Ukrasia: Planes and Deities

Here is another element of the setting that I'm currently working on, called Ukrasia (to be used in my forthcoming Against the Darkmaster campaign).

OF THE PLANES AND THE ETHEREAL STRANDS

The world of Ukrasia exists on the ‘Mortal Plane.’ All known planes of existence are connected to each other by interplanar conduits known as ‘ethereal strands.’ The more ethereal strands that connect two planes, the more those planes interact. Ethereal strands may be created, strengthened, weakened, or destroyed over time. Ethereal strands terminate in ‘portals’ or ‘gates’ on the planes to which they are attached.

It is generally known that many ethereal strands connect the Mortal Plane to the following planes: 

The Tier Lands: 

• Home of the Solar Court and other powers of Order.
• Believed to be a range of perfectly symmetrical, impossibly beautiful mountains.

Flux: 

• A place of Chaos, an endlessly changing maelstrom.
• Regions of Flux are capable of being structured by the will of deities and greater powers. 

The Glade Lands: 

• Home of the Glade Court and other greater powers of Nature, including the Beastlords. 

Faerie:

• The strange, ever-changing dominion of the Greater Faerie and the Unseen Lords.
• Some scholars claim that Faerie is actually part of The Glade Lands, namely, the wild “outer regions.”

The Underworld:

• A dark shadowy ‘mirror’ of the Mortal Plane.
• The souls and sprits of the dead go here for a short period of time before migrating to their next stage. 
• Some mortals (especially members of the Solar Church) believe that, if judged virtuous, they will go on to The Tier Lands, whereas the vicious will go to The Hells or Flux; others (followers of the “Old Faith”) believe that their righteous souls go on to the Glade Lands.
• The Elves believe that, after a time in The Underworld, they are reborn in Faerie, shorn of most of their past memories and sorrows.
• The Dwarves believe that their souls are reincarnated in the Mortal Plane (the more virtuous they were during their lives, the briefer their time spent in The Underworld).
• “Restless” souls may dwell in The Underworld indefinitely or return to the Mortal Plane as undead (ghosts and the like). 

The Hells: 

• The horrific sulphuric home of the orderly, hierarchical Devils. 
• The souls of those who were especially terrible during their time on the Mortal Plane are believed to be reborn as lesser devils (some of whom may work their way “up” the infernal hierarchy over the ensuing centuries).

Other planes exist, but they are not widely known, and they exercise less influence on the affairs of Ukrasia.

OF THE GODS AND OTHER POWERS

Here is an overview of some of the gods worshipped by the mortal peoples of Ukrasia (many deities are not listed). The gods interfere very rarely in the affairs of mortals. Some individuals choose to worship no gods at all, seeing them simply as flawed but more powerful versions of themselves. Such individuals generally keep their lack of piety to themselves, however, in order to avoid persecution.

The Court of Chaos (Location: Flux. Ruler: None)

The ‘Court of Chaos’ refers to a loose association of deities and demon lords who dwell within scattered demesnes throughout the wild and constantly changing plane of Flux. The worship of Chaotic deities is prohibited in most civilized lands. Followers of such destructive gods invariably endeavour to keep their religious commitments secret.

Adodhamair (Goddess of fire and destruction)

Symbol: grinning flame.

Worshippers are quite rare, but a dangerous cult is said to exist, spanning many mannish realms.

Erebus (God of primal darkness)

Symbol: a black circle.

Worshippers include orcs, trolls, and dragonspawn. 

Eriss (Goddess of strife and discord)

Symbol: swirling whirlpool of blood.

Worshippers include orcs, trolls, and human berserkers.

Zaroxi (Goddess of seduction, hedonism and lust)

Symbol: flowing wineskin.

Everekka (Pale Queen of the Mists)

Symbol: circle of stars on a black night sky.

Once the leader of the Night (Star) Elves during the latter part of the Era of the Elves, Everekka now rules a beautiful fastness formed by her formidable will. She continues to have many followers on Ukrasia, and indeed remains keenly interested in events there. It is believed that she plans to return one day in order to resume her war against humanity. 

Infernal Court (Location: The Nine Hells. Ruler: Asmodeus)

The Infernal Court is openly worshipped only by certain ‘evil’ humanoids – e.g., Orcs, Trolls, and the like. In human lands, by contrast, worship of the Infernal Court and its devilish lords typically is prohibited, and punishable with death.

Asmodeus (God of domination and evil)

Symbols: many, including (a) bleeding pentagram; (b) ram’s head; and (c) rod. Others are less well known.

Glade Court (Location: The Glade lands. Ruler: The Green Lady)

The deities of the Glade Court are revered as a unified pantheon by the Northric and Vilkorith peoples (that is, most followers worship the pantheon as a whole, not individual deities). 
In realms where both the Solar Court and the Glade Court are worshipped, the followers of the latter are referred to as adherents of the “Old Faith.”

Green Lady (Goddess of agriculture, nature, and beauty; ruler of the Glade Court).

Symbol: green circle.

Azure Mistress (Goddess of the sea).

Symbol: stylized blue wave.

Pale Hunter (God of hunters and wanderers).

Symbol: full (hunter’s) pale moon.

Iron Man (God of mortality, natural death, and final judgement; enemy of the undead).

Symbol: iron scales of justice on a pale background.

Grey Warrior (God of war and bravery). 

Symbol: stylized spear and shield, or sword and shield (the shield is always grey).

White Witch (Goddess of herbs, lore, non-evil magic)

Symbol: white staff on a green leaf.

The Beastlords (“Lords” of Cats, Dogs, Eagles, Owls, Horses, etc.). 

Solar Court (Location: The Tier Lands. Ruler: Amithos)

The Solar Court was worshiped as a unified pantheon throughout the Rylindar Imperium. Once a single hierarchical church – often referred to as ‘the Solar Church’ or simply ‘the Church’ – it suffered a schism following the ascension of the Autarch towards the end of the First Age of Humanity. The portion of the Church located in the lands that resisted the Autarch became known as the “Church of the Free Sun.” In the part of the Church under the control of the Autarch, emphasis was placed on the worship of Ulrika, Vanimos, and Zerrick.

Amithos (God of the sun and justice; ruler of the Solar Court)

Symbol: sun (orange) with stylized rays.

Fiona (Goddess of community and healing)

Symbol: white rose.

Murth (God of trade and travel)

Symbol: golden boot on a blue or green background.

Ulrika (Goddess of war and strategy)

Symbol: crossed red swords in front of stylized map.

Vanimos (God of knowledge and secrets)

Symbol: stylized eye (looking directly ahead).

Zerrick (God of discipline and control)

Symbol: white fist holding a stylized mace or rod.  

 

 

I am the Darkmaster

I’m slowly working on a setting for a forthcoming Against the Darkmaster (VsD) campaign. The world is called Ukrasia and my focus will be on a northern island called Amarrah.

One thing that I decided for the setting is to have three “Darkmasters” from three different Ages of the world. I want these Darkmasters to be opposed to each other, in addition to the “free peoples.” However, only the most recent Darkmaster is active in the world at the time of the campaign (the others nonetheless have numerous followers and agents causing trouble).

Another goal that I have for the setting is that I want to make room in the world and provide rationales for the core VsD peoples – “kins” in VsD terminology (“races” in old-school parlance) – and monsters. Among the playable kins, in addition to the usual humans (and ersatz Dúnedain, “High Men”), halflings, dwarves, elves, and orcs, there are “wild folk” (human-ish woodland folk that resemble, I think, the Woses of Middle-earth) and “firbolgs” (giant-ish people with ram horns). The firbolgs are quite interesting, in that they suffer from a “Doom” because they turned against their Darkmaster in the dim past. In addition to the playable kins, there are “Dragonspawn” (humanoid dragon folk) that also need to be explained.

In order to make a place for the firbolgs – and the VsD versions of giants as well – I decided that the first Darkmaster will be a “High Jarl” of the Giants (once masters of the most powerful civilization in the world). This High Jarl also created the dragonspawn to serve as soldiers in the Giants’ war against the Elves. I thought that it would be cool to evoke Norse mythology and call the High Jarl “Ymir.” When I was looking at the entry on Ymir at Wikipedia, though, I noticed that an alternative name for Ymir is “Bláinn” – remarkably close to my first name, “Blain”!

The spirit of Gygax seized me, and I thought that it would be fun to use my three names (first, middle, and last) as the basis for all three of Ukrasia’s Darkmasters (just as many of the important characters’ names within the World of Greyhawk are plays on “Gygax,” including the mad wizard “Zagyg” of the original Castle Greyhawk).

This is only an initial draft, but below are my current ideas for the three Darkmasters of Ukrasia. 

The Chained Colossus of the Deep

High-Jarl of the Giants, Bláinn (Ymir), “The Master of Dragons.”

Bláinn has been chained to the bottom of the ocean for ~15,000 years. (According to legend, the Colossus’s writhing causes storms and great waves.)

Coveted Artifact: The Crystal Rods (five keys for the five chains that bind him to the ocean floor).

Servants:

Lieutenants: Dragons, the “Dragon Kings” (human sorcerers?), Greater Giants.

Minions: Dragonspawn, Evil Men, Lesser Giants.

Spies: Snakes, Dragonlings (evil ‘pseudo-dragons’).

The Pale Queen of the Mists

Over-Queen of the Night, Everekka the Beautiful. (Name modified from “Everett.”)

Former leader of the genocidal “Night” (Star) Elves during the “Era of the Elves.”

Has been ensconced in her enchanted fastness on the Plane of Flux for ~ 3,700 years (since her defeat at the end of the Elvish Era).

Coveted Artifact: Unknown (if any).

Servants:

Lieutenants: Night (Star) Elves and Unseelie. 

Minions: Dwergar, Orcs, Trolls.

Spies: Boggarts, Owls.

The Lich Autarch

Former Autarch of the Rylindar Imperium (the “High Man” empire), N’veldar the Arch-Lich. (Name modified from “Neufeld.”)

Greatly weakened after the theft of his staff and subsequent defeat at the end of the “First Age of Humanity” (the Age’s 2,550th year). 

(Only recently has the Autarch re-emerged, after the first millennium of the Second Age of Humanity.)

Coveted Artifact: The Blackfire Staff (drinks the souls of those slain; rumoured to be the only weapon that can truly slay N’veldar).

Servants:

Lieutenants: Dark Knights, Dark Mages, and Vampires.

Minions: Evil Men, Ghouls, Undead Thralls.

Spies: Gorcrows, Ravens, Bats. 

The Autarch's primary servant on the Island of Amarrah: 

The Prince of Rooks (who dwells within the Black Rookery in the northeastern reach of the isle). 

The Prince and his lieutenants ride giant rooks.

So that’s it for now. I’ll post more about Ukrasia and Amarrah as my work progresses. 

[Credits: The top image is from the Against the Darkmaster core book. The picture of Ymir is from the musician Danheim's song of the same name. The final two pictures are from Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings movie.]