Snail People of Uod

If D&D 4th edition is "Points of Light", I want Uod to be "Points of Darkness". 1000 of them.

Dr. Thoad would love this, as would any sorcerers dabbling in vatwork: http://www.arcdream.com/pdf/freakmachine.pdf

Recent earthquakes have uncovered a pass in the mountains north of Narrosh. Expeditions from the Commerce Guild have found ruins of a small city or ceremonial center once called Luumb (to the best of their deciphering). Small amounts of gold jewelry have been recovered among the squat towers and domes. The ruins lack staircases and have numerous murals of red-eyed faces along the ramps that take their place. Wax-sealed tombs line the interior walls, but no remains have been found in any of the excavations. Large circular pits are scattered throughout the center, each having scattered remains of humanoid, large quadroped, and small rodent bones. According to Heteri history, Putuv II ruled the mountain tribes of this region that his father had conquered. There is no mention in their legends of a city or location called Luumb.

Along the frigid coast of the North Sea, where the Gose River drains out from the mountains, sit the Eastern Wastes. Centered around the ruins of Demenian, a city that the Storm Mother all but wiped from the land in her wrath, are small villages and roving bands of Maetah and mixed blooded people left to the wilderness. While not as barren as the Plaguelands of the west, the xenophobia of the inhabitants can be just as dangerous. During the height of the Chlendi Empire, their fear of a return of the grey plague led them to migrate disease populations (no matter how minor) to work camps in the peninsula by Demenian. As the bureaucracy spread, political enemies and undesirables joined the populace. As the Chlendi might waned, the villages of the Eastern Wastes were left to their own direction and communication with the cities of (now) Argaevaligne and the Minkush River Valley ended. The villages became isolated and inbred, and some joined the Kuzak mountain tribes, a Heteri people t

* To seal a deal, a Heteri will spit into the dirt and grind or stamp his foot at the spot. * People of Eskla communities grab a stone or hand full of soil or grass as shake it in the air as a curse. * In Heteri towns, the sounds of arrhythmic drumming means a funeral procession has started. * In regions along the Red Coast (Balancont, Vennosat) small octopi are the traditional entree at weddings and celebrations. They are a gift from the Storm Mother. * Maetah peoples and those raised in rural regions of Argaevaligne will rub their face and arms with fertile soil to ward of curses and dispel enchantments. * If you soak the silou fish in a bath of brine and vinegar for a moon, it will produce a mildly hallucinogenic beverage. * In Heteri lands, the colour blue is used to fend off demons. During periods of disaster, plague, or death, people will wear masks, hats, and scarves of blue cloth. Newborn babies are wrapping in blue blankets. * As a sign of shame, wrongdoing, or as punishmen

Finally some updates. Too much distractions from life, Sabbats, and elks. More to come. http://sites.google.com/site/worldofuod/Home/Species/Cultures/raised-maetah

Before the Eschlatli union with the Maetah peoples, Asklor was the capitol of the Chendi. Located at the base of the western mountains, the city was originally a mining community just south of the swamps founded by Qod Lilotle, Clan of the Violet Glory. Asklor once held the culture's great scholarly institutions, home to schools of sorcery as well as the National Observatory for the Clan of the Blue Moon, who traditionally headed the Astrologer's Guild. The city was built far from waterways or exiting communities to mine a deposit of the sacred amberite, which was dug out from beneath the city itself, within it's towering walls. During the Mindat incursions the capitol was moved to Minkaraph to assist in military planning. Although the city is now only sparsely populated, mining continues to this day.

Dispersed cohort of mystics who believe the way to truth, understanding, and immortality is through the consumption of human flesh and organ. Often mistaken (or coinciding!) for rumoured cults of true ghuls that lurk beneath the oldest cities the the Rhiat. The Becoming: There are two doors to the Way of the Flesh: being born again and communion. Those that are born again are termed the anpiscis. The rebirth is the process of death. When one dies from ghuls feeding, it is likely they will be born again. It is a painful and traumatic process. It is never desired by the victim, and rarely intended by the Ghul. The process takes seven days after the victims death, the victim becomes cognizent, but can not act, move, or speak. Thus the new anpiscis will often awaken in a morgue, during funerary preparation, or during the funeral. The most traumatic can be when the awakening comes after the burial. Many anpisci lose their sanity from the awakening and claw or chew themselves to oblivion, ev

A lifelong native of Imphomonee, Favod the Younger was the most sought after artist of the previous century. His father, Favod the Elder, was a sculptor of middling talent who kept the family well off with statuary for the Eskla nobles of the city. In an attempt to woo the heart of a crushed dame, Favod the Younger first attempted the arts by creating a deathmask of the girl's fallen brother. The magnificent construction won him the favour of the girl and her whole family, and soon Favod the Younger was the famous artist of the city. Due to the nature of his work, wealthy families would transport him in advance of the demise of fading relatives and keep him in Opulent surroundings. Pieces of his work exists in mansions and museums all along the Minkush River Valley, and his success enable Favod to purchase an immense structure overlooking the falls in Imphomonee. For a few years, it became fashionable to hold masked balls where the courtiers would were faux-deathmasks of thems

Viljimil (Clan of the Mottled Bull) is known throughout magical lodges as circumspect and devoted scholar who created the most detailed account (Viljimil's Hierarchy) of known spirits and tales of daemonology. But as a budding sorcerer, he was quickly found to be lacking the willpower to command certain orders of Chlendi spirits and instead devoted himself to more scholarly pursuits. He spent the majority of his adult life travelling throughout the Rhiat, taking notes and collect true names from other dweomercrafters, whether they were Heteri shamans, Mindat theurges, or the local herbalist from a pocket community of Chlendi. Viljimil was well into middle age when he finally returned to Asklor to compose the text itself. He enlisted a team of nog servants to attend to his needs, organize texts and keep him supplied. As a result, scholar today argue whether the taxonomical decisions on Heteri beast forms were Viljimil's actual intent, or is pages were taken by his chef to wr

Despite the threats of further border skirmished, Mindat philosopher-scientists continue to make surreptitious expeditions to the isles west of the Shn continent. They believe the mantis-folk living the fetid hills there bear some relationship to the remnants of experiments they have found in subterranean caverns left by the snail people. The mantis-folk there have a warrior caste whose internal organs are replace with an alchemical paste. The organs are in term placed in oil covered pots which are secreted away in similar caves. This procedure is believed to slow the aging process and make one resilient to bleeding out from wounds in combat.

Four more years and I'll be out of slavery. I look out at the black obelisks lining the palace wall and that blasted massive statue the Mindat left in the harbour, and I wonder if the "New Days of the Heteri Kings" are any better than the old regime. At least I don't have to listen to any crazy-hatted mystics bleating on about with lectures from the White Book. Once a month, my debtmaster lets me head into Dunzeldaryn - in exchange for attending the orgies at his temple, he's knocking a month off my term. Not a bad trade, I wager - The incense doesn't burn my eyes as much, but I doubt the scars on my chest will ever fade away.

The Vumach sign is said to have been taught to Heteri shamans by the four-armed frog people that lived in the mountain passes southeast of Sofegai. The arrangement of one's fingers on a human hand requires much more practice and flexibility. The proper display of the Vumach Sign will make spirits and creatures of other spheres pause, allowing time to prepare an incantation of defense (or allow those of wisdom to flee the scene).

The Clan of the Sunset Moss, or Qod Etherhi, are only of founding clans of the Chlendi settlements of the Rhiat. They are historically notable for took the Chlendi crown in one of the few interruptions of the Black Lily dynasty. After an occurrence of the Chlendi Black Pox on the mainland, Iminir of the Black Lily Crown offered himself in sacrifice to Paeglaphiis, Chlendi spirit of disease. Lacking a an heir Iminir's cousin, Shokinnan of the Sunset Moss, took the crown and seat upon the Crooked Throne. Shokinnan and his clan held title for almost 150 years before an arranged marriage restored the Black Lily to their rightful spot in 1687. Shokinnan was the founder Pugshlow, and the clan remains the rulers of the region. The town's original border can be seen in a ring of swamp graves 3 miles out. During the border skirmished with the Maetah, the Etherhi claim pacts with a Chlendi War Spirit, Itil-called-the-Vengeful. They claim the blessing of this spirit allowed acid to p

In 2031, just a few years after the Dispersion of the Vaporous Host, a humble artisan in Vedeldermoush presented the Mindat Emperor Guad with a carved set of small wooden idols in likeness of the Imperial family. So struck by their beauty and the carver's story of the time and care that went into their making, he honoured the man with title and a place among the court. Scant months later, the Emperor Guad, his family, the artisan and most of the court will slaughtered in a coup, and the palace sacked. The idols were presumed lost or destroyed until one, that of the Guad infant son, appeared in a trove hauled from a shipwreck off the coast of Givos. It was passed on to the Preceptor of the Rais-Worm Lodge in Bolog, who purchased it from a gambler unaware of its significance. Study showed that the wood used in the idol was taken from a Sh'n soul tree, probably taken during the artisan's work as a shipwright during Mindat invasion of the Sh'n homeland. The carving depi

The Chlendi people first ventured south to the swampy shores of the Rhiat 500 years ago. Despite condemnations of their elders, members of the Clan of the Black Lily listened to the prophecies of an oracle - one blinded to the sight of spirits but open to the sight of the future. They narrowly escaped the pox that would ravage their homeland. Ever since, the Chlendi have kept a keen eye for the sign of oracles. Female descendants of the original oracle, Laxotli, are kept in isolation, bred according to complex lineage charts in hopes they will bear the next bringer of truth. It is said the oracles speak with spirits will still and the womb and learn the arts of prescience, thus not needing the arts of Chlendi sorcery. Those born with six fingers are said to the mark of augury, and are denied their mother's milk. By stunting the physical growth, the oracle shall focus his vision. When the amberite mines of Asklor went dead, the Laxotli knew. When the city-now-called-Minkaraph fe

A particularly slow moving river branch flows down from the mountains north of Pugshlow, and merges into the Minkush River at the town of Pasdani. If one walks upstream for a mile, you can see the river suddenly change from a virulent green to the normal muddy brown of the Minkush waters. Various scholars attribute the green colour to the swamp vegetation or mountain ores from the river's source, but few are satisfied with an explanation of why the colour disappears so suddenly. At that spot, the earth is dead and salted - no plants grow, and no animal approach the waters to drink. A sect of monks, learned in the Chlendi traditions of sorcery and shamanism, have devoted their existence to prayers and chants at this spot, all to placate the Nuxad, a flock of river spirits known throughout the northwest. Unlike most areas, here the Nuxad are not peaceful and wise. For centuries that have lashed out at passing travelers, boats, and the more innocent of deer, dragging them all to

Pretty Cool System

* Alchemy - achieving ultimate wisdom as well as immortality, involving the improvement of the alchemist as well as the making or conversion substances possessing omnessance qualities. * Astrology - while including divinatory practices, it is also the method of achieving change through attunement and manipulation of astral/etheric forces. Astrology as a form of divination is a perception of changes (often made by other astrologers) in these forces. * Conjuration - the magical art of evoking or calling forth spirits, demons, or other supernatural agent to bring spiritual inspiration, do the bidding of the magician or provide information. * Consecration - the enchantment, dedication, or attunement of physical objects or places. * Herbalism - traditional medicinal practice based on the use of plant, plant extracts, and other organic substances, and their use as sources of omnessance. Also includes the use of tonics, humours, and organ theory. * Mysticism - this style is concerned with the

"Spirit Magic in Heroquest works by finding appropriate spirits and then, through a contest, bind them in a fetish of sorts, some obects that fit the intended purpose and the nature of the spirits. Some of those fetishes are one-time-only deals: Crush the fetish and the spirit comes out doing a deal for you, after which it's free to go on its way. Some are more permanent, giving the character an active magical ability that he can use over and over again." This is akin to some of the talisman and fetish ideas I stole from Shadowrun for the Chlendi. The same idea, but Shadowrun used it to give your character some setting flavour, but the effect was purely a mechanical bonus. Consider this stolen.

The Tall Prince is a Chlendi Spirit of Vengeance, with teeth of ivory and eyes of gold.  He is said to be the prince of a forgotten Chlendi clan, whose father poisoned him in the night so as to steal the prince's new bride.  To summon him, seek out the poisonous dewbite mushrooms in the deepest swamplands.  Prepare a broth of their stems and drink it at dusk.  When two moons appear as three, place a copper coin in your mouth, count to ten, and swallow it.  If your cause if just, you will awake when your vengeance is done.  The only cost is your little finger. During the 3rd Century, it became fashionable in some southern cities to remove the little finger from one's offhand to give an aura of machismo.  Youths and ne'er-do-wells would graffiti a four-fingered hand on the doors and buildings as a sign of intimidation. 

Fifteen days south along the trade route from Sofegai, you'll see signs for the Oasis of Kovwos.  Once a small town known for it easier source of water, resilient pottery, and hospitality to travelers, Kovwos is now a ghost town of ruins and burnt out buildings.  Around 100 years ago, a child was born in Kovwos and prophets claimed him to be the earthly for of Shobok, a Heteri god.  Pilgrams, scholars, and profiteers flocked to Kovwos in the following months.  As the attraction of the child increased, the hospitality and economic appeal of Kovwos stopover for travelers waned.   After winter passed and the spring trading season began, word filtered through the region that the town had been burnt to the ground and abandonded by its residents.  A few brave souls have scoured to ruins for artifacts, treasure, or word of the fate of the prophesied child, but little was found beyond the debris and a spoiled water spring.

The Pen of the Art is fine tool used by magician to inscribe their secrets upon parchment or hide, or in the aether itself in more esoteric circumstances. It is not used to write love notes to succubi or scribe monographs, even to the most esteemed circles of sorcerous academia.  The shaft of the pen should be made of ash or hazel, cut while both moons are visible in the sky.  Some say the feather should be plucked from a pregnant crow, but true sorcerers know this is a blind.  The feather is purely ornamental, but the nib must be of bronze.  The whole item, once complete, should be consecrated in rat's blood with an invocation of Hielil, Chlendi Spirit of the Word.

The Salt Mines of Jakinta were initially discovered by the Warlord Ivogd.  A dabbler in Chlendi spirit summoning, he roamed the hills west of the new port town, looking for possible sources of amberite.  After a week of fruitless searching, Ivogd and his band had stopped to rest and discuss giving up the pursuit, when they noticed their horses licking stones at the entrance to a crevice.  Slaves were immediatelty brought in, and the enterprise marked the beginning of the regional slave trade from nearby Sofegai (just across the mountains).  A year later, Ivogd's brother Foglais took control of mining operations after Ivogd died in a tunnel collapse.  Many speculated foul play, and the shaft was closed after workers refused to mine in a haunted region. To this day, Ivogd's Clan of the Studded Reign controls the vast salt mines, now the leading export of Jakinta (just ahead of white steel). 

"We had been waiting. The same day we toppled the Mindat control of our cities, he arrived" The day the Heteri people claimed their independence, The Magosh entered the ruling keep of Sofegai. He has held that seat as vuhwul of Sofegai for 200 years. There were concerns at first. Despite being a man of the north, he studied under the Mindat scholars, enemies of the Heteri. Servants claimed he did not sleep and was a hermaphrodite. Stubs of horns were apparent beneath his hair, and his massive jaws and teeth matched the frame that towered over the largest of Heteri men. Despite the questions and rumours, no one challenged him. During his reign he has rebuilt the city walls to greater heights, erected new temples to the gods and while ruling the region with an iron fist is beloved by his citizens. The Magosh claims to have the blood of Utan the Destroyer flowing in his veins, and every night lights braziers in the keep to honour the Coal God. The people are content.

" They wanted transport, and they offered several jars of ooze for it."

Beneath the mountains of Bolog and Cuvauw dwell the Snail People in their domed caverns. They lounge in huts and tubes of moss and dried mucus, studying tomes of ancient lore and practicing with epees. All the while the peasant class of slug tend to the mushroom farms and algae pools.

This is to encourage me to compile notes, formulate random thoughts into complete sentences, and write more material.