If one were to somehow harness the arcane power of Soul and Blood - feats that as of yet have not been publicly achieved - and combine them with other elements, the results would likely be unlike anything #Auvia has ever seen. Though in fairness, magic is still in its infancy for the most part, and mayhap Yatherie shall see fit to grant some eager student or other the secret to harnessing this power...
... or mayhap She already has, in Her divine wisdom.
#Lore24 16/05/24
The fey, of course, have their own approach to magicks, which eludes the grasp of researchers. Much to the Auvians' frustration, while they have spells to detect the presence of magic, the fey who delight in spellcraft usually also enjoy confounding those who seek to understand their tricks.
A researcher who enters into a pact for knowledge often finds they learn many things, *except* that which they want to know. Scholars quickly learn: don't try to understand the fey.
Bards and Paladins tend not to wield arcane magicks, instead drawing on the power of belief.
A Bard shapes this invisible force into bolstering the hearts of their allies and hindering their foes, their songs, stories, and sometimes their mere presence in a battle turning the tide.
By contrast, Paladins draw strength from their own convictions, holding fast to the oaths they swore, whether to the Seven Gods, the people they serve, or the fire burning within.
For your consideration, a delve into some spells that have arisen from the discovery of magickal elements.
Steam Cloud
2nd-level Evocation | Druid, Wizard
Casting: 1 action
Range: 60 ft
Components: V, S, M (a torch and a vial of fresh water)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
You superheat the air in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on a point within range, creating a thick steam. The sphere spreads around corners, and its area is heavily obscured.
When a creature enters the steam for the first time on a turn or starts their turn there, they must make a Constitution saving throw, taking 2d6 fire damage on a failed save or half as much on a success.
Creatures and objects in the steam cloud have vulnerability to lightning damage. If they have resistance to lightning damage, that resistance is negated until they leave the cloud or the spell ends.
A wind of 20 mph or greater disperses the steam, ending the spell.
Corrosive Rain (draft)
3rd-level Evocation | Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard
Casting: 1 action
Range: 90 ft
Components: V, S, M (a vial of acid worth 1 sp, which the spell consumes)
Duration: 1 minute
You hurl acid into the air, causing it to rain down in a 20-foot-radius, 40-foot-high cylinder centered on a point within range. Each creature in that area must make a Dexterity saving throw, taking 3d8 acid damage on a failed save, or half as much on a success.
Creatures using natural armour or wearing armour made of metal, stone, or wood must also make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, their AC is reduced by 1 until the spell ends, as corrosion eats into their protection.
At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the damage increases by 1d8, and the AC reduction is increased by 1, for each spell level above 3rd.
Cauterise (draft)
2nd-level Evocation | Light Cleric, Druid, Wizard
Casting: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M (a pinch of ash and a handful of dirt)
Duration: Instant
You harness the searing power of Lava to seal the injuries of a willing creature you touch, causing them to regain 2d6 hit points. If the creature has resistance to fire damage, they regain an additional 1d6 hit points.
Alternatively, you can superheat your hand and lash out at an enemy. Make a melee spell attack against a creature you can reach. On a hit, the target takes 2d8 fire damage and 1d8 bludgeoning damage.
At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the healing and the fire damage each increase by an additional die (1d6 or 1d8) for each spell level above 2nd.
Freestride (draft)
1st-level Transmutation | Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard
Casting: 1 action
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S, M (a vine from a climbing plant)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour
Choose up to five creatures within range. You and the chosen creatures ignore nonmagical difficult terrain until the spell ends, as the environment around you reshapes itself to grant you safe and unobstructed passage. Vines and branches might bend aside, or loose earth turn solid.
Relentless Detonation (draft)
5th-level Evocation | Sorcerer, Wizard
Casting: 1 action
Range: 120 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
Constant explosions begin in a 20-foot radius sphere centered on a point you choose within range. The sphere persists for the spell's duration, and its area is heavily obscured difficult terrain.
Each creature in the sphere when it appears or that ends its turn there must make a Strength saving throw. On a failed save, they take 3d6 fire damage and 3d6 bludgeoning damage, are pushed to the nearest free space outside of the sphere, and are deafened until the spell ends. On a success, they take half damage and suffer no additional effect.
Creatures within the sphere are deafened until they move out of it.
Toxic Transformation (draft)
6th-level Transmutation | Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard
Casting: 1 action
Range: Self
Components: V, S, M (a vial of poison or venom from a deadly animal)
Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes
Until the spell ends, you drip with powerful toxins. You clear the poisoned condition if you have it, and gain the following benefits:
• You have immunity to poison damage and the poisoned condition, and you have resistance to acid damage.
• You emit a poisonous aura in a 10-foot radius around you, that moves with you. While in this aura, creatures hostile to you don't benefit from resistance and immunity to poison damage and the poisoned condition, and have disadvantage on saving throws against being poisoned.
• When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, they take an extra 2d6+6 poison damage and must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be poisoned until the start of your next turn.
Thunderous Word (draft)
Evocation cantrip | Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard
Casting: 1 action
Range: 120 feet
Components: V
Duration: Instant
Your shout is amplified into a thunderous roar directed at one creature within range. The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or take 1d8 thunder damage and be deafened until the end of their next turn.
This spell's damage increases by 1d8 when you reach 5th level (2d8), 11th level (3d8), and 17th level (4d8).
Stormlance (draft)
3rd-level Evocation | Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard
Casting: 1 action
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S, M (a flask of rainwater with a copper coin in it)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
A lance of lightning 30 feet long and 5 feet wide launches from your outstretched hand in a direction you choose. Each creature in the line must make a Dexterity saving throw, taking 4d8 lightning damage on a failed save or half damage on a success.
Creatures wearing armour made of metal or soaked in water have disadvantage on the saving throw.
On each of your turns before the spell ends, you can use your action to launch another lightning lance.
At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the damage increases by 1d8 for each slot level above 3rd.
Unbalanced Shove (draft)
4th-level Transmutation | Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard
Casting: 1 action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: Instant
You conjure a mass of arcane force around one creature you can see within range and grasp it to hurl your target. The creature must succeed on a Strength saving throw or be thrown up to 30 feet in any direction, including upward, and then fall prone.
If the target collides with terrain or an object, they take force damage depending on their size:
• Medium or smaller: 3d10
• Large: 4d10
• Huge: 5d10
• Gargantuan: 7d10
You may attempt to throw the target into another creature instead of terrain or an object. The second creature must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failure, they take the same amount of force damage and fall prone. On a success, they take half damage and are otherwise unaffected.
Conductor (draft)
2nd-level Transmutation | Tempest Cleric, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard
Casting: 1 action
Range: Self
Components: V, S
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
For the spell's duration, you surround yourself in an aura of lightning. You gain the following benefits:
• You have resistance to lightning damage.
• When you cast a spell that deals damage to another creature, you may change that spell's damage type to lightning.
• When you hit a creature with a melee attack, or are hit by a creature with a melee attack, that creature takes an extra 2d8 lightning damage. If you are in stormy weather or beneath a similar magical effect, such as that of a Call Lightning spell, they must also succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be paralysed until the start of their next turn.
Merciful Soul (draft)
3rd-level Necromancy | Cleric, Paladin
Casting: 1 action
Range: Self (30-foot radius)
Components: V, S, M (a healer's kit with at least 1 use remaining; the spell consumes 1 use)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
You make an offering of medicines and bandages from your healer's kit to emanate a holy aura with a 30-foot radius. The aura moves with you.
For the spell's duration, creatures within the aura other than you have advantage on death saving throws. In addition, if a creature in the area other than you succeeds three death saving throws, they regain 1 hit point instead of becoming stable.
While concentrating on this spell, damage you cause with spells and weapons doesn't kill; you knock your target unconscious instead. (You can still cause a creature to die in other ways, like shoving them off a cliff.)
Cloak of Judgement (draft)
6th-level Abjuration | Sorcerer, Wizard
Casting: 1 reaction
Range: 120 ft
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 round
When you take damage from a creature you can see within range, you can use your reaction to cast this spell and wrap yourself in a shroud of Darkness. Casting this spell takes a toll on your magickal abilities: when you cast it, you can't cast spells other than cantrips until the end of your next turn.
Until the start of your next turn, you become immune to all damage and effects from the triggering creature (including the damage that caused you to cast this spell), and automatically succeed all saving throws they require you to make (you can still choose to fail). Any effects they imposed on you immediately end. The triggering creature takes necrotic damage equal to the damage you would have taken.
Tactical Brilliance (draft)
8th-level Conjuration | Cleric, Sorcerer, Wizard
Casting: 1 action
Range: Self (120-foot radius)
Components: V, S, M (a pure white gemstone worth at least 500 gp)
Duration: Instant
You unleash a surge of Light that envelops everything nearby, reshaping the battlefield to your whim. Casting this spell takes a toll on your magickal abilities: when you cast it, you can't cast spells other than cantrips until the end of your next turn.
You teleport each creature within range, including yourself, to unoccupied spaces of your choice within range (this does not require line of sight). Chosen spaces must be on the ground or on a floor. An unwilling creature must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw to avoid being teleported. You begin teleporting creatures after you know which ones avoid this effect.
You may also teleport objects of your choice within range that aren't being worn or carried.
Let's talk about the nations of #Auvia a little more.
We begin with Rhizel, a nation at war with itself in many subtle ways. What looks like a unified whole to its neighbours has fragmented over generations of internal politicking.
Rhizel is divided into a set of small kingdoms, each of which is - for the most part - self-governed by local lords and ladies. These rulers all agree on one thing, however: they will plot, scheme, and fight to keep the power they have.
#Lore24 01/06/24
There is one place in Rhizel that is considered sacred ground to all of the feuding nobles: Crownsheart. A grove in the center of the nation, where all who would lay a claim to leadership may look upon the gilded crowns of their people's history.
These crowns tell stories of their own, but none have worn them in generations, for none have been found worthy by their guardians since the Last Kings. Few now remember them, save by that name.
Citizens of Rhizel have the right to freely travel between its kingdoms by ancient law of the First Kings - even if many rulers disapprove and impose stringent measures on travellers. Espionage is common enough that many travelling citizens and adventurers are carefully screened, subject to searches by local authority, and even discreetly observed when they are granted permission to enter a kingdom's borders. No matter where you go, a Rhizeli is always watched...
Nine kingdoms govern Rhizel, each with its own order of banneret knights. They are as follows:
• Cyntarra (Knights of the Rose)
• Du Khah (Heavensblades)
• Magna (Knights of the Round)
• Nescha (Queensguard)
• Prezha (the Chevaliers)
• Rehga (the Gilded Shields)
• Vhersi (Order of Tempresa)
• Vrann (Landsknights)
• Zerin (the Accoladed)
The Banneret Fighter and Paladin Oath of the Crown are both Rhizeli in origin, though not every knight is a Banneret - or a paladin.
There are distinct classes of people in Rhizeli society, which are divided into two groups: highborn and lowborn.
At the top are the families of nobility. Their exact number varies from kingdom to kingdom, but they are the leadership. With large families full of politicians and knights, they strive to keep the kingdoms in working order.
Which often means keeping themselves in power, and the lowborn in their place. Rhizeli nobles see their station as gods-given right.
In almost every kingdom, Rhizel's knights, a step below the nobility, are themselves divided into noble and commonfolk. Knights born to noble lineages are expected to do great deeds for their house, while those less fortunate have fought, killed, studied, trained, bowed, and scraped to get to where they are today.
Some might say the latter are the better fighters by virtue of experience alone. They are often correct, though Rhizeli nobles would refute this.
Artisans, merchants, and tradesfolk are afforded a little more respect from Rhizel's highborn than the common masses. But like the knights, these too are drawn to the divide. Each has their own clientele, tending to the needs of the high or low - but not both. Where one seamstress might be paid handsomely to tailor exquisite silks, another makes cotton-and-leather gloves that will last for years under a labourer's hard work.
The commonfolk are Rhizel's lowest on the nation's societal hierarchy, and they are in no way the least. These are the people that keep the nation turning: farmers, miners, innkeepers, fisherfolk, carriage-masters, labourers, servants. Few among them earn a higher education than the basics.
Many are dissatisfied with their lot: why should the highborn be the only ones who have the luxuries, and the low struggle to survive because they weren't born into wealth and power?
In times of war, Rhizeli kingdoms field armies composed of two divisions: experienced knights, and conscripted commoners. The latter are arranged into squadrons and placed under the command of a squire, trainee knight, or other knight of lesser rank.
On rare occasion, a squadron may acquit itself on the field of battle, earning praise from their commanding officer. For many, battle is a chance to change a Rhizeli's life.
Sometimes that's for the better. Often... well.
In many of Rhizel's kingdoms, nobility is reserved solely for the families that already have it. Major and minor houses rise and fall in their kingdoms' internal politicking, and few lowborn have the power to change their fate.
In some kingdoms, however, nobility can be earned. Through great deeds in service to one's kingdom, whether martial or otherwise, a lowborn might change the fate of their entire family, earning the comforts that are denied many of their peers.
The rise of a new noble family begins with the patronage of one of their kingdom's major houses. The family is elevated to the status of minor nobility, and afforded land and titles.
The land the new nobles own comes from the house that elevated them, as an investment in their future. In exchange, the new minor house is often - but not always - expected to repay the debt via a political marriage, the training of knight-candidates, or a tithe upon one year's resources.
Of course, being raised into the ranks of nobility, even as a Minor House, is not without its risks. Unprepared, new nobles can insult without meaning to, and the consequences can be dire. They vary from a simple duel for honour to the governing Major Houses exiling the house entirely, depending on who has been slighted.
Indeed, to be Rhizeli is to live in a realm where danger lurks in every shadow, in the light of day, and upon each word no matter how carefully chosen.
Cyntarra is the northernmost of Rhizel's kingdoms, and is charged with maintaining the nation's northern border. Khava lies on the other side; as such, the Cyntarrans ensure that trade with the Khavans is upheld smoothly. All Khavan imports go through Cyntarran trading posts.
Perhaps this exposure to another people and their way of life has led Cyntarra to be one of the most progressive of the kingdoms, even though its neighbours Nescha and Zerin decry them as foolish.
The major houses Lunaire, Whisperwind, Aysanne, Morningsnow, and Tenorra rule Cyntarra together. Each has their own agendas, of course, though they often find themselves in agreement on their kingdom's policy - or can determine a course of action by majority vote.
They have the support of several dozen minor Houses, many of whom have enough reputation and diplomatic acumen to seat a representative at the court. The major Houses, however, have the final say on decisions.
Of all the knightly orders present in Rhizel, Cyntarra's Knights of the Rose are the most freeform in their organisation. Highborn and lowborn are often seen shoulder to shoulder, much to the chagrin of the former. This mingling drives Cyntarran knights to train hard and fight harder, the better to outdo their comrades and prove themselves superior.
However, the drive to excel has a tendency to lend itself to rash action. The Knights of the Rose are fewer than most.
All Rhizeli are afforded basic education in several widely-applicable fields, though higher learning is often kept to nobility as a perhaps twisted form of the goddess Yatherie's creed that states knowledge must be earned. The minor Houses usually provide teaching and training to the commonfolk, however: as the major Houses have the responsibility of running their kingdom, the minor Houses must take on duties of their own.
Teaching magicks is oft unheard of, however.
Magickal education is the responsibility of the major Houses. They all have one or more spellcasters among their ranks. However, even these are limited by whether they gained their magic by birth, study, or other means, and so none of them truly has the whole picture of what magic really is.
Of course, this doesn't stop each major House in a Kingdom from using this to teach the ways that they know. Some have developed a reputation for it, which inspires awe and fear.
The divide between Rhizel's highborn and lowborn can be overcome in a variety of ways, no matter which kingdom you examine. But there are always those who, perhaps rightly, believe the barrier between the two sides must be torn down, and all peoples given the right to luxuries that the highborn hoard for themselves.
These instigators concoct their plans outside of nobility's reach, or so they would have you believe, but none have seen their plans come to fruition.
Yet.
To join the ranks of Rhizel's knights is considered a great honour for the knight and their family as a whole. But doing so is only the beginning for some. Knighthood brings expectations, no matter whether you are a simple front-line soldier, a courtier fighting with words, or holding the role of the local watch commander.
Bannerets are a different sort altogether. These knights have excelled above all, and fight under their own banner instead of that of their House.
Banneret knights fill many roles throughout Rhizel's kingdoms. They command companies of lesser knights, serve as military advisors to the major Houses, train new recruits, and more besides.
In some cases, however, a banneret may elect - or be commanded - to leave their kingdom behind, wandering #Auvia to find their own purpose in life. To this end, many walk the adventurer's path, eschewing the luxuries they had in their homeland for a more rugged and dangerous existence.
#Lore24 20/06/24
"Heard another one's packed up and left. Off to slay monsters and win 'emself a good ending to their tale."
"What, y'reckon the new Tenorra banneret was pushed for it? Lotta folks sayin' they jumped at the chance to go questin'."
"The birds upstairs say it was either leave or get a postin' on the southern border for dallyin' with the Lunaire gal what was knighted the same day. Nothin' comes from watchin' for the Aeskellians to come."
- Typical lowborn tavern conversation
In most cases, Rhizeli nobility enter arranged marriages to strengthen the standing of their House. Contracts of marriage are common, detailing any deals made between the Houses.
If someone of minor nobility marries into one of the major Houses, they typically take the major House's name regardless of who proposed the deal. This contrasts with lowborn families and other nations, where if you accept your paramour's proposal, you take their surname regardless of gender.
"For all their claims of having the right to rule, the highborn are people too. They make mistakes, sometimes costly ones, when they don't stop to think beyond, 'how can this benefit me?' This, my friends, is why they fail. Every misstep is an opportunity.
We watch, we anticipate, we take what the people need. Rhizel will belong to her people one and all.
We are the Torchbearers. Rhizel's light in the dark."
- a message pinned by dagger to a wall in a lowborn market
Artisans who cater to Rhizeli highborn often enjoy the patronage of one of the major Houses. As to who they work for, that can change in the cut and thrust of political intrigue, but their workshop will always feature a House's emblem.
In Cyntarra, you can find the following emblems:
• The moons, waxing and waning (Lunaire)
• The sun behind a snowcapped mountain (Morningsnow)
• A gilded bell (Tenorra)
• A bouquet of flowers (Aysanne)
• Four winds entwined (Whisperwind)
Much as artisans use their House's emblem to denote who they serve, all Rhizeli military units include a designated standard-bearer, in order to be recognised on the battlefield. Each standard depicts the House that mustered the unit, and distinct iconography to set it apart from its peers.
To be a standard-bearer is a great honour to a knight, and a target on your back to a conscript, for adversaries target standard-bearers to disrupt the efforts of Rhizeli tacticians.
Rhizel can, of course, play host to adventurers of all stripes. Examples of the most common adventurers of Rhizeli origin are:
• Bard, a musician or storyteller frequenting taverns
• Fighter (Champion, Banneret), a knight in service to their kingdom's army
• Paladin (Oath of the Crown or the People), a citizen loyal to their leadership or their countrymen
• Warlock, a lowborn dissatisfied with their lot, hiding their powers from highborn who would see them snuffed out
Less common adventurers of Rhizeli origin include, but aren't limited to:
• Barbarian, but having Khavan ancestry and being raised by Rhizeli
• Ranger, guarding settlements outside the kingdoms' major cities
• Cleric, likely with a connection to a temple of the Seven or someone who frequents it
• Sorcerer, recruited from lowborn families and pressed to work
• Wizard, in direct service to one of the major Houses
• Rogue, leader of a band of renegades working in the dark
"Fresh off the khariot, are ya? Well, 'venturers, lemme give ya a piece of advice. You want honest work what does good by good people? Y'steer clear of the districts what've got better roads. That way lies easy royals, sure, but they come at a greater cost.
"Taverns, bounty boards, an' occasionally the birds upstairs're usually the ones what have decent work for folks like you and yours. But if'n y'need help gettin' from A t' B, can always send for ole Forrester, yeah?"
All of Rhizel's kingdoms use the same currency: "royals", gold coins with a stamp of a crown on one side and the coin's Kingdom of origin on the other. The Rhizeli highborn care not for "lesser metals", and only ever use gold in their transactions.
The lowborn care not for coinage they rarely, if ever, have. They use a barter system, trading goods and services as needed. Minor Houses raised up from their roots routinely use the barter system when working with lowborn.
International trade is useful for Rhizel in a wide variety of ways. For example, gold ore for coin and ornamentation comes from the mines of Thau, as there is little to be found locally.
However, the overwhelming majority of Rhizel's major Houses treat other nations and their people with disdain. They see the Khavans as barbarous savages, treat Aeskellians as criminals, and the more distant lands as anything but equal. To the highborn, only Rhizeli are fit to rule #Auvia...
#Lore24 30/06/24
#Auvia is home to a number of weapons and fighting styles that travellers from other lands may consider unusual or outlandish, but are common in some nations or the hands of adventurers.
For example, adventurers specialising in hand-to-hand combat often wear fistblades: paired fingerless leather gloves with short dagger-style blades attached to the back of the hand. Their design frees the hand for other purposes, but few wield a fistblade and another weapon at the same time.
#Lore24 01/07/24
Despite their utility, fistblades are difficult to properly make and maintain. If the leather is weak or of poor quality, the blade will simply detach from its housing. If the blade is badly forged, it will snap under pressure.
Fistblade | Martial Melee Weapon
Cost: 40 gp. Damage: 1d8 slashing or piercing. Weight: 2 lbs. Properties: Light, special
While wielding paired fistblades, features and abilities that apply to your unarmed strikes also apply to your fistblades.
Spears and axes are most common among thrown weapons, relying on solid balance and sheer strength to get them where they need to be. For those inclined to precision strikes, however, the humble knife is ideal - unless you have the coin to acquire more elegant weaponry.
It was in pursuit of grace and elegance that a Zesh-Muran dwarf, Koto-Lyn the Battledancer, sought the aid of craftsfolk to create the first kotors: discs balanced to return to the wielder when thrown.
Owing to a lack of common metals in Zesh-Mura, kotors are usually made of wood at their core, and sharpened stone or glass to serve as their blades. Metal mimicries have been made in other nations, but a Zesh-Muran will most often swear by Koto-Lyn's designs.
Kotor | Martial Melee Weapon
Cost: 25 gp. Damage: 1d6 slashing. Weight: 2 lbs. Properties: Finesse, light, thrown (range 30/120), special
When thrown, a kotor always returns to your hand after the attack resolves.
WriterRaven