Skylands Info Page

Collected information goes here until large enough to split off.

Firearms
History: First introduced by the dwarves several hundred years ago, these devistating weapons changed the face of the world. While before a line of archers may have been a strong factor in deciding the outcome of a battle, an equal number of dwarves armed with their curious weaponry were often the deciding factor in what battles they were involved with. The other nations and races recognized the power of such weaponry, and soon each nation was fielding it's own firearm equipped forces and scrambling for an advantage their own firearms had over the other nations...

Reloading Note: Beating the reload skill check DC by 20 or more reduces the time taken by one step (full -> standard, etc.). Rapid Reload may be applied to firearms, and certain class features may also reduce the reload time.

Pistol - Type: Martial Damage: 2d6 Crit: 19-20/x3 Range: 30 Feet Reload time: 2 Full round actions, 1 DC ? Craft (Small Arms) check Cost: 300gp Ammunition: 4 to 5sp per shot

A heavy, long-barrelled, muzzle-loading pistol favoured by military and naval officers, as well as independent sailors and captains.

Rifle - Type: Martial Damage: 2d8 Crit: 19-20/x3 Reload: 2 Full round Actions, 1 DC 12 Craft (Small Arms) check Range: 200 Feet. Cost: 600gp Ammo: 5 to 6sp per shot

A standard muzzle-loading firearm with a rifled bore. Quite accurate, but slow to reload.

Clockwerk Revolving Rifle - Type: Martial Damage: 2d8 Crit: 19-20/x3 Reload Time: Special. Range: 200 feet Cost: 1000+gp and Special.

History & Special Rules - The Clockwerk Revolving Rifle is the Sultanate's most recent attempt at accelerating the rather slow firing times for most firearms. This tri-barrelled weapon can be fired three times before it must be reloaded, and reloading involves disabling the Clockwerk mechanism that rotates the barrels (A standard action and DC 15 Craft: Small Arms check) reloading each barrel seperately (A standard action and DC 15 Craft: Small Arms check each), and re-enabling the Clockwerk mechanism (A move action and DC 10 craft small arms check). This allows for those who wield such a weapon to fire three shots extremely rapidly, but reloading is quite a time consuming process. It can be accelerated with the proper training (Feats/Class features), but is unlikely to be deemed worthwhile for the common soldier, as they lack such training, or the motivation to acquire such training. Given how potentially devistating such a weapon would be in skilled hands, only those who are absolutely trusted by the Sultanate are granted authorization to own these weapons. Rumors abound that one was stolen by a traitor, but no proof has been provided yet.

Reload order summary:
 * Disable rotator mechanism - 1 standard action, 1 DC 15 Craft (Small Arms) check
 * Reload barrels - 1 standard action per barrel, 1 DC 10 Craft (Small Arms) check per barrel
 * Reenable rotator mechanism - 1 move action, 1 DC 10 Craft (Small Arms) check

List Of Things To Know About Skylands

 * 1) Undead are using variant rules. They are not evil by default and outside of elven lands are often respected members of the community.
 * 2) Healing spells are part of the Necromancy school.
 * 3) The major nation of Elves is not a nice place to live in, even for elves.
 * 4) Wizardry is all but extinct.
 * 5) Elves are scottish. They wield the power of SCIENCE!
 * 6) There are three moons in the sky. Each is tied to a pair of magical schools, with a comet being tied to the last pair.
 * 7) Magic weather is not uncommon.
 * 8) Airships are the way to get around. Some of them use magitech engines, others are more conventional.
 * 9) "Pirates" are just non-goverment affiliated freelancers who own a combat capable ship and would be too much trouble to dispose of.
 * 10) Dwarves are Norse. Dwarves are German. They have magitech.
 * 11) If you pick a fight with the skeleton in funny robes you will die horribly, then the gods will laugh at you.
 * 12) Archmages(half social, half prestige class) are more important/better respected than great mages(level 15-20 arcanists), who are better than high mages(Level 10-15 arcansists), who trump standard sorcerers/wizards (Everyone else).
 * 13) The Grand Inquisitor is more important than the high inquisitors, who are more important than the basic inquisitor. (These are mostly RP positions.)
 * 14) No-one wants to fight the dwarves. Ever.

List of Skylands Deities
Human God: Strength, Courage, Wrath, Trickery  Claidhemhair, God of Battle and Warfare. Teaches that the only unfair advantage is one you don't have in a fight.

Travel, Moon, Healing, Death. Yasalia, Goddess of the Moon. NG. Favored weapon quarterstaff. Yasalia is technically not the Moon of Change, but a star frequently seen near the Moon of Change when it rises. They say that this is just the goddess' current shape, as she has lived many lives and been reincarnated as many things. Yasalia is the goddess of transitions, frequently prayed to in order to ease the changes from one state of life to another, or to effect a change in one's life. It is said that Yasalia helps to guide the Final Airship on its journeys.

Human God: Liberation, Undeath, Good, Death. '''Brån. Master of the Final Airship''': A cheerful, pleasant to be around, freedom fighting, large ham God of Death. Who's primary response to immortals and undead is 'Well, as long as you didn't kill anyone for it...'  His clergy haven't been around long, but are rapidly gaining in popularity. They're really creepy. Why isn't obvious at first. They want to help EVERYONE and are willing to help in any way they can. Healing? No problem! They'll do that. Assigned as a Jury? They'll be fair and just, if a little lenient on good adventurers. Warding against evil Spirits? Sure! Construction? Well, they're bad it it themselves, but they'll recommend the best people they know and send their servants over to help. Wherein lies the problem. Their servants are normally low-grade undead.

Drow Deity: Trickery, Evil, Chaos, Murder:  The Betrayer. They led the drow to victory over the elves by mass deception. They then murdered all the other Drow Deities so they could claim uncontested dominion over the drow. Current activities unknown. Current state of cult, unknown.

Elven Deity: Fate, Inquisition, Elf, Knowledge: Aeron The Lawkeeper. One of two survivors of the drow purge, he became convinced that the best way to ensure continued survival and that such a rebellion never happened again was through strict adherence to the law combined with reading the future to detect and destroy any rebellions before they form. While the majority of elves feel indebted to him and believes he saved their souls, a significant minority chafe under his his harsh restrictions and wish that any of the other elven deities survived. They are beginning to consider looking elsewhere for a deity to worship...

Domains: Elf, Good, Sun  Fisila the Light Giver: Once the greatest of the Elven deities, Fisila has lost much of her power over time to Aeron, as she did not participate in the war against the drow and the elves blame her for their loss. Her reasons for that remain a mystery. She still has some worshipers, and as the only Deity of the Sun her power will remain as long as the sun shines in the sky.

Elven Deity: Moon, Cold, Magic, Travel. Nanbi Tibalt. True Neutral. Demigod. A remnant of the elven pantheon, who hid behind strong abjurations while the proper pantheon was butchered, then escaped the drow god's notice by fleeing to the material plane. She often exists on the moons, and only appears on the planet during the rare blue moons, wandering lonely roads. She blesses and curses people who behave civilly or barbarically to each other respectively. She is most often seen wandering the deserts, when she is seen. Her favored weapon is the quarterstaff, her holy symbol is a snowflake super imposed over a moon disk.

Dwarven God: Trade, Liberation, Thievery, Air. Ari: The patron of Airship Crafters.

Dwarven Deity: Air, Protection, Dwarf, Cavern

Draconic Deity: Healing, Oracle, Trade, Protection, Dragon: Marxuthil. NG. Marxuthil was the first dragon god to escape her egg, and thus inherited the title as leader for the pantheon, and mortal dragons. Since the creator of all dragons exists outside of time and space, and thus not truly a part of the world, most non-dragons assume she created the dragons. Overseeing the exchange of materials and ideas between the various kinds of dragons, as well as producing Sanctuaries when dragons come into conflict with one another. Inside these sanctuaries, it is impossible to do violence to another, meaning unaligned parties can escape the draconic brawl, or a loser can escape their would-be murderer to recover and flee. Marxuthil's knowledge of healing is what gives the dragon genus their immunity to age and long life; and she is frequently cited with the creation of all medicinal magics. Though most don't know that it is because she is often left to treat her siblings after their brawls. Marxuthi's holy symbol is a dragon scale colored the same hue as mithral when it isn't mithral itself, and her favored weapon is the halberd. Oracle answering "How".

Draconic Deity:  Craft, Dream, Portal, Oracle:  Tomavehafor: Tomavehafor is the progenitor of the planar dragons, those that exist outside the Material Plane. He is the Adamantine Dragon, and is said to be a wandering artist, sculpting new dragons out of the very structure of the planes. Long ago, when he and his brother Duilmelkhil still got along, Tomavehafor created the first planar dragons to show Duilmelkhil a new take on mortal dragons that the other had not considered; which backfired horribly when Duilmelkhil saw it as a direct insult to his creativity. The disharmony between them escalated until coming to blows where Marxuthil had to separate the two. Tomavehafor has not created Material Dragons since, but tries to make amends with his brother regularly, prompting new struggles, and has escalated into a full war between the two. Tomavehafor's domains are Craft, Oracle, Dragon, and Dream, his favored weapon is the punching dagger, his holy symbol is a painted adamantine disk of many colors, spiraling toward a central point. Oracle answering questions of "Where".

Draconic  Deity:  Evil, Oracle, Retribution, Competition Duilmelkhil is the Godking of Material Dragons, carving the first eggs from his own hide. He created the first dragons and immediately showed their perfection to His siblings, daring them to do better. Tomvehafor, ever the rude lout, answered this by creating a dragon forged from the very bones of the Plane of Fire. So began a long series of slights, contests, and heated arguments between the two until they came to blows. The war between them was so great that Marxuthil had to separate them bodily, and Duilmelkhil banished his brother from the Material Plane, answering his tresspasses in every instance with swift violence. Duilmelkhil lives on the Material plane, and is responsible for the dragon's desire to hoard, and of their latent violent urges toward outsiders. He is comproised entirely of Starmetal, and is the source of it throughout the Material world. His oracular nature answers questions of 'When'. Holy symbol a spiked dragon scale, and favored weapon is the spiked shield.

Draconic Deity:  Thesekar is The Judge, the Watcher, and ultimately, The End. It was among the primodrial gods who forged the universe, but was stuck outside of it when their labor was done. As it is a dragon, and dragons grow stronger with age, it is the weakest dragon god to exist, being outside of time and thus unable to age. It is an observing entity, keeping the universe in one piece, protecting it from that which exists Beyond, and peers into the world to determine when it is appropriate to end it all. It is an alien enity, difficult to contact, and difficult to properly percieve. When its oracular nature is applied, it answers questions of 'Why', but getting It to answer is almost impossible. It is associated with Cold Iron, but it is unknown if It is responsible for the metal's existence. Oracle, Time, Creation, Fate, Windstorm are Its domains, and Its holy symbol is an ouroborosb circling an empty hourglass, with Its favored weapon being the sickle.

Kobold Deity: Renthisjihkearenk; Kobold god of community, language, fate, and memory. A prophet who is all knowing and possesses a subjective view of time, in that all things in all of history, even though they are in the present for mortals, are as distant memories for this god. He knows all things before they happen, because he has lived them. His prophecies are noteworthy for being concise, accurate, and sometimes flippant. He was actually once a mortal Kobold who dabbled in time magic, and became a god by time traveling to the beginning and the end of the universe, both at once, and reshaping himself from the paradox. Domains: Community, Mind, Knowledge, Fate.

Kobold Deity: Thraevuredar; the feathered Kobold. Created from the union of a Dragonic god and a coatul, Thraevuredar appears as a kobold adorned with multicolored feathers at her arms, legs, and head, along with great feathered wings. She watches over the wandering tribes of Kobolds, and encourages them to remain in jungles where the heat helps them survive, and prey is abundant. Having had a hand in the writing of all the alphabets of all the languages of all the world, she promotes learning to speak as many languages as possible, with as much profficiency as possible, and the inventing of new languages. Domains: Travel, Air, Knowledge, Plant.

Orc Deity: Lawful Good Goddess of Magic, Pact, Inquisition, Retribution. Kroma. Almost forgotten in today's age, Kroma was the orc goddess of magic. She teaches that the use of magic is a pact with her, and those that abuse the pact with her will be hunted down by her inquisitors, and will face her just Retribution. Her servents are meant to seek out and use her granted powers for the good of the tribes, serving to help create as well as enforce the laws, especially laws about magic.Driven into obscurity with the decline of wizardry, she seeks to return to her previous prominance by gifting those she deems worthy with the ability to use magic and ordering them to take the fight to rogue mages who would seek to defile the name of magus.

Orc Deity: Charm, Healing, Wrath, Destruction. Perkun, the ever charming. Chaotic Neutral. Perkun is a charming (for an orc) believer in protecting all that he, and thus orcs, claim as theirs. He espouses doing this in a roundabout fashion, in that he urges his wards to seek to go through life using their charm to protect their peoples, If you can convince others to never fight, then there is never any danger to protect his people from. Should someone harm his people though, his demeanor changes drastically. His clerics zealously heal any harm the people have suffered, before seekign to shower the source of that harm with their wrath, not stopping until they feel the source of danger has been utterly destroyed, and no longer poses any threat to those they guard.

Orc Deity: Fate, Trade, Travel, Time. Velkos, the sullen. True Neutral. Velkos is often pictured as an ever sullen merchant, seeking to make a profit in his travels, always accepting of his place and profits, as all things in time are preordained by fate. He teaches acceptance of how things are, saying the best way to find ones true fate, is to travel abroad, seeing what comes your way; and the best way to travel, is as a merchant, trading as you go for profit. His servents are often moderatly wealthy, for it is hard to go wrong with trades when you can read the lines of fate and peer into the future, but rarely very wealthy, as they do not take chances, or gamble on things, as luck has no true factor in success.

Catfolk Deity: Law, Fate, Retribution, Protection - Magnus, also known as The Judge. Lawful Neutral. Most frequently sworn to when things are going horribly wrong or not according to plan, due to his role; Magnus judges the souls of all their people before they pass onto whichever afterlife occurrance is most fitting. He takes a very hands-off approach to mortal affairs and has very few clerics/paladins (if any!). Magnus and his divine servants will honour any contract to the letter, and see to it that others do as well; He absolutely detests those who attempt to find and/or abuse loopholes. Favoured Weapon: Light/Heavy Flail

Major Nations
Currently, only three have been made. There are at least two others out there. They just have nothing about them.

The Sultanate of Mehmud: A large desert kingdom. An open and welcoming nation (perhaps a bit too welcoming) that is, by far, the one most at ease with those 'beyond the norm'. Rumor has it that spirits of wind and fire stalk their lands. They are regarded with slight suspicion and worry that criminals will be able to hide amongst them. Their capital is the city of Najib; built around an oasis on the edge of the continent, it is an excellent trading port.

The Republic of Ethne: The last bastion of the elves, this small nation is incredibly isolationist and fields a disproportionately large military. There are rumblings of civil unrest, but the government currently refuses to comment. The elven capital is Eska en' Sanye, approximately translating to "The Home of Law". It is more of a military outpost than a city. Those who visit are under constant watch for any infraction of an enormous list of rules and regulations.

The Holy Empire: Supposedly ruled over by the council of High Priests, this nation is actually run by a massive, increasingly bloated bureaucracy. While official functions continue to slow, its political prestige remains strong, as any clerics who show great potential are sent here to train. Ororm (a legendary temple-city) is the official capital of the Empire. Priests of any religion can be found there, all putting on massive displays in one of the festivals that are thrown on every religious holiday.

Minor Nations
Details pending declassification.