Venârivč Player Guide

Venârivè Player Guide A Guide to Northwestern Lýthia Venârivè Player Guide Venârivè Player Guide By Jeremy Baker (based on the work of N. Robin Crossby) Conrtributors to Venârivè: Northwestern Lýthia: Eric Anderson, Anders Bersten, Roy Denton, Edward Dewe, Rob Duff, Jan Schulze Elshoff, Andy Gibson, Ilkka Leskelä, Juha Makkonen, Leif Midtdal, Peter Moller, Jonathan Nicholas, Dan Och, Alun Rees, Matt Roegner, Robert Schmunk, Ken Snellings, Neil Thompson, and R. Airiq Williams Art by Ganbat Badamkhand, Marc Grunert, and Juha Makkonen Cartography by Jeremy Baker (based on maps by N. Robin Crossby) Copyright © 2010 Keléstia Productions Ltd, All rights reserved. Hârn™ is a trademark of Arien Crossby and Keléstia Productions Ltd. The user of this electronic document is entitled to make printed copies for personal use. Venârivè Player Guide 1.02 Copyright © 2010 Keléstia Productions Ltd Venârivè Player Guide DATES PURPOSE OF THIS GUIDE Unless otherwise indicated, all year numbers are This guide is designed to assist players of characters given in the Tuzyn Reckoning (TR) or Before Tuzyn from across the region of Venârivè. This guide is aimed Reckoning (BT). This system was originally devised by at players; Gamemasters (GMs) will want to have access the Melderyni astronomer Tuzyn during the second to VENÂRivÈ: NORTHWESTERN LÝTHIA, and may find it useful century TR, and is now the most widespread dating to have access to some or all of the following products system across the region. The current date is the 1st to run games in this region: of Nuzyael TR720. KÈTHÎRA: WORLD OF HÂRN HÂRNMASTER GOLD: GAMEMASTERS’ EDITION CROSS REFERENCES HÂRNMASTER GOLD: BESTIARY Words and phrases in SMALL CAPS are references to HÂRNMASTER GOLD: SHÈK-PVÂR material found elsewhere in this publication, e.g. ‘See HÂRNMASTER GOLD: MARITIME RULES (forthcoming) FOLKLORE’. MARITIME SERIES (forthcoming) References in ITALIC SMALL CAPS indicate the titles of other publications, e.g., ‘See VENÂRivÈ’. PRONUNCIATION AND ACCENTS Accents are included in the body of the text only for key locations and where the pronunciation of a word would otherwise be particularly unclear (for example where a circumflex accent is not followed by an r, or where the final ‘e’ should be sounded). Tables at the end of this guide, however, include full details of accents to guide pronunciation. Because of the variety of languages and dialects across the region, not to mention the lack of regularised spellings in differing scripts, the accents provided, and the rules below, can only ever provide an ‘average’ or approximate pronunciation. The acute accent (e.g. á) indicates primary stress on the syllable. A grave accent (e.g. è) indicates secondary stress. A circumflex accent (e.g. â) indicates the vowel should be pronounced as if it were followed by an r. This accent may replace the accent indicating primary or secondary stress. If such an accented vowel is explicitly followed by an r, it should be read either as a ‘double r’ and rolled slightly, or indicates a compound word, where the previous ending r has been lost. Sometimes it should be rolled even if there is no following r. An å sounds like the vowel in the English word law; A karúnè, the most ø is pronounced like the vowel in the English word advanced northern vessel boat, but more rounded. A y, when used as a vowel, sounds like the vowel in the English word beet. The dh digraph represents the voiced dental fricative edh, the consonant at the beginning of the English word them. The th digraph is the unvoiced dental fricative thorn, and is pronounced as at the start of the English word thin. Venârivè Player Guide 1.02 Copyright © 2010 Keléstia Productions Ltd Venârivè Player Guide 1 The mouth of the Venârian Sea lies in the west. Beyond, are the gulf of Eder and the mighty Haonic Ocean. South of the Venar mouth lie the desert islands VENÂRIVÈ of Hepeker. The isle of Hepeker itself is the world’s Venârivè is the northwestern part of the continent largest island, and its central regions are amongst the of Lýthia, which is the largest continent on the world driest. Along the coasts of Hepeker are more fertile of Kèthîra. It lies around the Venârian Sea and can be lands, such as Dalanya, whose mountains attract more defined as the area of Lýthia between 60˚ north and rainfall. The treacherous waters of the Elanas separate the equator, and between 45º west and 45º east. The Hepeker from Thonia and northern Anzelôria. name derives from the Venârian sea and the sea of Ivae. North of the Tonatris mountains lie the wide plains regions of Quârphor and Reksyna. Further north are The Venârian Lands the dark forests and frozen tundra of Altor. The mighty The Venârian Sea separates northwest Lýthia from river Tîrga cuts across this vast region from east to northern Anzelôria and the great isles of Hepeker. In the west, eventually flowing into the gulf of Shôrkýnè. east, the many islands of Karejia form a geographical North of the gulf is Hârbáal, and beyond Hârbáal are as well as a cultural bridge to the Lýthian near-east. the mountainous islands and fractious kingdoms of To the northeast lies the mountainous region Ivinia. of Ûmélria, and beyond, the Ketârh Plateau, the Beyond the sea of Ivae and the gulf of Eder, are continent’s arid heart. To the southeast is the great the Hârnic isles. Hârn itself is the world’s second Beshakan Desert. The Namardhez and Mafanilar largest island. It is a misty, mountainous place with a mountains divide the desert from the Gulf of Mafan. reputation for odd folk and strange creatures. The isle The Târga River valley is the Dalken heartland, but of Melderyn, second largest of the Hârnic archipelago, that empire also has extensive lands along the coast of has an ominous reputation; it is called the Wizards’ Isle. the Venârian Sea. The regions south of the gulf of Shôrkýnè and Along the southern shore are the northern reaches west of Azeryan include a number of mountain ranges of the subcontinent of Anzelôria, including Pechalar, (including the Nadami and Jerinalian ranges), but Tuvara, Thonia, and Byria. Byria is a mountainous also the fertile valleys of the Benâmo, the Degela, region that projects north into the Venârian Sea. and the Gaden rivers. Here lie the feudal kingdoms of North across the Venârian Sea from Byria is the great Trierzon, Shôrkýnè, Palíthanè, and Emélrenè. The latter peninsula of Azeryan, with its hardwood forests, deserts, occupies the closest part of the mainland to the Hârnic mountains and arable lands. In northern Azeryan are isles; it has a reputation almost as dubious as that of the monumental Tonatris mountains, which protect the Wizards’ Isle. Azeryan from the northern plains’ peoples. Major Regions Ivínia Hârn Áltôr of Venârivè A multi-layered map Hârbáal of Venârivè, showing Quârphor Reksýna vegetation, mountains and Shôrkýnè hills, realms, towns and Ûmélria cities, roads and trails, Tr íerzòn Góthmîr trade goods and trade Edêrwyn Ketârh routes, historical change, Ázeryàn climate zones, precipitation, Karéjia languages, and much Hácherdad more is included with the Hèpekéria Venârian sea VENÂRivÈ: NORTHWESTERN Béshakan LÝTHIA module. Býria Dalkésh Mafán Thónia Chogôro Anzelôria Venârivè Player Guide 1.02 Copyright © 2010 Keléstia Productions Ltd 2 Venârivè Player Guide Cultures Social Class Venârivè is a region of where many cultural and lin- Each society will have its own unique social classes, guistic groups have developed and interacted, forming but as a broad typology, they can be divided into the a complex tapestry of social organisation, realms and following classes: peoples. • noble or patrician; The major cultural and linguistic groups of Venârivè • warriors; are: • priests, shamen or wizards; • Jarind, including the Jarin, Emela, Yarili, and • craftsmen and other specialists; Alti, as well as Hârnians; • commoners or freemen; and • Pharic, including the Ivinians and their colonies, • the unfree, including serfs, thralls and slaves. Quarph, Shorka, and Trierzi; • Azeri, including the Azeryani, Karejians, See HÂRNMASTER GOLD: PLAYERS’ EDITION for further Ûmélrians, Elbythians, and Byrians; information playing different social classes. • Ketari, including the Ketaric and Besha Economics and Trade nomads, the Hacherim, and the Dalken; There are a variety of economic systems in opera- • Mafani, including the Chogori and Shenti; tion across Venârivè, from nomadic to complex urban • Anzelôrians, including the Pechalari, Tuvarans, trade centres. and Thonians; and • Hepekerians, including the Korlic, Dalani, Azeri, NOMADIC AND PASTORALIST ECONOMIES and Numec peoples. There are two ancient social and economic systems In addition there are a number of non-human that are still actively practiced within the Venârivè: species and cultures, and several religious languages. hunting and gathering, and pastoralism. Although the A range of scripts are used to write these languages. majority of the cultures that practice either of these economies are nomadic, there are others that are Societies and Government considered semi-nomadic (or transhumanic). Broadly, the societies and governments of Venârivè RURAL ECONOMICS can be described as tribal, tributary, feudal, oligarchic, Regardless of their political structures, virtually or imperial. all of the states of western Lýthia practice a form of There are many tribal societies in existence in the manorialism. Land is essentially divided into estates region, including many Quarph, the Yarili, the Reksyni, called manors, villas, or knights’ fees, and held by noble and the desert nomads of Beshakan and Hepekeria. families or governors. Most of the tenants of these These societies are often nomadic or pastoralist. fiefs are bound to the land in one way or another, and Tributary societies can be seen as an extension of nearly all practice a blend of communal and individual tribal ones. Clans still form the basic unit, but there agrarian activities.

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