The Broken World: Nations of Azoth

[Flagg]

OOC is up!

...the desert is the country of madness...it is the refuge of the devil, thrown out to wander in dry places. Thirst drives man mad, and the devil himself is mad with a kind of thirst for his own lost excellence- lost because he has immured himself in it and closed out everything else. So the man who wanders into the desert...must take care that he does not go mad and become the servant of the one who dwells there in a sterile paradise of emptiness and rage.
MERTON, Thoughts in Solitude

I will show you fear in a handful of dust. 
ELIOT, The Wasteland

To Carthage then I came, where there sang all around me in my ears a cauldron of unholy loves.
AUGUSTINE, Confessions



Welcome to Azoth.

Welcome to a world scarred by history, to a world broken by the wars of ancients known now only as the Old Ones. Who or what they were is mysterious even to the most learned, for they destroyed themselves in ages so distant only confused myths and legends remain.

Some tell of a race of gods descended from the stars, others of kingdoms of devils that dwell still in the wastelands and in the many hells below the earth. Azoth is strewn with the ruins of these advanced and strange peoples, haunted by ghosts and demons, warped and mutated by magic; it is a wasteland-world covered in deserts, poisonous jungles, caustic seas, irradiated plains, and the endless ruins of forgotten nations. Millenia have passed since the fall of the Old Ones, and societies have risen and fallen in their wake, defying the harsh realities of life in the endless Azothi wastes.

It is now the Year of the Setting Sun 8,014, as reckoned by the astrologers of the Dratha, and a new age is dawning. The mighty Salished Empire- for centuries the unrivaled superpower of the Rainlands- is teetering, its ruling Priest-Smiths desperate to regain their hold on power. The discovery and proliferation of gunpowder weaponry- arquebus, cannon, pistols- has challenged the might of Salished arms, swords forged of enchanted Soul Steel and wielded by spellswords of unrivaled skill. As client states and old foes begin to buck against the yoke of Salished dominance, a new power is rising across the Godsfang Mountains, a great horde of beastkin and barbarians, intent on the plunder and riches of the Rainlands.

Yours is a nation that has lived in the shadow of the failing Salished. Perhaps a client state or vassal kingdom, perhaps an ancient foe much beaten but never broken by the great Empire, perhaps a neutral trading power that has long played a delicate diplomatic game. Whatever your nations' history, the future is uncertain as the hegemon begins to fail and new threats rise in the wastelands.

About This RP

-GMs are @gorgenmast, @Kingfisher, @Pepperm1nts and @Flagg
-It is (grim)dark fantasy nation RP set in a harsh and unforgiving fantasy world living among the ruins of ancient, hyper advanced civilizations. Azoth is crawling with mutants and monsters. Resources are scarce. This is Lovecraft meets Tolkien meets...mad max?
-I'd like this to be an exercise in collaborative world building. That means that we want nations that feel like they inhabit a shared world. Players will collaborate heavily in designing their factions.
-It is low-medium fantasy: magic exists. It is powerful, dangerous, and rare. Rare.

More on Magic, Races and Cosmology

A note on Magic: I am not a big fan on fixed magic rules or magic systems. I do want to stress that this is low(ish) fantasy. That means no armies of reanimated dead or golems, no legions of fireball casters, balrogs, etc. We're going to err on the side of how the LotR handled magic rather than say, D&D. Meaning, it is present and powerful, but mysterious and often indirect.

This is what I call the Tolkien/GRR Martin approach to magic and religion. Magic is real, mysterious, and powerful, but for the most part takes place 'off-screen', and is for aesthetic purposes somewhat subdued or indirect. Likewise, the RP will take the GRR Martin approach to religion: there are as many religions as we can come up with here, but we will leave it an open question as to whether any of them are true. Conflicting mythos and cosmologies and visions of god(s) are encouraged.

-It is vaguely Renaissance tech. Cannons and arquebus are new military technology. There are a few exceptions to this.
-It has archeo-tech from a lost, highly advanced civilization is wielded by many.
-It has original fantasy races
-Inspired by Tolkien, Warhammer fantasy and 40K, Lovecraft, China Mieville, Morrowind, Song of Ice and Fire, Mad Max Fury Road...looking forward to seeing what others bring to the table.
- Advanced writing standards.

Setting Details and Nation Sheets

Map

Rare Resources

Functioning Archeo-tech: found in the monster and demon haunted ruins of the Old Ones. Archeo-tech comes in a variety of forms due to the variety of ancient civilizations on Azoth.

Ichor: Some in the Scholams claim that our world has been cursed, impregnated by demons, and that Ichor is the seed of fallen gods and ancient monsters, seeping up from some vast, accursed womb. A black, viscous fluid with dangerous mutagenic properties in its unrefined state, Ichor is most frequently found among the ruins of the Old Ones and of course in the polluted waters of the Dread Sea. Refined Ichor in liquid and crystal form has an immense variety of uses, from powering archeo-tech to use as a key ingredient to many potions and spells. Some sorcerers despise the use of Ichor in magic as amateurish, but its effectiveness is undeniable. Warlocks among the beastkin are known to ingest raw Ichor, thus vastly increasing their power, though with often unpredictable results for themselves...

Unpolluted Fresh Water

Unspoiled Fertile Soil

Races of Azoth

Ancients, Gods, and Monsters

(can be used as leaders/heroes with GM approval)

Old Ones: Who or what these ancients were is mysterious, for they destroyed themselves in ages so distant there remain only confused myths and legends. Some tell of a race of gods descended from the stars, others of kingdoms of devils that dwell still in the wastelands and in the many hells below the earth. Azoth is strewn with the ruins of these advanced and strange peoples.

Red Gods: Azoth is a world filled with lurking spirits, mysterious intelligences, powerful beasts and haunted sites of power. Some of these- out of vanity or ambition or for other, more inscrutable motives- have set themselves up as gods. Many of these monsters and spirits are bloodthirsty, warlike, and feuding, often devouring each other when they become strong enough to do so. They grant their followers boons in exchange for blood sacrifices. The gods and demons making up the Red Pantheon are innumerable- it is not really known if they are all even one kind of thing...some are corporeal, others not- and most peoples and tribes who follow the pantheon worship one or a select few of the deities, though some worship the Pantheon as a whole, which they take to be symbolic of the fundamental nature of the cosmos- one of constant battle and unending appetite. Some of the red gods communicate and interact frequently with their devotees, while others remain aloof, answering prayers and rewarding sacrifices only occasionally and indirectly. Likewise, while some of the gods are tied to one specific holy site, others roam the world freely, manifesting themselves wheresoever they please.

They are frequently sought out by the ambitious or the desperate, who seek to create pacts with them in exchange for material gain, victory on the battlefield, success in love, magical power, or other boons. Some of the more commonly known and worshiped red gods include:

Jadas, the Scorpion Mother, depicted frequently as half-scorpion, half woman and often taken as the patron of pirates and slavers. She is not associated with any holy site, and it is a subject of debate among scholars whether she exists or is merely the name given to a range of demonic activity. Some scholars think the being known as Jadas is a Ghul.

The Gorelord, a powerful spirit often invoked by warriors. His holy site is known as the Blood Spring. It is a pilgrimage site for many beastkin.

The Mountain Wisdoms are monstrous crones said to lurk high in the Godsfang Mountains, often sought out by those seeking hidden knowledge.

Ghul: Legendary monsters and sentient super-predators, some of the most powerful magic wielders across Azoth, it is said they devoured the Nyr'Kiin Queens and stole their power. Some consider ghuls to be myths, others think they are deities or Red Gods. It is rumored one dwells in the cavernous Dead Hive. they are said to resemble vast spiders, grubs, or centipedes according to various myths.

Tomb Lords: The remnants of beings that arrived on this world in millenia past. They are trapped deep beneath the surface in the fossilized remains of their voidships, desperate for any chance to escape their underground tombs. Those who enter the deep places in the world are liable to fall under their corrupting spell.

Playable Races

Abhumans: humans and other sentient mutants.

Valoth: Mystics and carnies, the Valoth have become well-known for their swindling skill-set, and elaborate cons. Misstrusted by most, the Valoth skirt about the edges of other civilisation's settlements, working as performers or camp followers. They look mostley human in apperance, with flakey grey skin, pointed teeth, and hair like coarse straw. Like the Dratha, the Valoth trace their ancestory back to Othman Dratha, but whereas the Dratha see him as a trickster hero, the Valoth depict Othman as a freedom fighter, and someone who rebelled against the social constructs they so despise.

Dratha: An ethno-cultural subgroup of abhumans, the Dratha are a bloodline of sorcerers who engage in careful eugenics to ensure the purity of their race. Few in number, a Dratha is known by his or her pale skin and intricate, curling tattoos in ancient script. They have a natural affinity for magic, and are famous for their magical academies, their skill at enchanting and their legendary arrogance and disdain for custom and piety. They venerate the memory of their founder, Othman Dratha, who in popular lore is said to have used cunning and treachery to steal the secrets of magic from the god of the moon (some legends say he ate the moon-deity's heart). Few Dratha believe such superstitious nonsense, but tales of Othman's ruthlessness and ambition illustrate the guiding tenets of Drathan society.

Beastkin: Abhumans and mutants warped by prolonged exposure to unrefined Ichor, the Beastkin are everywhere the scourge of civilization and are almost universally despised. Violent tribes roam the vast, empty wastes, haunting especially the ruins of the Old Ones. They are frequently led by wizards, warlords, and the occasional red god. They come in an immense variety of shapes and sizes, most vaguely humanoid, and are occasionally used by other factions as slaves or mercenaries. Occasionally a warlord or sorcerer-priest will unite several tribes and pose a significant danger to more civilized peoples.

Types of Beastkin

Beastmen: revolting fusions of beast and men, beastmen come in a thousand varieties.

Trollkin: the result of breeding experiments by wizards looking for an easily mass produced, obedience soldier. Trollkin are strong, viscious humanoid mutants, with cunning minds geared only to violence.
Shriekers: Deformed monsters who lurk in only the darkest of corners; shriekers suffer from a whole arsenal of mental illnesses, which only make them more lethal and upredictable. They are characterized by their

Slinkers: Small, gremlin-like monsters, Slinkers have an obssesion with shiny objects, and value wealth over anything else. Slinkers are weak individually, but pose a real threat in large groups.

Gobblers: Bloated abominations, the Gobbler is cursed with an unsaitable hunger; one which they will try to placate in any way. Gobblers will eat anything, living or dead, and don't discriminate when it comes to turning on their fellow Abhumans. Gobblers were mages in life, typically those who were known for their vanity and narcissism. As a result of this, many Gobblers were once Dratha, who have since been outcast by sophisticated society, and forced into the wild, like lepers. Some factions of beastkin have been known to use Gobbles as makeshift siege weapons, luring them in with promises of a feast, before unleashing them upon enemy lines and battlements.

Grappler: Some of the most feared and hated of all Abhumans, Grapplers completely cross the line between sentience and animalism; effectively being more monster than man. Whilst vaugley human in apperance, Grappler's are covered in sickly lizard-like scales. They also have iron-hard talons, for which they were named.

Locust: these voracious monsters are mutated Aboriginals and other insectoids that devour anything in their path. While they often are found mixed in among other beastkin, locusts in the mating season congregate in ravenous swarms of their own kind capable of depopulating entire countrysides.

[more varients can be made by players]

Aboriginals, the Nyr'kiin: sentient insectoids that come in a variety of phenotypes, the Aboriginals are among the oldest races of Azoth. Individually sentient, Aboriginals are psychologically scarred by the ancient memory of the unity of their species under the long lost Hive Mothers, destroyed eons ago but now worshipped as gods by many Aboriginals today. Aboriginals are widespread and common in most societies on Azoth, though many live in vast hives that are mere shadows of their former glory. Today, most members of the species can lay eggs and reproduce sexually or asexually, but scholars believe that in ancient times the Aboriginals reproduced like ants and bees through the Hive Mothers. They are extremely susceptible to collectivist politics and demagouges, which many scholars theorize is a result of the psychic trauma caused by the ancient deaths of their Queens. Aboriginals are hyper-sensitive to psychic phenomena and magic, able to detect its use from some distance away. They generally despise magic, since it is associated with their ancient foe, the super-predators known as the Ghul. Stronger than humans, they make excellent soldiers, workers and slaves. Aboriginal larvae are known to many as nyrworms, and take 1-3 years to reach maturity. They are considered a delicacy by Drathan wizards.

Sphinx: Golem-type automaton recovered from ancient ruins. Made from ancient archeotech. These were soldiers or guards of some lost civilization. The powerful and rich often hire archeologians to reset these beings and force them to serve as warriors or guardians. Most utilize crystallized ichor for fuel.

Nation Sheet

Nation Sheet

A note on factions: if a player goes inactive, a faction may revert to NPC status, to be controlled by the GM and other players until the original player returns.

Faction Name:
Alias:
Government Type:
Faction Specie(s): [see list of playable races above, or submit custom race to GMs for approval}
Species Descriptions:
Location: [Factions will generally be located south of the Godsfang Mountains, between the Ashlands and Cinder lands. Feel free to place your cities on the map and describe the geography/climate of your region]
Faction Religion/Ideology:
Faction Description:
Faction History:
Important Characters:
Important Holdings/Territory/Possessions:
Relation to other Factions:

[Kingfisher]

Why, hello there.

[Inkdrop]

I'll try this on for size. Dunno if my writing will be up to snuff but hey, I'll try.

[Pepperm1nts]

It's worth mentioning that this interest-check was also posted in the Advanced section, to drum up further interest.

I'll try this on for size. Dunno if my writing will be up to snuff but hey, I'll try.

@Inkdrop

No problem. Just give it your best shot, that's all that matters.

[TheRedViper]

One angry, human-hating tribe of demon-worshipping beastkin coming right up :P

[Slamurai]

Is there some more info on the Salished Empire that we could use & reference when creating our own faction cultures?

[Pepperm1nts]

Is there some more info on the Salished Empire that we could use & reference when creating our own faction cultures?

@Aristo

Gorgenmast will play as the Salished Empire, and I believe he is working on his sheet. In the meantime, you can probably ask about specifics if needed.

[gorgenmast]

Is there some more info on the Salished Empire that we could use & reference when creating our own faction cultures?

@Aristo

As Peppermints has said, I am making my application at the moment, which will likely help as a reference. In general, however, I can say that because of their location in the Rainlands, the Salisheds have a lot in common with the civilizations that developed in the Fertile Crescent of the Near East. As such, I am taking cultural cues from ancient civilizations that lived in or near the fertile crescent; Babylonia, Sumeria, and Persia are all civilizations I am borrowing from.

[Slamurai]

I'm particularly interested in the Eastmarches/Meridion regions; they're situated a bit further from the main civilized lands. Might be a nice place for a "barbarian" society?

[Pepperm1nts]

Yes, in fact, we discussed that possibility earlier. The mountain range separating the Eastmarches from the Rainlands are actually cliff faces and outcroppings that face down into the Eastmarches, providing the civilized city-states of the Rainlands with a natural defense against barbarian hordes.

[TheRedViper]

Are we allowed to lay claim to land yet or should we wait?

Also, do centaurs qualify under beastmen or are they getting ignored due to the focus on original races? Just curious.

[Polybius]

This looks great, like a final iteration of a couple ideas. I would be interested in playing a vassal state (possibly just a city-state with a variety of races) of the @gorgenmastSalished Empire, industrious, concerned with guarding its growing ichor refinery operations. As a plot point, I'd like to have a power-hungry beastkin warlock stealing ichor from the city or something to that end. A few questions:

1. Could we have some examples of archaeo-tech? Are these massive machines or more like small devices? I definitely want to make use of them, just need a jumping-off point.
2. What themes are we looking at? Is this political driven or more like a series of stories to work into one narrative?
3. That map is sweet. Who made it and is the Dread Sea that large body of water to the West?

[Pepperm1nts]

Do centaurs qualify under beastmen or are they getting ignored due to the focus on original races? Just curious

I'll leave this one to Gorgenmast, since he'll the be final authority on player races.

1. Could we have some examples of archaeo-tech? Are these massive machines or more like small devices? I definitely want to make use of them, just need a jumping-off point.

You can go ahead and get creative with it. We'll review the archeo-tech and let you know if it's good. Archeo-tech is basically advanced fantasy/sci-fi tech, but it's not always completely understood. There are likely many pieces of Archeo-tech in the world that people haven't gotten into working condition because they don't understand how. Some archeo-tech may be in working condition, but no one would really understand the inner-workings. A very basic example of archeo-tech would be.. staves that shoot lightning, or something. Maybe carried by a royal guard in small quantities. You can get way more creative than that, though, just as long as it's not super overpowered.

2. What themes are we looking at? Is this political driven or more like a series of stories to work into one narrative?

We have a basic, overarching story in mind revolving around the decline of the Salished Empire and the threat of invasion by barbarians from beyond the Rainlands, but this RP will be a sandbox. You can tell whatever story you want to tell through the eyes of your characters. You can get involved in the main plots or develop your own. The main plots will be there to provide everyone with some direction, but of course player-developed stories can be just as involved and important.

3. That map is sweet. Who made it and is the Dread Sea that large body of water to the West?

Gorgenmast made the map. I believe the Dread Sea is that poisoned lake to the east. It's basically a sea of unrefined ichor. If you dive in it or drink from it, you'll probably turn into something hideous. But of course, it's also a good source of ichor for those who aren't afraid to use it.

[gorgenmast]

Also, do centaurs qualify under beastmen or are they getting ignored due to the focus on original races? Just curious.

@TheRedViper

As the judge of which races get accepted and declined, I have asked to be ruthless in determining what makes the cut and what does not. And I will admit that I am somewhat torn on centaurs.

On one hand, they're a race that is well adapted for the barren expanses and harsh climes of Azoth. But on the other hand, it is a bit jarring to see a world populated with original races (save for man, of course) and then have a race plucked right out of European mythology.

In order to make centaurs work for Azoth, I need a convincing origin story: an etiology that makes centaurs seem like a natural evolution from this world rather than a contrived means of forcing your desired race into the roleplay. Pepperm1nts suggested something along the lines of a Red God playing a cruel joke on a tribe of humans, or a curse placed upon an ancient race of men by a Ghul. Even so, centaurs need to have a unique twist that makes them seem indigenous to the broken alien world of Azoth. If you can come up with something along those lines, I'll let you have centaurs.

Are we allowed to lay claim to land yet or should we wait?

@TheRedViper

Flagg said to me that we are not interested in claiming borders and land in this RP. Drawing borders around a claim of land does not make a lot of sense in Azoth due to much of it being inhospitable. A better option for staking claims is to place a handful of your outposts/cities/fortresses on the map

[gorgenmast]

1. Could we have some examples of archaeo-tech? Are these massive machines or more like small devices? I definitely want to make use of them, just need a jumping-off point.

@Polybius

I'd like to chime in on Hug's answer with some additional ideas. Archaeotech covers a wide range of artifacts numerous functions and states of working order. There may be hand-held devices that may serve as compasses to ichor fields or magical anomalies; on the other end of the spectrum there may be voidship engines the size of a small castle that catalyze ichor into pure arcane energy. Archaeotech is very old, and most of the artifacts that are left going to be useless except as trinkets and curiosities. Functional archaeotech will likely be extremely difficult to understand or use by the inhabitants of modern Azoth - it would be like a medieval Englishman finding a working smartphone. A class of people known as archaeologians who are part scholars and part craftsmen have come about to study archaeotech and figure out how it works.

[Keksalot]

@Flagg

I wanna make a rich, rich, rich, FILTHY RICH almost-industrial merchant state that characterizes itself by having as its capital one of the biggest, most populated and advanced cities in the setting that owes it's success to being situated on an ancient water purification station or archeotech hydroponics farm or just a tech graveyard. All of their lands are merely adjunctions and branches of the City, which gorges itself on all resources that it can find and all migrants who come there in search of better life and churns out wonders made of sweat, blood and coin and dug-up archeotech. A city that opens it's gates to everyone who comes knocking, because all work is the same, no matter the shape and number of digits on the hands that do this work. A city that allows crime legally - as long as the guilds of murderers, muggers and thieves always leave a recepit at the place of the crime, never take more than what they are allowed to, pay the monthly crime tax and keep the streets safe from anyone who tries to commit crime without being a part of the guild. A city that provides it's citizens with one thing a simple man wants the most - stability, where every new day isn't very different from the last unless you want it to be. A city that rarely wages wars because his banking system makes wars in its vicinity unprofitable - the motto of their armed force is "If you start a war, we will call back the bonds and nullify our contracts. And stop pointing the arquebus that we made in my direction. And don't tread our earth with the boots that were sewn by our cobblers. And don't you owe like ten dollars worth of liquor to the bar where my sister works?"

The master of this city would probably be a powerful spirit that personifies the best and brightest features of commerce and capitalism of the Old World. Or just a simple smart man with a knack for organizing systems who will never be killed or dethroned because living in the City without him would be more trouble than it's worth.

Would that work?

@Keksalot

<Snipped quote by Keksalot>

Obviously, I am not Flagg but I think you get what this RP is all about. I'll let Flagg chime in but I see nothing that anyone would disapprove of.

You should check out the copy of this thread that was posted in NRP's Interest Check board. That one seems to be getting a little more traffic for some reason and I think you might like bouncing ideas off of some of the people posting there: roleplayerguild.com/topics/136607-the-..

@gorgenmast

My only concern would be the use of archeo-tech to justify plentiful, clean water. A big emphasis of the RP should be the barren, inhospitable land and lack of clean water. It of course makes sense that the cities are situated near clean water, like rivers, but we should be careful about allowing too much access to archeo-tech that purifies water and pretty much erases the problem of water scarcity. We can work something out, though.

@Pepperm1nts

Repostin' stuff from another interest check. Tell me what do you think.
Before you say it yes, i was kinda inspired by Ankh-Morpork. And New-Krobuzon a bit.

[Keksalot]

Also, another variant for the placement of the city that is not an archeotech water purifier:
A place where an absolutely GIGANTIC fucking land leviathan has died very long time ago. Like, thing that is the size of Everest or something. It rotted and rotted but still can't rot away until these very times due to magical energies suffusing it. Whatever part of this horrible husk rots at the moment, it seeps not just usual rotting spoiled filth but rich, iridiscent Ichor.
I can even imagine the first line in the holy book of the city's official but scarcely-enforced religion - "Eat, ye maggots of the divine corpse!"

[Slamurai]

What's it like in the Erg? There are so many places to choose from and I can't decide where I want my tribe to set up shop.

[Pepperm1nts]

The Erg is a vast desert. There may be some oasis' there where a city or two may thrive, but largely it's just an empty, desert wasteland. In terms of habitability, it's a rough place to live. However, hidden beneath the desert sands may be the ruins of ancient civilizations, meaning there are people who would be willing to risk venturing into the Erg in search of treasure and/or Archeo-tech.

EDIT: I should point out though, that because the Erg is situated between the Rainlands and the northern lands, any city set up there would be in a prime spot for trade/caravan stop. Meaning that although it's a desert and deserts tend to suck, you'd have a lot of goods rolling through as passing caravans stop by to rest and trade.

[gorgenmast]

What's it like in the Erg? There are so many places to choose from and I can't decide where I want my tribe to set up shop.

@Aristo

Hider