In reply to Scavius of Shadow Street (msg # 4):
About Hazar
The superpower to the North of Theradane, an ancient theocracy ran by a council of elders. The country is known primarily for its spectacular library which is thought to house every spell known to on the planet. Much of the collection is full of books which could pose a global threat if stolen but are also a threat in and of themselves.
The librarians are an elite paramilitary group who act at the sole unilateral discretion of the council of elders. All children are required to participate in a series of competitive events testing their lateral thinking, knowledge, athletic prowess and magical ability. The top 3% of competitors in these competitions are inducted into the fellowship of librarians for life. The Fellowship of librarians and their families are cared for by the state, never having to worry about anything. Since many of the traits the librarians value are passed down through bloodlines they are encouraged to have multiple partners within and without the fellowship to prevent issues of inbreeding.
Within the library there are seven levels of librarian
First level - Basic maintenance of the library, cleaning, filing, learning how to handle mildly hazardous books
Second level - Reshelving books after use, creating and maintaining the card catalog and curating the collection
Third level - Containment experts, creating and maintaining wards on the hazardous books
Fourth level - At fourth level members are given a choice, they may either move to the administrative side of the library or continue In the active track. In this case they become active problem solvers and high level containment experts.
Fifth level - Librarians who make it this far are the most elite working in the library, from this point forward librarians are aimed externally doing ‘wet work.’ Fifth level librarians are responsible for maintaining building security and the containment matrices.
Sixth level - These are your ‘acquisition experts’ they will go out and collect books from other areas that are in need of containment in the library.
Seventh level - These are external problem solvers, they are sent after would-be thieves who would steal books from the library, or called in if there is a particularly dangerous acquisition that a sixth level could not handle on their own. They have an… almost… pristine record. There is one thief they seek to this day.
About Moreska
Moreska is a loosely confederated group of tribes that live in, on and under the mountain range to the East of Theradane. Further west of the mountains is the coast where aquatic and amphibious races tend to live. All of these tribes freely trade in between each other. Moreska has the most natural resources in terms of precious metals, gemstones, and other magical ingredients of the three countries. However, very few of the resources ever make it past the maze of the death spiders to the other countries. Internally since these resources are not used for currency they are almost exclusively forged into masterworks of great power. Moreska is accessible through the mountains but going through the earies of the harpies and Arakokra can make the passing extremely treacherous.
Moreska is a land protected on its western side from much of the ravages of the war between Galina and Hazar. Prior to this war Moreska was a loosely confederated tribal country that was organized and ruled by a small tribe of dragons. When Theradane was formed there was a brief and very costly battle between the Parliament of Theradane and the Dragons of Moreska. When the cabal of wizards emerged successful in battle there was a struggle between the tribes to step into the power vacuum left by the dragon’s absence. These bloody battles almost destabilized the region to the point where a small force of the other two powers could have split the country and collapse it taking its vast underground resources.
The cult of the death spiders of Moreska were the ones who bridged the gap between the tribes. Given that the cult tended to the maze and the needs of the death spiders that prevented invasion from the other powers; they enjoyed a privileged position as stewards and protectors. Recently tragedy has struck the cultists weakening not only their own numbers but also their standing in the community and the country as a whole.
About Galina
Galina is a technocratic society that is ruled by their team of biomancers. The entire country is surrounded by a living wall of plant matter. The wall is capable of relocating itself through a heightened cycle of growth, death and regrowth. The entire cityscape and surrounding areas are built out of biomass, some are living structures that continuously shift and change, while others are static and dead.
Galina is well known for its exports of exotic food, drink and horrible monstrosities. The army of Galina is made up almost exclusively of purpose-built hybrids. The dead of any battle with Galina are picked up by the death-swallowers... essentially land whales that filter feed on the carrion, converting it into more biomass to create the city, and feed their commerce.
Map
https://drive.google.com/file/...P7x/view?usp=sharing
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:11, Sun 01 Aug 2021.
