1/25/2005
Blog Description
I don't know about you guys, but I had so much fun talking about what to name the guild that it is just really had for me to let the discussion just drop. So, I think we should now start talking about Why we are the Wyrm Raiders and what the Blood Moon is and what it all means. I think that once we have that figured out then we will be able to decide what the blog discription is.
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12 comments:
First off...We need to make the storey vague enough that concern about race, class or alignment never gets in the way. Something brought these characters together that transcends all that.And whatever that something is it has to explain the Wyrm, the Raiders, and the Blood Moon.
Here is a first attempt..this is just kind of a brainstorm thing:
A mid-sized town stands out from the wilderness. A blight descends upon the town. Living most dead or dieing and only a handful standing. White, red, black, good, neutral, evil, elf, dwarf, and human all alike stand by helplessly as their loved ones suffer and die. The heroic captain of the city militia rides into town, mortally wounded, and with his dieing breath explains that a powerful coven of witches has cursed the town. There are few people left who have the strength and courage to rise up and walk tall. The towns folk call for volunteers to undertake a quest to seek and destroy the coven. The characters that step forward are from all alignments and backgrounds, driven by the common bond of saving their sick and dieing loved ones. The desperate adventurers seek out and defeat the coven in battle and capture one of its members. Under much duress she tells of the blight's antidote. A ritual that must take place under the autumn full moon as near the equinoxe as possible. Alas, the ritual requires dragon's blood!
Instead of a protagonistic history, why not an antagonistic history.
Our people were infamous for our barbaristic raids and relentless slaughter of innocent lands and unassuming peoples. We were always accompanied in battle by Wyrm the Dragon, as though we were his chosen people. Civilizations knew of their impending fall, by the blood red moon that always rose on the eve of the battle.
Or something along that lines.
Thats a good idea chip.
How about this:
We are not an ethnic group bound by blood ties per-say but, rather a group based on a common identity of service and or suffering. The Mumluks of Egypt purchased their warrior stock (as young boys and girls) from cultures all over the mediteranian. Then these slaves, once having proved themselves in battle were elavated to a position of first class citizenship...these ex-slave warriors turned aristocracy ruled Egypt and excluded the ethnic Eqyptians until Napolean defeated them. The Janisaries (sp?) also recruited through in-slaving young boys...they were raised in Spartan conditions and then upon proving themselves in battle received and elevated status. Maybe we are the group that rebelled against our slavers and became our own masters, yet never stopped the practice of taking young children to indoctrinate into being a Wyrm Raider.
Wyrm Raiders because we were in-slaved to a dragon (an evil dragon) as his Raiders of tombs, towns, citys, wizard towers...treasure troves...whatever the case may be......It may be inescapable that we have to set an alignment, though...I guess maybe some good characters served because they had no choice...maybe their are factions within the Blood Moon.
Blood Moon...i don't know why yet...let me think about it.
Yeah, the Blood Moon needs to be some sort of Celtic/Wizadry/Sorcerey that was brought about by the worship/indoctrination of the Chosen Peoples of Wyrm.
That is meant to read Cleric, not Celtic... :-)
Guess that would be a clerical error, eh?
Brad said:
Ya know, ‘Blood Moon’ doesn’t have to be an actual blood colored moon or what have you. It could have been in a metaphorical sense. As in when the indoctrination takes place, the eyes of the people would turn a bright red and no pupil could be seen and many people likened the sight to looking at a blood moon….but as the indoctrination phase ended, the eyes would return to normal….or maybe they would go bright red when under the direct order of the Wyrm….which is why people called them the Wyrm Raiders of the Blood Moon….talking about their eyes…
I don’t know…I’m spitballing here….
Chip said:
I like those ideas, and I'd keep them in there. BUT, I would have to say, that the single biggest reason why I believe our Peoples are associated with the Blood Moon is in fact when civilizations are about to fall to us, the moon turns to blood. I mean, this would have to be the single biggest factor as to how the world came to associate us with the Blood Moon. The internals to the rituals and indoctrinations are less public information, and therefore less likely to become associated with our Peoples as common knowledge.
Something I'd like to point out. These don't have to be current events. This can be completely and totally historic information, nothing more. We can be decendants or something. Or not. Or both. Etc. :-) It's our world.
A warrior code...See the dragon gave us "missions", but didn't care how we accomplished them. It was all about his own personal wealth, power and influence rather than being overtly evil or good...so sometimes we raided evil wizard's lairs and killed them and took their treasures...while other times it was a mission to whipe out a party of good adventurers that were going to get in the dragons way...The stuff he had us do was kind of like the stuff Kisor Sosie had his employies doing in the Usual Suspects. The code is maybe a set of "laws" that were created through the interaction of the slaves and dragon as he tried to mediate disputes btw his differently aligned Raiders. It is a system of governing themselves and a way of life...it is like our government...their are both evil and good peoples...the problem here is that we are gonna have to be lawful to go with this discription. i know their are some classes that can't be lawful.
So, why does a chaotic character stay in the Blood Moon...people do what they know...your captured as a young child, raised in a brutal, spartan fashion that is focused on making you a great warrior...statements like "Pain is weakness leaving the body" are your bread and butter.
This is your way of life...chaotic players live by The Code of the Blood Moon because it suits them...as do neutral characters. Good players politic for control of the Blood Moon in cabals against the cabals of the evil characters. It is a society...a strange brutal society...vastly different from our own. Its ancient culture heroes are a handful of very powerful ex-slaves that defeated the dragon in battle and took control of the Raiders...since then the slave raids and purchasing have continued...evil characters steal freemen children in brutal raids to raise to become slave warriors and eventually members of the Blood Moon. Good Characters purchase slaves at slave markets and treat them just, yet spartan...ensuring that another generation of good people politic against the evil members. Neutrals and chaotics participate because this is their family, this is thier life, thier past and all that has givin them meaning to life.
Ok look...
This guild is gonna have every type of character possible in it. Goods, Evils, Neutrals, Lawfuls, and Chaotics. Some are gonna be religious...the forgotten realms has many different religions...in fact it has a whole pantheon. Some clerics are gonna worship evil gods, some good gods. Some Lawful Neutral characters will basically worship a set of laws and principles. How are we gonna explain a Lawful Good Palidin in service to Tyr being in the same guild as a Chaotic Evil Sorcerer? They have to be indoctrinated into something that they have spent their whole lives knowing...its has to be all they know, otherwise it wouldn't happen. Why would a good dwarf be in a guild with a evil dark elf? Because they fought back to back in the raids on Helms Deep. They pulled each other from one mummy tomb after another in the service to someone whom could insure they would not escape service and survive. Why would a half Orc fight back to back with a Wild Elf? There has to be an overwhelming motivation...Something has to force these diverse people to work and fight hand in hand, back to back...what indoctrinated them why are they here...why do they see each other as brothers and sisters...why are they gonna put their lives on the line for each other day after day regardless of race, religion, and alignment?
I want the Blood moon to be a small organization (in storey terms...like sveral hundred people...I want us to build modules that have secret places built into the citys that serve as Blood Moon "lodges". I want the Blood Moon to be several things all at the same time. A secret society, a fraternity, a power network and a warrior code. Blooded Ones need to live by a the Blood Moon ethic (A system of Honor...regardless of alignment). I think we can get around the alignment thing by saying that being a member of the Blood Moon is so encompassing that when one (a character) speaks of being a member that they don't put it in terms of membership and obligations but rather...this is how things are in the Blood Moon. They can have different perspectives on Blood Moon policies, but those perspectives are based on a common understanding of Blood Moon reality. So, evil and good in Blood Moon terms is like the difference between Socialism and Libetarianism. Its not a big enough difference to bring people to blows much less to disassociation. Members don't say "I'm a member." They say "I'm blooded." Now my previous posts and critiques were based on our history...becasue I want all of us as players to be on the same page about what the Blood Moon is. However, i can live without the detials...in fact it makes things simpler. But, i want us to have our characters live the Blood Moon. They must not even think twice about helping their fellow Raiders. As far as the Wyrm and what it is and whether or not it still exist or is active is also unimportant...i think that is we leave it very vague and create some NPC's to be older reverend Raiders that maybe we could have them hand down missions and adventures on occasion that could be said to be from the Wyrm.
i keep coming back to this child inslavement thing because I want the character members to be indoctrinated...I want them to live the Blood Moon. I think that if all of our characters individual storeys say things like the Blood Moon liberated me from an orphanage, or my mountain savage captors or set free from my slavery and into the freedom of the Blood Moon that thatwould really hammer home the point of how dedicated they are to the what the Blood Moon represents.
An evil Blooded One may say "I spit on you for not being blooded...I kill you because you are not worthy of the Blood Moon."
A good Blooded One may say "I pity you commoner because you were not liberated by the Blood Moon."
Remember:
Secret Society...secret lodges in each city
Power Network...access to members in powerful positions
Fraternity...surrounded by brothers and sisters, people whom you are willing to die fighting for
Warrior Code...that set of jural rules that binds us culturaly together...the Blood Moon.
That is a very good story. I would be very happy and have a lot of fun playing in a module/dungeon based on that story line.
I've already spoken about a story line I'd like to see, too. Let me elaborate on it.
I see the Wyrm Raiders as a self-driven people. I see them as a hard, conquering people, much like the Mongols. They are driven to conquer, battle is in their blood, they are the Normans, plain and simple. Alexander the Great comes from the same mold. Now, as in any society, you have all walks of life. Naturally, you have to have people of all trades, philosophies, etc. that make a civilization possible. They need to be resourceful, capable of equipping large armies of raiders, with fine weapons and fine armor. They are adept and fast on the horse, masterful horsemen. The nation is naturally made up of both good and evil people, in relation to what the nation of people are on the whole. For instance, the Mongols were probably considered evil by just about every people they ever encountered, but in relation to their nation, they had laws they abided by. Within their society, they had "evil" people and "good" people, naturally.
They are NOT known for their prowess as magicians or sorcerers or religious faiths, but this does not rule out the diverse population having cults and/or the like of such things. Especially based upon two factors that these people are known for.
1) There is a long history, unknown as to when and how it originated, that when these people take a land, the Wyrm Dragon appears and accompanies them into battle. For some reason, noone knows why, he has chosen these people. Something about these people have caught his eye, he chooses to see to it that they are successful in THEIR crusading endeavors. As far as anyone (Wyrm Raider or outsider) knows, their is no known reason as to why Wyrm does this. The Raiders who are involved in battle just know that Wyrm will be there, as he always is. He will see to it that they are victorious. But they are driven by THEIR own aspirations for conquest. In fact, for all anyone knows, this may be why he has chosen them.
2) On the eve of the battle, the Blood Moon has always risen over the lands that are destined to fall to the Wyrm Raiders. Their armies move into and engage the enemy in battle in the dead of night, just as the moon turns to blood. The Raiders know this will always happen, because it always has. And all those lands who experience this know what it means, that the Wyrm Raiders are attacking.
There is no worship of Wyrm, on a national scale, except for those cults that may naturally arise. As far as anyone can tell, Wyrm doesn't give a shit. He's more enamored (apparently) with something about the people as a whole. But nobody knows why.
There is no Blood Moon cult, on a national scale, except for those cults that may naturally arise. As far as anyone can tell, these offshoot cults may or may not have anything to do with the moon turning to blood on the eve of the Raiders' battles. These cults may or may not know internally (or believe) that they are causing the Blood Moon. And, these cults may or may not have been around long enough to have been doing these moon features on that long of a historical scale.
Does this make sense? I know you have a much different idea Daniel. I find it interesting and would very much enjoy playing the story line. But, I like this story line, too. Maybe the statement above about the "not-so religious" aspect of the Raiders could be changed. After all, I think the Normans were extremely religious and faithful. But I don't believe the Mongols were, in fact, I think the Mongols were quite godless, thus the reason for the wide-spread take over of Islam. Maybe that would make more sense for these people's ability to maintain a long-term civilization, maybe they need more religion. Maybe they can be more religious around the Blood Moon aspect. But I still don't see the whole Wyrm thing being a religious thing, but more of an unknown chosen thing. He's always been there to fight with them, nothing else is known.
I just noticed there are some grammatical errors in the Wyrm Raiders blog description. Somebody else has updated that description since I originally wrote it.
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