Magnar
King of the Underworld
Here we are, at the edge of the world,
Here we stand, deep in a frozen wonderland,
This icy tapestry, it sings to us,
It tells us here we are, we are alive,
And here we shall live, we shall live.
Snowhaven.
A city that stands alone against a wasteland of snow and ice. It is not just a bastion against frozen death. It is not just a living city standing against the elements. It is the only living organised city that remains in this dark and cold world. For so long now, the Havenites have stood alone. If there is a world hidden to them beyond the ice that stretches far far far beyond the horizon and mortal consciousness then it is a world that is now lost.
To travel across the white wastes is to die. To leave the confines of the city is to invite pale oblivion.
This is your world, and there is nothing else but the city and promise of safety within its walls. The landscape beyond is deadly, but it is also beautiful. It is the beauty in the eye of the beholder, one that draws you into its colourful embrace as it kills you.
Technology has advanced in Snowhaven. Guards walk the streets with firearms. Copper pipes bring lifegiving warmth from deep beneath the ground. Yet this is no age of exploration or technical excitement. Technology is, because that is what the city needed to survive. In its history, Snowhaven has suffered through much. Theological uprisings, civil wars and cannibalism have, in times gone by, plagued the city, but it has continued. Like a shambling corpse on its last throes of life, the city has continued to breathe.
This is more important than a world. It is your home. It is the only one you will ever know.
And yet political tensions rise in the city. Like gunpowder, it is only a matter of time before it explodes from within.
All it will take is one small spark to set it all alight......
Hello one and all, the first thing you might be thinking here is that my requirements for this role-play are very specific and in some cases perhaps a little demanding. You're certainly not wrong with that, and the reason for such a pitch is that I am looking for a very specific role-player to share this with. I am not going into this role-play blind or even with the idea that I will make this up as I go along. This is a carefully considered role-play and setting (and for those of you at all interested it is actually an adaptation of a D&D setting that I have taken as the basis for the backdrop of this role-play).
For those of you who get through reading all this thank you as I am aware that it is a lot to get through. For those of you at all interested in the role-play all I need is for you to PM me your interest. There is a lot of blurb below in terms of details for CS generation, background to the city, races and archetypes as such, but for now all I really need to know is if you're interested and we can take it from there
.
As far as I go there are a few things you should know about me.
1) I tend to write quite long, detailed posts. For that reason expect me to post less frequently, but post with a lot of detail and characterisation. Don’t expect daily posts, and definitely don’t expect multiple posts a day, however I will strive to post every other day or every 2-3 days at worst.
2) Although I do enjoy a good romantic subplot, I’m keen to stress that I do not do romance for the sake of romance, and it is not going to be the main focus of the plot. I’m here for the heroic and fantastical roleplay and the tales of heroic derring-do. If a romance subplot should form from that great, but it needs to make sense in the context of the roleplay and the characters. Do not expect me to force in a ham-fisted romance arc if it doesn’t make sense.
3) If a romance should develop, it will go to “fade to black”. I am not comfortable writing detailed or gratuitous posts of that nature.
4) If, like me, you thrive on heroic and fantastical tales similar to what you would find in a novel or movie then I think we’re going to get on just fine.
Ideally I would like my writing partner to be 25+, and in terms of pairings I'm happy to do MxF (with myself as the M role) or FxF, although like I said romance is not a prerequisite of the role-play, and it will not be the main focus as such.
Hopefully I've not scared you all off, and I look forward to hearing back from anyone who is interested.
For those of you who get through reading all this thank you as I am aware that it is a lot to get through. For those of you at all interested in the role-play all I need is for you to PM me your interest. There is a lot of blurb below in terms of details for CS generation, background to the city, races and archetypes as such, but for now all I really need to know is if you're interested and we can take it from there
.As far as I go there are a few things you should know about me.
1) I tend to write quite long, detailed posts. For that reason expect me to post less frequently, but post with a lot of detail and characterisation. Don’t expect daily posts, and definitely don’t expect multiple posts a day, however I will strive to post every other day or every 2-3 days at worst.
2) Although I do enjoy a good romantic subplot, I’m keen to stress that I do not do romance for the sake of romance, and it is not going to be the main focus of the plot. I’m here for the heroic and fantastical roleplay and the tales of heroic derring-do. If a romance subplot should form from that great, but it needs to make sense in the context of the roleplay and the characters. Do not expect me to force in a ham-fisted romance arc if it doesn’t make sense.
3) If a romance should develop, it will go to “fade to black”. I am not comfortable writing detailed or gratuitous posts of that nature.
4) If, like me, you thrive on heroic and fantastical tales similar to what you would find in a novel or movie then I think we’re going to get on just fine.
Ideally I would like my writing partner to be 25+, and in terms of pairings I'm happy to do MxF (with myself as the M role) or FxF, although like I said romance is not a prerequisite of the role-play, and it will not be the main focus as such.
Hopefully I've not scared you all off, and I look forward to hearing back from anyone who is interested.
Welcome everyone to Snowhaven and thank you for reading!
The setting of Snowhaven is a mixture of Magic and Technology, of Fantasy meets Steampunk meets the Wild West. Yes we have Warriors and Wizards casting fireball spells, but equally we also have Gunslingers wielding shotguns and flintlock pistols. As technology begins to refine and change the way that Havenites live their lives, the people learn to survive in this harsh frozen wasteland.
Copper pipes bring in heated water from below the world’s surface, piping in life giving warmth and heat directly into the walls of living establishments spread across the cities. This is a politically charged city where danger is rife on every street and shadowy alleyway you walk, where life is a constant fight against the snow and ice.
Yet as dangerous as the city is, the harsh icy wasteland is even worse. Stretching as far as the eye can see, the tundra brings with it nothing but cold, frozen death. Cut off from the world beyond the ice and snow, if there is another world beyond the winter wasteland, it is long since lost. Instead the Havenites have learned to adapt on their own, though none dare stray too far from the city save the foolish and suicidal.
This is dark and lonely world, and will be a dark role-play to match. It will tackle themes of loneliness and isolation. It is not a role-play of heroism and epic fantasy, instead it will be one of survival inside this place of grim solitude.
The setting of Snowhaven is a mixture of Magic and Technology, of Fantasy meets Steampunk meets the Wild West. Yes we have Warriors and Wizards casting fireball spells, but equally we also have Gunslingers wielding shotguns and flintlock pistols. As technology begins to refine and change the way that Havenites live their lives, the people learn to survive in this harsh frozen wasteland.
Copper pipes bring in heated water from below the world’s surface, piping in life giving warmth and heat directly into the walls of living establishments spread across the cities. This is a politically charged city where danger is rife on every street and shadowy alleyway you walk, where life is a constant fight against the snow and ice.
Yet as dangerous as the city is, the harsh icy wasteland is even worse. Stretching as far as the eye can see, the tundra brings with it nothing but cold, frozen death. Cut off from the world beyond the ice and snow, if there is another world beyond the winter wasteland, it is long since lost. Instead the Havenites have learned to adapt on their own, though none dare stray too far from the city save the foolish and suicidal.
This is dark and lonely world, and will be a dark role-play to match. It will tackle themes of loneliness and isolation. It is not a role-play of heroism and epic fantasy, instead it will be one of survival inside this place of grim solitude.
Herein you will find pertinent information about the setting of Snowhaven in which this game will take place in. Any questions then please do not hesitate to ask me.
The Ruling Council:
The ruling government has always been selected with a series of opposed bodies, including a senate, a reconstituted House Council, and an Admiral elected.
The current ruling council is as follows:-
Lord Aubrey D’Gray: Chief Constable of Ledus Weigh
Lord Artibal Crocklemoore: An Old School Captain who holds seat in the House Council
Senator Joe Hines: Rival of Lord Artibal Crocklemoore.
The Districts of Snowhaven:
Bart's Weigh: Barts Weigh has always been inextricably linked to Bay Weigh, and always will be. Beginning life as part of Bay Weigh, Bart's Weigh eventually split off to become essentially the residential and services section to Bay Weigh's commercial and warehousing section.
Bart’s Weigh, much like Bay Weigh itself, represents the most “seaside” look of the city. The wide thoroughfares, where cargo and materials can be moved to and from the inner city to Bay Weigh and back again are connected by dozens of much narrower streets filled with business to be done and shadows to get lost within. Bart’s is lively with street side vendors hawking their wares, a pub at every street corner and several along the length.
Bay Weigh: This Weigh boasts some of the oldest buildings in the city, though few are of any aesthetic value being ancient warehouses, shipyards, and store fronts selling supplies to Captains and crews. Every building face is weathered and crusted with salt ice, stone is smooth, wood is gray and weathered to a nearly stone like texture. This makes the streets dangerous terrain in poor weather, the stones worn as smooth as the faces of the building. The smell of the sea is in everything and everyone, rendered all the sharper by clear and cold weather.
Collidus Weigh: This Weigh is known for the restaurants that adorn every corner offering dishes from places far and wide. It isn’t uncommon to see young couples, escorted by family, getting to know each other over a plate of squid, a pile of noodles and vegetables, or a wide shallow bowl of curry. Just as often a middle-aged married couple can be found enjoying an evening out in the city, arm in arm, enjoying the sights and smells of the Weigh. Though most Havenites would not admit to being true friends with the immigrants of the Weigh, they do appreciate the uniqueness brought to the city by the people who live on these streets.
House Weigh: The streets are lined with evergreen trees, kept clear of snow, ice, and slush by a small battalion of street sweepers. The neighborhoods of House Weigh are the only ones with lanes to the left and right of the roads proper allowing for pedestrians to travel unmolested by the sedate traffic of carriages interspersed with deliveries of exotic food stuffs, finely crafted furniture, luxurious home decor, expensive clothing, and precious jewelry. The nobles of the Houses travel from house to house dressed for lunches, target shooting with tea, or viewing of exotic animals and performances from around the world. The wealth of Snowhaven is on display down these shaded lanes and behind wrought iron gates
Ledus Weigh: Considered by many the cultural heart of the city, Ledus Weigh is perhaps the most stereotypically Snowhaven Weigh.
Every neighborhood has its popular pubs and restaurants where the people gather at the end of shifts or on lunch breaks to chat and eat hearty meals. The schools, so long established by the Illuminate, are filled with children learning their letters and maths before finding work or apprenticing when they reach the age of majority at fifteen. There are several excellent examples of the hospitals found throughout the city here including the Lady of Light, the House of Repose, and the Medicant West. Several stories tall, and usually including several buildings on the campus, these hospitals serve well-to-do and poor alike. Each is equipped with alchemy laboratories for the making of drugs and salves as well a basement full of additional beds and emergency equipment for the seemingly inevitable outbreaks, plagues, and other medical trials that beset the city every few generations.
Malthin Weigh: This Weigh itself is characterized by being a center of commerce: trade houses, merchant exchanges, and marketplaces. Representatives of all the Houses can be found here. It’s said that if anything can be purchased in Snowhaven, Malthin Weigh is where one can find it. The streets are lined with storefronts selling spices, cloths, weapons, armor, trade goods, high quality gear for survival, exploration, and exploitation of the snow wastes. Only the finest goods and vendors are to be found in Malthin Weigh. There are few sneak thieves, pickpockets, or burglars operating
in this Weigh.
Old Town Weigh: The Weigh has seen better years and worse years and currently enjoys a reputation as a slowly gentrifying area. Where poverty had once reigned, the middle class and businesses to support, feed, and entertain them are moving in to take advantage of the cheap prices of buildings and land. The poor that remain are either looking to move to other neighborhoods and Weighs, taking advantage of the new employment opportunities and increasing their own quality of life, or are resentful of the “new money” increasing the prices of everything. Old Town isn’t just notable for its age but also location, sitting directly above the source of the hot springs that have fed and warmed the city for centuries. So, while the people of Old Town enjoy far fewer modern conveniences of engineering there is overall far less need for them as the Weigh is warmed by a number of natural steam vents and boasts several large public baths with naturally warmed water filling the tubs and basins. Many of these public baths boast having operated for centuries through war, famine, and disease
Southern Weigh: One of the smallest Weighs almost wedged between Tollin and Xanth with Old Town to the north, the Southern Weigh is a raucous series of neighborhoods that play home to mercenaries, merchant caravans and adventurers. The western most neighborhoods have large areas for storing herds of cattle animals. The area is overrun with caravans, merchants, and caravan guards. The wagons and riding beasts are kept in smaller pens and are surrounded by the smell and sound of giant herds of soon to be food. There’s a number of very wide thorough fares here which lead from the west side of Southern Weigh deeper into the city for transport of purchased animals to butcheries scattered throughout Snowhaven
Temple Weigh: Some would call this the spiritual heart of the city; others would call it the tumorous growth. The place for religion and the churches, representatives, and their magic has been questioned and debated for centuries in Snowhaven. Regardless, the churches are full on holy days and constant streams of worshippers wind in and out of holy temples to make offerings, pray, or in some cases beg for consideration before their deity of choice. The priests, clerics, clergy, shamans, holy men and women of this Weigh minister to the souls of the citizens and, publicly at least, keep very distant from the political and business spheres. There are few shop fronts to be found in the Weigh and those that do business here are usually sellers of religious paraphernalia; holy symbols, incense burners, statues of saints and gods, jewelry to show off or assist in prayer, formal religious wear, and scripture in all shapes, forms, and sizes are available throughout the Weigh.
Tollin Weigh: The educational centre of Snowhaven. Each of the buildings here are heavy with stone, granite and marble mixed to create contrasts of light and shadow. The column fronts regularly hosting students and professors in conversation on subjects mundane and eldritch. The professors are well dressed Havenites, bending towards conservative colors, though often with a touch of eccentricity with a bright red sash, a yellow kerchief, or some other splash of bright color to contrast the grays and browns. A student may dress as they please but are required to wear the University mantle - a pale gray square that hangs from the shoulders to elbow, edged in black - with the symbol of the student’s chosen area of study picked out on the back.
Xanth Weigh: The streets of this Weigh are heavy with shadow and quiet. Unlike the rest of Snowhaven these streets are filled with notes of witchcraft, the murmur of ritual, and the scent of the electric ozone of the arcane. Since the Magi. Uprising the open and public use of magic - while not illegal - is frowned upon. Xanth Weigh is one of the only places where such social restriction is nearly non-existent. The streets are never filled, but students clutching books and scrolls are often seen. Practitioners are also seen visiting vendors for ingredients exotic and mundane for their research and rituals.
The Tracks (or Trax): Those that call this place home are almost universally tied to crime, whether organized or independent in some way. Few are truly legitimate shops, pubs, or restaurants as nearly all are fronts for illicit activities and organizations. There are dozens of gangs claiming territory and constantly struggling with each other to gain more. These gangs generally follow a highly convoluted code of rules and conduct for the pursuit of conflicts.
The Tracks are a cancer that has grown and festered; consuming some of the finest neighborhoods away from the most respectable Weighs in the city. The streets are an impromptu meandering maze that shifts weekly as old buildings burn, collapse, or are scavenged and new ramshackle huts and businesses are thrown up elsewhere. It’s said the weather is always fouler in the Tracks, the grimacing skies above revealing in shadow how dangerous and horrid a place you’ve come to.
The ruling government has always been selected with a series of opposed bodies, including a senate, a reconstituted House Council, and an Admiral elected.
The current ruling council is as follows:-
Lord Aubrey D’Gray: Chief Constable of Ledus Weigh
Lord Artibal Crocklemoore: An Old School Captain who holds seat in the House Council
Senator Joe Hines: Rival of Lord Artibal Crocklemoore.
The Districts of Snowhaven:
Bart's Weigh: Barts Weigh has always been inextricably linked to Bay Weigh, and always will be. Beginning life as part of Bay Weigh, Bart's Weigh eventually split off to become essentially the residential and services section to Bay Weigh's commercial and warehousing section.
Bart’s Weigh, much like Bay Weigh itself, represents the most “seaside” look of the city. The wide thoroughfares, where cargo and materials can be moved to and from the inner city to Bay Weigh and back again are connected by dozens of much narrower streets filled with business to be done and shadows to get lost within. Bart’s is lively with street side vendors hawking their wares, a pub at every street corner and several along the length.
Bay Weigh: This Weigh boasts some of the oldest buildings in the city, though few are of any aesthetic value being ancient warehouses, shipyards, and store fronts selling supplies to Captains and crews. Every building face is weathered and crusted with salt ice, stone is smooth, wood is gray and weathered to a nearly stone like texture. This makes the streets dangerous terrain in poor weather, the stones worn as smooth as the faces of the building. The smell of the sea is in everything and everyone, rendered all the sharper by clear and cold weather.
Collidus Weigh: This Weigh is known for the restaurants that adorn every corner offering dishes from places far and wide. It isn’t uncommon to see young couples, escorted by family, getting to know each other over a plate of squid, a pile of noodles and vegetables, or a wide shallow bowl of curry. Just as often a middle-aged married couple can be found enjoying an evening out in the city, arm in arm, enjoying the sights and smells of the Weigh. Though most Havenites would not admit to being true friends with the immigrants of the Weigh, they do appreciate the uniqueness brought to the city by the people who live on these streets.
House Weigh: The streets are lined with evergreen trees, kept clear of snow, ice, and slush by a small battalion of street sweepers. The neighborhoods of House Weigh are the only ones with lanes to the left and right of the roads proper allowing for pedestrians to travel unmolested by the sedate traffic of carriages interspersed with deliveries of exotic food stuffs, finely crafted furniture, luxurious home decor, expensive clothing, and precious jewelry. The nobles of the Houses travel from house to house dressed for lunches, target shooting with tea, or viewing of exotic animals and performances from around the world. The wealth of Snowhaven is on display down these shaded lanes and behind wrought iron gates
Ledus Weigh: Considered by many the cultural heart of the city, Ledus Weigh is perhaps the most stereotypically Snowhaven Weigh.
Every neighborhood has its popular pubs and restaurants where the people gather at the end of shifts or on lunch breaks to chat and eat hearty meals. The schools, so long established by the Illuminate, are filled with children learning their letters and maths before finding work or apprenticing when they reach the age of majority at fifteen. There are several excellent examples of the hospitals found throughout the city here including the Lady of Light, the House of Repose, and the Medicant West. Several stories tall, and usually including several buildings on the campus, these hospitals serve well-to-do and poor alike. Each is equipped with alchemy laboratories for the making of drugs and salves as well a basement full of additional beds and emergency equipment for the seemingly inevitable outbreaks, plagues, and other medical trials that beset the city every few generations.
Malthin Weigh: This Weigh itself is characterized by being a center of commerce: trade houses, merchant exchanges, and marketplaces. Representatives of all the Houses can be found here. It’s said that if anything can be purchased in Snowhaven, Malthin Weigh is where one can find it. The streets are lined with storefronts selling spices, cloths, weapons, armor, trade goods, high quality gear for survival, exploration, and exploitation of the snow wastes. Only the finest goods and vendors are to be found in Malthin Weigh. There are few sneak thieves, pickpockets, or burglars operating
in this Weigh.
Old Town Weigh: The Weigh has seen better years and worse years and currently enjoys a reputation as a slowly gentrifying area. Where poverty had once reigned, the middle class and businesses to support, feed, and entertain them are moving in to take advantage of the cheap prices of buildings and land. The poor that remain are either looking to move to other neighborhoods and Weighs, taking advantage of the new employment opportunities and increasing their own quality of life, or are resentful of the “new money” increasing the prices of everything. Old Town isn’t just notable for its age but also location, sitting directly above the source of the hot springs that have fed and warmed the city for centuries. So, while the people of Old Town enjoy far fewer modern conveniences of engineering there is overall far less need for them as the Weigh is warmed by a number of natural steam vents and boasts several large public baths with naturally warmed water filling the tubs and basins. Many of these public baths boast having operated for centuries through war, famine, and disease
Southern Weigh: One of the smallest Weighs almost wedged between Tollin and Xanth with Old Town to the north, the Southern Weigh is a raucous series of neighborhoods that play home to mercenaries, merchant caravans and adventurers. The western most neighborhoods have large areas for storing herds of cattle animals. The area is overrun with caravans, merchants, and caravan guards. The wagons and riding beasts are kept in smaller pens and are surrounded by the smell and sound of giant herds of soon to be food. There’s a number of very wide thorough fares here which lead from the west side of Southern Weigh deeper into the city for transport of purchased animals to butcheries scattered throughout Snowhaven
Temple Weigh: Some would call this the spiritual heart of the city; others would call it the tumorous growth. The place for religion and the churches, representatives, and their magic has been questioned and debated for centuries in Snowhaven. Regardless, the churches are full on holy days and constant streams of worshippers wind in and out of holy temples to make offerings, pray, or in some cases beg for consideration before their deity of choice. The priests, clerics, clergy, shamans, holy men and women of this Weigh minister to the souls of the citizens and, publicly at least, keep very distant from the political and business spheres. There are few shop fronts to be found in the Weigh and those that do business here are usually sellers of religious paraphernalia; holy symbols, incense burners, statues of saints and gods, jewelry to show off or assist in prayer, formal religious wear, and scripture in all shapes, forms, and sizes are available throughout the Weigh.
Tollin Weigh: The educational centre of Snowhaven. Each of the buildings here are heavy with stone, granite and marble mixed to create contrasts of light and shadow. The column fronts regularly hosting students and professors in conversation on subjects mundane and eldritch. The professors are well dressed Havenites, bending towards conservative colors, though often with a touch of eccentricity with a bright red sash, a yellow kerchief, or some other splash of bright color to contrast the grays and browns. A student may dress as they please but are required to wear the University mantle - a pale gray square that hangs from the shoulders to elbow, edged in black - with the symbol of the student’s chosen area of study picked out on the back.
Xanth Weigh: The streets of this Weigh are heavy with shadow and quiet. Unlike the rest of Snowhaven these streets are filled with notes of witchcraft, the murmur of ritual, and the scent of the electric ozone of the arcane. Since the Magi. Uprising the open and public use of magic - while not illegal - is frowned upon. Xanth Weigh is one of the only places where such social restriction is nearly non-existent. The streets are never filled, but students clutching books and scrolls are often seen. Practitioners are also seen visiting vendors for ingredients exotic and mundane for their research and rituals.
The Tracks (or Trax): Those that call this place home are almost universally tied to crime, whether organized or independent in some way. Few are truly legitimate shops, pubs, or restaurants as nearly all are fronts for illicit activities and organizations. There are dozens of gangs claiming territory and constantly struggling with each other to gain more. These gangs generally follow a highly convoluted code of rules and conduct for the pursuit of conflicts.
The Tracks are a cancer that has grown and festered; consuming some of the finest neighborhoods away from the most respectable Weighs in the city. The streets are an impromptu meandering maze that shifts weekly as old buildings burn, collapse, or are scavenged and new ramshackle huts and businesses are thrown up elsewhere. It’s said the weather is always fouler in the Tracks, the grimacing skies above revealing in shadow how dangerous and horrid a place you’ve come to.
Dwarves: Dwarves are not particularly common to the area despite the mining that takes place searching for coal and gems. A few have come to the city as part of trade delegations and decided to stay to make their fortunes by operating out of the city. The dearth of Dwarves is likely due to the wars that have been plaguing their homelands for the last several centuries.
Elves: Elves are found throughout the city, many descended from the Illuminate Elven peoples of the East. There’s also a steady stream of elven immigrants for business opportunities, trade negotiations, and diplomatic delegations.
Gnomes: Gnomes do a brisk business crafting small keepsakes that are popular among the crews that call Snowhaven home. Many families of gnomes moved with westerners over the years and many identify gnomes as westerners, though there’s an equal number of gnome citizens not descended or from the west. Gnomes are often involved in the gem cutting business, a cornerstone of the Snowhaven economy. Gnomes have also taken to the intricate work of crafting cogs for various steam powered uses.
Halflings: Halflings are often found wherever humans are and Snowhaven is no exception. They outnumber many of the other sentient species in Snowhaven.
Half-Elves: Half-elves are common in Snowhaven, and many of the members of the four Houses are half-elven, the families having mingled with elves for close to a millennium.
Half-Orcs:Half-orcs are common to the area, descendants of the nomadic orcish peoples of the snow wastes. While employment by criminal groups is common, many more half-orcs find work as stevedores, often for House Alfeiner, as the House has championed half-orc rights and fair treatment for generations, and is well-regarded by most half-orcs.
Humans: The predominant race inside of Snowhaven, humans account for nearly half of the population of the city.
Elves: Elves are found throughout the city, many descended from the Illuminate Elven peoples of the East. There’s also a steady stream of elven immigrants for business opportunities, trade negotiations, and diplomatic delegations.
Gnomes: Gnomes do a brisk business crafting small keepsakes that are popular among the crews that call Snowhaven home. Many families of gnomes moved with westerners over the years and many identify gnomes as westerners, though there’s an equal number of gnome citizens not descended or from the west. Gnomes are often involved in the gem cutting business, a cornerstone of the Snowhaven economy. Gnomes have also taken to the intricate work of crafting cogs for various steam powered uses.
Halflings: Halflings are often found wherever humans are and Snowhaven is no exception. They outnumber many of the other sentient species in Snowhaven.
Half-Elves: Half-elves are common in Snowhaven, and many of the members of the four Houses are half-elven, the families having mingled with elves for close to a millennium.
Half-Orcs:Half-orcs are common to the area, descendants of the nomadic orcish peoples of the snow wastes. While employment by criminal groups is common, many more half-orcs find work as stevedores, often for House Alfeiner, as the House has championed half-orc rights and fair treatment for generations, and is well-regarded by most half-orcs.
Humans: The predominant race inside of Snowhaven, humans account for nearly half of the population of the city.
The Gods Above:
There is no one deity that is worshipped in Snowhaven. Instead the pantheon is collectively known as the Illuminate, and anyone worshipping the gods does so collectively as a group.
The Rise of the Illuminate:
The Illuminate Faith did not begin in Snowhaven. Perhaps, of everything, it is the origins of the faith that demonstrate that there is a place, somewhere, that exists outside of this harsh, seemingly neverending land of eternal winter.
When traced back to its very core, the Illuminate faith originated with the half-elves, as a loose collection of deities whose sermons were adopted first and foremost by a nameless half-elven man.
This faith has, in the modern age, become thought of as the religion of half-elves as the pantheon incorporates traditionally elven and human deities. Half-elves are common in Snowhaven, and the Illuminate preached a message of light and life in a place of dark and ice.
As it spread, eventually arriving in the city of Snowhaven, the religion took root in the city at an opportune time. Five centuries of decadence and abuse by the then council overlords of the city, along with their lack of interest in affairs of the state and the well-being of the people left a city that was teetering on the edge of a civil rebellion.
The Illuminate faith, with their growing strength and appeal soon became the figurehead of that rebellion. Yes, they had the numbers and they had the support of the people, yet they were ill-trained and ill-disciplined when compared to the trained soldiers that the city council had to bear. That, along with the finances of the council as they bought the services of trained mercenaries seemed to indicate that the initial uprising would soon be dispersed.
Until Tolin came that is.
A firebrand, charismatic street preacher, Tolin was arrested during the early days of the Illuminate War. His experiences in prison changed him and in turn, the course of the war. Tolin was tortured for days, weeks on end in an effort to reveal rebellion secrets. Yet despite what happened, Tolin never broke, never divulged the secrets of the rebel uprising. The truth of the matter, that Tolin never divulged those secrets because he likely never had them to begin with is often overlooked.
He was martyred.
The Fendaya Prison Break was the beginning of the overthrow for the old council rule of Snowhaven.
The escaped political prisoners exposed the true horror of the mercenary forces: civilians black bagged without cause, captives detained without trial, and prisoners tortured for information many of them never had to begin with.
Tolin’s time in prison changed him. Gone were the rambling speeches of his youth, replaced instead by direct and impassioned sermons that spoke to the violent desire of the populace for change. His incarceration had sharpened his mind and given him a brutal edge. Inspired by his dark charisma, his followers unified in a way they had previously been unable to do. The prisoners, the drug addicts, the victims of the flesh peddlers: all of the city’s forgotten citizens flocked to Tolin’s banner.
Within a short time, his faction of the Illuminate was the largest within the city. When the merchant houses were overwhelmed, Tolin’s was the only voice that could bring order to the chaos. Although the burning and pillaging continued for many days after the war’s official end (historically considered to be the night Tolin dragged merchant prince Cannaugh Trelloughty into the street and personally held his neck to the chopping block), it was Tolin’s voice that eventually reestablished order, and helped rebuild the House Council.
Illuminate rule would dominate Snowhaven for four centuries. But even this, as in all things, would change eventually.
It began with a meteor shower.
When a series of meteor showers terrified the populace, an Illuminate faction calling themselves the Illuminated Stone interpreted dream-visions received by their number as calls for a shifting of the faith toward a militant approach in marked contrast to the church’s traditional preference for diplomatic solutions. The keeping of House militias came to define this conflict.
The Illuminated Stone viewed the militias as a threat to the faith, while the Illuminate saw it as an opportunity to defray some of the security costs of the city. Seeing a chance to return to their unsupervised power of old, the Houses pulled strings they hadn’t dared touch in centuries and pulled the two sides into open warfare. The next several decades saw the city descend into bloody anarchy, with many Weighs and neighborhoods operating as separate city-states in opposition to one another.
With the city on the verge of collapse, there was no preparation for the Great Melt: a spring of unprecedented high temperatures that resulted in a greater watershed than the city had previously experienced. The straits swelled with melted water from the ice fields, flooding outlying settlements and swamping the edges of Snowhaven. The streets and higher surrounding areas turned soft and muddy. Entire buildings were swallowed by the earth, and the number of people destroyed by the impacts of the climate disaster can only be guessed.
Seizing an opportunity afforded to them by the unpredictable weather, the city militia captains united in rebellion, determined to bring the anarchy to an end. Under Captain Kar Farhorizon they brought in sorcerers, warlocks, and witches of all stripes, utilizing the powers supernatural to prosecute their war.
The Illuminate responded with all the wealth the city could provide, hiring mercenaries much like the House Council had against them centuries before. The Houses surrounded themselves and their holdings in militia defenses, fortifying positions and conscripting additional troops from their own workers. With the captains in control of the only transportation in or out of the city, the Captains War ground down to a five year siege. As resources ran low in Illuminate holdings, rumors of cannibalism in the highest ranks of the city’s elite spurred the citizenry to side fully with the Captains, leading to the Illuminate’s surrender.
In the wake of Farhorizon’s victory, the Illuminate was banned from ruling anything within the city limits.
Although their preachers were still welcome within Snowhaven, all their temples and physical holdings now lie just beyond its civic borders, at least officially. The captains became responsible for the defense of the city, taking on naval defenses personally and appointing those they trusted to guard the city’s holdings and borders. The fleet captains instituted a new government with a series of opposed bodies, including a senate, a reconstituted House Council, and an Admiral elected from their own ranks. Although awkward and at times contentious, this new system has survived with very few changes for the last nine centuries.
The Gods Below:
A collection of Gods that were cast out and labelled demons, devils or fey, they are outcast from the pantheon of the Gods Above.
The Gods Below include such entities as:
There is no one deity that is worshipped in Snowhaven. Instead the pantheon is collectively known as the Illuminate, and anyone worshipping the gods does so collectively as a group.
The Rise of the Illuminate:
The Illuminate Faith did not begin in Snowhaven. Perhaps, of everything, it is the origins of the faith that demonstrate that there is a place, somewhere, that exists outside of this harsh, seemingly neverending land of eternal winter.
When traced back to its very core, the Illuminate faith originated with the half-elves, as a loose collection of deities whose sermons were adopted first and foremost by a nameless half-elven man.
This faith has, in the modern age, become thought of as the religion of half-elves as the pantheon incorporates traditionally elven and human deities. Half-elves are common in Snowhaven, and the Illuminate preached a message of light and life in a place of dark and ice.
As it spread, eventually arriving in the city of Snowhaven, the religion took root in the city at an opportune time. Five centuries of decadence and abuse by the then council overlords of the city, along with their lack of interest in affairs of the state and the well-being of the people left a city that was teetering on the edge of a civil rebellion.
The Illuminate faith, with their growing strength and appeal soon became the figurehead of that rebellion. Yes, they had the numbers and they had the support of the people, yet they were ill-trained and ill-disciplined when compared to the trained soldiers that the city council had to bear. That, along with the finances of the council as they bought the services of trained mercenaries seemed to indicate that the initial uprising would soon be dispersed.
Until Tolin came that is.
A firebrand, charismatic street preacher, Tolin was arrested during the early days of the Illuminate War. His experiences in prison changed him and in turn, the course of the war. Tolin was tortured for days, weeks on end in an effort to reveal rebellion secrets. Yet despite what happened, Tolin never broke, never divulged the secrets of the rebel uprising. The truth of the matter, that Tolin never divulged those secrets because he likely never had them to begin with is often overlooked.
He was martyred.
The Fendaya Prison Break was the beginning of the overthrow for the old council rule of Snowhaven.
The escaped political prisoners exposed the true horror of the mercenary forces: civilians black bagged without cause, captives detained without trial, and prisoners tortured for information many of them never had to begin with.
Tolin’s time in prison changed him. Gone were the rambling speeches of his youth, replaced instead by direct and impassioned sermons that spoke to the violent desire of the populace for change. His incarceration had sharpened his mind and given him a brutal edge. Inspired by his dark charisma, his followers unified in a way they had previously been unable to do. The prisoners, the drug addicts, the victims of the flesh peddlers: all of the city’s forgotten citizens flocked to Tolin’s banner.
Within a short time, his faction of the Illuminate was the largest within the city. When the merchant houses were overwhelmed, Tolin’s was the only voice that could bring order to the chaos. Although the burning and pillaging continued for many days after the war’s official end (historically considered to be the night Tolin dragged merchant prince Cannaugh Trelloughty into the street and personally held his neck to the chopping block), it was Tolin’s voice that eventually reestablished order, and helped rebuild the House Council.
Illuminate rule would dominate Snowhaven for four centuries. But even this, as in all things, would change eventually.
It began with a meteor shower.
When a series of meteor showers terrified the populace, an Illuminate faction calling themselves the Illuminated Stone interpreted dream-visions received by their number as calls for a shifting of the faith toward a militant approach in marked contrast to the church’s traditional preference for diplomatic solutions. The keeping of House militias came to define this conflict.
The Illuminated Stone viewed the militias as a threat to the faith, while the Illuminate saw it as an opportunity to defray some of the security costs of the city. Seeing a chance to return to their unsupervised power of old, the Houses pulled strings they hadn’t dared touch in centuries and pulled the two sides into open warfare. The next several decades saw the city descend into bloody anarchy, with many Weighs and neighborhoods operating as separate city-states in opposition to one another.
With the city on the verge of collapse, there was no preparation for the Great Melt: a spring of unprecedented high temperatures that resulted in a greater watershed than the city had previously experienced. The straits swelled with melted water from the ice fields, flooding outlying settlements and swamping the edges of Snowhaven. The streets and higher surrounding areas turned soft and muddy. Entire buildings were swallowed by the earth, and the number of people destroyed by the impacts of the climate disaster can only be guessed.
Seizing an opportunity afforded to them by the unpredictable weather, the city militia captains united in rebellion, determined to bring the anarchy to an end. Under Captain Kar Farhorizon they brought in sorcerers, warlocks, and witches of all stripes, utilizing the powers supernatural to prosecute their war.
The Illuminate responded with all the wealth the city could provide, hiring mercenaries much like the House Council had against them centuries before. The Houses surrounded themselves and their holdings in militia defenses, fortifying positions and conscripting additional troops from their own workers. With the captains in control of the only transportation in or out of the city, the Captains War ground down to a five year siege. As resources ran low in Illuminate holdings, rumors of cannibalism in the highest ranks of the city’s elite spurred the citizenry to side fully with the Captains, leading to the Illuminate’s surrender.
In the wake of Farhorizon’s victory, the Illuminate was banned from ruling anything within the city limits.
Although their preachers were still welcome within Snowhaven, all their temples and physical holdings now lie just beyond its civic borders, at least officially. The captains became responsible for the defense of the city, taking on naval defenses personally and appointing those they trusted to guard the city’s holdings and borders. The fleet captains instituted a new government with a series of opposed bodies, including a senate, a reconstituted House Council, and an Admiral elected from their own ranks. Although awkward and at times contentious, this new system has survived with very few changes for the last nine centuries.
The Gods Below:
A collection of Gods that were cast out and labelled demons, devils or fey, they are outcast from the pantheon of the Gods Above.
The Gods Below include such entities as:
- The Sundered One
- The Door of Hands
- The Imperiled King
- The Passionate Wyrm
- The Whore of Mirrors and it’s bodyguard Hralfin Eater of Dragons
- The Hanged Lovers in White
- The Hanged Lovers in Black
The City of Snowhaven uses the Snowhaven Standard Calendar (SSC). Modern day SSC began to be recorded from the end of the Captain's War and the establishment of the Admiralty as the predominant ruling council of Snowhaven. This happened over 700 years ago.
The current year is 774 SSC.
The Calzore calendar is used to keep track of the passing of time. Each week is five days long and each month is five weeks long.
Winter lasts for eight months of the year, with two months of Spring and two months of Summer. Moving towards the end of Maleg sunlight is only prevalent for two hours a day, and at the height of the Winster Solstice in Maneg there is no sunlight at all.
A typical year in Snowhaven looks like this:-
The current year is 774 SSC.
The Calzore calendar is used to keep track of the passing of time. Each week is five days long and each month is five weeks long.
Winter lasts for eight months of the year, with two months of Spring and two months of Summer. Moving towards the end of Maleg sunlight is only prevalent for two hours a day, and at the height of the Winster Solstice in Maneg there is no sunlight at all.
A typical year in Snowhaven looks like this:-
| Season | Month | Notable Days |
| Winter | Dagda | The Accounting aka Tax Day |
| Calth | Equinox | |
| Moreg | ||
| Maleg | Lunar Ascent | |
| Mineg | Solstic; Sharing of Warmth | |
| Zesci | End of Lunar Ascent | |
| Finnual | ||
| Thedus | Equinox | |
| Spring | Rul | Thanking (Holiday) |
| Canneth | Solar Ascent | |
| Summer | Demos | Solstice |
| Sentil | End of Solar Ascent |
Character's for the RP should take into consideration the following details:-
Name: Your character name here
Race: See the above list of selectable races in the Setting Information
Archetype: See below info
Gender:
Age:
Strengths and Abilities: What are you good at? Are you a strong warrior, a sneaky thief or a powerful spellcaster? For each of these I don’t need you to go into detail, merely an outline now is sufficient and we can flesh out on acceptance to the game. Choose three of these.
Weaknesses: What are you not so good at? What is your achilles heel? Give me three of these.
Provide me with more detailed information on the following:
Appearance and Faceclaim: Faceclaim and basic description of your character.
Personality: A description of your personality.
Backstory: Tell me about your characters backstory and history.
Name: Your character name here
Race: See the above list of selectable races in the Setting Information
Archetype: See below info
Gender:
Age:
Strengths and Abilities: What are you good at? Are you a strong warrior, a sneaky thief or a powerful spellcaster? For each of these I don’t need you to go into detail, merely an outline now is sufficient and we can flesh out on acceptance to the game. Choose three of these.
Weaknesses: What are you not so good at? What is your achilles heel? Give me three of these.
Provide me with more detailed information on the following:
Appearance and Faceclaim: Faceclaim and basic description of your character.
Personality: A description of your personality.
Backstory: Tell me about your characters backstory and history.
To fit the setting you may select one of the below archetypes to base your character on. These are only suggestions, you are of course free to come up with anything that fits the tone of the role-play:-
Ice Tribes Caller
You were trained among the Peoples of the Snow Wastes, the Ice Tribes, the Snow Nomads, any one of a number of groups that call the frozen north home yet live beyond the edges of the city of Snowhaven. You have learned to encourage people to great feats in battle, or calm the rage in men’s hearts so wise words may prevail.
Bard of the College of Snow
Snowsinger bards are taught how to connect with the natural environment of Snowhaven. The first Snowsingers were an offshoot branch of the Illuminate Faith, dedicated to bringing the warmth of the gods into the hearts of Havenites. Of course, there are followers of the Gods Below that claim they were the first Snowsingers, and their patrons are the true source of the warming hearth. Regardless of the origin of this College of Bards, they diligently serve the people of Snowhaven.
Gunpowder Priest
Few materials, few substances, have changed the direction of history like gunpowder. The black grainy material has altered warfare and allowed commoners with little training to fend off armies of professional soldiers. In the last few years, many say that gunpowder has done more to change the face of Snowhaven than any priest or lord. This domain has found a special place for the more militant followers of the Illuminate Faith and is often taken by members of their clergy, as well as the followers of other militant gods.
Circle of the Snow Fathers/Mothers
Even in the icy wastes there is life and you watch over it, ensuring a balance between the needs of people and the needs of the wider ecosystem. All things that live in the frozen north are hardy, dangerous, and cunning but for all that the north is a fragile thing, too little prey, a great freeze, or a great warming, an invasive species. All of these things can upset what is a delicate thing; the life that clings to the ice. You oversee the balance and the cycle: death begets life, life begets death. The fairness that many seek only exists in the balance of these two things.
Gunslinger
While firearms are still in their infancy, many who see the deadly potential of these weapons have begun specializing in their use. These specialists can be found in every strata of armed militant in Snowhaven.
Clocksmith Rogue:
You have learned the tricks of engineers and brass men, you’ve studied how wheels and springs can make magic. You’ve focused your cunning mind on creating tools needed to bypass traps, locks, and poorly paid guards. Your deft hands combine wires, chemicals, springs, and timers to confuse, burn, fool, and melt your enemies. Whether the grapple gun for the climb or the auto-picker for the door, you’ve always got the right tool for the job.
Industrial Mage:
You have learned how to chain and, in some cases, automate your spellcasting but your true power lies in enhancing the work of others. As an Industrial mage you find work with artisans and factories, letting the workers produce far more efficiently and producing higher quality items. Often employed by the Houses of Snowhaven, some Industrial Mages become independent business owners and as adventurers support their comrades by making them work together more efficiently than a normally fractious adventuring group would normally.
Ice Tribes Caller
You were trained among the Peoples of the Snow Wastes, the Ice Tribes, the Snow Nomads, any one of a number of groups that call the frozen north home yet live beyond the edges of the city of Snowhaven. You have learned to encourage people to great feats in battle, or calm the rage in men’s hearts so wise words may prevail.
Bard of the College of Snow
Snowsinger bards are taught how to connect with the natural environment of Snowhaven. The first Snowsingers were an offshoot branch of the Illuminate Faith, dedicated to bringing the warmth of the gods into the hearts of Havenites. Of course, there are followers of the Gods Below that claim they were the first Snowsingers, and their patrons are the true source of the warming hearth. Regardless of the origin of this College of Bards, they diligently serve the people of Snowhaven.
Gunpowder Priest
Few materials, few substances, have changed the direction of history like gunpowder. The black grainy material has altered warfare and allowed commoners with little training to fend off armies of professional soldiers. In the last few years, many say that gunpowder has done more to change the face of Snowhaven than any priest or lord. This domain has found a special place for the more militant followers of the Illuminate Faith and is often taken by members of their clergy, as well as the followers of other militant gods.
Circle of the Snow Fathers/Mothers
Even in the icy wastes there is life and you watch over it, ensuring a balance between the needs of people and the needs of the wider ecosystem. All things that live in the frozen north are hardy, dangerous, and cunning but for all that the north is a fragile thing, too little prey, a great freeze, or a great warming, an invasive species. All of these things can upset what is a delicate thing; the life that clings to the ice. You oversee the balance and the cycle: death begets life, life begets death. The fairness that many seek only exists in the balance of these two things.
Gunslinger
While firearms are still in their infancy, many who see the deadly potential of these weapons have begun specializing in their use. These specialists can be found in every strata of armed militant in Snowhaven.
Clocksmith Rogue:
You have learned the tricks of engineers and brass men, you’ve studied how wheels and springs can make magic. You’ve focused your cunning mind on creating tools needed to bypass traps, locks, and poorly paid guards. Your deft hands combine wires, chemicals, springs, and timers to confuse, burn, fool, and melt your enemies. Whether the grapple gun for the climb or the auto-picker for the door, you’ve always got the right tool for the job.
Industrial Mage:
You have learned how to chain and, in some cases, automate your spellcasting but your true power lies in enhancing the work of others. As an Industrial mage you find work with artisans and factories, letting the workers produce far more efficiently and producing higher quality items. Often employed by the Houses of Snowhaven, some Industrial Mages become independent business owners and as adventurers support their comrades by making them work together more efficiently than a normally fractious adventuring group would normally.
