D20 Codex Arcanis

CoverCodex ArcanisCartography Jim Pavelic Brian Dalrymple Interior Illustrations Layout Reece Ambrose, Toren Atkinson, Andrew Ruben Smith-Zempel Baker, Alex Bradly, Paul Carrick, Anthony Grabski, David Griffith, Paul (Prof.) Art Direction Herbert, Pat Loboyco, Eric Lofgren, Nelson Rodriguez Thomas Manning, Chris Meesey, Raven Mimura, Richard Pace, Jim Pavelec, Scott Additional Material Purdy, Hian Rodriguez, Jason Walton, Roel Pedro Barrenechea, Michele Hernandez, Wielinga Daniel Perez, and Jeffery Witthauer Authors Arcanis: the World of Shattered Scott Charlton, Brian Dalrymple, Jared Empires created by Fenell, Matt Forbeck, Sean Havranek, Henry Lopez Henry Lopez, William Simoni, and Eric Wiener Special Thanks to The Living Arcanis Development Team Editors Dean Bailey, Anna Maria Leon, Eric Team Paradigm Wiener Jim Beck, Pedro Barrenechea, Matt Blank, Henry Lopez, Sean Molley, Nelson Rodriguez, Eric Wiener, and James Zwiers Except as otherwise identiﬁed, all portions of this book are © 2007 Paradigm Concepts, Inc. All rights reserved. The mention of, use of or reference to any company, trademark or product in this book is not a challenge to the trademark of copyright in question. Dungeon’s and Dragons® and Wizards of the Coast® are registered trademarks of Wizards of the Coast and are used with permision. The D20 System and D20 System Logo are registered trademarks of Wizards of the Coast and are used under the terms of the D20 System Trademark License Version 1.0. The D20 System Trademark License Version 1.0 can be found at: http://wizards.com/d20/ﬁles/d20stlv2.rtf. INTRODUCTION ▪ The War of the Gods Introduction elcome to Arcanis, the World of Shattered There Nerothian priests stave off pestilence and help Empires. the infirm or the mad. W The book you now hold details The Chaotic Evil adherent to Larissa various nations and peoples of the continent of could focus on the Goddess’ aspect of Forbidden Onara, as well as new Prestige Classes, Spells, Pleasure, spreading pain as a form of Holy Feats and Magic Items that can be used in any Communion. world setting as well as Arcanis. Every God, regardless of its domains, The intent of this book is to give the have aspects that can be viewed as Good, Evil, or reader a feel for the world of Arcanis and to Neutral. Use this as a tool to provoke your players give enough information so that a campaign can to examine those gray areas that most Fantasy be set in the Shattered Empires. It cannot give Religions stay away from. exhaustive details on every topic. GMs should feel free to assign trade routes or the exact tonnage of export if they so desire. The War of the Gods ost humans believe that the Gods Note: Each chapter is purposefully written with created them and the world around the prejudice of the people detailed ingrained in Mthem. the text. Even when written in the third-person, The Mother Church, as well as most the bias is still present in every chapter but this other splinter religions, tells of a Mythic Age one. We have no secrets from each other here, where the Gods walked beside Man and taught so you can believe every word written in this him the fundamental concepts needed, not just for introduction as gospel truth. survival, but for the creation of civilization. Man worshipped and learned from the Trust me, why would I lie about something like Gods in great Temples built for Them and all lived that? in harmony until the coming the Other. Whether it was a foreign God or a Being of God-like power is not known. All mention of this Being has been Religion stricken and wiped clean as if It had never existed. The Pantheon of Man is a collection of twelve But It did. Gods that have been worshipped collectively It destroyed the peace and harmony Man since the time of the First Imperium to the present so enjoyed with the Pantheon and caused the day. Although, by definition, they are the Gods of doom of millions as it tore down the glorious humans, Dwarves, Gnomes, and some half-Orcs civilization that existed. also pay homage to these Celestial beings. It gathered those people and Valinor In an Arcanis campaign, Gods and it could corrupt with Its honeyed words and religions differ from those of other RPG campaign false promises and made war upon the Gods, settings in one very important way: Alignment is attempting to absorb Their Divine essence. Its determined by the religious institution, not the cowardly attack stole some of the Gods’ power God itself. and in at least one ancient rendition of the tale, destroyed the gentlest member of the Pantheon. In other words, the Gods don’t have Weakened by the Thing’s treachery, the alignments, the churches do. Gods called upon Man’s assistance and they What does this mean in practical terms for readily gave it, knowing that the wrath of the your campaign? It allows for very interesting role- Other would fall upon them like a curse. playing situations where two priests of the same God The legends are fragmentary as to what can have very different moral outlooks from each occurred, but they all agree that the Other was other. forced to flee to the Western continent of Onara It means that you can have a Lawful Good with what few degenerate humans and Valinor worshipper of Neroth, the God of Pestilence, Death, and still survived, leaving the home of Man a charnel the Undead as well as a Chaotic Evil practioner of the house. Pleasure Goddess. It all depends on the particular slant The Gods gave chase shortly thereafter, or aspect that the player chooses for his character. bringing with Them Their Valinor and Their In the above examples, the Lawful Good Chosen, those groups of humans for which They worshipper of Neroth could practice the tenants of had a particular love and devotion. Neroth as taught by the Mother Church in Coryan. 2 The War of the Gods ▪ INTRODUCTION Arriving upon Onara, a race calling itself Reluctantly, Illiir agreed, but He would the Elorii welcomed them with entreaties of not stain His hands with the treachery that had friendship and peace. Though humanoid in shape, to be done. He called upon His sons, Hurrian these haughty beings were no cousin to Man and and Nier; His brother Yarris; and lastly, His wife, the humans were cautious in their dealings with Saluwe’ to unmake the Elemental Lords and the Elorii. This wariness proved wise as it was assure not only victory, but also salvation. discovered that the Elorii and their “Elemental As the Elemental Lords were hunted Gods,” creatures of immense power that lorded and absorbed, Illiir spoke to His children and over the deluded Elorii, had given sanctuary to explained that the Elorii would view these actions the Other and His followers. The Elorii extolled as betrayal most foul, unable to see the necessity the peaceful purpose of the Other and asked for of this act. He told the Chosen of the Pantheon differences to be put aside. that they must fall upon the Elorii and take away The Elorii’s naïveté proved their undoing their ability to harm them. as the Other kidnapped one of their False Gods. Thus as the Gods made war upon the They and their Elemental Lords pleaded with the Elemental Lords, so did the humans make war Pantheon to help them find their companion and upon the Elorii. Man hunted the Elorii with punish the Other. Agreeing, the Elorii and the vicious efficiency, ensuring that they would not humans joined forces to hunt down the followers pose a threat. of the False One while the Pantheon and the With heavy hearts, the Gods fell upon the Elemental Lord made war upon the Other. Elemental Beings and in battles that raged across The battle was titanic and laid waste to many the continent, the Elorii’s False Gods fell to the disparate parts of the Onara. Huge tracts of arable inevitable. land were made barren and desolate, especially the The Pantheon had their final confrontation area surrounding the Elorii’s capitol. with the Other before the Ashen Temple. This At last, the Other was confronted directly enormous shrine was built in the high mountains by the Pantheon and the Elemental Lords, but of by the Other’s heretical cultists, upon a field of the Elorii’s missing fifth Deity there was no sign. black crystals. Yet, even infused with the energy Defiant even when surrounded by Its enemies, of their fallen allies, the Pantheon was not able the Other attacked His assembled Foes with such to destroy the Other. Instead, They imprisoned power and fury that the Gods began to falter. So Him, sealing It for all Eternity away from those It weakened were They by the Other’s theft of Their would feed upon. Divine power, that all was feared lost. Returning to Their Chosen, who At that most critical juncture, where the themselves were bloodied but unbowed, They fate of all humanity was precariously balanced rejoiced. His heart full of pride, Illiir addressed before a yawning abyss, salvation came from an His followers; “This day we have sealed away unexpected quarter. a menace that would have seen us all at Its feet. The Goddess Anshar appeared before The losses you have suffered have been great. Illiir and whispered in His ear, “I am your sister, You have lost your lands, your homes, your Anshar, captive these many years by the jealousy dearest blood to follow us. We shall not let this of the Other.

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