[OOC] Keratia: Story of the Surf, Tales of the Deep

[rush99999]

Yikes

[rush99999]

If you looked at my latest IC post and saw the words [Premature Post], know there is something else there now.

[rush99999]

By the way, would I be correct in thinking there's a place in Red Shard where Talogan could perform the pit fighting downtime activity listed in Xanathar's Guide?

[Lucius Cypher]

The closest thing for that is the Fisticuff Club which as the name implies, is for hand-to-habd fighting. Red Shard isn’t large enough to cater to that sort of activity, as the Thieves Guild keep a mostly clean operation here in order to remain beneath suspicion.

[rush99999]

I take it that also means gambling is out of the question?

[Lucius Cypher]

Oh you can gamble just fine, in fact that’s how the clubs support itself. Best brawlers work for the house so the potential pay-off gets plenty of folks betting against the house hoping to win big, but they often don’t. Doesn’t stop people from trying though. Naturally of course there’s also an admission fee and concession stand, so it’s not just gambling that supports the club.

And it’s not like these Fisticuff clubs are underground or illegal: they they definitely don’t happen in the public eye, it’s not unusual for guardsmen to be gamblers or even fighters in the ring. As long as there’s no murder (accidents happen) and no one is being forced to fight, the it’s all hunkydory. You know, aside from the frequent broken bones and lost teeth.

[rush99999]

You mentioned that Hurrik used to be a tengu before his reincarnation. But what is a tengu exactly?

[Lucius Cypher]

As Hurrik would tell you, a tengu is effectively the hybrid of a human and kenku, native to the Majadan Empire. Innately stealthy and has the Kenku’s mimicry skill, but not their ability in forgeries. Though Tengu do at least have normal voices, allowing much more flexibility with communication.

[rush99999]

So basically half-elves but kenku. Do tengus also inherit the kenkus' lack of creativity or does their human blood cancel that out?

Also, has Hurrik ever told the story of how he died and was reincarnated or has he been understandably tight lipped about such a traumatic event?

[Lucius Cypher]

Depends on where they grow up. A tengu is just as capable of creativity as a normal human, but they also can easily adapt into kenku culture, assuming they’re accepted. And all Hurrik can recall about his reincarnation was that he was a tengu soldier working for the Majadan before his sudden death and eventual revival. Dwarves, Halflings, and gnomes aren’t treated very well on the empires though, which leads to Hurrik turning to piracy.

As for what killed him or how he even got reincarnated, again he doesn’t recall. He doesn’t even remember much details of his old life, sometimes musing that maybe he’s making it up. For the most part Hurrik doesn’t really talk about his past.

[rush99999]

What beef does Majadan have with dwarves, halflings, and gnomes exactly?

[Lucius Cypher]

It's a longstanding cultural thing. Long story short, Majadan enslaves "Lesser Folk", such as the dwarves, halfings, and gnomes, while otherwise being predominately elven. Think Drow but these are regular surface elves. The Xia Empire used to be part of them until many centuries ago, but the Xia Empire aren't any better: The Xia Empire are actually controlled by Drow, and are more or less just hating on the Majadan elves for inter racial reasons.

Natch there are other races there too such as the aforementioned Kenku, humans, orcs, etc. Majadan is mostly elves though, with humans being a close second, and than a smattering of various other races too.

If asked, Hurrik has no particular thoughts about the Majadan's treatment of lesser folk. While he does think his reincarnation is karmatic, he never really had much personal opinions about the cultural racism himself. He was raised by Kenku who considered everyone to be weird.

[rush99999]

I didn't think the drow would be all that keen about living on the surface, let alone running an empire there. What with their sunlight sensitivity and all.

While we're on the subject of empires, which race is the Empire of Ferric's ruling race?

[Lucius Cypher]

The Empire of Xia is known for it's massive architectural cities, and is capable as a fairly new empire because every settlement from it's villages to it's cities are fortresses. Which, incidentally, also means that drow can usually be out-and-about without being in direct sunlight. It also helps that the drow have a tenuous alliance with the likes of goblins and orcs, who don't have sunlight sensitivity, and more or less operate the surface while the drow deal with things underground.

The Empire of Ferric is largely dwarven, and is in fact the only predominately dwarven nation. They're one of the oldest empires that still exist since their inception, dating back about 10000 years. In comparison, the next oldest was the Crystal Kharnate at 1300ish, but they've gone through hefty political upheaval in recent times (about 70 years ago) and are now the various countries in the north. The Majadan Empire is the third oldest current nation at 700, though currently the second oldest due to the fracture of the Kharnate.

[rush99999]

I had a feeling the Empire of Ferric was run by dwarves, what with the Shopkeeper of Ferric being a dwarf and all. Is it a common occurrence for dwarves to name a child after the Empire?

[Lucius Cypher]

Very, as and the founder himself was named Ferric. It's a very common name, like Alexander. Dwarves being dwarves, they take great pride in their history and the Empire of Ferric was built upon remembering one's roots and making sure that your head isn't too far into the clouds.

[rush99999]

Were you making a reference to something when you said Derrick used to be an accountant before turning to piracy? I get the feeling that's a reference, but I can't put my finger on it.

[Lucius Cypher]

Not intentionally, but I'm sure there's a reference in there I've subconsciously made.

[rush99999]

Earlier you said Goreguts' poster was offering 5000 gold. Now you say it's 3000. Did Talogan misread the amount at first due to the distance between himself and the poster?

[Lucius Cypher]

Nope, that was a typo on my part. I wrote that post via cellphone ya see, so when I’m blazing through the text sometimes I miss small stuff like that. The bounty is 5k.