Vaeles - brainstorming

[DM Quietus]

Standard information :


Primary Deity : Two, mainly the evil Twin, with his sister being a secondary deity, accepted as a legitimate God but not given as much worship as the primary. Effectively, in D&D 3.x, Hextor/Pelor.

Location : On the Eastern side of the river Volaes, near to where it becomes a much larger sea. Large plains provide farmland to the east of the city, worked largely by fairly wealthy farmers, made that way by "slave" labor (the criminals from the city). Only city-permitted farmers may take on criminal labor, as they have to be able to handle the given criminals. North of the city is a vast wetland, overseen by the druidess acolyte Lena, who also comes down and uses her gifts to bless the farmlands each Spring. Two days South of the city is the city of.. crap, can't remember the name it was given... a much smaller city where even being an arcane spellcaster is considered a crime. Far to the east of the city is the Kommal woods, and there is a well-travelled trading road leading a full week northward, to the town of Crossing.

Laws : These are extremely harsh in Vaeles, being overseen primarily by a tyrannical deity. While some might prefer to make them harsher, to stereotypical Middle Eastern standards (thieving = loss of hand, for example), the presence of the Healing deity mitigates much of these extreme things. Instead, criminals who commit the most heinous crimes (and can be proven to have done so) are given capital punishment, while criminals who are seen as a smaller risk are instead sentenced to work on state-approved farms as essentially slave labor, given bread and water to exist on, while earning untrained labor wages to be applied against their debt to society. Thus, a person who steals a loaf of bread might only need to serve a single day on the farms, while a pickpocket who makes off with a full gold piece would be sent there for a week.

[DM Quietus]

Major places of interest :


Mage's Tower : Located in the southern end of the city, the Mage's Tower is difficult to miss; A large stone tower standing at the center of a courtyard, surrounded by ten-foot-tall stone walls. The mages clearly like their privacy, though they do run a lucrative business, keeping a vast library of information available to the "common folk" - for a price. Two gargoyles sit motionless atop the single gateway that leads into the tower's courtyard, and many don't even realize that the creatures are, in fact, alive. The mage's tower is headed off officially by a council of Wizards, one of each area of specialty, but functionally the Wizard who can provide the most tangible defense rules over this council.

Tranquility Inn : Run by a youngish human woman, Athea, the Tranquility Inn is an oddity within the city's walls. Much of the rest of the city is focussed on the day-to-day worries that comes with keeping the city running, but the moment one steps onto the grassy grounds of the Inn, one gets a feeling of peaceful relaxation. Actually a location-based magical effect, this actively prevents violent acts on the Inn's grounds, though Athea has the ability to suppress this in the event it becomes necessary - a fact widely unknown. Unlike many inns, Athea allows anyone to sleep near the fire, should they need it, though she revokes this privilege if she feels someone is abusing it. The place serves food and drink at standard price, and contains eight normal quality lodgings and two expensive suites.

The Iron Post : This is nearly the mirror opposite to the Tranquility Inn. Located nearer to the Docks, the Post is about as seedy a tavern as the city guard will allow to exist within Vaeles. Keaton, the bar's owner, was once a low-level adventurer, and still has the skills necessary to defend his bar from everyday thugs should the need arise. His standard ale is a watered-down mix he sells at half price, though he has regular-strength ale and simple food for those who want it. There are no wines, no high-quality food, and no banquets to be had at the Post, just the abovementioned ales, meads, and simple food such as stews, or seared meat with potatoes. Lodging-wise, Keaton does charge for a place near the fire, and will only allow patrons to stay who haven't caused trouble that night. He also has a small handful of rooms which are little more than a cot and a bedpan available at "normal" room price. Barfights are unpleasantly common here, though Keaton does his level best to keep things calm, since the city guard has taken to having Bannor patrol this part of town, and Bannor has a tendency to leave the place a worse mess than it would be if the fight were to just play itself out.

[Deleted]

I'm pretty sure you can delete posts, so please do so after you fix what I point out.

In the first post you have a "crap...I can't remember". You should probably make that RED AND GIGANTIC AND IN ALL CAPS so you don't forget it.

Why do the people of Vaeles worship an evil deity? It is appeasement? If so, you may want to make that more obvious. Given that everyone has only recently shucked off the shittiness of being ruled by evil dragons, having to kowtow to a god might not sit so well.

[DM Quietus]

May 28, 2009 16:53:55 GMT -5 @nyax said:

I'm pretty sure you can delete posts, so please do so after you fix what I point out.

In the first post you have a "crap...I can't remember". You should probably make that RED AND GIGANTIC AND IN ALL CAPS so you don't forget it.

Why do the people of Vaeles worship an evil deity? It is appeasement? If so, you may want to make that more obvious. Given that everyone has only recently shucked off the shittiness of being ruled by evil dragons, having to kowtow to a god might not sit so well.

These posts are currently very stream-of-thought, brainstorming of a sort. I'll leave things in for now, and make a more refined post later. And it's Port Cigomenta.

As for why they worship an Evil deity, it's not appeasement. It's because the Good deities weren't able to bring themselves to do what needed to be done. Revolution can happen two ways; Peaceful, over long periods of time (generations, and in this case, we're talking Dragon generations), or violently but quickly. This deity was willing to do horrible things in the name of Humanoid freedom, and while many would have found the extreme end of his methods distasteful... they worked. To the victor go the spoils, so to speak. I may make it a Cleric of that deity that holds rule over the city, at least traditionally, though that might give him TOO much control over Vaeles. I should also look into other... theocracies, I believe they're called? And see what the major notes are among them. Any suggestions?

[Deleted]

Oh, wow, I didn't realize that at all. You may want to make that more clear.

I would suggest not making a cleric the leader, but perhaps the leader could be...biased towards the more ruthless god.

At some point it might be nice to plant the seeds of dissent. Have people get a upset at the government for being so strict, especially since they're a generation or two removed from the actual rule-by-dragon. Maybe the threat of dragons gets renewed and everyone realizes the stricter rule is really for their own good, or maybe it goes the other way and the "tyrant" goes too far, sparking a revolution.

Is there a tension between the good and evil clerics? What if an evil cleric becomes ill?

[DM Quietus]

I do intend for the leader to be a faithful of that Evil deity. Whether it will be a cleric or not, I'm not certain - I'd prefer to go with something more directly martial, now that I think about it, because I don't want to make the entire city into a temple to him, I want its laws and dictates to be guided by him.

As for the seeds of dissent, that's a wonderful adventure idea, certainly, and I'd love to explore that more fully inside a game, but it's not something I can go in-depth into in a book detailing the setting. That being said, I do intend for there to be some dissent, likely lead by either extremists among the Sister's faithful or followers of that "burning holy light" deity, although it would be just as interesting to have a "grassroots" upheaval, as well.

And yes, there is some tension - they work together out of care toward their patron's close relationship, but neither particularly agrees with the other's methods. He feels that she is weak, and would let Vaeles eventually be worn down and overrun by outside forces, as she's unwilling to go to the same lengths he was/is to protect it. She sees the heavy toll that living in an oppressive city can take on a person, always in fear of laws and the corresponding punishment, and doesn't agree with running a city that way. I can see how, among a populace where the greater perceived threat comes from inside their walls (see : the Dragonborn race), this would make her very popular indeed - and that would make His clergy put their foot down, I think.

As for them getting ill, all Clerics can cast Healing spells, and all have access to the Heal skill. Evil clerics simply can't spontaneously cast Cure spells.

[DM Quietus]

Day-to-day life

For your average citizen of Vaeles, each day is the same dreary work as the last, as there is always work to be done to keep food on the table. Farmers continue to toil on their land, their family alongside them caring for livestock, sowing seeds, keeping everything watered, or harvesting. Fishing boats travel up and down the Volaes, bringing stocks of fresh fish in from the ocean (Note : Need to name this!), basket weavers weave their baskets, wainwrights build and fix wagons, and guards patrol the streets. For the most part, the average person in Vaeles makes their 1 SP/day, and lives off of that the best they can. In general :

Untrained labor : 1 SP/day (Any job that doesn't require schooling/apprenticeship or entails danger, like farming, working in someone else's store, or serving tables)
Trained/dangerous labor : 3 SP/day (Owning/operating a store, providing difficult work that required schooling/apprenticeship, members of the guard)

Considering a poor meal is 1 SP, this means that any family living off of untrained labor wages either needs for everyone in that family to be working, or for someone to be capable of at least basic cooking, to "craft" meals at 1/3 cost. Such a typical family will have at least one, if not both adults working full time, as well as typically any children old enough to work, plus at least one person who can cook.

For those in the higher bracket, 3 SP per day is enough to support a family of three without having to cook for themselves - though typically, this will be augmented by an additional source of income (one parent in the guard plus the other or a child working untrained jobs, or one person running a store and having family help performing the menial tasks), and generally will include someone capable of cooking as well. This is enough to live on comfortably for many families, but is by no means wealthy.

The wealthy have no strict guidelines for how much money they make; They will generally own multiple businesses and take income from each, or will have some other source of money. These wealthy individuals make up a small portion of Vaeles' population, roughly 10%, but control the vast majority of the wealth in the city, giving them strong control over the flow of cash, and thus, the balance of the city's financial makeup.

Adventurers tend to be outside of these guidelines, as they either have a remarkably short life span, or make a great deal of money in a short period of time. They can easily become far more wealthy than even some of the nobles in the city, but because the source of their income is outside of the city's reach, they aren't built into its financial system as anything more than a source of interesting baubles for the city's rich.

[Deleted]

Are there taxes? How does the city pay for upkeep and the guard?

What type of crops are most common in the different areas of Vethedar? Are there places where one particular crop is basically sustaining some large portion of the population, 'cause that's totally a plot opening right there.

[DM Quietus]

Taxes : A good point, from a real-world perspective, but I'm not sure how to work that into a setting without either totally screwing over the players, or making it nothing more than a fluff aspect. I could set up a "merchanting license" system, I suppose, where you'd have the option to buy one, then be able to sell goods at full price in the markets. Anyone with said license would then be subject to city taxes, at 10% (as an example number) of whatever price. Anyone without the license can only get the normal 1/2 market price for anything they sell. That way I can add in the entire "taxes" stuff as an item within an expanded items area.

As for crops, in my head I see various grains and vegetables being the primary food crop outside the city, things like wheat, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, and such. Livestock would also be raised, including pigs, cattle, chickens, and horses - I'm likely going to model much of the farming produce after what little I know of farming in the moderate-temperature area I live in, for simplicity's sake. Fish is also a noteworthy part of their diet, being on the Volaes as they are. I'll add a short blurb on produce in any city overview to cover this sort of thing.

[Deleted]

About the Volaes: it might be neat to have some interesting stories about it. Look to London and the Thames for inspiration? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Thames

[DM Quietus]

Yup, there's already some stuff in place for that. Less immediately around Vaeles itself, of course, since people are near there and it's easy to scour an area for proof when Water Breathing is a level 3 spell, but in the lake itself, as well as some of the areas further north, particularly near the Veil, there's plenty of rumors regarding critters living in the Volaes, and few of them are nice.

Vethedar itself is a highly elemental land; I intend to play off of that angle, being that the Volaes is the largest source of freshwater on the continent.

[Deleted]

How tall are building in Vaeles? 2 stories, tops? How close are they together? Are there lots of alleyways?

[Deleted]

Shit, I didn't even think of this. How does crime reflect the ability to divine things using magic?

[DM Quietus]

Your average home for a peasant would be a one-story building, and for those managing to stay above absolute poverty, would have enough walls to break it up into a common area, kitchen/dining, a bathroom (that is, a door, four walls, a bucket with water, and a chamberpot), and a couple bedrooms. Then of course there's the shacks that the city's poorest live in. The wealthier (people with trained professions and such and most of the family working) might have two-story buildings.

The space between buildings would vary, but there's always at least a ten-foot fence between the buildings themselves, by city decree. The space between them would be determined by their wealth level; Someone in abject poverty would have much less space between his home and the next than a man with a business, where his three sons are all trained professionals.

As for crime and divination magic; The general level of everything in the world is lower. The highest level living mage NPC is around 13. Most crimes are solved in a mundane fashion, with the exception of their "interrogation room" - a room with permanent Zone of Truth on it. Detect magic used to strip all magical effects before they enter the room, and then use it to detect if one is on them again when they enter the room. If it is, then they know the room's magic took effect. The methods used to bring them to justice, however, tend to be very mundane, with the exception of well-known troublemakers, or ones who took items of particular value.

[Deleted]

Wow, you know a plot where the characters are just trying to solve crimes might be interesting...either that or I've read too much Conan Doyle recently.

[DM Quietus]

Glad you think so! That's a part of the reason I set things up so that every problem isn't just solved in the background with Divinations.

Plus, you get the moral quandary of "If the reason for the crime isn't all that bad, and we know they'll be sentenced to slavery for X amount of time for it, or even death... do we bring them back or not?". At least, for certain moralities.

[Sugarphix]

Speaking of Dark alleys and crime, hideouts etc...the password should always be "bacon".

[DM-Delfon]

MMMmmm bacon...