DMs Only: Taur Isles

Here is a slew of information for Taur Island Game DMs. Please do not spoil your fun by reading if you are not a DM.

MODULES

Module One: Taurnament of Roses

Module Two: Garden of Carylyn

TAUR ISLES BACKGROUND INFO

Much of the content below comes from the official Taur Isles Game Bible. The full bible is located here. Please email Cayzle@cayzle.com to get access.

In an archipelago not many years removed from open warfare, the three taur races -- minotaur, liontaur, and centaur -- are figuring our how to set aside their ancient animosities. On Liontaur Isle a band of young adventurers has found the perfect place to set forth on the path to fame and fortune. Join that band in a first level Pathfinder game with seven other heroes, posting every weekday as your adventure begins.

Campaign Title: Taur Isles Campaign starting date: c May 1, 2017

1) INITIAL SETTING

The town of Chessford on Liontaur Island, which is the home Island for the game. The group starts the campaign in the town, although play will often take them out onto the sea and to other islands.

2) LEGENDS AND HISTORY

The distant past of the Taur races and their islands is hidden in mysteries and legends. The only thing on which all three major taur races agree is that long ago, probably during the Third Age of the Wold, there was a great threat to the noble races of the Continent of Yrth. And in his wisdom, Domi created a warrior race to counter that threat -- the true Taur race, which combined bovine, equine, and feline powers in a noble form. And he loved and cared for them as for no other and was revered in return.

No mortal knows what happened next. Some say the noble unified Taurs led a remnant of refugees out of the end of the Third Age. Others say that the Taurs failed. It is certain that the True Taur race was divided into Minotaur, Centaur, and Liontaur races.

Some blamed Marteaus for this split. Others only blame the taurs themselves. Many minotaurs blame the centaurs, and vice versa. Some few liontaurs blame themselves. No one really knows. But the noble True Taur race did become the divided Taur races.

Along with other refugees from the Third Cataclysm, the three kindreds fled to the edge of the continent as the Third Cataclysm became imminent, and settled in what would be known as the Taur Isles, each to their own island. The divided taurs even came to worship Domi in seperate ways, with seperate names. Some say that Domi held the Liontaurs to be the most culpable, and therefore gave them the smallest island, and plagued them with hellhounds that infested the island from time to time. Others say that the liontaurs were just unlucky.

Through all the Fourth Age, the three Taur races fought with each other, ignoring the wider world, and wasting their lives and resources. But with the end of the Fourth Age, some bands of adventurers and heroes were founded with Taurs from all three kindreds, and with other noble races. Domi raised Bridge Isle out of the waves to be a sign to the Taurs, and some say that the age of war is over. Now, a rough peace holds for the first time ever, and although many Taurs still hate their cousins, others are looking at each other with curiosity, hope, and tolerance instead.

3) GENERAL Taur Isles INFO

Here are a few notes on the geography of Minotaur Isle.

Minotaur Isle is covered in farms, vineyards, and lightly wooded hills in the north. In the south, there are mountains. And in the west, there is a vast sea-swamp, filled with mangroves. The culture here is more stratified and formal, with castes that do not much mix There is a hereditary noble caste, serving as local administrators, such as mayors of villages and commanders of forts. Other castes are determined by profession, such as the farmer caste and the merchant caste. Young minotaurs are sorted into these professional castes at an early age, based on their capability and preference. The minotaurs are ruled by a senate-like legislative body, consisting of the castes of nobles, priests, and warriors known as the Soul of Imod.

Here are a few notes on the geography of Centaur Isle.

Fort Stag, the largest port, is on the southern edge of the isle. The island marked by one large island in the middle. The centaur culture features mobility and an egalitarian preference for “live and let live.” The centaurs are loosely governed by a group of leaders and elders called The Corral, led by one executive centaur titled “The Stallion.” The current Stallion is Pholus - a druid, and elder. Another famous and ancient elder is Hollyhocks, a priest of Domi (and a druid). [Bonetown SEP13, Chosen FEB01] The Flag of Centaur Isle is a white Whistal Tree on a green background

Here are a few notes on the Shipwreck Shoals.

It is rumored that other types of taurs live on/around these little islands, including Merfolk, sometimes called “Fishtaurs,” and Gnoats, who are human from the waist up and goats (four legged) from the waist down. These and other “taurs” are usually treated as cousins by the three main taur races.

There are also stories of ships that got too close to the dangerous reefs that encircle the mysterious islands of the Shoals, that ran aground or just disappeared. Few of those crews were known to survive, and those that did were never the same. 'Touched in the head', it would be whispered because when they spoke it would be of terrible beasts, and hideous monsters and their eyes would go wild with the terror of their memories.

There is a small island in the western side of the Shoals called "Tears of the Land". It is known for its mists, geysers, and bubbling springs (those are the "Tears"). It is a stoney island. In some places the rock is exposed, swept clean by water and waves. In other places, lush rooted brush and bramble have sprouted in cracks, crevices, and crannies. Inland, you see some palm and cyprus growing to medium heights. The entire island is no more than a mile or two long.

There is another island in the southwest Shoals, surrounded entirely by hazardous reefs that protect beautiful crescent beaches. The interior is grassy steppe and rain forest. In the past, it was inhabited by a genius mage who created fantastical beasts and lived in a three-story marble manor house surrounded by cultivated lawns and fountains.

4) THE TAURIC MIRRORS

There are three large ornate mirrors, one for each of the Tauric Races that were given to the Taurs by Domi. These mirrors are held by each leader of the three Tauric Isles. They allow anyone that stands before one of the mirrors to appear in and speak through the other mirrors. Also, anyone standing before before the mirror to "step though" to one of the other mirrors. Each Tauric Leader keeps these communication and transportation devices under close guard. This ensures the leaders are notified of communication though the mirrors, and also guards them as transportation devices.

5) LIONTAUR ISLE CULTURE & HISTORY

History: Long ago, there was a liontaur who loved a priestess not of his caste. She returned his love, but honored the ways of her tribe and broke with him. To win her over, he quested for a powerful sword, gave it to her, and ruled with her as queen and consort over the entire island. But the blade was cursed, and the Veiled Queen became cruel and evil. The blade eventually betrayed her, and her dynasty faded to legends.

Clans and Prides: Liontaurs organize into small family groups called prides, and those link together to make clans. Currently, a notable but poor clan is the Sandifurr clan, who has been friendly to all taurs. Their clanhouse in Chessford is typical of other clanhouses. It has a large covered porch with ramps heading up outside to the three levels of the house and down into the basement. All doors and windows are wide. Inside, there is a large open area in the house in the center where all three levels of the house can be seen. Around the edge, near the walls, are where the sleeping rooms are kept. The older taurs sleep on the ground floor, while the younger ones sleep higher up. The third floor, used for the cubs, has cubicles and ramps going everywhere.

The government, such as it is here, is tribal. Clan chiefs settle any disputes within their clans, and their words are law. Clan chiefs are chosen by the elders and shaman of the clan, and can be deposed, so they act as a check on a chief’s power.

Clan leaders - Harkin Sandifurr, Gyrak Longclaw, Tenzar Goldmane, Jasak Redtooth, Nantyr Hounds Tooth and finally Irian Stormeye. (These are also the names of the Clans, Sandifurr, Longclaw, Goldmane, Redtooth, Hounds Tooth and Stormeye)

Harkin is an older Taur, his fur having lost some of the colour of his clan’s namesake, but his eyes are ship and wit is good. He is built well, and clearly his family is of nobilty.

Gyrak looks like a older warrior, several scars criss cross across his body, he speaks brusquely and with a no-nonsense approach.

Tenzar looks like a king, a flowing gold mane, covered in adornments and sparkling jewels and gemstones held together with silver rings so as to contrast with his gold coloured mane.

Jasak has a face like the fury of the storm. He always looks angry, he is considered an angry taur by most others, though those that know him will tell you he’s only angry and violent when he senses a threat to the Taur peoples.

Nantyr, along with some of his followers, was killed by foreign cultists. The Houndstooth Clan currently has no leader.

Iria is an old wizened Taur, he’s clearly lived a long time, and wears an eyepatch covering one eye, specifically his right eye, on the patch is a bolt of lightning. His fur is all white and grey with next to no colour remaining, however despite his age his body seems to have aged well and still as strength whithin it.

Life on Liontaur Island: Most liontaurs just live in the moment, working to herd cattle, hunt, craft, gather food, and keep life together. That’s because live on Liontaur Island is hard. There is little game, mostly rabbits and gulls, and the grazing lands are crowded. Clans often raid each other, and life is short. The hellhounds endemic to the island mean that a pride might come under attack at any moment. Life on this island is dangerous and constricted.

Many liontaurs react to this environment with a strong streak of fatalism. They feel that they are being punished, that life is a penance for the sins of their ancestors. They live, they fight, they die. Some do not accept this attitude, and those who can overcome the race’s aversion to water seek escape on the seas, either as merchants or as adventurers. This dismal attitude is not nearly as strong in Chessford, where hell hounds seldom strike, and where the wealth of trade makes life better for everybody. However, out-island liontaurs are not welcome to move to the town, which has caused a bit of a split between the more desperate, barbaric liontaur clans and their more wealthy, sophisticated city cousins.

Spikeball: Sometimes liontaurs resolve disputes or pass judgements via Spikeball Games. Spikeball is like soccer/basketball except that things are much more deadly. Goals are trapped. Before the game, a meeting is held between the captain of each team to set the terms of the contest -- lethality, spells, items, playing field, etc. Score is traditionally to 5. Spikeballs are like soccerballs, except that they have 1 inch long sharp spikes sticking out of them. Sometimes the ball is made of metal and heated so that it scorches one who holds it making it a hot potato type game. In some games, all 5 balls are in play at the start of the game, placed upon the center line. In other games, two balls are in play at a time. In others, one at a time is the rule.

6) LIONTAUR ISLAND GEOGRAPHY

Most of Liontaur Isle is rolling hills and open meadows and moors. It is only suitable for agriculture in the flat western end, where the ground is not as rocky and the fields are flatter, around Chessford. Elsewhere, liontaurs herd sheep and goats in steeper and rockier terrain. The eastern end is more broken, with ravines, gullies, sharp valleys, and so on. There is a cone-shaped mountain, a mostly extinct volcano. But it is “alive” enough to serve as a gateway for the hellhounds that materialize in the badlands. These monsters then range out, hunting herd animals and liontaurs until slain.

This eastern end is dangerous because of the treacherous terrain and the hellhounds, but it is also wetter, as mists and clouds drop water on the upper slopes of the mountain, which trickle down as lively brooks and streams. These have eroded more channels and ravines. But they also support more vegetation, and the stands of forest that there are on the island can be found on the slopes of the mountain.

There is one deep stream (a “river”) that flows from the mountain west to the harbor at Chessford. The mountain is also the location of ruins and “dungeons,” including the Old Palace of the Queen.

Liontaurs who live around Chessford are more likely to be well-read, speak with no accent, and are used to dealing with other taurs and tourists. They are merchants and gardeners. Liontaurs in the eastern regions are more barbaric, sometimes speaking with an accent (depending on their clan), less likely to read or speak common, and often braiding beads and feathers into their manes as clan identifiers. They are hunters and herders.

7) TOWN OF CHESSFORD

The only town on Liontaur Isle is named Chessford. The town’s name in the wemic tongue is “Velawia,” which translates as “The Wading River Playground.” It has a population of about 5,000 and is located on the western shore of the isle. The houses in the township are organized by clan. In some cases, multiple houses stand close to others when one house becomes too small for the clan. Each house has inner areas with lots of glassless windows. The windows close like barn doors when it rains. The clan houses tend to get poorer and less prestigious as you get farther from the center of the township. There is a Catacombs entrance in Chessford.

The Wanderers' Roost is a decent working taur’s inn on the west side (ie, near the harbor) of Chessford. It serves beer, wine, and stew.

Even the casual visitor will note cultural signs that are unique to this town. For example, there are perches in trees to lounge on. Out in the pastures, there are lots of “day beds,” sunny cushioned places that are good for taking a nap.

The town is governed by a Council of Clans. Each liontaur clan has a seat on the council. In Chessford, most of the Clans are merchant families, so the Council is trade-friendly and serves primarily to enforce contracts and as a court of appeals if there are disputes between clans.

8) TAUR RACE RELATIONS

In the past, there was severe animosity among the Taurs. The wars between centaurs and minotaurs were especially bloody. But in recent years, more taurs have become known as heroes and adventurers, working together with other races, as an example of tolerance. Some priests of Domi have begun preaching taur unity and relatedness, especially Hollyhocks the Centaur. The taur races are beginning to have working relationships and interactions that are fair and relatively free of prejudice. (eg “Most centaurs are not trustworthy, but the ones I know on a personal basis are OK.”)

An Excerpt from ‘Field Manual on the Tauric Isles’ by Sage Demonius:

Taur Racial Relationships have undergone a change since the Year of Ascension and the actions of a small group of Tauric Adventurers called the “Chosen of Domi.” The attitude of Taurs on other Tauric Races is mixed, but a traveller can note a general division by geography and generation. In larger towns, among Taurs who travel to other islands, and in those who are young adult or children, there tends to be more tolerance for Taurs of the other Ignoble Races. The prevailing attitude is Indifference; to give each individual encounter the benefit of the doubt; see what ‘this’ Taur does before passing judgement. For rural communities and in elder Taurs, there is more suspicion. The animosity and fierce skirmishes between Tauric Races is in living memory, and the general attitude ranges from Unfriendly to openly Hostile (though violence, thankfully, is no longer the immediate reaction). The traveller is cautioned that my observations are quite general, and I have met both hostility in the largest town and open friendliness among the vineyards and fishing villages. The traveller simply needs to be aware, and forewarned is forearmed.

For members of the Noble Races, Taurs of any Ignoble Race tend to be Indifferent and interact with an air of superiority. Most, despite their internal differences, feel they and their culture are better than any human, elf, dwarf, or gnome. The ‘half’ races (half-elf, half-orc, and, surprisingly, halflings) tend to puzzle the Taurs more than anything else. I suspect it is because of the Tauric racial purity identity being so strongly that they just don’t know how to handle the mixed races and the nomenclature of “half”-lings. Still, I have found that personal relationships are more important to the Tauric Isles than normally found in other parts of the Wold, and the Taurs can be Friendly or even Helpful on a by-individual basis.

Addendum: I have noted a particular reaction among Taurs when encountering races that others would categorize as half-man creatures such as Merfolk, Formians, Naga, Harpies, and the like. Called ‘half-taurs’ or named for their non-human part (ie fish-taur or ant-taur), the Ignoble Races seem to see these creatures as lesser cousins and tend to be more tolerant of them than of each other. This tendency has extended to providing humanitarian care and, if rumors of the great Liontaur Vauhwyt of Blackbird Lake are true, even adoption!

9) CAMPAIGN ADVERTISEMENT

In an archipelago not many years removed from open warfare, the three taur races -- minotaur, liontaur, and centaur -- are figuring our how to set aside their ancient animosities. On Liontaur Isle a band of young adventurers has found the perfect place to set forth on the path to fame and fortune. Join that band in a first level Pathfinder game with seven other heroes, posting every weekday as your adventure begins.

10) CENTAUR ISLAND

Pholus, after decades of service as Lead Stallion of the Corral, resigned due to age and injuries during the "A Bridge Over Troubled Waters" module. Pholus informed the herd leaders that he believes a different type of leader for the Corral was needed and that it should be a mare, which had always been an option but had not happened in several generations. He recommended either the mare Barbale or his daughter Pelonius. One bore witness with him of the lessons the centaurs learned on Bridge Island, and the other was one that while young, was wise beyond her years and was raised with Pholus beliefs. He trusted in the wisdom of the Corral in this, and warned that whomever was chosen must be supported by all the herd leaders, lest Pholus himself come back to haunt them for their disunity. This wwas be interpreted as a jest, but some secretly believe that Pholus could do this if there is strife among the centaurs.

Within a day after this, Pholus passed away peacefully in a Whistal Tree grove attended by Pelonius and Hollyhocks. Hollyhocks mourne the loss of his friend and said he was not far behind himself. The Petals (adventuring group) were allowed to attend Pholus burial, and there are only about a dozen heard leaders there as well. The Petals learned that they were the first non-centaurs to attend the burial of a Lead Stallion. It was a somber ceremony with seemingly ancient traditions.

After the ceremony, The entire inhabitants of Centaur Island were invited to a celebration of life ceremony to honor their lost leader. During the festivities, the Petals were invited to speak on behalf of the dead, as well as his new found wisdom, namely the reunification of the Taurs. Near the end of the day, Barbale tooks the stage and removed herself from the running for Lead Stallion, leaving Pelonius running unopposed, and then Barbale asked the crowd to forgo the election and name Pelonius their new Lead Stallion. The crowd voted unanimously to accept Pelonius as their new leader.