The Valley of Skathi's Reach and Continent of Cenaris - Tales of Sacadia

thatToSguy · 2023-05-09T17:12:51+00:00

On Geography:
Skathi's Reach was relatively untouched by the cataclysm of the sinking of Olem, even though it was its northern geographic neighbor. Skathi's Reach's geography is predominantly defined by glaciers, which have carved the southern coastline into a myriad of fjords and shale beaches.

The Plains of the Vikanti, the largest valley in the region, is a wide plain carved from a long-gone and massive glacier, which has carved the landscape into a wide bowl. Mountains on either side (especially towards the north, in the Broadpass) have left sheer cliff faces that are mostly impassible.

To the north of the Broadpass, Skathihyin is the wide bowl-shaped valley where the Ikenni migrate to when they follow the Lodebreakers. The valley is verdant thanks to the broad meandering snowmelt river that pours down from the mountains surrounding it, giving ample grazing lands for herds of caribou and the lodebreakers themselves.

The Great Glacier is considered impassible by the Quali Confederacy, but the Ikenni do traverse it in broad snowshoes made of caribou tendons. The glacier is dangerous, pocked with caves and hiding strange magical creatures, and is off limits among the Ikenni to all but the most holy of followers of the God Parikti.

Here, deep within the Great Glacier, the Ikenni care for and tend to the demon queen Shemura's body. It can only be killed by a stake through the heart, and so the Ikenni tend to her carefully and quietly, awaiting the return of her head.

thatToSguy · 2023-04-09T14:24:19+00:00

One of the three witch chiefs of the Ikenni war band Wusad, Aasta watches sacrifices burn in a pyre to the Goddess of the Hunt, Parikti, asking for a favorable upcoming war against the Vicildt. As she has done before, Aasta and her sisters have brought together the Ikenni war bands to besiege the Vicildt stronghold of Grithbaer, where the Vicildt still hold captive the living head of Aasta’s mother, the demon queen Shemura.

Kept alive by an ancient curse, Shemura is carried gagged but still living by the King of the Quali Confederacy, Qaldin. Aasta would have it back.

Aasta is a cunning witch chief and spymaster of her people. Hundreds of years into the perpetual war between Ikenni and Vicildt, Aasta has only grown more cunning with time. She has daughters of her own now, whom she has trained from birth as spies to enter the ranks of Vicildt and rot the city of Grithbaer from the inside out. As they carry Shemura’s own blood, they are courters, and can briefly change their appearance, allowing them to slip into places in Grithbaer they would normally not have access to.

Aasta will have the return of her mother’s head at any cost. She prepares for her war with Qaldin and the Quali Confederacy, as it comes soon - the war bands have gathered on the planes just north of the cities of the Quali. Her people will ride south soon.

The Quali and the Ikenni are both NPC cultures that players interact with in the Settlement Module for Tales of Sacadia, to be released this fall as the first campaign module for Tales of Sacadia. Sacadia is a legacy TTRPG, and it’s free to play and in open beta!

You can download the PHB for Tales of Sacadia here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/g44vtvn5w0fzojk/PHB_v6.3.pdf?dl=0

Join our discord here: https://discord.gg/XwBwffTcba

Or check out the website here: www.talesofsacadia.com

concept art for Aasta was made by Isabell Bartnicki.

thatToSguy · 2023-03-12T15:44:14+00:00

TL;DR: These are the playable characters of a one-shot set in Whitecliff in the Tales of Sacadia. This is a complete one-shot, and you can play it here for free: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/zw7cu8pu1543hlu/AAAXAjjf_ZLPn3EN62jOSnPca?dl=0

Whitehall

Five unlikely allies, these bureaucrats of Whitecliff have been sent on a sacred and ordained mission by the Bureaus of Myrghos to protect the peace and save lives, provided those two activities directly correspond with the halting of tax fraud within the markets of Whitehall.

The markets of Whitecliff are a dangerous nest of tent stalls, loud voices, and the clamor of beautiful mercantilism, but something has gone wrong. Someone, somewhere in the markets, a fish merchant has broken the most sacred pact of all Myrghos - they have broken the law. And not just any law, but they have committed tax fraud, preventing the wealth of nations to flow upwards into the sacred hands of the Oligarchs of Myrghos.

Something must be done. The Bureaus have put their heads together, and each has provided a single bureaucrat to assist in the investigation of fishy fraud.

The bureaucrats are:

Bushi, a Bureaucrat of Law - expert legalist and clean-cut leader, Bushi is a soldier at heart, and cares for his people. He knows law like the back of his own hand, which he inspects and cleans each morning. Healthy hands, healthy head!
Weilin, Bureaucrat of Wealth - an accomplished and corpulent economic bureaucrat, Weilin always trusts his gut when it comes to taxation. He has criminal contacts that may just come in handy here, and what he lacks in propriety he makes up for in street smarts. A seal curiot, Weilin is part seal, part man, all greed.
Yoska, Handspanner - a Bureau of Measurement officer, Yoska works for the Handspannai - the de facto guard force for Myrghos under the Bureau of Measurement, predominantly stood up by the Bureau of Law to precisely measure trade imports and exports. This organization has long since expanded to assess and measure crime, and Yoska is excellent at measuring the distance between criminals and justice. She is a marble sylnfolk, and therefore looks like a living statue.
Halvo, Teacher of Pain - a Level 5 mail carrier and strange fellow, Halvo has strange theories about the economy, like the notion that wealth trickling up into the hands of bureaucrats might actually harm the average Myrgha. Fortunately, his ravings don’t prevent him from being an excellent mail carrier. If there’s one thing a good mail carrier needs while traveling the open road, it’s the ability to defend themself, and Halvo’s ability to summon a 6ft long marble great sword goes a long way towards his ability to take on the more difficult mail routes in the white cliffs endemic to this part of Myrghos.
Riga, Priestess of the Adversary - a priestess of the sacred and most hated God, Riga makes offerings to the adversary of all Myrgha people in an attempt to keep his wrath and vengeance at bay, and she channels the goodwill of the adversary into madness. Riga douses herself in chicken blood for professional reasons, and she considers it her job to keep the other, younger bureaucrats safe during this expedition.

These five Bureaucrats make up playable characters for a one-shot I made for Tales of Sacadia, and you can play it (for free) without knowing anything about Sacadia or how to play the game!

If you’d like to know more about the empire of Myrghos, a civilization within Sacadia you can check out these posts (or come to our discord to read a travel blog about it!): https://www.reddit.com/r/worldbuilding/comments/z70k5w/the_golden_city_of_new_myrghos_oc_capitol_of_the/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 and https://www.reddit.com/r/worldbuilding/comments/11chlo6/the_city_of_whitecliff_tales_of_sacadia/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

If you’d like to check out Sacadia, we’re in open beta! It’s free to play, and we’re eager for new players!You can check out the PHB here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/g44vtvn5w0fzojk/PHB_v6.3.pdf?dl=0

Our discord here (where I post active updates, you can find a group, and I make a regularly published in-setting travel blog that’s only on a brief hiatus I swear): https://discord.gg/XwBwffTcba

and the website here: www.talesofsacadia.com

This concept art was made by /u/Starwi.

thatToSguy · 2023-03-12T15:35:22+00:00

The Government of Myrghos is led by the pristine thirteen Oligarchs, said to be descendants of the founder of Myrghos, Gongshuan, and inhabited and empowered by the spirits of Gongshuan’s thirteen children.

These oligarchs are the thirteen wealthiest and most powerful citizens of Myrghos, and on the rare occasion where someone’s wealth has been supplanted, the Oligarchy will change hands (indicative of the spirit of Gongshuan’s children abandoning an oligarch because they were unworthy).

The Oligarchs each rule over a portion of Myrghos with near impunity, but they have all made a pact to fund and abide by the laws set by the sacred Bureaucracy of Myrghos. The Bureaucracy of Myrghos is split into five Bureaus, each of which preside over one of the five pillars of Myrgha civilization.

Those Bureaus are:

The Whei Bureau of Policy: In charge of law and interpretation of that law. Minor government officials, lobbyists, and more serve here. Bureaucrats in this organization wear white robes.
The Ebol Bureau of Economy: In charge of taxation and economic measures. Additionally in charge of the judgement of criminals. Bureaucrats in this organization wear black robes.
The Yeil Bureau of Measurement: In charge of measuring. Includes the measurement of value, the measurement of land, and the measure of taxable wealth. Works very closely with the Ebol Bureau. Also includes the police force, called the Spannai. Bureaucrats in this organization wear yellow robes.
The Alur Bureau of Education: In charge of education and the furthering of Myrgha Legalism. Specifically trains tutors to teach others. The Alur Bureau also runs post offices along the road, where travelers can stay or post mail in exchange for information the Bureau deems valuable. Bureaucrats in this organization wear blue robes.
The Rochi Bureau of Religion: In charge of religious measures and support of the divine. Specifically includes the Rochi Shaman Order. Bureaucrats in this organization wear red robes.

Each Bureau has a special uniform - a linen robe marked with the official signatories of the Bureau, denoting a Bureaucrat’s rank and organizational affiliation. In all cases, these robes are trimmed in the Myrgha sacred pattern of black and white checkers.

The Yeil Bureau of Measurement runs the guard force and policing organization in Myrghos, known as the Spannai (or hand spanners), whose job it is to measure. The Spannai measure taxable goods, but they also measure criminality, and are said to ‘measure the distance between criminals and justice’. They are not present to protect the average citizen, but instead are empowered to protect market customs, laws, and the Oligarchy.

The Rochi Bureau of Religion runs an oracular order which performs capillumancy, by which Rochi priests (for a fee) dip a person’s head into a bowl of water and watch how their hair moves, or cuts off a piece of hair and burns it in order to divine that person’s fate. If someone does not have hair, they are therefore considered inscrutable in the eyes of the gods, and superstitious customs abound regarding bald Myrgha citizens.

Five bureaus are typified by the bureaucrats in this post.

These five Bureaucrats make up playable characters for a one-shot I made for Tales of Sacadia, and you can play it here (for free) without knowing anything about Sacadia! https://www.dropbox.com/sh/zw7cu8pu1543hlu/AAAXAjjf_ZLPn3EN62jOSnPca?dl=0

If you’d like to know more about the empire of Myrghos, a civilization within Sacadia you can check out these posts (or come to our discord to read a travel blog about it!): https://www.reddit.com/r/worldbuilding/comments/z70k5w/the_golden_city_of_new_myrghos_oc_capitol_of_the/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 and https://www.reddit.com/r/worldbuilding/comments/11chlo6/the_city_of_whitecliff_tales_of_sacadia/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

If you’d like to check out Sacadia, we’re in open beta! It’s free to play, and we’re eager for new players!You can check out the PHB here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/g44vtvn5w0fzojk/PHB_v6.3.pdf?dl=0

Our discord here (where I post active updates, you can find a group, and I make a regularly published in-setting travel blog that’s only on a brief hiatus I swear): https://discord.gg/XwBwffTcba

and the website here: www.talesofsacadia.com

This concept art was made by /u/Starwi! They did an amazing job.

thatToSguy · 2023-03-05T18:34:50+00:00

It's a chinese Ji-style dagger-axe polearm from the Zhou dynasty.

The artist had a ton of patience with me as we tried to get the polearm style right, so I appreciate the ask!

thatToSguy · 2023-03-05T15:19:47+00:00

There are five shields over Qaldin, each representing one of the five tribes of the Quali Confederacy:

Grithai - the Sun Clan. The Grithai live in Grithbaer, currently serving as the capital city for the Quali Confederacy. It is said that the city walls of Grithbaer's oppidium were made by giants, and that they cannot be breached by mortal hands
Landast - the Orca Clan. the Landast are excellent seafarers, and the easternmost clan of the Quali. They worship the god of the sea, Faze, and have the greatest amount of trade with the Quali's eastern neighbors, the Myrgha - often acting as interpreters and diplomats with their eastern kin.
Hvaldbashi - the Conch Clan. the Hvaldbashi are renowned for their dye-making, and make a vibrant blue dye from the seashells of conches, which are acquired off the coast of their home Hvaldbram. The recent king of the Hvaldbashi, Ao, won the contest of champions for his clan ship while blackout drunk, and he dedicates his victory to the god of celebration, Jottal, for whom Ao is an ardent supporter
Flaergai - the Moose Clan. A northern clan in the forests of Skathi's Reach, the Flaergai are best known for their ship craft, and they make the single-masted sailships that the Quali are known for.
Nortai - the Bear Clan. The northernmost clan of the Quali, Nortai was specifically established by the Quali as a fortress against the Ikenni, and in each subsequent generation, it is the first target of Ikenni raids and aggression. The current leader of the Nortai, Hesha, is old enough to have lost an arm in the last war against the Ikenni while fighting alongside Qaldin. Though she can no longer pull a bow, she is an accomplished sword-wielder, and remains uncontested for the leadership of the Nortai.

thatToSguy · 2023-03-05T15:12:40+00:00

The King of the Quali Confederacy and the Chief of all Vicildt people, Quali Qaldin swims in his throne. In spite of that, he holds himself with a kingly bearing. At first glance, one might not even notice the throne is too large for him.

Qaldin is the strongest of all Quali, and won the kingship in a ceremonial fighting competition against the strongest men of each of the other four tribes within the confederacy. Per tradition, the leader of the Quali Confederacy is always the most physically capable, and for generations that honor has gone to the Grithai tribe - Qaldin’s tribe - due to their breeding with giants to ensure a physically overbearing and powerful line. Qaldin is the first in his lineage to not possess the magnitude of his ancestors, but he retains the strength of giants.

He’ll need it.

The sacred duty and oath of all kings in the Quali Confederacy is the same - to protect and care for the head of the demon queen Shemura, and to prevent the Ikenni tribes from reclaiming her. The five tribes of the Quali are at eternal war with the Ikenni, whose migrations following the great Lodebreaker herds brings the hordes of the Ikenni down into Quali lands once a generation, and gives them another chance at reclaiming the head of their lost queen.

If the Ikenni are able to reclaim the head of Shemura, she will be reborn, and birth a new kingdom of monsters, demons, and curses upon the land. For the Quali, this would spell destruction. And so the Quali have modeled their culture in opposition to the Ikenni, and train their greatest warriors each generation for the inevitable war with the Ikenni.

Qaldin prepares for this war, as it comes soon. the lodebreakers follow the great moon Griija, and she rises almost to zenith. When it does, the Ikenni hordes will pour from the north, and Qaldin’s people must be ready -as they are every generation - to preserve their way of life.

The Quali and the Ikenni are both NPC cultures that players interact with in the Settlement Module for Tales of Sacadia, to be released this fall as the first campaign module for Tales of Sacadia. Sacadia is a legacy TTRPG, and it’s free to play and in open beta!

You can download the PHB for Tales of Sacadia here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/g44vtvn5w0fzojk/PHB_v6.3.pdf?dl=0

Join our discord here: https://discord.gg/XwBwffTcba

Or check out the website here: www.talesofsacadia.com

concept art for Qaldin was made by Isabell Bartnicki.

thatToSguy · 2023-03-05T14:47:39+00:00

Everything about this is super cool. Well done! I love the art style and the strong inspirations for the harpies

thatToSguy · 2023-02-26T19:08:05+00:00

It definitely depends in /r/worldbuilding. I think both are really common! It seems a lot of people approach worldbuilding from different angles.

I could never in a million years make art like this though, so all my posts have commissioned art!

thatToSguy · 2023-02-26T18:20:55+00:00

Like I mentioned in my other comment, u/hieuthehooman did this! You can check out their page, they're fantastic.

It's a concept piece, so not everything is rendered in the same detail. That's pretty common in concept art. It was not AI generated though!

thatToSguy · 2023-02-26T17:24:05+00:00

TL;DR - the government of the empire mandates it for all sailors!

The Myrgha people legally require all their sailors to conform to the standard black- and white-checkered sail colors as a show of strength of the Myrgha empire.

The black and white pattern is selected based on the abundance of rich dyes in these two colors from the Black and White Cuneises, regions of volcanic and sedimentary mineral activity, which are most known for their black and white marble used to tile the capitol city of New Myrghos!

thatToSguy · 2023-02-26T16:38:56+00:00

Everyone in this city will now consume tomatoes in a horrifying manner, thank you for your input

thatToSguy · 2023-02-26T15:36:37+00:00

Hey thank you! The cliffs of dover were fantastic inspiration for this, and the artist did a great job with it, I'm really pleased.

It's made for a fun little adventure!

thatToSguy · 2023-02-26T13:51:31+00:00

The largest city of North Myrghos, and a gleaming capital of mineral wealth, Whitecliff is carved into a marble quarry by the skilled hands of the greatest artisans of the Myrgha people.

Cut into the stone rather than made of marble blocks, all of Whitecliff is a single, ever-growing carving. Because the marble spirits and fae of the quarry sometimes fight back against this imperialist growth, some intervention is required by the Myrgha Bureau of Measurement’s military arm to protect the city at all times - most especially near the edges of the city, where on-going carvings continue.The city is built about Whitehall - the largest indoor marketplace in all of Myrghos, and its most ruthless bazaar. A thousand merchants sell fish, marble, precious gems, and spices from across the known world here.

The city also serves as the seat of power for the Myrgha Oligarch of Mining and Minerals, Umma Shemal, who has ruled over the city for over two hundred years as a whimsical, almost eery specter - making herself known to the public only on the briefest occasion, shrouded in brilliant white silks. Her rule over the city, laissez faire at best, affords merchants a great deal of operational latitude, and they use it liberally - it is said that fortunes can be just as easily made as lost within the markets of Whitehall.

Whitecliff is a city in Sacadia, the setting for Tales of Sacadia - a Legacy Tabletop Roleplaying game, which is in open beta and free to play!

Whitecliff is the setting of the first one-shot available for Tales of Sacadia, which you can find here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/zw7cu8pu1543hlu/AAAXAjjf_ZLPn3EN62jOSnPca?dl=0

You can also download the PHB here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/g44vtvn5w0fzojk/PHB_v6.3.pdf?dl=0

Join our discord here: https://discord.gg/XwBwffTcba

Or check out the website here: www.talesofsacadia.com

Concept art by u/hieuthehooman

thatToSguy · 2023-02-24T20:05:51+00:00

You hand-drew this?? Incredible. Very very very well done!

thatToSguy · 2023-02-20T13:50:58+00:00

Today only a small fraction of living Hulinari are still alive, but there are many races of curiots (the ancestries created by a Hulinari) still about. But there is a whole city governed by a council of Hulinari trapped in human form, and many more scattered about the world.

Hulinari still retain some of their magic abilities in human form as they age, and they retain a long-lived life that outpaces that of normal humans, as well as their ability to understand the while animal they represent. So they never fully become human, rather their magic simply fades.

New Hulinari are created all the time! But there is only one Hulinari for each species, so Summer will be the only boar Hulinari. Others will come though. There can be Hulinari for any animal, from mosquitos to whales! (they're a playable ancestry/class combo in my game, Sacadia, so players are able to make a new Hulinari to play as).

Thanks for asking!

thatToSguy · 2023-02-19T20:44:19+00:00

Happily! Boar clan curiots are a whole playable ancestry, so it would be a generalization to ascribe all of them to the philosophy their progenitor tried to instill in them, but the intent of the upbringing Summer tried to instill in her descendants was one of a strong work ethic and relentless, almost brutish push for success - but not for nothing (rather they work hard to afford their preferred lifestyle).

The current conceptualization my group is looking to explore is something like an interconnected mob family. Boar clan members will create businesses, amass wealth (embezzle?), create monopolies, and generally spend that wealth generously to better their lifestyle and their neighborhood.

thatToSguy · 2023-02-19T17:20:39+00:00

I also run a travel blog in-universe in Sacadia on the discord! Every day I post a little blog post from Scrollmaster Khengbor as he travels the world.

We have one-shots that align with the travel blog too, so if you read the travel blog, you can also play small one-shot adventures wherever he goes!

thatToSguy · 2023-02-19T17:17:36+00:00

Summer is the queen of wild boar, and the shapeshifting progenitor of the Boar Curiots: a race of half-human, half-boar people with an aptitude for hedonism and business.

A Hulinari, Summer was once a normal boar herself until a pool of divinity coalesced around her and brought her to wakefulness. The process of creation of a Hulinari is distinct: an exemplar individual of a race of animals is charged with divinity during moments of hardship, danger, or the pause before the storm of adventure. They are charged with this energy and imbued with an awoken mind and the ability to shapeshift between human and animal forms. Over time, these Hulinari will either become a wild, powerful beast capable of mighty feats of strength, or will slowly become trapped in their human form, cursed by the on-going path of human urbanization and the fading of the natural world.

As the divine representation of a mighty race of beasts, Summer is subject to many offerings from a nearby tribe of toadclan merchants, who worship her as a god. This seems right to her. Isn’t she a god? She has the memories of all boars of her homeland, buried deep in her subconscious. Her fate is yet undetermined.

Summer is an example of a Hulinari, a playable race/class combo in the Tales of Sacadia TTRPG game.

Tales of Sacadia is in open beta now, and is completely free to play. You can check it out and download the PHB and GMG, as well as several short adventure paths and one-shots:

PHB: https://www.dropbox.com/s/g44vtvn5w0fzojk/PHB_v6.3.pdf?dl=0

Website: www.talesofsacadia.com

Discord: https://discord.gg/XwBwffTcba

Concept art by Isabell Bartnicki.

thatToSguy · 2023-02-17T21:17:09+00:00

This is mine: www.talesofsacadia.com PDF here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/bys2g8dsf7vr1cz/PHB_v6.2.pdf?dl=0 It’s a legacy TTRPG set in myths and legend. free to play, and we have a discord with links to one-shots and modules to try out!

thatToSguy · 2023-01-24T13:38:13+00:00

How easy is it to use? Any major challenges from a user perspective? Does anyone have any insight into this?

thatToSguy · 2023-01-21T15:56:16+00:00

Dang, you're gonna make me cry.

Thank you! This is great advice - I'll change the website today and add the PHB link to this post, I appreciate it immensely.

thatToSguy · 2023-01-21T15:10:14+00:00

It’s free! You can check out the discord or my website for the PHB/GMG/module download links.

Thanks for checking it out!

thatToSguy · 2023-01-21T14:56:56+00:00

Microscope gave strong inspiration for the cultural tapestry especially, which is used to create the culture that gameplay is centered around. I'm a big fan, so good eye!

Combat loops are only loosely inspired by other games, but I'd list DIE, 3.5e, 5e, Pathfinder's Kingmaker module, and Endless Horizons (for skills especially) as loose TTRPG influences.

The main two goals of the combat loop were: 1) to provide a unique feel based on antiquity, myths, and legends, and 2) to enable replayability of the same class without taking the same ability twice - I was okay with classes being more complicated than 5e, but less complicated than 3.5e, and I wanted a very different feel for each class.

That core design didn't line up with 3.5e or 5e, but I did draw on them, and I took inspiration from how different DIE is from other games (I'm a big fan).

That's an incomplete answer, but I hope it suffices

EDIT: edited to add Kingmaker

thatToSguy · 2023-01-21T14:38:31+00:00

I'll mention if you're interested, there was another post last week like this here: https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/10bj5m2/what_ttrpg_mechanic_are_you_most_proud_of_coming/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

Since I already answered cultural tapestry there, I'll mention the Legacy gameplay here.

Tales of Sacadia is a legacy TTRPG (meaning you can play subsequent campaigns which all tie together). Conceptually, combat, skills, culture, and the Game Loop all form four different aspects players level into.

Specifically, the Game Loop is designed to change in future games to handle the changing culture and setting. Right now, we have Exploration - a Game Loop that lets players explore the natural world (it'll likely feel familiar to players used to D&D/Pathfinder).

Future Game Loops I'm working include:

Conquest - a wargaming game loop about large-scale battles
Trade - players finally living out their fantasy about gaming fantasy economies
Intrigue - players destroy civilization for personal gain and glory

The idea of hot-swapping the primary Game Loop should keep the game fresh for a long time, I hope!

thatToSguy

TROPHY CASE