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DMs Only: Bloodpack Places
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Rattledam
Rattledam government:
Run by the Administrative Sect of the Monks, the government consists of a council. This council has one member of each of the seven circles of secrecy that exist within the Administrative sect.
As the party advances through each circle and it's secret, their advisor will change, while the old advisor will be reassigned with the idea that the party not see that person again.
The monks intend on using the adventurers as an independent anti-Sargrass group. They intend on keeping the affiliation of the party secret, even letting them experiment with the philosophies of other groups as they mature. They are confident that when they present their case to the group at the right time that the group will see their wisdom and truth.
If the group takes another side however at this critical time, then they begin a new part of their journey with a new ally and a new enemy.
I leave it up to the DM to plan out these circles and what secret they hold as we advance towards the ultimate secret of the woldsblood and the monks purpose to destroy the grass with the trees.
Druids and monks in rattledam and their circles of secrecy:
The players were to go through the circles and discover the center of the ecosystem. Without this woldsblood the plains die. So ultimately the players find the secret and the swallows can 't mate and spread the dry woldsblood all around and the ecosystem fails. NO animal can evolve to the next form.
So the players eventually decide the fate of the plains. Destruction or preservation. The baron's men know this secret, but not where the wolds blood is.
The party will hopefully choose to keep the secret and preserve the manfri race.
The manfri are tied into the drakes. The old manfri tied mentally to the drakes, that magic affects all manfri, their magic, abilities, etc. trickle down effect.
Do you see the interdependence theme here and how heavy it affects everything?
Under Rattledam:
The administrative branch has their offices here. Think of this as CIA for the Sargrass plains. Then below that the northern pool of Woldsblood protected by 7 levels of barriers held, planned, and controlled by each of the seven secret circles of the administrative branch of the Monks.
The DM can design the details here.
Baron's Men:
Then there is the Baron. He and his men live in magically forged forts and barracks out there. Officially, they are neutral with regard to the Sargrass vs. environment debate. They are enemies both of the Manfri and the Monks. Should the Druids ever reach the point where they become a potential power, they’ll be enemies of them too.
The current Baron is usually VERY disciplined. His men would rather die than dishonor him. Their families and such live out there too, scattered all across the plains. The men live separate to the families, who remain hidden.
The Baron's Men are dedicated to the their own power base as well as the worship of the Shadow King. They believe that this is a time of testing. Followers of Marteaus make pilgrimages here from far away lands to be tested as a Baron's Man.
Rapke are the mount of many riding barons – like an animal companion.
The Barons are usually evil, and they can live after death by passing their memories on to their kin.
The Traders:
Known as traders, pirates, and sailors, they, of course, sail the grasses. They have begun to be a culture unto themselves, with many secrets of locations and dangers to avoid in the science of trading across the Sargrass. Gypsylike, many rich men and women of Skyhook travel the plains hoping to land a "sailor" for a husband or wife. It is said that these women and men are infused by the magic of the plains in such a way to make their blood and breeding impeccable. The breeding of Hook City citizens is viewed by the aristocracy as weak and of "tired breeding"--whatever that means.
Having a trader mate is the ultimate sign of vigorous power in the city as the trader/pirate is undoubtedly a great lover, parent, and energetic mate. Basically, though, the trader partner is a boy or girl toy. It is said that sailors invigorate the family line. Aristocracy from the city love to point back to infusions of sailors in the family tree.
The traders of course foster all of this as such aristocracy backing turns them from simple traders into master movers of money and goods.
Raiders info:
Then there are the Raiders. they live on the plains in small forts made of the grasses. They raid the sailors using tricks and the native life. Think Road Warrior in a way. Like that fort.
A good portion of the Raiders are Orcs who are decended from the Dark Side of the Wold. They mostly know nothing of this heritage, however.
Raiders can be of any race or heritage. Most raiding bands tend to be of only one or two races. When there are mixed races in a Raiding clan, one tends to subjugate the others.
--Like imagine road warrior encampment that he went too? That's the warriors. Scavengers. Boats made of pieces of others. Whatever they can put together. Poor. Tough. NO teeth. Badd ass for having one big tooth. If he had a rapke he's king for having one even if he's weak and dumb. Dirty. Like squatters, pioneers. Bad ass pissed off. Leather. Bikers.but the ones that ride the bad ugly bikes that break down all the time.
The Forsaken: Unknown to most, there is a secret society among the raiders and the baron's men. These are known as the Forsaken. Secrecy is their greatest protection and weapon.
They are descendants of the previous inhabitants of the plains before the Sargrass came. They fight on the side of the (Druids) to destroy the Sargrass. However, they do not agree with the total dedication toward this goal as the Druids are. Life is to be cherished and enjoyed, no matter the dangers and horrors of the day. So they refused to give up family and community thinking these things strengths instead of weaknesses.
6/5/2005 MikeK - It is the Baron’s branch of Forsaken that have discovered a second pool of Woldsblood at Starlight Deep. These Forsaken have learned that the application of Woldsblood to a rider and rapke, combined with certain spells and a lot of pain, merge two creatures into a single shared unit. Its sort of a deviant version of the paladin and his mount. Rapke and rider become stronger, more evil, and share each others characteristics (hit points and save rolls).
Bounders can also be turned into deviants, although they cannot be ridden.
Climbers
These are wild humans that have evolved from the Tree Elves of DreMoria from where they originate millennia ago. Their legs are thin and insect like. But that is just appearance. They are quite elven and carry all their official characteristics as well as the adaptations from living on the Sargrass. Some call them Grasshoppers or Grassclimbers due to their appearance.
They are an extremely religious people. they believe the only way to achieve happiness in the afterlife is to show the Gods they are capable of wondrous things. They build Huge hive like structures out on the plains from the grass, bones of animals and anything else they can find. Inside the structure is a maze of web like strands of grass, rope, anything. Think about the mass of cable and its chaotic mess. 10x that is what is inside these structures. Large buildings are suspended in the air by these cables for some "extreme believers" of the people refuse to live underground with the rest of the tribe.
The Farmers:
There are people who live on the plains first there are the farmers who cut the grasses back to make a living. They live very close to the river and are mainly to the east of Skyhook. they work both sides of the river. They have a hard life. But the soil is rich and hearty, as long as they let the grasses over run their fields from time to time. They might have a slightly hispanic culture but they have no towns, they live miles and miles from one another. They are basicaly cetizensn of Skyhook.
6/5/2005 MikeK Druids
The Druids are a group dedicated to the eradication of the Sargass Plains and the rebuilding of a great forest that stood before in the First Age. The Druids are composed of historians, non-Plains folk, and fey – although not all Druids are aware of each other.
The plan of the Druids is to develop trees that can awaken with high level druid spells into treants. Imported treants died because of the woldsblood in the Sargrass. For the moment, the druids are not aware of woldsblood causing these deaths. But, they do know Singing Oak can grow in the plains (with a lot of help). So a new breed of treant is being developed from Singing Oaks.
When they develop, picture a row of giant treants ridden by druids marching destroying the Sargrass with each step in a line between them. Then picture the Manfri riding moths, and other powerful Sargrass creatures opposing them. This is the grand conflict to come.
Manfri
There is only one people native to the plains. They are the Manfri pronounced (Man Free). they are a very short almost midget like people, black, huge eyes. They are VERY wary of any civilization. They do not mix and are extremely untrusting of the other races. Their culture is secretive and mysterious, only one group of outsiders has ever witnessed anything of significance about them and they never speak of it. They are a kind people though, and there are many stories of sailors being hurt or lost and the little men saving their lives and returning them to civilization.
Kall’a’tek: An extremely critical and extraordinarily stylized battle between a tribe of Manfri and a group of Baron’s Men. Once every fifty years, selected members of the Manfri tribe head out to a spot (the same spot every time). At daybreak on the appointed day, a chase begins. Baron mounted Rapke and Bounders pursue the Manfri back to their village (or Taudo), consuming whoever they catch. Usually, most of the members escape back to the village. It is then that the battle really begins. Any manfri who took part in the chase step onto a wide circle of sand. A select number of Barons, Rapke, and Bounders step out to meet them in a battle to the death. If the manfri win, no Rapke will bother them for fifty years. If the Rapke win, the lives of the entire Taudo is forfeit.
Taudo: A village of the Manfri. Usually built inside a rock outcropping.
Manfri
Atk +6 melee +8 missile Damage: grass scythe d6+4 sling d4+2 Fort +6
grass scythe - stout reed strung with a curved piece of steel grass from one end to the other
the grasses part low ion the stalks as if allowing something to pass. A paculirar humming chant is heard as well and then come Manfri, clearly running from the Hunters as well. They dont even stop stride but take one look at you and grab a hand. The small black men that look more like children are babling away and the grasses begin closing back. Seeing this an older Manfri in the lead barks an order and the chanting song begins again and the grass splits allowing the passage of all and then tangling behind, clearly to slow up pursuit.
Should the Dekteth (bad guys – Forsaken Barons/Rapke/Bounders) set foot upon the Taudo then Kall'a'tek must be inacted. None but the hunted may take part in the ceremony. If the Dekteth succeed in killing all the runners, the Taudo and all our lives are forfeit. However if the runners succeed in driving the Dekteth from the base of the Taudo, or killing them all then the Dekteth may not hunt this Taudo again for another full season. the Manfri who ran with you begin to glow with a pale white light. Hands bear down on weapons. Teeth are gritted. Battle is near. Death is near. The first Rapke is joined by another, and yet another. All appear surrounded with an aura of blackness as if the very light was sucked in and refused to let go. Five Rapke and four bounders enter the ring. More sit outside the ring but do not enter. The one common denominator of those within the ring is that all have fresh blood on their bodies and mouths, including the riders. Looking down you notice your own bodies flicker with auras. One moment it flickers white, another a voidless black, and another no aura at all. Ritual is not complete until all enemies have been destroyed. Spraying water on a ‘dead’ enemy will cause it to be devoured by bloodflies.
Chief speaks in a conversational tone. "Should you ever wish to come meet us again, simply say the word Sala' thide when you approach our Taudo.
Manfri have their own language.
Plainswalker
PrC off of druid and/or monk
Monks:
There are three known sects of the Monk organization.
First, there is the Administrative Sect. This group is the public front and form the councils for Rattledam and like villages.
The party views the monks the monks in the Administrative sect as: Very strict. Secretive. Refer to them as "beaters" when Sargrass slang is used. Teachers. Protectors. Some are quite annoying.
Some citizens see them as principals and authority figures. Others as bothers. Others as priest types or druids.
Monks can be of any class. They do live the monk lifestyle though. No marriage or sex. Strict chain of command. Frugal lifestyle. Keepers of secrets.
Most also take levels in druids as they help with the growth, development, and mutation of trees in the Sargrass.
The ultimate leadership of the monks is found under Rattledam, but they are not the public face of the monk leaders of the town. In fact, this leadership is made up of the 3 leaders of the three Monk Sects.
Second, there are the Singing Oak branch of Monks. These monks work on the research of the Singing Oaks which are the Monk's weapon of choice against the mutations of the Sargrass. Ironically, the Singing Oak is also the weapon of choice for the Druids. The difference is the Mon
The monk organization does have the sole knowledge of what feeds the Sargrass: Woldsblood. However, they are at a loss of what to do with this knowledge other than attack with the trees. There is no way to affect the blood--to drain it elsewhere, cut it off back into the shadowlands, etc. It is as if they oppose the will of the gods or something like that.
The trees repulse the grass. Up to 5 monks with druid levels can commune with a tree. Some Monks live with their trees becoming something similar to a dryad. Others are just attuned to a tree through their druid levels. They can attune to one tree per druid level. This brotherhood of Monks that live with the trees are VERY rare and respected.
It would be possible for a druid of any type to commune with a tree, but if one ever did, the monks already attuned to that tree would strike back with a Tall Man attack.
The long term plan of the Singing Oak monks is too develop a mutated tree that repels only ‘abnormal’ flora and fauna. In a curious contradiction, they want to create Sentinel Trees bordering a “preserve” of the The monks have a third group that sings travelers through the crystal mountains. The singing monks silently drone on and on and somehow this droning keeps the crystals in the mountains from vibrating and allows trade through the mountains. They charge a fee for this service and this helps support the secret cause of the monks.
So the trees ARE the means by which the monks combat the Sargrass.
Oddholme
One dome covering the entire place. Size was never really specified, although it sounded to us like you could get several thousand folks in there. Most of it is currently empty, though - a few hundred settlers.
Its a grass dome about the size of Rattledam. Note it also has some magical barrier set out several hundred feet from the dome that renders it invisible to travellers.
Bloodpack populated Oddholme with refugees from Rattledam. Walked 'em up there ala Moses. Trellus then made them elect their own town council, and kept the Bloodpack out of the electorial process, theorizing that he and his packmates were gonna be busy defending the Grass, and wouldn't have time for day-to-day running of the place.
Two former Bloodpack PCs were turned into NPC guardians of Oddholme when the players left - Murdock (drow-Wizard) and Aeryon (drow-Fighter). They'd be in charge of local security/law enforcement.
Check out the archives: Dec 19, 2007.
Offshore!
We have plans for there to be an offshore area where there is a battlefield. A place where normal nature combats the artificial nature of the Plains. A wild place where mutation, sea grass, and crazy circle of life situations occur. This is where many of the strange animal, insect, and mutation invasions of the plains begin!
Yep, one of the tenants of the plains will be Nature Invasion! Nature gone wacky.
Attack of the rapidly reproducing monkeys! The Flying Dolphins Dragon Mutation Attack Sahuagin Rapkes Oh My!
Sacred Places
The plains are ripe for mysteries of things past, what might have been there before the plains, hints from the future, mutation death fields, etc. which all may be sacred to this monk or that climber. Develop these at will, chart them on the map, and write about them here so that the next DM or you can use them later without mishap.
Turok Nor
This is the land of the Dwarves to the south. They influence this land greatly. Trade flows from them Hook City constantly. The Tall men come from here and have much of their business on the plains.
See the separate writeup for the area of Turok Nor as it is a separate region of the Southern Continent.
Crystal mountains and how they explode, etc. stats.
The Crystal Mountains are solid crystal. However, a few crystals are always growing like small trees and it is they that explode.
If a voice or sound is heard within 20' of a crystal it must save vs. reflex (usually DC of 10 with no bonuses) or it reacts in sympathy with the sound and begins to vibrate. DMs can create extra sensitive crystals in places and crystals with less explosive sensitivity.
When a crystal becomes activated and begins to vibrate, it will explode in 1d3+2 rounds. When it explodes it does 1-4d10 damage to all within 20'. If another active crystal is within 40' of the exploding crystal, it must save or be activated.
Myrradin of the Gold Dragons and Defenders of the North is credited with blowing up a huge chunk of mountain by setting off a Flamestrike in the area. He did penance by first becoming a monk and then being attuned to his own tree in the plains for a year.
The secret part of this is that the Monks are actually against the Sargrass and loved what Myrradin did. They wanted to study his methods and see how his methods could further their plans in the future.
DMs may play with the numbers here a bit when needed. Certain areas may be more potent or less.
