Throne Trinity
The Color Fiend
Upwind is a setting, and tabletop RPG created by Biohazard Games. I recently received the pleasure of playing this game (despite the fact it's not technically available for purchase yet) and I had so much fun that I've been kicking myself for not funding the Kickstarter since then. So, to satiate my thirst for an Upwind RP until it's official release, I figured I'd make one here.
NOTICE:
This RP won't be available to play for a little while, as I'm still collecting resources and devising a plot, so for the rest of this week I'll probably just post a bunch of stuff in this thread to help build the world and give all of you a better understanding of what Upwind is about. I will say right now, that if you are looking for a gritty and dark RP, this RP is not what you are looking for. Upwind is serious but it's also very lighthearted, and sometimes rather comical.
Any who, bellow I have basic explanations about what the RP is about. Enjoy!
The Setting
Upwind presents a fantastical setting where the remains of a broken world drift as floating islands through a sky divided into the Light and the Dark. The Kin inhabit the skylands of the Kingdoms in the Light while the Children of the Dark dwell far below where the Light does not reach. The Wind is a powerful force energizing the wondrous machines of the Kin and charging the elemental Potential all Kin wield. Lost technology is the currency of the Kingdoms, scavenged from the remnants of the Masters of the Wind - a culture destroyed long ago in the great cataclysm known as the DownFall.
The young civilization of the Kin has been reborn and struggles both with itself and the Children of the Dark as it strives to recover. Wind-powered skyships serve as the lifeblood of trade and the backbone of defense, while exploration, mystery, intrigue and war form the backdrop of the narrative.
The Highlands:
The highlands are huge shards of rock and soil that drift through the air. Their upper surfaces are green with vegetation and dotted with mountains and waterways. Their undersides are broken and jagged, with naked stone eroding into the sky beneath. A few are truly vast, spanning more than a hundred leagues from edge to edge. They support rich ecosystems with high mountains, dense forests, seas, rivers and wild plains. The highlands are home to the Kingdoms in the Light.
The Wind:
The Wind fills the skies between the Light and the Dark. It is a primal force and the source of all elemental power (or Potential). Most Brotherhood Scholars believe it was first unleashed by the Masters of the Wind, an ancient civilization possessed of limitless knowledge and fantastical science. Others believe that the Wind has always been and that the Masters, in toying with something they did not understand, allowed it to destroy their world.
The Dark:
The Dark defies the imagination of any Kin and challenges the hearts of even the bravest Knights. It is a land of eternal shadow where the shade cast by the highlands above blots out the Light and creates an endless black murk that hides ships, landscapes and monsters alike. There is a constant need for vigilance in excess of normal shipboard life. The shadowy world is full of predators that can silently strip a crew member from the deck and highlands that can loom out of the blackness without warning.
Kingdoms in the Light:
The Kingdoms in the Light, or more colloquially the Realms, is a loose alliance of monarchies, theocracies, principalities, republics and other sovereign Kin nations that have historically banded together for purposes of trade and mutual protection against their common enemy – the Children of the Dark.
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The Kingdoms in the Light are split into five realms, each containing its own cities, towns and hamlets. The capital cities are labeled underneath large icons on the shitty map I've made above, important cities are under smaller icons and important towns are marked just as names. There are hundreds of other hamlets, towns and cities spread throughout the Kingdoms in the Light, but the important ones are labeled above. Really I'm just too lazy to make a legitimate map, but fuck it am I right? Also note that this is just a map of the Kingdoms, and most exploration and action will be happening in places beyond this map. Also, Also, I know the map is small, but if you open it up in another tab, you can zoom in a lot. Also, Also, Also, I'm very tired, so I apologize if the following writing seems like it's come from a madman.
Muphis (North-Center): The land of innovation and industry, Muphis is known for it's cutting edge technology and industrialization. Because of this, it's no surprise that any inventor, architect or entrepreneur worth their salt probably learned their trade in one of Muphis' prestigious academies.
Important Cities of Muphis:
- Swinfold: Swinfold is a bustling trade city completely covering the highland it lays upon. The streets are full of market stalls and merchants, each one with with eye catching wares to sell you and silver tongues to sway you out of your last paycheck. Only the bravest of hagglers dare walk down the streets of Swinfold, for the fear of being swindled is too great for the average Kin.
Important Towns of Muphis:
- Addersfield: Known for it's excellent boat and ship production and reconstruction, Addersfield is the place to go when your airship is in need of some stellar repairs or modifications.
- Kilerth: Kilerth is a large, yet humble mining town, at the base of the Jadestrong mountain range. Many precious ores are mined in these mountains, and because of this, many of the Lights greatest metal workers and blacksmiths come from Kilerth.
Cities, Towns and Hamlets of Muphis:
- Tend to focus on production, whether it be for airships, ark technology or any other form of arcantechnology. Very few actually do farming, but instead rely on imports and trades.
Grecesa (Upper-Right): Grecesa is a militant realm that focuses mostly on the strength of it's army and the training of troops, providing most of the soldiers for the Kingdoms in the Light as well as the training grounds for the Explorer Knights recruits. The leader of Grecesa is a recluse and possess very little land in his realm, preferring to keep things very minimalist. However, he's a fantastic leader and is respected by all.
Important Cities of Grecesa:
- None. The only important city in Grecesa is Grecesa.
Important Towns of Grecesa:
- Holbeck: Holbeck specializes in the production and export of military devices. Many inventors and innovators from Muphis who want to specialize in military weaponry find themselves drawn to Holbeck, where the leader of Grecesa keeps their workshops well supplied.
- Northwich: On the surface level, Northwich appears to be a small farming community, but actually serves as a lookout/outpost for the Explorer Knights. In the very center of the town proper, cleverly disguised as a town hall, is an Explorer Knights base that spires through the earth and out the bottom of the highlands into the twilight frontier where eyes can be kept out for marauders and the likes. Equipped with strange telescope like devices, those manning the lookout are able to easily keep watch over the Kingdoms in the Light.
Cities, Towns and Hamlets of Grecesa:
- Focus mainly on simple farming, mining and training.
Frul (Left-Center): Frul is a farming land, rich with fantastic and nutrient packed soils and perfect weather for the growing of a variety of crops. The economy in Frul is booming, and it's considered one of the most humble and positive places to live.
Important Cities of Frul:
- Hole: A large farming city, packed with magnificent markets and bustling bazaars. The Economy in Hole is fantastic, mostly because it's one of the main exports of farmed produce for the Kingdoms in the Light, making it an essential city. However, each year less and less people find themselves in Hole. This could be because of the large sinkhole in the middle of the city that is rapidly expanding, but who really knows.
Important Towns of Frul:
- Landow: A small farming town that has cultivated an entire highland into farms. People from Landow tend to be hard workers who spend most of their days out in the endless fields, cultivating and planting crops.
Cities, Towns and Hamlets of Frul:
- Quaint farming communities with humble country folk and families simply living life
Esilas (Bottom-Left): Known for it's studious populace, Esilas is easily the leading Kingdom when it comes to the study of both the arcane and the mysteries of the Master's of the Wind. In Esilas, grand libraries can be found on almost every streets corner while universities spring up in every neighborhood. Here some of the greatest minds congregate to unlock the mysteries of the old world - from before the DownFall - to aid in the Kin's understanding of the world around them.
Cities of Esilas:
- Doveport: Though not known for any special export, Doveport is home to a grand library that houses one of the most important relics to date, known simply as; "The Saga". The Saga is a huge wall of Master's alloy that is absolutely littered with the writings of the Master's tongue. Though not entirely discernible, both historians and linguists have spent entire cycles of their lives trying to read and translate the writings. Many prophecies have come from The Saga, though most knowledge gained is convoluted and leaves more questions than answers.
Towns of Esilas:
- Berkton: Focusing on education and study, Berkton had garnered many schools and universities in it's time. But none have been around as long, or are as well regarded as Berkton University. Most parents dream that maybe one day their child will be accepted into Berkton University, but for most parents, those will only ever remain dreams. Berkton University also specializes in the analyzing and understanding of Master's Relics, and frequently outsources their study to the Explorer Knights when an unknown relic lands in their hands.
Cities, Towns and Hamlets:
- Focuses on farming, relic production and arcane study.
Shosa: Shosa was never meant to become a Kingdom, but as time went on and the Explorer Knight's grew, the city seems to be able to garner that title. Shosa exists purely to house the Explorer Knights guild, and it's leadership is formed by a council of diplomatic representatives whom each hail from the other Kingdoms. All explorer Knight's live in this Kingdom, though the wealthier members might also have homes elsewhere.
Cities of Shosa:
- Sopp: Simply an extension of Shosa, Sopp only serves as a housing city for the members of the Explorer Knights. Of course there are still plenty of shops, pubs and other necessary outlets, however, most of them are run by fellow members of the Explorer Knights.
- Arim: Arim is less of a city, and more of a fortified outpost. Inside Arim is a large building known as the vault, where all Master's relics deemed too dangerous are tucked away.
Common of the World:
Cloud Gardens:
Cloud gardens are unique ecologies founded on airborne plants - the unique array of species that are buoyed by wild Potential. These plants form drifting, copse-like thickets of bulbous trunks and stems with splayed branches and spherical arrays of pulpy leaves, all held together with grasping vines and interlocking root-like structures.
Most gardens are small, bushy spheres of leafy green drifting alone on the wind - seldom larger than a skyship. Others, made of clusters of smaller gardens that collected in natural eddies and grew together, can be quite large and ecologically complex as a result - almost skylands in their own rights.
Most gardens are too small to buoy the weight of much more than a single landing party, but they can serve as transient hunting grounds or refuges for shipwrecked sailors. It is not unknown for some of the more feral Kin, or even bandits and deserters, to use the larger ones as permanent homes or temporary hideouts.
The upper layers are bright and green with branching stalks and dense foliage that vies for access to Light. The deeper layers are darker, verdant and shadowed warrens of trunks, vines and roots where the foliage has died away leaving maze-like dens. The undersides are shaded and viney, with patchy clusters of leaves and succulent epiphytes growing in the reflected Light of the surrounding clouds.
Cloud gardens in turn provide habitats for epiphytic plants and even animals - attracting birds and other flyers as well as small, climbing colonizers that make their way aboard these floating forests by a variety of intentional and accidental means. Cloud gardens are essential food sources and hunting grounds for many airborne animals, and hemoths in particular are known to consume whole clusters as they forage through the skies.
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Apex Outpost:
This unique outpost is in the heart of the Twilight Frontier and is built on the very top of the single mountain that makes up the improbably tall and narrow skyland on which it perches. Though it is was a "vacant" when first encountered by the Guild it remains a valuable site for staging other missions. The structure is particularly defendable and has been fortified with a cannon battery and stockpiled with supplies. A lodestone was installed at the site cycles ago to serve as an exploration waypoint and though not a permanent Guild outpost it is frequently occupied by small crews of surveyors and scientists on various missions.
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Master Caches:
The Master's of the Wind have long since passed on, but there are traces of them scattered throughout the world. These Master Caches - despite being incredibly rare - are an essential part of Kin society, as their contents not only helps reveal the secrets of their past, but acts as currency while simultaneously better equipping the Kingdoms against the Children of the Dark. Master Caches are also the only known way to obtain Masters' Ore, as it is not a naturally occurring metal and it's properties are unknown.
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The Characters
The Knights Vow and Blade
Upwind campaigns focus on the exploits of the Knights of the Explorers' Guild - storied, skyfaring explorers, scholars, engineers, elementalists and soldiers who search the Twilight Frontier and beyond for lost Masters’ caches. The player characters are rare, highly trained individuals with exceptional skills and elemental powers. Duty-bound to the Guild, they lead missions across dangerous skies and expeditions into the uncharted Dark and beyond.
Every child dreams of being an Explorer Knight. Captivated by the tales of adventure and glory that pervade every culture, the allure is irresistible. Regardless of their reasons, those who prove worthy eventually learn that service in the Guild is nothing like they dreamed. It proves equal parts challenging and rewarding, wondrous and terrifying, painful and noble. It is both the highest service and the greatest sacrifice they will ever make.
The Explorer Knights:
Lore (Rough Draft):
Back when the Explorer Knights had first been created, cycles and cycles ago, Many of the Kingdoms were initially afraid. The original founder was the current leader of Grecesa, Killian Armidius. During these times, Grecesa had been nothing more than cities used for mining and forging, however, at the creation of the Explorer Knights, Grecesa began to focus more on military power, moving away from metal working, mining and ore export. Little did Killina know, this would cause much tension between the rulers of each realm, stirring up quite a lot of unrest and unease in the guilds wake.
At the time, each kingdom had it's own small military that had been used thus far as a defense against the Children of the Dark, pirates and sky dwelling monsters. However, the Explorer Knights was not just an army for Grecesa. You see, as cycles past and time moved forward, the Explorer Knights became an essential part of the Kingdoms' parliament which gave Grecesa a tremendous amount of power over the other Kingdoms. Because of this, the leaders of the Kingdoms in the Light began to feel exceedingly apprehensive. Each realm's leader did not trust Grecesa with all of it's military power, but they did not trust each other either, for no one knew if other realm leaders were conspiring with Grecesa to claim complete dominion over the Realms. Little did the other Realms know, Greseca had not been conspiring with anyone nor were they conspiring to claim dominion, but as the unease continued, the Killina decided it may be best to cut Grecesa off from the other realms in hopes to divert a possible conflict. Sadly, this had the opposite effect and only made the other leaders more suspicious.
Eventually, when war did break out, Grecesa and Killian stepped in with it's larger military to try and break the bloody battles up. Again, this only made things worse, as the flex of power made the other realms disdain for Grecesa grow. So, in an attempt to stop the needless bloodshed, Grecesa declared that - with the help of the other Kingdoms - a city would be made separate from all other Kingdoms, and it would be controlled by the Explorer Knights guild and no one else. The Explorer Knights had become too important to get rid of all together, but Killian also agreed that they were too powerful for one Kingdom to have control over. So, negotiations began, and when finally an agreement was reached, a truce had been created and the city Shosa was born from the ashes of war.
As each Kingdom had an equal say in the creation of this new city, Shosa became a melting pot of culture. The city quickly grew, until it became a self sustaining and thriving organism.
To make sure Shosa acted indiscriminately and stayed unbiased in its decisions, a council was formed, each member being a diplomatic leader from one of the other Kingdoms. This helped to ease the anxiousness between the Kingdoms in the Light and stop the raging war, but did not completely quell the other Kingdom's fears. Grecesa still had the largest military after all, and could easily overpower all the other Kingdoms. Realizing giving up his precious Explorer Knights wasn't enough, Killian Armidius declared that his military would be gifted to the other Kingdoms as a sort of olive branch and as a sign of good faith. He would then turn Grecesa into a military fort that's sole purpose was to train soldiers and train Explorer Knight recruits. Following the examples of Killian, cycles later other Kingdoms began giving up their military, until eventually the Kingdoms were all connected by one army. The military has shrunk since then, but now serves as a last line of defense for the Kingdoms in the Light.
As time has gone on, and the Explorer Knights Guild has grown, it's become increasingly difficult to join the guild. Because of this, many failed recruits have tried to make many of their own guilds. Since the original conception of the brotherhood, there have been hundreds of knock-offs, however, none of these smaller rival factions have ever come close to the expertise of the Explorer Knights, and to this day there is no one better than them.
***
Now, there is you. You are one of the most prestigious members of the Explorer Knights. There is no one else quite like you, or your crew, in all of the Light. When you walk down streets and city ways, when you sail across the seas of wind, when you fight back against the encroaching darkness, you and your crew command the respect of every onlooker. Young children look up to you, and dream. They dream that maybe one day they will be as brave, and as strong as you are. No matter your background, you are here now, and your story is about to unfold. Wielding your elemental magic, your master's relics of old and the crew you serve, you will explore the world and unlock the mysteries of Upwind.
Wind (bottom) and Arc (top) Explorer Knights
The Kin:
The Kin are the citizens of the Kingdoms in the Light. Though the strange geography of their world has led to the development of many crossbreeds and unique cultures, all Kin carry clear heritage from their original ancestral stocks. They are generally lean creatures, though those with Stone ancestry can be truly massive. Their faces are open and protracted, with bright eyes, high cheeks, small noses and narrow jaws. Their ears are wide, pointed and alert, and their hair is thick and heavy. Their arms and legs are long. Basically, think of them as Elves. Skin, hair and eye color vary widely with the differences usually marking an individual’s ancestry.
Though much debate focuses on the mysteries of their ultimate genesis, there is general agreement that modern Kin arose from four original rootstocks that survived the Great Cataclysm. Scholars call these stocks ancestral breeds and give them various names which archaeological evidence perhaps inevitably links to the four elements - the Spark (fire), the Torrent (water), the Stone (earth) and the Gale (wind) being the best translations.
Technology:
Arc/Arcanetechnology:
Technology is ubiquitous in the world of Upwind, and is a strange synthesis of lost science, baroque invention and raw elementalism. Engineers and technicians across the Kingdoms are creative designers and skillful builders, but despite their considerable abilities, there are finite limits to what they can construct. To go beyond these limits, to build the devices and machines most critical to the lives of the Kin, they must incorporate Arcanotechnology in their constructions – components salvaged from the ruins left behind by the Masters of the Wind. The inherent rarity of these items, such as circuit boxes and spark bottles, make the Brotherhood's expeditions into the Dark vital to the technological foundations of the Kingdoms in the Light. Most of this arcanetechnology that is retrieved seems to harness something that we simply refer to as; "potential", which is an unknowable magical force found in the upwinds that draft from the dark below. This discovery had lead arcanists and innovators of old to believe that the civilization before them had complete mastery over the winds, hence the name; "Masters of the Wind". These winds, and the potential they carry, are what power all elemental magic in a Kin, but are also harnessed by things like circuit boxes and spark bottles, which turn the potential into arc. Arc energy powers Arcanetechnology, though sometimes steam power is used as well.
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Master Cache Kept Aloft By Arc Energy
Master Relics:
When trying to become an official member of the brotherhood, the last test you must complete is to run a salvage mission. This field test is like ones you would have done before, but with one major difference.
There is an old Master Relic known as "The Map", and it is said The Map will locate a Master Relic that speaks to the user of The Map's, heart. The Explorer Knight recruit must then lead a crew on a salvage mission to this spot and retrieve their new Master Relic. These Relics are powerful pieces of technology left behind by the Masters of the Wind. They harness the potential of the wind to perform tremendous actions and will aid you on your journey. Master Relics can be found at almost every Master Cache and are worth a lot.
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Sample Relic: Pym's Final Induction Board
The Relic above is owned by a young and renowned Explorer Knight of exceptional skill known as Pym. Though there are other induction boards that have been found (it has been hypothesized that they were a popular mode of transportation for the Masters of the Wind) none are quite like Pym's, and none can pilot one quite like Pym.
Circuit/Engineering Chamber:
Most skyships of any size - and especially fighting ships - have some form of engineering chamber - a heavily armored enclosure that protects the ship’s circuit box and other critical components from all but the worst battle damage. After all, even a ravaged induction hull can keep a ship in the air if its circuit box is still functioning. Engineering chambers are usually cramped, spherical bunkers constructed of metal bulkheads, reinforced doors and master’s alloy stanchions. They are uniformly hot and stuffy spaces choked with delicate equipment and snaking conduit. They are variably lit by actinic lamps and showers of sparks, and they inevitably stink of sweat, ozone and hot insulation.
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Architecture:
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Muphis Architecture
Enemies and NPC's:
As a Gm, I like to give my players a lot of free rein. This means - for the most part - I will allow players to take control of random NPC's for scenes they wish do as well as leave most grunt enemies to the devices of the player. However, most plot related encounters, enemies and NPCs will be narrated and controlled by me. I don't plan on making a main character, I will be instead working as a malevolent god who will have have control over the environment and other such elements whilst deciding your characters fates. Appease me and my sadistic tenancies, and your character might just make it. That being said, if you ever want to plan an encounters or quests while this RP takes place, I'm very open to that and rather accepting of any fresh and new ideas. Now with that out of the way, here are some core creatures and enemies. You expect more from my own fucked up head or from the core book in the future as I collect my resources.
Denizens of the Sky:
Screechers:
What makes them so terrifying is that in every reported incident of a calling screecher, someone has vanished. No one has ever seen what happened, what attacked or where the victim went. There has never been any blood or other evidence beyond the fact of the missing person and occasionally a dropped tool, weapon or personal item. No one has ever seen or heard anything, save that uncanny, mournful cry, yet every time someone dies.
Hemoth:
The Hemoth are massive creatures that drift through the skies of Upwind in large familial herds. They are shaped like ship-sized teardrops, with rows of stubby, seemingly ineffectual wings along their flanks, and huge sail-like tails. Their gigantic, ponderous forms are held aloft by the elemental power of the Wind - like the hulls of sky ships - though arcane zoologists disagree about whether their flight is an innate use of wild Potential or something more enigmatic.
Blinkers:
There have never been reports of a blinker attacking anyone - at least no one survived to issue one - and Guild crews report no sounds or other indicators associated with their appearances. Several cycles ago a small zoological mission was dispatched to solve the mystery of the blinkers. The vessel was armed with several harpoon cannon and an experimental net-casting gun that used Arc to stun whatever it caught. The expedition departed Holbeck and has not been heard from since.
Concept Art:
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The Children of the Dark:
Though the Kingdoms are rife with legends and myths about the Children, according to the Brotherhood's archives, verifiable reports of encounters with them were once rare. Frighteningly, incursions by, and skirmishes with, the Children have increased. The Brotherhood's leadership is worried that either there are more Children than in the past, or that some need is making them bolder. Either possibility is chilling.
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