The first Scholar to be discovered was the Necromancer. His works were hard to ignore, as the undead he mistakenly raised thinking he was helping the peoples of Fort Ooshar and Sheljar broke the empire. That built a distrust for newly released magic.
Sheljar, Telse, Mira, Qin and the other cities near the Everflow and its two rivers.
This is likely why Chorl attempted to hide. Not only was his work in Transformation often done involuntarily, Chorl wanted to conquer. His goal was to fill the gaps from the Fall of Sheljar, taking over the Western Wildes via his hybrid peoples. For Chorl, in all his evils, was creating new peoples, a combination of humanity and their companions.
Some chose to be combined, these peoples frequently became his lieutenants and sergeants. Many fled. The breaking of his camps and the deaths of Chorl and his Student Anderson created an opportunity to escape.
Now, the Children of Chorl exist in mixed pockets of freedom almost always outside of the major towns and cities. They may want vengeance hating Scholars and magic; they may want freedom; they may want to be respected. They are all hybrids in the World of the Everflow.
Mechanics for the Children of Chorl
To play a Child of Chorl in the World of the Everflow select a hybrid species/race. There’s a long list of them available in DnD Beyond now, thanks to Wizards of the Coast adding the Humblewood setting.
Though none of the core species for 2014 or 2024 D&D are Children of Chorl the current list from official products includes;
Then select a feat or bonded companion. Though all Children of Chorl were a goliath, halfling or human combined with a bonded companion, that doesn’t mean that they didn’t have more than one companion.
Decide what the character was before they were melded. They should generally be someone from the West. They can be someone who volunteered or not, that’s up to you.
Their background and class represent what they were before. How they present to the world now is similar to the X-Men.
In the World of the Everflow all dragons have hoards. At this point of Uprising and Rebellion the group has met those that hoard books (paper dragons), jewels and fine art (jaculus), animal companions (black dragons) and strife (blue dragons).
Heading towards the final faceoff with the great wyrm blue dragon there’s a desire to connect the size of the hoard in that Wyrm’s sphere of influence to its power – subsequently allowing actions by the players to reduce the hoard.
This will be done by combining the Legendary Resistance and Legendary Action pools. Legendary Resistance will still be a use and lose item while Legendary Actions will be regained at the start of the dragon’s next turn. A pool of physical objects will symbolize the size of the pool. This will represent the intelligence the group learns about the Wyrm.
The Wyrm watches the d20 rolls
The Blue Wyrm currently resides in the mayor’s palace, having thrived off the strife caused by the rebellion and the Mayor’s corruption. But the heroes have shown that their rebellion is built on hope, a less stratified society and a city capable of trade again. Now just three dragons stand in the way of freedom, possibly.
Things the characters could do to reduce strife;
Healing, feeding Kirtin-on-the-Lake’s residents
Freeing animal companions bound to Shadow and Darkness, the two black dragons
Increasing trade of desired goods within the war torn city
Establishing a popular governance path after the Mayor’s abdication
Reducing the size of the 7th Fleet encampment outside of the city
Teaching utility cantrips
I’m certain the party will surprise me with other ideas.
Things that can increase strife;
War with the 7th Fleet
Teaching more attack cantrips
The Mayor reclaiming the seat of government
Open battle in the streets
They will again surprise me with ideas that create a less peaceful city.
The Wyrm is going to start with five legendary points in the penultimate session for this story arc. The session will be split between the plan to pick the territory of battle (palace, tunnel, cave) and preparations that could include reducing the Wyrm’s power.
This tweak to the standard rules should connect a social session to the grand combat ending the Wyrm’s arc.
The timeline of the World of the Everflow is getting harder for me to track. There have been six campaigns with some overlap in both reality and at the table. In order for me to keep better track of events and so that the players and their characters have a better idea of events in the past prior to the campaign I started to build a timeline.
The desire is that these are basically small phrases containing history, not a book of common knowledge to study. I’ll be adding to this as the players remind me of events, create things from their own history or ask questions.
Red Oak burns, allowing red dragons to be born; Uprising & Rebellion 1; 7th Fleet of Daoud encamps to the south of Kirtin-on-the-Lake
Five years ago
Dragons and the Ken fly to Kirtin-on-the-Lake; Sheljar is freed from Necromancy and the Tunneling Nightmares; some Scholars (Diviner, Necromancer) are made public; Kin can learn magic
Six years ago
Goblin Queen’s Fleet lands near Sheljar; Discovery of the Lorebook of Divination; Children of Chorl created; Eruption of Dakan Thaeeb; Lorebook Hunters start their search
Twenty-seven years ago
Sheljar falls to the Necromancer
Twenty-eight years ago
Born Generation
Seventy years ago
Crinth Confederation re-structures to stop expansion of Azsel
One hundred and twenty-two years ago
Kirtin loses Kirtin-on-the-Lake again
Two hundred and twenty-four years ago
Kirtin retakes Kirtin-on-the-Lake
Four hundred and sixty-four years ago
Daoud takes Kirtin-on-the-Lake
Seventeen hundred years ago
Az and Sel establish the Bond, rising to godhood; other bondings besides dogs are discovered; the Goliath nation of Galinor disappears
Two thousand years ago
Church of Quar controls the Everflow and the Font of Two paths, becoming a continent wide faith; Mehmd closes off the empire with foreigners only allowed at Gate
Millenia ago
Quar and the gods create Habergeon, the Everflow and separate the Lands of the Six Kingdoms from the world of magic
Queen’s Fleet continues to expand presence in Kirtin-on-the-Lake; various factions may lead to infighting; what are these stunning and dirty technologies?
Kirtin-on-the-Lake | Neremyn Quizana
Lately you’ve seen, heard, or smelled the newest additions to Kirtin-on-the-Lake. During this stalemate between Daoud and the Dragons and Kirtin traders from the Free City of Sheljar have entered the city. Some land on the lake with ships under great balloons filled with oily gasses; others enter with the rackety-clackety of wooden gears on various cycles of one, two, and even four wheels — like a cart without a horse.
These goblins (we shall use this word for all of them whether merely the size of halflings or the masses of muscle as large as goliaths) are organized differently than any of the Five Kingdoms of the Everflow. Most similar to the guild-houses of Qin, the Kon organize into at least six guilds that are based in familial relationship and what they call ‘teknical’ skills.
Through numerous conversations we have learned that these are their guilds active in the Western Wildes. Not all have been seen in Kirtin-on-the-Lake yet. According to our sources all are present in Sheljar and the towns under the Free City’s sway — Fort Ooshar, Mira, Telse, Bell-an-Fair, Hagtown, and possibly The Ferments.
A new peoples to the Western Wildes, these snapshots should help the fair people of Kirtin-on-the-Lake understand the goblins and their bizarre systems that ignore the shared bonds of people with animal or the potent magicks of the Dragons and their allies.
Most noticed on the streets of Kirtin-on-the-Lake due to their loud clanking cycles, the Clockwerks League is currently the most powerful of the various goblins. The Queen herself is a member, having won many flags prior to ascending to the throne.
Besides the cycles, the Clockwerks include clocks, timers, repeating crossbows, giant powerwheels similar to a waterwheel that uses their mulgobs rather than water. There is word that they will open a new grain mill took.
Ratxets Guild
Conflicting reports say that the Ratxets Guild are a spinoff from the League or something entirely new. They make wonderful climbing devices and on many days you can find a demonstration down by Theater. The ability to use their rope and ratxet to climb the side of Rock is amazing. When this author used the device it made the journey up Rock pleasant rather than the long chore that the stairway can be.
Rumor is that the Ratxet may install a gondola from the Rock that connects several districts by massive sky-ropes.
Coils of strong metal come off of smiths that burn hotter than ours. Without the tartek maybe the Springwerks Union couldn’t exist. This symbiotic relationship betwixt the guilds is routine. They compete harshly for recognition from the Queen and yet their greatest werks are interconnected and use tekniques of others.
Their crossbows are a bit lighter. A siege engine powered by a Springwerk may be able to fell a Dragon. The energy trapped within the springs is grand. It may take days for the muls and hobs to get the springs set, but once they are the power can slowly release or go all at once.
A good little friendly goblin introduced me to how the Alliance works. Our waterwheels are what they used a life of lifes ago. Now using either water or something called pneumatics the Alliance is two former competitors joined. Anything that flows can be trapped, contained, and utilized.
If you’ve been to Haystreet after DragonTree you’ll have seen the inn there with running water! There is an attached bath with a dryer!
Why do so many goblins stink of their tartek when the Alliance allows such great cleanliness? I know after a day at print (our newsletter has bids out to the League and Guild for help reducing prices for you our fair reader) I will use that bath of warm water.
At Carnival you’ve seen the Sparklers. They contain joy in their little packets. The Sisterhood is a group that takes that type of energy and applies it to more than just entertainment. The Alchems are busy foraging the rocks, vegetation, and even animal waste of our lands to find new ways to create violence. Their inventions are on par with many of the magicks of Dragons, in a way that can be taught and handed over.
This Sisterhood will not share their methods of creation. They make the Sparklers look like a newspaper since the Alchms refuse to be public in how they operate.
Also, they hate the Tarteks Federation. Supposedly these groups could be the unified, there’s some sort of familial break that has nothing to do with the teknology used.
You know the smell by know. Using their tar-trees the goblins have changed the air and water in Kirtin-on-the-Lake, maybe forever. They burn this sticky oil and create self-powered cycles, no pedaling needed. Like the Sisterhood, The Federation are reclusive.
This lack of information seems to be how the gobs keep their strength and respect. A combination of Tartek and Airxip work is what enabled the gobkon to cross the Teeth of Sheljar and, as they claim, return to their lands.
Those massive ships travel the air, floating above the rapids of rivers, the mountain passes, the brigands and bandits. Their ‘airxips’ are barely related to Daoud’s large galleons. Some of the airxips cannot even land in the waters of Kin! They must have towers or long rope ladders to interact with the grounds below.
Bladders may be filled with the works of Alchems, Tarteks, or even Airmatics. Each insists their techniques are best. This author does not know which is best. The xips and gliders of the Syndicate enable travel and connection to communities in ways that our horses cannot. Sheljar’s connection to Hagtown shouldn’t be possible. It is just uphill from us, but due to regular visits from the Syndicate it maintains a relationship to the Free City rather than Kirtin or Daoud as it was in the past.
These transports are stunning, if slow. I have booked a ride to go to Kirtin-in-the-Sky for the summer as my first test of what the Syndicate can do. Hopefully the stalemate between rebel, Daoud, Kirtin, and the Dragons will hold until after my report.
Additional reporting was provided by allies and sources within Hagtown, Sheljar, and Telse. Those sources will not be revealed.
Animal Companions, or Bonded Companions, or a key element of life in Kin. The Kin are the people of friendship, loyalty of loving those around them. This extends towards their non-humanoid companions as well. Where an elf might group in a land where spells are used to do mundane things, in Kin when a goliath needs a bit of string to finish sewing they send their swallow off to do it, or their heron to fish. Halflings have dogs that pull, push, fetch, hunt, fish, carry, and many other tasks. Human bonds with goats, rams, dogs, birds and horses are quite common. Bonds of Kin are a very essence of life. Almost everyone has one.
This ruleset needs to do a few things.
Scale like cantrips, attacks and proficiency. The companion is expected to live alongside their friend for some time.
Build in a reason that having a Bond die is bad for the PC
Not destroy the action economy
As a bonus, can it be simplified for usage in gaming outside the World of Everflow?
Feat: Bonded Companion
Prerequisite: Wisdom of 13 or higher. Kin and Rangers ignore this prerequisite. This feat can be taken more than once.
You have an intense bond with a beast. These beasts cannot have a higher Intelligence than the character. In certain worlds the bonded companion can be a monstrosity. At this point I considered just granting access to the Bonded Companion system in a similar manner as to how Magic Initiate works, but instead built it within the Feat. The rule could be built by making Bonded Companion a Class Feature and Feat, but I digress. Taking the feat gives you Companion Points. You also gain companion points in the following manners;
Rangers at 1st, 3rd, 5th, 11th, and 17th levels
Druids at 1st and 5th level.
Clerics with the Nature domain at 1st level.
Your Wisdom modifier
Those points can be spent on a single companion or multiple companions. A character can bond with a number of Companions equal to their Wisdom modifier +1 (minimum 1). Each new companion takes a number of weeks to establish a bond as their cost in companion points. This can be done as downtime, or could be a solo adventure. A character may only spend new points when they take the feat or if they are a Ranger or Druid at their higher levels that earn Companion Points.
The following chart lists various Companions and their Companion Point cost.
One
Two
Three
Five
Seven
Ten
Herd dog
Sled Dog
Warhound *
Giant Eagle *&
Rhino &
Mammoth *&
Retriever
Mastiff *
Axebeak *&
Bison
Elephant *
Wyvern *&
Terrier
Bloodound
Ostrich &
Bear *&
Dire Wolf *&
Roc *&
Sentry Dog
Guard dog *
Elk &
Lion *&
Owlbear *&
Sprinter
Raven
Panther *&
Worg *&
Griffon *&
Heron
Eagle *&
Bear Cub *&
Hippogriff *&
Pegasus *&
Pigeon
Falcon *
Wolf *&
Peryton *&
Sparrow
Parrot
Tiger *&
Awakened Tree &
Pony/Mule
Draft Horse
Warhorse *
Fox
Riding Horse
Ape &
Goat/Sheep
Monkey
Awakened Shrub &
Cow
Legend: The ‘&’ is used to indicate an animal companion that can only be paired with a Ranger, Druid or Nature Cleric. They are normally wild. The ‘*’ is used to indicate animals that can enter combat on command.
“Postduif” – Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
As a Bonus Action the Bonder can command their animal. These commands are Attack, Dash, Disengage, Dodge, or Help. An animal without a * can only attack if the Bonder passes a Wisdom (Animal Handling) DC: 20 check. The Companion will continue that action until the combat is complete or another Bonus Action is used (ie they will Attack the directed target until that target is no longer participating in the combat). Some Companions have other actions that can be taken (A Retriever can Fetch as an action). Check with your DM for these other actions.
When separated a Bonder and Companion that are on the same plane know the direction and rough travel time between them.
If someone tries to control a Companion it is an opposed Animal Handling check for the Bonder and whatever skill or spell is appropriate for the attempt to control the Companion. The duration of the control is per the appropriate spell or skill.
If a Companion dies the Bonder takes half their Companion’s hit points in psychic damage. If they make a Wisdom save (DC: 15) they then take one quarter of their Companion’s hit points in psychic damage.
Variant Rule in Kin: At first level and below halflings usually bond with canines and goliaths usually bond with avians. All Kin start with an additional Companion Point.
Within the World of the Everflow every thinking peoples from the Land of Kin bonds with an animal. The most common of these are dogs (especially among halflings), birds (especially among goliaths), and horses (especially among humans). These beasts are family, inseparable companion, and essentially an extension of that person. They share personality and aid each other throughout their shared lives.
This intimate companionship started after magic left the world. Now, the norm, bonding started with Az, his dog Sel, and a three-hole pipe. Together they created more and more and more and more and more bondings. Eventually this drove Az mad, for the thoughts of 100s of beasts were in his head. What was to be a blessing from one of the gods, turned into a curse for young Az. As he aged, the nation of Azsel formed around Az and Sel. Their whistle becoming the symbol of the nation, it was once under guard as a holy relic. Over the millennia the whistle disappeared. The power of bondings spread beyond what the Whistle started. Companionship is now so common that few consider it magical.
Many also think legend of Az and Sel is merely a story, not real. But the Whistle of Az and Sel is in fact real, and dangerous, for the curse will drive you as mad. If any have found the Whistle in the current era they are not making that discovery public.
When playing the Whistle of Az and Sel the user can cast the following spells at will, without expending a charge and as a bonus action. These require no spell components nor concentration if that is normally required.
Animal Friendship
Beast Bond
Speak with Animals
Animal Messenger
Locate Animals
Summon Beast
Conjure Animals
Dominate Beast
Commune with Nature
Druid Grove
This power comes with a cost. That cost varies by user.
When one attunes with the Whistle of Az and Sel they experience two minor and one major detrimental properties. They also suffer from one long-term madness upon attuning and indefinite madness for as long as they are attuned (see DMG page 260). This cursed item requires a quest from a god or powerful magic to be unattuned.
The Font of Two Paths, the Two-Headed Spring, Pool of Life, Lake of Wonder — the Everflow. This supernatural gift from Quar is the result of the last action of gods who turned their backs on Kin. The Lake of Wonder has two exits, a thing that shouldn’t ever, ever happen when making maps. This wasn’t because of Quar, but instead due to the people who wanted to spread these waters as far as possible. The Font of Two Paths is as much a study of Quar as it is of the ingenuity of his church.
Telse and its immediate surroundings. Map developed using the beta of Hex All Things by Fantastic Maps
In the land of Kin the time of creation of the Everflow started one of the popular calendars. This day is known, only due to the Church of Quar (in actuality it is the date when the first Bishop took the Church from religion to merchant guild and non-national power).
The modern era, 21-26 Post Awakening (PA), the Everflow has a few mechanical benefits. This is true in a world where common magic is merely cantrips and the kinship between beasts. A vial of Everflow, attainable in many markets in Telse and through the rest of Kin only at the Church of Quar, works as three uses of a Potion of Healing. In this world it takes only a Bonus Action to consume a use. Taking all three at once is an Action, and also removes a level of Exhaustion. Again, magic is quite rare, so this healing power has created the potency and power of the Church, which profits off of controlling the Source.
Make up new items or stat up those from myth, describe places where lost items can be found or quests set by the gods for those who wish to “borrow” item for an important task, what artifacts would your campaign villain seek? What is the craftsman of the gods working on?
When the Western Wildes were controlled by the Empire of Sheljar the Church’s influence was so strong that Telse remained a mostly-independent city, though the defenses of Telse and Upper Telse were provided by Sheljar as the mighty empire controlled all lands around the lake town.
This power dynamic shifted at the Fall of Sheljar. As the Necromancer took power in the bog city the other cities in the west earned their freedoms, for the most part.
Telse, Mira, Qin and the other cities near the Everflow and its two rivers.
Sheljar then sat empty as people fled the Tunneling Nightmares and the Night Peoples.
Mira is a port city in the north, with some influence over Fort Ooshar.
Qin is the city of guilds in the south.
The Ferments are a region of hot springs, alcohol, homesteads, and vibrant independence.
Bell’an’aur is the community of mines and glass blowing.
But Telse and Upper Telse remain influential. Bishop Ollium maintains power through the wealth of the church — both in the masses of gold and the healing powers of the Everflow. His church-shops are scattered in all kingdoms (Crinth, Azsel, Kirtin, Daoud, and even Mehmd in the dry east). Though smaller than Qin and Mira, Telse’s gift from the gods, an everflowing fountain of healing water that fills a lake with large locks controlling outflow towards both Mira and Qin.
This gift changed the world. Due to the corruption inherent in the People of Love (humans, halflings, goliaths — the Kin) a gift of healing created a church more powerful than nations, able to control who lives and dies, able to topple dynasties.
In times legendary, Quar expected his gift to be a lasting connection created through generous health, as the Font never runs dry everyone would benefit. The flawed god of life did not expect the flaws of man to control this ability.
Other worlds may have mighty boons from the divine that shake the land, or summon kaiju, or protect cities. In the World of the Everflow the minor gift of healing created a non-national empire, a form of currency, and a town that now has a large refugee populace fleeing the Fall of Sheljar or the cursed magicks now entering the Western Wildes — and dragons.
No matter how large or small an artifact of the gods is it will change your world. The Waters of the Everflow did so much more than a god intended.
It comes with just a single question. What if? What if I started a new blog? What if we talked about fantasy fiction? What if the stories told coincided with a role-playing game? What if I set myself back two decades and cracked open Dungeons & Dragons again?
Every storyteller needs their tools – a good mug, a notebook (or netbook), a satchel for tokens and memories and a block of cheese maybe some sausage, and a trusty sword.
What if the themes were strong adult subject matter that made for gritty tales of life, death and heroism? What if magic was real? And the gods could talk, but then they stopped?
What if the continents were small, the peoples plentiful and not all human? What if humans didn’t believe in magic because it had disappeared in the only continent they know? How about making it so they are defined more by their cultures than by their phenotype?
Have they stopped believing in themselves, in their gods? Do they see good and evil? How?
Is there slavery? Why? Is there nobility? Can someone be both?
These questions and the cascade of answers start to form more questions. It’s a nearly infinite series of responses. World building, particularly the creation of a world that breathes, is hard. Crafting a world-space that can withstand episodic gaming is harder.
Take chunks at a time. That’s what Full Moon Storytelling will be. Small chunks of content for use in a campaign setting, built around a custom set of rules adapted from 5th edition D&D, but with accompanying tales. If the setting says “The Necromancer is just someone trying to be good” there will be a story that explains how that happened.
As The Worthing Saga took a novella and broke out portions into branch stories, Full Moon Storytelling takes a campaign setting, rule set and crafts micro-fiction, short stories, plotless narrations and episodic adventures within the World of the Everflow.
Maybe that’s where we start, not with a character, but with a story about a fountain that flows from a cliff and diverts along two paths – the Font of Two Paths, the Two-Headed Spring, Pool of Life, Lake of Wonder. The Everflow influences the western peninsula of Kin, is clearly unnatural and …
This is Full Moon Storytelling. It’s a way to share writing, writing process and to think aloud, while words spring forth from tiny digits. Things will happen live, in front of you. Process will be as important as output. Creation is play. Come, join me at this fire under a full moon with clear sky as we look up through trees staring towards the open world of wonder, knowing that behind those trees at your back is whatever reality you can imagine.
I’ve had the great pleasure of playing with the alpha test of Fantastic Maps#HexAllTheThings. If you want to break the tool sign up here. The first thing I did to break it was make a larger than expected map of the Western Wildes, or those cities and towns that are primarily influenced by The Everflow.
Telse, Mira, Qin and the other cities near the Everflow and its two rivers.
This image doesn’t include the Fog of War functions, nor the ability to see descriptions as part of the labels as the web version does. Thankfully for me, the region is temperate and mostly green trees. So the earliest of releases looks like what I want the area to look like.
You can see the North River and South River coming out from the Font of Two Paths. There is also the devastation at the Ruins of Sheljar. That city didn’t handle the Awakening well. Though it’s only been 21 years the influx of cantrips into this city in the swamps lead to fighting and destruction. The area has been abandoned as many of the bridges, dikes and other bulwarks were destroyed. There are also now massive waves pounding the shores of Sheljar Bay.
Those that followed the story of The Five will see the Glass Tower and the encampment where the Cult of Nak took residence. I used regional shading there to show areas that were effected by the volcano that Scholar Cortez set off. Along the road is the West Gate where Obsondites took over. There is regional shading there as well.
Mira and Qin get some attention, but since their outlying communities are not common knowledge to the people of Telse they get no labels. Three of The Five are from Telse and its environs. Shonee grew up in the town itself. Aamar spent some time in the uplands discovering his faith. Mo hails from Fort Ooshar, a former Sheljar tax collecting town that Telse now controls so that their goods can get to Mira unmolested.
Qin is defined by it’s massive harbor, the lighthouse and the Cannons of Qin. Those two towers at the mouth of the bay prevent attack from the sea. The road through the uplands is hard travel, and many will take the South River upstream on pole and paddle.
Mira has more outlying towns and towers. With it being much closer to the River Crinth it has to use more of its might to prevent invasion and refugees from the Crinth/Azsel wars. There’s also an odd peninsula that I made just to test out how the automatic shorelines worked.
These are fairly simple maps at this point. I used a scale of 24 miles across, because I wanted a moderate day of travel per hex. The scale change and actual gaming forced changes from my first hand drawn map. I’ve now started working on two other regions where other characters originate. Gate (Samul, Behn) is nearly done. The lakes along Crinth where Mansaray is from are still being developed, and may need to wait for more features.
Full Moon Storytelling 