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The following article contains information on who the builders of Mayac Choro were, gives some clues as to the origins and nature of the Forlorn Hope, and is connected to the present and future direction of the campaign. Players in my campaign are asked not to read beyond this point - but knowing players they will anyway. :-)
Just a bit of editorial comment before we start with the meat of this article. I created Dashwood in an attempt to explore the potential of "Fading Suns" for quirky pseudo-mythic epics of the "Star Wars" type. This trip into 'legendary', as opposed to 'heroic' fantasy was a bit of a departure for me (usually Oliver Reed in "The Three Musketeers" or Walter Matthau (sp?) in "Blackbeard" is of an influence on my style of play than anything in "First Knight", "Camelot" or "Lord of the Rings"). However with Dashwood I tried to go back to the classic cliches of high-fantasy and mixed them in with sizable dollops of Arthurian and European mythology. By throwing in some pseudo-psychological dualism (the conscious vs. subconscious debate in particular) I hoped to flag the moral stances of the various factions early and clearly, further adding elements of legendary role-playing.
Ruler: Council of Cities (Dashwood), Magian Oligarchy (Gateway).
Cathedral: The Temple of Celestial Light (Dashwood).
Agora: Windrider's Guild (Dashwood), Magian Oligarchy (Gateway).
Garrison: 5 (the system taken as a whole).
Capital: None (Dashwood), Gateway (Gateway).
Jumps: 3
Adjacent Worlds: The Duat, Vera Cruz (dayside); Orestes (parallel).
(The Dashwood system is a Lost World. The above is based on what was known at the time of the Fall. Which jumproutes are actually open and, of those, which have
known co-ordinates will depend on how the system is to be introduced to the game. In the following history, it is assumed that all the jumproutes are open.)
Solar System: Helios [Sun], Taliesin 1, Dashwood (Oracle + 4 minor moons) 2, Asteroid Belt - the Magis' Path (Gateway) 3, Balthazar (9 moons) 4, Melkhior (4 moons) 5, Gabriel (Uriel) 6, Sandalphon 7, Jumpgate
Tech: 3-7 on Dashwood (in some areas the culture is technologically conservative, in others highly advanced), 6-7 on Gateway
Human Population: 450,000,000 (Dashwood: 440 million+; Gateway: 5 million)
Alien Population: ? (no accurate census figures exist for the Slowoaks, 200 million+ for the Fimm)
Resources: Timber (Bonsaiwood), wool, salt, chemicals (nitrates, phosphates, chlorides, etc), archeotech, solar collectors, lightweight composites
Exports: Currently none. If contact is re-established with the Known Worlds or the Kurgan Caliphate any of the above.
Early surveys by DeWeinz Cartel ships revealed that, under its heavy and continual cloud cover, Planet Dashwood was a world with very little habitable land. Although the upper layers of the immensely thick atmosphere of the world was composed of a breathable oxygen-nitrogen mix, in its lower levels the presence of various exotic phosphates and chlorides in the atmosphere made life very uncomfortable (ie: fatal) for humans without heavy protective gear at 'sea level'. Only a few island-mountains stick out above the lethal mist cover and into the habitable layer. The cloud cover of the planet is subject to tidal ebbs and flows caused by the gravitational pull of Dashwood's large moon, the Oracle. When these tides of fog are at their highest the people of the cliff-cities stay indoors.
As a result of the awkward topography of the planet land on Dashwood has always been at a premium and resulted in the early adoption of cliff-side and hanging cities. When the scientists of the Second Republic obtained anti-gravity technology from the Vau the inhabitants of Dashwood were among the first to adapt the technology to create more living space. Some of these cloud cities fell below the cloud cover after the fall of the Republic resulted in a lack of materials and trained personnel able to keep them aloft, however others still float to this day.
Transportation on the planet is as problematic as the question of living space and has been solved by a number of ingenious expedients. Only the wealthy are able to afford the various skimmers, flitters and flightsuits constructed in the flying cities. For the more humble inhabitants of the planet the main recourse for moving between the island-mountains is to turn to a number of guilds have arisen on Dashwood. These guilds are famous for training various native and imported flying creatures as riding and cargo animals.
First Republic
2351 - DeWeinz Cartel survey ships from Duat discover Dashwood jumproad
2358 - Colonisation of the system for exploitation of mineral and gas reserves
2597 - Dashwood slips from DeWeinz Cartel control as Sathra Revolts dismember the First Republic
Diaspora Era
2600s - The labour unions and management left behind by the DeWeinz withdrawal establish the Republic of Dashwood under leadership of the Bulgarin family
2700s - Justinian and Chauki influence in Dashwood system increases
2823 - Prophet reputed to have visited Dashwood
2964 - sentience of Slowoaks discovered
2968 - House Justinian protectorate established at Chauki expense
2967 - Universal Church proclaimed official religion of House Justinian domains (including Dashwood), House DeMoley convert en masse
3119 - House Bulgarin, with Chauki backing, attempts coup
3120 - House Casaubon replaces Bulgarin as Justinian 'deputies' on Dashwood
Republican Period
3512 - Dashwood joins Second Republic
3600s - Gateway created (see the More on Gateway file for details)
3755 - Fimm granted reservation under Dashwood's cloud cover
3800s - Choronese mathematico-religious cult (see Mayac Choro for more on this organisation) establishes itself on Dashwood
3850s - First floating cities, developed from Vau technology, appear in the sky
3998 - Church of the Celestial Sun recognised as state religion of the Second Republic
New Dark Ages
4000 - Fall of the Old Republic
4000s - Institution of Generational Contracts becomes popular (effective beginnings of serfdom)
4101 Patriarch Benedict III brings the Cleansing Flame to the Duat
4102 - Choronese mathematico-religious cult goes underground to escape Avestite pogroms which spread to Dashwood. Destruction of sizable forests of Slowoaks. Beginnings of transformation of the Knights of Phavius and the Sons of Typhon from rival sects of the Choronese cult to mystical orders
4235 - House Justinian leads armada against Temple Avesti
4400 - Hazat begin to exert pressure on House Justinian over Dashwood
4407 - War for control of the planet between Justinian and Hazat begins
4411 - Justinian loses war for Dashwood to Hazat. Jumpgate closed!
The Isolation
4412 - Stranded noble houses begin to fight over control of the planet again
4415 - Gateway declares itself neutral in the struggle for Dashwood, and later withdraws from contact with the planet entirely
4452 - Terrorists destroy the gravity motors of the flying city of Icarus, several million die. Abatement of the civil wars follows immediately
4461 - Exhausted houses agree to a power-sharing arrangement. Houses Hazat, Justinian, Juandaastas, Casaubon, Bulgarin and DeMoley form the Council of Cities. This council is joined by other power groups over the centuries
4465 - Under political pressure from the unrepresented islands and cities of Dashwood the noble houses create a second chamber of the Council of Cities for the commons known as the Freeman's Council
4481 - Synod of Ninevah creates the Temple of Celestial Light in modern form
4625 - Windrider's Guild gains seat on the Council of Cities
4637 - First attack on human settlements by Fimm. Knights of Phavius, who are instrumental in repelling the Fimm, reveal that the Sons of Typhon are co-ordinating the Fimm attacks
4638 - Knights of Phavius granted non-voting seat on the Council of Cities
4700s - Fimm attacks intensify over the century. Knights of Phavius granted voting rights on the Council of Cities
4850s - Purging Wars begin. Sons of Typhon begin to focus Fimm assaults on wiping out the Knights of Phavius over any other consideration
4855 - First human Typhoner spies discovered on Bulgarin city
4980s - Last stronghold of the Knights of Phavius wiped out by months of Fimm assaults and waves of assassins.
The culture of Dashwood differs from that of the Known Worlds in several respects. The major differences stem from the closely-packed nature of life on the planet, the lack of a monolithic and persecuting church, the endurance and common acceptance of some Republican technologies and institutions, and the acceptance of psychic abilities. The native language of the Dashwooders is a varient of the Urthish spoken in the Old Republic, but has deviated from the standard under the influence of the mathematically-based 'Perfect Tongue' of the Choronese cult. As a result it is considered sufficiently different from Urthish to constitute a distinct language (much as do Vuldrok and Kurgan).
Whereas many of the Known Worlds appear to suffer from a deficit of people Dashwood, by contrast, has almost too many. For several centuries there has been an ongoing campaign to keep the level of population growth to limited levels. This is partially to keep crowding in the cities down, and partially because of the problem of food: there is no spare arable land on the planet and very little grazing land unexploited by the various domesticated animals (goats, Chervins, pigs, yaks and brutes) farmed here. Although the scientists of the cloud cities have had some success with vat-grown foods these are proving expensive to produce and there is little hope of an agrarian revolution on the scale experienced in the Old Republic.
Dashwood differs from the majority of the Known Worlds in that, due to the fragmented geographical structure (there are archipelagos of island-mountains but no large continents), it has no one dominating organisation. In many ways the political complexion of Dashwood resembles that of classical Greece: the various mountain-kingdoms and cloud cities are largely responsible for their own actions under their own ruling bodies, be they noble houses, oligarchies, technocracies, theocracies, democracies or any of half-a-hundred other '-ocracies'.
The nearest Dashwood has to a single ruling body are the talking shops of the Council of Cities and the Freemans Council which have always been run on a basis of the consent of the governed (it's difficult to run an autocracy when the constituency can choose to fly away!). In recent centuries the councils have tried to create a standing army to protect against Fimm assaults, but until recently faced only limited success given the ability of Knights of Phavius to react to situations rapidly and vigorously. With the extinction of the Knights in recent years the Councils are going through the greatest upheaval of their existence.
The final aspect of Dashwood that visitors may find disturbing is the remarkable open-mindedness of the people. Despite Fimm attacks the people of Dashwood are open to new ideas and alien races to a degree peasents of the Known Worlds are not. This is largely due to the positive results the people see from their interaction with technology (the cloud cities, flightsuits, gravity tubes, new food sources, etc.) and partially due to the exploits of the Knights of Phavius, a now-extinct body of psychic warriors who fought selflessly over several centuries to defend the Dashwooders from Fimm attacks.
There are various groups on Dashwood who will be unfamiliar to those familiar with the Known Worlds. The section below introduces the most important of them, giving an overview of their interest and goals.
Mountain Kingdoms
The island-mountains of Dashwood are almost all ruled by one or other of the so-called Mountain Kingdoms. Despite their name these can be ruled by any organization, although Houses Justinian and Casaubon are famous for their extensive land holdings. The majority of these polities survive through farming, mining and supplying the material and manpower needs of Dashwood's various cloud cities. It is the mountains which tend to bear the brunt of Fimm assaults and their lower slopes are often dotted with guard towers, walls and garrisons.
Cloud Cities
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Windriders Guild
The Windrider's Guild is possibly the single most influential organization on Dashwood. Although the various noble houses and city councils maintain their own airborne defences it is to the Windrider's Guild that all look for the maintainence of day-to-day trade and communication around Dashwood. These heroic, adventurous figures are admired and respected on Dashwood much as the Charioteers are within the Known Worlds: stories are told of their exploits at all levels of society and every child on Dashwood wants to be a Windrider when he grows up!
In addition to the vast number of flying creatures at its disposal (mainly the indiginous Zephlins and the Skybaxes genetically engineered for use on Dashwood during the Second Republic) the guild also has innumerable hang-gliders, skimmers and flitters of its own, and also contracts out for piloting and pathfinding work. The Windriders are nothing if not ambitious and have recently been experimenting with high sub-orbital flight using modified courier craft.
The Temple of Celestial Light
With the closing of the jumpgate the Orthodox Church of Dashwood underwent something of an identity crisis in the 4400s. With no Patriarch for guidance, and no access to the archives of Holy Terra, how were they to maintain orthodoxy? As time went on the Church came to the conclusion that the jumpgate was closed forever and that they had best get on with tending to the souls of the faithful. During the eocumenical Synod of Ninevah in 4481 the Orthodox, Amalthean and other sects thrashed out their differences and created the Temple of Celestial Light.
Remembering the lessons taught about unopposed fanaticism by the terror of the Avestite pogroms of the 4100s, and those about autonomy of action taught by the paralysis which overcame the Orthodox sect on the closure of the jumpgate, it was eventually decided that the Temple would take on a congregational basis, with new priests being ordained by those of at least three neighbouring parishes. Some local variation in beliefs would be permitted so long as the essentially united nature of the Temple was not threatened. To allow "Reflective Growth" in the church on Dashwood new philosophical and theological questions would be debated at an annual Synod held on Ninevah.
Since that time the church on Dashwood has settled into a remarkably enlightened pattern. Technosophy is still frowned upon, but the openness of the church to the use of technology is quite remarkable by Known World standards. The annual synod on a flying city serves to regularly reinforce to priests of the Temple the sense of how dependent the people of Dashwood are on technology to survive.
Note: In game terms theurgic priests of the Temple of the Celestial Light are able to use church, Orthodox and Amalthean Theurgic rites. There is no Inquisitorial synod and the ethos of the church is markedly Mahayana in outlook.
The Knights of Phavius
Despite their fame and prestige as the protectors of Dashwood from the marauding Fimm very little is known about the philosophy of the organization known as the Knights of Phavius other than their pro-active and positivist approach towards human self-improvement. After centuries of existence as an underground sect they revealed their presence to the people of Dashwood in 4637 during an attack on a human settlement by Fimm raiders. Displaying strange powers and wielding ancient weaponry the Knights were able to force the Fimm back and, after initial misgivings about the provanence of their powers, they were eventually offered a non-voting seat on the Council of Cities in the mid 4700s.
For several centuries the Knights of Phavius were Dashwood's best defence against the Fimm. Their optimism, integrity and willingness to associate with all levels of society made them folk heroes to the majority of Dashwooder, and even members of noble houses were pleased when children of their houses were chosen to join the Knights. By the 4900s however they were in a state of seige. The Fimm were growing bolder and more numerous than ever and, by the 4950s the Knights were losing men faster than they could be trained. By the 4980s this brave order was extinct and Dashwood was forced to rely on itself for protection.
Note: I wrote the Knights of Phavius as an obvious homage to the Jedi Knights of "Star Wars" fame. As their name implies they are followers of the Phavian/Favyana idealistic philosophy of human self-realization combined with the conscience social of the Choronese cult in its heyday. The Knights of Phavius had preserved several caches of Second Republic wonder-weapons: flux/mistswords, fusion guns, energy shields, etc. and granted them to Knights of proven valour and idealism. Whether any of the Knights actually survived the final Fimm assault, and whether any of their caches are still in existence is a matter for the GM to decide.
For an interesting take on a path of mist sword centred Psi powers see the Myst article at FS Renaissance.
The Sons of Typhon
Very little is known about this group by the Dashwooders. It is believed that they are the hidden demonic masters who rule the Fimm and who ordered the Knights of Phavius wiped out.
Note: I wrote the Sons of Typhon as a group of gribbly mystics a la the Sith from "Star Wars". They are meant to be truly evil bad guys who make the Decados look cute and cuddly - the sort of people who have no qualms about crushing their enemies and about whom the heroes should have no qualms either. Having destroyed the Knights of Phavius they currently plan to infiltrate the kingdoms and cities of Dashwood and subvert their rulers from within using their evil mind-bending powers.
The nature of this sect of the Choronese cult has been left ambiguous. They probably hold to a Vision Dark similar to that of Tahir Al-Malik the Doomed, who believed that the the only way to survive an impending apocalypse was to combine with the darkness. You can safely assume that they are in communion with all sorts of ancient threats from beyond the stars (What connection have they to the Invisible Path, the Draconians, etc? Are they a cult of Void Kraken worshippers? Psychic, Theurges or Antinomians?).
One particularly nasty idea that a player of mine came up with was that the Sons of Typhon are all suffering from an odd form of Urge/Hubris/Fealty/whatever which preserves them beyond their normal lifespan and which they can only stave off the ultimate effects of by subsisting off the life-forces of the living. This hunger, plus their hatred for the living, gives them a reason to send the Fimm on rampages against the Dashwooders. "Soul-eating Zombie Gribblys of Evil Doom" anyone? :-)
The Slowoaks
When it was first surveyed it was safely established by DeWeinz survey teams that Dashwood had no native sentients and no natural predators that could not easily by culled. Given the natural Earth-like layer in the upper atmosphere and the wealth of materials to be extracted the planet was considered ideal for settlement. The presence of the only native sentients was not percieved due to the natural human tendency to not see the wood for the trees, so to speak.
During the mid 2900s the logging industry on Dashwood, exploiting the forests of native Bonsaiwood, experienced a severe setback. Despite the high pay offered by the Chauki-owned logging company they could not induce lumberjacks to stay for more than a few days. These traditionally thick-skinned men complained of poor sleep, bad digestion and a paranoid feeling of constantly "being watched". House Chauki lost a lot of money due to this phenomenon, and, to their embarressment, it was not until the intervention of a House Justinian team in 2964 that the source of the paranoia was discovered: the forest itself disliked the loggers. The Bonsaiwood 'trees' were found, through psychic probing, to be sentient!
This discovery was an immediate sensation. House Chauki complained of a Justinian trick but, advised by House Justinian, the Republic of Dashwood announced the creation of reserves for the native 'Slowoaks'; reserves which, coincidentally, covered most of House Chauki's logging concessions. It would later discovered that the Feugzugs (lit: "flying things"), a form of self-mobile flying plant native to Dashwood, were actually the immature form of the Slowoak and the protection created by the reservations was extended to them. Enraged at the lack of compensation for the nationalization of their forests, House Chauki attacked Dashwood. House Justinian, at the request of the Dashwooders, moved in to repel their assault and soon established a 'self-defence league' (ie: a protectorate).
During the Second Republic the Slowoaks became both the focus of study by the Phavian Institute and a site of Gjartin pilgrimage. A Gjartin temple was established in the heart of one of the reservations (apparently with the blessing of the vast sentients). Although found to be sentient and capable of communicating psychically with humans (although common reference points were rare enough the Slowoaks always seemed happy to 'talk') the Slowoaks never applied for either recognition or membership in the Second Republic. Although this surprised many people Edward Casaubon's famous book "Above the Clouds: A Guide to Dashwood" put the problem into perspective: "What does a tree want for that the Pancreator cannot give?".
The Gjartins, after years of lobbying, recieved permission to use the Slowoak groves as a burial site, and, over time, a remarkable thing occurred. Phavian scholars found that the Slowoaks were somehow becoming aware of things beyond Dashwood, learning about the universe without leaving Dashwood. Numerous theories were subscribed to for this, but the most popular was that the Slowoaks somehow absorbed the memories of people buried near them. This was to start a tradition which endured the Fall of the Republic and which survives until the present. Some Dashwooders attempt to have themselves buried in a Slowoak grove so that their memories might live on in the great plants and someday make them more capable of communicating with humans. Some priests in the church still look towards the day when the first Slowoak joins the Temple of Celestial Light.
Note: The Slowoaks were written in to provide an element of mystery and wonderment to Dashwood. A forest of sentient trees which are capable of absorbing the memories of the dead have fantastic potential for 'world of wonders' role-playing. Imagine the possibilities of finding a strange old Gjartin 'druid' living deep in a forest, a druid to whom the trees really do tell their secrets. Alternatively there are the possibilities of having a psychic character sleep in a Slowoak grove by accident, prophecies, visions and mystical memories galore could result; or just a headache and the urge to stand really still for a few days... :-)
The Fimm
The bogeymen of Dashwood are strange, hateful creatures which live below the eternal cloud cover of the planet in the roiling hell of poison gases near its surface. They are infamous for attacking human settlements and killing or carrying off anyone they find there. The Fimm seem inimicable to humans; no attempt to communicate with these creatures has ever produced anything other than a violent response.
This section gives away the origin of the Fimm, the reason they hate humans and some clue as to the nature of the Sons of Typhon. Players look away now!
The tragedy of the Fimm is that they are a race in exile; they are not even native to Dashwood and their story is one of the shames of the Second Republic. Their original home is now lost, although their amphibian morphology points to a possible connection with the ancient Oro'ym race of Madoc. Whatever the truth of the matter when they were discovered by the Second Republic in the mid 3600s they were found living a marginal, stone-age existence on an ecologically fragile waterworld now lost to the Known Worlds. Unlike so many instances, first contact with the new race was a breeze! The Fimm, who had ancient legends of Gods from Beyond the Sky, welcomed the humans as demi-gods and listened in awe to their kind offers to make their world into a paradise. The Republic set their finest terraformers to work on the world, but something now lost to the mists of time went wrong with the process. The ecological balance of the planet swung wildly out of equilibrium, all-but killing off the ecosphere and reducing the amphibian Fimm to dire straits indeed.
Eventually the Republic, desperate to salvage something from the as-yet secret catastrophe, re-engineered the terrified Fimm's biology to something capable of surviving the now-poisonous atmosphere of the planet. The Fimm were changed from the soft-skinned amphibians of the first contact to hulking, armour-skinned brutes capable of breathing foul vapours and surviving the near-lethal doses of radiation which scoured the devastated world. The Republic declared the world off-limits to visitors and maintained a standing watch over it for a century.
Over time it became clear that the Fimm homeworld was sliding towards extinction. Humanitarian sensibilities within the Republicans demanded that they preserve the Fimm's lives even as they destroyed their world. After years of debate, during which time more Fimm died, the Republican scientists swept up the few remaining Fimm and stole them away to laboratories in deep space. Here the Fimm underwent their second tranformation. Under anasthesia the Fimm became even more optimized for survival in adverse conditions than previously. When they came to the poor creatures found themselves on another poisoned world, this one of horrible pressures and eternal clouds. Thus in the 3750s the Fimm came to Dashwood, a slave race toiling for their Gods; working to recoup the horrible losses the failed terraforming of their home had cost the Republic.
In their new home the Fimm culture underwent a changing of ways. They became a bitter warrior race, determined to slowly build their strength until they had the might to destroy the Gods Above. Angry at the universe and longing to make those promiscuous deities suffer as they had suffered. It took them nearly a thousand human years to escape the shackles of their oppressors. Over time the Gods Above eventually ceased demanding tribute from the Fimm, and the Fimms had discovered new gods living in their hellish land. These 'Gods Below', as the Fimm came to revere them, hated the Gods Above as much as they did and the two groups found it easy to make common cause against those who dwelt in the sunlit lands above.
Over the following centuries the boldest warriors of the Fimm climbed the Pillars of Heaven to find out what had become of the Gods Above. Although many fell, either to still-functioning Republican automated defences or to the natural perils of the journey, some returned and were able to tell their people that the Gods Above were weak now! The Gods now lived as did the Fimm, by hunting and herding, their silver warriors had gone and how was the time to be revenged! In 4637, at the behest of the Gods Below the Fimm began their crusade against the Gods Above, and the rest is history...
Zephlin
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Body: Strength 21, Dexterity 5, Endurance 15
Mind: Wits 1, Perception 3, Tech 0
Natural Skills: Dodge 1, Impress 6, Observe 2, Vigor 10
Weapons: None
Armour: 4d
Vitality: -10/-8/-6/-4/-2/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0
Skybax
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Body: Strength 12, Dexterity 8, Endurance 7
Mind: Wits 2, Perception 6, Tech 0
Natural Skills: Dodge 2 (7 in flight), Fight 6, Impress 7, Observe 8, Sneak 5, Vigor 8
Weapons: Claws (4d+VP), Beak (5d+VP)
Armour: 2d (thick skin)
Vitality: -10/-6/-3/0/0/0/0/0/0/0
The Fimm
These creatures are the bogeymen of Dashwood. When the mist-tides are high the humans of the planet huddle indoors and keep their weapons handy, listening for the hissing breath and squealing voices of these terrible creatures...
Body: Strength 7, Dexterity 7, Endurance 9
Mind: Wits 5, Perception 6, Tech 4
Spirit: Introvert 2, Extrovert 7, Calm 1, Passion 6, Faith 2, Ego 5
Natural Skills: Charm 0, Dodge 6, Fight 7, Impress 8, Melee 5, Observe 6, Sneak 5, Vigor 9
Learned Skills: Survival 7
Weapons: Claws (4d+VP), Clubs (5-6d+VP)
Armour: 8d (armoured skin)
Vitality: -10/-8/-6/-4/-2/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0
Changed Powers: Exo-skeleton (Carapace), Gills, Alternate Repiration, Special Senses (Cat Eyes).
Note: The Fimm are almost blind in direct sunlight or strong artificial light.
This file last modified 29/02/2000.
