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Meruvian:; Decadent, lax and fanatical:
Topic Started: May 18 2012, 03:27 PM (381 Views)
Nialldubh
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Meruvian

Description: A small brown to yellow skinned People with those of the higher castes maintaining a saffron skin of pale complexion. Their eyes are slanted eyes and are green or brown in colour and their hair is black. Lax, lazy and fatalistic is a description given to the People of Meru, they are dauntless in their belief and abide by the law set by their Shamanic Priests and their God-King; whom was give life by their God Yama himself and bestowed with divine power.

Culture: Hidden within their ancient valley the People of Meru support themselves with jungle fruits, hunted creatures and fish from their inland sea; the Sumero Tso. They trade with the Khitan and Vendhyans, but keep such trade sparse and secretive, they know of the Hyrkanians and watch the Turanians with care as they can see this People would dare to threaten their way of life. The Meruvians could be called decadent, though a lot have to perform mundane tasks like maintaining their ships sea-worthiness, they still use slaves to keep them functional. The Meruvian are not foolish or cowards, just lazy and most have not experience much violence in the cities as every person abides by the laws of their country even if it was to resign themselves to a fate of eternal slaver.

Names: Jalung Thongpa, Tanzong Tengri, Tashudang, Gorthangpo.

Religion: Based on a shamanistic belief in reincarnation, their shaven headed priest worship a entity called Yama which is their God; with the title of 'King of the Demons'. The Priest wear from neck to ankle a voluminous gauzy red robe and is the only thing they will wear their entire lives. Their belief conforms around the reincarnation of the spirit, so death is a release from this life and an escape to the next, so any crime will be punished by enslavement and for most Males this means a life of servitude as a galley slave on one of their triangular canvassed ships.

Cultural Features:


* +2 Charima, -2 Wisdom: Elegant but slow willed and lethargic.

* The Meruvians love the fruits of life, so the indulge themselves in their lusts for pleasure. A Meruvian receives when created a one time Wealth bonus; like the Noble Special Ability. He only receives this once and follows the same rules as Noble Class. A Noble receives twice the amount of coin from his Wealth budget, but only a one time amount and to return to normal for the coming years. The money should be spent on fine things. Though a Noble-Captain may buy High Quality sword with a gold hilt and studded in small gemstones, each item they wear or have is exotically created. The saddle of their well groomed mountain pony will be expertly lacquered and inlaid with gold, silver and jewels.

* +2 bonus to Appraise; the Meruvian love anything fine and greatly love to admire such things.

* +1 bonus to any Craft Skill and Perform Skill, Meruvians are fine Artist and enjoy the pleasures of life.

* Xenophobic: Fearfully of Strangers; the Muruvian get -2 Diplomacy and Sense Motive Skills, their lethargic and decadent way makes them arrogant and often incapable of knowing another intents.

* Fatalism: as the Iranstani Cultural quirk.

Background Skills (Costal Variant): Profession (Sailor), Knowledge (Local: Meru), Balance and Use Rope.

Background Skills (City Variant): Profession (Artisan), Knowledge (Local: Meru), Craft (Jewellery), Perform (any one).

Favoured Class: Commoner, Minstrel, Noble, Pirate, Tempter/Temptress, True Commoner.

Prohibited Class: Bandit, Noble Cavalry, Nomad.

Automatic Languages: Meruvian.

Bonus Languages: Demonic, Hykanian, Khitan, Vendhyan.



Meruvian Package

Male and Female: Short kilt, gem studded dagger, jewellery of gold fashion into shapes and images of Human skulls.

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Nialldubh
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Meru; Cup of Gods, Sacred Lands.


Surrounded by the Mountains of Talakma and vast jungle hidden within it's lost valley and a grandiose sea called the Sumero Tsu is the Kingdom of Meru and it's magnificent seven Cities.

Shamballah the City of Skulls; The Capital of the Meruvians.

Cities:

Bronze gates, green with age cast in the likeness of a gigantic, horned Human skull. Square barred windows above the portal make the skull's eye sockets, the gate could be secured by lowering a portcullis. Within the city was carvings of Human skulls set in lintels above doorways and red stone towers, layered tier upon tier till they faded into tapered spirals, ghastly demonic faces carved into very stonework. The avenues where broad and well planned.

To seek entry: Twisted bronze trumpets: used by patrols to open doors by announcing their arrival to the Cities!

City Designs: Rose-pink stone ornate architecture, cluttered with sculptures and friezes (band of decoration, part of entab'lature between architrave and cornice. Friezes of demons, monsters and many-armed gods and cornice; with projection near top of wall and ornamental carved moulding.

Palace of Cities: Surrounded with gardens of brightly coloured flowers of scarlet, azure and gold. Groves of trees loomed within the palace of the God-King. A gigantic red stone tower tapering up from a circular base. The outer wall of the tower twisted and spiral upwards like shape of a conical sea-shell. Each individual brick was carved into the image of a skull, another skull-gate is needed to be pass into the palace.

In their courtrooms is the throne on a dais of black marble which was made from one piece of pale jade and carved into the likeness of ropes and chains of skulls looped and interwoven.


Seven Cities:

Names: Shamballah (Capital), Shondakor, Thogara, Auzakia, Issedon, Palians, Throana surround an inland sea called Sumero Tso in the Mountainous valley area of Meru protected by the Talakma Mountains, thick jungle and dangerous swamps with colossal cycads and redwoods trees.

Clothing: short skirt for both the Males and Females, golden jewellery in shapes of Human skull.

Military: Azweri Cavalry protects the borders surrounding Meru from their mountains. Palace Guard use ornate halberd and are dressed in bronze armour. City Guards with Skull decorations on bronze Helmets and bosses of their shield patrol the walls and street of each City, but they are mostly relaxed and dim witted though not cowardly.

Ships: Galley, rowed by slaves with single triangular sails of purple and gold strips and red dyed wood. They sail the Sumero Tsu with a large drum creating the rhythm for the oarsmen.

Sailing: Each City is a days distance from each other and surround the inland sea of Sumero Tsu. The ships sail from the capital with time enough to receive tribute and continue on to the next City in the next day. It takes seven days to completely travel around the outer rim of the inland sea.

Laws: Yama commands that the People of Meru must do as the Shamans say or suffer his wrath, if they do not the land with rise again, never to be the paradise created for them again!

Crime and Punishment: Slavery is the worse thing that can be done to another, death is a release and frees to soul to find another reincarnation. So the prisoners are bound and chain to live their lives in humiliation and anguish.

Worship: When Meruvians are worshipping one of their gods, they will fall to their knees and lower their forehead to the ground. Octagonal Temples surrounded by a inner balcony, 10 ft of the floor and filled with statues of Gods and Demons. The roof is a eight-sided dome. A huge statue of green jade; thirty foot tall and with six arms on plinth of black marble with large rubies for eyes resides within each of the temples, these are the statues of Yama.

Major God: The Great Dog of Death and Terror, Yama the Demon King. He can be animated, if Summoned by his Half-Demon spawned Son, a hypnotic powerful blast erupts from him as he fights. If Son dies he will become inanimate again instantly.

* The Book of the Death God; Scared Magical Tome.

* Festival of the New Moon. Important time of the year for the Meruvians.


Grand Shaman: They use Divination Magic and carry an Ebony staff as symbols of their power.

Myth: Once the land of Meru was much higher and was called 'The Roof of the World,' the Yama, King of the Demons created a valley for the Meruvians, his chosen People to dwell in.

God-King: The God-King is a Half-Demon. He can Summon his Father, the Demon that spawned his life in previous incarnations. The present God-King or what the Meruvians call Rimpoche is King Jalung Thongpa, Terror of Men and Shadow of Heavens.

Animals: Tiger, rhino, monkeys, bright-hued birds, snakes, lizards, insects.


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Nialldubh
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Feat: Spawn of Yama (General)

Though your Mother was Human and also was your Father, your ancestors create a rite that summon Yama to them and he produced an heir, a son with the aid of one of your Female ancestors, now each time you die and any Female of your Bloodline that exists, will once fertile, produce a reincarnation of you, the Half-Demon son of Yama.

Prerequisites: Must be of Meruvian Royal Family with a bloodline tracing back to the foundation of Meru, must have at least one fertile Human Female alive to give birth to you form, may only be taken at 1st level.

Benefit: You apply the Spawn of Yama template to your character.


Spawn of Yama

Yama is a many armed Demon of Meru, he has watched over his People in this isolated part of Thurian for many thousands of years. He was summoned by his People to spawn life with a Female of the Royal Family and this spawn even when it dies returns to rule on the Jade Throne so long as one Royal Meruvian Female is still capable of giving him life, no Male need take part, just so long as she is fertile.

Creating a Spawn of Yama

‘Spawn of Yama,' is an inherited template that can be added to any living Human with an Intelligence score of 3 or more (referred to hereafter as the base creature).

Size and Type: The creature’s subtype changes Outsider (Demon). Do not recalculate Hit Dice, base attack bonus, or saves. Size is unchanged, though they could but on another 40 lb and look uglier than sin itself. Spawn of Yama are native outsiders.

Speed: As the base creature.

Damage Reduction: As the base creature plus 1.

Attacks: As the base creature.

Special Attacks: As the base creature.

Special Qualities: A Spawn of Yama has all the special qualities of the base creature, plus the following special qualities.

Summon Father's Aid; Can summon his Father as a reanimated form of any statue shaped in his image. This ability takes no Power Points to activate, though he must spend a Full-round action to complete ritual of Summoning. This work very much like the Dabbler Feat, except it only for Summoning Yama.

The Spawn of Yama gains one major insanity.

Immunity to Poison.

Gains Witch-Sighted (A feat within Secrets of Skelos) at creation, his lives are full of dreams, visions of past and present that could allow him to foresee things that could aid him rule his Kingdom. A Spawn of Yama that wishes to stay sane should maximize his Concentration skill and use this modifier in opposing any rolls versus insanity. Most reincarnations never bother and his dreams will certainly make him mad as he cannot organise his thought coherently.

Spells: Entrance: Spawn of Yama with a Charisma 10 or greater may attempt to Entrance any it wishes. This effect is identical to the Entrance spell (Page: 204 AE, Page 250; 2E)) and counts as a known sorcery type and spell. When a Spawn of Yama scholar selects Hypnotism as a new sorcery style, they may choose any other Hypnotism spell for which they qualify as a spell gained.
This ability appears to be a spontaneous locking of the eyes using the Evil Eye rule. The entranced person does not have their attitude shifted, but may be more willing to listen to what the Spawn of Yama has to say.

Favoured Class: Noble, Noble Cavalry, Scholar.

Restricted Classes: Bandit, Gladiator, Mercenary, Thief.

Base Power Points: As the base creature +1. (Each time a PC is Reincarnated after his first taking of this Feat, he gains another +1 PP, Spawn of Yama mature fast, 10 year to be a fully grown adult and they can live for an average of 300 years).

Abilities: Adjust from the base creature as follows: Int: +2, Wis: +2, Con: -2, Cha: -2. (Furthermore, a creature whose Intelligence was 6 or below has its Intelligence increased to 6).

Fate Points: Reduce by -2.

Skills: Spawn of Yama gain a +2 racial bonus to Knowledge (Arcana) and Decipher Script.

Language: Includes Demonic as one of their free languages.

Corruption: As base creature +2.


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