Torath, the Snake that Encircles the World
Hey all!
This is the third part of a story I've been telling about the best campaign I've ever run. System is a mashup of Redbox, 3e, 5e, and several non-D&D systems.
First part here, where I start this as a one-shot. Second part here, where the game really gets legs. I'll continue the story where I left off, ish, but we're going to start getting into the world's religion, so bear with me for some worldbuilding first.
Time to establish some base lore for the Torathi faith.
Torath is a snake; he’s a god that values subtlety and cleverness.
Bouncing back and forth with Yorrin’s player, we hit upon the obvious Torathi creation myth.
Mankind was created by a creator god, a jealous and vengeful god that forged man in his image.
The first Man and Woman were given a garden paradise
They could live in bliss so long as they honored and obeyed their Creator.
... Yes it’s that creation myth.
Torath, the snake, convinced the Man and Woman that the fruit of the tree of Knowledge would awaken their mind and give them free will to choose their own destiny.
Yum yum, fruit of Knowledge.
Creator god threw a shit fit and kicked them out of paradise.
Torath taught the Man and Woman how to live in the cold dark world of mortality.
Torath taught them to be thoughtful and self-reliant.
So basically god is the devil and the devil is god?
Man we think we’re so fucking cute, don’t we?
Cool splash effects, though.
Torathi faith values knowledge, discovery, self-determination
Abhors slavery, subjugation, etc.
Let’s take it even further.
Snakes have ambiguous genders.
Most call Torath “he” but scholars say this is just a mortal oversimplification
Men and women equal in Torath’s eyes, the church clergy open to all
Torathi faith is a decent beacon of egalitarianism and enlightenment in our dark ages world.
It’s not perfect, lots of priests are assholes, sexists, bad guys, etc.
But provides a nice positive cultural influence to justify PCs having some less dark-ages views of things, allowing women into their company, etc.
Another thing: Torath is about you helping yourself. No fancy cleric bullshit.
But some dark heathen gods are more primal, more classic, more involved
This is great.
Means the barbarian bad guys can have scary evil magic from their gods.
And the good guys have to do shit themselves.
Also, just for fun, let’s see if we can set the stage for possible Jihad.
Yep, easy peasy. Dig it:
The people of far off Al-Hassad share the same creation myth.
But they venerate the creator god. Let’s call him Malhaan or something.
To them Torath is the literal devil that lured humanity out of paradise.
Torathi adherents are the worst sort of devil-worshipping heretics.
Holy war activated.
To fight a Holy War, you need Holy Warriors.
Let’s call them the Knights Serpentes.
Their real name is the Penitent Fellowship of the Most Devout, but nobody calls ‘em that.
They study for years, martial training, higher learning, etc.
The backbone of the Church’s military might.
They are the reason so many kingdoms pay tithes to the Church.
The reason Torathi missionaries and priests can go so many places to spread the good word.
They’re probably the reason the old Cassaline Empire is so far in decline, too.
The empire followed an old pantheon of violent, jealous gods.
Had slaves.
Had conquered most of the world, including Torathia.
Century or two ago, the Serpentes kicked them out.
Followed them home, wrecked their shit and they never really recovered.
Don’t Tread On Me, motherfuckers!
One more bit of Torathi lore for the road.
Common folk whisper of a secret order within the Serpentes.
An order that venerates Torath not just as a wise and subtle snake but as the terrible cleansing dragon that scoured the Thaumati in ancient times.
This order, called the Knights Draconis, is said to work in the shadows.
They are spies, assassins, and witch-hunters.
They go unnoticed, rooting out enemies of the Church wherever they might be and eliminating them.
Church and the Knights Serpentes both deny the existence of any such group.
But I mean… we established rumors of their existence.
So they just gotta exist.
Okay so that’s Yorrin’s religion.
And Alaina’s.
Aleksandr’s a bit of an agnostic though.
That’s okay, he still embodies good Torathi virtues.
Now that Steelshod is official, it has an official hierarchy.
Yorrin has always seen himself as the loyal right-hand man to Aleksandr’s leader role.
Was once a dirtbag thief in the slums of a trading city.
Aleksandr found him, saved him, gave him purpose.
Now they want Steelshod to do that for other people.
One of the Taraam mercs has grown fond of Prudence.
Asks if he can join them.
Aleksandr puts him through a few challenges of arms, is satisfied with result.
Welcome aboard, Perrin!
Steelshod gets ready to head west, begin trying to charter a barge to take them downriver to the coast.
After all, there’s WAR brewing out west.
War with those damn dirty heathen Svards.
Before they leave, they discover that a couple of Svardic longships have been seen rowing upriver.
Sure enough, the ships stop at Yerevan.
Apparently a Svardic high priest has come to spread the word of their freaky faith.
And warn everyone of their impending doom.
Yerevan is a trading hub, tries to remain neutral.
Svards are let in, and the priest, Hakon, begins proselytizing.
Primary Svardic god is Vlar, a shadowy entity that lives in the depths of the sea and rewards those that spill blood in his name.
Yorrin is pissed.
Not okay with this blasphemous bullshit.
Aleksandr isn’t crazy about it either.
Worried about the longships full of reavers.
After all, Alaina lives here now.
Svardic culture is extremely brutal, valuing strength and skill at arms.
They can use that.
They start hatching a plan.
Confront Hakon when he’s down at the docks preaching doom and gloom.
Challenge his people to combat, right there on the docks.
If they lose, their ships fuck off.
Svards can’t back down from a fight.
Aleksandr goes first, facing down one of the Svardic champions.
Svard has a brutal sword-and-board style, using the shield as a weapon to force openings.
Aleksandr’s leg is still busted up.
No fucks given.
Aleksandr trounces the Svard.
His sword is hitting harder than it used to.
Still feels a little warm in his hands when he fights.
Hopefully that demon really is bound.
Yorrin’s up.
Svard is like a foot and a half taller.
Outweighs him by 100 pounds.
Yorrin's not about to let a filthy heathen get the better of him.
Jukes like a motherfucker.
Controls the flow of battle.
And at the best possible moment.
Knocks the Svard off the dock and into the river.
Svard loses his weapon and shield, barely manages to drag himself back up onto the dock.
Hakon is disgusted with this failure.
Steps forward and murders his own man.
As his champion is dying, he paints Svardic runes on the dock in the man’s blood.
Consecrating the battlefield in Vlar’s name.
Yorrin will have none of this.
He whips it out and pisses the bloody runes away.
Tells Hakon to get his ships gone.
Quite the crowd pleaser, Yorrin is.
Once the Svards have fucked off, Steelshod does the same.
Finally on the road!
Well, the river, anyway.
If they were interested in fighting Svards before, now they’re downright gleeful at the prospect.
Which is good, because during their week+ on the river they run afoul of another Svardic longship.
Catch it in the middle of raiding a fishing village.
Fuck their shit up.
Free the oar slaves.
One slave catches their attention.
Smart,well spoken Svard.
Not from the same clans that are doing all this reaving.
But he’s still a Svard, so of course he can fight.
Well, does he want to fight the assholes that chained him to an oar?
Welcome aboard, Gunnar!
Steelshod’s up to something like 10 members now.
Not exactly a Mercenary Company, if we’re being honest.
More like a mercenary group of dudes who hang together.
But they’ve got Big Dreams.
Torath willing, maybe this war with the Svards will be the place they make their name.
Part 4 is up now.
Thanks for reading, everyone!
Posted Apr 27, 2017, 6:15 PM UTC · edited