Date: Sun, 20 Nov 1994 03:01:59 -0500 (EST) From: Insomnia Subject: Armeria Part 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following is a watered down, non-spiced-up history of the world Armeria, part one. This was not written to be entertaining, just to tell the story, so don't expect a novel. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the beginning, there were two races, elves and Humans. The gods decreed that this planet will be a reace of eternal, peaceful poeple, but the gift of eternity should not be given out without cost, so a quest was given to the inhabitants... Only a pure, exact mix of Elf and Human (the mystical race known as the Elmen) would have these traits. The Elves were placed On the East Ocean, while the Humans were placed on the West cost. They were to venture many months to meet high in the mountains at a place called The Birthright. Both the Elves and the Humans were placed on the world with nothing except a sense of how to get to the location, and vague knowledge of the fact that they were to interbreed with another race to create a race infinitely superior to all of the natural creatures inhabiting the area. Nine male and nine females of each race were created, and the quest began. Both groups persued their quest tirelessly, taking many casualties along the way, but finally, 18 months later, two male elves, three female elves, three human females and four human males arrived at the meeting point. Viewing each other, they were entrapped by the awe of what they had accomplished, but their thoughts were not as planned. The elves looked at these humans, and were utterly repulsed. These humans were large oafs, who had obviously not put bathing as a high priority. The humans looked over at people that seemed to them nothing more than skeletons with pointed ears. No one could believe that the entire driving force of the just-completed quest involved interbreeding with THEM. Each group turned and left in disgust, intent on having their children with the companions they had grown to love in their just-completed journey. Except two. A lone male Human, Asi Hassy, still stood on the mountain that was The Birthright, facing a lone Elven Female, Rhoda Armerio. They held each others gaze exclusively, and the magic of love drew them together. The other groups were, of course happy, and survived apart for generations, however, the gene-pool was not exactly rich, and in the course of the expansion of both groups, many genetic mutations occurred. New raced developed, as did genetic outcasts, the goblinoids. The two groups had unknowingly settled on the same flatland, surrounded by a ring of massive mountains. As generations passed, the many races re-united and, all the time telling the tale of the failure to populate the world with Elmen, were very tollerant of each other. Humans and elves became very close, but the genes were impure, and no Elmen were ever born. The cast out goblinoids were always a threat to the lone traveler, and even occasionally to a merchant wagon, but no one expected the attack.... It seemed the entire world's population of goblinoids-- Orcs, goblins, degenerates of all types -- had banded together, as the large population of races began to be wiped out community by community by an enemy FORCE of goblinoids led by an Orc named Bander. The demi-humans had not seen anything like these attacks, they had weapons and primitive armor that they used to defend against the goblinoid raiding parties, but were no match for the organized masses of degenerate horror that threatened their extinction. Fortunately there was one man. A Half-Elf named Zathar Armerio who had arrived from the mountains shortly after the attacks began. He had the power to lead, the power to give merchants the courage to fight, give masons the courage to die, and turn peasants to soldiers. the people -- Elf, Dwarf, Gnome, and Human alike -- rallied behind this great leader and fought off the goblinoid forces. The battle raged for decades, as the goblins' bitterness for their treatment ran deep, and the humans could never pin down any of the well-organized forces. Finally, in a historic feat of strategy, Zathar's main advisor, Igzaad Crossbow, helped the demi-human forces corner Bander and his forces at a cliff overlooking the ocean. The battle was long and bloody. It lasted for days, but finally, there was a loud cry as Zathar's longsword finally pierced Bander through the heart. The goblinoids saw their mighty leader fall dead, and could no longer keep up the obviously hopeless battle. Not all of the goblinoid's troops were so easilly defeated, Bander's eldest sun, Klevke, watched his father die. He knew that if they won this battle, HE would inherit Bander's position. Klevke was not brilliant, but he saw what an effect Bander's Death had on his troops, so he made his way to the spot where his father had fallen, and Zathar was still kneeling in pure fatigue. The remaining humans around Zathar were no match for Klevke's second wind, and fell easily. he wasted no time in thrusting his short-sword into Zathar's back. The great leader fell. But Klevke had misjudged the outcome of his actions. the demi-humans felt the anger of their beloved leader's death well up in them, and in less than an hour, the goblinoids were scattering into the mountains in defeat. Generations passed, and tension between the goblinoids and demi-humans was high, and many deaths occurred, but never was there a war to match the War of the Races. --------------------------- The Good Stuff --------------------------- New Race - Elmen. Elmen are Perfect Half-Elves. They are an exact half-breed of Elf and Human. They are exactly like Half Elves, except must have a 14 or higher intelligence and wisdom, and gain a +1 to appearance, and uniquly, can become paladins, as humans. They also never age past mature-adult (ie-30 in human years). They have a slightly more passive attitude toward life and have a continuous desire to learn. It is also said that; never can there be more than two Elmen in one place... the legend seems to be true so far. New Class- Sage. A sage is a subclass of wizard. They gain spells at one-fifth their normal level, as they don't truly study magic, they study everything, and in doing so gain an occasional spell. However, when a sage does cast a spell, any die rolls for it's effect are rolled twice, and the sage's player may choose which determines the result. Sages gain levels as specialist wizards. They start with no weapon proficiencies, and gain one every nine levels (first at ninth...). They start with 6 non-weapon proficiencies plus double the normal intelligence bonus (#lang), and gain one proficiency slot PER LEVEL. This is the sage's main benefit. They also gain a +2 to all intelligence or willpower checks that involve knowledge or reasoning, IF they are not in a rush. They receive no bonus if in a hurry. Sages can learn language, read/write, history, or lore proficiencies at a 2 for one advantage. They, however must pay double slots for a skill that is not in the Wizard or General group, and receive an additional one-slot (60/60 slots) penalty to learn any physical skill (one based on Strength or Coordination). NPCs - all ability scores are on a 3d6 (3-18) scale w/ racial modifyers. Zathar Armerio --- Fourth level Elmen (Half-Elven) Paladin Strength : 18(76)| Zathar Armerio was the first (and only for Coordination : 18 | quite a while) Elmen. He was the sun of Endurance : 18 | Asi Hassy and Rhoda Armerio. He was the Intelligence : 18 | symbol of genetic and social purity, and Willpower : 18 | was gifted beyond any mortal at birth. Leadership : 18 | ---------------------- | Appearance : 21 | ------------------------/ <> Bander --- Sixth level Orcish Fighter Strength : 12 | Bander was born to a human mother and father, Coordination : 13 | but was deformed to the point of being an Orc. Endurance : 19 | He was abandoned by his parents, but found by Intelligence : 15 | a group of Hobgoblins, and raised as a servant. Willpower : 14 | He obviously outgrew this role, and devoted his Leadership : 18 | life to gain vengance on the entire humanoid ---------------------- | population. Which he almost almost achieved. Appearance : 10 | ------------------------/ Igzaad Crossbow --- 6th level Human Sage Strength : 8 | Unbeknownst to any who still lived at this time Coordination : 17 | Igzaad was one of the original humans who Endurance : 9 | were quested to meet with the elves at the Intelligence : 19 | Birthright. He discovered a fountain which, Willpower : 13 | once he drank from it, caused him to never succumb Leadership : 9 | to death from old age, although he aged ---------------------- | normally, he would never get past being just Appearance : 9 | "old". He was always interested in understanding ------------------------/ how things work, and spent a great deal of time trying to figure out the workings of the fountain. He was a master strategist, and a great problem solver, but after the War of the Races, he retreated to analyze his new discovery that came to be called magic. Klevke --- fourth level Orcish Fighter Strength : 13 | Klevke was an orcish simpleton. He was Coordination : 11 | second in command of the goblinoid armies Endurance : 17 | only because of his parentage, as son of Intelligence : 12 | Bander, he held a high rank. Klevke was the Willpower : 9 | highest-up Goblinoid to survive the War of the Leadership : 16 | Races. ---------------------- | Appearance : 11 | ------------------------/ --------------------------- Thassit 4 now -------------------------------- Hope you liked it, but if you didn't, fear not, it gets much better. Constructive criticism welcome. --Insomnia-- --Sleep is for the weak!--