of every challenger that came before Chess board of grass and stone Wall of engraved names – yours are discovered as well Illusory phantoms from a bygone age separately venture into the Palisades A series of crystalline skeletons, posed in a pattern Incomplete text from the Book of the Sovereign is scrawled upon a wall You recognize the earth underneath your feet as from your homeland Whispering winds blow through the area, and you hear Ghul Varras’ voice A perfect effigy of Ghul Varras as a man – toppled, and dismembered

Exit Encounter: The door to the Spire of Knowing opens into an illusory bedroom that one member of the party grew up in. On an end table next to the bed is a large key and a vial of a silvery liquid – a sleeping potion. When the character that drinks it falls asleep, they dream of the moment before, when they were sitting on the bed preparing to drink the potion. Looking around them, their companions seem frozen in time, but they soon realize they can use their thoughts to speed time forwards (until they drink the potion) or backwards (until they are standing outside the Spire of Knowing). The trick is to place the key in their pocket, then move time backwards until the party is once again standing before the door into the Spire of Knowing. Place the key in the keyhole, and they’ve gained entry.

D10 HALLS OF KNOWING INSPIRATION 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Exit Encounter: Lord of Ash Nils Mark, the lost leader of the Starless Night, stands in the path of the adventurers, flanked by the gaunt Marrow of his timeless legion. His once handsome visage curls into a skeletal sneer as he dangles a key of Bleakiron before the adventurers. As one, the Marrow charge – each time one falls, they quickly reassemble and stand once more, stitched together again and again as time continuously rolls back and forward. Once Nils falls, he drops the key of Bleakiron, and the Starless Night crumble to ash – all that remains of the Dismembered Lord’s most trusted warriors.

THE MOMENTARIUM The Momentarium is a bizarre and twisted temporal anomaly that has been built by the Dismembered Lord to hold a collection of interesting, pivotal moments – mementos of timelines and realities that he has destroyed. Guarded by Warmakers, a portion of the Momentarium is a temporal stasis prison, used to keep powerful and dangerous creatures frozen in time. D10 MOMENTARIUM INSPIRATION 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

HALLS OF KNOWING

Seemingly endless hallways decorated with finery, and dotted with pristine, well-furnished chambers, of varying sizes and types. Roaming its halls are Marrow of every kind and rank, with the addition of the dreaded Marrow Praetor. The meeting rooms often house Lords of Ash and Marrow Commanders, as well as important people from all walks of Dragongrin.

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A Gray Door is open, spewing nameless from the Wailing Gray Large room with balconies over bottomless, black pit, something flies within A lone, towering Marrow, driven mad by their isolation and hefting a waraxe The ancient clock ticks incessantly, but the hands never move A library that contains books that automatically catalogue all that occurs A rack of mighty weapons rattles at your approach – the blades slowly rise A museum containing objects from famed heroes defeated in Lightfall An obsidian statue of a Vistian general, whose eyes seem to follow you Starless Night Marrow stretch their fingers underneath a closed door A gallery of paintings depicting tragedies that have yet to happen

A vicious creature breaks free of its bonds in a frenzy Ephemeral knocking sounds – you realize it’s your footsteps An empty prison cell, but the invisible thing inside rattles around its pen A moment frozen in time, a scene of the crucifixion of Holithic leaders The cell of the presumed slain First Jackal, founder of the Copper Jackals A hallway with a series of windows showing the wretched Uprooting of Talas Endless hallway whose doors open up into identical hallways A towering Titan eternally battles a colossal Primordial, frozen in their duel One of the characters relives a traumatic memory Ghul Varras from another timeline – a powerful lawful good cleric – in stasis

Exit Encounter: The Warmaker reaches into the Sovereign’s temporal prison, absorbing the struggling from the First Jackal into its metal carapace. A coppery light erupts from within as the machine fuses with the immense power of the First Jackal – new armored plates and bladed weapons emerge, a thunderous grating emits, and the Warmaker stands

even more towering than before. With a roar of steel, the Warmaker faces the adventurers. As it falls, the First Jackal tumbles out and passes into ash with a smile on their face – finally free.

THE CRUCIBLE The Crucible is not a single, perceivable device, but a sprawling, complex series of strange components covering the walls, ceilings and floors of many rooms. This inexplicably complex machine is constantly calibrated, cared for, and expanded by specialized members of Grinn’s Algomon Collective called the Fixated. Some say the Crucible doesn’t need caretakers, but is actually sentient, instead fostering and caring for those within its sway, always looking for more servant creatures to join its elite, zealous ranks. Exit Encounter: Amid the whirring lights of the Crucible emerges the Eye of the Sovereign, a cycloptic Arcseer of immeasurable power, outfitted with Crucible technology. From its single, lidless eye manifests possible futures – in each, the adventurers die inside the Spire of Knowing. Each adventurer must contend with their own history – their greatest regret, a defining tragedy, or a future they fear above all else. If they survive and best the Crucible’s vision, they return to the Crucible to find the Eye of the Sovereign convulsing upon the floor, the Crucible tech of its helmet sparking and whirring. Using the Eye of the Sovereign’s helm, they can perceive the pathway out of the labyrinthine Crucible into the Inner Sanctum of the Dismembered Lord. D10 CRUCIBLE INSPIRATION 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Wall of Archans seems to follow your every move Strange devices extend long arms and lenses toward you The floor splits into an abyss, dotted with Archan stepping stones Archans open up to reveal a passageway – is it a trap? Zarfvin barracks locked from the outside, cobwebs and bones litter the floor A room of living circuitry – perfectly aligned, pulsing conduits of power A sigilscarred, roving without its Arcseer rider, spots the adventurers Upon entering this treasure room, the doors shut and the walls close in A geothermal fissure, with an Archan to capture its power A Titan corpse, mostly intact, feeding power to the infernal machine

joy, complimenting the party on the violence they enacted to get to his Inner Sanctum. He makes a comment about how he’s waited for a long time for a worthy opponent, and will enjoy this. • Venomous: Derides the party, calling out specific tactical errors and mistakes they made on their ascension. He will call out who he feels is the weakest member of the party (GM’s choice), telling them that they are weighing down the entire group and will likely be the reason they die today. • Welcoming: Walks toward the party exuding terrifying charisma. He was greatly impressed by something that the party did. In a surprising bid, he offers them positions among his ranks – perhaps even a station as Lord of Ash. It seems as though he is genuine...

STRANGENESS OF THE INNER SANCTUM The Inner Sanctum is a strange place indeed, a massive chamber which has been ornamented with oddities, and has bizarre, shifting architecture that is difficult to wholly perceive. It is host to weird sights, sounds, and sensations that appear to dynamically respond to those within it – and are likely controlled by the Sovereign. D10 STRANGENESS OF THE INNER SANCTUM 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

INNER SANCTUM

A final, wide staircase leads to a landing in front of two large doors. This is the Inner Sanctum of the Dismembered Lord, the place where he will face those who have proven themselves worthy. When the party enters the sanctum of the Dismembered Lord, he will be waiting.

ENTERING THE SANCTUM

How he addresses the party depends on how they performed in the Inner Sanctum, or a number of other factors. To set the narrative tone for the encounter, optionally choose how the Sovereign addresses the party.

• Indifferent: Unimpressed, and staring out one of the windows of the spire. He sighs heavily and doesn’t say much, simply that he is disappointed that this is going to be such a simple fight, and that he was hoping for more. • Intense: He fervently awaits the party with sickening anticipation. When they enter, he speaks with sickening

15 16

Walls are made of a mass of writhing warped forms, twisted in agony. Screams of the last people who fought here echo in defeat. Light feels dimmer, air harder to breathe, warmth unattainable. Shadows of the battle are ten seconds ahead, and show the party dying in a loop. A low volume, high pitched sound rings in your ears, your teeth ache. You have the certain, unshakable sensation that something is right behind you. Your gaze falls on dozens of petrified creatures, their faces frozen in silent agony. You hear people you love shouting at you to stop, that you’re hurting them. The Inner Sanctum rumbles with powerful tremors, loose objects fall. A bizarre ceremonious dais made of Primordial bone covered in runic carvings. Sound is painfully muted, making your actions seem small and weak. You’re certain you’ve already experienced this exact moment – and it ends poorly... A roiling Bleakstorm can be seen enveloping the spire through its sealed windows. Winds howl like a starved wolf, seemingly coming from within the spire. The floor, walls, and ceiling shift gradually and slightly in varying directions. The strange luminescent portions of a large, Archanic machine glow in darkness. The erratic chiming of discordant bells striking in the distance. You have the unshakable feeling that the person you love most was just killed. You blink, and you see a gory scene of the battle lost, then it fades. Violent thunder erupts in erratic bursts, sounding like enormous cracking bones.

453 THE DISMEMBERED LORD

HUMANOID FORM If combat begins, refer to the Dismembered Lord (Human) stat block that follows in this section.

COMBAT TACTICS The Dismembered Lord is prepared, and has a strategy. Consider reviewing some of the following tactics. While in combat in his humanoid form, the Dismembered Lord typically refrains from engaging with his adversaries in melee, often choosing instead to soften them with his spells, Timerender attacks, and his Bleakslag ability. He will continue this style of combat for as long as possible, and will use his Thief of Days ability to recover any lost hit points as often as he is able. He will actively move away from his adversaries with his movements and teleporting to keep a sufficient distance away from them. Once the Dismembered Lord notices that his adversaries are worn down sufficiently from his disruptive tactics, he will focus on dealing as much damage as he can, focusing on targets with the lowest amount of current hit points first. This may create an opening for his adversaries as he acts more recklessly and arrogantly, since the Dismembered Lord is confident in the fact that he has never been defeated before. Stopper of Time: The Dismembered Lord wields powerful magic and has prepared to use it to the best of his ability. Unless he is stopped or has a specific reason not to, he will open the combat by casting the time stop spell. Depending on how many turns he has left afterward, unless it doesn’t make sense strategically, he will cast the following spells during the following rounds. • 1st round: Casts delayed blast fireball. Since it will not break the concentration of the currently active spell, he will place a delayed blast fireball wherever it would cause the highest amount of damage. • 2nd round: Casts conjure elemental as a 6th level spell to conjure an invisible stalker made from the manifestation of stolen days. He conjures the elemental in a position so that if and when he loses concentration on the spell, the elemental will continue to attack his adversaries rather than him. If the creature is slain, the stolen days return to the Dismembered Lord. • Further Rounds: Any actions that affect another creature will end the time stop spell, so he refrains from doing such actions until the spell naturally ends, instead exploiting the time to put as much distance as he can between himself and the party as long as his spells can still reach them. Contingency: The Dismembered Lord is always prepared for simple tricks that might disable or harm him. He always has the spell contingency active, casting it before a rest so as to always keep his spell slots full. His trigger condition is that upon being targeted by any spell 5th level or lower, the spell will trigger and cast Globe of Invulnerability to counteract it. If the Dismembered Lord has nothing else requiring concentration, he will keep the spell active for its duration or until he casts another spell requiring concentration. Shield: The Dismembered Lord will use his shield spell whenever it would prevent significant damage by doing so.

THE SOVEREIGN’S TRANSFORMATION When the Dismembered Lord is defeated in his humanoid form, he will turn into his monstrous form. This can happen automatically, but consider using this optional narrative break

454 THE DISMEMBERED LORD

to show the transformation as a result of the Dismembered Lord attempting to wield Imminence for a second time. After the Dismembered Lord falls to zero hit points in his humanoid form, he is visibly shaken for a moment. As he gathers himself and rallies, he sees something that shakes him to his very core. The Dismembered Lord perceives the same unmistakable, ominous omen he saw so many years ago when he wielded Imminence… the very portent that foretold his inescapable, brutal death. Narratively tie this to a detail that’s important to the campaign. Whether it’s a recognizable weapon, a rare or important Archan, or even something that a player character is wearing or doing. Seeing this omen sends the remaining human sliver of Ghul Varras into a moment of shock, and fearing that his immortality will be stripped away from him, he attempts to wield Imminence once more. He is successful – but at a cost. The Imminence he wields revivifies his essence, granting his strength and power – even beyond what he was before – but it transforms him into a horrific, gargantuan aberration. Consider that this transformation would be chaotic and could change the physical shape of the Inner Sanctum as the Dismembered Lord twists and grows. Bearing that in mind, you could insert environmental and skill challenges as the players react to the grotesque transformation.

MONSTROUS FORM If the Dismembered Lord (Human) reaches 0 hp, refer to the Dismembered Lord (Monstrous) stat block that follows in this section.

COMBAT TACTICS As the Dismembered Lord transforms, he becomes a hideous amalgamation of all the various Dismembered Lords who exist in all timelines, with each one fighting for control in a horrendous cacophony of wails, screams, and cries of rage and torment. His composure lessens, as the Dismembered Lord focuses intently on his own survival, losing almost all foresight and intelligence that he had in life. During his turns, his actions will be performed by various versions of the Dismembered Lord vying for control, rather than acting as a cohesive being. As his form expands in a sickening triumph of dismembered bone and flesh, he becomes susceptible to Bleak energy, which is noted by his lack of resistance to bleak damage in this new form. His new brutal and aberrant form crackles with untamed, chaotic magic, and gains resistance to cold, fire, and lightning damage. Cunning or perceptive adversaries may notice these flaws and boons, and exploit them. On his turns, the Dismembered Lord will act in the most violent way possible, trying to wreak as much destruction and damage as he can to his adversaries to ensure his survival. He is not aware if he can ever return to being humanoid again, potentially trapped forever in this new nightmarish form, and this combination of despair and anguish fuels his attacks. Scour Timeline: The Dismembered Lord uses the Scour Timeline ability on the adversary who appears to have the highest amount of current hit points, or who he perceives to be the biggest threat to him, hoping to undo them while focusing his assault on his other, weaker adversaries. If that creature survives this curse of undoing, he will focus all of his attacks on them in a fit of rage.

LONG TERM AFTERMATH Beckon the Darkest Timeline: The Dismembered Lord uses the Beckon the Darkest Timeline ability if he perceives any of his adversaries as being particularly destructive, such as a spellcaster or a skilled warrior, and tries to maximize their lethality against his adversaries.

AFTERMATH AND CONSEQUENCES: RUPTURED TIMELINES Slaying the Dismembered Lord will send shockwaves through all of Dragongrin – both figuratively and literally. For two decades the Dismembered Lord stole the days of countless creatures, and stitched together an artificial timeline. His destruction will surely have immediate and long term effects, and even some temporal rifts that occur as a result. Consider using some of these effects and questions to decide what those may be. Since these should be chosen with narrative care, they are presented as bullets, and not roll tables.

IMMEDIATE AFTERMATH As a wave of Bleak and Imminence energy washes over all present, one or more of the following effects may occur. You can choose to use any applicable Saving Throws you wish, but these are meant to be dismal and taxing, happening without much of a choice otherwise. This is only a sample, consider finding some that fit the ending to your campaign. • Characters rapidly age 3d20 years. • Everyone loses 1d4 pivotal, key memories. • Everyone gains a major and minor resurrection effect.

RIFTS Upon the killing of the Dismembered Lord, time rifts may open, creating strange fissures in time. Perhaps this campaign ends, but a new one begins… Where does the rift lead? • An alternate Dragongrin – you seek to slay a Dismembered Lord. • The future of this realm – a time where the Sovereign is a memory. • The past of this realm – turn the tides in Lightfall.

The realm holds its breath not believing that the Dismembered Lord could truly be slain. The realm is forever changed yet again, entering a new age. Choose some or all of the following effects to occur in the land of Dragongrin. • The Bleak disappears in Dragongrin, and magic along with it. • Chaos ensues in a power vacuum. • Lords of Ash claim their dominions sovereign and war with each other. • The borders between planes become thinner, the Desolation rips through. • The Bleak runs rampant, engulfing the entire realm.

KILLING THE DISMEMBERED LORD FOREVER Fighting the Dismembered Lord and surviving is a miracle. Fighting the Dismembered Lord and killing him permanently is impossible. Or so it is believed. The Dismembered Lord is a brilliant strategist, masterful mage, and has virtually limitless resources. He is a lich of stolen days that wields the secrets of Imminence, is guided by his perfect Crucible, and has found a way to secure his life with certainty. If the Dismembered Lord’s physical form is killed, he has set in place various machinations and assurances that some shred of his quintessence will find a way to begin to reshape his physical form. The circumstances and severity of his death may affect the amount of time it takes to reform, but it will happen – unless something is done to stop it. The exact way that the Dismembered Lord has warped reality to ensure that he will return to life is not explicitly detailed within the pages of A Dead Man’s Guide to Dragongrin, by design, to allow it to be narratively flexible. But while it is unknown, it is not unknowable. Some players may want to explore how they can do this, making it a campaign goal. And while this should be very difficult and very dangerous, consider making it possible. Finding a way to kill the Dismembered Lord forever may be a process that would likely span an entire campaign – or even multiple campaigns. It can involve myriad quests, items, rituals, and untold secrets of Dragongrin – or perhaps beyond it. As a GM, consider the ways the Dismembered Lord is ensuring his return to the mortal coil, and consider making it something arduous. If the adventuring party is clever enough, persistent enough, and survives long enough – consider allowing them a way to ensure that if they do manage to kill the Dismembered Lord, he would stay dead forever.

455 THE DISMEMBERED LORD

THE DISMEMBERED LORD (HUMAN) Medium humanoid (human), neutral evil

Monstrous Form: When the Dismembered Lord drops to 0 hit points in his humanoid form, his body is not destroyed; he instead transforms into his monstrous form. Magic Resistance: The Dismembered Lord has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Armor Class: 18 (natural armor) Hit Points: 297 (22d20 + 66) Speed: 30 feet STR

DEX

CON

INT

WIS

CHA

10 (+0)

18 (+4)

28 (+9)

20 (+5)

24 (+7)

27 (+8)

Timerender: The sword of the Dismembered Lord can cut through time and space. As such, he can attack any creature within 120 feet that he can see with melee attacks using this weapon. Additionally, if Timerender is on the same plane of existence as the Dismembered Lord, he can summon it, causing it to teleport instantly to his hand without using an action on his turn.

Skills: Arcana +13, Perception +15, Religion +13

He Knew This Day Would Come: When rolling an ability check for initiative, the Dismembered Lord always treats his d20 roll as a 20. On a tie, the Dismembered Lord always goes first.

Damage Resistances: Bleak, psychic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks

ACTIONS

Damage Immunities: Poison, necrotic

Multiattack: The Dismembered Lord can make one attack with Timerender and also cast one spell.

Saving Throws: STR +8, CON +17, WIS +15

Condition Immunities: blinded, charmed, deafened, frightened, poisoned, stunned Senses: Darkvision 240 ft., truesight 120 ft., passive Perception 25 Languages: All Challenge: 30 [both forms combined] (155,000 XP) Legendary Resistance (3/Day): If the Dismembered Lord fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead. Spellcasting: The Dismembered Lord is an 18th-level spellcaster. His spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 24, +16 to hit with spell attacks). The Dismembered Lord has the following spells prepared:

Timerender: Melee Weapon Attack: +16 to hit, reach 120 ft. (see Timerender), one target. Hit 13 (1d10 + 8) magical slashing damage and 13 (2d12) Bleak damage. Bleakslag (Recharge 5–6): The Bleak washes off the Dismembered Lord, filling a 60-foot radius sphere on him. The Bleak produces one of the following effects at random. Roll a d6 to determine the effect. 1.

• Cantrips (at will): Chill touch (4d8), message, mage hand • 1st level (4 slots): Shield, charm Person • 2nd level (3 slots): Hold person, blur • 3rd level (3 slots): Dispel magic, counterspell

• 4th level (3 slots): Dimension door, confusion • 5th level (3 slots): Dominate person, cloudkill, conjure elemental • 6th level (1 slot): Contingency (already in effect, globe of invulnerability upon being targeted by a spell it could block), globe of invulnerability • 7th level (1 slot): Finger of death, delayed Blast Fireball • 8th level (1 slot): Power word stun • 9th level (1 slot): Time stop Carcass of the Bleak: The Dismembered Lord is composed in part of the Bleak itself, stitched together with stolen days, and warped by temporal scarring. As such, he does not require air, food, water, or sleep.

456 THE DISMEMBERED LORD

The Bleak enervates each other creature within the area, forcing them to make a DC 24 Constitution saving throw or take 65 (10d12) Bleak damage. A creature takes half damage on a successful save. Unbridled, chaotic energies explode throughout the area, forcing each other creature to make a DC 24 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 65 (10d12) damage of a random damage type (1d6; 1 - fire, 2 - cold, 3 - lightning, 4 - acid, 5 - radiant, 6 - force), or half as much damage on a successful one. The Bleak causes each other creature within the area to have its subconscious mind witness its own mortality. Affected creatures must make a DC 24 Charisma saving throw or become poisoned and frightened of the Dismembered Lord until the end of their next turn. Each other creature within the area is separated into their own distinct, unique timeline until the end of the Dismembered Lord’s next turn, where each creature sees themselves engaging with the Dismembered Lord alone. While trapped this way, a creature can neither hear, see, feel, or in any way interact with any other creature besides the Dismembered Lord. Creatures of unique timelines can occupy the same spaces, since their forms do not block each other. When the effect ends, the timelines merge, and any creatures sharing a space take 26 (4d12) force damage and reappear in the nearest unoccupied space.

Bloodied shadow copies of each other creature within the area appear from another timeline for a moment, pleading for help fighting against their timeline’s version of the Dismembered Lord. A creature can choose to sacrifice half their current hit points to their shadow copy. For each creature that doesn’t, their shadow copy is slain and absorbed by the alternate timeline’s Dismembered Lord, who is then absorbed by the current timeline’s Dismembered Lord, giving him one extra legendary action until his next turn, and also gains 1d12 temporary hit points for each shadow copy absorbed. One other creature chosen at random within the area is forced to make a DC 24 Charisma saving throw. On a failed save, that creature is temporarily trapped in temporal stasis, and on that creature’s next turn in initiative, the Dismembered Lord has a turn instead. On that turn, the Dismembered Lord can only use his action to either attack with Timerender or to teleport 60 feet, and regains none of his legendary actions at the start of this turn.

Thief of Days (Recharge 5–6): The Dismembered Lord targets a creature within 30 feet that he can see. The target must make a DC 24 Charisma saving throw. On a failure, they take 77 (14d10) Bleak damage. In addition, the affected creature can only move, take one action, or take one bonus action on their next turn. On a success, the targeted creature takes half damage. The Dismembered Lord regains hit points equal to half the damage dealt by this ability.

LEGENDARY ACTIONS The Dismembered Lord can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the following options. Only one legendary action can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. The Dismembered Lord regains spent legendary actions at the start of his turn. • Cast Lesser Spell: The Dismembered Lord casts a cantrip or a spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or lower. • Timerender: The Dismembered Lord makes one melee attack with Timerender. • Timeline Traversal (2 actions): The Dismembered Lord teleports up to 60 feet. Attacks made against him have disadvantage until the start of his next turn. • Cast Greater Spell (3 actions): The Dismembered Lord casts a spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher. LAIR ACTIONS On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the Dismembered Lord takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; the Dismembered Lord can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row: •

•

The Dismembered Lord fractures time, choosing a point within 120 feet of him that he can see. All enemies in a 20 foot circle around the chosen point must succeed on a DC 24 Charisma saving throw or have disadvantage on attacks until the next Initiative count 20. In addition, the area becomes difficult terrain. The Dismembered Lord pulls allies through time to aid him in battle. 1d4 Marrow legionaries and 1 Marrow commander (see stats starting on page 437) appear in unoccupied spaces within 200 feet of the Dismembered Lord that he can see. These creatures have 1 hit point instead of their normal amount and disappear back to their own timelines when they fall to 0 hit points. (You may optionally use any Marrow variant that suits the narrative.)

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THE DISMEMBERED LORD (MONSTER) Gargantuan aberration, chaotic evil Armor Class: 22 (natural armor) Hit Points: 487 (26d20 + 208) Speed: 15 feet, fly 60 feet (hover) STR

DEX

CON

INT

WIS

CHA

29 (+9)

6 (-2)

26 (+8)

20 (+5)

18 (+4)

27 (+8)

Unfathomable: The Dismembered Lord cannot be communicated with telepathically or have his mind read unless he chooses. Insight checks made to determine the Dismembered Lord’s motives or actions automatically fail. All Is Known: The Dismembered Lord’s ranged attacks while in the Spire of Knowing have their range increased to encompass everywhere within the Spire of Knowing, and treat total cover in this area as three-quarters cover instead. In addition, while in the Spire of Knowing, the Dismembered Lord also has the range of his truesight increased to encompass everywhere within the Spire of Knowing.

ACTIONS Saving Throws: STR +17, CON +16, WIS +12 Skills: Arcana +13, Athletics +17, Perception +12 Damage Resistances: Cold, fire, lightning Damage Immunities: Psychic, poison, necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks Condition Immunities: Blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, grappled, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained, stunned, paralyzed, unconscious Senses: Darkvision 240 ft., truesight 120 ft., passive Perception 22. The Dismembered Lord can see in all directions, timelines, and planes at once. Languages: Telepathy 240 feet, all languages Challenge: 30 [both forms combined] (155,000 XP)

Carcass of the Bleak: The Dismembered Lord is composed in part of the Bleak itself, stitched together with stolen days, and warped by temporal scarring. As such, he does not require air, food, water, or sleep. Legendary Resistance (3/day): If the Dismembered Lord fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead. The Dismembered Lord regains all uses of his Legendary Resistance when he transforms from human form to monstrous form. Magic Resistance: The Dismembered Lord has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. Mind Pierce: The Dismembered Lord’s attacks and abilities ignore resistance to psychic damage, and treat immunity to psychic damage as resistance to it instead. Return to the Crimson Maelstrom: Unless measures are taken against this, when the Dismembered Lord’s monstrous form drops to 0 hit points, his body is destroyed, but his essence is absorbed by the Bleak, where he is unable to take a physical form for a time. Spell Reflection: If the Dismembered Lord rolls a 20 on the die roll for a saving throw against a spell, or if a creature rolls a 1 on the die roll for a spell attack against the Dismembered Lord, Bleak and temporal energies lash out causing the spell to fail and have no effect. As a reaction, the Dismembered Lord can cast that spell without using a spell slot, using the original caster’s spell attack modifier and spell save DC. 458 THE DISMEMBERED LORD

Multiattack: The Dismembered Lord can use his Frightful Presence. He then makes two attacks in any combination, choosing from the Dismember attack, the Mindbreak attack, and the Bleak Lightning attack. Dismember: Melee Weapon Attack: +17 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 20 (2d10 + 9) magical slashing damage and 13 (2d12) Bleak damage. Mindbreak: Ranged Spell Attack: +16 to hit, range 120 ft., one target. Hit: 31 (7d8) psychic damage. Bleak Lightning: Ranged Spell Attack: +16 to hit, range 120 ft., one target. Hit: 31 (7d8) lightning damage. Frightful Presence: Each creature of the Dismembered Lord’s choice that is within 120 feet of the Dismembered Lord and aware of him must succeed on a DC 24 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature’s saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to the Dismembered Lord’s Frightful Presence for the next 24 hours. Scour Timeline (Once per short rest): As an action, the Dismembered Lord shreds the causalities of his opposition’s existence, undoing them from past to present. A creature within 120 feet that the Dismembered Lord can see is cursed with unexistence. At the beginning of each of the creature’s turns, it must make a DC 24 Charisma saving throw. After 3 failures, the creature is wiped from existence, and all memories of them are erased. After 3 successes, the creature breaks free from this curse and reasserts their existence. Whenever a creature cursed with unexistence attempts to use a class feature (such as casting a spell or using Action Surge), that creature must first roll a d4. On a 1, the cursed creature has lost that class feature from their timeline being scoured by temporal magic. A cursed creature cannot lose an action or bonus action this way, and can use it instead to do something else. If the cursed creature was attempting to cast a spell, they only lose the ability to cast spells of that level, rather than losing their Spellcasting feature entirely. Once the curse is broken, all lost class features are returned.

Beckon the Darkest Timeline: The Dismembered Lord summons from another, darker timeline or alternate reality, a copy of a target creature within 120 feet. The creature has identical characteristics to the target, including magical equipment, ability scores, and spells, except they are evil and under the Dismembered Lord’s control. The copy makes one weapon attack or casts one spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or lower before disappearing back into their own timeline. Bleakwrath (Recharge 5–6): The Dismembered Lord emits a massive wave of Bleak, crackling with crimson lightning. Each creature within 120 feet of the Dismembered Lord must make a DC 24 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, the creature takes 84 (13d12) Bleak damage and becomes poisoned for 1 minute, making the save again at the end of each of their turns to end the effect on themselves. On a success, they take half damage and are not poisoned.

LAIR ACTIONS On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the Dismembered Lord takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; the Dismembered Lord can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row: •

•

The Dismembered Lord chooses a target within 120 feet, stealing time away from them. A target of his choosing must make a DC 24 Charisma save or be under the effects of the slow spell until the next initiative count 20. Explosions of Bleak and fracturing time threaten to tear the Spire to pieces. The entire floor within this room of the Spire becomes difficult terrain until another lair action is used, and each creature on the ground must make a DC 24 Dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone.

LEGENDARY ACTIONS The Dismembered Lord can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. The Dismembered Lord regains spent legendary actions at the start of his turn. • Teleport: The Dismembered Lord teleports up to 60 feet. • Dismember: The Dismembered Lord makes one Dismember attack. • Bleak Lightning: The Dismembered makes one Bleak Lightning attack. • Mindbreak: The Dismembered Lord makes one Mindbreak attack. • Reality Warp (2 actions): The Dismembered Lord casts either the hypnotic pattern or phantasmal killer spell without using a spell slot, using Charisma as his spellcasting ability (DC 24 save). • Beckon the Darkest Timeline (2 actions): The Dismembered Lord uses his Beckon the Darkest Timeline ability.

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460 THE DISMEMBERED LORD

THE DISMEMBERED LORD

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BACKERLIST $TEPHAN DAN13L 1FALLEN1 A.K.DAVIS AARON DOUGLAS VAN SCYOC AARON JAMES KEMPF AARON UPCHURCH ADAIUSGARVEY ADAM CHRISTIAN ADAM PETERSON ADRIAN ROBERTS AETHERDEITY AIDAN ALLCOCK AIDEN WYATT AJ DENZL “THERHW” AL WILSON ALEX ALVAREZ ALEX MARSHALL ALEX TORRES ALEXANDER KUZNETSOV ALEXANDER POLEN-FALSONE ALEXANDER RYAN BALDWIN ALEXANDRE SOARES ALLAN BRAY ALLAN HOGGARD ALLEN HALVERSON ALLEN WILSON ANDREAS ANDERSSON ANDREAS LÖCKHER ANDREAS STARRSJÖ ANDREW CHENERY ANDREW FOXX ANDREW K MCWILLIAMS ANDREW LOTTON ANDREW NICHOL ANDREW PFEIFFER ANDREW RUSSELL ANDRIS KLAVINS ANIOL PORCEL SANCHEZ ANTHONY BARTRAM ANTHONY CRAIG SENATORE ANTHONY HOFF ANTHONY KNIGHT ARCH DELUX ARKKON AUSTIN KUKULSKI BADGKAT BARON B CANTRELL BARTIMAEUS THE MAGE BECCA MCINTYRE BEN COMPTON BEN FISHER BEN FOWLER BEN HUBBARD BENJAMIN WIGMORE BENTLEY USHER BERKE C BERNHARD “GREATCTHULHU” TRECKSEL BILL (THE MASTER) WEIR

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THANK YOU TO OUR AMAZING BACKERS! A Dead Man’s Guide to Dragongrin was created thanks to the support of 976 awesome backers on Kickstarter. This book is our largest and most ambitious to date, and we could not have made it without the support, enthusiasm, and boundless patience of the friends and fellow gamers listed here. Thank you, from the deepest depths of Svir Below to the highest boughs of the Lifetree. We hope you make Dragongrin your own and discover stories with your friends for years to come.

BILL DAVIS BILL GOELTZ BILL HENGST “ROLL STATS” BILL WILLIAMS II BILLY CARTER BN DRAKE BRAD PROCTOR BRAD W CROW BRADLEY LITZENBERGER BRANDON POHJA BRANDON THORNTON BRANDON W. MAGYAR BRATWURSTER BRENDAN MAYHUGH BRETT SAPP BRIAN BUCKLEIN BRIAN CHUMNEY BRIAN DONNELLY BRIAN FINK BRIAN KEMPERT BRIAN NGUYEN BRIAN SHANNON BRIAN WILSON BRONZE SAUCIER BROTHER TOM BRYAN CONSIDINE BRYAN JONES BRYAN KOCHES C DAVID ROSS CALLESA CALLUM GOULDEN CALTIFF DRACUL CERVIDAE CAMERON “DESERTKING” PRICE CAREY WILLIAMS CARLOS BENITO CEDIEL CARLOS EDUARDO MARQUES PINHO ROSAS CAROL DUNSTER CASH HUTCHINSON CHAD ALAN SMITH CHAD KNICK CHAD OWEN CHAD STEVENS CHARLES ANDREW WILLIAMS CHARLES ENGLE CHARLES FARMER CHARLES GOREN CHASE STREET CHECCUCCI PIETRO CHERI FULLER CHRIS BABCOCK CHRIS BLAKE CHRIS HALAMA CHRIS SULAT CHRIS TURLINGTON CHRIS “BAELIAN” ANDERSON CHRISTA NELSON CHRISTIAN DHARMA SAYS ABTAB RULES! CHRISTOPHER C BEHRENS

CHRISTOPHER DELVO CHRISTOPHER M KIRALY CHRISTOPHER W FRANCIS CIARAN EATON CLAYTON CRAWFORD CLIFTON ROBERTS CLINT SHARP COBY SUTTON CODY CLAYTON CODY VERNIMO COLDSTEEL - LYNN MOORE COMBATMEDICBUSH CONNOR AND EM DAVIES COREY A. HOLLENBACH CORINNA CLANTON CORY MILLER CORY SMITH COTY BEHANNA COURTNEY HALVORSEN COURTNEYLIUS CRAIG CHAPMAN CRAIG R RAGLAND CRAIG ROBINSON CRAIG WOODBURY CREAG SMITH CREETURE CROMWELL, GUARD OF THE COMMONWEALTH CURT MATHIEU CUTEXMACHINE CYBINJA DANA BOYCHUK DANIEL DARBY-LEWIS DANIEL DHEARNMEDHAKUL DANIEL FARRIS DANIEL HANNA “DJH331” DANIEL HOLBROOK DANIEL LATULIPPE DANIEL O KEGLEY DANIEL O. ORTEGA DANIEL PROVENCIO DANIEL SMOAK DANIEL THOMAS KNAPP DANIEL VERSLUIS DANTE H. DARIN HENLEY DARRYLL SMITH-WALKER DAVAE BREON JAXON DAVE BEAVERS DAVE HUBBLE DAVE LUXTON DAVID “STORMHOUND” CRAFT DAVID A. NOLAN DAVID BRYHER DAVID C. SMITH DAVID DIERS DAVID FRANKLIN QUEEN DAVID HUBER

DAVID ROSS DAVID SHENOFSKY DAVID WÖRGÖTTER DEBORAH CARDILLO DENNIS A PASCALE JR. DEREK ZABLE DEVIN MARCILLE-KERR DILLON KING DIMITRIS “TREE” GAZGALIS DJ KG DJAMBI JONES LOCKER DOMINIC D DOMINIC SANDOVAL DON PIERCE DOUGLAS DOUGLAS MCWHIRTER DREW PESSARCHICK DUAN’DULIIR DUNCAN DOMEY DUSTIN COX DUSTIN MAYFIELD DWAYNE MARLOWE DYLAN T ALLEN EAN JOHNSON ED KOWALCZEWSKI EDUARD LUKHMANOV ELODIN EM.T. EMERSON ASHFORD EMILY RIPA EMMA HOLLETT ERIC COATES ERIC HAMILTON ERIC LAMBERT ERICK SEMONES ERIK TURNER ETHAN POPOWITZ ETHAN PRINCE EVAN MASON EVAN M STEDMAN EVERSONG EZZERHARDEN FAHAD SYED FALKA RIANNON FEARCHAR BATTLECHASER FERRUCCIO TEBALDI FRED RAMSEY FRÉDÉRIC ROUX FRIDRIK BODI OLAFSSON FUZZBANG GABRIEL A FEURER GABRIEL FIELDS GAGE SPERRY GAMARISHI GARETH THURGOOD GARTH SYNNESTVEDT GEOFF ZAHN GERBEN VAN EIJK GIUSEPPE D’ARISTOTILE GIUSEPPE SIRIANNI GM LENT GRANT A KRESS GREG REGER GREG STOCK GUY HENDRICKS GWYTHYR AP VAMIIR HARRY POLLITT HAYDEN JONES HEATHBROOK ROWAN BADHWAR HEIDI AND JIM HILL

HEROIC ROGUE IAN EDBERG IAN WRIGHT INGO KRAUSE ISHMAELDS IVAN R SALAZAR J. EVANS PAYNE J.GILLILAN JACKSON HURLEY JACOB BARLOW JACOB BOLTON JACOB POLEN JACOB W WAGNER JACQUELIN M DIAZ JAK KARDE JAKE “MINI TERRAIN DOMAIN” NOORMAN JAKUB RETERSKI JAMES CARLSON JAMES HALE JAMES LOHR JAMES P. CASHMAN JAMES RADE NIX CURRY JAMES RAMEY JAMIE JAN BROFKA-BERENDS JARED KLEENBROWN JASON ALEKSANDER VAN HOUZEN JASON C ANDERSON JASON CONKLIN JASON HENNIGAN JASON MARLOR JASON MAUS JASON P ALEXANDER JASON SCRANTON JASON SMITH JAY DACAYANAN JAY ROSS JAY SCHAMMERT JAY WATSON JEAN-RENÉ LEBLANC GADOURY JEFF ARNOLD JEFF SCIFERT JEFF VILLANUEVA JEFF WOOLISCROFT JEFFREY JACOME JEFFREY SCOTT JAMES JEREMIAH HATFIELD JEREMY “ERASMAS” LILLEY JEREMY “JEZZA” STYLES JEREMY KINSER JEREMY MADISON HICKS JEREMY PANTOJA JEREMY W HUGGINS JÉRÔME DEVIE JERROD ROSE JR. JESPER NØHR JESSE BRYAN JESSE L GREGG JILL POISSON JM NAVARRO JOB HENRICHS JOE FRENIA JOE MCLEAN JOEL GROTE JOEL MATTSON JOEY TRAPP JOHANNES PAAVOLA JOHANNES SVEDQVIST JOHN ‘JOHNKZIN’ RUDD JOHN B. MCCARTHY

JOHN BELT JOHN E CAMMARATA JOHN GRACZKOWSKI JOHN JARVIS JOHN LEMAY - THE BASEMENT WAR ROOM JOHN MCSHANE JOHNNYBCOMPLEX JON ALLEN JONATHAN MARSHALL JONATHAN MILES JONATHON (YOUNGBREWMASTER) BALL JONATHON D. JOHNSON JONATHON DYER JONNE “BACKSTABBER” KUOKKANEN JORDAN, ONE MORE RESTLESS DEAD MAN. JORDINA VALLS JOSE LUIS BONILLA JOSE SOTO JOSEF BOON JOSEPH “OATHBREAKER” GIANELLA JOSEPH B. CUNNINGHAM JOSEPH GAZELLA JOSEPH PERRY JOSEPH R POIRIER JOSH ARANWE THOMPSON JOSH BINGHAM JOSH CORBALIS JOSH HULS JOSH J SCOTT JOSHUA GLANCY JOSHUA GLISSON JOSHUA NEFF JOSHUA “GM JOSH” CORDELL JOSHUAH EARLE JOSIAH BROWN JUERGEN BARTERS JULIAN ‘SPUD’ BERTRANDT JUSTIN SINKS KAERYN DAVIES KAMERON TOLL KANNAN ALAGESAN KARL OTTO KRISTOFFERSEN KASTIR KATHERINE PAISLEY KAY ARNE HJORTHAUG KCRAINE KEEGAN SCHMITT KEITH FOYSTON KEITH JUSTUS KEITH M. SANDLER KEITH ZALINGER KELLY P. GRIFFIN KEN KENNETH ANDRÉ RISHAUG KENNETH BLISS KENNETH ROBKIN KEOLA DACALIO KEVIN BETTERTON KEVIN CUSTODIO KEVIN LACROIX KEVIN MAYZ KEVIN ROGNER KEVIN SWIFT KEVIN VANDEMARK KHANH QUAN KID DEATH KIEL ADAM KIRILETH KIT DIXON KNIGHT ARMS GAME STORE 463

KRAIG HORIGAN KRISTOF FRURU KURT SHARP KYLE COTTER KYLE D HANKINS KYLE DINSCHEL KYLE MADRUGA L.A. JACKSON LARRY HAMILTON (FOLLOW ME, AND DIE!) LAURA JOHNSON LAWRENCE KENWORTHY LAYTH AL-NAJJAR LEE CHRISTOPHER GILBERT LEE JONES LEOPOLD GOLDIMIRE LEVI STEFFEN LIAM ‘THE WORM’ BUTLER LIAM C LILY LIAW LINDALE MARANWE, OF AKRA’S LEGION LLOYD COLLINS LLR LOGAN HOLT LONNIE SARGENT LOREN LZI LUCHO CASTRO LUKE BEXON LUKE BREEN LUKE BUBELA MAC MCCLINTOCK MACENKRACE MADISON BOWLBY MADURGAN MAGNUS GRANKVIST MAJORMAJORMAJORTHOM MALCOLM SW WILSON MALDION MALTHE MIKJÆR CHRISTENSEN MANUEL MOYA MARCUS “CHAOSMEISTER” BURGGRAF

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MARK CZUY MARK FEATHERSTON MARK GUNTER MARK M ASTERIS JR MARK SWIFT MARN A.J. MANDERS MARTIN DENNIS MARTIN J. TEPLY MARTINE NEWMAN MATHEW LEMONDE MATHIAS SAUR MATT “9LITTLEBEES” KAY MATT COCKBURN MATT LEADBETTER MATT VAJGRT MATTEO SIGNORINI MATTHEW BEYNON MATTHEW EDGAR MATTHEW J SCHUSTER MATTHEW K LENINGTON MATTHEW KOELLING MATTHEW PREECE MATTHEW STARK MATTHEW YERKES MATTHIAS NÖTZLI MAXIMILIAAN CANIK MAYA M GENGENBACHER MEG OF THE WILLIAMSON FAIRYLANDS MELVIN VICTORIO MICAH R. MALONEY MICHAEL BROWN MICHAEL E. HULL MICHAEL G. MAITLEN MICHAEL GARCIA MICHAEL H. GOSSAGE MICHAEL JACOBSON MICHAEL LASHAMBE MICHAEL MASSENGILL MICHAEL MERCHANT JR MICHAEL PHILLIPS

MICHAEL PHYILLAIER JR MICHAEL PIETRELLI MICHAEL Q ANDERSON MICHAEL R LEWIS MICHAEL SHIELDS MICHAEL SMITH MICHAEL STEELE MICHAEL WATERS MICHAEL WISNEFSKY MICHEL CAYER MIGUEL F, SANTIAGO AE MIKE ACKERMAN MIKE CIFALDI MIKE DELANEY MIKE HARRIS MIKE NORRIS MIKE SORNA MIKE THOMPSON MITCHELL SCOTT AKA. EL PALADÍN MOBRALROX MOONMARK MR_E NATE VANDERZEE NATHAN BUSSEY NATHAN FLANARY NATHAN MANGAN NATHAN WYATT AND SHEILA LONG NED CAFFARRA NEIL MCKEAGNEY NIC BRADLEY NICHOLAS P SQUIRES NICK DELANCEY NICK FIN NICK PITTSEY NICK TOEPP NILS K. HOLTE NIMGAARD NINA SHANAFELT NOEL HERNANDEZ NOVA NOX

NSK OLA HANSSON OMARI L. BROOKS ORION JOHNSON P. PINKERTON PATRICIO AGUILERA PATRICK BECKER PATRICK HARKINS PATRICK IDOM PATRICK KENNY PATRICK KINSELLA PATRICK LYNCH PATRICK MARSTALL PATRICK MCFARLAND PATRICK PILGRIM PAUL CANOSA PAUL DAWKINS PAUL MASKELYNE PAUL QUATTROCIOCCHI PAVIA KIRCH-DAUGAARD PEPPER PERRY FOLK PETER MOLNAR PHIL HENDRICKS PHILIP C HEWITT II PHILIP MARIAN PHILIP W ROGERS JR PHILLIP D MADDI PIETRO BERGAMASCHI PRATGM PROMETHEUS QUINN KNABLE R. ALAN COOK RACHEL AYERS RANDY SMITH RASMUS ENGESGAARD CHRISTENSEN RAY WODANSON REBECCA COCHRUM REVEREND JOE BADGER RHYS ‘RAGNAR’ HOLYOAK RICHARD CHAMBERLAIN RICHARD GARRIES RICHARD GRIEBEL RICHARD HODGE RICHARD MUNDY RICKY BROWN ROB DANIELS ROB FITZ ROBBIE J. VAN DIEST ROBERT “BULL” WINKEL ROBERT C. JEFFERS III ROBERT D RUMBAUGH ROBERT GREW ROBERT M SODERQUIST ROBERT SCRIPPS IV ROBERT_MUSSER ROBOTZH8TEME ROBYN, CHRIS, WILLIAM, AND KARL RORY MCDONOUGH ROY BAILEY RUDY RANDOLPH RUDY THAUBERGER RUSSEL HIATT RYAN “PERCINATOR” PERCY RYAN BRAUER RYAN EVANS REXBURG

RYAN HELMS RYAN KENT RYAN VON ROSENBERG SAM ATKINSON SAM PARSONS SAMUEL “DMSAMUEL” DILLON SAMUEL BROWN SANG LIM SANTIAGO PEREZ SARAH SCHAEFER SCOTT ADAMS SCOTT DAVENPORT SCOTT J. DAHLGREN SCOTT JARVIS SCOTT V. SEAN KING SEAN M MILLJOUR SEAN PATRIC FOWLER SEAN PATRICK DUFFY SEAN SULLIVAN SHANE FARRELL SHAWN CLICK SHAWN DEGEISO SHAWN GEIER SHAWN HULS SHAWN POLKA SIGMAR MALARSKI SIMON & EMMA GELGOOT SIMON MAWDSLEY SION HOPES SKANAH SKYLAR SIMMONS SOLI-CHAN SPENCER HERZOG STACKOFCUPS STACY WATSON STEPHANIE MEIER STEPHEN KALMAS STEVE ARENSBERG STEVE DODGE STEVE FLETCHER STEVEN KAZUN STEVEN KNITTEL STEVEN POLITZER STIMSIM STOICHKOV13 SUNE DUNIGAN SVERRE BRISKODDEN SYLVAIN COUSINEAU SYLVIA PAYNE TAMIKO “QUEEN OF GOBBOS” FUJIO TARL BESTVATER TAYLOR HULL TERRY L CLETCHER TERRY SHIH THALJI THE EGGERTS FAMILY THE ELECTRIC DRAGON THE JUSTIN OF OTTESEN THE4GOTNDEATH THOMAS C CHAN THOMAS CRUZ THOMAS FREY THOMAS J TALAMINI TIGER2WILD TIM JORDAN

TIM PININGTON TIMOTHY BAKER TIPPY THE TOOBA TMAXXER TODD JACKSON TOM BARTZ TOM SAYOGO TOM T. TOMAS DENEMARK TOWER TRAVELS THE LOST TRAVIS WILLIAMS TREVOR RAMIREZ TROND TROY ‘CHILLERO’ PARTRIDGE TROY ELLIS TROY M SMALL TROY TELLINGHUISEN TRYM KROGSTAD TUDY TYLER ANTHONY EDWARDS TYLER BYERS TYLER HURST TYLER MAGRUDER TYLER MATTHEWS TYLER NAPIER UNMADEGAMING VALERIE TATE VALYS VEDRIN VERRI VINCENT OETTLE VINGRIX VÍTOR MENINI VORPAL 13 WANDERER WES BAKER WES RIST WHITE PAWS WILHELMINIA DOHERTY WILLIAM “HOB” SHAW WILLIAM BRISSON WILLIAM FESTO WILLIAM G BYRD WILLIAM HART WILLIAM JAIMEZ WILLIAM PAVEY WILLIAM SEYMOUR WILLIAM STAUFFER WITTY REFERENCE WOUTER JANSSENS XAHUN WISPRIDER XIERUMENG YOSHIIAKI YVONNE HUBBLE ZACH CHAPMAN ZACHARY KING ZACHARY TARZAN PENNER ZACK MACDONALD ZACKARY J REED ZAIN JARRAR ZANE LEE ZASRIN ZERO CAIGE ZINA XOL NEWEL

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10. 11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

and/or You have sufficient rights to grant the rights conveyed by this License. Notice of License Copyright: You must update the COPYRIGHT NOTICE portion of this License to include the exact text of the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any Open Game Content You are copying, modifying or distributing, and You must add the title, the copyright date, and the copyright holder’s name to the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any original Open Game Content you Distribute. Use of Product Identity: You agree not to Use any Product Identity, including as an indication as to compatibility, except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of each element of that Product Identity. You agree not to indicate compatibility or co-adaptability with any Trademark or Registered Trademark in conjunction with a work containing Open Game Content except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of such Trademark or Registered Trademark. The use of any Product Identity in Open Game Content does not constitute a challenge to the ownership of that Product Identity. The owner of any Product Identity used in Open Game Content shall retain all rights, title and interest in and to that Product Identity. Identification: If you distribute Open Game Content You must clearly indicate which portions of the work that you are distributing are Open Game Content. Updating the License: Wizards or its designated Agents may publish updated versions of this License. You may use any authorized version of this License to copy, modify and distribute any Open Game Content originally distributed under any version of this License. Copy of this License: You MUST include a copy of this License with every copy of the Open Game Content You Distribute. Use of Contributor Credits: You may not market or advertise the Open Game Content using the name of any Contributor unless You have written permission from the Contributor to do so. Inability to Comply: If it is impossible for You to comply with any of the terms of this License with respect to some or all of the Open Game Content due to statute, judicial order, or governmental regulation then You may not Use any Open Game Material so affected. Termination: This License will terminate automatically if You fail to comply with all terms herein and fail to cure such breach within 30 days of becoming aware of the breach. All sublicenses shall survive the termination of this License. Reformation: If any provision of this License is held to be unenforceable, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable. COPYRIGHT NOTICE Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

System Reference Document 5.0 Copyright 2016, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Chris Perkins, Rodney Thompson, Peter Lee, James Wyatt, Robert J. Schwalb, Bruce R. Cordell, Chris Sims, and Steve Townshend, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.

INDEX A Adventure Generator 429 Adventuring Party Bonds 181 Aevumancer 147 Afflicted 386 Age of Annihilation 9, 12, 398, 408 Aldus Bex 303, 305, 316 Amalgam 353, 354 Annulus Directive 87 Aqueanus 185, 189 Arcana Vulnere 376 Archan 9, 383, 400 Archan Hunting 400 Archan Tools 28 Condition 401 Power Level 401 Tinkering with Archans 406 Archanite Tinker 91 Arcseer 418, 440 Ardent Scar 272 Ardor 39 Ardor Cultural Focus 42 Ardor Cultural Traits 41 Ardor Names and Titles 41 Asgol 338 Astral Adjudicator 304 Avowed 102

B Background 27 Backgrounds 90 Wondrous Backgrounds 90 Barbarian 106 Barber Surgeon 91 Bard 110 Bartermouth 89 Battered 376, 377 Battleworn 386 Beastkeeper 92, 418, 440 Black Rail 272 Bleak 9, 19, 26, 390 Bleak Damage 28 Bleak Chaser 157 Bleakfiend 391, 397 Bleakiron 15, 419 Bleakrift 390 Bleakscarred 103 Bleakspeech 89 Bleakstalker 138

Bleakstorm 390 Bleaksurge 159 Bleak Tempest 160 Bleakveil 390 Bleakwalker 418, 440 Blood Moon 25 Boneplate 15, 419 Bounty Hunter 92 Burdened 386 Burdens 166

C Caius Veccus 270, 271, 283 Character Backstory 176 Character Connections 180 Character Creation 27 Quick Character Generation 27 Character Depth 162 Character Questions 179 Character Ties 180 Cheerless 390 Chief Archanist 157 Chrider’s Hook 240 Chronicler 93 Circle of the Archanatrix 121 Circle of the Grin 120 Class 27, 106 Cleric 114 College of the Bloodsong 112 College of the Demagogue 113 Commander 439 Copper Jackal Copper Jackal Variant Subclass 134 Copper Sun 9 Cosmology 25 Triune 25 Council of Ash 221, 236 Critical Consequences 376, 377 Critical Fumbles 376 Crucian 43 Crucian Cultural Focus 46 Crucian Cultural Traits 46 Crucian Houses 45 Crucian Language 89 Crucian Names and Titles 46 Crucible 9, 424 Crux Crux Guide 185 Crux Narrative Condition 386 Cruxes 9

Culture 9, 27, 39 Cursed 386 C’War 410, 442

D Dark Spires of Grinn 223 Darrow 30 Deadly Critical Hits 376 Death’s Door 376 Deities and Religion 9 Deities and Religions 20 Derosas Twins 286, 287, 300 Desolation 10, 26 Devouring 226 Dhaes Vasul 189, 190, 201 Diego Salva 205, 217 Dismembered Legion 10, 416 Dismembered Lord 10, 446 Fighting the Dismembered Lord 450 Rise of the Dismembered Lord 446 Secrets of the Dismembered Lord 449 Tenets of the Dismembered Lord 448 Distant Traveler 103 Divine Magic 19 Dominion of Ash 184 Using Dominions of Ash 184 Doomsayer 319, 420 Dorvan’s Unopened Door 160 Draconic 89 Dragon 409 Dragonbound 240 Dreg 374 Drogus 47 Drogus Code 49 Drogus Cultural Focus 50 Drogus Cultural Traits 50 Drogus Names 49 Drowned Moon 25 Drudge Drudge Background 93 Druid 118 Dul 89 Dunestrider 418, 440 Dustmouth 223 Dwarf 31

E Eclipse 222 Elf 32 Enthralled 387 467

Entwined Destinies 161 Eòghann 336 Erstwhile Noble 94 Everbleak 319 Exuvian 89

F Fabricate Valen 159 Fadestar 25 Failed Hero 104 Feat 157 Festir 33 Feygrave 185, 204 Feymists 10, 26 Fighter 122 Fingers 420 First Grin 257 Flaws 164 Fracture Timeline 161 Free Company Mercenary 124 Frenzy 376 Frozen King 337 Fugitive 94

468

Helevan Scath 222 Heritage 27, 30 Holithic Church 10 Holith Language 89 Holmir 61 Holmir Cultural Focus 64 Holmir Cultural Traits 64 Holmir Names and Titles 64 Hopes 169 Human 36 Hunted 387

I Imminence 10, 18, 408 Infamous 387 Infamy 370 Gaining Infamy 370 Group Infamy 370 Infamy Encounters 371 Ingrid Grinrender 337, 345 Innes 186, 239 Interest Post 389 Into the Wailing Gray 377

Glance 374 Glimmerwind 390 Golis Ocean 287 Granok Thane 51 Granok Creed 53 Granok Thane Cultural Focus 54 Granok Thane Cultural Traits 54 Granok Thane Names and Ranks 54 Gravedigger 95 Gray Domain 117 Gray Door 380 Gray Journey 380 Gray Ritual 380 Graysoul 378 Grifter 95 Grimdul 56 Grimdul Cultural Focus 60 Grimdul Cultural Traits 59 Grimdul Names and Titles 59 The Elder Tenet 69 Grin 10, 409 Grin Delver 157 Grinn 186, 220

Jaded 387 Jahar 186, 255 Jantari 57 Jantari Rider 137

Halfkin 35 Hallowed 96 Halyphon 308

Magic Items 383 Maimed 378 Maiming 377

K Keening 342 Kneebreaker 437 Krokod 291 Kyte 321

L Languages 89 Common Tongues 89 Obscure Tongues 89 Laryss Highfury 352, 354, 364 Legionary 438 Lifetree 303 Lightfall 10, 12 Lord of Ash 10 Becoming a Lord of Ash 418 Standing Lord of Ash 418 Low Supply 387

Mapwright 96 Marauder 419, 440 Marine 419, 440 Marrow Marrow Background 97 Marrow Legionary Sublass 125 Marrow Ranks 417 Marrow Specialists 418 Maw of Black Ice 338 Mementos 172 Missive Crow 97 Modify Archans 159 Monk 126 Mord 66 Mord Cultural Focus 71 Mord Cultural Traits 70 Mord Names and Titles 70 Morden 66 Mordrivh 67 Mother Silurian 304, 305

N Nar’ghal 257 Narrative Conditions 385 Next of Kin 98 Night Huntsman 271 Nok 89 Nomad 98 Notorious 157 Numitor Krieg 221

O Oath of the Cleansing 133 Oath of the Legion 133 Odrokn 344 Oedran 12 Old Vale 10, 19, 26 One Last Chance 377

P Paladin 131 Path of the Mauler 109 Path of the Unbound 108 Peacekeeper 437 Peacemakers 240 Pit Scum 240 Praetor 419, 441 Primordial 10, 408 Primordial Language 89 Primordial Warlock Patron 151 Prydagger 99 Puppeteer Monarch 359

Q Qaramzi 255 Quill & Stone 287

R Radikka 10, 26 Ranger 135 Reborn of the Gray 104 Red Sail Market 10, 13 Red Sail Merchant Background 100 Relic Hunter 99 Reliquary of Ash 11 Rest Only in Hiding 377 Resurrection 378 Resurrection and Wailing Gray 378 Resurrection Effects 382 Resurrection Rituals and Journeys 378 Revak Zistra 255, 256, 267 Rictus 255 Rip and Tear 161 Rogue 139 Rootgate 306 Rot Crow 275 Rotfiend 270 Rot Hunters 270 Ruqar 259

S Safety Tools 368 Sarrik 72 Optional Rule: Becoming a Sarrik 388 Sarrik Cultural Traits 74 Sarrik Names and Titles 74 Sarrik Cultural Focus 75 Savage Frontier 11 Scene 374 School of the Roiling Bleak 155 School of the Thaumavore 156 Scrimshander 141 Seat of the Anarchic 222, 236 Seat of the Curator 221, 236 Seat of the Intelligencer 222, 236 Seat of the Manoeuvrer 221, 236 Seat of the Polymath 222, 236 Seat of the Recondite 222, 236 Sellsword 100 Session 0 369 Shar Lagash 239, 241, 252 Shattered Seas 11 Shatterfarer 101 Siegebreaker 419 Silvercant 89 Silver Walls 78

Silverwise 76 Silverwise Cultural Focus 79 Silverwise Cultural Traits 78 Silverwise Names and Titles 78 Slaughter 377 Sorcerer 144 Sovereign Sovereign Warlock Patron 152 Sovereign Domain 116 Sovereign’s Road 225, 240 Spell 159 Stitcher 419, 441 Stolen Days 387 Stoplight Method 368 Street Performer 101 Subclass 27 Sureau the Stormbreather 319, 320, 332 Svir 186, 270 Svir Below 186, 286

T Talas 186, 303 Talasar 80 Talasar Cultural Focus 83 Talasar Cultural Traits 83 Talasar Names 82 Tenth 11, 12 Thanium 15 Thanium Armor 54 Thoughtslayer 271 Time Thief 142 Titan 11, 398 Titan Vaults 399 Titanblood 148 Titan Copper 15 Titanspeak 89 Toiler 102 Tomeheart 37 Torvid Deepspeaker 222 Traits 162 Treacherous Travel 374 Calculating Treacherous Travel 374 Trinkets 172 Cultural Trinkets 174 Trithagon’s Apparatus 159 Truthbringing 11, 18 Typhon 11, 398

U Uldane 186, 319 Undying Light 105 Unhinged 386 Unleash the Gray 160 Unresponsive 377

Ush’racka Rex 241

V Valen 11, 383, 411 Crafting with Valens 412 Hunting for Valens 411 Valen Tools 28 Valen Adept 158 Valenus 303, 304 Vale’s Embrace 160 Valewarden 419, 441 Varnholme 186, 335 Varynx 89 Villinavi 287 Vogan 209 Voice of the Titans 160 Voices of the Dead 159 Void Moon 25

W Wailing Gray 11, 26 Wanted 387 Warlock 149 Warmaker 420 Wayfinder 158 Way of the Ghostspeaker 128 Way of the Soulwinds 129 Weary and Worn 377 What’s Dead Is Dead 377 Wielder of the Bleak 161 Withering 304 Wizard 153 Wurm Roads 261 Wurmscale 15

X Xur Kith 443

Y Yhaghul 445 Aspect of Yhaghul 445 Yng 89

Z Zamon 186, 352 Zarfvin 85 Zarfvin Cultural Focus 88 Zarfvin Cultural Traits 88 Zarfvin Names and Titles 87 Zaria Sharn 221 Zralok 194

469

CLASS & LEVEL

BACKGROUND

PLAYER NAME

HERITAGE

CULTURE

EXPERIENCE POINTS

CHARACTER NAME

INSPIRATION STRENGTH

ARMOR CLASS

PROFICIENCY BONUS

SPEED

HIT POINT MAXIMUM

Strength DEXTERITY

INITIATIVE

Dexterity Constitution CURRENT HIT POINTS

Intelligence Wisdom Charisma CONSTITUTION

SAVING THROWS

TEMPORARY HIT POINTS

TOTAL

Acrobatics (Dex)

SUCCESSES

Animal Handling (Wis)

FAILURES

Arcana (Int) INTELLIGENCE

HIT DICE

HERITAGE TRAITS & FOCUS

DEATH SAVES

Athletics (Str) Deception (Cha)

NAME

History (Int)

ATK BONUS DAMAGE/TYPE

Insight (Wis) Intimidation (Cha) WISDOM

Investigation (Int) Medicine (Wis) Nature (Int) Perception (Wis) Performance (Cha)

CHARISMA

Persuasion (Cha) Religion (Int) Sleight of Hand (Dex) Stealth (Dex)

CULTURAL TRAITS & FOCUS

Survival (Wis) SKILLS

PASSIVE WISDOM (PERCEPTION)

ATTACKS & SPELLCASTING

WRAITHS

NAILS

HOUNDS

PROFICIENCIES & LANGUAGES

CLASS TRAITS & DETAILS

AGE EYES

HEIGHT SKIN

WEIGHT HAIR

GENDER

DOMINION OF ASH

CLASS BY CULTURE:

CLASS BEGINNINGS:

CLASS HALLMARK:

ADDITIONAL CLASS INFORMATION

CLASS MANIFEST: FEATURE:

CLASS FACTION / GROUP: UNIQUE ELEMENT:

CLASS STORY DETAILS

INFAMY

CHARGE / TROUBLE:

PECULIARITY:

BACKGROUND

PERSONALITY TRAITS

FLAWS CHARACTER BACKSTORY

BURDENS

HOPES

ADDITIONAL CHARACTER DETAILS

SPELLCASTING ABILITY

SPELL SAVE DC

SPELLCASTING CLASS

SPELL LEVEL

CANTRIPS

SLOTS TOTAL

SLOTS EXPENDED

1 PR

EPAR

7 SPELL NAME

SPELLS KNOWN

5 9

SPELL ATTACK BONUS

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