- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The North A Tale of High Adventure And Low Temperatures Part X: TRAVEL GUIDE "The North" created by Schneeble (Brian Stubbs) This document created by Doublemint - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - What is "The North"? The North is a high-fantasy story set in a mythical artic wasteland that is little-known and not considered important to the grand Empire to the south. There are no elves or dragons or impressive magics, instead there are humans (with their petty squabbles) and runecrafting. As with most epic stories, the plot and characters tend to get stretched out across different chapters. This can be a good thing in a book but not so good in an Impro that people read maybe... oh... every seven months. It also makes it hard for authors to step in and write new parts. This guides is meant for ease of reference. The content within this guide covers everything up to and including the now-latest chapter, "Cold War". To paraphrase a noble Scotsman, "CAPTAIN, THERE BE SPOILERS HERE! -CHARACTERS- ARLEN - Brothel guard at his adopted mother's establishment. Orphaned at an early age from the Shalari Clan (he believes himself to be the sole survivor), he spent an unspecified time in an orphanage before being adopted by Zivanra. During his stay at the orphanage he broke the bone in his right leg. It was incompetently set and still pains him on occasion; sometimes produces a slight limp in his walk. Recently, old nightmares concerning his father and his clan have tormented him. Referred to by Wispy as "The Master's (Vadesh's) Receptacle". The meaning of this designation is unclear. Fights with a scimitar. Adept at knife throwing, likely from too many nights spent in taverns placing bets and showing off tricks. Can use a bow and arrow. Started his journey with the intent of obtaining either Shalnay or a bounty in her place. Nearly died from improperly fitted environmental gear during the pursuit of the Serpent. After collecting his bounty he set off for Kaddegh but was interrupted by raiders attacking a local farm. Learned of some unknown connection between himself and Vadesh (who he refers to as 'Vadmir'). Currently held hostage by a company of runebeasts pursuing the captive Serpent. AUSTANIS PERILLION - Appointed by Dmitri as Brandt's apprentice in Iso, a position seized by Katria. A man of noble breeding, Katria considered his a "twerp". BRANDT - A runesmith of above average knowledge and ability. A good man. Took on Katria as his apprentice in Iso but has recently given her time to think over her commitment. Appears to be in his early thirties but since the incident with his son he has taken on an air of a man in his fifties. Vadesh is currently in his custody. CHRISTOV's BODY - 13 or 14 years of age, son of Brandt. Red- haired. More or less comatose. Carved on his chest and burned into his skin are a curious mix of animal and weather runes. Can be remotely controlled by Vadesh. Currently at Sala Castle. CHRISTOV'S ??? - Some sort of spirit form of Christov that may or may not be Christov himself. When manifested in the physical world its features are a splash of washed out blues. Connected to some power. Cursed with an all-consuming sensation of coldness. Longs for warmth. Currently assailed by something called "the restless" to join them. CYRIL, son of KYRIL - Runs Kyril's Forge following his father's demise. Apprenticed Brandt's son, Christov, before his treatment at the hands of Vadesh. Currently at Kyril's Forge. FARRAN 1 - A 20-something teacher with an affable personality from the Shalari Clan. Friend and mentor to both Vadesh and Arlen at one point. Presumed dead with the extinction of his clan. FARRAN 2 - A merc from Shila. Wild, blue-tinted hair that stretches to his shoulders; held in place by a bandana. Scars on his arms along with a long, pale one across his face (along the bridge of his nose). Stubbly and doesn't seem to take good care of himself. Carries an unusually large battleaxe. Handsome. Runs a mercenary company out of Shila that is currently in the employ of King Petroyv. Currently at Sala Castle. KATRIA - Apprentice runesmith to Brandt, currently reassessing her priorities. Black-haired. Transformed her hand into a claw while activating an improperly drawn rune. Romantically involved with Dmitri (while he was alive). Her clan's god is Isur. Her mother was a physician at Iso Castle. Currently watching over Christov's body at Sala Castle as a favor for Brandt. KING PETROYV OF SALA - Once a great warrior but became a drunkard who favored his bastard son over his trueborn. Following the deaths of his two sons (and only heirs) and an foiled assassination attempt by his daughter-in-law he has sobered up. The poisoned used in the failed assassination has greatly weakened him and promises several debilitating long-term effects. He reigns with Queen Regent until his unborn grandchild (by Tiroth) can assume the throne. Speaking of the throne, he has not sat upon it since Dmitri's conception due to the oath-breaking rune inscribed on it. MISHA - A spunky woman who works for Farran's merc group. Currently at Sala Castle. LIEUTENANT MISHAKOV - Very boastful and full of himself. NAKITA - Mother to CYRIL, widow of the late KYRIL. Well into middle age. Described as having more white hair than blond. Arms are muscled and scarred but still steady enough for detailed runesmithing. Currently at Kyril's Forge. SERGEANT GRAEL TOURA - Led Vadesh, 'the serpent', into Iso at the beginning of the story to retrieve Prince Dmitri. After fighting for several hours with Arlen he joined a rag- tag group in pursuit of the evil runesmith and his runebeasts. Carries a favor of Shalnay's on his mission to kill Vadesh. He has promised to personally return it once he had done his duty. Currently at Sala Castle. SERPENT/SVAROG/VADMIR/VADESH "Va-DESH" An old adversary of Brandt's and the undisputed villain of the story. Reptilian-like in appearance. Best described by Lirazel in part three: "His hands were brown and thin--the brown that comes from prolonged exposure to sun or wind--with long, tapering, delicate fingers. The back of the left was scarred with a many-legged blob, like a spider gone mad. The right was missing a small portion of the tip of the middle finger. His arms were thin as well, where they disappeared into his sleeves. ... His head was shaved, and on it he wore a curious cap composed of overlapping feathers, no two alike, extending so as to fully enclose the nape of his neck. He had full, dark eyes, slanting slightly, and dark, long eyebrows and lashes. His nose was thin and straight, and his lips were well-shaped and red. His eyes glittered and he was smiling as he worked, revealing even, white teeth. One of his cheeks bore an angry red mark, as if he had recently been bitten; otherwise, the skin of his face, unlike his hands, was a dead, even white. He looked surprisingly young and vulnerable, sitting there. No more than 22, 23 at the outside." He has crafted runes onto Christov's skin (and underneath) that are unusual; can autonomously control Christov with great concentration. Somehow communes with Wispy in the crafting of runebeasts. He and Arlen share a deep unspecified connection from some years back dealing with the Shalari Clan. Recently captured by Brandt. PETER - A farm youth whose family was murdered at the hands of Wispy's minions. He believes it was at the hands of Salian soldiers. Currently serving in Wispy's army, fighting for Iso's independence. PRINCE DMITRI OF ISO - The bastard son of King Petroyv of the Touran and a daughter of the chieftain line of Jorouk, the tribe at Iso. Fostered out to Shalnay's family, he has in recent years taken to Iso. After rescuing his foster sister from a brothel in Kaddegh he journeyed north to Iso with the runemaster Brandt. Romantically involved with Katria. Kidnapped by Vadesh but later rescued. Murdered by his half-brother Tiroth, the Crown Prince and heir to the throne of Sala. PRINCE TIROTH OF SALA - Trueborn son of the king and heir to the throne of Sala. Consumed with jealousy and rage he arranges the murder of Dmitri, breaking a sacred oath in doing so. As a result he is struck dead by an oath-rune after sitting on the king's throne. The livery of the Crown Prince features an argent swan, crowned, on a red field. QUEEN REGENT ANN - Widow of Trioth, pregnant with his child (sex unknown). A de-facto captive from the Isharanti. Her skin is stark white and she has naturally gray hair, as is common to her people. Prone to wearing very light clothing in what most consider "cold" weather. Her most notable feature is her flinty clue eyes. She is skilled in various arts of infiltration, shadowing, and most importantly assassination. A literal war bride. Her child is due in May of the following year. Lives under the threat of death from an oath-breaking rune following her failed attempt on King Petroyv's life. Carries a vial of poison around her neck to use the day her pride defeats her thirst for power. The name of her native language is roughly pronounced, 'Bah-rish-quo-hun'. Currently serving as Queen Regent at Sala Castle. SHALNAY "Shal-NAY" - foster sister to Dmitri during his exile. turned out on the streets by her uncle after he'd taken the family farm following his father's death. One mother, deceased. Two brothers bound as apprentices in Sala, one is a tanner the other a blacksmith. long brown hair. curvy figure. graceful. worked in a brothel under the assumed named of "Layshan". SHALNAY'S UNCLE - An oily man described as having "too many scars and not enough hair". Stole the farm and turned his dead brother's family out onto the streets. Current whereabouts unknown. TIRASA ILNOSHI - Yeznati redhead with curly hair that she dyes gray. Dresses in badly sewn red scarves and resembles nothing so much as a fat pear. Swindled Dmitri out of his gold during her search for Shalnay, replacing the coins with enchanted buttons. CAPTAIN TORAVEL - Led the first pursuit of Vadesh. Loyal to Sala and the King. Able to see reality where Mishakov cannot. WISPY/FARRAN 3 - An unskilled runesmith who, through some mechanism, can carry out his Master's work in crafting runebeasts. His Master is Vadesh, whom he knows as 'Vadmir' and not by his secret name. Called 'Wispy' by Arlen due to his deathly thin appearence and limp hair. A strange and oddly truthful man. Known to the rest of the world as 'Farran', Arlen's dead mentor/friend. The name was given to him by the Serpent as a gift. Keeps his men in line through the use of money, oath-runes, and terror. The leader of his growing militia/army, rallying the people of Iso to an anti- noble, pro-independence flag. Currently somewhere outside Iso, preparing to wage his war for the Serpent. ZIVANRA - Arlen's adoptive mother. Owner and operator of a brothel of notable repute. Not much of a cook. -LOCATIONS- *HOT LAKES* - Natural springs that support the only large cities in the North. There are five in total. Known cities based the Hot Lakes include Sala, Iso, and Shila. The status of Bifrost and Bothnia has as yet to be clarified. BIFROST - The easternmost city in The North. Sala has a vital trade route with the Norsemen raiders through Bifrost. It is unknown if this city is built around a Hot Lake or not. BOTHNIA - Suggested in a bluff by King Petroyv as "something fitting" for Vadesh to rule in place of the demand of Bifrost. It is unknown if this city is built around a Hot Lake or not. THE IDLE FOREST - "...it was not even a forest really; more like a sheaf of trees, huddled together against the weather. It wasn't even very deep. It was, however, incredibly thick, with the trees so close to each other that a pack of riders couldn't even pass through one by one." Enchanted by Vadesh to attack the traveling company holding him prisoner. ISO - A dilapidated Hot Lake city occupied by the Jorouk Tribe and ruled by Sala. Home to Prince Dmitri, it has recently begun a rebellion against Sala. KADDEGH - A city in the south of the North. Home to Arlen. Out-of-the-way and strategically unimportant, it enjoys a semi-autonomous status unknown in the rest of Sala's kingdom. capital. KYRIL'S FORGE - Sat in the middle of nowhere. It had once been a village... ages ago. The bare frames of a few cottages were all that still stood of that past life. But now, it simply lived up to its name-- a forge where the blacksmith, son of the Kyril it was named after, toiled creating simple steelworks... and occasionally things a lot less simple. mastered by Cyril, son of Kyril. SALA - The largest city in the North and it's SHILA - the sole remaining free city in The North, ruled by its own duke. A true fortress. Also a Hot Lake city. Many mercenary forces are based in the city. Contains a bar called the "Broken Barrel". -TRIBES- Isharanti (Isharan Clan) - Also known as the "Ice People". The northernmost occupants of The North. Members of this clan possess stark white skin and, in the case of Princess Ann, naturally gray hair. Apparently rose in revolt in the last generation but, after being put down, submitted their chieftain's daughter as war bride for Prince Tiroth. Matriarchical in government and tradition. Jorouk (Iso) - Based in Iso. It's patron god is Isur. Long oppressed by the Touran. Shalari Clan - An extinct clan of exotic runesmiths. Isolationist. Wiped out over a decade ago by some unknown force. Arlen and Vadesh are both connected to the Shalari, presumably as clansmen. Arlen believes himself to be the sole surviving member of his clan and blames himself for their demise. Touran (Sala) - Rulers of the North, they have brought stability and order to what was once a nomadic wasteland. Viewed by different factions as admirable or despicable for that achievement. Currently headed by King Petroyv. Yeznati (?) - Referenced by both Vadesh and Dmitri in part six. Apparently a gypsy-analog; known for dealings in magic and runesmithing. Most are considered charlatans but a few still possess actual magic. They are rare. Most tend to keep well south of Iso and Sala. -GODS- ***There are many gods and goddess in the involved mythology of The North. For convenience’s sake, refer to the first third of chapter nine for the lowdown. -ITEMS OF IMPORTANCE- THE BLACK PAPERS - "They were coarse, roughly cut sheets of paper. Oddly, the designs were white etchings scrawled onto black paper, quite the opposite of a normal metalwork design. Odder still most of the papers sported charred edges, as if they had been rescued from a fire at the last moment." Used by Christov in the forging of the Serpent's branding irons, the very ones used on Christov. VADESH'S CHEST - A mysterious chest coded to the Serpent's secret name. Contains the black papers, several branding irons, and a music box... among other things. VADESH'S MUSIC BOX - A small, shabby, key-wound music box that plays a "queer, curious melody, strangely beautiful and ugly at the same time". -MINOR POINTS- THE NIGHT STORMS - Storms that come off the plains to the south, presumably at nighttime. Quite harsh. Normally arrive in late November for an undetermined period of time. ROYAL POSTAL SERVICE - "A earmark of the Salian Kingdom in The North was its letter couriers, distinct long-billed pigeons sporting puffed red plumage." VOGTISK'S CURSE - Also known as "The Twice-Death". A poison used mostly for political assassinations. THE WET SEASON - A season that occurs around the month of May. ----------------------------------------- Begun: 7:48 PM 10/21/04 Finished: 12:25 AM 10/22/04 Last Modified: 12:32 AM 11/22/04 Last Updated: