Full Item Description

The spear know as Coivn is not a large weapon by most standards, but that is merely proof that small things often cause just as much chaos as large ones. Coivn is the personal spear of L’ruhk the Fallen, and carries with it a taint as evil as that of it’s master.

Physically, Coivn is approximately the same size and shape of any normal leaf-bladed spear, but it is there that the similarity ends. Coivn has a black haft carved in the most obscene of reliefs, so horrible to look upon that all but the most black-hearted of humans would wretch and writhe on the ground to keep their stomach itself from joining its former contents on the ground. The blade itself is polished to the point where one could see everything within the reflection as clearly as with their own eyes, though the view is a twisted and corrupted version of the world.*

The edge is extremely sharp, and could sever limbs quite easily. Extreme caution is advised, though not just because of the blade. If one watched for long enough, or was supernaturally aware, a person would begin to notice purple flames of dark energy radiating off of the weapon; a normal person will perhaps see a faint light.

L’ruhk was banished from reality, thrown into the vast Nothing Beyond Creation by his Creator Trigu for that ultimate error from which all others come: the Error of Pride. He had thought himself as great as the Master, had fooled himself into forgetting that the sole Being above him in power was the One that had created him.

In true copycat form (for none but the Creator of All can truly Create), the Fallen One forged for himself a weapon out of the Nothing Beyond Reality, a twisted replica of Trigu’s Perfect Creation (the World). Likewise did he create a vast demonic horde from his own essence, which he then used to make war upon Heaven, fully convinced in his ability to overthrow the Creator. He was promptly disabused of the notion.

While L’ruhk had been spared for his first offence of Pride, the second was far worse in it’s scope, for in making war upon Heaven he had given himself willingly over unto his sin. Trigu looked down upon his finest, most beautiful creation, now bound in chains, and saw deep within his soul that L’ruhk would never repent of his wrong. And so the Prince of Darkness was broken and unmade, the shattered pieces of his form cast into the black Nothing of Beyond. Trigu shed a tear for the loss of such a wonderful creation.

Yet in his wiles, L’ruhk had infused a portion of his essence into his spear, which was cast into the Sea, where now the Great Maelstrom stretches. And thus does L’ruhk await, residing in his abominable weapon as he schemes and plots to restore his lost power and take control of Creation. All that is needed is for a suitable person to brave the Maelstrom and claim the Spear…

Coivn is a Legendary Artifact forged by the Prince of Darkness himself as a contingency plan in case something went wrong in his war against Heaven, even though he “knew” that nothing could go wrong with a flawless plan such as his. Having failed in his divine takeover, what is left of L’ruhk resides within Coivn, awaiting a suitable host to brave the chaotic swirl of the Maelstrom and claim the Demonic weapon. At that point, L’ruhk will take ownership of the finder’s body and set his new plan to take over in motion.

The characters, if ever they do encounter this weapon, will find it within the grasp of L’ruhk’s new body, and would be wise to seek shelter in the nearest Temple of Trigu, for the powers it has are dangerous to mere mortals.

~Coivn was created by L’ruhk whilst within the Nothing Beyond Creation, and as such is very hostile to life as we know it. The only thing that keeps it from annihilating L’ruhk’s (possessed) body is the essence of him within both the body and spear. Any other living creation will slowly have it’s life force sapped by the spear if it is within 20 to 30 feet. The effect gains in strength the closer the proximity to the spear is, but due to the fact that L’ruhk is still one of the most powerful Celestial creations, he can negate the effect at will, which will be done around cultists when he is giving orders.

~Similarly to the above, Coivn is dangerous even to L’ruhk’s new body, which is still “living” insofar as the spear’s effects go. By wielding the weapon, the wielder will be in constant pain, much like if they were holding an electrical rod at a high voltage. Of course, this is not a worry for most mortals, who will turn to dust nigh-instantly after touching the weapon. Only those of a truly Holy nature will be able to handle it without fear of dying, though they will definitely not wish to handle it for long, due to this next attribute.

~If those struck with Coivn somehow survive its Draining Aura and sheer sharpness, they will be afflicted with a deadly supernatural poison for which there is no cure. Only divine intervention (perhaps a very strong and faithful priest could also do so) will save the victim, for his very life force has been tainted by an unnatural taint, the same touch of Nothing that gives the weapon it’s other attributes.

~Assuming one survives against all odds and actually managages to keep ahold of Coivn for any length of time, one will be subject to the same images that can be seen in the reflection of the spears blade*, only now the images will be like a rolling tide, crashing against the character’s mind like violent waves. At best, they will be in a delusional state for weeks after any encounter longer than a minute, incapable of anything but ramblings and screams about what they remember of the visions. At worst, they will be driven irreparably mad, fit for nothing better than the Asylum.

*This is what the world would be remade to look like if L’ruhk ever were successful in his endeavor to overthrow Trigu. Dark, dreary, everything dead. People suffering at the hands of demons, bearing torture after unimaginable torture for all eternity. Hell on Tyren is a very apt description.

Overview

Within Tyren, all of creation is formed of the five elements that comprise Dol: Fire, Water, Earth, Air, and Void. If one can manipulate the elements, one can do just about anything, though that is not to say that it wouldn’t be nigh-impossible to do so. All the elements are a part of the world, but the composition of elements within an object or creature will determine its properties.

For example, a log is comprised of all five elements to some extent, but Fire is by far the dominant element, so a log will burn better than a rock, which is mostly Earth. By the same token, a breeze is almost totally comprised of Air, so it can neither burn, it’s not very visible, and it’s very light.

Fire
Fire is the element of change. If an object has an abundance of Fire energy, it will tend to be active and easy to change or be changed. People with an abundance of Fire energy will be very active and agressive, with fiery personalities.

Water
Water is the soft element. If an object is of Water, it will tend to be very permeable and flowing. Obviously water is the best example, but any liquid will be mostly Water. People with lots of Water energy are primarily soft-spoken, defensive by nature, and liquid in their movements (active, but not always in motion like a Fire is).

Earth
Earth is the enduring element. With an abundance of Earth, both people and things are going to be solidly built and generally immovable (heavy is the word that comes to mind). Earth-type people are passive in most circumstances, to the point that in a fight they will simply endure. The classic “tank” character is an Earth-type.

Air
Air is fast. Quick, fast, always moving, always in motion. Things comprised of air are going to be very lightweight, delicate, and generally happy-looking. Flowers, trees, pretty things, all are Air objects. In a fight, an Air-type person will always be moving, twisting and dodging every attack, retaliating whenever they can. A mongoose is a good example of an Air creature.

Void
And lastly, we come to Void. Void is that which fills the gaps, not the mere nothingness that most people assume it is. In order to define what something is, you have to define what it is not. Void is the not. It is pure energy, lacking a material form. People and objects are not going to be primarily Void-based, because Void is energy. That said, every living creature has at least some Void in them, because Void permeates nothing as much as it does blood. Blood holds power, and thus is the only true example of material Void.

Within the world itself, each element has a “Master” of sorts, known as the Centas (“Lord” in the Old Speech).  Numbered five are they, and to the human mind they are limitless in their power, for they are the purest manifestations of Dol within the world. Volcentas, the Lord of Fire; Cascentas, the Lord of Water; Silcentas, Lord of Earth; Ortcentas, the Lord of Air; Zuncentas, Lord of the Void. Each had complete dominion over their section of the Elements, as well as a direct link to Dol.

When the world was first created by Trigu, and the Centas with it, they were charged to maintain and preserve the world and the elements, keeping all things pure. However, when L’ruhk became a Fallen Creation, he spread corruption across the face of the world, infecting everything, including the Centas. As such, four Centas became self-centered and arrogant, and are now reduced to bickering and in-fighting, each wishing to become the total master of all five elements.* The only one who has not succumbed to this madness is Zuncentas, who due to his nature kept a closer connection to Trigu, and is unaffected by the corruption that L’ruhk spreads.

*The Four are able to justify this to themselves by having created minor elementals to administrate over each element, thereby giving the Centas time to fight amongst themselves.

Magic in Tyren comes from a single, universal source: Dol. Trigu (the Creator) created Dol to keep the world supplied with a constant supply of energy, so that it and the creations housed upon it could continue to thrive and grow. Thusly, Dol permeates everything within the world, down to the smallest space between atoms. This is great, if all you want to do is go about your daily life doing mundane things. But what if you want to use Dol for a bigger purpose, something extra ordinary? Enter magic.

In Tyren there are two types of magic, Ritual and Kren. Both have their own submission, and thus are linked here. However, there is one overarching thing that I could not formerly word, until Strolen so kindly did so for me.

And as far as a ‘list’ of magic {items}. I dislike the convention of lists and specific magics. The homebrew games I did run, magic was simply a source. They had their “favorite” things they could do with it but it was very freeform using the magic for the situation. It is more fun when you don’t have a list of spells or magic properties to work off of, you can get much more fun and creative with it all…as long as you have a solid idea on what the nature of your magic is.

This is very true. I have a good conception of what the nature of Tyren’s magic is, and that is what has been submitted in both Kren and Ritual Magic.

Overview
In the midst of the fury that was the Demon Wars, those days that blasted the lands of Tyren and left them forever scarred, five armors were sent into it, to protect the people and drive back the demonic hordes under the command of the Prince of Darkness.

Pyre, Guardian of the Flame
Aqua, Watcher of the Waves
Terra, Sentinel of the Earth
Aero, Defender of the Air
Xain, Keeper of that which is Not

Each of the five armors is a full-body set of plate, complete with helm, breastplate, bracers, gloves, and greaves. The Defenders represent each of the five elemental forces that make up all of creation, and each has a weapon that matches it’s personality and abilities.

Though the Defenders are not sentient, each Defender will call to itself a bearer that matches it’s “personality”. This will, of course, be all the product of random chance and circumstance. Also, the level of power accessable to the Bearer is directly proportional to the power needed to stop the threat that forced the Defender out of hiding. Not every Bearer is going to get to summon massive columns of fire or such just to handle a (relatively) minor foe.

Abilities

Even with their innate differences, all five have common threads that bind them together:

~Before being “bound” to a Bearer, each of the Defenders masquerade as a coin, which is the heart of the Defender and allows the calling of the rest of it. What form each takes is up to the GM, and after the threat which they defended against is past, so is their time, and they take up their hiding form once more, dropping out of the pocket of the Bearer or some other happenstance thing to make them lose the coin.

~Each Elemental Defender is a “Spirit Item”, in that only the heart must be carried around at all times. However, when combat beckons, the armor can be called from it’s celestial storage as needed.

~Each Defender was forged from the raw material of it’s element, and thus its Bearer has a limited control of that element. Similarly, the Bearer of each Defender is for the most part immune to the ravages of it’s native element.

~Each Defender can negate the basic adverse effects of another Defender’s powers. e.g. Pyre calls up a fireball to hit some enemies; the other four will not be affected. Conversely, anything beyond simple usage can and will harm the other bearers of the Elemental Armors, such as Pyre calling a firestorm upon the enemy army.

~Each Defender, being mystical in nature, is also quite light, much lighter than a comparable set of plate. They offer even more protection than normal plate armor however, being exceptionally hard to damage.

~Each Defender must occasionally “recharge” itself within the element of it’s birth, else it will become weaker and weaker as it’s powers are used, until the celestial energies are depleted entirely and the Defender functions as a normal set of plate armor. In addition, the “recharging” process also heals damage done to the armor. Scratches, nicks, dents, all are repaired, which is a good thing, because a normal blacksmith’s hammer would shatter before being able to work the divine metal the Defenders are made of.

Mythos of the Defenders

When the world of Tyren was still all one continent of the same name, there arose a darkness from beyond the realms of man. The creator of the world, named Trigu by His followers, foresaw the intense and unparalleled destruction the forces of chaos would cause His world, and thus was He saddened, and had mercy upon the people of Tyren. Thus did He forge and send five armors into the world, to defend and protect it against the forces of evil, which were rallied under the banner of the self-proclaimed Prince of Darkness L’ruhk.

And the followers of L’ruhk waged war upon the peoples of Tyren, who themselves were divided amongst the two sides. On one side were those who sided with Trigu and rallied under the banner of the Five Defenders, whom had each found a suitable bearer for their powers. And on the other side of the battleline were those who stood with the Prince of Darkness, and his Dread Lords.

The fighting was fierce, and each side fought with the zeal that comes from having your Lords and Masters watching you. So dedicated were the two sides that they scorched the very earth with their madness, laying waste to anything they could not keep so to keep it from the enemy. And the Five Armors were present, and banished innumerable numbers of demons and Dread Lords from this world to the next, but even they could not be everywhere, and so both sides fought to a stalemate.

It was then that those of Trigu’s faith discovered that the Prince of Darkness was amassing a great army which he planned to lead onto the field himself, and they immediately began planning a counterattack. In that great and final battle of what is now called the Demon Wars, so great was the Defenders hatred of the Chaos within L’ruhk that when called upon to fight the Dark Prince himself, they summoned a meteor from the depths of the heavens to smite what they considered a blemish upon their world.

And thus was the battle won, but at a terrible price, for the continent had been cracked by the forces unleashed in that impact which laid waste to both sides. And thus were the Defenders separated as they had the now three continents, their purpose of fighting L’ruhk completed. And soon knowledge of them passed from history into legend, from legend into myth, and from myth to near obscurity…

A Final note

While the armors are humanity’s defense against darkness, the armors are also going to force the Bearer to grow in at least one area that they’re weak in amongst the course of fighting evil. It doesn’t do just to have a defender that will hop in whenever things get out of hand, that defender instead needs to teach as well as save.

Creation

In the beginning, there was nothing, save Trigu, and all was perfect, for Trigu was all that there was. Yet of all the things that an omnipotent, omniscient deity can do, there is one thing that He could not do. He could have no worship, for a being cannot truly give itself praise and glory. Thus was the world and all that is in it created, and it was found to be good in Trigu’s sight.

For a time, all was well in the world, with men and Rhin (angelic servants created by Trigu to give aid to humanity) both giving their worship to Trigu. But with free will and it’s unique potential for true worship also comes the potential of rejection, and therein lay the fall of both man and Rhin. There was a Rhin named L’ruhk, and he was the most powerful of all creations, stronger even than man with his enormous potential. L’ruhk was the Guardian, his sole purpose to safeguard existence. Yet his power was too much, and L’ruhk became prideful, and sought to overthrow Trigu and establish himself as Ruler over Creation. His fall from grace, and his subsequent corruption of both mankind and many Rhin, drove a rift between Mankind and God, one which no man could ever hope to cross. Trigu was far too Holy to even look at those who were less than perfect, and all of Creation seemed on the verge of destruction.

Yet hope was not lost, for in a divine prophecy, 500 priests of Trigu uttered the same words at the same time:

“In darkest night, when all hope has fallen, the Corruptor shall be overcome by a man not of the world.”

It is this prophecy upon which the Way looks to the future, each member praying daily that this would be the day that the promised one would come to bridge the gap and restore the lost paradise on Tyren. However, in preparation for that time, there is still the matter of ska to attend to. Ska is your bad deeds; only perfection is tolerated by Trigu. Therefore, one must find a way to ‘cover’ ones ska. This is done with a yearly sacrifice that rolls back the ska debt for another year. The exact ritual is detailed at length in the Trigium (the Tyrenian holy book), but at it’s most basic level it involves the sacrifice of a untainted firstborn sheep.

There are a few special days honored by followers of the Way, most concerning the actions of Trigu upon the world. They include Sending Day, a celebration of the sending of the 5 Elemental Defenders to stym the tide of evil during the Demon War; Summer Feast, a celebration of Creation; and Shatter-Glass, a day of somber remembrance in recognition of the end of the Demon War, when the world was broken into three continents. Then of course there is the Day of Repentance, when the yearly sacrifice is performed in every major city, and most minor ones.

The Trigium (tr-ihg-ee-um) lists out in detail what is and isn’t allowed of Trigu’s followers; in essence, it tells what is ska and what is not. The specific passages are too numerous to list, but all of it can be summed up in a single word or phrase: Love. Love God, and love others.

Some specific examples of prohibitions include: no worship of pagan gods, no human sacrifice, no drinking of blood or canibalism, no fornication, and no murder.

The Priesthood is not a higher class of people, in the sense of being ‘better’. They are no more or less important than commoners, they just have a different purpose in life: the task of teaching, guarding, and guiding others of the faith. Each of them is just as human as anyone else, grace-fallen and, in some cases, worse than others. No-one is immune to L’ruk’s corruption, and the clergy are no exception.

Healing
Even so, there are certain members of the clergy who are empowered by Trigu as living testaments of faith and His Power. Accordingly, the truly faithful of the priesthood have at least some ability to invoke divine healing, but true faith is rarer than it might seem at first glance. However, this healing comes at a cost, for part of the healing comes from Trigu, but the rest comes from the person themself, as an acceleration of their body’s natural healing. This normally results in extreme hunger and temporary weakness in otherwise healthy people.

Exorcism
Certain followers of the Way have been known to cast out demons and destroy undead, having been divinely empowered to do so by Trigu. Such an ability is available to those who call upon Trigu in faith, but most followers do not have the faith required to have any effect upon undead larger than a common house rat. Major exorcism is a true test of faith, and proof of Trigu’s blessing.

Gifts and other Abilities
There are other abilities granted by Trigu to the best of the best who follow Him. To date, only 3 people have ever recieved a Gift, but theoretically an infinite number could exist. Each is unique to the Gifted. The three Gifts given so far are:

• The Holy Aura, bestowed upon St. Sayn. It tremendously weaked both undead and demons who were near the Saint, sometimes resulting in the exorcism of minor demons simply by Sayn’s presence.
• The Brightest Light, gifted to St. Trayl. This Gift allowed St. Trayl to see through deception of any kind, dispelling illusions and falsities for the Saint.
• Purifying Tears, granted to St. Gyle the Healer. When he poured water over a wound, it could heal even the worst of injuries and sicknesses.

It is the Ultimate Honor to be given a Gift by the Creator, and those who are so Gifted are very well respected amongst the other Followers.

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While not detailed excessively, the corruption of some Rhin has resulted in the ability of pagan clerics to heal and otherwise perform miracles. Those Rhin are ones that are the ‘least’ corrupt, and thus have set themselves up as ‘Good’ deities. Obviously, the worst of the lot are evil deities of bloodshed and abominable practices.

Followers of the Way will respect to a good extent clerics of ‘good’ faiths, and will most likely fight with those clerics of ‘bad’ faiths, but will worship the gods of neither, for all deities aside from Trigu are pagan gods, and thus forbidden to be worshipped.