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We are presently in the month of Tirellus in the year 4240. New threads henceforth shall take place in the months of Akaril, Tirellus and/or Luxorus.
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Pile O' Articles; out of the old Development
Topic Started: Mar 12 2013, 10:27 PM (968 Views)
Mokley
I like it, tis a bit more complicated than the first draft but it answers most of the questions I would have on the subject after reading through it. I agree that the skill list needs a little work. I'd start with shifting the skill learned at 22 to 25 or making sure to add in what happens at 25. Remember the skill limitations when setting some of these skills up. Tis odd to learn something at 22 and nothing at 25 because if you hit 22 you are already counting that particular skill as your single lvl 25 one (i think, might be wrong). 25 - 20 - 10 - 10 - 10 - 5 to infinity 20 - 20 - 20 - 10 - 10 - 5 to infinity make sure and try to cluster most skill increases around the relevant marks. (not all of course, and not saying the lower areas are wrong either.) Mostly tis just the 22 one I think. It IS nice to have it broken up so well into specific abilities gained at specific levels, but I would also add in some general power level descriptions or something maybe, just in case a player thinks of something not on the list but viable.
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Interesting. I like the split into hard and soft as well, especially the fact that you've made hard more than just "yelling" really loud (which is what I thought of at first). They both look like attractive paths.

I'm thinking about possible weaknesses to the telepathy, though. I tend to be of the opinion that there ought to generally be some sort of defense against things, even if you have no skill in a suitable area. If you're up against an enemy who's a master swordsman, you'll generally be okay if you can get out of their reach somehow; if they're a master archer, take cover; if a master necromancer, destroy their fetish; if a master summoner... well, that's a little harder, but it'd help a lot if you have iron and silver handy. <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->

My point is, it'd be nice if the non-Dae'vol had some way to prevent a master telepath from rendering them unconscious or learning all their dark, world-shattering secrets they spent a lifetime accumulating. <!-- s:mrgreen: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_mrgreen.gif" alt=":mrgreen:" title="Mr. Green" /><!-- s:mrgreen: --> Not necessarily an easy way, but something. It sounds like avoiding eye contact would work for most Dee'Gar, but what about the really powerful ones?

I'm kind of spinning my wheels on a suitable defense though (other than &quot;I exert my willpower!&quot; which is kind of lame). I suppose we could say that the more powerful or invasive techniques still require eye contact at higher levels, or are greatly reduced in effectiveness without it. It's just the more basic stuff (communicating, reading emotions, etc.) that can be done readily without eye contact when the appropriate level is reached.

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From how it sounds though much of that isn't an issue. To really delve into a mind a soft-user needs extended time with you, hours sometimes. Whereas a hard-user might be able to stagger a small group, or &quot;maybe&quot; cause an individual to lose conciousness, generally the skill to do so is high enough level that the trade off is that tis hard for the dae'vol to cause them harm after that point, especially if the individual has friends.

It's kinda different from a master swordsman that way. A master swordsman can kill you straight up if he gets close, a master telepath can probably ruin your day, but none of their skills are lethal on their own.

Could do the eye contact thing I suppose, but that kind of nixes the usefulness of losing the need for it seeing as most of the remaining skills wouldn't be too useful or unique. For example reading emotions is cool, but an astute observer can do that anyways. I agree with the idea behind wanting a defense against things without a skill, but I relegate all those defenses into creativity myself. A peasant with no relevant skill shouldn't have a defense against a swordsman or archer who has devoted amazing amounts of time into perfecting their skill, unless they come up with a really creative idea.

The eye contact thing might work, but personally I'd like to see something else that doesn't nix the effort required to lose those limitations in the first place. Not to mention from a logical perspective, contact with the Dae'Vol is rare so equally rare, or rarer would be any ideas of how to avoid their telepathy if you have no skills in anything relevant. I expect someone really good at meditations could be able to block some of it, or at least weaken the effect. Just my two cents. Eye contact might work, but would need to be careful with it, and I personally dislike the idea of limiting a skill just to provide a defense to those who didn't work at all at finding one for themselves.

We don't limit a swordsman's ability in order to provide a defense to those with none, I don't think we should for this either. That be my opinion.
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I think it's pretty good, the way it is, actually. Though, I would do a couple of small twists, just underline that Hard forms tire the user and the time necessary to use Soft forms. Also, I wouldn't make Soft forms undetectable, it should be possible to tell if someone is messing around with your mind, reading surface emotions and thoughts and the like would be hard to detect, whereas more invasive things like reading or deleting memories or things like that would be easier to detect. I'd also make the more invasive things reliant on line of sight or at least a relatively small radius within which it needs to be done. If only so there's a potential for escape from these things. Given these it's hardly overpowered.

Naturally, there are going to be defences, every mind is unique and all that. Some minds may be more difficult to deal with than others, low magic should be able to make defensive spells to deal with this kind of thing, I'd imagine it'd be susceptible to Thunderstone, but those are special case scenarios really.
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Yeah, being able to tell it's happening and (potentially) escape would work. You're probably right, a few tweaks would be better than a systemic nerf of the ability. I'm mainly just interested in making it clear there's some way to escape.
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My only problem with soft being detectable is that it kinda defeats some of the purpose. Why change memories or such if they know you did it? I think just having it require lots of time is enough to escape. If you sit with a Dee'Gar for an hour, even if you don't know what they are doing specifically you still have tons of chances to walk out of their range and so forth. And if it IS detectable, would make it nigh impossable to use on a resistant individual unless you physically tie them down and such.
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Well, I don't have much of a problem with stuff like seeing memories and the like being undetectable, but once you start changing them and the like, then it's an entirely different kettle of fish. A PC should have a fair chance of being able to avoid this, if a Dae'vol can sit in another room and manipulate someone's mind without them being able to notice anything at all, they're not really being given a fair chance. Sure, you know, you can just walk away. It's easy to say that, but it's going to be worse from an in character perspective. Can you realistically walk away without being accused of using ooc information? And you know, it being detectable might not mean a big glowing &quot;I'm manipulating your mind!&quot; sign glowing over the Dae'vol's head. It could just involve a headache or something similar.

So, yes, it would likely involve restraining an individual somehow (or doing it while they sleep), but given the possible extent of the manipulation, what's wrong with that? It just means you need to prepare a bit before you start. Low Magic users face the the same problems with many of their spells. And if you can manipulate memories, then you can manipulate memories to make them forget you did it :p
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I suppose that works, but still seems odd to force someone trying to use subtlety to tie down their victims. I know there does need to be an escape though and etc. I just tend to dislike such escapes not requiring preperation from the victim as well. As long as it isn't a neon sign though I expect it could be okay. Takes some of the subtlety away but perhaps that is an okay price to give a pc a chance to get out of the area.
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Mokley
(added for description of a Dae'Vol city and lands)

Coming Home to Tek-hattn [IA]</td><td class="print">1rst of Tirellus

It had been a long trip to get home.

Vedi'Kaen Derag hadn't been exactly sure why he had chosen the moment he did to head back, maybe it had something to do with all the information he had to convey, maybe he simply was bored of the human lands, and maybe just maybe he was homesick. Travelling the human lands had been a trying experience for the Dee'Gar and he was eager to return to his family and the more comfortable stresses of that life, if only for a short time. Whatever the specific reason he had boarded a ship in Aram headed for southern Andragoria and had gotten off at a small village along the coast. After some pointed negotiations he had parted with enough silver to purchase a horse and had ridden off towards the wastes.

The Dee'Gar wasn't looking forward to the return trip. While ships tended to be faster than the alternative he didn't like the feeling of having all that water around him, it made him uneasy. Still, he could bear it if it meant getting where he needed to go more quickly.

Vedi'Kaen Derag glanced down as his horse shifted unsteadily, sides heaving and covered with ashen dirt, and then dismounted. It was a miracle the beast had lasted as long as it had in the dangerous air of the wastes. There was no possibility of survival for the animal. Derag pulled out his dagger and helped the grey mare along its way. He cleaned the knife with his brown travelling robes and then replaced it within the ornamented sheath. The Dee'Gar would have to walk the rest of the way. At least he didn't have far to go. Already he could see the towering summit of the volcano that housed the capital, it was no more than a few hours walk, though it was likely he ran into others of his kind before then.

He had already been met by the border patrols, and cleared. Word had been sent back to his family by means of magic, and the homecoming Derag expected he might see some of them at any moment. It would be good to among his own kind for a while, and near the volcanoe's heat. The north had been bitterly cold through the winter, and only his knack at making fires had helped him survive. He hadn't been well-prepared for the human lands. Now he had a better idea of how things worked there, and some goals to shoot for as well.

A short break at home, some relaxation and predicatable stress and then he would be off again. Learning how to aspire to greatness was hard work.

So was walking, and he still had a few hours to go before he reached the city.


The blasted lands surround Tek-hattn were covered in black rock. Jagged edges everywhere that cut right through the leather of boots and the skin of the unwary. Brimstone filled the air, small vents of which were scattered all throughout, bubbling just beneath the surface, waiting to trap the unwary foot.

So it was probably a good thing that Derag could just follow the road. Had he been some other race it would likely have looked just like any other piece of jagged rock, but lucky as he was, it was a simple, paved road leading all the way to Tek-Hattn. The powerful enchantments on the road ensuring that the volcano would not shift it and no eye not of the Dee'Gar would spy it.

There was not a lot of traffic on the road though, not a single Dae moving in or out of Thek-Hattn. This was not an unusual sight in and of itself. Trade had to move, but it rarely moved at anything but a fairly leisurely pace.

And as such Derag went unhindered till he reached the gates of Tek-Hattn. They were made of the same rock as the surrounding mountain, though dug deep into it. Even from here the warmth of the volcano could be felt. Earth formers had lovingly crafted these gates through long centuries, they were so perfectly hinged that all it took to open them was a simple push, at the same time they would breaks rams like they were kindling.

A single guard waited there. A strange composite gargoyle frozen into the ground. Over the centuries the winds had slowly eroded him while Earth formers had returned his lustre. Of course, he was now somewhat smaller than he had been centuries ago. [b:uib1gnoi]&quot;Halt,&quot;[/b:uib1gnoi] it said as Derag approached the gate, its mind projecting clearly into his, while the body was definitely made of stone, its core was made of living tissue, stretched and enhanced for this very purpose.


All around him were the signs that he was home. He had not forgotten how eerily beautiful the blasted landscape could be and his spirits lifted at the sights around him. The path was steady before him and easy to traverse in his tough boots, made for travel in the wastes, and he made fairly good time. Before long he saw the gates of Tek-hattn and hurried his step, eager to be home. Even from here he could feel the welcome heat of the volcano against his skin. It was a welcome feeling after the colder lands of the north.

There was only one thing in his way, an ancient guardian of the gate. Vedi'Kaen Derag knew of the gargoyle and was not surprised to see it there. He was slightly annoyed at this barrier to his homecoming, but suppressed the emotion. Though he was impatient to be home it could wait a minute more. The Dee'Gar stood tall and looked the gargoyle in the eye, proclaiming with pride his intentions.

&quot;I am Vedi'Kaen Derag returning home to report on all I have seen and heard in my travels. I seek the Kaen family holdings and entrance to Tek-hattn.&quot;

Hopefully that would be enough to grant him passage. The guardian was mostly a formality anyways, seeing as only a Dee'Gar could follow the road or traverse the lands without being noticed in advance or simply perishing from the harsh environment. Then again, Vedi'Kaen Derag had never been gone from the city without an escort before and wasn't entirely sure what to expect. Though his education had provided him with the neccessary knowledge he had never done this before and sometimes there was just no making up for experience.

Still, from what he knew it seemed simple enough. He hoped it was anyways, he was starting to miss his family, stressful though they were.


Entry accepted, welcome back to Tek-hattn, Vedi'Kaen Derag,&quot;[/b:3rb2mlmq] the thoughts from the gargoyle were fast and cold, as if it was a sentence it had spoken innumerable times.

Behind it, the giant gates of Tek-hattn opened without making a single sound. The tunnel was sparsely lit, small globules of glowing rock having been affixed to it centuries hence. Already here he could feel the power of the living volcano. The heat in the air was like a switch being turned on. The pure oppressive power of it all emanating through the walls.

Every now and then glowing holes suggested side passages, the perfect circles showing where stone formers had started and then let other, more base creatures continue the mining. The Tur had formed every house in Tek-hattn over the long centuries, it was their job to sculpt the city and they did so with the kind of patience and attention to detail only a Dee'Gar could exhibit, every house was unique in some way or another, no two the same, the spiralling pathways of the city changed every so often as a Tur decided that the beauty of the city would be enhanced by altering something or another that putting in a shortcut would make travelling easier.

Beyond the darkened tunnel lay the city itself. The nature of where they lived it had formed it into a kind of ellipsis pattern, shaped by the natural bowl of the volcano and how far the Earth formers could push the bowl they were on out across the magma.

It was a beautiful sight, the city wreathed in a constant haze of heat. The spire of the Tek rising well above the others, the home of the Mind Crystal, the ultimate achievement of the Dee'Gar race, immortality made manifest. Around it rose lesser spires, each a wonder of artistry beyond anything the humans could create.

Surrounding this was the city itself. It was not large, in truth, many humans cities were easily larger. No more than 9 000 Dee'Gar lived here, though there were numerous magical creations around to deal with the heavy and more tedious work. Those few spires around the central one, where the Kas and the Tek's met to decide the fate of the city. All around him, red and yellow shapes could be seen moving through the city. Dee'Gar cities were silent. Blessedly so. No hawkers, no one crying their wares, it was blessedly silent.


Derag wasted no time in flitting through the opened doors and into the tunnels beyond. The heat within was a welcome feeling, such a contrast to the northern winters, and the energy he felt from it caused him to hurry his step in anticipation. It seemed he had been away from home for years, though it had only been months. The truth was that nothing in the human lands could ever match the wonders and feelings of his home. Here he had been made and would one day perish, or not, as the elders saw fit. He passed many of the side passages, wanting to see the city again before working his way home. Before long he exited the tunnel, into the true heart of the city. The first thing that struck him after many months away was the absolute silence of the city. Not a word was spoken, a shout let loose, there was nothing. Vedi'Kaen Derag had never quite noticed how wonderful the silence was, he had always taken it for granted as he aged, but now after seeing human cities he knew better. Silence was truly golden and existed in no purer form than in the lands of the Dee'Gar.

He spent a few moments gawking, eyes closed and taking in the silence before he at last turned and headed towards a path he knew well from memory. Derag was eager to get home, to see if family after many months away. His family was still in a state of transition however and he knew not whether home would be as he expected to find it. For all he knew they may have changed abodes. Still, it was best to begin looking in a familiar place. If nothing else someone of a lesser caste could direct him to the family's new holdings if they had indeed moved.

Derag shifted his robes more comfortably around his shoulders and headed down the path, into carved tunnel much like the entranceway. It had been a few months since he had walked the route but certian things never faded from memory and the Dee'Gar found himself more than able to make his way. Eventually he found himself at the tunnel branching that led to his home. He hoped nothing important had changed. if his family moved to a better home he wanted to be there for the occasion after all. With a final check on his appearance he moved into the tunnel, and headed to the Kaen residence.

[i:jb1dfo8r]It is good to be home, even the family stress will be comforting in its own way.


The twisting streets of Tek-Hattn formed a warren which was difficult to walk on any day of the week, one had to know directions in no less than three dimensions to be able to orientate oneself as some of the twisting tunnels often shifted above and beneath each other in no less than four or five different levels. Magically enchanted lamps allowing a Dae'vol to see clearly even when he was well away from the rays of the sun or the glow of the lava.

The Kaen estate was not on the upside of the disc Tek-Hattn resided on and in, where the rich and influential families lived. Ever since Kelken died the family had failed to reconstruct the glory it once had and had more than once been asked to move to smaller accommodations.

This then was the final destination of the Kaen line. A few linked rooms, an opaque layer of fluid serving as a door. Walking through it was a cold wash as it passed through the bodies, but it left one no more wet than when they walked. This then, this was the Kaen residence. The once proud home of the Kaens. Pillows were scattered here and there, family members lounging on the floor as the black sheep returned.


Vedi'Kaen Derag sighed a bit as he entered. Somehow his time away had changed thoughts of home a bit. He remembered something far more grand than what he saw, he remembered what nearly every Kaen remembered, the days of old. It was surprising to realize once again just how much a single member could life his family up, and how complacency could bring them back down. Still things weren't all bad. While not at the height they had achieved during Kelken's life his family was still well off, and higher than the traditional stature as earth-formers would normally allow. Since Kelken his family had done their best to move into the realm of the edi, but it was difficult for a family to change in such a manner. At heart many of them remained earth-formers, great earth-formers to be sure, but few of them truly had the passion needed to change. Vedi'Kaen Derag was not the only member of his family to have delved into low magic since Kelken, though some thought he showed the most promise. Unlike the rest of his family his talent was in fire, a more driven element. Perhaps that simple distinction would make all the difference. Derag had a drive to consume, to grow more than what he was. His family was counting on that.

They likely would think it strange that he now studied under a human, though Derag had his reasons. It was strange how despite the fanfare of his departure he was at essence still somewhat of an outcast after walking through the human lands. The venture was a gamble, and the whole family knew it.

Everyone was waiting to see how it would turn out.

Vedi'Kaen Derag was no stranger to that knowledge, it was a constant source of worry and stress to him. He wasn't the family's only hope, but he had the potential to change everything for the Kaen family, as Kelken had before. The human lands were certianly a lesser place, but greatness was to be found in adversity, or so he and his family hoped. Only time would tell the result. Even if he failed, perhaps one of his siblings would be able to do their own part.

Derag looked around in silence, not yet speaking. He had expected some sort of greeting upon his arrival. He shrugged. It hardly mattered though. Striding forward the returning son did the only thing he could under the circumstances, he sought out his parents. They would likely want to know of his travels, and of anything of value he had returned with: whether knowledge or rare gifts. Hopefully they wouldn't be dissapointed. Derag had made sure to bring home some oddities, most particularly a book he had found containing an unusual human folk legend about the Dee'Gar. He had knowledge too, some of which might even be of use to his superior kind.
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Mokley
Ursidaen primarily live only to 30 because they live very hard lives. Not counting lack of decent medical care, they generally live in the Ribs, where there's a lot of competition for resources. Changing shape also takes its toll, so by the time they're 30 they're generally over the hill and someone's looking to take their place.
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So, I was thinking the other day. What would you say to the possibility of Ursidaen becoming capable of &quot;controlled shifting&quot;.

I'm currently having Berinhardt explore controlling the &quot;spirit&quot; of the bear inside him.
It has to do with the bear attempting to wrest control sometimes....so far, it's shown up when listening to extremely raucous music, and the atmosphere becomes frenzied and boistrous...very joyful. He had trouble keeping the bear inside and it almost shifted out, forcing him to act in strange growls with the music, dance, etc.

The second time was during a fight, where the anger (also sparked by music, of a different type in DEP's post) stoked the bear's rage and he almost came out with similar results, even a tad bit of shifting...fur emerging, etc.

So Berinhardt is seeking full control of his bear spirit for his and others protection, since when in the bear's control, he doesn't always have 100% wits, and sometimes acts impulsively, etc. etc.

Well, the led me down the path...of thinking of possible controlled shifting.

I was thinking it could be something similar to the elves glamour...a skill with different point levels, and you could bring out different parts of the bear spirit.....the thumbed paws tipped in nasty claws....the teeth....elongated muzzle and snout for smell....hearing, the fur for warmth....eventually up to changing like limbs.....but not your entire body.

I don't even know if I would go that route with Berinhardt. Right now he's only seeking complete control over when and how it comes out.....but, it's a thought...could be very beneficial....
and since it's only one aspect, the shift would be much quicker than the half hour it takes to fully assume the bear form.

let me know what you think
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It's certainly possible. One thing to keep in mind though is that shifting is a very... painful process, your bones are shifting around, breaking down and reaffixing themselves and stuff. Ursidaen are generally fairly wary of shapeshifting if they can avoid it, so kind of shifting parts of your body might be somewhat less painful, but I imagine it'd still be pretty torturous to go through. As long as that's kept in mind, I see no problem with expounding shapeshifting into a skill of sorts
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that will likely be something that I will add as a &quot;lore&quot; legends of ursidaen who could change parts of their bodies only, etc.
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Hmmm. Well, we have barbarian human settlements in the Ribs (the mountain chain that forms the northern border of the &quot;civilised&quot; settlements), they're fairly northern barbarian/vikingish type though. Apart from that there's not a lot of outright barbarians, it depends a little on how you define them, I suppose. Elven settlements are... well, pretty much non-existent, they tend to live relatively nomadically at the outskirts of human settlements, living in a fairly hunter-gatherer type society. Somewhat similar to some gypsies, I suppose.

Ogres and Ursidaen too serve a vaguely similar function to barbarians, living mainly at the outskirts of human society and raiding into it. The most classic type barbarian would definitely be the tribes living in the northlands though.
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Also, we don't generally use Transformation as a skill for Ursidaen. It's kind of like walking isn't a skill to humans. Everyone knows how to do it well enough that it isn't really an issue. Rule of thumb is that we only make skills of things that are important to the PC, things like sitting relatively comfortably on a horse, cooking, dancing and things like that can generally be assumed to be known or not known as needed. And that's it.
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Well, skills are really a matter of what you can justify with your backstory. Your character has a farm near Grey Lake, for instance, which puts him significantly further to the south than the majority of ursidaen, so he'd probably be a bit more &quot;humanised&quot;, for lack of a better word, than some ursidaen. That said, they tend to avoid weapons like swords which require a lot of dexterity in the hands, as they become difficult to hold and manoeuvre with bear paws, spears, hammers, axes, that kind of thing are more common. It's hard to give them any specific skills, really. They'd probably have a fairly good knowledge of the geography of the north, wilderness survival. They have blacksmiths, shamans, all kinds of things like that. They don't have any central cities, but are more based around a lot of smaller villages (something of a necessity in the barren Ribs).
Edited by Mokley, Mar 15 2013, 12:26 AM.
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Anyway, I had a gander at your character sheet and I thought I'd point out a few things. First and foremost, we don't generally approve new races, off the bat. However, we do have a race which would serve most of the same functions as your character. The Ursidaen, they're a race of people who can shapeshift between a human form and a bear one. If an Ursidaen cub were to be orphaned by accident, it's entirely possible it'd never learn to shapeshift one way or the other. Also, ursidaen are different from bears in that they have the beginnings of a thumb on their paws, allowing them to handle things like swords with some degree of skill. Of course, they're more clumsy than humans when it comes to fine manipulation and things like that when they're in bear form, but that's the price they have to pay. They also can't talk very well with other races in their bear form, since their vocal chords don't have the right shape, but given the relative unstable nature of Ursidaen genes I think we can say that's just a birth defect. For more about them you can read this[/url:2is8j4zn].

Also, I'm not sure about this guardian of the forest thing. There's no such thing as objective evil in Adylheim, there's no god of evil, for instance, there's no evil continuously locked in struggle with good, or any of that kind of thing. I doubt the forest would particularly care if someone hunted in it, for instance, or if a tree got hacked down. One tree being hacked down is just a chance for another to grow, after all. It'd probably be a different matter if someone were routinely chopping down lots of trees to turn the forest into farmland. Which brings me vaguely to the subject of your horn, we generally say people can't start with magical items, and that counts as one, unfortunately.

Oh and as a side note, elves don't generally work with iron, so they don't produce their own armour or weapons, generally.

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eep in mind that this is physical shapeshifting, not just illusions, so shifting will be a very painful process (which is why Ursidaen often avoid doing it if they can), and may lead to problems if done too often. Doing more than 3-4 shifts a day is possible but can lead to extreme fatigue, premature ageing, internal bleeding, extranumery fingers/limbs/eyes starting to grow in strange places and that kind of thing.
Edited by Mokley, Mar 15 2013, 12:30 AM.
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I've tried to mirror Adylheim somewhat on early medieval Europe (granted a lot of the technology is more high medieval than early medieval as are the societies) but there is this sense of the great Empire which has fallen and the regression of society since then, plus the human kingdoms are to some extent surrounded by barbarians and monsters (human barbarians and Ursidaen to the north, Dae'vol to the south, Ogres and to a lesser extent dragonkin and trolls to the east), giving them that theme of civilization under siege which was also prevalent at the time, given all the different peoples who were moving around and pushing others out of the way.

A lot of the stranger things in the setting have been taken from such varied sources as folklore, fairy tales and mythology rather than more traditional fantasy. One of the concepts I always try to plug into the place is that of age. Where you can walk along a woodland path and see ancient tombstones which no one longer remembers why is there, a lot of the popular temples have existed for so long that the stone staircases themselves have grooves after the feet that have landed on them and so on and so forth.
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Hmm. Yes, Ursidaen haven't got quite the wizarding traditions humans tend to have, so they don't live in tall towers and stuff like that. So you'd probably be looking at spells with a certain shamanistic quality, spell ingredients generally based on things you'd find in nature, spirit summoning and quite possibly some possession stuff similar to what you'd find in houngans and such.
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And, hmmm. It's possible. Elves can do it, to some extent with their glamours. Their glamours are broken by iron though. Ursidaen do the more physical type of shapeshifting, but it's kind of limited to bear/human form. There was a PC we okayed a bit back who could transform into a raven, I think. So yes, it's possible
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Hmmm.

Well, I imagine they have villages primarily with some degree of specialisation, ie you have your shaman/spirit speaker, your blacksmith and such, but most people will just be farmers/hunters/foragers. So there's less luxury and manufactured goods about (I imagine high quality type stuff would be primarily had during raids on other villages or trade if they take part in either). During the winter I imagine the villages are pretty much dead though, as I imagine quite a few hibernate through the winter. They're not nomadic like the elves though, so their villages rely on houses and such rather than temporary tents.

They've got more animistic beliefs than the humans, where they pray more to local spirits and such rather than the gods themselves. Hrm, hrm. They're generally considered by humans to be more savage than they are, yet they tend to have a much more democratic/egalitarian society I imagine.
Edited by Mokley, Mar 15 2013, 12:38 AM.
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