World of Pendar - Ghost Stones

[This is a work in progress]

Ghost Stones appear to be pitch black, obsidian-like, rocks that were mined from a few, now exhausted, locations around Burr, but more sites have been located across Pendar.  For millennia, these stones have been used by practitioners of magic to amplify their powers, and by artificers to imbue magical powers into mundane objects, weapons, and armor.  The power of these stones rest at the very heart of them, in a nearly indestructible shard, or sliver.  It is this sliver that must be extracted and crafted into an object before an artificer can enchant it.

While a properly extracted Ghost Stone Shard is nearly indestructible, they can be particularly volatile while still in the raw stone.  Hitting a raw Ghost Stone with enough damage can cause one to explode with a considerable amount of force.  While the number of Ghost Stone mines that have been lost to a careless pick strike are few, the worst one caused a chain reaction that destroyed an entire mountain and several nearby villages.

NEW EDGE

GHOST STONE ARTIFICER
REQUIREMENTS: Veteran, Artificer
The Artificer can now work with Ghost Stone Shards.  Artifacts created this way do not permanently draw Power Points from their creator, but instead from the Shards own Power Point reserve (see Ghost Stone Ranks), which Recharge at a rate of 3 per hour that the artifact is not being used.  The Artificer must still spend their own power to imbue the new artifact with one or more Powers or Edges, an act that can take days and is quite exhausting to the Artificer.


GHOST STONE RANKS

Rank	PP	Powers/Edges	Price
Novice	3	1	100
Seasoned	5	2	250
Veteran	10	3	500
Heroic	15	5	1,000
Legendary	?	?	Priceless

World of Pendar - Lore: Part 1

[This is a work in progress]

The Land of Buur was thought to be the only land upon which Human, Elf, and Dwarf kind had to call home on their world, and as such had been divided up among the three races since the beginning of recorded time.

The Human's control three Nations: Nauris, Tulum, and Vekland; The Elves two Nations: Terminia and Hinterstol; and the Dwarves one grand Nation: Dru Onos.

Nauris and Tulum were simple nations of farmers and artisans. Vekland was a land of dreamers that aspired to some day be the seat of all power in Buur, but always sat in the shadow of Terminia, the home the finest craftsmen, artists, and magics in all the lands. Hinterstol is a rugged yet bountiful land, but its people tend to keep to themselves. Dru Onos, the original home of the Dwarves, once the wealthiest and most vast nation in all Buur, reached from heights of the peaks of the Eshien Mountains to the depths of the Buur itself. Dru Onos is now called the Scorched Lands. Tales tell that more than a millennia ago, a great evil was set loose when the Dwarves delved too deep into the heart of Buur. The evil raced across the Dwarves homeland consuming everything in its path, leaving nothing but blackened earth. The Dwarves that survived were granted lands to build three small city-states: Belmoor (in Hinterstol), Alisha (in Terminia), and Glaryan (in Nauris).

Over a century ago, in a bid to one-up Terminia, the royal family of Vekland commissioned an expedition to strike out upon the Endless Ocean to find new lands. Years later one expedition returned with news of a new continent, larger that Buur. The land had been named Pendar, after the captain of the ship that first set foot on its shore, a Glaryan Dwarf by the name of Arel Pendar.

Following the announcement of the discovery of Pendar, a great wave of emigration began from the overpopulated lands across Buur. This emigration initially caused a great bit of strife across Buur as many nations lost some of their greatest minds and workers. During this dark time Nauris and Tulum were annexed by Vekland, and all but the Dwarves forbade their people from emigrating to this new world.

While there is currently peace between the nations, everyone feels that war could break out at any time. This uneasiness has been compounded by rumor that the borders of the Scorched Lands have begun to grow, and that "things" have been seen moving into the neighboring lands.

World of Pendar - Elves

When I started my setting of Pendar, I went with generic fantasy races in the Deluxe Explorers Edition (Elf, Dwarf, Human, Rakashans, and Saurian) plus a homebrew Wolfen race for Players to choose from.  However, I always wanted to flesh them out a bit more to give them more flavor and break them out of the typical fantasy mold.  The two main Elven races I came up with are the Terminian Elves, which come from the most affluent region of Susland, and the Hinterstol Elves, who embrace the wilderness and the richness that it provides.

There are a few references to the lore in the descriptions that may not make sense, but I'll get the setting's lore posted as soon I get it cleaned up and presentable.

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TERMINIAN ELVES

Terminians value fine arts, high culture, and magic.  Based on their long history of contributions to the arts and magics in the continent, the Elves from this nation have a high opinion of themselves compared to the other races, especially the Hinterstol Elves.  Their culture and diet are heavily influenced by the sea, and their vineyards, thus the majority of the common folk tend to be farmers or fishers.

Terminian Elves are all tall, slender, and olive-skinned.  They typically have jet black or silver hair and gray eyes, wear fine clothing and quite often wear numerous ear rings on their pointed ears.

(+2)POWER POINTS: Terminians are all innately magic, and start with 5 Power Points.  While a majority of Terminians do not have an Arcane Background, they are able to channel this power through Arcane Devices with ease.

(-1)ALL THUMBS: Elves have an inherent dislike of mechanical objects, and thus have the All Thumbs Hindrance. They shun most mechanical items and designs.

(+1)LOW LIGHT VISION: Elven eyes amplify light. Other races often claim they can see stars in the elves’ eyes. They ignore penalties for Dim and Dark Illumination.

(-2)THIN SKINNED: (Major) Personal attacks really get under this individual’s skin. They subtracts 4 when resisting Taunt attacks.

(+2)PERFORMER: All Terminian families raise their children to embrace an art form of some sort early in life, and so begin with a Performance of d6 and may raise it to a maximum of d12+1.  For a Terminian, Performance may also include art forms that wouldn't normally require an audience (painting, carving, carpentry, etc.).

HINTERSTOL ELVES

The Elves of the land-locked nation of Hinterstol are best known as excellent hunters and lovers of nature.  The Hinterstol are the oldest of the surviving Elven races on the continent, and while they are looked down upon by their more "civilized" cousins in Terminia, the Hinterstol pay them little attention preferring to spend their time closer to nature, which is one of the reasons the Hinterstol welcomed the majority of the Dwarves fleeing from the Scorched Lands.

Hinterstol Elves are often mistaken for Humans due to their build, but are easily distinguished by the typical pointed elven ears.  Hinterstol culture is known for their love of ales, smoked meats, and all variety of pie.

(+2)KEEN SENSES: Hinterstol have acute senses, giving them the Alertness Edge.  They are very observant and perceptive, and adds +2 to their Notice rolls to hear, see, or otherwise sense the world around them.

(-1)ALL THUMBS: Elves have an inherent dislike of mechanical objects, and thus have the All Thumbs Hindrance. They shun most mechanical items and designs.

(+1)LOW LIGHT VISION: Elven eyes amplify light. Other races often claim they can see stars in the elves’ eyes. They ignore penalties for Dim and Dark Illumination.

(-2)OVERCONFIDENT: There’s nothing out there a Hinterstol can’t defeat. At least that’s what they have been raised to believe. They never want to retreat from a challenge. Not suicidal, but generations of surviving in the wilds has instilled in them a sense of bravado in taking on more than common sense dictates.

(+2)SURVIVALIST: Hinterstol practically grow up in the woods with a bow in their hand, and thus receive a +2 bonus to any Survival roll.