Of the Eclipse

[MoonHunter]

Those Godsworn teach the masses that it is the hubris of men that brought the DarkSpawn into our world.  The Spellweavers of the Shadowed Age sought the powers, first of nature, then of the Gods themselves. They were cast out of the divine order, twisted by their own corruption, returning to the world as monsters. They became the first DarkSpawn. 

They lashed out, attempting to corrupt men, beast, and plant. If they could not corrupt, they would destroy. The GoodFolk fought back and repelled them.  After they were beaten back, they would go to ground. Hiding in out of the way places, they would perform dark rituals and tap deep veins of corrupt power. Once strong, they would emerge again. They plagued The GoodFolk for centuries, destroying all that had been built up, thus shadowing the previous age. 

As the Shadowed Age ended, the DarkSpawn attacked no more. 

The GoodFolk have rebuilt and thrived. New crowns and crosiers have risen from the ashes of the Old.  Trades pulses like the blood of a man.  New Arts rise the spirits of The Folks.  It has been four centuries since the last Blight of DarkSpawn.  Some have taken to thinking they were the things of legends and myth, never real at all.  The peace has made people soft.

Once again, The Wardens have been watching out for them. The Wardens are the legacy of the Shadowed Age.  Godsworn and bladeblessed, they led the fight against the DarkSpawn, protecting the GoodFolks.  They are waiting for “The Time”, the return of the DarkSpawn.

Of course, The Time is Now. 

It could be a full military assault, destroying the petty armies of the day who fight their petty wars.

There is a war going on, long and bloody. And now the dead rise and attack both sides.

It was a subtle attack, learning that brute force does not work, they now aim to corrupt people secretly quietly. A lone infiltrating monster, disguised as a human (until it shows its true colors), leads people down the path of corruption – making bad decisions.

It could be a secret war, a cool war as monsters attack and the Wardens hunt them and defend. They keep the secret that monsters exist.

Or any combination of the above.


Kinds –
Humans – 1   Midmarches.  Blond, sharp features, moderate build.

Humans – 2   (Stocky Short and live in the North and West, where it tends to be colder and mountainous.  Cynical, Stoic, Morbid)

Humans – 3   (Those around the Great Seas. Warmer climate.  Romantic peoples. Fluid. Long of Limb.  Taller than average.

Humans w/ Old Blood   The Green Folk are long gone, lost before the Shadowed Age. However, their strength still remains. A few have strong old blood, and show the features of them.   They can be from any of the types, but normally of the Midmarches.

Marked- Your bloodline has been corrupted by The DarkSpawn. That corruption will become more prevalent as time goes on.

Types  (Keep in mind, there is a difference between your job and your type. There are religious scholars, or nobles who are Bladeblessed, or so on. )

Godsworn – Priest, or those of the religious orders. There are Godsworn who do not have a religious job, but they are rare.

Soldiers - People are still fighting each other.

BladeBlessed/ very rare – master swordsmen and warrior.  Again they would seldom, if ever call themselves that. They would be Sword Masters, Veteran Soldiers, Duelists, Instructors.

Wardens – rare except among pcs

Merchants - Money is good road to power.

Nobles- Noble is a rank, Noble archetype are those that garner power and favor, and lead people.  Most who are of this type are of a noble rank, but

Factors – (Only nobles could own land and buildings, all other things are rented from them).  Factors run things for Nobles not present.
So they are like Nobles, but without the status gaining feature. Plus add merchant abilities.

Courtiers - hangers on around the noble world. Those without lands, but still have connections to those.

Scholars - those that learn/ study. They are also our healers as most healing is mundane not magical. (though there are some tiny healing charms0.




Millieu -   Of the Eclipse world.

General European, mid to late ren period. Some areas are more enlightened than others. Trade and freedom from The DarkSpawn has loosened up their feudal outlooks.   

The weather is messy for most of it. There is a tiny iceage going on like the between 1645–1715 when there was a period of low solar activity known as the Maunder Minimum. Add to the suffering of it all.

There should be a couple of smaller places
Human type 1 should come from two to four countries, each with a variation, but basically the same.

Human type 2 should come from one to two countries (one being a free rebellious provience/ princedom from the other).   There are refugees from these two countries in the Middle Marches.

Human type 3 should be from a dozens of tiny countries.  It would be like Italy or The Germanies before their first unifications. There will be island folks as well.


Gifts and Flaws

Godsworn - And be something else
Military Training
Dueling Training
Merchant Training

Noble Rank, prerequisite to be a powerful noble.

Lesser Blood - Otherwise you are one generation away from a noble. You have no land, but still have connections. Merchants and other routes are open to you.

BladeBlessed
GearBlessed
Godblessed


Corrupted Line -
Dark Promise -



Technology
Renaissance  Tech and style.   Mid to Late periods in Europe.

Wooden Railed Roads to get you through the much and mire. 

I am thinking about GearPunk additions.  This will give us some good metallurgy and tinker toys.

  Perhaps we can have muskets/ Wheel Locks/ Cannons?

Magic :
Any magic might be charms.   Cantrips. Anyone can learn them. There are very few, if any charm specialists. If there were, they would be scholars.

From the Cantrips section:
http://www.strolen.com/content.php?node=2004

Examples of what is going on.
Domestic set
Motion Set
Candle Set
Hexing
Skill Bonus

Some of the bladeblessed has "charms" they can do with their weapons, leaping, and so on. 

Monsters
There are a couple of archetypal DarkSpawn

Robed One - Smart one. In charge. Glowing eyes in the hood. Tenticles of darkness.

Part insect, part mammal.  Shock Trooper

Dire Dogs with Scales and Spikes

And there needs to be a chart for random chaos features. 


Just some good inspirational text and some ideas begging for more work.  Anyone want to add anything?

[MoonHunter]

Religion

I am torn about the religion.  I don't want a monotheistic system, but I want a central organized religion with Catholic overtones. And different religions does not fit for me.

I need a tight mythology/ cosmology. I need...

Four who were one. 

There was once one blessed being who was everything, a pillar of light in a sea of not light. (Not light is important concept. It is darkness, not Darkness) as The Darkness lurked out in the corners of everything and entered into the world by slipping through a not light area.

Diversity in Unity, Unity through Diversity is a creedo. As the light gives forth all colors (Our "ancient greeks" discovered optics and defraction), so did The Pillar of All.

The light which was once all, became many. The world, the universe, came to existance as an interplay of the various rays from the pillar. Those colors gave different looks to all parts of the world. 

Eventually, the pillar gave its Divine Fire to The Light it was giving of. The reasons are varied and based on the sect of the religion. It was to experience what he create. It was to shepherd the areas beyond, as the Pillar was bound in one place. It was to move and create the colors more efficiently. These Divine Glows became the Gods we know.

These gods are really archangels of sorts, lesser manifestations of the Pillar of Light.  So there is a main god, but he is unknowable really and technically doesn't exist, so we worship those we do know, the Emininations:

I guess 4 who were one, became 6 who where one.
Roughly thinking...
Red   Builder/ Body
Orange drive/fucundity
Yellow maintainer/ they who do.
Green Heart/Soul
Blue   Speaker
Purple Thinker

Each will have a color, but we will emphasize their purpose.

Brown is an odd issue... It is the color of the Godsworn. It is the mixing of all colors, in a proper balance.

Holy Symbol 
A sylized flame with a rainbow over it.
A candle.
Flame in a bowl.

There will be various sects of this. So we have one big central church with lots of subsects and monestary orders and so on.

Oh, the [Shadow Shrine] would fit nicely here. Colored glass, different glyphs, oh yes.

Random Notes
Lots of candles in this religion
Alters with a central flame.
Solar affinity..
there might be special night time ceremonies on nights of The Full Moon or nights without moon.

These people would make tall hollowcore candles. These are the kind that seem to "illuminate" from within.

[chronoplasm]

Were there other religions before this one religion came along?

In my southeast-asian studies class, I learned how many native beliefs were retained and reinterpreted by the Catholic missionaries to make Catholicism more palatable. Shrines to mother-goddesses for example were changed into shrines to the Virgin Mary. 'Skull Trees', wooden posts where severed human heads were once impaled on, either stood next to or were changed into crosses.

Perhaps this organized religion simply takes elements of native religions and assimilates them into the greater faith, or something like that?

[MoonHunter]

We can assume that this religion developed from its more primative roots into the current form.  Unlike the religions you mentioned, these have active gods, i.e. Gods that provide miracles or powers.  You won't have to make practices palitable, you can simply say, "Look what my God can do, can yours do that?" 

Now there could be variations in worship for the same god. That could have a bit of flavor. However you can't stray to far from what the Gods need.