Post by Wizard on Apr 15, 2010 0:24:43 GMT -5
Sometime in Fall 2005, I began work on a "homebrew" campaign setting. I put quotes around "homebrew" because as I look at it with fresh eyes, I realize that a lot of it is semi-plagiarized from the Ice Age expansion for Magic: the Gathering. Also, some of my favorite characters (okay, I'll admit it: some of them are characters I've played in campaigns on these very boards) play relatively large roles in the setting.
Those disclaimers aside, I still find two points of merit in the word document I found on a flash drive from five years ago:
1. If you look below, you'll see that everything is in the format of a short quote. I blatantly stole this idea from Magic. That's alright, though, because I remember being way curious about the story behind the quotes when I played Magic, and I think it's a cool format even now. It makes it easy to create a large cast of characters with relatively little effort, and to leave loose ends all over the place to serve as creative inspiration.
2. I just think the campaign looks like it'd be cool. Despite the presence of a few unoriginal cliches that now make me wince (I was 18 when I wrote these, remember), and some unoriginal cliches that I think are awesome but may make you wince, I still like the whole. There's apparently a war of some sort, someone betrayed someone, there are heroes, wizards spouting cryptic sayings (and fireballs), foreshadowing prophecies---go ahead and take a look!
The World of Alenor
"I have yet to see a man fearless for those he loves."
Wirend, Traitor of Agsmede
"Down on your knees! Gir-Ris walks among you!"
Wirend, Traitor of Agsmede
"Oh? Perhaps now you'll put away your toys?"
Gir-Ris, the Necromancer
"That Agsmede held for as long as it did can only be attributed to the Order of Irris. In the end, only Wirend's treachery overcame their valor."
Chronicles of the Necris, vol. II.
"The Magi were fabled for their wisdom in many things; but Elxethan, the Archmage, was wisest of them all."
Telythi, storyteller
"It was said that the dwarves would hold Yrtij until the dead stirred from their graves. They did---and no longer."
Chronicles of the Necris, vol. II
"Like your Magi? No, of course not---I had in mind something more...active."
Caelith e'Quis'norai mar Ilduroth, to Elxethan
"What? And leave our brothers to die alone, in the dark?"
Callian Sen-Rugo, leader of the Order of Irris
"First rank! Shields and swords! Second rank! Lightning and fire!"
Tenkis Hythe, Champion squad leader
"Ha! What need do I have of weapons, when the land is my ally?"
Bagladar, mad druid
"To come in time of need, I pledge thee and me,
Thy call quick answer, thy wounds quick bind,
To serve and receive, in body and mind."
Caelith and Callian, est. 10 AN
"Gir-Ris's mistake is that he equates power with freedom. Responsibility can be forgotten or ignored; consequences cannot."
Elxethan, the Archmage
"Ally with you? You who have hunted us from the first moon any can remember?"
Kestis Linragson, chief of the Firtseige clan
"I see love, loyalty, trust, and hope. I see valor, honesty, and kindness. But most of all---I see weakness."
Gir-Ris, the Necromancer
"Mobility is key. It's the difference between a running rabbit and---well, dinner."
Birlen Realos, Yesen commander
"Wirend sold Agsmede for the hope of immortality. Caelith bought it back with the surety of death."
Telythi, storyteller
"You are---and will be---the last of the Quis'norai. But a spiral is largest at its end, is it not?"
Ekaterina the Oracle
"I am Caelith e'Quis'norai mar Ilduroth, or the Blessed Star of the Eternal Spiral for Whom the Blood Runs Cold. And if you mispronounce my name again, I'll make you think yours is something even harder."
Caelith e'Quis'norai mar Ilduroth
"There's something special about the drakes---a hint of a world beyond the greatest of us, I think."
Caelith e'Quis'norai mar Ilduroth
"Wise! You talk to me of wisdom! There are seven beggars in Celnor wiser than I: they owe naught to anyone."
Elxethan, the Archmage
"Kindness is a weapon of which Gir-Ris and his Risen have no knowledge---do not turn your back on the meek, for they may be our protectors before the end."
Callian Sen-Rugo, leader of the Order of Irris
"You may kill me, Gir-Ris, but you'll never stop my Champions."
Caelith e'Quis'norai mar Ilduroth, last words.
Callian felt Caelith die from afar, in Transir---and instantly fell to his knees, sobbing.
"Why must we intervene? Eliis is safe; we need no more."
Nilere, East Hierophant
"Gir-Ris armed his troops---the gamut---with tainted weapons, be they blades, claws, or arrows. The troops soon got used to the downsides."
Chronicles of the Necris, vol. I
"Lost? I suppose you could say I'm lost. But then, I've never been found, so I wouldn't know."
Bagladar, mad druid
"Do you remember, Wirend, the feel of the sun on your face? The wind in your hair? Then my work is yet unfinished."
Gir-Ris, the Necromancer
"Eythe AM emmorthal...and eythe wantsth to die!"
Wirend, post-transformation
"The origins of Hivahr Darkblade are not precisely known...we are perhaps better for the not knowing."
Telythi, storyteller
"Ten thousand men! And we were...swept aside! Like dust!"
Tenkis Hythe, Yesen infantryman
"Yes, I have felt it. We too, it seems, must do something if this winter is to end."
Nilere, East Hierophant
"King Graedius was beloved by all...hence, Gir-Ris sent Ekkor after him first."
Telythi, storyteller
"Despite rumors to the contrary, Darkblade was just a man. Seemingly an extraordinarily quick and dangerous man; but, regardless, mortal."
Chronicles of the Necris, vol. IV
"It is from the grave/ That all things were made/ Praise the man/ Who surpasses the spade.
"On Animations," Necrisian text
Those disclaimers aside, I still find two points of merit in the word document I found on a flash drive from five years ago:
1. If you look below, you'll see that everything is in the format of a short quote. I blatantly stole this idea from Magic. That's alright, though, because I remember being way curious about the story behind the quotes when I played Magic, and I think it's a cool format even now. It makes it easy to create a large cast of characters with relatively little effort, and to leave loose ends all over the place to serve as creative inspiration.
2. I just think the campaign looks like it'd be cool. Despite the presence of a few unoriginal cliches that now make me wince (I was 18 when I wrote these, remember), and some unoriginal cliches that I think are awesome but may make you wince, I still like the whole. There's apparently a war of some sort, someone betrayed someone, there are heroes, wizards spouting cryptic sayings (and fireballs), foreshadowing prophecies---go ahead and take a look!
The World of Alenor
"I have yet to see a man fearless for those he loves."
Wirend, Traitor of Agsmede
"Down on your knees! Gir-Ris walks among you!"
Wirend, Traitor of Agsmede
"Oh? Perhaps now you'll put away your toys?"
Gir-Ris, the Necromancer
"That Agsmede held for as long as it did can only be attributed to the Order of Irris. In the end, only Wirend's treachery overcame their valor."
Chronicles of the Necris, vol. II.
"The Magi were fabled for their wisdom in many things; but Elxethan, the Archmage, was wisest of them all."
Telythi, storyteller
"It was said that the dwarves would hold Yrtij until the dead stirred from their graves. They did---and no longer."
Chronicles of the Necris, vol. II
"Like your Magi? No, of course not---I had in mind something more...active."
Caelith e'Quis'norai mar Ilduroth, to Elxethan
"What? And leave our brothers to die alone, in the dark?"
Callian Sen-Rugo, leader of the Order of Irris
"First rank! Shields and swords! Second rank! Lightning and fire!"
Tenkis Hythe, Champion squad leader
"Ha! What need do I have of weapons, when the land is my ally?"
Bagladar, mad druid
"To come in time of need, I pledge thee and me,
Thy call quick answer, thy wounds quick bind,
To serve and receive, in body and mind."
Caelith and Callian, est. 10 AN
"Gir-Ris's mistake is that he equates power with freedom. Responsibility can be forgotten or ignored; consequences cannot."
Elxethan, the Archmage
"Ally with you? You who have hunted us from the first moon any can remember?"
Kestis Linragson, chief of the Firtseige clan
"I see love, loyalty, trust, and hope. I see valor, honesty, and kindness. But most of all---I see weakness."
Gir-Ris, the Necromancer
"Mobility is key. It's the difference between a running rabbit and---well, dinner."
Birlen Realos, Yesen commander
"Wirend sold Agsmede for the hope of immortality. Caelith bought it back with the surety of death."
Telythi, storyteller
"You are---and will be---the last of the Quis'norai. But a spiral is largest at its end, is it not?"
Ekaterina the Oracle
"I am Caelith e'Quis'norai mar Ilduroth, or the Blessed Star of the Eternal Spiral for Whom the Blood Runs Cold. And if you mispronounce my name again, I'll make you think yours is something even harder."
Caelith e'Quis'norai mar Ilduroth
"There's something special about the drakes---a hint of a world beyond the greatest of us, I think."
Caelith e'Quis'norai mar Ilduroth
"Wise! You talk to me of wisdom! There are seven beggars in Celnor wiser than I: they owe naught to anyone."
Elxethan, the Archmage
"Kindness is a weapon of which Gir-Ris and his Risen have no knowledge---do not turn your back on the meek, for they may be our protectors before the end."
Callian Sen-Rugo, leader of the Order of Irris
"You may kill me, Gir-Ris, but you'll never stop my Champions."
Caelith e'Quis'norai mar Ilduroth, last words.
Callian felt Caelith die from afar, in Transir---and instantly fell to his knees, sobbing.
"Why must we intervene? Eliis is safe; we need no more."
Nilere, East Hierophant
"Gir-Ris armed his troops---the gamut---with tainted weapons, be they blades, claws, or arrows. The troops soon got used to the downsides."
Chronicles of the Necris, vol. I
"Lost? I suppose you could say I'm lost. But then, I've never been found, so I wouldn't know."
Bagladar, mad druid
"Do you remember, Wirend, the feel of the sun on your face? The wind in your hair? Then my work is yet unfinished."
Gir-Ris, the Necromancer
"Eythe AM emmorthal...and eythe wantsth to die!"
Wirend, post-transformation
"The origins of Hivahr Darkblade are not precisely known...we are perhaps better for the not knowing."
Telythi, storyteller
"Ten thousand men! And we were...swept aside! Like dust!"
Tenkis Hythe, Yesen infantryman
"Yes, I have felt it. We too, it seems, must do something if this winter is to end."
Nilere, East Hierophant
"King Graedius was beloved by all...hence, Gir-Ris sent Ekkor after him first."
Telythi, storyteller
"Despite rumors to the contrary, Darkblade was just a man. Seemingly an extraordinarily quick and dangerous man; but, regardless, mortal."
Chronicles of the Necris, vol. IV
"It is from the grave/ That all things were made/ Praise the man/ Who surpasses the spade.
"On Animations," Necrisian text
