Tag: groam

Sirlo Shakrav, Cosmologist

2017-08-20

A character illustration for any fantasy -themed role-playing game setting. She is designed to fit my own fantasy -themed setting Cresia.

 

 

Name: Sirlo Shakrav

Race: human

Location: Northern Groam

Sirlo Shakrav spent her childhood in a small and strict monastery. She was essentially abandoned after having showed dangerous signs of unexplained phenomena happening around her before she was even one year of age. Her parents were deeply superstitious and feared they could not handle Sirlo. Although they eventually left her to the monastery, they still retained visitation rights and tried to understand their daughter’s abilities to the best of their limited minds. Sirlo’s early life was simple and restrained; she was essentially denied cultivating her innate natural abilities as a magic user and she was actively discouraged to stifle her talents. The strategy of the monastery failed royally and at the volatile age of ten she was returned to her parents as an abomination the monastery was not able to guide to the path of the righteous. A few years went by and after constant struggling with their daughter, her parents sought help from outside. Eventually they found a suitable mentor for Sirlo – Archmage Chenius who is currently a member of the ruling elite of Myrna. At the time Chenius was conducting unknown experimentations in a private keep some in northern Groam and he had cultivated a reputation among the local populace as a powerful wielder of the ancient magical arts. Chenius took young Sirlo under his wings without testing her in any way; he immediately recognized the uncultivated potential the young girl had.

Sirlo remained in Groam after Chenius returned to his homeland Myrna to regain an active position in the ruling council after an absence of a decade. She  “inherited” Chenius’ lands and property although the archmage’s keep had been reduced to a pile of rubble after a spectacular magical catastrophe that only miraculously didn’t consume any lives. She now lives in a nearby cottage. Archmage Chenius taught Sirlo many wonderful things over the years and instructed Sirlo not to come to Myrna until she has attained a much more fine-grained control of her powers lest the powerful but unpredictable mana currents inherent in Myrna would surely produce catastrophic problems. Sirlo remains in Groam trying to control and master her powers and has become a local figure of importance as she provides assistance for a myriad of problems against a small fee.

Sirlo is a Cosmologist; she controls and changes the physical manifestations of the energies of the universe. Her innate abilities probably would allow her to master other types of magic as well but for unknown reasons the cosmological powers are so powerful within her that she can barely maintain them at bay even at relatively low magic flow areas such as northern Groam. Perhaps if she finds ways to master these powers she could focus her interests to some other magical arts.

Today, Sirlo lives alone in relative seclusion in a cottage nearby the demolished keep of the archmage. She ventures into neighboring villages and towns regularly to perform odd jobs that earn her enough coin to cope. She is in good terms with all the nearby communities although there’s some friction with small local superstitious groups that see her (and others like her) more of a threat than an asset even if she has time and again proven of not harboring any ill will towards the local communities.

 

Marcheval Dufien “The Beheader”

2016-08-13

Name: Marcheval Dufien
Race: Human
Location: Udynaesses, Groam

The city of Udynaesses located in the border region of Groam and Caheb has been a lawless pit ever since the area was ravaged by a devastating plague and while the region in general has more or less recovered, the city of Udynaesses unfortunately has not. With a long and glorious history as the once capital city of Caheb, Udynaesses was seized by Groam during the period of plague some 80 years ago and is the southernmost population center of Groam. Groam hasn’t had an interest in keeping the place in line though and mostly this is because it’s hard to reach from Groam – one would have to travel through dense jungles, cross snow peaked mountains or risk dehydration if reaching by desert.

The de facto ruler of Udynaesses is now Marcheval Dufien who is known and feared in the region less affectionately as “The Beheader” because beheading his enemies is his signature gesture of power. Marcheval lives in a small fortified desert castle (Villa Hargassah – in reality not a castle but a well fortified villa) just a few kilometers south of Udynaesses. His power in the region is partially backed up by groups of Caheb origin wishing to see the city revert back to Caheb and this goal can possibly be achieved by disrupting the nominal leader of the city – commander Remnor Galant. Galant is appointed and backed up Groam but in truth has little say in the day-to-day affairs of the city.

Marcheval is of mixed descendence himself having a father from Groam and mother from Caheb and he himself initially had no political motivation – he didn’t care which country called the city as it’s own – but things have changed since the day when he saw a possibility,  grabbed it and became the feared ruler of the city by joining a few of the bigger outlaw groups and creating a unified force with him in the lead. Formerly he had made a name for himself by running various small-time crime operations in the region and gradually becoming a prominent crime ring leader. Since effectively taking over the city he has had ample opportunities to further line his pockets with coin and strengthen his presence in the region. He has no official intention of competing with the mighty countries Groam and Caheb – both of which countries haven’t shown much interest in returning rule of law to the city – but lately he has been contemplating with the possibility of forming an independent city-state and also seizing control of the harbor towns of Tash and Calemnor located in the south coast of Dhaira Bay. His plans are known only to a select handful of his most trusted men. Common people see him only as a violent opportunistic brute whose aim in life is to cause misery and pain.

As a man Marcheval is cunning and brutal. He believes that maintaining and attaining political and military power as well as coin actually requires the use of violence and that the brutality of the violence used must exceed that of the opposition – whoever it happens to be. Mercy and forgiveness are not words in his vocabulary. In a relaxed state he is actually quite jovial and friendly even but he rarely shows that side of himself in public; it’s strictly reserved to close friends and manifested within closed quarters.

It has been rumored that Marcheval is somehow linked to the so called Dhaira Cult and one of it’s leaders – the High Priestess Chya. The nature and intimacy of their relationship is subject to speculation, however, but apparently Chya has been spotted at Marcheval’s villa on several occasions when wild (and some witnesses would use the word vile as well) festivities have taken place. Whatever their relationship actually is, some of Marcheval’s backers are less than thrilled about it since Chya’s activities directly threaten many prominent families and the coastal city of Tash in particular. And since the city of Tash is firmly under Caheb control, groups that are friendly with Marcheval against the invading Groam are very wary not to undermine their own country’s power in nearby Caheb -controlled cities.

 

Hart Miklo, a Treasure Hunter

2016-04-24

Name: Hart Miklo
Race: Human
Location: Udynaesses, Groam

The life of a treasure hunter is really not that glamorous as common tavern chatter would have you believe. Then again, only the most extraordinary feats are usually good enough to end up as tales repeated over a tankard of ale. Hart Miklo was once a farm hand and a stable boy making a barely meager living in a small rural town of Maekones just north of the northernmost tip of Dhaira Bay in Groam. On free evenings he marveled at the tales spewed forth by a local veteran treasure hunter by the name of Janos Martol who liked his mug full of ale and a crowd around him centered at him. Janos Martol was full of big fat lies about his travels in search of long lost treasure  from the jungles west of Dhaira Bay. His tales of bravado and untold riches just waiting for their finder were enough to convince young Hart that his place in this world should be somewhere else than in a quiet little farm surrounded by horses, pigs and goats.

20 years later and Hart Miklo’s name is quite well known among the people as a treasure hunter of some fame. He has never struck gold as such but has been part of several successful expeditions that made back their investments a dozen times over. However, gambling, drinking and stupid wagers have been around Miklos’ adulthood as flies are around a dog’s turd and he has pretty much lost every penny he has ever gained. He also buried a sizable amount of money a few years ago while he was extremely drunk and come next day he forgot where he buried it. It’s somewhere in Udynaesses for sure and contains a few kilo’s worth of gold and silver artifacts retrieved from an ancient ruined temple.

Hart is an easy going fella with a witty mouth and fast legs both of which are many times used in conjunction as he has the bad habit of not controlling his verbal output while intoxicated and intoxication is not an uncommon state for him. He is quite funny to be around and while a bit mischievous at times, he is still trustworthy and values a good friendship above else. Hart has been in Udynaesses for a few years and considers this lawless city as his home now. He is always looking for jobs somehow related to treasure hunting and has a rather well rounded skill set for such work.

Lucius Valonia

2010-01-10

Name: Lucius Valonia
Race: Human
Location: Warder Keep, Akron

Warder Keep is a small fort in Akron just south of the Witchlight Strand border, some 100 kilometers North-East of the city of Agale. It originally belonged to Groam but as Akron separated from Groam and became an independent kingdom, the fort was abandoned and fell into disrepair for several decades until purchased by the mercenary leader Artor Gambori who renewed the fort and made it the base of his mercenary group.

Formerly a general of the smallish military forces of the independent city state of Karthis (located at around the border of Groam and Akron in the north) , general Valonia fell into severe arguments with the city-state’s new ruler. The arguments were mainly fueled by Lucius’ insistence to grow Karthis’ military presence in the area. Lucius believes that unstable times are ahead and that Karthians should wake up and stop smelling the roses – he thinks that the time of independent city states is running out. Lucius wanted to enhance Karthis’ military by growing all the aspects of the armed forces, forcing a mandatory military service time to all male Karthians and to set clearly defined borders (including peripheral forts and outposts) that the city-state will defend with vigilance and vigor. The soldiers in Karthis are all skilled and honored professionals, but Lucius thinks there are simply not enough of them to meet the challenges of tomorrow which eventually need these professionals of violence.

Lucius was eventually politically crushed over the course of three years and none of his ideas were taken seriously enough by the civil rulers. The mind-set in the city-state is that the skilled mercenary groups present in the city are enough of a military presence. After a time general Valonia found himself time and time again in bitter arguments and one day after a heated discussion with the leader of the city guardsmen – a man blindly loyal to the civil rulers – he simply announced his retirement, packed his belongings and left Karthis.

He rode straight to the Warder Keep where he met several men who he had both fought against and fought with in the past. And of course he knew their leader Artor Cambori very well too. The Warders were commonly used by Karthis to accomplish several semi-military tasks in and around Karthis. And many times Lucius was the final link in the hiring of these mercenaries.

Artor didn’t just embrace Lucius to be one of his mercenaries. He thought that Lucius had too much political baggage and too much enemies and was too proud to become but one rank’n’file mercenary of The Warders. After a night involving much drunken shenanigans, they ended up drawing their swords in disagreement. Other Warders stopped the men and threw Lucius out of the keep. But Lucius had made up his mind … he was to become one of The Warders. He set up camp about half a mile away from the keep. He then marched to the keep each and every day for a duration of almost 8 months to ask for a chance to become one of the mercenaries. Artor was not always there. After refusing Lucius for 99 times, Artor changed his mind and finally Lucius was accepted.

That was 5 years ago. Since that time Karthis has been needing the services of The Warders in alarmingly growing frequency.

 

 

Sir Welyk Paize

2015-08-22

Name: Sir Welyk Paize
Race: Human
Location: border regions of Groam and Zarnova

Formerly a leader of the mercenary group called The Eighteen Griffons, Sir Welyk Paize rose into fame after heroically saving the life of Lady Angelusia Wermander – the daughter to Lord Mortimer Wermander who is the high ambassador of Gruenroth to Groam and one of the chief counselors and a personal friend of the king of Groam. After that incident – which took place about 9 years ago – Sir Paize was recruited to the king’s guard but soon felt this new life was dull and uneventful and that life in the city with it’s comforts was for sissies and wimps. 8 years ago he was relieved of his guard duties and appointed to lead a newly formed military unit called The Emerald Unit. The unit is a first response group of stout warriors sent to deal with marauding undead creatures from the country of Zarnova. The unit operates in the border region of the two countries.

Sir Paize is a true warrior who lives and breathes action, adrenaline and combat. He does have a softer side to him in that he has a beautiful singing voice which he employs on still, cold nights after the duties of the day are over. Sir Paize leads his unit with a fervor and relentlessness but his men are hand picked by him and each and every man has had to prove their worth prior to being baptized in the unit. He enjoys the utmost respect among his men and his unit is well funded and supplied by the king himself who understands that all-out war with Zarnova is not in the best interests of the country but that still brutal force is required to send a message to the controllers of the intruding undead hordes.

Sir Paize is a skilled tactician and a logistical genius apart from being one of the best swordsmen in Groam to ever have existed. Little is known of his past and childhood but it’s needless to say his tough exterior started to grow at a young age.

He has an imposing figure of 190 cm and a rugged, weathered look in his face. His long reddish aubergine hair is a trademark of his and he usually wears his hair free-flowing.

 

Hargar Ber Marono, Ogre Tribal Leader

2014-03-25

Name: Hargar Ber Marono
Race: Ogre
Location: Wild mountain regions between Akron, Caheb and Groam.

The wild mountainous regions between Akron, Caheb and Groam are home to a wide variety of species. Many of which are brutish, violent and inherently dangerous and so the regions have never been claimed by any neighboring “civilized” country.

One of the species claiming the mountains their home is known simply as hill ogres – a misnomer really since many of their kin live in plains as well. Hargar Ber Marono leads a tribe of 80 hill ogres who dwell in areas south of Medon Pass. The tribe in question is semi-nomadic; they settle one area for some months at a time and then move to a different area returning to earlier locales doing cyclical moves between seven or eight camps. So when they abandon a camp, it usually takes at least a couple of years before they return to it. The camps are located roughly at the same elevation points (800-1500 meters from sea level), but span a rectangular region of at least 100 x 20 kilometers.

The ogres raid eagerly whatever they encounter and while their weapons may not be much more than stolen dull swords and broken axes, their fierce attitude and pack-hunting tactics make them quite deadly in deed. The entire tribe with even infants included take part in these raids and their females are not in any way considered lesser or inferior in any aspect of combat although the tribe is traditionally always led by a male ogre.

Trade routes between Akron and Groam using the Medon Pass are regularly targeted by Hargar’s tribe so any bigger convoys and caravans are discouraged to travel the pass without enough guards to be able to defend against the brutes.

Hargar doesn’t bow to anybody and is not a brute to be reasoned with. He considers humans as pesky annoyances but feels some sort of misplaced kinship with dwarves. If any dwarf should approach him with intentions to discuss trade-offs regarding free passage, it is less likely to end up in bloodshed. Although if he judges he has the upper hand, he makes demands completely ludicrous up to and including giving up females to be used as sex slaves by the brutes.

Queen of Akron, Lady Emily Erevan

2013-06-18

Name: Queen of Akron, Lady Emily Erevan
Race: human
Location: Mayhill, Akron

The young and beautiful wife of King Robin Erevan – Lady Emily Erevan – is immensely popular and well-liked throughout the kingdom of Akron. Her kind-hearted warmth and  empathy associated with her social sense and unpretentious demeanor have made her a true favorite among the nobility and commoners alike. The kingdom was blessed with a royal marriage only 6 years ago and while no offspring have yet appeared, the royal couple still has time to satisfy the demand for young princesses and princes. The queen comes from a wealthy family of nobles and merchants from Groam and while the marriage was arranged to simply strengthen the teetering and volatile relations between Akron and Groam, the royal couple have actually embraced each other and fallen in love.

Queen Erevan spends most of her time within the confines of Mayhill, but tours the kingdom at regular intervals both alone doing charity work and with the king as his equal. However, while she loves her role as a beloved leader, her attention span is not up to projects that require long-term planning and commitment. Testament to this are dozens of now-abandoned projects around the kingdom – like orphanages, cultural endeavors, non-profit businesses meant to employ poor people and shelters for wounded animals. Anything that eventually would require an annual donation directly from the queen, tends to get forgotten and buried.

The queen is the de facto role model in Mayhill and her words, demeanor and clothing are carefully scrutinized each and every time she steps outside the palace doors. She is well aware of that and enjoys the attention she is getting. Her influence to the matters of the kingdom is quite minimal and thus far she hasn’t shown any interests in the “serious” matters of foreign relations, taxation, upkeeping the armed forces, balancing the kingdom’s treasury or keeping happy the dozens of interest groups of the kingdom. She has, however, some power over the king’s decisions on matters more trivial – up to and including social matters, cultural matters and even those that concern the educational system – because the king simply wants to listen and please his queen.

 

 

Entrance to a Lost Castle

2006-12-10

Entrance to a Lost Castle.  This particular castle entrance is from Groam. The jungles of Groam hold in their bowels literally hundreds of old sites and locations of past. Some are now inhabited by creatures of the jungle, but some are home to much more sinister and dangerous dwellers. Much has been said about the legendary pre-Groam civilizations, but actual research is still pretty much nonexistent. Many explorers have dared the jungles in hopes of finding untold riches, but a good number of those have simply vanished never to be heard about again.

Maximillian Castillo

2010-12-19

 

Name: Maximillian Castillo
Race: Human
Location: Udynaesses, Groam

Max is a brother to Jaime Castillo, who runs a protection agency in Udynaesses, Groam. Max and Jaime shared a ship in the old days and Max was the first mate whilst Jaime helmed the vessel as a pirate captain (him being the elder of the two). When Jaime ditched the life on the high seas and established his land-based operation, Max declined both his brother’s ideas: that Max would either take command of the ship or that Max would become Jaime’s full partner. Instead Max went into a personal adventuring mode and spent years travelling around doing odd jobs as a sword-for-hire. As a pirate he had amassed quite a hefty bag of gold so he needed not worry about income whilst travelling. Still he did accept the odd job just out of curiosity or because he had made drunken promises, lost bets or because he just wanted to help someone who had provided food or shelter for him with no questions asked.

Now Maximillian is back in Udynaesses with his brother and is partly employed by Jaime’s outfit and partly unemployed. He is without a doubt one of the most experienced men Jaime can rely on. Not only because Maximillian has tremendous combat skills, but also because he speaks several languages he has picked up whilst travelling and is also knowledgeable about different cultures, customs and habits. And to top that, Max has also mastered interesting, useful and highly sought after skills in carpentry, horsemanship, tracking and blacksmithing. Sure, he is no master artisan, but he has more than basic understanding in each.

Unfortunately Max has some serious disadvantages that make him unsuited for many operations. He has great animosity towards gnomes, halflings and dwarves. Even to the degree that he is known to have sabotaged his own job just to cause harm to a dwarven client Jaime and him were helping out. He is also prone to heavy and excessive drinking binges that render him absolutely useless for any job. While drunk, Max doesn’t get violent or abusive as such, but he becomes extremely loud, impatient and exceedingly unfocused. When confronted, he always promises sobriety for a specific mission or an upcoming job, but half the time he either shows up already unfit for duty or if sober, at a whim he may just simply stop and forget whatever he is doing and get wasted at any available joint good enough to serve a drink. Jaime is very careful when using Max because he knows his own brother is a risk and a liability that needs constant management. Whenever there’s a “suitable mission”, Jaime makes sure Max is not left unattended. Usually Jaime puts Zane in charge of Max, but sometimes he himself takes the “babysit shift”.

Abandoned Castle Entrance

2008-10-11

An entrance to a forgotten castle. The deep and moist jungles of Groam contain a vast array of abandoned locations. The jungles have been known to have contained lost civilizations for hundreds of years before the nation of Groam was even born and most of the jungles are still totally unexplored – only nominally belonging to Groam. Groam’s biggest and thickest jungle is north of the huge Lake G’Heb, but locations just as this can be found also on the coasts of Dhaira Bay and southern coasts of Mare Nicasos – even extending to the Wolfooge islands.
Creative Commons License
Abandoned Castle Entrance by Kimmo Mäkinen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.