Empire Ascendant: Imperial Holdings of The Tytanyan Pact

THE TYTANYAN PACT: 

SAESUN, SMOLDER, ALBYON, & NUAR

A century and a half ago, the Isle of Saesun was gripped in a civil war between human kings. Their ancestors had come to the peaceful paradise isle as refugees. Out of mercy, the iaurdin convinced the sylvanar and the metallic dragons to let the humans settle until they could return back to the east. The humans settled and were allowed to use the lands as they wished as long as they respected the sacred groves of the sylvanar. The elves and dragons managed to keep the peace between the settlements as they developed into kingdoms. But perhaps it is in the nature of humans to quarrel. The humans began fighting over valuable resources, bickering over petty misunderstandings and creating war out of nothing. The metallic dragons picked sides and, after thousands of years of peace on Saesun, war broke out.

The elves tried to broker peace, they tried to abstain, but the men of Saesun began burning down their forests, killing their sacred animals, and escalating the war to greater heights. The sylvanar tried to intervene out of self-defense but brought the war home. The death of the sylvanar king, Opheros, was the final injustice that the iaurdin could not bear. Something had to change.

Since the beginning of the world, Saesun and the elves had been protected by powerful celestial runes that not only prevented invasion but helped keep many dangerous extra-dimensional threats from entering the world of Narya by force. Among these forces, were the chromatic dragons trapped since the Creation War. Queen Tytanya used her knowledge of the arcane to change the runes so that Red Typhon and his tyrant lords could enter Sublanarya through a gate she opened in Ryn-Durazar.

The following war was swift: the dwarves of Ryn-Durazar first endured devastating natural disasters caused by the gate opening and then were forced to abandon their homes under threat of dragon fire, then the iaurdin and the chromatic dragons forced the human kingdoms into submission, and the metallic were exterminated.

Ryn-Durazar became Smolder, the home of the chromatic dragons, and Saesun became the heart of the iaurdin empire. Together, they formed the Tytanyan Pact and the Tytanyan Age began. Over the next hundred years, they took complete control of the western seas of Sublanarya, colonized the island chain off the coast of Tazlan, and conquered the western kingdoms of Thule. The islands became Nuar and the kingdoms became Albyon.

Together these regions form an empire that have shaped the events of the last century in Sublanarya. But this realm is not merely an army of elves and dragons; it is a place of incredible natural beauty and home to the millions of citizens of the empire.

PEOPLE FIRST: The Beastmen Vs. The Beastfolk Pt. 2

BEASTFOLK: PEOPLE FIRST

Beastfolk are not beastmen.

In a land where horrible and monstrous beastmen terrorize the countryside, peoples with animal features are feared by the common folk. This means that even if they have good intentions, a person with animal like features is unlikely to be trusted or welcome company. Especially in the Free Kingdoms of Thule, where anything exotic is distrusted, unusual people are hunted down or run out of town. That being said, there are such people in Sublanarya that are no more inclined towards evil than humans or elves. Among the ignorant, they are "monsters" and among worldly peoples, they are called the "beastfolk".

Beastfolk come in many shapes and sizes, have a wide variety of cultures, and can be found in territories just beyond civilization (and others right under civilization's feet) all around Sublanarya and beyond. They may share animal instincts, but there are as unalike to each other as humans are to elves and dwarves are to elves, meaning that they have just as many reasons to get-along, or not, as anyone else. And then, on the issue of being unwelcome in many places throughout the realm, beastfolk mostly keep to their varied home environments with a few exceptions. Those that travel into lands dominated by human and elf alike, usually do so profit or for more noble causes.

Perhaps the greatest irony in the way that humanoids treat beastfolk is that, if they chose to work alongside them, they could fight the beastmen together. The beastfolk have just as much cause, if not more, to eliminate the threat of the beastmen. Beastmen are a corruption of nature and many beastfolk cultures revolve around natural order. And the beastmen are an insult to all beastfolk: whenever an innocent beastfolk is caught and punished by human hands, it is beastmen who are to blame for this discrimination. Lastly, just as humans, beastmen encroach upon the territories where beastfolk live and threaten their lives. The great irony is that while beastfolk are often erroneously lumped together with beastmen, they are often the ones keeping the beastmen threat from spreading into human lands. They are allies to the good peoples of this world, whether the good peoples realize it or not.

The beastfolk want the same things as any peoples; they want their homes to be safer and more prosperous for themselves, their loved ones and their children. Family is important and at the core of all beastfolk cultures. This comes from their tribal nature that is further nurtured by their reclusive lives. Most beastfolk tribes are far from humanity and, those that live aside them, are separated by choice or by threat of force. This means that most beastfolk seek friendship within their own tribes and through neighboring tribes. It is important to remember the strength and importance of beastfolk bonds as they inform everything they do. The catfolk warrior who rips the throat from a red mantis does so to protect her children. The dhole sailor traveling across the world owes a life debt to his captain. The blind ratfolk who steals bread from a cart has a sick father to feed. The grippli druid goes to the big city to convince the lord mayor to stop using the river that goes to her swamp.

The difference between beastmen and beastfolk is simple: beastmen are inhuman beasts. Beastfolk are people first and beasts second.

Let's take a look at each common variety of beastfolk in Sublanarya.

MONSTROUS: The Beastmen Vs. The Beastfolk Part I

 MONSTROUS PART I:

THE BEASTMEN

In Sublanarya, there are no orcs or goblins. At least, they aren't called that.

This was a decision I made to create a more unique feeling to the setting in a subtle way. This meant I needed to replace them with an equivalent horde-like threat. After all, people need a reason to be weary of going off the beaten path. So I turned to creating a monstrous breed that was a worthy threat and could fit into all manner of niches. Really it was a matter of adapting the roles of various classic monsters from ogres to lizardfolk. The most common humanoid threat to the every day folk are the "beastmen".

It all began in the east, in a region called the Hold. This region had long been home to a mix of feudal colonies, trade towns and many nomadic tribes. It is a cold, wild and desolate landscape that is considered the edge of civilization by most. It is a place for dark magic, for giants and for strange beasts. It was during the Age of Restoration, following the defeat of the giants, that the Hold's people came under the sway of demonic influence. Mass sacrifices in mass abattoirs, dark temples that cast shadow across the land, and a new threat. From these dark halls, came the monstrous horde, and it swept across the northern continent. The Hamuts and the Zafarians managed to stave off the horde but the other free peoples were overwhelmed. It would not be until the arrival of the Holy Imperium's Diamond Fleet that the beastmen's resolve was shattered and their numbers scattered. They are still a threat and many rangers spend their lives training against it.

There are several common varieties found throughout Sublanarya. Many are directly or indirectly based on classic monsters while some are blatantly classic monsters. They often ally with other bestial races like lizardfolk and kuo-toa since their share the same gods. Particularly dangerous and related are the lycanthropes and other shapeshifters.

The common varieties are less intelligent and less dangerous, but still pose a threat to the average citizen, especially as they gather in numbers. The elite beastmen are usually more organized and dangerous. They usually have larger goals and interests than just gathering food and entertaining themselves. They all worship demons, they all eat manflesh and they all seek to destroy the peace & happiness of the civilized races. They are a challenge to civilization and a corruption of nature.

The Meteorite People: Bjergfolk and Hulderfolk

THE METEORITE PEOPLE

Today, I'd like to start by getting a little personal and apologize for using the amazing artwork of eoghankerrigan to depict the first player character race I ever made for Dungeons & Dragons. It is the closest thing I have found to what I am going for with the Hulderfolk but doesn't quite match all the details. Still, this art is close and gets the feel/spirit that I've always imagined.

I created the idea for the Hulderfolk very quickly after playing Advanced Dungeons for the first time about 7 years ago. My first character was a dwarven cleric. I was so immediately smitten with Dungeons & Dragons that I went home and created my first fantasy world, The Wold, that was a combination of my various fantasy influences. One idea I included was a race of Half-Trolls. But we are not talking about the swamp dwelling regenerating stinky monsters that terrorize all low level PCs. We're talking about something more like:

I like the design of such a race and the ideas around them. In my head, such trolls are a large and mountain-dwelling race of warriors, pranksters and druids.  I combined this vision from the trolls of Discword, Ludo from Labyrinth, and various other media into my vision of what I wanted trolls to be like in that setting. Due to their size, I found it hard to conceive of them as PCs but, like half-orcs, I could see their hybrids being playable. I A few years after The Wold, I worked on a setting called Norse mythology setting Migard, and it is there where these ideas really came together into something...interesting.

Iaurdin: Gods Save The Queen (The High Elves)

A long, long time ago, the elves were said to be one people.

They were the Iaur. They were descendants of the family of elf gods and gifted with a most beautiful, magical and protected home. The Isle of Saesun. They were guarded over by wise and powerful metallic dragons. They lived in a paradise free from strife or woes. They were innocent. They were children. Then, some of these children left home.

The children discovered evil. A few generations enslaved by the Naryan giants cut these elves off from nature, from whimsy and from innocence. In the hellish crucible of slavery, a blade was forged in the mines by an elven blacksmith. The blade was taken in the hands of the blacksmith's daughter. She used it in her escape from the Golden City, she wielded it in her duel with the Bjergfolk chieftain, and she raised it above her head when she led Bjergfolk back to the Golden City to free her people.

It is said that the blade has no magical qualities and is not beautiful to behold. It is a rather dull and uninspiring weapon. And yet, in the hands of the elven maiden, the blade forged by one in chains, the blade that broke the chains, the blade that freed a nation, the blade became legendary. Today, the blade hangs in the throne room of the Palace of Grand Saeffura on the wall behind the throne itself. The blade is called Chainbreaker.

The blacksmith's daughter became Queen Tytanya.

Queen Tytanya may be the most powerful mortal being in all of Sublanarya, if not Narya. After returning to Saesun, she was made queen of the iaurdin. The iaurdin are called "high elves" by themselves , "great elves" by their allies and "pointy ear bastards" by their enemies. And they have many enemies.

By allying themselves with the chromatic dragons to form the Tytanyan Pact, the iaurdin have become the most powerful empire in Sublanarya. From the Isle of Saesun in the Northwest to the conquered Thule territories, Albyon, to tropical colonies of Nuar in the South, the high elves ambitious expansion is impressive for such a contentious region. Viewed as invaders by their enemies, rebels sprouting up all along their outer territories, and held in contempt for their practices, the high elves are not well liked by other Sublanaryan factions. Their actions have caused great instability in the geopolitical landscape. And yet, the irony is that, within the borders of this empire, life is more stable than anywhere else in Sublanarya.

While the rest of the land sees them as conquerors, the iaurdin see themselves as saviors.

Dragonkind: The Pyramid of Power

DRAGONKIND: THE PYRAMID OF POWER

Chromatic dragons are lazy, greedy and arrogant: that comes with being incredibly powerful, both physically and magically, and thus being able to coerce lesser creatures to serve you, it comes with filling a lair with an increasingly impressive treasure hoard proportional to how much much one can coerce the creatures around them and it comes with thinking of oneself as the apex of creation.

It comes with being a dragon.

But these qualities has several drawbacks too: they don't like to work hard, preferring to rely on their power and cunning to make other creatures do their bidding, only throwing their power around for pleasure and profit rather than as strategically as they should. Their greed overrides their better judgement, making them vulnerable to manipulation, and blinds them to obvious danger. And, most importantly, dragons don't like other dragons. Other dragons are competition for territory, for property, for breeding, and so on, and every other dragon is a challenge to a dragon's superiority complex. The only thing a dragon hates more than weak dragons are dragons that are more powerful than themselves.

So how do you get dragons to work together?

Red Typhon.

Red Typhon is a red dragon but not just any red dragon: he's older than the earliest civilization of Narya, so massive that his shadow sends entire nations into a panic, so clever that he has gotten chromatic dragons of every color to conform to his wishes, and so powerful that only Queen Tytanya herself gives him pause.

Red Typhon was one of the attendants of Tiamat, the evil draconic goddess supreme, and served her for eons as her most beloved "groom". But, after Abzulon's sacrifice & Tiamat's defeat trapped him for millennia, he became desperate to escape Armageddon. That was when he heard the siren call of Tytanya and she made him an offer he couldn't refuse. With his dragons, she was able to defeat her enemies and he was rewarded with a kingdom of his own.

But what do dragons do with their own kingdom? How do you keep them content? How do you keep them under your claw?

Dragons: The Creation of Narya & The Masters of Smolder

“My armor is like tenfold shields, my teeth are swords, my claws spears, 

 the shock of my tail a thunderbolt, my wings a hurricane, and my breath death!”

"I am Fire. I am Death."

Perhaps, no monster in fantasy is as iconic as the dragon. After all, they don't call it "Dungeons and Hydras" or "Dungeons and Owlbears". Nope. They call it Dungeons and Dragons.

 DRAGONS

I am sure you know the answer to this question but, for the sake of this article, humor me: what are dragons?

Dragons are legendary creatures with serpentine, reptilian and avian features and, typically, fly, breath fire and possess magical qualities. There are two main types of dragons depicted in literature and media: European, which are animalistic reptilian sexrupeds (possessing four legs and two wings) and Eastern, which are  intelligent serpentine quadrapeds. Traditionally, Dungeons and Dragons is more concerned with intelligent European-style dragons, but these two paradigms hardly represent the gamut of draconic creatures depicted in cultures from around the world. Why are they so omnipresent in world cultures? By answering that question, we can probably understand why they might just be the ultimate monsters.

Dragons, of some sort, seem to be represented in civilizations across world history independently of each other. These legendary creatures are even found in the art and religions of civilizations like ancient Mesopotamia, such as with the depiction of Tiamat (depicted above), the inspiration for the classic Dungeons & Dragons villainous god. Personally, I adhere to the theory that I'll call "omnimythical" or, that is to say, that dragons are an example of a mythological staple in all cultures due to universal needs and shared ancestry. In this case, dragons serve as both an amalgam and exaggeration of primal fear for creatures including but not limited to: snakes, large lizards, crocodiles, large cats, birds of prey and more. By combining the features of these creatures, the quadrupedal body of a large cat,  the wings and talons of a bird of prey, the scales of large reptile, and the elongated neck similar to that of a serpent, we come upon a shape representing the animals that threatened men in the wilderness. It honestly makes more sense than dragons have ever existed outside of these myths.

And, as for the fiery breath, I'm not exactly sure about the origins of that myth but it is easy to imagine the dangerous power of fire if you've ever seen a large wildfire, a building catch fire or the use of a flamethrower. The addition of that, mostly, supernatural element creates an enemy that is more dangerous than any natural predator and, by combining that with human or above human intelligence, we get the iconic villain of fantasy.

Side note: I would love to hear some theories on why fire breath is practically omnipresent in dragon mythology?

As is traditional in Dungeons and Dragons, there are good dragons and evil dragons in Sublanarya of various metallic kind or color. Most dragons in Sublanarya are evil "chromatic" dragons and, in fact, in the Tytanyan Age, there are believed to be no good "metallic" dragons left alive. The smallest dragons are the size of a horse and the largest can take on truly unfathomable proportions. Quadrapedal, winged and reptillian creatures with high intelligence, an affinity for magic, breath weapons, and, in the case of chromatic dragons, a strong desire for power, wealth and comforts.

There are other true dragons but those are not relevant in Sublanarya.

Ultimately, in the world of Narya(yes, I'm done with the silly book report section of the article), dragons play a vital role in not only the balance of power but in the creation of the world itself. This article will breakdown the creation myth of Narya, the role of dragons through out Sublanaryan history, and the dragons of Smolder in the Tytanyan Pact.

"So, what if the elves are the bad guys?"

This is probably a strange place to start but BARE WITH ME because I do get into some lore that, honestly, I find engaging:

I'm sure this isn't a completely and wholly original idea but that is where it started. The seeds for this dream started with binge watching Netflix. I had been watching a lot of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. 

 A major contribution of DS9 to the Star Trek Universe, in my opinion, was the exploration of the effects of colonization/resistance/revolution, etc.,  and the addition of species with more complex and deep cultures. Traditionally in Star Trek, each species could be soully defined by a single characteristics: Vulcans are logical and Klingons are warriors. DS9 introduced species with far more complex motives and persona that were harder to pin down while being more relatable and alien to humanity: the Cardassians and the collective species that make up the Dominion.

The Cardassians were very believable as an alien species because they were a dark mirror of humanity in the Trek verse. They shared a lot of personality traits but, collectively, chose a path of militarization and conquest. When confronted with the objectively morally superior Federation, the Cardassians are often forced to defend themselves as individuals and their entire culture. It is fascinating to see the mental gymnastics a Cardassian character has to go through to justify genocide and colonization. After all, they are basically Star Trek's equivalent to nazis.

The Dominion, on the other hand, catches my interest because of the interaction between a variety of species to create a complex hierarchy. They are lawful society, despite creating entire races for slavery and committing genocide against their enemies. Why? Because it is all justified under the auspices of creating a safer galaxy (mostly for themselves) and that is a fascinating motive for a species painted as antagonist. They are tyrants but, ultimately, they're selfishly benevolent tyrants and that is what I wanted to build upon.

So, I decided that in my setting, I wanted to re-purpose classic fantasy races to tell the stories this world is designed to tell, while remaining true to many of the core elements and themes of the species, but also evolving species into very interesting roles previously unexplored. After all, my fantasy settings tend to lean away from the medieval and more towards the Renaissance. I want to create a world that mirrors the "Age of Discovery".


With that in mind, we get to the question at the impetus of this setting's creation:

So, what if elves ARE the bad guys?

"Welcome to Sublanarya! Welcome to the Tytanyan Age!"

"Welcome to Sublanarya. Welcome to the Tytanyan Age."

Hello, would-be adventurers. If you are reading this, most likely, you have been invited to read, share, and contribute to the creation of my most ambitious and fully realized setting that I have ever developed for personal use in Dungeons and Dragons. I am deeply invested in developing this setting to the point where other GMs can confidently run campaigns in their own version of the setting using the various tools and fluff I've come up with.

If you haven't been formally invited, you're still welcome to read and comment. And, if you're new here, you might be wondering who I am, yes?

My name is Sean W. Barnes, I am a writer with a BA in Creative Writing and History, and I have been playing Dungeons and Dragons for over a half a decade. I have played and/or GMed just about every version of D & D and have mucked about in games like Pathfinder, Call of Cthulu, Shadowrun, Ironclaw, Vampire the Masquerade, Star Wars: Force and Destiny, and more.

To get a little bit more personal: I am 26. My hobbies include video games, film, genre television, and all manner of animation. I live near Memphis, TN, where I currently and begrudgingly work in retail (for the time being), rather than acting or writing professionally, and, especially while driving to and from work, I spend a lot of time building fantasy worlds in my head. Fantasy and fiction is the realm that I venture to escape the drudgery of reality, building it with blocks from non-fiction, and now? Now, I want to share my imagination with you! That's really what we're here to talk about, huh? No more stalling? Okay. Let's talk about Sublanarya.

OK.

So way back in 2014, I decided I wanted to build a new D & D setting for 5th Edition. One that wasn't silly like the Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll world of Sixx or built upon riffing upon someone else's work like Discworld inspired Beniro. So, I started brainstorming for a new world that would become Sublanarya (formerly called Nyumeneera). I wanted this to not just be a fantasy setting but a D & D setting, so I had the building blocks that most D & D settings have in common: magic, gods and religion, classes, fantastic races, the alignment system, monsters, etc. Looking at the toolbox and wanting to create something that deviated from most of my experiences, I asked myself a question:

What if the elves are the bad guys?

I'll go into further detail on that subject in the next article. For now? Here is my summary of this setting:

Sublanarya takes place in a world and time where feudalistic and tribal societies are under threat of being dominated by a militarily, culturally, magically and technologically advanced authoritarian empire of high elves. Meanwhile, older empires volley for a place in a shifting landscape, extraterrestrial and/or extra-dimensional threats rear their ugly heads, and mysteries lie in all directions over the borders of the known world and across the oceans. Heroes of Sublanarya have a choice: do they stand up against the tyranny of colonization, do they advance the empire themselves, or do they just try to avoid politics altogether and pursue the unknown threats to the world?

If the elves are the "bad guys", then who are the "good guys"?

If that sounds like an intriguing setting, stick around. I intend to go into detail about the history of the Sublanaryan people, each classic dungeons and dragons race's place in Sublanarya and how they interact with the unique races to this setting, the various threats facing citizens from monsters to poverty and so much more. I even, eventually, plan on detailing the other continents on Sublanarya's world (called "Narya").

I am a little out of practice with writing and a little bit nervous, but I hope that I can create breath life back into a world that needs to be experienced. This is where I start.

Thank you.

P.S. The next two articles will be about elves and dragons.