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What is Wyrd Energy?

Posted on by robinmcentire

Lecture excerpt from “The Six Energies and their Uses for Non-channels,” by Mekreen Dronnaal, Professor, Naldrin’s First University

Wyrd Bug

Wyrd energy? Yes, it’s pronounced WEERD, Quite useful. It powers automata, makes those Wyrd devices work – brings in quite a bit of business for non-channel craftsmen – you can even find it in some of the more luxurious homes on Tamarra. I know a Zweyjen down in the Third Tier who had a Wyrd-powered bedwarmer. Poor fellow never quite got over that move up from the South.

I’m afraid I can’t tell you much about what Wyrd Energy actually IS. We know how it behaves in certain situations, yes. We know it can be used to power automata, and give them at least some semblance of… well… understanding. Responsiveness to commands, at least; it’s difficult to judge whether their obedience constitutes true understanding, although, make no mistake, that’s a matter of hot dispute in certain philosophical circles. It can be used to create items that rival Energetic artifacts in terms of power, and as an energy source in more mundane creations. But, when you gets down to it, Wyrd is, well, Wyrd.

Some of my more… adventurous colleagues have gone so far as to suggest that Wyrd is an Energy, in the same way that The Six are Energies. But our current understanding of the world points to The Six as the solid core of all creation. It is my opinion that Wyrd, like Stillness, is something else, which we do not quite understand. Perhaps it’s an energy, with a small “e.”

[…Unintelligible interjection from the crowd…]

What’s that? Oh yes, well Ms. Lap-Kep does have some…interesting beliefs about The Six. Some theorize that Wyrd is a sort of corrupted mirror Energy, opposed to Physic. Just as Physic creates a logical and consistent set of rules for our material world, Wyrd produces a set of rules that are… coherent, at least. Regular. However, these rules fly in the face of the normal Physical laws that govern our world; it creates motion where things should be still, and stillness where there should be motion. It can transfer momentum with no physical contact of objects, and increment the energy of a system by an amount greater than the amount of Wyrd applied. By all accounts, it does not jibe with The Six.

Wyrd is a very powerful energy, whether it’s spelled with a big or a small “e.” And, if its current applications are any hint as to its future potential, it’s something that we will continue to research for some time to come. Now, where was I? Ah yes, the rise of Energetic commerce in the Jowea Region. You see, it all began with the Quiets..

The Adventurous Traveler’s Guide: Hidden Treasures of Tamarra

Posted on by Technical Assistant

Lusa Lockless, Travel Editor, Tarnath Times

By Lusa Lockless, Travel Editor, Tarnath Times

City of Tarnath, Kalkix 60, SP~5,021

Tired of the same old vacations: fishing the Kellith Sea off the city of Darak, or viewing the mountain vistas from Hammon? You may not know it, but the three major cities of the Continent have unexpected treasures! I recently visited three areas that are off the beaten tourist path, and I highly recommend them to you!

Tarnath and the Sessmaryth Valley: Mysterious Remains

Tarnath, a very old city, was always small but important. Its location off the northern shores of the Bay of Perrin makes it one of the best seaports on the eastern side of the Tamarran Continent. The ancient remains of the City of Sessmaryth is perfect for exploring the mysterious remains of the infamous Emperor Samron.

There remain many mysteries dating back to Samron’s time or before.  There’s the North Gate, which served as the entrance into the City of Sessmaryth during its heyday.  Is there really a series of tunnels below the city and region, once used for travel throughout the valley?  And what is hidden beneath the hill that once held on its crown the massive Palace of the Emperor Samron?

Naldrin City: Architectural Splendor

Naldrin City was founded by both ishiri and dwarves, and is known for its architectural splendors.  The five tiers of the city were made by ishiri and dwarves. The ishiri, who love rock and stone, built along the mountain ranges; the dwarves built below it.  Over the years, there have been many altercations between ishiri and dwarves, each claiming original ownership of the territory, but they have managed to co-exist. Home to the Council of Drawnwyn, which speaks for almost all of the most powerful kingdoms and nations on the Tamarran Continent, Naldrin City is often considered the unofficial capital of the Tamarran Continent.

The Region of Jowea: Undead Zones, Spycraft, Metalwork

  • The Quiets are ruined areas, casualties of the Stillness Wars, that lie outside of Jowea.  The Quiets are areas of Stillness energy, and are controlled by undead.  This makes travel into and out of the Region of Jowea quite dangerous, and as a result the region is isolated in many ways from the rest of the continent.  However, good guides can be found both in Jowea and in some of the non-Quiet areas outside.
  • The City of Afforin is known for its political intrigue and spycraft.  In this city, politics is a game:  in fact, it is the game, and it can be a bloody one, so be careful where you venture.  The city is ruled by a single lord, who rules over four separate areas of the city (the Orchards, the Merchant District, the Villas, and the Circle), which are each ruled by their own underlord.  However, the political hierarchy goes much deeper and pervades all of the culture of the city.
  • The City of Dovvan, which is almost entirely populated by dwarves, is known for high-quality metalwork and jewelry.  The Jowen Dwarf Clan, which lives under the neighboring mountains, produces artifacts renowned for their craftsmanship and delicacy.  These crafts are a source of much of the trade flowing within and outside of the Region of Jowea.

Wherever you end up going, enjoy the places you see and the creatures you meet.  Happy adventuring!

The Tamarran Calendar

Posted on by Jacob McEntire
more fun social setting

Aktil Na Baylarassa, a martle and a traveller

“In my long travels across the Tamarran Continent I have heard many versions of our calendar. Allow me to tell the accurate account in the short message below.” — Aktil Na Baylarassa, martle and Traveller

Background

The calendar currently used on the Tamarran Continent is known as the “Time of the Sovereign Pulse,” or “SP” for short.  It was established over 2,000 years ago, in SP~2,914, by the Six Guilds Committee of the History of the World (known as the Six Guilds Committee), and has been in continuous use throughout Tamarra since that time. The current year is SP~5,017.

The term “Sovereign” in “Sovereign Pulse” refers to the early years of the current time period, the Third Era of the Fifth Age of the World, when there were a large number of political sovereignties.  This was a significant change from first few centuries of this Era, when the folk of the continent lived almost exclusively in families or tribes.  The term “Pulse” refers to the fact that the world in Beyonder obeys a rhythm, or pulse, that corresponds to the natural fluctuations (the heartbeat, if you will) of the Six Energies.  There is mention of the “pulse” in the Beyonder rhythm system that is used in our game mechanics.

The Calendar

The Sovereign Pulse calendar measures the number of years since the beginning of the Third Era.  The naming convention may look complicated, but it’s actually quite simple.  First, the letters “SP” designate the Sovereign Pulse.  Next is the delimiter “~”.  Finally, there is the year itself.  So the year of 2,017 is written as SP~2,017, and would be pronounced “S P two thousand seventeen,” or “S P twenty seventeen.”

The Months

The Six Guilds Committee also established a way to measure the days of the year and divide them into months.  There are 365.25 days in a year on Ethem, where Beyonder takes place (sound familiar?).  The Sovereign Pulse calendar has six months of sixty days each, plus a festival period at the end of the year.  Each month is named after one of the founders of the Six Guilds.  The months of the year are listed in the table below and correspond roughly to the calendar system we use in our world.

Order Month Name Number of Days Corresponding Months (roughly) Guild
1 Harmon (sa) 60 January – February Charismatics
2 Tasz (ro) 60 March – April Somans
3 Sula 60 May – June Mystics
4 Kalkix (ro) 60 July – August Mentarchs
5 Kogu (ro) 60 September – October Evokers
6 Dollano (sa) 60 November – December Umbrists

Note: The endings (‘sa’ and ‘ro’) are included in parentheses because they are used only very rarely, and only on formal occasions.

The final five (or, every four years, six) days of the year are called the Close of the Tamarran Pulse, or simply “the Close.”  For most of the Tamarran Continent, the Close is a time when all work and serious activities give way to celebrations, competitions, and a great deal of eating!  As a part of this there is a huge competition among the cities, towns, and regions of the continent to see who can throw the biggest party with the finest display of fireworks and street decorations and performances.

As noted earlier, each year on Ethem is just slightly more than 365 days, which has the result that every four years the Close of the Pulse is six days.  The celebrations on these quadrennials include a number of special events that occur at no other time, such as the Great Gate Race, a race around the entire continent via dimensional gates.

Hammool Riders of the Plains of Lochuum

Posted on by Jacob McEntire

From Glenrah, Ushen, Elder of Stories

Hammool riders are ushen who have chosen to live a life of exploration united with a hammool, one of the largest beasts on the Tamarran Continent.  These riders are virtually always ushen and the hammool they ride are wild, unlike the domesticated ones driven by many races and used for transportation over the many roads of the Continent.

To properly understand the hammool riders of the southern plains, it is first necessary to understand a little something about the southern plains themselves.The Plains of Lochuum (LOCK oo um) make up the largest expanse of open land on the southern half of Tamarra (see the map of the Tamarran Continent).  They cover an area that runs almost 700 miles west to east and 400 miles south to north, with land that stretches all the way to the Zhemshen, the Inner Sea on the south, and the Yomoros Mountains, and the Kellith Sea on the east. The Lauggash Mountains serve as their northern and western borders.

The Plains are a lush expanse of gently rolling hills, rising and falling like the waves of a deep, ancient ocean.  The lowest parts are covered in high grasses, six to ten feet tall, that come in waves of yellows, tans, and browns.  The grasses are interrupted by enormous varieties of flowers, some small and delicate and others that tower tall and flamboyant above the grasses, sometimes reaching out above even the crests of the hills themselves.  The higher rises and hills are often covered in dark green and gray grasses that lie close to the black, rich soil of the Lochuum region.  In the center of the Plains of Lochuum, running northwest to southeast, is the dramatic Long Lochuum River, which begins as a series of small streams in the eastern outreach of the Lauggash Mountains and ends its journey south of the Yomoros Mountains, where it tumbles off high cliffs and crashes into the Kellith Sea.

The ushen were the first of the Ten Races to populate the Plains of Lochuum.  The free and open space of the Plains spoke to the ushen, who value individualism and have a great love for nature. The hammool were already there when the ushen first arrived on the Plains.  Hammool are giant creatures*:  an adult is typically 20-25 feet tall  (with some as tall as 30 feet), 15-20 feet wide, and anywhere from 30 to 60 feet long.  With eight sturdy legs, they are some of the strongest creatures on Tamarra.  Although they are one of the largest and heaviest creatures on the continent, their natural affinity with Body Energy makes them one of the fastest and most graceful.

It is no surprise that the ushen and the hammool would find each other.  They are similar in temperament, having the same love of family, with strong bonds to even their most distant cousins and kin.  Both species have a love for the Lochuum lands so strong that it can, on occasion, surpass their own love of life.It is unclear when it began, but there is little doubt that the ushen have ridden hammool for millennia.  

The relationship between a hammool and its rider runs deep.  Both of these proud creatures must agree to the partnership: the hammool must select the rider, and the rider must want the hammool.  The commitment is lifelong.  We do not yet know how the hammool and the ushen communicate; the ushen won’t say, but it is believed that song is at the heart of it.

Once an ushen has found their hammool companion, the ushen’s tribe performs a ritual: in the hour before sunrise, the rider-to-be feasts, welcoming the abundance of the life and the journey that is about to begin. They demonstrate the sacrifices that may come with a fast that ends at sunrise of the following day.  At sunrise, songs and chants begin and the leader of the tribe bestows blessings, ending after several hours with a sudden silence. The ushen will then eat three leaves of the crussra, a short, spiny plant that grows only on the tops of certain hills, and walk out into the grasslands, returning the next morning on the back of their hammool companion.

For the rest of their lives the ushen and the hammool companion will roam the Plains of Lochuum.  Most will find other Hammool Riders and become a part of an existing troop of Riders, or form their own.  Their lives will consist of travel and exploration.  They will learn all that the Plains of Lochuum can teach them, from each kind of grass, flower, and root that grows on and under the Plains, to each hill and contour that gives the Plains their shape and texture, linking them to the pulse of life, and the Energies, that drive Ethem.

*See “Imbelnhi’s Bestiary: Being a Traveler’s Account of Our Continent and Her Creatures“

The Galguhn War

Posted on by robinmcentire

Another Galguhn War?

By Toodla Oblodt, City Desk, Naldrin City News

Naldrin City, Kalkix 39, SP~5,021

The Galguhn War and Northern Goblin Uprising was the single greatest threat in the last century to the continued existence of Naldrin City.  This uprising, and subsequent war, was led by the powerful Galguhn Goblin Kingdom of the Nashem Mountains.  Soon after the war began in earnest, it was joined by a number of other goblin kingdoms of the area, including the dozen or so kingdoms west of the Gaghzzen Mountains.  The goal of these united goblins was to conquer the northern half of the Tamarran Continent.  The conflict ran for thirteen long years, beginning in SP~4,975 and ending in SP~4,988, just eighteen years ago.  

Almost every resident of Naldrin City has family and/or friends who perished or were bloodied in this savage conflict.  In the final three years, much of the northern part of the Tamarran Continent worked in concert with Naldrin City’s populace to push back the legions of goblins and their allies; hateful gurv, berserk ravagers, and even some gamol who saw an opportunity to easily ensnare some souls.

It is therefore deeply disturbing to report that the goblins of the Nashem Mountains and those of the Gaghzzen Mountains, to their west, may be on the rise again.

In the 60 days of the preceding month, Sula, there were reports of as many as a dozen incidents on the portion of Naldrin Road that runs west from our fair city to the Nashem River.  This 200-mile stretch passes over rolling hills and plains, and for some miles runs along the southern borders of the Nashem Forest.  Incidents along this road are not unusual, but these attacks are more frequent than usual.  The fact that all but one occurred at night, the preferred time for these creatures who so strongly dislike the light of day, also suggests that goblins were involved.

The Naldrin News has interviewed eight folk, from four parties, who were attacked.  They are consistent in their descriptions of their attackers:  they were covered with long strips of coarse, black cloth wrapped many times around their entire body.  This effectively hid their appearance, but each interviewee has stated that the creatures’ walk was distinctly shambling and goblin-like.  The few times the attackers communicated to each other or shouted at their victims, they used the distinctive guttural, almost choking pattern and harsh tones of goblin speech.

Two incidents near Old Naldrin City may also be goblin-related.  One account is from a small party of dwarves who were in some of the more ancient parts of the Old City, ostensibly looking for areas they might repair (although a reporter suspects other reasons).  They state that they were attacked by creatures wielding traditional goblin blades, which are relatively short, with barbs along all the edges.  Their fighting style, attacking in groups of threes, was also highly reminiscent of goblins.

The other incident was an attack against a group of almost two dozen ishiri stone workers who were repairing the Temple of Loshodo, a part of the ancient city ruins that lie on the side of the Nashem Mountains.  The workers were unprepared for armed conflict and quickly withdrew, but, sadly, lost five of their own.  These ishiri workers left no doubt that their attackers were goblins, having seen them in plain view.

Two attacks so close to Naldrin City are of great concern to Lorren Matts, the current Mayor.  Matts told this newspaper that she is currently consulting with the Guild Enforcers to combat the threat.  She has also notified the Council of Drawnwyn, although their response is likely to be the usual, “We are monitoring the situation.”  We will publish their response once it has been issued, and we will keep the public informed of all developments pertaining to the potential for another uprising.

The Shem Amaum

Posted on by robinmcentire

Shem Amaum on the Rise: Council of Drawnwyn No Help

Toodla Oblodt

By Toodla Oblodt, Naldrin City News

Naldrin City, Kalkix 7, SP~5,021

The dreaded shem amaum have launched two highly visible attacks against key sites on the Tamarran Continent in the last day.  As readers will recall, the shem amaum are the savage beasts created by the Nulentians and used against Tamarra during their most recent invasion of our Continent in the years SP~4,970 – 4,974.  Physically, they stand between four and five feet in height with extremely tough, thick hide that is quite rough, like small sharp rocks packed together with matts of course, stiff hair.  According to accounts, simply running your hands lightly over the body of a shem amaum will leave you with cuts that then blister due to a thick toxic substance that covers parts of their bodies and oozes from the fissures that criss-cross their bodies.  Their tails are long and thin with barbs running along their dorsal side.  Their heads are broader at their base than their peak, with a flat noseless, and strangely smooth, face.  They have a highly keen sense of smell, but none of the experts we consulted seemed to know where that sensory apparatus was on their bodies.  Beyond doubt their oddest anatomical attribute is the ability to stretch their body out to two or more times its normal height, or length, as you perspective dictates.

One of the recent shem amaum attacks occurred yesterday, the 6th day of the month of Kalkix, pitting a force of slightly more than a dozen of these beasts against the guards and workers at Port Naldrin, less than 10 miles from the metropolitan areas east of Naldrin City.  The second, in today’s early morning hours, was an attack against the North Gate of the City of Tarnath, hundreds of miles southeast of us.

The local port master at Port Naldrin, zweyjen Deldrin Zheshallay, said the attack came from the edges of the Nashem Mountains that lie between Naldrin City and Port Naldrin.  According to him, some 12-15 shem amaum attacked the section of the port that performs repair work on large ships.  The attack occurred at mid-day, when most of the workers and guards were on their mid-day break.  When they burst out of a copse of trees near the repair docks, the shem amaum were armed with their traditional curved scimitar-like swords and long plain daggers.

According to Port Master Zheshallay, “They were beasts.  They had no mercy.  They cut through my folk like a fall harvest.”  Current count is that 26 workers were left dead, and as many as 50 wounded to various degrees.  The toll would have been much higher, but a troop of dwarven knights on leave happened to be in the area.  Within fifteen minutes they had engaged the shem amaum and driven them back into the hills.  As is typical of a battle with shem amaum, if any the hateful creatures died in the battle their bodies were taken away by their comrades.

The details of the second attack are still unfolding, as it happened only hours ago, and we’ve had only scattered reports via blink bats.  It is clear, however, that the attack came from inside the North Gate enclosure, which was built during the early days of the Emperor Samron.  The walls of the Gate are 30 feet high (in some places even higher), and can hold a guard of several hundred, although there were not nearly that many people there at the time of the attack.

We are in contact with our colleagues at the Tarnath Times and will provide more details about that attack in later editions.

Council of Drawnwyn President Kissalki Narradi, popularly known as “the wellyn with no humor”, released a statement that, “the council is seriously concerned by these recent events, and the perpetrators will be dealt with.”  The reaction from Naldrinians was, generally, disbelief and rage that the Council was oblivious to threats so close to the city.