View source for Garden/RipplesSetting

== Ripples ==
=== Setting ===

For now I'm just going to cut n paste the email that I sent to the players... I'll pretty it up once I've got their concepts and can flesh out the background a bit more.

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I think I've mentioned to all of you at some point that I was thinking of running an alternate campaign alongside the main, and I've decided that now would be a pretty appropriate time to kick it off.

As such, I'd like you all to have a think about character concepts, because while I have the basic framework for the kingdom it's going to be set in, I'd like to use your ideas for characters to help flesh it out a bit more.

So to the basics... you'll be playing heroic mortals, and as heroic mortals are a step or two above the run of the mill mortals, you'll be reasonably big players in your chosen fields, hence using your backgrounds to help flesh things out.

You're from a kingdom, small to medium sized, so not exactly a world shattering power, but vaguely important on a local scale.

The kingdom is nominally loyal to the Realm, in that it pays fealty, but that's about it.. the Realm doesn't have an awful lot of impact on the kingdom's politics.

There is, however, an Immaculate temple in the kingdom, and while they don't pay too much attention in general, they do decide, for whatever reason to start interfering. They also tend to start getting involved if there are problems with local spirits, etc. Occasionally they will take in a promising youngster and train them as a monk, and the temple will take in weary travellers and anyone seeking their help, but other than that they tend to keep themselves to themselves.

There is also a castle in the kingdom inhabited by a Dragon-Blooded, an elderly past-his-prime party animal (probably of House Cynis, but I'll reserve the right to change that when I write the full background). He was getting to be an embarrassment to his family so they sent him off into the threshold so that he could happily sink into his little pit of degradation away from them. Fortunately for the kingdom he has only ever been interested in the procurement of wine, cocaine (one of the major exports of the region, see below) and young men and women, and pays little heed to the world around him.

Ancestor worship is quite common, but hidden because of the temple. Spirit worship, while tolerated by the temple, is still kept fairly quiet, and there are many small temples dedicated to various gods throughout the land including a temple for the Cult of the Illuminated.

The kingdom is ruled by a young king, recently ascended to the throne (more about this once I've got your ideas for characters and have written the full background). He seems to be doing a good job so far, with the help of his aged adviser, and is shaping up to be a fair and just ruler.

The kingdom makes it's legitimate money through the mining of iron and copper, and the production of wine. On the black market there is a large trade in the Coca leaf (which grows in the nearby mountains) and its derivatives (cocaine and rock cocaine), and a smaller slave trade.

Whilst the Guild doesn't have a huge presence in the kingdom (there is no hub city or even an outpost in the kingdom) there are regular caravans passing through, mainly to receive shipments of cocaine, though they take the other goods as well.

Apart from that you would expect to find general tradesmen such as blacksmiths, inn keeps, prostitutes, etc. Anything you could imagine in the Kingdom of Generica (no, that's not it's name).


Okay, that's about all I can think of without starting to name important people around the kingdom, and as I said I want to wait for you guys to come up with concepts before I do that so I don't go stepping on toes. 

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