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Grimnest, a Ghosts of Albion game

THE WORLD, AS YOU KNOW IT

It’s the Year 12 A.R (Age of Reckoning)

THE GODS DON'T DARE ENTER THE 'NEST

The Grimnest is an area in the far north separated from the rest of the continent by a living mountain range called Enkai (“The Mountain of god”). Spirit activity is common here, and the people, known as the “Grimm” are phased by little.

While the technology level is equivalent to early Victorian, it is known there is a much different world beyond the shores of Port Royal. Those who have seen the great city of Prime in the far north attest to great skyscrapers of metal and light, and barriers that none can pass. For the time being though there is the more immediate problem of getting enough money to live in a city where lawlessness is the norm and looking at someone the wrong way might mean a blade in your back.

Grimnest is based on the World of Tikor, in the Swordsfall universe. This is an evolving system, but we will start by using the “Ghost of Albion” rules. This is not a Victorian setting, but the socio-political and magical races are appropriate and can be used for inspiration.

Important things to note:
1. There are no PC races but human
2. All physical money is Azurean chips, but for the purposes of these rules £1=1 Az. The coins used are £, shillings (s) and pence (d).
3. Deities are real, but weak in Grimnest. This makes communing with divine entities very difficult.
4. Magic is known as “Ether”
5. No-one starts rich or noble. It’s not that kind of town. That doesn’t mean you can’t aspire to those things. All players will be “Apprentices”
6. Magical artifacts have their own special qualities and as usually unique. Weapons can be honed to improve them, but that doesn’t make them magical.
7. Senior mystics, known as Hekans, know a brand of magic that far exceeds that of the known professions of the Grimnest. They are not detailed in these rules but are considered “Master” level.
8. Tech level in Seven Dials is Victorian (so small swords, black power and shot are common) , but more futuristic tech is known to exist in the far North. Attitudes vary.

Port Royal / Seven Dials

Legends say a fragment of the knife that killed Mime, deity of Wisdom fell to earth in the Grimnest, causing a wave of unseen corruption that devoured large sections of Port Prison (as it was at the time). This caused the part of the city that became the notorious Seven Dials to fall into decay and ruin. Technology wouldn’t work here, though unscrupulous Azurean barons exploited the lawlessness of the area to open a huge unregulated mine that burrows deep into the bowels of the earth. Though what is mined here is inferior and seeps corruption, skilled Hekans can rework the raw material into useful ingots and are happy to pay the Pirate Lords to get their hands on it. Little of this wealth reaches the lower tiers of society. Luck for you you’re not just an average joe/jane.

This is but one district of the vast city of Port Royal, gateway to the Santos Sea. Its bay is thick with ships from every shore, but only the wooden sailing ships of the Pirate Lords come close, closely watched from the headland by the huge batteries of guns.

Corjen, the Swamp Arena

Presided over by the mysterious Alabaster Oracle, Corjen is now a free city allied to Port Royal. This will be the first stop on the new railway and is home to a blast furnace and an ancient sunken city filled with the restless dead. A primitive tribe of frog-people inhabit the swamps and come to the town for work. The barbaric spectacle of the arena has been replaced by more refined duels and pugilism to entertain the many troops and navvies the railway has brought in.
The Expanding Empire

Port Royal has interfered with the business of its neighbours since its founding, but not its expansion is more marked and there is a definite whiff of empire building about the deployment of its military. Tribal lands that have previously been allied have been formally annexed and the onward march of road and rail have stretched its influence ever deeper into the interior.
Rules

The “Ghosts of Albion” setting uses the Unisystem based on a single d10 roll. This is elegantly simple, but to make things more interesting we’ll be using d20s with 1 a fumble and 20 a critical success. All other rolls are halved (19 becomes 10, 2 becomes 1, 4 becomes 2 and so on.). Fumbles and critical results will then be determined by tarot.