The Resistance
Lore
Maps
Maps
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Kingsgrave: Medusa Carcer
The 1st level of Kingsgrave, under the district of Roaringside in Renelestre. -
The Emperor's Folly
The tavern (once bakery) reclaimed by the Free Jackals as their base of operations. -
Balliston
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Renelestre
A map of the Greatest City in this or any age.
Supporting Cast
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Grand Admiral Alphanso Salveto
A High Lord of Renelestre. Sits on the Privy Council. Runs the Admiralty. -
Brillis Borochav
Messenger for the Thimble. Gave the party the "Library Job." Through him the party received sponsorship through the Thimble. -
Lord Fransesco Marzarius
A High Lord of Renelestre. Member of the Privy Council. Runs the universities and schools of the arcane. -
Claw Hounds
Large, imposing Hobgoblin. Known as a tracker and survivalist. Was on good terms with Bullfrog.
The Golden Wraith
Sessions Archive
The Blood Hand of Turmzweihander
There was once an Elk bedight of two coats A Coat of Gold and A Coat of Sage This Elk strove diligently to safeguard the peace of Gold, and the peace of Sage But neither coat fit him well. Betimes the unclothed fell about His repair of rock and stone To make of him a pollard And spread his nibbuns About his holding And the Elk that held the peace Was no more The gold and sage Bled red upon the mountainside And no orison were spake Nor plain over sung For the Orts laid bare And from that time forth The Elk was remembered No more
Book 2: The Ascent
People must have something to worship. Something to look to. Often this is a person, but it does not need to be. At times, this can also be an idea, a principle, a cause. At rare times, it is all of those things at once. But the fact remains, people need to be able to look up towards the pinnacle and strive to attain it, to see in the very fibre of their purpose the images of golden wings, of meaning in their lives, of glory in their deaths. The object of their worship must hold the vestiges of dead gods, the divine foreboding of the never-ending struggle between the mortal and the divine, and a great and glorious calling that is irresistable, immutable, and eternal. Perhaps most importantly, the summit must be difficult to attain. Many must stumble and fall along the rock-strewn path in order for them to find true faith. Suffering is just as important as the coming glory. And the object of their worship shall grow in power as their faith is pure and untainted. No god lives that has not devoted acolytes. And no god dies that still worshiped. That is the nature of their divinity. And in the end, death claims all, except perhaps one.
The Emperor's Folly
Althetas
Bishop to Rook Four
The social structures put in place by the Great Empire is what allowed them their to unite and stabilize a disorderly world under one banner. If they had simply conquered, they could not have held. Instead, the genius of the ancestral empire is that it provided a societal norm which was easier to obey than to defy. This alone undercut the rebellion of the workaday: The yeoman, the blacksmith, and the miller all had more to gain by the imposed status quo than the potential of a war for an unrealized "freedom." This meant that all the empire had to deal with was the idealist and the zealot, and without the support of the lower classes, they struggled to find solid ground. Why listen to a priest who sows dissent when only he gains by your acquiescence? After the first generation dies, a land held by the Empire rarely rebelled. The power of the status quo was overwhelming at that point. This then freed up the majority of the Sanguine forces to take new lands and start the next societal conversion. "But the empire did fall?" I hear you say. Yes, indeed it did. But I tell you now the great and terrible secret of the Carovarian Empire: They fell because they became soft. They became lazy. They began to hire support without conversion. They became bored of their easy holdings and began infighting. They let their new holdings keep their ancestral gods without teaching a synchrotism to the Carovarian pantheon. You see, it was a lot of work, boring drudgerous work, to completely convert a holding. So, they didn't. They resorted to pure force of arms, which left them open to idealism, to rebellions, to power struggles. And they fell, little by little they fell, for they gave up their ideals. And worst of all, they gave up their ambition. And ambition is the passion of great character. The Great Empire crumbled to dust and all that we have left of it on this earth are broken monoliths to their ambition standing in witness to their unrealized peace. -The Empire of Dust: A memoriem to a lost future General Telemon of Veymar and Roune
The Evolving Pack
The swarms fell about the rearguard, impinging it on all sides, until the wolf and his remaining lieutenants were in danger of falling. It was at this moment that the wolf drew forth his fang which shown white in the starlight and set upon the hordes himself, and with his allies made a passage through which the pack could escape. The howls sounded in the night and the fang sank deep in the flesh of their enemies until a great number some 500 strong fell before the blade and it was quenched. The reaches were saved as the slaughter settled at last upon the wolf and his men, and death reached his house again. This was the last stand of the White Wolf, of which songs have been sung and sagas have been written, until he rise again at the end of all things.
The Wards of the King
"The Viziers (generals) must be kept in play at all times. The choice is not "who is most equipped" to defeat the raging hordes, but rather, who is least skilled that will still manage to defeat the enemy of the realm. If a popular figure who is well equipped is used often, eventually you will find your society an empire. So the senate's main gambit is to spend the best weapons of the realm as rarely as possible and then only at uttermost need, whilst sacrificing the chance at an individual defeat to maintain them sanctity of the realm." -The Great Game: A pondering of the workings of the Carovarian Senate.
Enter Kingsgrave
"I am depending on you for this terrible task. You know the cost, but you also know the danger; and let us hope that your sacrifice will mean we can avoid that devastating end." "The Emperor's word is our bond." "I prize your sacrifice as my final bond. Let the wards be sealed. Let the forbiddances be raised, each of you to his own spoke." "It is as our Lord has spoken." "I bid you all farewell. I pray we meet again in another life."
The Fair Sun Falls
"O stars that in the Sunless Year With shining hand by her were sown, In Windy fields now bright and clear We see your silver blossom blown!"
The Gate and the Portico
"Instead of the hides he gave you cloaks to wear, and from the mountains he led you down into the plains, and made you capable of fighting the neighboring barbarians, so that you were no longer compelled to preserve yourselves by trusting rather to the inaccessible strongholds than to your own valor. He made you colonists of cities, which he adorned with useful laws and customs; and from being slaves and subjects, he made you rulers over those very barbarians by whom you yourselves, as well as your property, were previously liable to be carried off or ravaged."
The Choking Point and the Falling Star
-------------------------------------- Attention All Citisens: Effective Immediately, anyone who practises the worship at any of the churches sanctimonious here in Talanthia must wear a visible simbol of their Religious Allegiance as of this day forward. A holy simbol of their particular saint (see list below) will suffise as such. You may, however, forego this simbology if you make public renouncement of faith before the newly formed Ammeliorated Ecclesiastic Council in your local square, and thereby pledge your allegianse to the Church of The Iron Saint of the new Holy Carovarian, Catholic Pontificate. Those who refuse to abide by these rules will be brought to the council for questioning and rehabilitation. Those who are found to have aided others in obfuscating this pronouncement will be brought before the council for questioning and rehabilitation. Signed King Vayne of the Vassal State of Talanthia ------------------------------------------------------------ What follows is a list of different saints and their appropriate holy symbols
Of Conversations and Consequences
"The Walls are crumbling, thrall, and the gates are unmanned." "Yes, m'lord." "My thorax is chilled. And the food tastes stale in my mouth." "These are trying times, m'lord." "If we don't do something, we will suffer an eternal death, from which there is no return, I fear." "What would you have me do, m'lord?" "Go. Find it. Take it. Save us. Before the knives descend and night falls forever."
Useful Links
The Protagonists
Junior Officer Chance
Medic of the Free Jackals Slate
Weapons Master, Senior Officer of the Free Jackals Key
(Charlatan)
Grit
Junior Officer Turtle
Junior Officer Oaf
Claw Switch
Lieutenant of the Free Jackals Shifty
Junior Officer Candle
Find your way!
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