Working on a campaign idea, looking for some info on the Shory & Yjae


Lost Omens Campaign Setting General Discussion


So, a little while ago I had the following idea for a campaign about the Shory & Yjae.

idea:

Players conditions:
Race: Human
Ethnicity: Shory (similar to Mwangi)
Classes: All martial (except gunslinger), all arcane, ranger (spell-less);
Start: level 5
History
In the storied Age of Destiny, through the wisdom and the great magic of Old Mage Jatembe, passed down through the generations, men and women rose to literal heights
unattained before or since. The aeromancers of the Shory empire created Kho, the f irst of many f lying cities, in –2323 ar, employing a new magical principal called Aeromantic Infandibulum. The f lying cities of Shory plied the skies over Garund for almost 2 millennia, but as with all great empires, they eventually declined, as the cities succumbed to disease, war, or monsters. Unlike for nations based f irmly on the ground, the fall of Shory was much more literal than figurative, and one by one the f lying cities of the once-great empire plummeted catastrophically to the ground.
Seeing their empire crumbling around them, the rulers of the city of Yjae sought to escape the fate of Kho, Ulduvai, and the other doomed cities of Shory. In an act of equal parts desperation and arrogance, the triune Sky Masters of Yjae abandoned their sister cities and f led east across the Obari Ocean, soaring high above the clouds along the upper edges of the habitable skies. While Kho and the other Shory cities fell one by one from the sky to crash into the Barrier Mountains of the Mwangi Expanse, Yjae made an impossible journey to the Wall of Heaven in distant Tian Xia.
There the Sky Masters of Yjae faced an insurmountable barrier, for these mountain peaks stretched even higher than the Shory city could f ly. The Sky Masters attempted a treacherous navigation of the lowest passes they could find, yet powerful winds and other, stranger influences that seemed to rise from eerie ruins on the stark mountain slopes seized the f lying city and tossed it like a leaf in a typhoon. The city smashed against a mountainside—nearly a quarter of its towers and understructure was crushed and it almost spiraled into the ground. Worse, strange denizens of the high mountains invaded the city when it slipped through a thin barrier between reality and the terrifying realm of Leng.
With a quarter of the city in ruins, its magical method of propulsion irrevocably destroyed, and sinister denizens of a nightmare dimension seizing control of parts of the city’s understructure and damaged towers, Yjae’s three rulers managed, somehow, to maintain control. But the damage was done—while Yjae still f loats, its ability to move on its own has been lost. The areas containing Yjae’s magical propulsion artifacts now fester with the warped energy of Leng, and its byways are home to terrors.
Since that fateful crossing, Yjae has drifted with the winds, stuck forever in the eddies and rivers of air that churn miles above the deep desert of below.
Note: While your characters are aware of of the general jist of the journey, they have no current knowledge of locations, peoples and technologies.
For millennia, the descendants of the Shory have fought a long campaign against the denizens of Leng that have invaded their city. You (and your friends) have recently come of age. As all others, you have been trained for a long time in how to fight, and how to resist the wretched powers of the denizens of Leng. Are you about to become another casualty, a waste by the sky-masters? Or will you find the power to defeat the enemies of your city?

So, concerning those ideas. I have a few questions...

1) Anyone have any idea about the "mythic power" that supposedly is locked in the center of Yjae keeping it together. I feel like making them the source of the players mythic power. But I have no idea WHAT it is, so I'm wondering how to play it...

2) If the players (as Shory) where to... "accidentaly" arrive in Absalom, what would people be most likely to think of them of (common folk that is). I dont know how well the Mwangi are known in Absalom, so I dont know how people would react.

Any other notes? The info on the Shory people is pretty sparce, for good reason.


Well, I'm not sure about 1, but as for 2, the people in Absalom would probably just ignore them for the most part, since they're pretty use to foreigners due to their status as a major trade city.
Although chances are that someone there, like a Mwangi archaeologist or something, who will recognize their dress, manners, etc. as belonging to the Shory, which could easily lead to adventure opportunities as they learn about the what has happened to the other Shory cities, and then go looking for them to find away to return their culture to greatness.


Absalom is the center of trade, so it's probably not unusual for them to see Mwangi people. Remember, even in the medieval times and renaissance times, civilizations were more connected to each other than people realized. Especially when it came to those from the Middle East and North Africa. It wasn't unusual for coastal cities to have foreign merchants from other countries. I'm actually watching Borgia (not to be confused with The Borgias) and they do talk about things such as a Moor invasion of Spain and the Silk Road. And that's in a world without magic. So I'd imagine that the average Absalomite wouldn't bat an eye at the sight of a Mwangi.

Now, the Shory probably have a different culture and clothing, so I'd imagine that would draw some eyes, even from fellow Mwangi and Garundi.

As for the Mythic Power, there's more about that in Mythic Realms.


I'm necro-ing this, since it seems I have players interested in the campaign. Time to start getting to work! I think I'm going to try to craft this as a high-level (5-20, MR 10) adventure path, taking as many notes as possible for my own sake.

Anyway, I went back over mythic realms; unfortunately, there is SOOO little on the protector. The few things I was able to bring out are:

1) It's the "essence" of the creature trapped in a gem.
2) It is VERY powerful (though I have no reason to stat it, it would probably be akin to a CR 20-30 creature at least. Maybe weaker than a Tarrasque (to explain the destruction of another city?)?
3) The sky masters refuse to release it out of pride.

I'm trying to decide what would be best, though I have a few ideas. It will be the source of their power, so I feel like having a clear idea beforehand in case someone takes "commune with power" and decides to play 20 questions.

1) A powerful (near demigod) outsider bound to protect the city. I would give it an "air" theme (to go with the flying city) so maybe a powerful mythic air elemental?

2) A techno-magic construct. This could fit with the shory "aestetic"; the diamond containing the protector's "essence" could be holding it's mind, with the nine-faceted citadel as some sort of transformer.

Any other cool ideas to be had?

As for the "going to Absalom" thing, I thank the others for the answers. It wont be too hard for them as long as someone has "comprehend languages", since they will be speaking mainly a "dead" language between themselves.

I'm also working on the general direction of the game. First few sessions will be very railroady (they will be serving in the military of their city) but it will open up tremendously the moment they gain mythic power. I was thinking of

The main "drive" of the game will be to "gain power" so that they may defeat the cities enemies. If they stop striving fore MORE power, they loose their mythic powers.

I also intend to work the theme of dreams into the game; it's a big aspect of the denizens of leng, and I think it will be the main method of communication between the "protector" and the players.

I think this could be sweet. I've got a good basis going, now I just need a vague framework (and maybe more golarion sourcebooks). Maybe some APs might give useful info also?

Hey, and if I can attract the attention of one of the original contributors, that would be awesome! I've seen it happen several times before.


Cool stuff! I remember a similar thread some time ago--also started by you?
If so, I might repeat myself, but there is some mentioning in Lost Cities of Golarion about the city of Kho.

I do like option 2) a lot!

Ruyan.


Yeah, this is my third thread on the subject; there are never many responses...

Well, one vote for "techno-magic construct". I feel like this might tie in best with the notion that the protector has some preturnatural knowledge of what happens in the city (like he is hooked up to old decaying security systems). Gotta think about this.


I actually like 1 the best. Perhaps the elemental has grown corrupt from the Leng influence in the city.


Also. I'm trying to imagine what happened to the Old-Mage Jatembe. He would be one of the few legendary figures known both by the shory & the outside world. A few options:

1) Dead: this is quite possible. He is immortal though (and not through mythic power), so I would not count that as a main thing.

2) Fullfilling obligations: no one knows the true source of Jatembe's mythic power, so it might now have him on another plane. Could he be worth rescuing for the players? Maybe.

3) Trapped by accident: he could be imprisoned, left barely alive, or somehow isolated on another plane/planet /isolated area.


Odraude wrote:
I actually like 1 the best. Perhaps the elemental has grown corrupt from the Leng influence in the city.

I want to avoid it being corrupt. Powerless, maybe, but not corrupt. This has to do with avoiding the "our beneractor is actually evil" trope. It's so easy to screw up, and I dont want to foster distrust of my NPCs. We've already got the overly-prideful leaders of the shory to deal with. Still, thanks for the input.

Project Manager

williamoak wrote:
Any other notes? The info on the Shory people is pretty sparce, for good reason.

There's an article on the Shory coming up in PF #85.


Jessica Price wrote:
williamoak wrote:
Any other notes? The info on the Shory people is pretty sparce, for good reason.
There's an article on the Shory coming up in PF #85.

Why does everything I'm interested in go back to iron gods? Oh gosh... I would totally buy it when it came out if not for the fact that it's themes make me want to play it sooo much... sad.

Curse you paizo for making such awe-inspiring products! :P

Liberty's Edge

williamoak wrote:
Jessica Price wrote:
williamoak wrote:
Any other notes? The info on the Shory people is pretty sparce, for good reason.
There's an article on the Shory coming up in PF #85.

Why does everything I'm interested in go back to iron gods? Oh gosh... I would totally buy it when it came out if not for the fact that it's themes make me want to play it sooo much... sad.

Curse you paizo for making such awe-inspiring products! :P

You can always buy it and not read the adventure...there's a fair bit of other stuff in there, after all.


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Actually the shory information comes from one of the mummy's mask adventures.

This one I believe.

Project Manager

D'oh, yes, #83, not #85. Mummy's Mask 5 of 6. Cannot type today.


bump


I do not know if this will help you or not but ... From 3.5 J3 the crucible of chaos is the investigation of one of the air cities. It will not really help you run a retro adventure but it will give you some insight as to how their cities were constructed and controlled. I do know that they used the ability to read wind as a means to tell the future and controlled wind to help steer . Their magic as it were is described as being magical electric in nature. I cannot give you and ref as I have been at this all week and had to piece bits and pieces from over a thousand threads across the internet . Hope that helps .. Even if it does not crucible is an interesting read and might give you ideas and it does have maps .

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