The Stolen World

[mao]

The Stolen World was a very typical place before the coming of the Star Whales. Civilizations rose and fell as is common for high fantasy setting. With magic being as powerful as an h-bomb, this leads to a rather predictable ebb and flow of societies.Then came the first of the Star Whales.

Migrating to the rich feeding grounds of the Stolen World, the whales come in three waves every thousand years. The First wave is the Star Spawn the whales feed upon, this causes a huge disruption of society(on the order of a very major war) The spawn are accompanied by the parasite they carry. Looking rather like a Face hugger(Alien), only about 3 inches long. These parasites cause a "Barbarism disease", Leading to wide spread looting and rioting, as well as the destruction visited by the feeding spawn. About 5-10% destruction to the ecosystem.

The Second wave consists of the adult male Star Whales. They are the least effected by the parasite, So the destruction comes from the whales not the Barbarism Plague. The destruction rises to about 33-40 %

Exactly two years from the first wave, the ravenous, pregnant female whales make their grand entrance. Feeding both on magic and on the ecosystem only 3-5% will remain. They will eat 99.9 percent of the magic sources leaving the survivors with the Barbarism Plague, resulting in a complete barbaric society remaining.

THE FIRST STRUGGLE

When the Whales first struck the powerful Kuthrii Empire held sway over half the planet. With a very high level of magic they were able to keep the destruction to under 50%.During the 2nd the destruction was brought to under 25% During the third cycle a dynastic battle took place leaving the empire helpless. The 4th cycle resulted in the death of 99.9% of the gods and is responsible for the ongoing inability of humanity to cope with the whales. No records of this time exist.

THE ENDLESS CYCLES

Civilizations would rise and fall, how far along they got varied. There was a direct correlation between how much magic survived and how quickly the culture emerged from barbarism. Some cycles stayed in a barbaric state, others became aware of the Whales but failed to do anything about it.

THE 20th Cycle The Six Lands Culture (by Moonhunter)

The Six Lands rose very quickly in power. A small school of wizards developed in the country of Shal'Noval,the city of Shanala.

Progressing almost to the level of The Kuthrii, The College of Mages was able to keep the culture going by producing a toxin that had some effect on the invaders, repelling them. Once again infighting brought them down at the end of the 23rd cycle. This time there was one major difference. A part of the Collage managed to place a few "lifeboats"(dungeons), giving future societies a chance.

THE PRESENT

It is the year 997 of the 25th cycle. A very few of the Six Lands "lifeboats" have been discovered. Can the adventurers break the cycles once and for all? Technoligy typical of a very,very early renaissance.

A NOTE ON MAGIC

The Stolen World has a very high level of mana, coming from a variety of sources. The memorization necessary for a full understanding is relatively easy to re-discover The current cycle rediscovered magic fully in about the year 300, it is however flawed in that there are no standardized spells nor schools of magic. Also due to the suspicion the civilization has developed toward magic, only about a third of mages even take on apprentices.

A vague realization of the cycles has emerged, erroneously leading to the conclusion that magic is responsable. Fear hatred and mistrust of Mages is more the norm in cities and villages. Luckily for most mages, fear is the overwhelming emotion.

Despite all the challenges, the knowledge to recreate The Six Lands Toxin is present. But will the mistreated mages be up for the task ?

A NOTE ON THE ECOLOGY

Lions,elephants,rhinos cats, dogs and horses are just a few of the causalities of the war. Pigs and rats have become common household pets.Oxen are the primary work animal. Bats and rats flourish ,evolving into many ecological niches. The whales have taken their toll on the 'monsters of the land. Only 10 types still exist(each with plenty of regional and cultural diversity.)

THE BARBARISM PLAGUE

It's all a little too convenient isn't it? Is there an unseen hand at work, or is it like DNA, a perfect storm?

[mao]

So I struggled with how I would introduce myself, So I thought Id let my current game speak for me

[mao]

insert quote here

Really should have looked around more before posting

[captaincrumbcake]

It's a good introduction. Your world sounds fascinating. I'm a (very very) low magic-world type ref myself.

Prepare yourself for lots to think on, here.

[mao]

I've got 6mo to a year from now(Feb, 2017) to make up my mind on a huge issue. When I decided to go with the Sundered World s "prequel" , part of it was because I was going to write a new set of rules for the setting ( something recognizable to anyone familiar with D&D). I also started to look at some )D&D clones for inspiration. That's when an unnamed somebody dropped an illegal copy of the beta version of Crypts and Things into my lap for unrelated reasons. I instantly feel in love with the system (there became a HUGE drama surrounding this that I will prob cover in another stub). So I decided that C&T would be the system to end my gaming career in as I have a ten yera plan for "Sundered Worlds/Stolen World). BUT it also raised a HUGE dilemma. The C&T rules are EXTREMELY closely tied into their own setting. The setting and the Stolen World a a far less than perfect fit together. What am I going to do about this. Current idea is a time dilation /dimensional shift explanation, as I am writing this I realize I have the perfect catalyst for this. As the players will be anchoring the whole universe to the Stolen world, that event could be the "Time Dialation" event, actually kinda is a perfect fit, couldnt believe I didnt see this before

[mao]

OVERVIEW

For many reasons the urban dwellings of the Stolen World are rather quirky. One of the main reasons for this is the fact that much of the world lives in isolation and without an influx of "normal" individuals, these areas 50% of the them, manifest strange personal habits These quirks often overlap with the law, morality and religion. The social standard that exceptions are based on is more or less late Medieval /very early Renaissance Europe.

WHY NOT JUST LEAVE THESE WEIRD PLACES?

The low population density, lack of upward mobility and pure strangeness of some of these place make it nearly impossible for the inhabitants to leave. There are always exceptions to this, but in general the populace of these places tend to be very stable.



1 THE TOWN OF PLENTY

Plenty is located on the edge of a huge ancient city and in fact straddles it.2/3 of the town is outside what is left of the city walls and the other third is built in the upper-class quarter of the ruins. The main export is very high quality boots and loot from the ruins.

Low Town

This section (outside the ruins) Is a collection of very nice rural dwellings , in what would be a standard construction straight out of late medieval Europe.On the edge of Low Town are a collection of farms and ranches, that with the very pleasant weather provide an easy living for the farmers and grow more than sufficient food for the whole town. A sort of "down town " exists on the ruinside of Plenty with a small collection of inns, general goods store and 2 adventurer catering business' that serve the "heroes" who make a living exploring the ruins.

High Town

The vast majority of High Town are homes that have been refurbished from the remains of the palaces of the Old City. About 20 of the palaces and luxury homes have been rebuilt partially from the wealth that is generated by the delving in the rest of Old City. These structures are all still a mix of ruin and middle to upper class habitation.At the edge of this section is a well maintained wooden palisade. that is carefully guarded, for the Old City still has many dangers. Located on the deeper side of this section are a couple of no frills brothels and gambling dens.

Old City

As the ruins are so vast, many opportunities for adventure and loot await .Many of the tombs and vaults of the former inhabitants are loot filled and are ripe for the picking. About 10 dwellings are maintained by adventures and those town citizens that want large amounts of privacy. The Old City is ripe with danger too. Undead mummys and groups of animated skeletons wander about. The occasional Other (demon) can be found. But the true danger of Old City is poisonous snakes and scorpions, especially scorpions.These scorpions are mostly normal sized to about the size of a small dog. A very few grow to monstrous sized.

What Sets This Town Apart From The Average

The Main Quirk Of The Inhabitants

Because of the scorpion problem, the locals run and run and run everywhere. Even if they are standing still, at the very least they will pace rapidly or shift their legs up and down. Never mind that the cats(see below) have 95% fixed the scorpion problem in Low Town. The town and countryside is simply filled with people running and running.A normal conversation for thes people is rapidly moving in as large a circle as space will permit. Heavy reinforced boots are worn by all and the locals will go out of there way to buy "blingy" fancy boots, as much as they can afford Even the poorest of peasants will have the boots of a Duke. Spontaneous and organized foot races are quite common.

Scorpions

Coming in a huge variety of sizes ,colors and severity of poison, several cottage industries have sprung up. First, they are surprisingly tasty and a wide variety of dishes are available, the claws of the giant ones are particularly yummy. They are pitted against cats in something akin to a cock fight, while this is technically against the law, it takes place in the gambling dens outside the town proper and is turned a blind eye to. Lastly several different recreational drugs can be made from the venom, this is HIGHLY against the law and very popular. The most common drug is "pretty" which has an effect similar to opium.

Cats

Also because of the scorpions, there are a very, very large number of feral and semi trained, large house cats. Most everyone has at least 10 cats and about 5 trainers, are paid by the town to set them about the task of killing scorpions. It is highly against the law to bother, molest or harm these cats.In some cases they will hang you for repeated violations of cat molesting or killing. At the very least expect 24 hours in the stocks. These cats are being bred for savagery and hunting, and will take every opportunity to claw and hiss at everyone. More than a few villagers make a decent living , following around the roaming cats and collecting Plenty's starting bounty of one gold piece per scorpion.

Inflation

This town is very much in the vein of a gold boom village and as such expect to pay anywhere from 5 to 10 times the price of anything.



2 THE SLEEPY VILLAGE OF ARWENI

This quiet little fishing village is mostly cut off from the rest of the world. Living a nearly stone age existence, the villagers have an easy life style of fishing the teaming ocean water off the village and foraging the huge variety of berries and root vegetables to be found in the heavily forested interior. Simple huts are the only buildings. This seeming idealistic life style is subject to 2 very significant quirks

DAY TIME QUIRK

Every person , dog, cat, fish or forest fauna is called "Arweni" In fact in normal conversations any noun is randomly replaced by "Arweni" This came about centuries ago. A wise man and seer named Arweni came to the village and cured a relatively mild plague of open sores. He told the villagers to never forget him and his good deed and to repay him by not falling to the temptation that would soon follow. Well they sure remembered his name.......

NIGHT TIME QUIRK

About 75 years ago the sea currant changed. It took the food away from their ability to fish, with the very simple tools and boats at their disposal. All they had to do was forage a little deeper in the forest and learn to hunt the plentiful game. But they were too used to the easy living afforded by the formerly ample fishing. Then the Deep Ones came. Promising a return to the easy life style they had enjoyed, the Deep Ones would ensure the return of that life style in exchange for a baby, virgin or lone wayfarer. Far too easily the sloth full inhabitants gave in. Now the night belongs to the cult, any objectors sacrificed long ago.



3 THE MOUNTAINOUS VILLAGE OF MUUR

Located 3 days outside of a relatively quirk free city. MUUR is the source of nearly all of the cities pork. They also make an average quality corn whiskey. As the village is so close to a medium sized city it is almost shop free with only a single well stocked general store.The village is on a picturesque low flat hill at the end of The World's Teats Mountain range. The village is surrounded by corn fields and pig pens..The village is only 65 years old, after one of the numerous barbarian tribes moved further up range. This spot had been for generation after generation, a barbarian burial ground, very holy ground.

The Villagers Hear Voices

Only when the villagers are speaking , ghosts of the barbarians whisper to them. This causes several things. The first is that they are seldom to be found talking to each other. When they do talk , them put their chin's to their chest and whisper, this alternates with them looking to their right shoulder and yelling at the ghosts in their individual languages. Visitors to the village start hearing the voices after sleeping 3 -5 nights in the village proper. Villagers removed from the area will become irritable and despondent from not hearing the whispers and rarely leave for more than a week, you see they are quite mad at this point. Any sort of see invisible spell or contact dead will reveal the presence of these ghosts as the inhabitants will not speak of them.

A Note About The World's Teats

This mountain range is in fact a series of mountain shaped and sized pits, with the bottom third filled with water. It would make a great tourist attraction other than the fact that the only civilization is filled with ghosts.



4 THE TOWN WITH A HUNDRED NAMES

Located 3 days travel by foot from the capital city of Kaiim, 100(as it is simply most often called) is a standard stop on the way into the capital. The town does a booming business with it's many inns(of widely differing quality and price) and is a minor tourist spot because of it's very major quirk and storytellers.

SIMPLY PUT, NO ONE CAN TELL THE TRUTH

A long time ago something or someone put a curse on 100. The storytellers have as many tales of this curse as their are leaves on a tree. Some say it was a dragon (no one living has ever seen one) some say it was one of the Stolen World's many chimerea( no one has ever seen one cast magic),maybe it was a witch (none this powerful have ever been met). No doubt one of the stories are true, but to this day no one born in 100 can EVER tell the truth. A resident would introduce himself by saying "My name is not Robert". They say "not" a lot. The curse has also created in the town many storytellers that make a very good living there and by travelling the countryside. Guess why it's called 100 yet?



5 EFTOR, A TOWN LIVING UNDER A DIFFERENT SORT OF "CURSE"

The oddness of this simple agrarian town quickly becomes apparent. About 66% of the towns residents wander around with ALL of their worldly possessions on their backs, with sacks and backpacks covering they're body. Another 33% are nude. The remaining towns folk are relatively normal. About 20% of the populace is missing feet, legs and left hands. The townsfolk are paranoid, hostile and very wary of strangers., except for the seemingly normal ones.Fist fights of the towns people are common as are loud verbal arguments. About 1/2 the houses in town are empty.

Why?

The town has attracted the attention of Sinister strolen.com/viewing/Sinister_Lord_of_Left_... He has been tormenting the village for about 50 years. He causes all sorts of malicious disappearances: Items, body parts and sometimes people. The "normal inhabitants of the town are involved in his cult and help contribute to the mayhem. The town is finally starting to lose it's population, in 10 years it will be a ghost town.



6 SOLO, A TOWN THAT IS THE PRODUCT OF GENETICS

This town is a collection of extremity tiny houses. On the north side of town the tiny houses are basically just enough room for a bed or two. Separated by a wide section of farm fields, are a large collection of tiny kitchens.The Kitchens are in terrible shape with food and dishes and cook wear strewn about . More farmland and grazing pastures surround the entire village.The villagers are thin, gaunt covered in bruises and will mostly keep to themselves. There is extremely little interaction between the villagers. At approximately 3 PM the villagers will stop what they are doing, strip naked and head toward the kitchens. A little more than a half hour later, the villagers will begin to straggle in to the very center of town. The entire populace will begin a general melee of fists, screaming and some sexual activity in the open. They will all then fall to the ground exhausted for about another hour.

In Their Gene's

The periodic barbarian plague that infects the Stolen World strolen.com/viewing/The_Stolen_World has left a mark in the genetic's of this town. Upon eating, those carrying the "plague" become highly agitated, violent and sexually aroused, a throw back to the original "plague".There are no familial bonds or relationships beyond mother and child. As this is in their genetic code , those who leave the town will have no choice but to return as nowhere else will they fit in.



7 LASTLY, OXHEAD. FINALLY. A NICE TOWN IF YOU CAN STAND THE SMELL

The first thing you notice about the ranching town of Oxhead is the tremendous foul odor. The stench of the rotting buckets of milk mixes poorly with the rival smells of ox poop,in the streets and smeared on the people, and cheap perfume.Oxen with distended utters fill the streets and wander about. The people are well adjusted , friendly and far too fanatical about their religion. There are about 7 churches in this small town, all dedicated to MMWWW.. Oh and let's not forget all the flies!

The Patron God of Oxhead.

MMWWW ,https://strolen.com/viewing/MMWWW_Goddess_of_Milk , has found fertile ground here. As the god is semi intelligent the inhabitants have a thousand different versions of a religion that has no sacred texts or writings. The only things common to the people are a good moral ethic and an over reverence for their oxen.This town frequently gives birth to adventuring and proselytizing clerics and paladins( in fact, fully 50% of the Stolen World's few paladins come from this small place). It's really hard to spread the word of MMWWW when she is only as smart as an exceptional dog.

A Little Ways Out Of Town

...just far enough away to be upwind of the smell, an enterprising down on his luck nobleman has built a quaint little inn as a tourist attraction. All of the flies have attracted a large variety of exotic birds strolen.com/viewing/30_Exotic_Birds and he is building up a very successful biusness, his only problem is that all his help is being lured into the town by it's pleasant villagers.

[mao]

THE CRAZY ONES(Overview)

These are the remains of the followers of the good deities, and Fragments of gods and angels.They come in all sizes and power levels. They will be found at the sites of great battles and former holy sites.Crazy Ones are completly mad from the experience of the last great wars. They are particularly attacked to sorcerers casting white and black magic spells, if cast one right after the other. Many in their deranged states have embraced black magic, some even summon minor Others(sort of demons). One thing they all have in common, they have VERY high Luck stats and are able to use it in ways far beyond mortals, also they all glow light blue. The Greater Others look on these beings with glee and amusement, they love the corruption that taints them . Many Others are avid watchers of their antics and will actually send help if their favorite amusement is in danger.

THE LIBRARIANS

A common from of Crazy One.

These are the remains of those beings that wrote down the sins of the followers of the old gods, they come in a wide variety of power levels, however the vast majority of them are of low power.

They will follow sorcerers that are heavy into both black and white magic. At first they will appear as ghostly beings , writing down the perceived sins of their victims.. At the Keepers discretion they will join in a particularly important fight. They use their incredible Luck to cause fumbles and re-rolls of failed saves of the sorcerers enemies.. 25% of the rounds they will be writing(basically doing nothing) They are incorporeal and have a wide variety of offensive abilities, most commonly a wave of their quill that does damage appropriate to their power level(causing the victims sins to manifest as pain.

ECTOPLASMIC STEEDS

Commonly found alone, these are the mounts of the old gods and their minions. Horses, Pegasus, gryphons and hippogriffs the most common while empty chariots pulled by these plus lions and goats are less common. Despite the name they are of a hard and corporeal form of ectoplasm. they make trampling attacks, able to attack at least 3 foes with their melee attacks, high damage resistance, tough overall combatants, they never run from a fight. Found at the sites of battles of the old gods.They use their Luck to avoid hits and make critical hits against foes that do a lot of damage. mid to high level boss fight.

STEEL SHADOWS

These are one of the mooks of the Crazy One world. They are the animated remains of the armor of the common soldiers of the old gods.They retain the abilities of a basic divine warrior. Many of the standard races are represented(especially elves and dwarves). Normally found as plate a few are chain..They fight with semi-hard ectoplasmic weapons. They will all have one fighter type special ability w/ berserk being the most common. Easily swayed by Others and powerful sorcerers as foot soldiers. Also found in the company of more powerful Crazy Ones but they themselves have no leader types. Each Steel Shadow may use their Luck twice, once to enhance an attack and once to avoid a hit or critical. They can be retained as followers but they are battle focused and will attack anything encountered so they don't make the best retainers.They will get bored easily and wander off.

SOLO WINGS

Small single white wings(no body), these are the remains of the messengers of the old gods. They fly as if the rest of the bird was there. Attacking in swarms. found almost anywhere. Luck manifests in very high HP and 25% spell failure chance to spellcasters stuck in swarm, but take 150% damage from area effect spells. Swarms are attracted to areas w/ large gatherings of people, less commonly encountered outside cities. Mobs,festivals and parades seem to most attract them the most.

FLOATING HAREEM

The remains of the seraglio's of the gods.While the floating lady's underthings and negligees are deadly, they also look rather silly, just sort of blowing around. They attack by constriction and strangulation. Luck manifests as an immunity to all damage except for edged cutting weapons.Only encountered after dark.

LAST SUPPERS

These are the very disgusting, animated remains of the stomach contents of the dead deities. They would easily be mistaken for a common slime or pudding, save for the Crazy One telltale blue glow. Scholars have endlessly debated on why these exist at all, but conclusions are all vastly different. Luck manafests as huge dodge bonus. Attacking with acidic sprays and immune to non-magic weapons, The "dead" remains of these are of value to a select group of arcane investigators.

LIVING SCREAM

The last word of a deity. Manifests as a Misty blue glowing cloud accompanied by the horrendous sound of a single word being repeated rapidly over and over. Deals moderate sonic damage and there is a 33% chance of spell failure inside it. Damaged as a non-corporeal creature in your system. Takes double damage from fire and d8 from torches. Luck manifests as excellent save vrs all but fire magic.

[mao]

I'll let you guys digest before I move more in and get to know you

[Admin Pete]

After you have time to look around and get acclimated I will move this to the Campaigns section for you.  You can look the other campaign sections over and if you see something that grabs you, let me know and I will set it up like that for you.

[Admin Pete]

Jun 24, 2017 12:03:05 GMT -5 mao said:

I'll let you guys digest before I move more in and get to know you

Sometime in the next day or two I will create a forum for you. If you have a little blurb for the forum header let me know.

[mao]

strolen.com/viewing/Star_Whale
This was my original inspiration for Stolen World, everything grew from this.Not mine so can't repost.

[Deleted]

Jun 24, 2017 13:58:11 GMT -5 mao said:

strolen.com/viewing/Star_Whale
This was my original inspiration for Stolen World, everything grew from this.Not mine so can't repost.

That is so fantastic!

[mao]

Looking back at this, I see how I screwed this up,  spent to much time on long term plans to the negligence on short time plans. I wish I could go back to this, but it is damaged goods.

[The Perilous Dreamer]

Mar 14, 2021 5:03:05 GMT -5 mao said:

Looking back at this, I see how I screwed this up,  spent to much time on long term plans to the negligence on short time plans. I wish I could go back to this, but it is damaged goods.

Perhaps in terms of running the campaign, but I see a lot of stuff here that can be reworked into fanzine articles, enough for a dozen issues. The ideas can live again and again and again in your readers worlds.