Dice Lore: Brennen's Bastion

[Silanon]

This is where I'll add any comon knowledge about the world around you - plus, more importantly, you'll find this rp's rules right here in the first post. Well, not yet - rules should be up by tonight, the lore is currently changing as I weave in your character ideas. I'll have basic infos up before the game starts, and will add important things over time when you stumble across them. If you feel you need more background on something, let me know in the OOC and I'll share it with you here.

Alrighty, the rules:

1) Real life comes first. Sometimes that's annoying, but that's just how things are. There's little one can do if there's suddenly so damn much stuff to do, or if one gets sick, or whatever else might happen. Sometimes you have to leave an rp for reasons that noone needs to know about. Stuff happens. And if it does, let me know. I don't need details, a simple 'won't be able to post for two weeks' or 'I'm out' will do. Via pm, or in the ooc. Simple as that. That's all it takes for us to know if it's alright to post, or if we should better wait another day or two so that you have time to get your thoughts in.

2) Have fun, and let others have fun. That's the reason we're here. There will be points where things don't go smoothly. It happens. Right now, I'm in an rp that probably only still runs because in several moments, people took a deep breath, wrote down their thoughts and worries down, and found a solution together. I'd like to see the same thing here, if it's needed. If something bothers you, let us know. In a constructive manner, so that we don't get an ooc-mess but instead closer to a solution.

3) There's gotta be a third point, right? Can't think of one, but maybe that's because I expect everyone in here to not screw up anything intentionally. Use your common sense and we're good to go. Oh, and the character rules are over in the character sheet part - fitting, isn't it?

 

[Silanon]

Alrighty, just a bit of basic, local geography here. More will be added over time as I fill in the white spaces of the imaginary world map.

From a global perspective, we're in the land of Tarrigin, ruled by King Brennen the Third. In the south, there's been constant war with the being called 'The Mind' for more than a decade. At the moment, the three generals of the King, with the help of the allied Elves of the West, keep things under control - their names are Lord Thorgain Monterrey, Silverspike, and Archbishop Halfwhite, and they're known everywhere in the kingdom. Some pray daily for their well-being - for us, however, they're little more than distant heroes, holding the line far away while we have our own, local struggles to deal with.

We're in the north-east of Tarrigin, far away from the huge cities in its center. The most dominant feature in the area are the mountains in the north; humans call them the Devil Ranges because of the evil named 'the Old Man' that hides on the other side. Grit calls those mountains home instead. They're huge enough that few clouds ever make it past them; thus, the area we're in is a humid, foresty place, whereas the northern side has little more to offer than sand and stone. The Endlessness, as they call the desert; thus far, noone had a reason to prove that name wrong.

On our side, though, there's quite a bit of rain, and where's rain is, there's water. Many small creeks form in the mountain and hills, and sooner or later meet to form the river called 'Northvein'. It runs all the way to the south, ending in the Sea. The river's surrounding area is mostly wild nature, though King Brennen planned to change that; the Bastion named after him was the beginning of a project to civilize the area, but the war in the south drained too many ressources to continue the plan. At this point, the Bastion, as a project, is mostly forgotten. To its east, there's mostly wilderness; wild tribes of humans, elves and goblins, bowing to noone's rules but their own. To the west, there's Brennen's Path, a road that eventually reaches Northcrown. It's seen little traffic over the last decade, though more use it these days, as evil moves to strike from the south.

The south has more trees to offer, then hills lands, swamps and plains, until the Uncrossable Mountains mark the beginning of the Mind's tyranny. There's nomadic tribes, a few small villages, but mostly wilderness. Not an area you'd wish to march through, ever. And yet, that's exactly what the Mind seems to do. Or the troops under its command, at least. An orc warband, closer than many like as there's never been a reason to watch for threats here. Its leader is unknown, up to this point, but peasants always expect the worst. They couldn't know that an unlikely group of four is there to save the day, right?

Globally, Brennen's Bastion is mostly known as a failed project, though some still talk about the magical well in its center. The locals believe that, if the war in the south ever ends, their struggles will find an end as well; though victory seems far away indeed and less likely with every additional cycle, they haven't forgotten that their Lord, Selvyn Monterrey, is a hero's brother, and that Silverspike himself lived here, once, and promised to return.

WIP

 

[Silanon]

Stuff of importance that we discussed ooc:

Spoiler: About Grit's tribe

Alrighty, what do we know thus far about your tribe? We know that it lives in the north of the Bastion, in the mountains there. The northern neighbors are kobolds that do share the brownish grey color of the desert they live in; living in deep caves and tunnels whose origins they themselves might not even know at this point. Lately, they have allied with a dragon; you haven't seen it, and no others have, but your kind knows to read the signs, and your neighbors didn't wait long to spread the news. There's humans and tribes of well-disciplined hobgoblins in the north-east, but they leave you alone for the most part. In the south, there's villages of wood elves, and they mostly leave your tribe alone unless you step too far away from your caves. They seem to accept your presence, but strike whenever your tribe tries to expand after a few good years. The forest is theirs, not yours.

So what does that mean for the tribe? You're not any better than the northern tribe. In fact, if not for them, you would have allied with the dragon yourself. But since being second means being last, your Matriarch, leader of the tribe, would rather explore different options. That's where you come in, I'd assume. In the meantime, you probably live on the way as before, though even more prepared for attacks. The tribe lives in a well-defended area - a few natural caves, but most importantly an old dwarven fortress that might not be in the best state of repair, but filled with traps, scouts and perhaps beasts, tamed by your kind, instead. You live in a relatively strict hierarchy, where age as sign of survival instincts matters, and so does expertise in certain areas. Your talents to pick of different tongues, for example, found both amusement because noone else really needs it, but also respect as it gave you a certain role to fulfill that few others could. For food, your kind hunts on the surface and underground, and finds mushrooms in deep, caves far away from the surface. Maybe those are natural, but the dwarves left perfect conditions for them to spread, building pipes to get water there regularly etc. It's all in a state of disrepair, but your kind is good at improvising, so it's still working, and will work for another long while as long as your kind stays there.
Your kind does mine minerals, and has, for some time, even done some trade with the wood elves - lately, they've gotten their iron and steel from the Bastion, but before that, they asked you for it, though reluctantly.

Lately, after the dragon showed, the desert tribe has tested your defenses - a couple of times by now, and though it is a slow process, it's worrying. Usually, it'd be just a quick clash, but you're entrenched well, and they know it; it's a slow-going war campaign, fighting for every cave and tunnel, then pausing to clear out the deadly hazards your tribe left behind. It'll take a while longer before their attempts will truly threaten your tribe, but at that point you'd rather have your own dragon on your side than fighting theirs in a bunch of narrow corridors that form the heart of your settlement.
In other words, there's time, but it's also of essence.

When the Bastion was built, the humans and their allies did their best to civilize the surrounding area. Together with dwarves, they attempted to retake their old fortress, but failed; underestimating how long your tribe lived there, and how well you knew every little corner there. After that, they left you alone, though they are certainly in constant contact with the wild evles that have an eye on you. Perhaps they'll try to strike once more when they have enough troops, who knows. In fact, you've noticed the arrival of larger regiments of soldiers than usual in the last month or so, and thus the traps on the southern side of your caves are as plenty as those in the north by now. After all, if the dragon you're looking for doesn't deal with your kind, you might be stuck in-between two fighting dragons at some point...

Oh yeah, numbers. It's hard to estimate numbers, you rarely gather in on place. It's always fluctuating, and larger groups might settle down just a few caves farther away to spread through the mountains. Maybe something between 500 and a thousand kobolds, with most of them brilliant minds and fighters if you ask them, and cowards when they're supposed to actually show it.

Maybe will simple call them the Duggers for shorthand or what others might know them. Given their propensity to more greatly favoring hunkering down in their mountain fortress than going on great numbers of raids. But officially they might call themselves Clan Arauthrax, combining draconic names meaning defense/maze/traps/trickery and huge/massive/large. Being proud of their home, and having been able to have defending it against the humans and dwarves.