What the Elder Told Me: Two Cultures for The Last Fleet

Last of these I'm going to post- the last two player-created cultural backgrounds for the upcoming Last Fleet campaign.

What the Elders Told Me: A Personal View of Namir Culture

Who are you?

My name is Lira Moondawning. I’m 23 years old. I was born to Lorcan and Jasira. I have 2 older brothers, Jakir and Aden. Aden went to the city of Kuval to study magic with the shamans there. Our mother is an ambassador of the council who travels to the different cities. Our father, part of the shadow dancers, was once hired as her personal guard. He still travels with her and protects her. Jakir became a knight, guardian of the council..

Though we do not see each other often, Aden and I are quite fond of one another. Jakir and I do not get along well, though since he has married and blessed our family with twin little girls, things have improved. I do so adore my nieces, Kiele and Donae.

My mother had hoped that since I was a single born that my role in life would be important, perhaps eventually become a part of the council. My true destiny has not yet been revealed to me. After a few tests at a very young age, I was welcomed with open arms to the shadow dancers. I’m at the top of my class physically and I’m the youngest to have passed the magic trials. I have been given an honorable gift of a small curved blade, imbued with soul magic. My father is very proud.

Who are we?

We are the Namir. An upright, willowy, and graceful race attributed with feline facial features, tails, pawed feet, and tall ears. We enjoy lofty areas, art, music, and theatre. Once a private tribal people… the great kraken pirate fleet war brought them alongside other races. They have evolved to be a communal city of many various professions.

Once a noble and honored profession, we are the shadow dancers. It was the shadow dancers who first joined in the fight against the pirates. After the war, they were named the invisible protectors of the council, they melded with the shadows, bending the darkness to suit their own needs. After time, there were those who feared the ways of the shadow dancers, and made claims that their cunning ways were too sneaky, deceitful, and certainly not noble enough to hold the position of protectors of the council. They were replaced with new guardians, glorious knights in pearl laden leather armor, shining for all to see. The shadow dancers withdrew from their former ranking, but kept their teachings. They take pride in being the best at what they do. Their symbol is seen as a black flame with jade green cat eyes.

What makes us great?

Powerful imbued weapons created with souldeath magic put the namir on the map of highly sought after goods.

The legendary stories of the heroes who risked their lives to help free us from the Kraken pirate fleet.

Where do we live?

The isle of N’dal. Most of the isle is a warmer climate of tall forests. There is a large lake toward the center and there are several rivers and streams that flow from this lake. There are places with small waterfalls. It’s a lush island with colorful birds and exotic flowers.

There are three cities. Kuval is near the lake where shaman train side by side with their water elemental allies. Notin is an aerial port city where most come and go from the island. Vines, ropes, and trained tree branches are woven to create the main city of Nadia high in the trees…

Picture this… Walking along a simple dirt path, no more than 2 people wide…Ferns, mossy rocks, and long stemmed vibrant orange and pink tiger lilies dot the edges of the path. Looking around, you’re in the middle of a forest, with tall trees that seem to go up forever. The smell of the earth is mixed with the soft scent of a fresh rain. It’s warm and humid, very tropical. The loud screech of a brilliant blue bird featured with a long feathered tail and green tipped wings calls attention to himself as he flies overhead. You come to a small area, just off the path where a handful of long ropes with small harnesses dangle from somewhere above. Slipping into the harness, you give a firm tug to a secondary rope and up you go… The trees are vast and lofty, you move swiftly up to a semi large platform, here you would get into a small swing attached to a horizontal rope with a soft downward angle… you sit in the swing, (a soft band that goes under your butt, suspending your legs in a sitting position) and tie the strap around your waist, there is a bar above you that you can use to hold onto… and once in, you drop off the platform and glide along the rope. Eventually you can start to make out the main city of Nadia… Large branches have been grown to form the mainstay of the city. It is quite beautiful. Long vines adorned with brightly colored flowers have grown around the branches of the city. You get out of your swing to climb onto a rope bridge leading to the main entrance. There are other ropes leading out in different directions, each direction has at least 2 ropes… one angled for arrival, one for departure. There is laughter as two young namirian kittens wrestle one another in the trees close by, one tumbles out of the branches and falls… she grabs hold of one of the vines and swings close to the trunk, she leaps up, claws out and springs through the branches, disappearing back into the foliage toward the laughter of the other. The city is busy with the morning hustle and bustle. The bakery doors are open, the smell of sweet flaky pastries and light sweet cream are being made. Large trays of fruits and berries are being brought in and placed in the market. Some walk by eating long sprouts of green mixed with various colors that look like petals, they walk with small bowls and grasp the plants with fingers placing the food in their mouths. A little girl runs by, sweet white cream dripping off of her whiskers. There is music, soft and light with string and wind instruments. There are several buildings, most here on the outskirts are newer with added cut branches for construction, but as you go further into the city the older buildings are an actual part of the branch woven city.

How do we live?

We are mainly a communal people. You don’t “buy a house” here. There are hammocks for beds hung under the protective canopies of the trees, while many are clustered together, there are groups of hammocks hung in different places... grouped for families, training circles, and for those who prefer to be more alone. While money is exchanged for the efforts involved, we gather together for the main meal times. Meals take place in their own section of the city, a gathering of tables, chairs, benches, and massive buffets of food. It’s almost always busy here as large groups of people come and go. There isn’t a predetermined time slot for anyone and they may not go at the same time with the same people every day.

Hunting, fishing, and gathering is also generally done in groups.

From schools of magic to cooking meals, there is one person (or two in broader, more popular fields) who earn the rank of instructor in their field of expertise and they take on the young students in training circles.

There is a lot of love for art, music, and dancing. There is a grand stage with branches woven to make stair step bench seating located on the western side of the city for various plays and performances.

What is important in my life?

To keep my people safe. Friends and family. To improve my skills.

Who rules us?

We have a governing council. There are almost always 4 members, but there have been as many as 9. There are 4 main council members who remain on the council until their death, however a large exception can be made by the people to have a person step out. The other council members are nominated by the people and the main council members to join depending on circumstances and how their knowledge pertains. If a group of people were to ask for something, say to leave the aisle for exploratory purposes or if a group of people wasn’t getting along with another group… the group (or groups) would select a member to join the council in the discussion and decision. Or if the city were in need or danger, those who could help the most by their knowledge would be selected as council members. Sometimes those people remain on the council even after the situation has been remedied. The main 4 council members are made up of 1 member from each of the other 2 smaller cities on the isle and there are 2 from the city of Nadia.

What makes a person great?

One who is brave enough to face their fear and do what they thought they might not be able to do. One who is unselfish and does what they can to the benefit of others. Exceptional skill, i.e. a great swordsmith.

What is evil?

The shadow dancers have a darker side, not afraid to use extra means to get the job done right… however, evil would be cruelty or torture to those who are weaker just because you can. They’ve done nothing to you and there is no greater cause. (I.E. animal abuse) Self-indulgence that affects others negatively with no regard for their well-being…

*The namir also use souldeath magic to imbue weapons… the death of a soul is very harsh… and the gods should be thanked as it is only them who can create a new soul, so a soul is seen as a gift from the gods… and if a person simply chooses to use their soul to do evil, then their soul is better off in another’s hands as a weapon where it will be cherished as the gift that it is.

What is my lot in life?

To protect my people.

How do we deal with others?

There is a city near the large lake on the isle. The namir live peacefully alongside the water elementals here. They are protective of one another. There are other allies… wolfen, some elves, few humans, and others… Caution is used with strangers in Nadia and the water city of Kuval, though guests are treated very well. The small aerial port city of Notin, however, is a strange city of mixed races, the namir are the highest in population, but there are a handful of other races that take up residence here.

Who are our enemies?

Those who wish to do us or our allies harm. Those who seek to do destroy our world.

Who are our gods?

Karasi – female goddess of life. She is prayed to for fertility and births as well as the life and growth of the plants and animals on the isle.

Thanos – male god of death. He gathers and takes in the half souls until their other half can be joined when he releases the paired soul to Karasi for rebirth.

*Karasi and Thanos are twin sister and brother. The souldeath magic users give their thanks and ask for both of their guidance in choosing souls.

Gwydion – male god of magic, light, and the sun. He favors the elemental magic of earth and fire.

Amaiya – female goddess of magic, night, shadows, the moon, and the stars, she favors the elemental magic of wind and water.

Tarak – male god of war, protection, and order.

Linaeve – female goddess of song, dance, art, and chaos.

What is there to do around here?

Plays, music, art, dancing, food, learning, work… There are sporting games of skilled challenges. Children have toys like balls, dolls, and puzzle games. There is a library of books and maps made by various explorers. There is romance and friendship.

What the High Orc Told Me: A Brief History of the Orcs of the High Veil

Who are you?

I am Marreg Warmane, Master Hunter, son of Vuhaan and Mishraa. Brother of Riskaar and sibling to Mishreey and Iskaar

Who are we?

We are Clan Warmane, Orcs of the High Veil, seekers of the light and knowledge. We are the next generation of Orcs.

What makes us great?

Our ability to adapt. We came from a world that digests most races and have come to find our own path. We seek knowledge of the Vengmaar (red rocks) that we find in our land. And we wish to aid and learn from other races. We have power and strength, and the knowledge of the steel, this will sustain us.

Where do we live?

We live in the High Veil, a colorful land of mystery. Centuries ago Thurgen Strongjaw and his Clan ventured forth from the Fell Lands in search of a better way for the Orc race. He went through the Scar, a dangerous valley full of things and creatures that see even Orcs as food. After many weeks and many perils Thurgen and his Clan emerged. He found a new world, not perfect, but with light and hope, a new start. He found a city, complete, but devoid of people. Everything you would need to support a city was there. It was as if everyone just picked up and left. Much of the things we didn't understand, but over time we learned. We could tell that this city was here for centuries, that many races once lived here. The one thing we don't know is where they went. The city is magnificent, high towers rise out of the mountainside, while great plains stretch out at its feet. It is a great mystery to who built this place and what ever became of them.

How do we live?

Crops have been planted and the steel is pulled from the land. Herds of Brel (cows) are being bred and the heard has been large enough to trade for some time. Our steel is some of the finest in the world. We have tamed the Tyren Beasts, large winged reptiles, and use them for sky hunting and transporting goods to far reaching outposts. We trade with the Namir and the Kalais who have brought us countless new products and knowledge. Our world has grown fast in a short span of time. The Namir has taught us of magic. The Vengmaar stones now hold much more value. The Kalais have taught us of skyships and how to build and pilot them.

What is important in life?

Knowledge. For too long the Orc has been the instrument of war for others. Easily swayed to do the bidding of others and never for the betterment of the Orcs or their race. We seek knowledge to secure our independence from the other races.

Who rules us?

The Clan Council rules the Veil. Made up of members from the most powerful families in the city. Many of the Council are descendants of the original founders of the city.

What makes a person great?

Overcoming your weaknesses and making a difference in the world.

What is evil?

Those without honor. That which takes away your will to be. Those who wish to destroy. Elves (just kidding on the last one)

What is my lot in life?

To help my Clan grow stronger. To serve the Council and my Clan any way they see fit.

How do we deal with others?

Originally at arm’s length. But over time as other races have passed through they have become accustomed to our ways and us to theirs. We trade openly with all who come to our land with civil purpose. That having been said, never underestimate the Orcs will to self-preservation.

Who are our enemies?

Some of the Clans that still remain in the Fell Lands consider us a disgrace to "true" Orcs. They vowed to kill us on sight. That is why the passage to the Scar was destroyed and buried beneath a wall of rocks. That has been some time ago and we have not heard a word from them. If they ever do emerge we will purge the universe of them. Oh, and the Elves (kidding).

Who are our gods?

Tedril, father of all Orcs, giver of the flesh and steel. Mezrah, mother to all Orcs, caretaker of the earth and water. Plus we hear that other races think they have gods also, we find this humorous.

What is there to do around here?

Tend the fields, lead a hunt, work the steel, learn to use the Vengmaar, take in a show, you haven't seen Shakespeare until you've seen it in Orc!

Kith and Kind: Some Brainstorming on Changeling the Lost

SEEMINGS AND KITHS

Changeling the Lost wins for me in that it provides a lot of imaginative room. You can spin out freely a long ways before you hit against structures and details set down by the background. I especially enjoy the openness of the Seeming and Kith structure. It provides for a great range, while at the same time giving some structure. Seemings represent the broad classes, Changelings which come out of a shared tradition. Kiths provide the detail, the breed of the character. GMs can play quite a bit with those idea. I haven’t checked the WW boards for new Kiths; I wanted to do some brainstorming of my own before I did any hunting elsewhere. I like considering new kiths- mostly in terms of how those might appear as NPCs within the campaign. Below I have some ideas for the first three of the six Seemings, I’ll hit the next in another post. I’ve avoided system details since I’m running this with a homebrew and because I’m still sketching things out.

WIZENED

I think the two easiest Seemings to come up with new Kiths for are the Wizened and the Elementals. Wizened have roles- and they are their roles. I like the idea that they had to study and learn a vast number of rules and codes in their existence: some taught by their Keeper and others by their fellow Changeling prisoners. They had a community and a place- one they had to keep to in absolute perfection. On the one hand, I imagine the realms the Wizened lived in could be mockeries of real world things: their roles might be a kind of torture through the absolute extremes of those duties. One of the Wizened in our campaign is a Gameplayer, typically a kith involved with games of strategy and luck (cards, chess). In his case, the game was literally game-theory- the Prisoner’s Dilemma. He lived an existence of constant risk, wager and betrayal. On the other hand, I imagine some Wizened were part of an operation or household. So there would be many others, each learning their own roles.

Reckoner: I imagine this being something like a Wizened who keeps the counting house, an accountant or financier. They had to track every detail, every coin, every drop of sand, every drop of water- that kind of thing. For kith ability, the easy suggestion would be that they could more easily lend their skills to increase the money made by a mortal business. On the other hand, something even more amusing might be something where they “magnetize” money such that other money becomes attracted to it.

Strapper: We have Physikers in the Changeling setting, so I’m imagining there are also Orderlies- of all kinds. They lock in the Changelings, tie them down, keep them secure. They could range from the basic holding down of the injured to the more awful wardens and keepers of keys. Their kith ability would involve being able to secure bindings, and tying them so that they don’t leave marks.

Judge: Life in the hedge revolves around rules- often arbitrary appearing, often hidden. So what would a Wizened, forced to be a judge of their fellows look like? It could be as innocent as a referee, or perhaps a more sinister kind of internal police in a Kafka-esque durance. The Grand Inquisitor as a Wizened. Contracts of Oath and Punishment might be affinity for them- or perhaps they’d have a gift for a certain kind of cursing, through the passing of a sentence on someone. (image found from Michael Kutsche on Deviant Art)

ELEMENTALS

I have a fairly easy time coming up with other Elementals- though defining exactly how they function is another question. I like the idea of Elementals of concepts or abstractions, which some people might not be as keen on. For example, that NPC I mentioned before who represents a mathematical idea of loops and recursion. I think I’d have the hardest time running an Elemental, to my thinking they’re the Seeming most alien to humanity and to other Changelings. I try to run my elemental NPCs a little off kilter- at least vaguely echoing their associated element.

Karmawhore: One of the things I’ve set up in the game is that there’s a Changeling locked away somewhere in the Freehold- if you go to see him, you don’t even remember leaving to go there or coming back. He’s a fallen enforcer for the former Courts which once ran the Freehold- he’s an elemental of Karma, of Payback. I don’t know exactly what that means, I’ll admit, but it sounds pretty awful. Especially once they’ve crossed him and chained him away…now they can’t let him out and they can’t kill him. I wouldn’t really want to work out the details of this for a PC, but it works as an NPC concept.

Smokemarrow: The Blightbent kith represents the kind of toxic nature of substances, but what about the roiling, swirling nature of smoke or even ashes drifting in the wind. They could even be dust or the like. They’d be a wan folk- pallid and unsolid. I imagine they’d drift along with the physical and social winds. The easiest thought would be to give them a significant discount on the Contracts or Separation- whatever kith ability they got, you wouldn’t want to duplicate that too much. On the other hand, I like the idea of them being able to once per scene avoid a wound or hit, by essentially dispersing themselves. It would be effective, but would drop all but Hedgespun off of them. They’d have to regather themselves together after that. I have to think on that.

Swarmsoul: This could just as easily be a Beast-type kith, but there’s something mindless and automatic to a swarm- at least when I watch nature footage of it. Insects would be the classic type, but I can also imagine vermin swarms- perhaps a wickerman stuffed with mice. There’s that effect, I think from one of the Angels come to destroy the world, where the characters turn into flocks of crows to fly away. Something like that could be quite interesting as well. I could imagine a couple of possible kith abilities- either the ability to sense remotely (clairvision or clairaudience through part of their swarm) or else some significant ablative damage absorption. (image found from Marc Simonetti on Deviant Art)

BEASTS

Beasts are interesting because I always picture them as having a kind of society which stands outside of other Changeling relations. Perhaps I’m simply thinking of a hierarchy. One of my goals when establishing my campaign setting was to switch up from expected structures. That’s part of why we have two non-seasonal Courts there. It is also why we have a dominant position for Beast Changleings in the community- they’re the largest single group and occupy both seats of power. White Wolf did an interesting thing in approaching the beasts by theme (hunter, friend, runner) rather than by specific animal. It allows for more freedom of combinations. I’ve been trying to think of a good kith role and place for a Changeling who has become like a moth. The idea of involuntary attraction draws me to that concept. I have to figure out what would be a balancing good stuff for something like that. I should also note, that like the “conceptual” elementals I mentioned above, I’ve been thinking about more abstract Beasts. For example, we have an NPC named Songbird Rex. He comes from domain where his keeper had some mixed up vision about change and evolution. He’s caught somewhere between a peacock and a dinosaur, from the idea that birds originated from lizards. That reflects his own mental state- caught between the thing he is and the thing he wants to be.

Dronedrone: The “hivemind” concept’s a little too easy and I don’t think it exactly works for Changeling. Part of the thing to consider is what the horror was of the experience for the Changelings when they were being shaped by their Keepers. Loss of identity could work, but only if the Changeling oculd feel that and perhaps their mind bobbed back up to the surface from time to time. The Keepers would want that to happen from time to time to make them spin out rich fear and panic. I’m imagining that this kith would have the ability to fall in and blend in to a workplace of setting- anywhere with repetitive tasks. They could easily pick those things up, in the most uncreative way and fit in. While doing that they would never receive acknowledgement or recognition, just a paycheck, shelter or whatever. It could be an interesting challenge to play something like that.

Coiltwist: You’ve got the idea of the venomous bite and the scale represented among the existing beast kiths. But what about those beasts who wrap, envelop and even swallow their prey. You could be fairly literal with this, allowing them an ability to grip, grapple and lock up a person. On the other hand, I like even better the idea of them being able to twist things around and wrap people up emotionally, such that they can extract debts, favors and promises from mortals- nothing damning, but a bump or add to those interactions.

Cagedweller: So most of the Beasts have a “natural world” sense to them- even those like the Roteater with a horrible kith aspect. So imagine something which would be almost a Darkling, but still a Beast. These Changelings would have been put through various experiments of many kinds, under the alien ministrations of Keepers. A literal testing facility in order to see their limits, a Saw-like Schroedinger Cat set-up, an infinite dog-track…or in the case of one of the NPCs, an isolation echo of the space program with Beasts shoved into devices and fired…where? Do the Keepers simply play out other versions of these stories or is there some place they want to explore that even they cannot reach. There’s another awful thought. I expect that their Kith ability would be something about physical or mental survival. (image found from Michael Kutsche on Deviant Art)

Next Time: Darklings, Fairest, Ogres and some general thoughts on Seeming society.

What My Fire Path Elder Told Me: A Personal View of the Scalebound Culture

Presenting another in the series of PC-written cultural backgrounds for the upcoming Last Fleet campaign. The first can be found here, the second here, and general notes on the characters can be found here. The Scalebound are a Draconic race created by Scott. They're espcially interesting to me in that they suffer under several constraints. The Scalebound arose as a race from the souls of defeated dragons. There was a great battle in which the dying dragons infected the souls of their enemies with their Dragon soul. As a GM, I put the number of Dragons slain at 200, just to be absolutely crazy. Since the players defined that all births are twins, I assumed that each Dragonsoul split in two to become souls among the people there.

So we end up with 400 Scaleborn to start, of varying races, but predominantly human. As an assumption, Scalebound birth from these can further divide the soul by twinning. That means the absolute maximum number of Scalebound at any one time would be 800. They can't add new souls because they lack the gods. Gods having been defined in the history as the way new (not reincarnated souls) arise. It also wouldn't work because of the nature of the Dragonsouls. A consequence of that would be that a Scalebound female can't actually have children until both halves of a twin soul have pass back into the Wheel of Reincarnation, making that a difficult and highly calculated thing for them. While there were several "breeds" of Scalebound to start, since the soul doesn't determine race, eventually the predominant race would push the others out, resulting in the Scalebound being Human as their apparent base.

Now add to that the hunting by the Dragons, which have managed to kill Scalebound and free those Dragonsouls. Plus other incidents, I put the numbers at a 25% loss from that, pretty significant. So that leaves a maximum of 600 Scalebound- and I further assumed that not all of them made it through the recent events, so we'll put that loss at 33% given the cataclysm. That leaves us with 400 Scalebound or so, minus one for your Twinless nature. Plus additional losses and so on- we have the smallest race/culture in the fleet. There's also this question: if new Scalebound can't be born until both twins die, and your twin dies- who do you think has to take the lead in the next big fight?

What My Fire Path Elder Told Me: A Personal View of the Scalebound Culture

Who are you?

You are Chain Firespinner, the first Scalebound to be born with a twin not of this realm. When word of such births became known, we Elders despaired, thinking perhaps we existed in only this place, and should remain behind to guard the way so that our enemies may not follow the others to the new lands. Your birth, along with several others, has given us hope that there are others like us in new lands. It was a difficult decision, but we have decided to travel with the fleet to continue our roles as protects and dragon slayers, since dragons must exist in these new lands.

You have been assigned an important position under the Master of the Watch; it is your duty, when not called on to a hunt, to maintain watch for the fleet, and use your master of the Fire Path to signal other ships when there is a threat, or danger. You are young yet, and brash, even for our kind, and I do not feel you fully understand sacrifice yet. But I trust you will bring honor to our people in your duty. Your martial and magical skills will one day be put to the test, it is a difficult to master one path, let alone two.

Who are we?

We are the Scalebound, inheritors of the draconic essence and power in the slaying of that great enemy. We sacrifice what we were before, to become that which is necessary to defend ourselves and other people from the depredations of the dragons. We are warriors, ready to battle the most fearful of beasts, honor bound to defend one another and perform our assigned roles in the hunt. If even one of us falters in our duty, the whole hunting group will suffer death. We are the guides, and protectors of the other peoples, using the draconic essence within us to sense the weakening of the floating islands before it is too late for those that dwell upon it.

What makes us great?

Despite the grim fate of the Prison of the Scale that awaits us all, we live our lives to the fullest, with passion and enthusiasm. We advantage of the opportunities offered to us now, so that we may not waste time of regrets later, for the next hunt may be our last. We are strong warriors, whether martially, or walking the Path of Fire, and experts in working together to achieve our goals. We are skilled in crafting many things from the bodies of our great foe, especially in the use of the beast's scales to armor ourselves further against them. And when the time comes and one of our brethren is trapped in the Prison of Scale, we free them so that they may begin the cycle anew.

Where do we live?

We live aboard the great skyship the X, and several other ships that follow it. We once long ago lived on the ground, but our place was one of the first to fall away into the void and we became nomads of the skies. We now travel the skies looking for our great enemy, and other lands who fate will be changed by the sinking of their own lands.

How do we live?

We live life exuberantly, striving for success and self improvement. We do not brood upon our failures but turn our energies into improving ourselves so that we do not fail again. We are honest with ourselves and others, not hiding our joy or anger, and ask for what we need clearly and without reservation. Trust those whom you have just met, until they give you cause not to.

We are few, so it is important that your find a mate and marry as soon as possible. Love passionately. Children are rare and difficult for us, due to our nature and the draconic essence within us, so cherish them. Do not waste time with dalliances with other races, for they can produce nothing. There are many Scalebound souls waiting to rejoin us.

Fight hard, and live well, and know that when your burden becomes to great to bear, your people will release you to rejoin us again in our great battle.

What is important in my life?

The value of sacrifice, respect the sacrifices of others as well as your own peoples. Keeping your word. Performing your role to the best of your ability, and following the hunt leader's orders. Improving yourself to increase that ability so that you may serve the needs of the hunt better, and more Scalebound may survive. Protect and guide those who need protection of all races. And freeing the souls of our brethren who are trapped in the Prison of Scale.

Who rules us?

A council of elders such as I rule the clan, making the decisions to guide our peopls across the sky. I, of course, am the Elder of the Fire Path, of using the draconic essence within us...their fire, to create magic of the flames. Then there is the Elder of the Hunt, who organizes the great hunts when we find our enemy. He chooses which of our people has the honor going into battle against our foe. The Elder of the Sky guides and maintains our wandering homes, while the Elder of Scale handles the spoils of our hunts, dispersing them among our craftsmen and traders to be used for the good of the Scale bound.

Finally, there is the Elder of the Prison, the judge of those Scalebound who have absorbed too much draconic essence. He determines if a Scalebound is soon to be imprisoned within the Scale, their mind trapped now perpetually between Scalebound and Dragon, and needs to be freed and released, and reborn anew.

What makes a person great?

Loyalty and honor to your hunt mates, defending them with your life, performing you role in battle. Courage to face our face our great enemy and stand strong. Sacrifice, if necessary to save lives.

What is evil?

Dragons are evil, rapacious creatures who exist merely to destroy and plunder, they have no honor, and must be destroyed. Cowardice is evil, hunters must be able to rely on each other at work together, if one Scalebound flees, the whole hunt may be destroyed. By the same token, glory seeking is evil, a form of selfishness that also puts the hunt at risk.

What is my lot in life?

You have many difficult choices ahead of you, young Scalebound. You have chosen a difficult path for yourself in attempting to master both a martial and magical path. And, you have had a difficult path thrust upon you as well by your unprecedented birth. You are one of the hopes of our people, our guide to our peoples of this new land. Because of this, you may be called upon to make great sacrifices, which I expect you to bear.

I have seen to it that you be placed in a position with the Master of the Watch for our fleet. With your fire magics, and skill in riding the wyvern, you are well suited for watching for threats and signaling the fleet if danger should appear.

How do we deal with others?

Truthfully and honestly, until it is proven that they are not worthy of that trust. If you need something from others, state it clearly and forthrightly, waste not time on hints or innuendo.

Who are our enemies?

Our main enemy is the dragon, evil, selfish beats who we have fought since we were created. Velsha and Velshe of course, are in the vanguard of those dragons that hunt us, as we hunt them. There are those among us who want to remain behind, to prevent those two from following us to the next realm, but we Elders have forbidden it. Who knows what new dangers will face us. We will need all our strength to face the dragons of these new lands.

Who are our gods?

Since we were created after the gods gathered their races to them, we have no god to speak for us. Honor and respect all of the gods, for since we have none to speak for us, they may be apt to interfere with our duties otherwise. If at all possible, simply avoid them, and their agents. We have our tasks, and they have theirs.

What is there to do around here?

There are many things to do aboard this ship, and the other ships of the Scalebound. I have kept you too long under my wing teaching you of the Fire Path, you should go and make more friends among our people. Find a girl. Speak with the other Elders and learn their wisdom as well. Or you could fly the wyvern across to the other ships and meet with the other Watchers and their peoples. No time to waste in lounging about, now go!

Two Successful GM Tricks from Changeling

My Changeling the Lost game continues apace- I thought I’d share a couple of things I did recently as a GM which worked pretty well and might be adaptable for others.

Adding in After the Fact
The campaign has been going on for over two years now, but we’ve also changed the line-up of players significantly. When I’d established the structure of the city- two parallel and somewhat competing Courts, I’d left a few things out that would have been nice. I’d established neutral ground for each of the Courts in their own Hollows, and had a shared meeting space in a renovated Church building. That came out of the loss of the previous shared Court Hollow (a plot thread that’s now coming back). But those spaces have a formality to them, and I wanted a more casual watering hole. This was the kind of thing that would have come up earlier in the campaign, and if I mentioned it now it would have felt out of place- mostly to me- I suspect the players would have bit easily.

One of the things I’ve done is not establish the names/identities of every Changeling in the Freehold. I have more than half identified, but I keep a floating pool of others. That way I can bring them up, establish that the players know of them, but don’t know them well. A few sessions ago, one of the players took up the role of the Herald to the Court of Rust. Each Court has a Herald whose job it is to know how to get ahold of Court members and to pass word to them when necessary. That keeps things relatively decentralized and protected. In any case, I established a couple of Changelings the PC hadn’t been able to track down. One of them I named Absinthe Recurse, a ‘conceptual’ Elemental. People couldn’t exactly describe what she was an elemental of- she would just pop up as if she’d always been there. I imagined her as a kind of reality fragment- I suspect echoing some ideas from Grant Morrison’s The Invisibles and Doom Patrol*. Recurse hadn’t been seen in some time. That was the first and last mention of her (the image there is the one I used for her- found on Deviant Art created by Ferlancer).

In any case, I several sessions later, I started the game with them going down to Recurse’s bar/pub as they’d planned to. There was some entertainment, other Changelings were there and the news and rumors of the day got batted around. It was a good scene- and it took the players a couple of minutes to realize that this bar hadn’t always been there, though it felt like it had. This was opening night, but Recurse’s nature stretched the existence of it back- at least in their memories. The recalled holiday parties there, the time Hopscotch Takebacks got sick from eating tainted fries, the band which had played there last week. It ended up well- and now I’ve got a retconned central, neutral ground hangout for the Changelings that builds on their inherent strangeness.

I’ve used a variation on this in the past- where something rewrites reality and I play it off with a straight face for a while. The disconnect between player and character knowledge helps this. It also helps if you have a table with some players who might not be as plugged in to the events of the game. A number of years ago, in a fantasy campaign, I started mentioning an NPC who was with the group. Some people nodded, but a couple of others looked puzzled. One player after a session or two asked where that NPC had come from, and I spun a little story of events that he (the player didn’t remember). Other players let it go, but eventually they did manage to uncover that events had been rewritten and managed to fix things.

New Roles
I had another trick I come off fairly successfully this last session. I suspect other GM’s use, but it had been a while since I had and I was reminded of how well it could work. Leo, a Beast Changeling recently emerged from the Hedge, was asked by his Prince to train a few members of his Court, the Court of Gardens. Leo, more in-tune with his Beastly nature might be able prepare them. The Prince feared that these three had become a little soft, given the relative safety of the Freehold. The shadows of conflict had begun to gather and he wanted his people as ready as possible.

Leo took time over the course of a couple of sessions to meet and interact with them. Many-Lost-Quills tuned out to be a kind of hipster Bird-Beast working at the last remaining record store in town. When she reacted to the offer of training with little enthusiasm, Leo pulled up all of his beastly form and sent her running. Face down in the mud and muck by the dumpster, she agreed she would train. The second, Cinder, an Elemental of Smoke, agreed as he wanted to get along better with the Court. The last, Abyssinian Max, a Cat Beast with a gambling habit, tried to buy Leo off- with very bad results. So we had a nice mix of natures and details.

At the end of a session, I set up that Leo arrived at a local park to meet up with the three. Max and Quills showed up. As they were waiting at the start of a trail, Leo’s phone rang. It was Cinder, apologizing for having sold him out. In the distance, Leo heard the sound of guns being cocked. And that’s where I ended that session.

At the start of the next session, I started out there, with Leo and his two trainees. I gave quick notes and Contract details to the other two players, making them play Quills and Max. They’d already seen Leo interact with these NPCs at the table, so they had a fairly distinct sense of their personality. We jumped into things fast with overwhelming foes, a sniper in the trees, and a desperate chase through the woods. The scene had extra tension for a couple of reasons. First, since these were NPCs being played as PCs, the players expected me to really try to kill them. And I did try- hard- putting holes in them, nearly drowning one- blinding them even as they had a pack of maniac Hobgoblin woodcutters hot on their heels. Leo, on the other hand, found himself caught between his desire to hunt down and kill the ringleaders of the attack and protecting the people he’d been brought to train. Everyone survived and the group killed a couple of recurring bad guys, although one they really hate managed an escape.

It was a good sequence, with a great deal of tension. But the additional benefit came out of all of the players now having a new affection and appreciation for these two formerly background NPCs. They gains sense of their roles and abilities, in part shaped by the players’ choices. Given that Changelings are often by nature reticent to open up- it provided a great opportunity. All of the players had key scenes, and Leo was able to revel in his role. I wouldn’t have done this kind of switch up play early in a campaign, but I think it works with good players and players who have settled into their own character’s personality enough that they could have fun doing something different.

*Remind me to mention how I believe the first Seaguy mini-series is an excellent example of a kind of Changeling durance in the Hedge.

Presenting another in the series of PC-written cultural backgrounds for the upcoming Last Fleet campaign. The first can be found here and general notes on the characters can be found here

What my Path Master Told Me: A Personal View of White Elven Culture

Who are you?

I am a White Elf, my name is Whet Bloodlace. I have just turned 23 years old. I am in my 18^th year of my Path of Mastery of firearms. Sword and Dueling pistols are my chosen weapons. I am a competent scout and soldier. I earned my Silver Star two years ago while serving with our outriders that protect our land from incursion, I am the youngest to ever receive the star. My parents were so proud that they through me a grand celebration. After the party, Captain Selsystain, presented me with a gift. An egg from the clutch of his Great Marble Blue Wyvern the pride of the outriders. Its strength and speed are rarely matched and its coloring make it that much more rare. I was humbled by such a gift. Many would lay a fortune at his feet for such a prize. Later that summer his gift doubled when the egg hatched and I became the owner of a young White and Blue Speckle a coloring just as rare as his Marble Blue. I named her Velsari it is old tongue for Wind’s kiss.

My mother, Venoice, is the powerful High Priestess of Yethendrial, the Elven Goddess of Nature and Fortune. She is known throughout the kingdom as one of the Three Bereft Sisters. My father, Steel, was a designer of great skyships, he was a strong man and fought for his beliefs, a trait that he instilled in both of my sisters and myself. It was this will to fight for his beliefs that took him to the Island of Sealadusk. Where he was to lead a demonstration against the government there, for using the souls of extra planar elementals to form magistone. My father was on the stairway of the Capital building when the sky tore open and the forces of Sunforge struck. They crushed and destroyed the island itself none survived.

Who are we?

We are the White Elves. We are the finest magi and warriors the world has ever known. We are a force of influence, guidance and protection, a light in the darkness. Many of our people are bound by oaths to uphold the law and to help our fellow man. Years ago our people became the shield that protected the others who lived in the forest with us. Turning back numerous enemies who would make slaves or food of our neighbors and us.

It was later that we sought to build cities to better protect them and others from attackers. We didn’t build fortresses like the Dwarves of old. We built cities, wondrous works, defensible and stunning to behold. Great palaces pulled from the ground by our magi. Incorporating earth and nature in its design became the hallmark of the White Elves, in all things. From the elegant flow of a blade to great buttresses flanking a palace wall. It is our way of repaying the world that for so many years has taken such great care of our people. Nothing wasted, or over used, everything has its place.

Our people have seen slavery and death at the hands of others. It is from these lessons that we’ve learned that no man should own another. It was this lesson that turned our people all those years ago, to separate from even other elves and if needs be go to war with them to save another race from being enslaved.

You ask, who are we; I answer you with this. Our people are the soul of this world. Beautiful and frightening, we are the reflection of this world.

What makes us great?

When we are very young we are taken before a Master Fatespinner. The Fatespinner then recommends a path and Master to begin our training on a path of mastery of our own. A lifetime of schooling and training begin. Few are assigned two paths to be walked and the student to ultimately choose. The benefits of beginning the training at such an early age can be seen in our architecture, our art and music and our enemies will attest to the skill our warriors. I my self had several notable sets of Ork tusk on my wall.

We are the chosen people of this world, its champions. With such a great responsibility to one so deserving, we must make every attempt to succeed.

Where do we live?

We lived in the city Thelendrious (City by the Sea) its spiraled walkways and glass domed buildings a marvel to behold truly a shining jewel on the great Inland Sea of Myncial (God’s tear). Its spires and banners can be seen for miles around and its harbor a city in its own right, is the largest in all of Freespar. Thousands called this place home and haven.

Freespar is a large, lush and beautiful Island. Since its first settling thousands have followed. All have found a welcoming portion of Freespar. Our brothers the Lunar Elves who prefer the deep leaf covered canopy of the forest, the free packs of Wolfen. Even the human noble house of Van Deu has a settlement here. All of us have combined to make this place what it is.

How do we live?

In times of old we hunted, farmed and fished the lakes and seas. So much of our lives now are dependent upon commerce with other cities and races of people. Buying and selling others' goods, we improve others' way of life. We hold several alliances with kingdoms of men and elves and even the tribal race of Wolfen know us as friends. We stand united against the dark of this land, but I suppose that is how the kingdom grows not how we live.

We live the way we always have. We find peace and acceptance of others through the mastering of our various paths. Then go on to use you those skills on behalf of our people in whatever way we can. Our architects are hired out all over the kingdom, creating their works of art. Even in these times of relative peace, our warriors form small bands and lend their aid to far away island kingdoms to help hone their skill and better spread our names.

What is important in my life?

It is important for me to finish out my Path of Mastery and attain the title of Master. Then to go on and continue to serve my people well.

To attend my grieving mother and sisters and to see my father’s name properly remembered and his life avenged. See to my duties with the outriders to the best of my ability.

Who rules us?

The city of Thelendrious is also the seat of the White Elven throne. Lord Iirendaal assisted by the Council 9 write, enforce and live by the law. I saw him once, it was during the Year Turn celebration when my squad of Outriders were chosen as his honor guard during his speech. Though he was obviously in the twilight of his years his handshake was still strong and unwavering. The title of Lord is hereditary and has belonged to the Iirendaal House since the founding of Freespar. The people vote the Council 9 into office, the nominees are selected from the various duties and guild houses of the kingdom. The Council 9 is divided into 3 groups of 3. The Elders are the 3 with the most seniority, the Stewards are the 3 with next seniority and lastly the Journeyman. Every 3 years a new group of Journeyman is voted in, while the 3 Elders step down and the existing Stewards ascend to become the new Elders. No one is allowed to be voted into the Council more than once.

What makes a person great?

Finishing ones particular Path of Mastery, and attaining the title of Master is certainly a large step in greatness. However it takes more than that, using what you have learned to better serve our people can make you great.

The completion of a great undertaking for the people can make you great. Such as my father’s designs for the new sky skiffs to be used for the Elven Navy, to many people, this made him great. However to me, he was a strong man, in body, mind and soul, a good father and worthy friend. He loved his wife and children deeply and genuinely care for our people, this made him great.

What is evil?

We believe that there is good and evil in all things. It is the decision to remain conscious of this, that separates us from darker races. Murder, Slavery to hold false evidences against someone knowingly. These things are evil. This list goes on, but I have not the time, nor the will to dwell on such things.

How do we deal with others?

I think that as a whole the White Elves are more welcoming to strangers if they are presented or introduced by a trusted friend of the Elves. The act of being spoken for is a long and honored tradition to us. Past events have made us leery of new comers. We are slow to trust new people, and prefer to keep them at arm’s length until both, trust and respect have been mutually earned. This is often misread as arrogance or coldness. However once that trust has been earned they are welcomed as family.

Who are our enemies?

Here in Freespar it seems that we are pitted against the Gak’tur, a clan of large red skinned Orks, with a set of forward facing tusk. They occupy the northern mountain ridge about three days ride northwest of Thelendrious. They dwell in the caves of the mountains, with only a few small nomadic groups above ground as scouts, we believe. They seem skilled in leather working and woodcraft. They are strong and thick-skinned, to underestimate one on the charge is a deadly mistake. They ride large dark reptiles that should not be overlooked, I know more than one outrider who was sent to an early grave by the bite of those beast.

Only recently a plot was uncovered by one of Lord Iirendaar’s men. A human male was killed while trying to steal one of the Souldeath Blades from the royal armory. Once the body was searched an envelope found on him revealed instruction from another conspirator. It appears we have another enemy but do not know his name.

Who are our gods?

We as a people ask the favor of several Gods

*Yethendrial- Goddess of Nature and Fortune

*Yethena- Goddess of Night and Celebration.

Las’Endryai- God of Glory and Battle.

Ophias – God of Secrets and Doom. (Typically depicted masked)

Yeilthen – God of Magic and Knowledge

(among others)

* are twins.

What is there to do around here?

Here in the citadel of Thelendrious there is much to do. There are plenty of markets with all manner of goods and once a week the Plaza opens itself to traders from around the realm. If it is a more cultural experience you are looking for then worry not. Several libraries and theaters can be found along the Boldoon River in the Arts District, each of the playhouses running a variety of productions depending upon your taste. I do recommend taking in the play “ Red Sky”. It takes into its scope many of today’s topics, political and more, with a bit of prophetic ending if I do say so myself. If your taste run a bit more to the action oriented then you must visit the High Arena. It has become home to our Sky Jousting Tournaments. Fast action, riders mounted on wyverns while armed with Static Lances. Both solo (one on one) and team events can be seen. The team events can be quite exciting. You would be hard pressed to find better sky jousting anywhere in the realm.

Directing the Game (Part Three: fini)

The Third Act!
In a the last couple of posts (here and here), I've talked about linkages- echoes of some of Hida Mann's great comments on what games run by certain directors might look like (his list again: Hida's Top Ten: Directors You Wish Were Running A Game For You). And I find the language of cinema useful in describing a scene or coming up with a structural idea. However, some things don't carry over as well between the two mediums.

POV and Hidden Knowledge
For example, RPGs are at heart, a first person presentation. The GM describes the scene, situations and events for the players and they react to them. The players have the odd role of being both the audience and the protagonists of the events. On the other hand, cinema can show us what's happening away from the protagonists. We see the development of the threat- know what they're facing, know what they're walking into, get the revelation of the existence of a traitor, know that's there's a bomb in the house. All of these things ratchet up the tension. That's more difficult to do at the table. I've seen GMs cut away to scenes or vignettes happening away from the players. They often provide some nice atmosphere- but actually create more confusion. I've used them as prologue breaks between chapters of games, often writing up little stories. But this technique puts the player in a bind, creates confusion. Do they actually know that's going on? If not, then how are these supposed to act on the information? Again, the inherent signal/noise problem of the gaming table makes this worse. I'm not sure how to do this well except through scrying, visions, or the like- which do give the players information. But that becomes an entirely different kind of method instead of just an emotive one.

As a result certain kinds of plots- like traitors, hidden bombs, allies surprisingly in peril- have to be handled from the point of where the players actually learn the information. I think in many ways that changes the weight of those moments.

And Then The Cat Leapt Out!
As a parallel, I'd point out the classic technique of cinema: objects of import in frame briefly, things passing through the frame outside the protagonist's view and even things sneaking up on them. You can't really do that in a game. In a movie, those things create tension because we see something the hero doesn't- we want to warn them, we jumped, we feel the dread of the moment. On the tabletop, once a player's been told something, they react to it- you can't tell them to wait or get to get caught unless you want an irritated player. A good player will, from time to time, go along with a loss of autonomy in favor of drama- but it isn't something a GM ought to count on or abuse. So you have to do other slow build methods, mention they hear or see something indistinct or else have the things leap out at them. The classic is to describe something in normal terms, but when they get up close reveal that it is in fact more horrible than the commonplace thing they thought it was- so something looks blurry, but then comes into awful, mind-blasting focus.

Related to this is the question of pointing at something in frame. As I mentioned earlier, most players understand the economy of GM descriptions: generally things which get mentioned specifically most often have weight. A great GM can maintain a level of rich detail so that the important details thrown in for the future don't immediately stand out like a sore thumb. I'm only rarely a great GM- most of the time I'm a good GM, and I can see the players eye light up when they've caught what I was trying to slip by them in passing. Subtle foreshadowing at the table can be hard.

Re-Reading
Cinema, and all media have different levels of replicability or "permanence." An rpg session is fairly impermanent, even with extensive note-taking. Leaving aside those who record and pod-cast their sessions, most of the time a particular moment of a game will only live on in recalled details and oft-told tales. On the other hand, mediums with greater permanency can provide layers of detail within each frame which can be rewatched, caught and appreciated. It's part of what makes watching a great movie rewarding- and I'm not just talking about spectacle, but catching how the director has set things up and provided second stories. I think comic books and graphic novels provide one of the best medium for this: static images which can be examined, but combined with a forward moving plot or story. The comics I most enjoy have a couple of layers of ideas (visual or textual) which happen throughout. I stole that point a little from my friend Gene Ha, the artist. We had an editor suggest not bothering with references and the like as they got in the way. We might have been talking about different things- but I think good and meaningful visual devices reward rereading. But I'm hard-pressed to imagine a tool like that for a role-playing game- without invoking another medium. A good prop or handout could reward such examination- but those things present a solitary reader-viewer experience.

It Goes to Eleven
Yes, you have an unlimited FX budget in rpgs. However that doesn't mean you have to use it. I enjoy going epic, but sometimes being restainted can be a nice contrast. In regards to Hida's list, I mentioned before that I'm not a big fan of Zack Snyder. I think he's illustrative of a new kind of approach to cinema: spectacle and flash without substance. Or there may be substance, but there's no real escalation of the emotional stakes. How do you show the build up- how do you show development? How do you ratchet up the tension and move to bigger and better things. That isn't an issue of quality or quantity: but content of the event. I think that's part of what bothers me about the limitations of Challenge Ratings, mechanics heavy and point systems so much. I want to see players face overwhelming things and defeat them. That's not a balance question, so much as a drama one. However, I also need some break time, I need a rising arc of challenges and so on. If every moment and scene is an absolute blow-out extravaganza boss-fight super-excellent-sweet-ninja-fun-time sequence, how do you top that?

Moment to Moment

"Chris Wisniewski expands on a quote from Sergei Eisenstein ("Cinema is, first and foremost, montage."), and makes a pretty spot-on expansion of the importance of cuts and editing: "For Eisenstein, it's not just that the juxtaposition of two images or shots can be meaningful in the hands of the right filmmaker; it's that cinema is images, sounds, and moments of time colliding with each other to produce new meanings. The cut is not simply one cinematic tool among many; it is the essential characteristic of cinema." -Monika Bartyzel

Cinema places an emphasis on transitions and cuts. Jump Cuts, Smash Cuts, Split Screen, Montage, Visual Match Cuts, Audio Match Cuts, Dissolves- mu first instinct had been to say that rpgs can't use those. But the more I think about it, the more I wonder if those could be put into play by the GM when describing the events. Most of the time, I expect we're showing everything in the frame (mise-en-scene to use that term badly). I mentioned the earlier the creating unity of experience in a combat scene. But that could be contrasted with a chaotic and fast approach- where you describe smash cutting from one player to the next, leaving them with little idea of the grand scheme of things. Divided parties could be, I think, with difficulty described with split-screen. An audio link could be created- perhaps the falling to death of a bad guy in one scene fades into a scream for joy at the celebration which follows. I'm not saying it would be easy, and it might be a little too artificial, but it might be worth it.


Too Many Cooks
Most rpgs have multiple protagonists, working together. Movie films focus on single protagonists- or if you have multiple protagonists, they have unequal weight or they're dealt with mostly in separate scenes. Novels usually follow that lead depiction of groups: usually Main + "sidekick" or if the characters are of relatively equal weight, then usually get separated or else handled with changing perspective. I think that's one of the keys and difficulties to rpgs- considering who the protagonists are and how you handle multiple hero quests.

Three More Directors
Finally, three directors not on Hida's list and their games:

Sam Peckinpah: Only runs Wild West games or else D&D 4e, but without "all those fruity non-humans and magic fairy crap." When a player suggests they might talk instead of starting a fight, Peckinpah reaches across the table and slaps him for being girly. All the PCs die in the final session of every campaign.

Yasujirō Ozu: Group spends several session buying equipment, talking with the local towns-people, coming to an understand of their role and place in the world. When the group goes to leave any town, one PC invariably ends up choosing to remain there to join their simple life.

Luis Buñuel: You don't know from session to session what genre or system you're going to be playing. You suspect that the premise of the game is that you're playing out the dreams of a dog dying in the gutters of Al Amarja.

fin

What My Oldest Told Me: A Personal View of Nocturne Goblin Culture

As I mentioned in an earlier post, all of the players for the Last Fleet campaign put together cultural backgrounds for their characters. I had them use the Glorantha question template "What My Father Told Me." They took several different approaches- I thought I'd share a couple of them over a couple of posts.

What My Oldest Told Me: A Personal View of Nocturne Goblin Culture
Who are you?
Macky Squint to my old friends, though there’s fewer every week it seems, and twin to the Estimable Lady Maddy who, bless her, is still around to bend my ear; to the Nocturne Tribunal, I’m the Master Fitter of Drek-Sable Tunnels, just so you know I’m not a nobody beyond this place, and, a’ course, First Greater Uncle to you, little missy. Where’d you get those ridiculous boots?

Who are we?
Dirt and weeds, child! What sort of question is that? We’re the Drek-Sable Gobbos! Orange and green are our colors and we stomp the squish out of our foes, soon as we get them knocked down, that is. Stomping’s the easy part, of course. Or would be, if you weren’t wearing such spindly- heeled boots. Did you get those from some faerie door-to-dooring it? Because we put up signs. No faeries selling frippery. No buying faerie frippery. Sumthin’ like that. You read the signs, right?

We’re law-abiding Nocturne and don’t you forget it. No wild’uns here and no forgetting that you’re expected to read the signs.

What makes us great?
Great? How much wax you got in them ears of yours? Haven’t I drug you through the ups and downs to see the mushroom caves and the squidling nests and the workrooms for re-fitting of the brass and copper and iron bit-bobs that we do. Drek-Sable uses what others think ain’t good no more...and makes it better’n it was before. We don’t need much, so we always have extra. And our mushrooms are the very best.

And ‘course, we got the knack for cajoling the machines. Anyone’s got a gun...they’re prolly carrying Drek-Sable work and they paid stone to have a Drek-Sable mesh ‘em up to that shooter.

But most of all, it’s the Sky Squid, little girly. Ain’t nobody can help but admire a well-trained & meshed Sky Squid.

Where do we live?
We’re lucky like this...most of our neighbors are Nocturne, so we ain’t got to worry about people tromping through our up-top gardens. Drek-Sable is the northwesterly uppish third of the Last Mountain tunnels. We picked this spot up after the Dwarves vamoosed to go flying around and got themselves killed. Not sure where we were before...but this is pretty fine so I don’t worry on it too much.

Anyways, we got the Orcs below in the foothills...they have to put up with more people traipsing over their celery. As you know, our tunnels and their tunnels make a real nice highway all the way to the edges south and east on good ol’ Last Mountain. There’s a passel of Trolls set up in the Northeasterly tunnels some years back- they been working on a great big ship in the fissure for the Counsel and I go help with that sometimes- suggestions and pulleys and what-not..

How do we live?
Heh. Ok, I’m on to you. This is some sorta pretending-ta-be-an-idiot game. You distracting me from something I ought to be noticing? Best not be or I’ll hide you when I catch you and yours up to it.

How do we live? Hmph. Ok...I’ll play along. Drek-Sable are pretty smart—so we work hard to only do things we like doing. Mostly we like puzzling things out and filling up containers with things it’s nice to have. We got plenty of stone, so anyone wants to be a magic user just loads up with that and goes downhill to train with the Orcs to learn Forgiveness of Stone. That’s good stuff. Food and hitting hard...that’s what all that’s about. So the mage-y types come back and putter around with the gardens and the orchards and the kitchens and the pantries and the mushrooms. And if the Orcs get into some big ol’ fight, sometimes they’ll go watch that and buff up the Nocturne lads. We’re team-players, the Drek-Sable.

Lessee...if you’re more of a puzzly sort, you make stuff or you remake stuff or you figure out how to get a machine to mind you or how to mind someone else...which is much harder. And you hold on to the best things you make or remake or mesh, if they’re a good fit...and eventually you’ve got a nice little kit of doohickeys that are, well, pretty much who and what you are. Be sure to get yourself a Sky Squid if you get the chance. You gotta get on the waiting list, you know...and even then, you might not pass muster with any of the Squidlings. Some people don’t. But you’re niece to me and Lady Maddy, so you’ll probably have the sort of stink they like.

Other than that, it’s pretty much same as everyone. Eat & sleep as necessary, have some kids eventually...if for no other reason than the sheer comedy of the early years.

What is important in my life?
How do I know? You’re supposed to figure that out yourself. It’ll probably be magic or making- and it’ll definitely be filling up containers. That’s how we are. Just remember, we got it easy because we’re smart...so if ever things get not-so-easy, you got to get smarter. That’s the Drek-Sable way.

Who rules us?
Uhhh. Listen kid. You listen to your elders, you’ll be okay. We listen to whatever Nocturne muckity-whosit has got hisself a quorum and we play along. We can afford to do that. The big guys keep a lot of un-Nocturne greedy sorts from trying anything funny. And they don’t ask that much because they think we can’t do much since we’re little. That’s just fine.

What makes a person great?
Smarts. Lots of full containers. And a Sky Squid impresses everyone, kiddo.

What is evil?
Belligerent ignorance. Boredom. Hurting your twin. Prolly some other things, but those’re the ones I’ve seen and I don’t like them one bit.

What is my lot in life?
Well, if you choose magic, I understand you got to go live with the Orcs for a bit and they’re big on calisthenics and hitting stuff. So you’d expect some sore muscles and maybe some bruises and a whole lot of memorizing. But you eat well. Then you come back to the Tunnels and get on with the gardens and the pantries.

If you choose the making or the re-making, then you just go from workroom to workroom until you find one that’s got an opening for something you’re able to do. And you get to doing it. From there, you learn more things from that workroom and later you can pick up and move on if you want or stick there and master that work ‘til you’re the Master of the room. If you got the spark for meshing, you’ll figure it out along the way. It’s just how it’s done.

How do we deal with others?
We trade more than fairly. Most people feel like they get a good bargain from the Drek-Sable...so they like to trade with us. Only thing we charge dear for is meshing outsiders up with machines. We got to charge high for it- most of the time, they’re meshing up weapons. Don’t want to make that too easy...or they’ll figure they can turn them on us.

If things get dicey, we always got Nocturne. The big guys- and they’re all big to us, ain’t they?- they take care of us when we need someone to cast a more intimidating presence...and we take care of them when they need...well, about anything other than muscle. Now, it ain’t that they can’t do all these things we do, it’s just that we do them better and faster and there’s more of us doing them than they got among their number. So we don’t look down on any of ‘em.
Civilization is about specialization, after all.

Who are our enemies?
Y’mean, who do we get right to the stompin’ with should we meet them? There aren’t that many all-the-time foes. We’ve tangled with everyone the rest of Nocturne has tangled with one time or another- which is pretty much the catalog of known races. But that’s all of a time and place. Consistent-wise, there’s a couple elven races that have some bias against all dark races- so they just tend to be all stupid and combative right from the get-go. No need to hesitate with them. You can recognize those ones by their ears...blue-tipped or with gold veining--or by the arrow through the fellow next to you. Just get right to pelting them with your shooter.

Who are our gods?
Pigeon poop, child! Did you just say that out loud? Don’t be shaming your family that way! Firstways, because you know perfectly well that we Gobbos got first pick in the God lottery- though you best not go telling anyone else about that- you oughter know bettern’ pretending like you don’t know who we picked first- and then who we gots at the end as the price for going first...though we worked that one pretty clever-like by pretending we’d be all so upsettish.

Ugh. You really are acting daft. Fine.

First, there’s Old Dark- he’s the father of the all the dark races. We had first pick...and we had to pick him. We’re team players. Plus, he’s a fine gentleman from way back- full of letters and laws and ways of seeing into the night and the deep and pulling all the good things outta those sorts of places. And...well...though it can get a little confusing with the family trees, it’s nice to have a proven soul-maker among the trio, if you know what I mean.

Somewhere between first and the price, we picked up Klien Mien. Not a bad sort. Loves puzzles, so we get on just fine, us Goblins & Klien Mien. He/she’s a real mind-smacker though. Paradox more than puzzle- and answers that take a long time to understand, even once you’ve seen ‘em. And of course, he/she’s masked. All the Miens are masked. So you know what means- everything’s a riddle and a guessing game and a who-knows-who’s-knocking-at-the-door. But I like to think Klien Mien makes us better meshers...and keeps us on our toes.

And of course, little Miss Price. Heh. Dayza Laughs-In-Light. Looks for all the heavens like the original Elf lady. Was once the great beauty of the Celestial Court of Elfly Kind, I hear tell. She got herself on the wrong side of the stick-something about an ill-timed temper tantrum when the Bureaucracy came crashing through her boudoir with their new rules & regulations. Anyway, someone higher up in the decision-making process made it their mission to see to it that Dayza wasn’t gonna get herself back in cozy and comfortable with her chosen peoples. So, poor thing, as I hear it, they made her wear a horrible visage on the draft day. Of course, none of those elves recognized her, so they picked out their Gods of Apples and Pretty Horses and Shiny Hair like usual and passed her up over and over. She was pretty disheartened.

But it got worse-the last picks were coming up and one of the miffed muckity-mucks who was steamed because the Gobbos got first pick made it clear we had to take the last one. Well, Old Dark always was an optimist and a planner, so he grabbed Klien Mien who he knew was part of Team Goblin by then and went sneaking through the ranks of the leftovers looking for the best of the dross. ‘Course, Klien saw right though Dayza’s visage and after a pantomime that pissed off both Old Dark and Laughs-In-Light, Dark got so pissed, he smacked Klien. Dayza laughed...and well, Old Dark recognized THAT. You know.

So they struck a deal. Of a sort. That they mostly stick to. But first he made sure no one else would pick her first- so that’s why you always see the little parade of skunks behind her.

...but anyway...she’s pretty much a constant pain in the ass on anything pragmatic, but she handles a lot of up-top things and daylight things. Old Dark likes it down below and night anyway. Klien pretty much gives both of them a headache, so they always have something they agree on.

I just wish she’d stop letting those faeries sneak in here to sell their foolish junk.

What is there to do around here?
Okay...I’ve had enough of this horsing around. If there’s one thing about a goblin, we’ve got a knack for busy. Get to it or I’m taking down my whumping stick and finding those pals of yours you’re trying to distract me from noticing. I think I hear some right suspicious clinking from the workshop.

Those boots of yours aren’t doing you any favors! I’m gaining on you and then, kid, I’ll show you what there’s to do ‘round here!