Our first step is to define where you are from. To do that we ask that you familiarise yourself with the available playable nations.
- The nature of the story that is run in CODA is perpetually changing through cycles that are referred to as “Ages” with common references to The Age of Wrath or the The Age of Ignorance.
- These cycles represent the changing nature of the story as the players guide and have guided it since 1997.
- The current Age is called the “Age of Convergence” and it has changed the dynamic of the system to an extent that Character Creation is now vitaly different.
- The following factors of the Age of Convergence, in relation to character creation, are summed up here:
- Before the Age began players could choose to be from any of the seven nations of Daer Akmir and were beginning to explore new continents, societies and species.
- However a great and impactful story arc called “The Choice” opened, for brief moments, a flirtation with other dimensions and other days of this world.
- Though these ruptures are sealing the world almost changed enough to be devastating but an eleventh hour intervention prevented complete destruction.
- Only one of the seven nations survived, relatively, unscathed: The lands known as the Six Duchies.
- These lands have been shrouded by some unforeseen power, effectively separating them from the rest of the world.
- Many wanderers who remember only some vague aspect of their homelands sporadically appear throughout the Six Duchies as though guided there by the strength of fate.
- Players may either draw from the entire history of the known Six Duchies or be one of these rogue wanderers.
Currently, all players must be based in The Royal Basin; Each Nation has a short one page description which gives you an overview of what it is like to live there. If you are a light reader, it should give you enough to make a basic choice.
However, there is a huge amount of background for most areas of Rising of Chaos as they were before the Age of Convergence began and you should feel free to go as far down the rabbit hole as you would like.
The Six Duchies
Freedom, Ambition, Pride, Integrity
The Royal Basin is a Monarchy, ruled by Queens and Kings who are supported by great noble houses. Their power is built on the back of the loyal common folk who toil in the fields, support their industries and take up arms when war is declared. The people of this nation are proud of their heritage and their achievements, determined in action and impossible to break. Even in defeat, they are always rising.
The Dragon Empire
Exploration, Dedication, Family, Opportunity
The people of the Dragon Empire are completely loyal to the Throne. Its occupant is not decided through words or votes, but through the strength of their deeds for the people. The territories that make up the Empire are governed by fluctuating families, protected by those who carry the Breath of the Emperor and served by those who do not, until all are made equal in death, and reborn anew. The people of this nation value their actions highly, and what the consequences of these actions will hold for their futures. They are welcoming, open, and kind, but hostility will be met head on, and they will brook no quarter in matters of honour and ceremony.
Even in death, there is clarity, and the certainty of their return.
The Iskarani
Indomitable, Dignity, Conviction, People
A land, once whole and fertile, now consumed by the sands of the Great Desert. The people of the Iskarani have had their lands sundered and their cultures split thrice, evolving into separate cultural nations in a world that is now dust and memories. Some, hidden, serve the Gillieabad in small number deep beneath the shifting dunes. Others travel the sands in family units, following paths known, but not mapped. They make their homes in the forgotten cities of the first people, and trade with different nations. The last of the three have build new cities in the sands, living in isolation with their new deities. All are born of an ancient metropolis, the first the world had seen, long consumed and left to the whispers of the world. There is little shared between the nations of the Iskarani, living as they do, in isolation from each other, but each culture boasts its hardiness, and dedication to the ways their nation represent.
The Ancestral Lands
Ancestors, Peace, Kindness, Equality
The first peoples of our world once lived in the Land of the Chosen, before disaster drove them to form separate nations in far flung corners. From the shadows left behind came many species, collectively called the Ancestrals. These bestial folk live in a Utopian society, visiting the lives of their ancestors to learn the lessons of the past, and afford wisdom to those who may be doomed to repeat them. Holding memories and lives lived in their hands, the Ancestrals offer a unique perspective of harmony, which the rest of the world cannot seem to find in its quest for hierarchy and societal delineation. They alone are led by a council of individuals who represent the autonomous factions of the Ancestral Lands, free from currency, religious dogma, and greed. The factions are harmonious, and their people happy, supporting each other’s beliefs and wellbeing without question.
Rhygahrea
Gillieabad, Ritual, Tradition, Spirituality
To gaze upon Rhygahrea is to behold a vast unbroken ocean of ancient forest stretching from horizon to horizon, a land almost unchanged since its creation. The people of Rhygahrea are insular, holding strong and true to the ways of the Gillieabad, unbendingly defying the encroachment of foreign civilisations and magic. This collective belief is shared across a sequence of colonies, where small groups operate. They are a nomadic people by tradition, following hunting patterns of animals, never lingering too long in one space. They live completely from the land, aggressively protecting it from outsiders who might seek to settle and build. Their hostile, unswerving nature is the result of many long centuries of persecution, where the unscrupulous have attacked time and again, hoping to steal away the resources of the land. Amongst their own, stories of strength and unity are told through ritual, through tradition, for the Gillieabad to hear.
The Drayal Vork
Fear, Tradition, Hardship, Truth
The Drayal Vork is a ruthless, bitter place far to the North of Daer Akmir, where the children are taught to fight and fear before they have learnt to clothe themselves. The people are hard, an iron will driving their very survival. They live in the Shadow of the Dralkosh, and the wicked magics and twisted stories which come with them. Families dwell in villages, known as Spires, which shelter them from the Monsters which lurk in shadow shrouded forest and mist roiled valleys, giving more than they can spare to the spirits for protection. Ondrasks lead the people of each Spire, and are guided in matters of rite, tradition and divination by Oracles of the Sisterhood. They lead in name alone, for it is the Dralkosh who rule all. Ancient traditions dominate the stark harshness of the landscape, and it is known that strict adherence to the old ways is often the only line between a hard life, and a lingering, painful death.
The Low Kingdoms
Oaths, Dignity, Expression, Invention
All things spring from the Gillieabad and among the people of the Low Kingdoms this is well known. Throughout the Razorback Mountains from the highest peak to the deepest cavern the people of the Kingdoms have settled and drawn strength from the Spirits of the Mountain. They are a powerful culture uniquely gifted by their sponsors with unusual magics, materials and direction to grow. The gifts that are given to the Gillieabad in return are Oaths that, in some cases, bind and denote an individual from their birth. Ruled by Monarchs of Silver, Gold and Iron these people are dedicated to their families and their people.
Step Two: Species and Remnants
Holly Goodall
Leave a Reply