Faction: Tsaesci Consortium
Summary
The Tsaesci Consortium have been largely isolated and unknown by the rest of the realm. They are a group of Dwarves and Human explorers, settlers, and merchants forged by a millennia of infighting and war with themselves and the hostile beings of their lands. They now also find themselves in an unprecedented age of peace united under one victorious and glorious Tsaesci Shogunate. They’re entering an age of exploration and possible expansion. The Tsaesci'shan Palace, located in the Vale of The Victorious Blossoms, contains some of the secrets of their empire.Races: Dwarves; Shou (human); Half-Elves
Boons
Path of the ArtificerExample#1: Infuse Potions and Scrolls: you can produce magic potions. You spend 10 minutes focusing your magic on a vial of mundane water and expend a spell slot to transform it into a potion.
Example#2: Infuse Weapons and Armor: you can produce magic weapons and armor. You spend 10 minutes focusing your magic on a mundane weapon, suit of armor, shield, or bundle of twenty pieces of ammunition, and expend a spell slot to infuse it with magical energy. The magic item retains its enhancement for 8 hours or until used (in the case of magic ammunition). You can infuse only one item at a time; if you infuse a second one, the first immediately loses its potency.
Path of the Runemaster
Example#1: Word of Binding: You tap your foe with your weapon and draw on the rune of binding. Divine power coils around the foe holding it in place. Strength modifier damage, and the target is immobilized until the end of your next turn or until you aren't adjacent to it. Choose type of effect:
- Rune of Destruction: Before the end of your next turn, the next attack against the target from one of your allies deals extra damage to the target equal to your Wisdom Modifier.
- Rune of Protection: One ally adjacent to either you or the target gains a power bonus to AC equal to your Wisdom modifier until the end of your next turn.
Example#2: Cage of Light: You slam your weapon into the ground imprinting a rune of imprisonment that causes light to wash over your enemies. Effect: The blast creates a zone that lasts until the end of your next turn. Leaving the zone costs enemies 1 extra squares of movement. Any enemy that attacks an ally who is within the zone grants combat advantage (save ends).
History
See also Races: Human Shou
Government: The Tsaesci empire was a meritocracy as well as an absolute monarchy/dictatorship, where the previous regime and/or dynasty must be overpowered and executed. As a part of Tsaesci culture, when a clan's leader is killed, it is customary for rivals to immediately murder his family and thus exterminate the clan lineage forever.
Magic: Unlike "lesser races" that need schooling in the arts of magic, the ability was innate in the Tsaesci. From what is known about Tsaesci usage of magic, it is clear that their magic users did not fall into known categories, such as mage or warlock. Special emphasis was placed on flesh-shaping, making, or spirit-capture magic. The Tsaesci are flesh-shapers and can create other creatures. They are known to have created the Terracotta Warriors and Golems. Death was not final for some Tsaesci, instead being a mere stop over on the path to a new body. Spiritbinders used their foul magic to transfer these spirits from one shell to the next.
Slavery: In many ways the Tsaesci are based on brutal strength and terrible cunning. Even with powerful magic at their disposal, the Tsaesci often preferred to use slaves to build their massive monuments. Enslaved humanoids were marked with branding irons. Forged of iron and imbued with spells of subjugation and pain, manacles with inward facing spikes were forced onto the slave races of the Tsaesci. The blood of many Tsaesci slaves were shed with a bone whip fashioned from the spine of some large and ancient creature. When the Tsaesci had exhausted their options for enslaved mortal warriors, they turned their attention to creating armies of animated constructs to do their fighting for them. These terracotta warriors would sometimes sit dormant for centuries.
Companions: Favorite pets of the Tsaesci Nobles, the lions dogs who make loyal and fearless companions and mounts. Tsaesci sorcerers, keepers of the secret to bringing stone to life, prefer stolid stone companions over more beastly familiars.
Reason for being in Viriskali: Scouts of the The Grand Pasha of Viriskali have found a series of Ruins depicting peoples very much like ancient T'u Lung Shou & Dwarves. These ruins are very much in hostile territory and the Kanza of Viriskali don't want to dedicate the manpower to clear the land, take care of the hostiles, and excavate the ruins. The land between Viriskali and the ruins seems to be cursed with blight and makes traversing it difficult. Known to the The Grand Pasha as traders, industrious, and determined traders; emissaries were sent to the Tsaesci Consortium to garner interests. Perhaps the Pasha hopes they will have the motivation and resources to access the ruins with some minor assistance. The noble houses of the consortium were indeed interested with the prospect of finding a piece of their lost past, potential discovery of magics, lost technologies, and history. Small waves of Tsaesci have been making their way to the shores of Viriskali. The deal was to open trade agreements with the Kanza for excavation rights and shared knowledge of the fruits of the endeavor.
The Tsaesci Consortium has been given space in The Noble District (Section 1) for the Tsaesci nobles and The Souk for their commoners, minor merchants, and workers. A small ruined village was sold to the Tsaesci on the outskirts of the Viriskali as a launching pad for the expedition. The Souk (The Commons/The Foreign quarter Section 11) is a district of Viriskali with houses built from different grades of stone and steel. Foreigners in the city on unofficial business that is, the ones that came in through the normal channels. The uninvited, can live wherever they can afford. The only stipulation placed on such foreigners is that they pay a unique tax that is supposed to guarantee their protection while in the City Viriskali, at least in theory. The Souk now maintains its own watch, paid out of taxes on items sold in the black market. These mercenaries some Shinobi, Yakuza and Akavir hail from the Tsaesci Consortium. They tend to freelance as adventurers but live in the district, and take a percentage of pay to work a few days a week patrolling it.
Magic: Unlike "lesser races" that need schooling in the arts of magic, the ability was innate in the Tsaesci. From what is known about Tsaesci usage of magic, it is clear that their magic users did not fall into known categories, such as mage or warlock. Special emphasis was placed on flesh-shaping, making, or spirit-capture magic. The Tsaesci are flesh-shapers and can create other creatures. They are known to have created the Terracotta Warriors and Golems. Death was not final for some Tsaesci, instead being a mere stop over on the path to a new body. Spiritbinders used their foul magic to transfer these spirits from one shell to the next.
Slavery: In many ways the Tsaesci are based on brutal strength and terrible cunning. Even with powerful magic at their disposal, the Tsaesci often preferred to use slaves to build their massive monuments. Enslaved humanoids were marked with branding irons. Forged of iron and imbued with spells of subjugation and pain, manacles with inward facing spikes were forced onto the slave races of the Tsaesci. The blood of many Tsaesci slaves were shed with a bone whip fashioned from the spine of some large and ancient creature. When the Tsaesci had exhausted their options for enslaved mortal warriors, they turned their attention to creating armies of animated constructs to do their fighting for them. These terracotta warriors would sometimes sit dormant for centuries.
Companions: Favorite pets of the Tsaesci Nobles, the lions dogs who make loyal and fearless companions and mounts. Tsaesci sorcerers, keepers of the secret to bringing stone to life, prefer stolid stone companions over more beastly familiars.
Reason for being in Viriskali: Scouts of the The Grand Pasha of Viriskali have found a series of Ruins depicting peoples very much like ancient T'u Lung Shou & Dwarves. These ruins are very much in hostile territory and the Kanza of Viriskali don't want to dedicate the manpower to clear the land, take care of the hostiles, and excavate the ruins. The land between Viriskali and the ruins seems to be cursed with blight and makes traversing it difficult. Known to the The Grand Pasha as traders, industrious, and determined traders; emissaries were sent to the Tsaesci Consortium to garner interests. Perhaps the Pasha hopes they will have the motivation and resources to access the ruins with some minor assistance. The noble houses of the consortium were indeed interested with the prospect of finding a piece of their lost past, potential discovery of magics, lost technologies, and history. Small waves of Tsaesci have been making their way to the shores of Viriskali. The deal was to open trade agreements with the Kanza for excavation rights and shared knowledge of the fruits of the endeavor.
The Tsaesci Consortium has been given space in The Noble District (Section 1) for the Tsaesci nobles and The Souk for their commoners, minor merchants, and workers. A small ruined village was sold to the Tsaesci on the outskirts of the Viriskali as a launching pad for the expedition. The Souk (The Commons/The Foreign quarter Section 11) is a district of Viriskali with houses built from different grades of stone and steel. Foreigners in the city on unofficial business that is, the ones that came in through the normal channels. The uninvited, can live wherever they can afford. The only stipulation placed on such foreigners is that they pay a unique tax that is supposed to guarantee their protection while in the City Viriskali, at least in theory. The Souk now maintains its own watch, paid out of taxes on items sold in the black market. These mercenaries some Shinobi, Yakuza and Akavir hail from the Tsaesci Consortium. They tend to freelance as adventurers but live in the district, and take a percentage of pay to work a few days a week patrolling it.