The Order of Brother Rudiger

Brother Rudiger was an early priest who venerated the goddess of agriculture, Corrise.  He was chiefly concerned, however, with the early communities of farmers that were beginning to spread out from the Baronial castles and their immediate protection, as Westroners spread throughout the northern part of the Valley in the 4th century after they migrated in from the West.  Eventually, in year 487, Rudiger died, and a group of his followers constructed a small chapel in a nondescript sheep hamlet (with no name) west of the Barony of Botts (but east of the Shadow Woods).

As farming communities grew, and villagers needed advice on building stronger stone buildings (to withstand years of the elements, and also attacks of the more dangerous denizens of the Valley) they would frequently consult members of the order, who would share the knowledge that Brother Rudiger developed in that regard (building and community design).  Soon the demand caused the small order to begin spreading, and building its hallmark small stone chapels across the land, in many small hamlets and thorpes.  A sub-order of itinerant monastics began as the Traveling Brothers, and then these spun a group of  nuns as the Traveling Sisters.  The small chapels are run by Community Vicars, and they will sometimes take up a vow of traveling over several years both to spread information about their own community, and to learn about other communities.  There is a somewhat military arm of the Order known as the Hearthguard which consists of fighters who have taken vows of service (always only for a few years) as well as the priests of the order the Guardians of the Hearth (most player character members of the order would be of this group).

One of the main things outstanding about the Order of Brother Rudiger is the fact that it sponsors an order of knighthood, consisting of both commanders of the Hearthguard and also Paladins known as the Knights of the Hearth.  These are covered elsewhere in the writeup on Paladins, but some words are worth covering here.  The Knights of the Hearth do not wear a specific livery of the order (with the exception of sometimes the symbol of a knotted golden rope on their shield or breast), but instead adopt simple two colored dress, and adorn their weapons, mount, and armor with favors.  These favors are collected at villages they visit in their pursuit of justice and chivalry.

Community Vicars, Traveling Brothers and Traveling Sisters (as well as Guardians of the Hearth) will appear in public only when dressed in their priestly raiment.  That consists of simple brown robes (sometimes hooded, or not, according to the clime) tied with a golden knotted rope.  Guardians of the Hearth may wear any armor, but it must be worn either under their robes, or with their robes still evident underneath the armor (so no full plate mail).  If they employ shields while questing or defending a village, it should be a plain design, of a single color, with a golden knot as the only charge.

Spells available to priests of the order can come from the spheres of All, Creation and Healing.  There is also minor access to the spheres of Combat and Protection.

Guardians of the Hearth are also taught techniques to incite fighters into a berserker rage (A willing warrior may be incited at most 1 time per day. It takes 1 round for the priest to incite the warrior. Then the warrior has +2 to hit and damage, and cannot leave the field of battle while foes still face him. Once he leaves, he chooses whether or not to emerge from the rage).

All priests can share a Soothing Word three times per day.  This can function either to remove the effects of a Fear spell or effect, or it can calm the reaction of animals or monsters, of hit dice up to twice the level of the Priest.

All priests also have the ability to turn undead creatures.

Priests of the order must have the NWP "Local History" of the community where they serve.

All sorts of armor and shields are available to Guardians of the Hearth.  Weapons include dagers, dirks, flails, and the morningstar. The last two are preferred.

Modern Languages

Many characters in a game will have access to multiple languages, and I think it is only fair to enumerate them for the setting.

Far and away, the most common language for Humans (and those dwelling with them) in the Valley is Westron.  This language is a modern variant of the original language spoken by the Human settlers who came into the Valley from the west.  The language has changed over the past 1500 years quite a bit, and when written word and documents are encountered written in the original form, it is referred to as Old Westron (generally not understandable by speakers of the modern language - like old english, there may be a few word similarities, but no fluency could be expected).  There is a written form that is very similar to our roman letters, called Westschrift.

Destrikking - This is the language of the Storm King tribes, although it is frequently called the "Northern Tongue".  The written form is in runes called the Ainark Runes.  Following a storyline of something written in Ainark would be difficult, but it is perfectly suited for recording spells and also associating great deeds with the names of heroes.

Holab - This is the language of the tribes of the Sun King, in its basic form.  There are two very different dialects, which we will call Eastern Holab, and Western Holab.  Details on the Sun King tribes will be coming soon, but for now just remember that those speaking Eastern Holab want to kill you and remove your organs for sacrifice.  Those peaking Western Holab want to kill you and eat strips of your flesh in order to capture your magic.  Clearly a travelogue, with lots of cheerful drawings and translation of common phrases would increase tourism in the area.  While both languages are mutually exclusive in spoken form, they share the same written language, which is very simple and not capable of conveying any nuance.  Sun King tribal wizards and shamans will usually employ some complex method of recording magical spells that involves complex knotted strings with hollowed out stones of different colors on the mesh the strings form.

Elves have a traveling language that they employ exclusively (when not speaking a Human tongue) while in the Valley, at least Wood Elves and High Elves.  They call it Eldarin and it differs from the language of Faery that they speak while in the Seelie Realms.  In an effort to mark their departure from Seelie culture entirely, the Gray Elves have their own tongue, which is completely different, it is called Elanarif.  Both of these have their own written form. It is considered highly heretical for an Elf to use the language of the Seelie Realm on this side of their portals.

The Dark Elves have their own language, as well, called Mortiggo it incorporates some languages of Goblyn (see below), and any words it has for surface geographical features (such as Tree, Mountain, Grass, etc) come from Eldarin.  The Dark Elves have a complex runic written form, called Mortine Runes.

The Dwarves have a language of their own, which they call Ardspeke.  It is written as Ardrunes.  Gnomes have a different spoken language, known as Kurakka Kurad, but it borrows the Dwarven runes for its written form.

The Goblyn races (Orcs, Goblins, Trolls, Ogres, Hobgoblins, etc) each have their own racial tongue, although there is a simple lingua franca used amongst them that is simply called Goblyn Speech, or sometimes referred to as the Black Tongue.  It exists in a very crude runic form, called Goblyn Runes.

Forest Folk usually will speak Westron, as will Halflings.

Giants will speak a confused mashup of Westron and Goblyn Speech, except for Frost Giants, which speak the Northern tongue exclusively.

Dragons do not speak modern languages.

The Saurian Races (Lizard Men, Kobolds, Yuan Ti, Turtle Folk, etc.) speak a language called Saurial (it is difficult for mammalian mouths to pronounce).  Their written language is mostly a simple script of horizontal and vertical scratches.  Much of their knowledge (as it is) is transmitted by unspoken low frequency sounds, and the same is true for spell casters of this race.  They will record spells by committing the instructional form of them to memory as a simple song played on a drum or flute, and accompanied by what sounds like a guttural humming or moaning.  This is repeated when a saurian spell caster needs to re-memorize a spell, or teach it to another.

The Earthy Peoples

This is a brief overview of the last of the demi-humans who can serve as player characters (dwarves, gnomes and halflings) have not been covered yet, in terms of their place in the cosmology of the Valley of the Old Ones.

The Dwarves and Gnomes are among the oldest races to live in the Valley.  Their presence dates back to before the cataclysm that sundered the Seely Realms from the world.  It is unclear why they are separate from the rest of Faery, but it is so.  For a while, before the establishment of the Old Ones, the Dwarves and Gnomes were the only peoples living.  The Father deity of the Dwarves, known simply as The Krung, was responsible for building the framework of the world - it's mountains.  Out of the rocks of the mountains, the Dwarves were originally formed.  The shield bearer of The Krung, who is simply referred to as Mika, smoothed the land between the mountain spines and the flat plains by forming hills.  Out of these came the Gnomes.

As the Dwarves and the Gnomes began working the gifts given to them, they inadvertently awakened the elder elemental gods who brought forth the Old Ones.  As the myth recorders from Parn Tandalorn are apt to point out, eventually the Old Ones vanished, and gave way first to the Storm King tribes.  These became so numerous that they threatened the Earthy Peoples and also the Faery Peoples.  There was a war, with the Elves and Dwarves on one side, and the massed tribes of the Storm King on the other.  Something happened - none alive today know what it was, but the Dwarves never showed up at any of the battles.  In the end, the Elves capitulated, and agreed to stay to their own forests.  The Dwarves (and Gnomes) were not part of the treaty, but fled to the mountains and hills from which they were born.

The Halflings, on the other hand, are of an unknown origin.  There is no indication that they dwelt in the Valley in the time of the Old Ones.  There is also no indication that they dwelt in the lands to the West, from where the Westroners came before they migrated into the Valley.  Today, however, there are small settlements and communities of Halflings spread throughout the Baronies.  The Halflings are not known to have any deities of their own, but rather make themselves comfortable in the Westron Church.

From Whence the Forest Folk

Regular Old School gamers will recognize the regular player character races in this setting.  There are, of course humans of various cultures, Dwarfs and Elves (both of a rather Tolkienesque flavor), Halflings (closer to Hobbits than to Munchkins or Dufflepuds), and Half Elves and Half Orcs.  More on the last two later...  However, there are other races, of a distinctive flavor, within the setting that might be appropriate as player character races, or some certainly as foes.

These are, of course, the Forest Folk.  A collection of several anthropomorphic races that dwell within the forests of the Valley of the Old Ones, usualy within the larger forests near the Great River.  These races are:

• Hedgehog People - Peaceful folk, ranging in height from 4-5 feet tall.  They tend to build small peaceful communities, and are known for their masonry skills.
• Mouslings - A tiny folk, most being about 2 feet tall.  They build great nest complexes underground.  On very good terms with certain fairy folk, as well as the more earthy sort of gnome.
• Striped Ones - Resembling a five foot tall Raccoon, these are a wandering people.  They tend to have large family groups that travel around with colorfully painted wagons pulled by small oxen.  They have a well deserved reputation for being thieves.
• Squirrelkin - Four foot tall squirrel people, being particularly good at climbing, as well as archery and other ranged combat skills.  These build tree house compounds deep in the forests where they live.
• Badger Folk - Imagine a bulky six foot tall anthropomorphic badger. These are almost always encountered solo, but one is bad enough.  Given over to weapons mastery.  In their youth they will form temporary bonds for mating, but then spend most of their lives roaming and questing. 
• Wolflings - Vicious hunters, the wolf people are semi-nomadic, having both summer and winter villages.  They will range far afield from their villages to hunt for food, and are not too particular about what they choose to eat, especially when times are hard.
• Stoatmen - Bipedal stoat-like humanoids given over to cruelty and torture as entertainment.

While some of these may seem childlike and fanciful, they in fact have a place in the Valley of the Old Ones.  They are created beings, being the results of magical experimentation and spell craft by the long dead wizard, Han-Kar Vaunn.  The sad and lonley thing about the forest folk is that since they are races of beings created by a mortal, they have no souls.  Some scholars of magic and such affairs considered them to be cursed beings.  This means that a lot of restorative magic cannot affect them.  Equally, however, it means that certain magical attacks are also ineffectual against them, including some undead life and level draining attacks.

Being created beings (created by a mortal, that is) the Forest Folk have no deities that they call their own.  They venerate (those that bother) the Human Gods, Demigods and Saints.  This is especially true of the Hedgehog People and the Mouslings.  The Squirrelkin and Striped Ones are sometimes religious, sometimes not.  The Badger Folk and the Woflings, on the other hand, are Anti-theists.  They are aware of the gods, but begrudge them their worship.  Some even go so far as to openly make war against other Forest Folk (and Humans) who are religious.  The Stoatmen have female religious practitioners who worship dark powers, they are known alternately as Stoatwives or Stoatwitches.

Bardic Colleges

There are three widely recognized Bardic Colleges among the Westron Baronies, and also a distributed Bardic Circle amongst the tribes of the Storm King.

The three Bardic Colleges are located in the cities of Botts, Ockham and Gorrem.  These are responsible for training in the craft and science of being a Bard.  Within the Westron Baronies, and elsewhere, being a Bard can take on a number of different titles.  Almost every castle of any size has a Troubadour, Jester, Minstrel or other educated musician.  These sometimes appear to be Fools who only entertain their masters and the household, but they are finely trained in music, the ability to tell and remember a tale, as well as the ability to recall and pass on important information.  Some Bards progress in the science of Magic as well.  In addition to the castle Bards, there are many traveling Bards who bring news and information from place to place, as well as undertaking adventures and quests.

Each Baron with any sort of money also maintain a number of Heralds (more on that in a later post), many of which are also formally trained as Bards.  While the City of Narn professes to have a College of Heralds (which one time was responsible for all nobility patents and lists throughout the Westron Baronies, now that has largely localized), all those who participate are educated at one or more of the Bardic Colleges listed here.

• In Gorrem, the Bardic College of Maelwyn (a master of the night harp from ancient times) is located.  It is housed within the Tower of Druaqua, and the Master of the Tower is Chief Harper Terr Ondway.
• In Botts, the Bardic College of  Brandismore is located at Feyd Hall.  The Lute Master of the Hall is Mistress Leanarra Gwayne.
• In Ockham, the Bardic School of Arts is housed in the ancient castle Larkstone Heights (once a building of the Old Ones, constructed of a mysterious green stone).  The headmaster of the school is Chanter Stuven Fivestar.

Almost all tribes or settlements amongst the Storm King tribes have a bard who is resident to that people.  They don't have a formal school for training, but do all by word of mouth from one generation to the next (in the old fashion that the Westroners used to observe, before the establishment of the three Colleges).

The concept of a Bard is unknown amongst the Sun King tribes.

The Westron Church

The main sites of human civilization in the Valley are populated by people who migrated into the valley from the west, over a thousand years ago.  Their culture is, collectively, known as the Westroners.  Details of their history or origin before they migrated into the Valley are hazy, at best.

One of the defining things about the Westroners, is the fact that most of the aspects of their religion come from a single church structure.  That is not to say that it is simple, or monotheistic, but it is all one church.

The main objects of worship of the Westron Church (as it is known) are three goddesses.  These are Nadene, Magenta, and Corrise.  In addition, there are a few other demigods and demigoddesses, and a large body of saints and scions.

In tone, it is the equivalent of the Roman Catholic church at the height of its medieval power (say, 13th century, prior to the period of the Avignon Papacy).  It is reigned over by a body of five very high level clerics.  There are three Theurges (which are the high priest or priestess in the service of each of the three goddesses), as well as the Patriarch and the Matriarch.  This body of five, known as the High Office, rule over a complicated bureaucracy that is split into two halves.  There is a Patriarchy, which has a hierarchy of male clerics overseeing the external affairs of the church (military orders, missions, proselytizing orders, etc), and there is a Matriarchy which is composed of female clerics that oversee largely internal affairs (education, ministration orders, charity, finance, etc).  The lead members of each of these two halves of the bureaucracy are the two that sit in the High Office with the three Theurges.

For Player Characters, the key aspect of the church are the many different orders that they can have Priests or Paladins from.  These are listed here, but will be detailed more later. The organization is related to which of the three goddesses each order is most closely related.  The Paladin orders were detailed in an earlier post, but are recalled again here where appropriate.

Nadene - goddess of Fertility

• Kyclos - demigod of the cycle of life, consort of Nadene; Brown Order of Druids
• St. Horace - patron saint of animals
• Mother Kimber - patron saint of birth and children
• St. Leiathar - patron saint of weather
• St. Jasper - patron saint of strength and rocks
• Brother Ian - patron saint of knowledge and fire
• St. Ellain - patron saint of art and water
• Sister Silpha - patron saint of travel and air

Magenta - goddess of Magic

• Kostamus - demigod of the sun, lover of Magenta
• St. Brigid - patron saint of healing and the sick
• St. Kelvin - patron saint of light
• St. Gianna - patron saint of oracles
• Poritia Nove - demigoddess of the White Moon; Paladins of the White Lady
• Veltin Crimsea - demigoddess of the Red Moon
• Argina Lustar - demigoddess of the Golden Moon
• Noxecatt - demigoddess of the underworld and darkness - NOT officially part of the church
• Dralizar - demigod of thieves and the night - NOT officially part of the church

Corrise - goddess of Agriculture

• Green Man - demigod of vegetation and plants, husband of Corrise; Green Order of Druids
• St. Ermo - patron saint of the earth and building
• Brother Rudiger - patron saint of home and community; Paladins of the Hearth
• St. Lilliane - patron saint of orphans and the dispossessed; affiliated with the Brotherhood of the Sword paladins
• St. Varina - patron saint of vineyards and wine
• St. Norena - patron saint of fire and comfort
• Olimo Vis - demigoddess of Autumn and the harvest
• Elongar Suu - demigod of Summer and growth
• Neuvirra Oss - demigoddess of Spring and the planting
• Frigia Nor - demigod of Winter and feasting

Although the two twin demigods of Noxecatt and Dralizar are listed under Magenta, their worship is distinctly not part of the Church structure. They are listed here, simply because of their relationship to Magenta (who, according to myth, mothered the two twins after her adulterous affair with the prince of devils, Baxilar).

The two Druidical orders (the Brown and the Green) are listed here with their affiliation with the church. That affiliation is at times extremely tenuous, however there is a third order of Druids that has absolutely no ties with the church - the Silver Order.

Paladins!

Gentle Knight was pricking on the plaine,
    Y cladd in mightie armes and siluer shielde,
    Wherein old dints of deepe wounds did remaine,
    The cruell markes of many' a bloudy fielde;
    Yet armes till that time did he neuer wield:
    His angry steede did chide his foming bitt,
    As much disdayning to the curbe to yield:
    Full iolly knight he seemd, and faire did sitt,
As one for knightly giusts and fierce encounters fitt.

But on his brest a bloudie Crosse he bore,
    The deare remembrance of his dying Lord,
    For whose sweete sake that glorious badge he wore,
    And dead as liuing euer him ador'd:
    Vpon his shield the like was also scor'd,
    For soueraine hope, which in his helpe he had:
    Right faithfull true he was in deede and word,
    But of his cheere did seeme too solemne sad;

Yet nothing did he dread, but euer was ydrad.

Vpon a great aduenture he was bond,
    That greatest Gloriana to him gaue,
    That greatest Glorious Queene of Faerie lond,
    To winne him worship, and her grace to haue,
    Which of all earthly things he most did craue;
    And euer as he rode, his hart did earne
    To proue his puissance in battell braue
    Vpon his foe, and his new force to learne;
Vpon his foe, a Dragon horrible and stearne.

- Edmund Spenser, 1596 A.D.


The Paladin is a crucial element in the battle between good and evil in the Valley of the Old Ones.  As servants of a higher authority, they are subject to review of their adherence to the laws of chivalry.  A brief word or two seems in order, so that a player who chooses this class would know what sort of Holy order they are buying into, in the game world.


There are, in the main, three orders of Paladins among the Westroners in the Valley of the Old Ones.  All three are lawful good, and have Paladins who are played exactly as the rules prescribe (no variation in class, alignment, abilities, etc).  There are anti-paladins (and worse) in the game setting, but these will be discussed another time.


First, is the Order of Knights of the White Lady.  The White Lady is one of many names given to the eldest daughter of the goddess Magenta.  She is the incarnate as the largest of the three moons that travel across the sky above the Valley of the Old Ones.  Her role in the world is to battle evil and monsters wherever they may be found.  In this she stands in opposition to many of those who are not good, but who still look to Magenta (the goddess of Magic) for guidance and power.  One of the curious worldly aspects of the White Lady is that fact that in her appearance as the large white moon, known by her proper name Poritia Nove, she casts no reflection on the Two Moon river.  For that reason, many evil creatures and men have decided that they are more safe in that region than elsewhere in the valley, and it is a magnet for vile creatures and beings of all stripes.


There are, of course, priests and monks and nuns of the White Lady, but those will be detailed elsewhere.  The Paladins of this order are a typical chivalric order, as was common on Earth around the 13th or 14th century.  A long period of training and serving as a squire would precede the actually conference of Knighthood on the player.  The act of passing from level 0 to level 1 coincides with being Knighted into the order (something that occurs before the start of the campaign for most characters).  A patent of nobility is expected from the family (even if impoverished) for those who would join this order.

Paladins of the White Lady will dress all in white robes - silk if possible.  Their symbol is a black heater shield, with a white disc in the upper right corner. This symbol - the shield with the white disc - appears on the breast of their tunics, on military pennons and banners, and also as the device on their shield.  Individual knights in the order do not wear personalized heraldry.

In addition to the normal chivalric duties of protecting the honor of women, defending innocents, and meting out justice the knights of the Order are primarily interested in vanquishing evil wherever it may be found.  This is a very aggressive order.

Second are the Knights of the Hearth.  This is an order that started out as a group of Priests from the Order of Brother Rudiger.  They had taken up vows to protect those villagers and towns folk who lived far away from the castles of their baronial lords.  Such people are always in danger of being set upon by one sort of danger or another.


After a while, it turned out that bands of the Priests from the order were doing more fighting than anything else, and that gave order to the Paladin's order.


These knights are sometimes known as the Peasant Paladins for they will accept anyone, regardless of a noble patent or not.  They have just as stringent requirements as the other orders, but welcome those of ability, rather than just those of a high birth.

The knights of the order are not interested in military adventures against strongholds of evil, nor do they seek questing.  These are simple, quite utilitarian knights who seek to protect the people that they serve from evil and injustice.  Never ones to back down from a fight, they also do not seek it out.  One of the things that many knights of this order secretly desire is to be able to fight, and perhaps sacrifice themselves, in  a desperate battle defending innocents against overwhelming odds of evildoers.


The livery of the Knights of the Hearth is quite interesting.  They do not have any heraldic symbol, choosing instead individually a set of simple clean livery, consisting often of just one or two colors.  In their pursuit of justice and the defense of the helpless, it is quite common for Knights of the Hearth to collect favors and to adorn their armor and weapons with the same.


Finally, there are is the Brotherhood of the Sword.  These knights came out of the Order of St. Lilliane, that formed when the Cathedral of St. Lilliane was defiled and destroyed by trolls.  The surviving priests took up arms, implored the local secular Knight, Sir Vallimor of Botts to train them in the use of arms, and thus the fighting order was born.  These knights took an oath on an inverted sword, and that remains their symbol to this day.


Of all the three orders, the Brotherhood of the Sword is the most prone to solo wandering and adventuring.  Given strongly to the idea of a quest or mission errant, the brothers will often go on long quests lasting years - following the code of chivalry the entire time they are out questing, always upholding the Paladin code, as well as the reputation and honor of their order.


The livery of the order is simple.  It is a white tunic, and a white shield, with a red upended sword portrayed on the center of each.  This, in simplest form, appears as a red cross.

Introduction - Valley of the Old Ones

This is a setting for fantasy games (wargames, roleplaying games, etc) developed by Me. It draws on a lot of different sources and ideas, but is primarily designed as a fun place to run games.

The Valley exists in a much larger world (much) although I will write about that later on.

For now, here is the original opening description (originally posted on Gaming with Chuck):

Once, ages ago, before even the dragons remember, the Old Ones held court on the sunny face of the world. At that time, Ba'a Zarn, the king of the Old Ones, ruled a mighty empire. His craftsmen were the source of many things - the stars, music, time - but one of the the strongest things they built was the King's Highway.

This highway is a massive stone lane, large enough for the King's chariots to ride over, built on top of a mound that varies between 100 and 200 feet above the surrounding plains. Periodically, there are ancient guard towers that still stand, and massive stone lined tunnels that go through the mound. There are even tunnels under the mound for the tributaries of the Great River to run through.

The Great River circles the entire world, and the King's Highway generally follows its course.

The Valley of the Old Ones is one spot along the Great River, home to the ancient human city of Narn. The valley measures 3200 miles from end to end. The city is old and crumbling, but was once mighty enough to withstand attacks from the warlords out of the mountains surrounding the valley. Now it is mostly bereft of riches, so is not the subject of attack nearly so much.

In the plains throughout the valley, countless small unknown villages dot the countryside. With the collapse of Narn some generations back, local nobles began the construction of many of their own castles and keeps, to keep safe from the mountain raiders.

Today, Humans, Elves, Dwarves and Halflings dwell in the valley, trying to make a peaceful life. The surrounding ancient ruins and wonderous sites remind them that the Old Ones once roamed here. Those same sites can be the home of adventure and exploration, but can also be the source of great, unnatural danger.

This will be the setting of a number of old school adventures that I am brewing up. I hope to reveal the first at MarsCon (January 2011).