Bogatyr on the Dimniyi Frontier

Game details[edit]

Rules and System[edit]

This game will be played using Torchbearer.

Campaign Background[edit]

The game is set on the Dimniyi Frontier of the Tsardom of the Sun, East of the [[#Sea of Kalmius|Sea of Kalmius], on the shoulders of the Dimniyi Mountains. The Tsardom is recently founded and expanding rapidly, but focused away from the East.

The characters are bogatyrs, persons who seek out a life of adventure and hardship on the frontiers of the Tsardom. Part medieval knight-errant, part Old West frontiersman, part scoundrel and ne'er do well, bogatyrs are admired by the locals when there is danger threatening, resented and feared in times of peace, and always distrusted as outsiders and wanderers.

The entire region of the Dimniyi Frontier was once, centuries ago, part of the ancient Khorafan Empire. However, that empire was shattered in what is now called the Deep War, a legendary genocidal conflict of great magics with the Nichnytsia (Night Elves). This war was so cataclysmic, it changed the geography and climate of this region and many other parts of the world. These days scholars debate who, if anyone, won the Deep War, as the traces of both the Nichnytsia and the Khorafani are often deeply buried, shattered, or well guarded.

Linguistic Touchpoints[edit]

With respect to thinking of names, consider the following cultural touchpoints.

Humans = Ukrainian/Russian
Dwarves = Hungarian
Elves = Finnish/Estonian
Halflings = Georgian (e.g. the country, not the state)

The Map[edit]

Characters have the following locations on their map.

Sea of Kalmius[edit]

a large inland sea, roughly the size and orientation of Caspian Sea. It forms a natural barrier on the Eastern edge of the Tsardom.

The Dimniyi Mountains[edit]

a mountain range East of the Sea of Kalmius. A band of fertile land stretches along the coast between the Sea and the Dimniyi.

The Psel[edit]

a river that winds between the Diminyi and the Sea of Kalmius.

The Golmosha Pass Road[edit]

A road that travels from Nova Uzharod through the Golmosha Pass of the Dimniyi Mountains and into the plains beyond.

Melitopol[edit]

a Bustling Metropolis on the Western side of the Sea of Kalmius, and the nearest thing to a major city near the Dimniyi Frontier. It takes a few days by ship to reach it from Nova Uzharod, and many days on foot.

Nova Uzharod[edit]

a Busy Crossroads on the Eastern coast of the Sea of Kalmius. It is the doorway to the Tsardom for all the settlers on the frontier.

Zhovti Vody[edit]

a Religious Bastion southeast of Nova Uzharod. A holy site of the Three Facers, the state religion of the Tsardom, that worships the triune deities of Dazbog, Stribog, and Simargl. Similar to both Christianity and Hinduism. Dazbog is a cultural hero associated with the sun, Stribog a sky god of winds and rains, and Smargl is a winged dog-like protective spirit. Visually and ritually, very much like the Orthodox Church. (Clerics will likely be of this religion)

Jvari[edit]

a Remote Village, at the base of the far side of the Golmosha Pass. Mostly populated by Halflings.

Brovary[edit]

a Wizard's Tower, south of Jvari. Brovary is a place of power, recently wrested by Tsardom's magicians and sorcerers from some local magical types.

Vörös Kő Csarnokok[edit]

the Mansions of Red Rock, a Dwarven Halls dug into the foothills of the Dimniyi. They have existed for hundreds of years before the Empire, but are recent by Dwarven standards

Kukallinen Koti[edit]

the House of Flowers, an incursion of Elfland into the world, found north of Nova Uzharod.

A Lonely Stretch of Road[edit]

Halfway between Brovary Tower and The Slave Pits Of The Bandit Prince, lies an isolated stretch of road where the messenger's of the Foul Bandit Prince Volodymir were ambushed by the heroic agents of the Brovary in their quest to recover the lost Oleksander The Thrice Wise(1)(2)

The Slave Pits Of The Bandit Prince[edit]

NOTE: Not yet added to official map as of end of Session 2

Lying along the imperial road that runs from Brovary tower to the Necropolis at Khamyanyii Khru, a small distance from the road and surrounded by the impenetrable second growth forest that characterizes the Dimniyi Frontier, lies the camp of the Foul Bandit Prince Volodymir One Nostril. It is in this camp that Volodymir was laid low and made prisoner of agents of the Brovary(1)

(1) Source: "Being a True Account of the March North of Avgust Ruslan, Initiate of the Tower, in Quest To Rediscover His Mentor Oleksander Thrice Wise As Well As to Record for the Glory of the Tsardom the True Paths Leading to the Fabled Necropolis of Khamyanyii Khru."

(2) Source: "Archival Document 278 of the Year XXXX, Royal Archive of Brovary Tower: Exhibit A - Being Intelligence Gathered in Apprehension of Emissary of Bandit Prince Volodymir of the Undignified Facial Scarring (aka One Nostril, aka Scarface, aka The Hideous)".

Characters and Denizens[edit]

A blank character sheet is available

Player characters[edit]

Nonplayer characters[edit]

Maniki the "Cook" - a hireling and cook for Oleksandr Thrice-Wise. Insisted on accompanying the bogatyri.
Volodomyr One-Nostril - a Koschei bandit with a price on his head
Canute - Brother to Narbo, sold Narbo into slavery, last seen in Narbo's distant land with a traitor's gold in his hands, laughing
Lilya the Steward - a friend to Lyuba, handles business affairs in Nova Uzharod for a Melitopolan patrician
Uryk the Criminal - Mentor to Lyuba, lives in Melitopol but you never know where he might turn up
Eekuheikkimerithahti - a Star Elf who once lived in Kukallinen Koti, last seen swearing vengeance on Lubya for the murder of her family
Izabella and Aron - parents of Jozef, Stonemasons in Vörös Kő Csarnokok
Brigitta - Armorer in Vörös Kő Csarnokok and friend to Jozef
Oleksandr Thrice-Wise - mentor to Avgust Ruslan, a famed Cartographer of great repute, and a Scholar of Brovary.
Lore-Master Vsevolod - friend to Avgust Ruslan, currently living in Brovary
Valentyn - rival cartographer to Avgust Ruslan
Oleg the Survivalist - a mentor to Alexei the Monk, lives at Zhovti Vody
Symon the Cartographer - a friend to Alexei the Monk, studying with the Order to improve his cartographic notation, lives at Zhovti Vody

Organizations[edit]

Order of the Sacred Word (Alexei's Order) - A religious order devoted to studying and protecting all forms of text.
The Rational Sodality of Thaumaturgists - the licensing board/guild for sorcerers, magicians, wizards, and other practitioners of magic in the Tsardom of the Sun, with a direct commission from the Tsarina herself.

Peoples[edit]

Elves[edit]

Elves live in a far distant land called the West. The wise are not completely sure that this is a literal land, it may rather be a metaphor for a different plane of existence. What is known is that there are places where this Elvish world "intrudes" onto the normal world, where magic comes more easily, and that these places are the villages, towns, and other settled sites of the Elves. They come in four varieties that are known...

Sun Elves (Sontsenytsia) - in ancient times, the Sun Elves worshipped Law, and since then have become almost incomprehensible to normal folk. They live regimented, bizarre lives of ritual and ceremony that no one else can understand. They are only rarely seen outside of an intrusion.

Moon Elves (Mysyatsnytsia) - the Moon Elves are the ones most commonly seen. Really not all that different from normal folk, except for very long lives, a taste for magic, and more refined artistic taste.

Star Elves (Zirhkynytsia) - less commonly seen among normal folk, the Star Elves are more solitary in nature and prone to melancholy and violence.

Night Elves (Nichtnytsia) - as the Sun Elves long ago worshipped Law, the Night Elves worshipped Chaos. They became might and carved out a vast empire under the earth, with great magics and powerful weapons. Five hundred years ago they exploded from the depths, and did battle with the Khorofan Empire for supremacy over the surface. The war demolished civilization as it then flourished, but the forces of Law were ultimately triumphant, and the Night Elves were destroyed by powerful spells. Since that time, they have been heard of only in rumour, and as tales to terrify in the night.

Spawn of Chaos[edit]

Vorozhneki[edit]

Vorozhneki are races of intelligent creatures, maybe once humans, dwarves, halflings or elves, who have given themselves over to chaos for a very long time. They are often warped in strange ways from their original forms, and worship strange beings of violence and cruelty.

Koschei - large and dangerous, averaging over 2 meters tall, with massive round heads and huge noses. They are well known as bandits and slavers. Their bands are more commonly seen north of the Frontier, but the wealth of the Frontier has attracted them.

Likho - diminutive beings that look like little old men with one eye. Bloodthirsty and cruel, like intelligent piranhas. They often ride sure-footed carnivorous ponies. Found in nests or hives in the mountains, often near the tree line.

Monsters[edit]

The Dimniyi frontier has its share of monsters, creatures that don't abide by the laws of nature and seem to exist only to spread foulness, evil, pain, and death.

Chuheister - massive bestial creatures, covered in a warty hide and built like 3 to 4 meter gorillas. They seem to appear out of nowhere and cause havoc, eating all the livestock and people they can get their hands on. After a week or so they will often disappear, to no one knows where. When killed (which is rarely), they will rot with a day to little more than a crumbling skeleton.

The story so far[edit]

1) Oleksandr's Absence

2) The Road to Khamyanyii Khru

3) Slave No More

---Intermission---

4) Steps Retraced

5) The Great Escape

6) Pierced Nostril