The Autumn Kingdoms

The Age of Heroes ended 500 years ago with a catastrophic Cataclysm that leveled Aeros and catapulted the cosmos into the Age of Worms. Now the shadows grow darker, and scrappy sellswords are all that keeps ruin at bay. These are the Autumn Kingdoms, and this is your story.

THE LANDSCAPE OF THE AUTUMN KINGDOMS

• The Vipernoss Woods: Leaves frozen forever orange by the Cataclysm, rusted automata and root-choked ruins, mad Elvish poets with star-shaped pupils

• The Tarnished Coast: Mad castaways murmuring of green fire, eldritch cargo washing up on black-pebbled shore, endless distant archipelagos borne from fallen Spelljammers

• The Xorshed Alps: Irradiated wildlife roaming the slopes, oils and gems deep below the cold mountains, drugged-up dwarves and orcs hammering rune-scored forges

• The Silver Lea: Windswept plains of silver grass with stalks as strong as wire, electric predators in the rust-soil, pastel citadels with black banners dotting the horizon

• The Nemidian Wilds: Craggy  plateaus stand before a shining gulf, Beastkin tribes who yet know their old ways, inhuman runic circles glowing in the moonlight

THE DERAGONNA EMPIRE

• Spans the top quadrant of the Vipernoss over to the Tarnished Coast

• Ruled by the Queen of Lost Wyrms, an enigmatic woman known for her colorful triangular masks and unnaturally long fingernails

• She’s a Splinter Dragon in disguise, and kills anyone who admits they know this

• She leads the Serpent’s Garrison, the Empire’s armies and guards, clad in red-orange scale mail and trained in rune-scored atlatls

• DRAGONSROOT (Pop ~15,000)

• The largest and greatest city of the Autumn Kingdoms

• Known primarily for the Magiermarkt, a massive magical marketplace

• A well in the center that leads to different places in the cosmos depending on the phase of the moon, tossing in a silver is good luck

• On the Northern part of the square, the Runehold Academy of Magic’s upside-down towers cast long shadows on the Markt

• Situated against the Tarnished Coast overlooking the dark ocean

• In the harbor lies a massive, crashed Spelljammer from Inferno

THE SYLBAR CONCLAVE

• The bottom quadrant of the Vipernoss and the Silver Lea are the domain of this swiftly-militarizing power

• Ruled by Mistress Selbernacht, an eccentric jingoist

• She founded the Raven Knights, the mysterious order that leads military and guard operations throughout the Conclave

• What are the real agendas of the Raven Knights? Why are they recruiting mages? What is the Blue Diamond, and why do they seek it so?

• All who do not wear only pastels and keep their voices to a whisper in her presence are deemed heretics and executed

• The Mistress’s clean freakiness led to a mandate that Sylbarian streets and buildings must bleached white or light colors, or else be torched

• TOLLSGATE (Pop ~10,000)

• The border city between the Sylbar Conclave and the Deragonna Empire

• Conflicts are quelled by the iron-fisted Gatekeepers, city guards armed with hand cannons and a dedication to keeping the streets orderly

• All have their memories of their homelands and allegiances wiped by a runic tattoo above their ear, to keep then neutral in conflicts

• Despite this, they are overwhelmingly corrupt and open to bribery

• A heart of technological innovation, where Rube Goldberg contraptions line the streets, and tinkers work on ingenious new devices

• The weapon foundries on either side of the city, emblazoned with the Deragonna and Sylbar crests, are not to be minded

• Named for the ubiquitous 5 silver shilling toll needed for the paperworks to move between kingdoms

• SYMVAROUS (Pop ~12,000)

• The capital of the Conclave, halfway between the Vipernoss and the Silver Lea

• Temples of pastel-garbed priests and shops of autumn wood and silver wire craft surround the inner walls of the city, containing the Castle Tenebrous

• The home of the Five Hands, the biggest rebellion movement in the Conclave

• Led by Syril Vendross, a Starborn wirecrafter-turned-assassin who acts as the sponsor of the “Wirecrafter Guild” that meets every second week

THE GLANODEL DYNASTY

• A massive, crumbling Elvish empire that occupies the picturesque Western Vipernoss around the Syltarloch, the Lake of Starlight

• The Elves seek a means to return to the stars they believe they came from

• They scour the woods for means with which to build a Spelljammer Ark to carry their peoples to the heavens

• Ruled by Sephorite Glanodel, the only living Swordsinger Supreme

• AARAUMBRAL (Pop ~10,000)

• Mithril steeples pierce the treetops and grow naturally into the red-leafed trees along the glittering shore of the Syltarloch

• In the Bolide Tower, the highest spire of Aaranumbral, an elemental spirit venerated by the Drow called the Silver Flame is bound in crystal starlight

• It is the Silver Flame’s doing that the Vipernoss is perpetually twilit around the city so the Drow can live on the surface

• The Silver Flame claims to be a patron of probability and multidimensionality, hence the High Priest Irzol Ezzervendius flickering in and out of reality and speaking in ruinous omens...

THE GAUNTFORGES

• A soot-stained confederacy of Dwarfs and Goblinkin occupies the depths of the Alps

• Known for hardy, utilitarian iron- and gem-craft, as well as the powerful drugs crafted from oils plumbed from below the mountains

• Government and social positions aren’t categorized by skillset and experience, but what drug(s) you take before heading to work

• Every activity or symptom can be alleviated with the right cocktail of drugs

• ...and the walking ODs, known as Chemomancers, are used as guards, mercenaries, miners, labor, and soldiers

• Ruled by Dukes Udis and Tin L’Kadj’f, the most recent scions of the ruling line of Dwarf-Goblinkin Halfkin

• ERZ (~7,500)

• The only large pocket of organized civilization across the Gauntforges

• Most other communities are small semi-religious sects that gather around volcanic vents that spew clairvoyance-inducing fumes

• The streets form a rune that imprisons a powerful fiend in the sewers, whose burning tar-blood powers forges with unnatural efficiency

FURTHER AFIELD

• N: Due North, the Giant’s ancestral home of Ostrahäärgen has been amidst a thousand-year council meeting. They're in year 352 now.

• NE: On the distant shores of Bathari, the City, candlelit and waterlogged, is locked in darkness as the Rift grows wider and Jehu’s soul continues to fade away.

• E: Due East across the Arabus, the regions of Xian Yang and Kaz are occupied with magical civil wars, infernal tyrants, and the mountains beginning to walk again.

• SE: Across the Gulf, the Bandit Peaks blockade the fetid Ynnsmouth Marsh, in which a constant warbling song emitted from the ruins of a Fishfolk port drives travellers mad.

• S: The remnants of the pre-Cataclysm kingdom of Solanis have learned much magitech to combat the Thri-Keen emerging from below the teeming jungles and sweltering dunes.

• SW: West of the Solanian jungles and South of the Bone Plains is the corpse of a titanic entity spanning miles whose skull is a city-state populated by rotting, undead animals.

• W: Bordering the Vipernoss to the West is the Palinor Range, massive mountains that bisect the continent and block off the intelligent, mutated insectoids of the Bone Plains.

• NW: The Northeast is home to the Kaos Raiders, spreading outwards from a rift in the ice of the Northern Wastes. They're attacking the only city that survived the Cataclysm.

WHAT FACTION DOES THIS HERO/NPC BELONG TO?

1 Serpent’s Garrison

2 Tollsgate Gatekeepers

3 Raven Knights

4 Rangers of Nemidia

5 Papacy of the Silver Flame

6 Five Hands

7 Runehold Academy

8 Gauntforge Chemomancers

MONSTERS, FOR YOUR INSPIRATION:

RAVEN KNIGHT MYSTERIARCH N 2 H 8 A Raven Form (carries a feather that, when eaten, turns the eater into a raven), Flock (Summon d4 ravens in d4 rounds), Crowsblade (1 WOUND, 1 STRESS) I To find the Blue Diamond

SPLINTER DRAGON N 4 H 9 A Osteoporotic Gaze (roll CON or get Osteoporosis, a Disease that grants DISADVANTAGE on all STR and DEX rolls), Crumbling Wings, Staff of Power (touch a magic item to steal its power, use it to either heal 3 WOUNDS or deal 3 STRESS) I To control

GAUNTFORGE CHEMOMANCER N 3 H 8 A Intoxicating Blood, Drugged The Fuck Up, Rusted Syringe (2 WOUNDS), Unflinching I To numb the pain

WHAT DRUGS ARE THE CHEMOMANCER ON? (roll d4 times)

1 ‘Roids. Attacks give DISADVANTAGE, but take a STRESS every miss.

2 Muscle Relaxers. Half WOUNDS taken, but double STRESS.

3 Stimulants. Move double speed, but has to move every round, even with retribution.

4 Hallucinogenics. Vomit up acid, but can’t differentiate hallucination from reality.

5 Magic Suppressants. No magic works CLOSE, but N is only 2.

6 Antidepressants. DISADVANTAGE towards magic effects, but silence paralyzes.

7 Anticoagulants. Heal 1 WOUND per turn, save after acid damage/application.

8 Crazy-ass magic drugs. A random magical effect occurs every turn. Go nuts.

SPIDER HULK N 3 H 8 A Flame Implement (2 WOUNDS, fire deals 1 WOUND per round until extinguished), Rusting Touch (touch object, if next use roll fails, is destroyed) I To learn about life

LIGHTNING PANTHER N 3 H 8 A Thunder Tongue (2 WOUNDS, and be stunned until you succeed CON), Camouflage (blends in with Silver Lea perfectly), Pounce (DISADVANTAGE to dodge it if it’s blended in), Fast I To feast on blood 

CHARACTER MATRIX:

	STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
S T R	--	Dragonheart. You cannot be swayed by charms, fear, confusion, or illusion.	Vipernoss Axe. You can rot wood with a touch.	Veteran Guard. You have military connections you can draw on once to get backup or some valuable resource.	Gladiator. You have ADVANTAGE on attacks when fighting alone.	Heathen-Slayer. Once a ROUND, you get a free attack on anyone you can see who uses magic.
D E X	Silver Weaver. You always have as much silver wire as you need.	--	Tinker. If one of your items FUMBLE, it can be repaired with an INT roll.	Crag Ranger. You are a master at maneuvering, no difficult terrain can slow you.	Raven Knight. Once a day, you can turn into a raven for a TURN.	Hired Knife. When you don’t want to be, you can’t be heard.
C O N	Runeskin. You start with a GLYPH. Any GLYPHS you have work on any roll that’s not a 6.	Warshield. All allies CLOSE to you can add your DEFENSE to theirs.	--	Addict. Choose one drug; you always know where to get some, and can’t get Addicted to it	Oil-Brewer. If you drink oil, you can belch out a cloud of fire once per swig you take.	Xorshed Shaman. Once a day, touch something and inflict it with a  random Mutation.
I N T	Urchin-Mage. When you see someone use a magic ability, roll INT to store it in a WIS slot for one use.	River Warlock. You can breathe any liquid, swim as well as you walk, and spit out a geyser of turbid water at will.	Rust-Engineer. You have a small, rusted clockwork animal that follows your commands.	--	Runehold Scholar. Double your PROFICIENCY for one of your SKILLS.	Libris. You can read and speak every language fluently, the rare or unusual ones you can manage with a CHA roll.
W I S	Ruincrawler. You can unerringly spot discrepancies in architecture, like mechanical traps and secret doors.	Barber-Surgeon. You have a pool of WOUNDS you can heal with a touch equal to your CHA. This refreshes every day.	Silver Flame Priest. In the morning, roll a d20. Sub that result in for any roll anyone makes that day, once.	Invoker of Spirits. When recalling old lore, roll a d4. On a 4, you automatically know it.	--	Gunmage. Your ranged weapon attacks can be based off of INT, and always deal damage of some element of your choice.
C H A	Low Diplomat. Once a day upon meeting an intelligent creature, declare that it's friendly to you.	Scrap Merchant. Choose what inexpensive baubles you deal in. You can always have those wares on hand.	Solar Poet. Once a day, say something with a CHA roll and it will become true. Get ADVANTAGE if it rhymes.	Balladmonger. Spend a TURN playing an instrument and roll CHA to heal 1 STRESS from anyone listening, or find d4 silver.	Revolutionary. Once a day, command a crowd to do what you want.	--

I was trying to restructure MARROW to fit a new setting, but it turned out to not be a great fit. MARROW really feels like a standalone product to me, so to pin it to one setting felt wrong. Here it is now, for your use.