Gazetteer: Mighty Valiroth!

(For those who came in late: these “Gazetteer” entries are a tourist’s guide to a fantasy world I created in a previous series of posts, using this procedural system.   You might want to check out the complete world map, or the other gazetteer posts.  Enjoy!)

Valiroth

A militaristic land governed by a caste of winged warriors.  The proud defenders of the realms of men.  

In game terms, Valiroth is considered Civilized.

The Realm

Valiroth is a proud and ancient land.  Long ago, the Valirothian Empire ruled over a much greater territory – but over the centuries its borders were beaten back by the forces of Evil, and today only the valley of the River Rulerun remains under direct Valirothian rule.  The common people of Valiroth are human, for the most part, but the realm is governed by the Hawkfolk, a hereditary caste of winged warriors.  Within Valiroth, the Hawfolk are respected and admired, if also feared a little; in other lands they are considered eldritch and strange, and are simply feared.

The Valirothian military is mighty – if not quite as mighty as its fearsome reputation makes it out to be – and the veiled threat of Valirothian invasion allows the Hawkfolk ruling caste to wield an outsized influence on world affairs. The Valirothian military really does protect the realms of men, to an extent; but it does so at a price.  The Valirothian Empire is not what it once was, yet smaller realms still feel the impact of Valirothian power in a hundred small ways.

The People

Valirothians pride themselves on their military prowess, and like to see themselves as the heroic guardians of the border, the selfless defenders of the lands of men.  This attitude does little to endear them to people of other realms.  The people of other Realms tend to consider Valirothians highly capable, but overly aggressive, lacking in subtlety, and perhaps even a bit deluded as to their own importance in the world.

Naturally Valirothians reject this characterization, and shake their heads at the ingratitude of lesser folk.  “Why are the little people we save so ungrateful to us?”

The Valirothian Template

Characters who grew up in Valiroth should add the following skills to the skill options  listed on the 5-pt “Ordinary Person” template: Savoir-Faire (Military) (E) IQ [1]; Soldier (A) IQ-1 [1]; Politics (A) IQ-1 [1];  Wrestling (A) DX-1 [1]

All Valirothian characters also acquire a special Perk, offset by a special Quirk, as follows:

Valirothian Perk: Fearlessness 1 (only under orders, -50%) [1]

From an early age, Valirothians are taught that the highest virtues are courage and obedience – and they place an especially high value on courage when carrying out difficult or impossible orders.  (Thus many of the great heroes of Valirothian epic poetry are celebrated for unflinchingly following an order to fight to the death).  In game terms, typical Valirothians may add one to their effective Will when making Fright Checks or to resist Intimidation, whenever they’re carrying out direct orders from a superior.

Valirothian Quirk: Despises Softness [-1]

Valirothians value physical and mental toughness, and typically hold in contempt those who fail to meet their high standards.  In game terms, Valirothians have a quirk-level Intolerance for people who seem especially weak-willed, cowardly, or “soft.”  Different people interpret this differently, so Valirothian characters should choose a sub-category within this: possible quirks include “Intolerance (Cowards) [-1],” “Intolerance (People who are out of shape) [1],” and similar.   Note that people who become aware of your contempt for them will react to you at -1 to -5 (GM’s call).

If you want to learn more about Valiroth, you might want to check out:

The post in which I created Valiroth.

The two posts in which I re-worked the Hawkfolk.

Region Stats: Valiroth

For an explanation of all these terms, see the Worlds system.  If you want to see how Valiroth was first created, see here (for the geography) and here (for the culture).

Size: Two “Tiny” Regions and a “Small” Region
Climate: Temperate
Terrain Type: River

Level of Civilization: Civilized
Settlements: One city, two towns.
Population Type: Human/Hawkfolk
Theme: Militaristic

Monster Ecology
Primary Monster Type: ?
Secondary Monster Type: ?
Tertiary Monster Type: ?

 For the world map and more gazetteer posts, head here.