Old Skalovia
A spectre is haunting the far corners of the world. The spectre of Equitianism.
Skalovia; "The gods know, yet avert their eyes." - Old Skalovian saying
The tale of Skalovia is of warring states of dragons and dragonborn that spoke in their stead in the cold reaches of the land. The land was filled with kingdoms, merchant principalities, and theocracies. All engaging in all types of diplomacy, skullduggery, and conflict. Skalovia is a frigid land. Beautiful, but a cold snap has claimed the lives of many a Skalovian in its long history. Dragons warred for the most valuable pieces of land to sit upon their hoards and these lands tended to be the warmest. Caves with natural geothermal heating. Mountainsides with features like a piece of a broken star or a magical artifact or a single stream of magma that kept the snow away and led to quick formations of potable water. These places also tended to exclusively hold greater industry with the heat and energy found in them levied for use by the various dragonprinces and their thrall-regents. The thrall-regents were those mortals the dragons could instill respect or terror in that would keep their kingdoms as they slept. These hearth-holds as they were known also held the most valuable and rare farmable land under the clutches of the princes. The dragons had every way to leave Skalovia, but its inhabitants could not and to survive was to bow to their winged overlords and serve them. They could kneel or die by flame, blade, or famine
The majority of Skalovia's inhabitants are a mixture of dragonkin. Dragonborn found their natural place as the lower nobility and kobolds as the workers and peasants of the nation. Often the dragonborn would find themselves with the scales of their overlords not due to birth, although the dragonprinces did engage in duplicitous or violent means that produced half-dragons, but as a branding by their masters. Often the kobolds would not be 'blessed' with their master's scales but instead branded upon their necks at a very young age to keep the serfs in line and knowing their overlords who graciously allowed them to live. Often, these brands would be changed when one prince triumphed over another in a gross mass ritualized branding. Dragonborn found their master's view of the 'lesser' species easy to take and lorded over them and treated them as cattle. They were their master's serfs and when their masters slept they were their serfs. Families could be broken up permanently on a whim. Kobolds reassigned to jobs they had no proficiency in and then blamed when they were grievously wounded performing work they had no idea how to do safely. Their repression was built into their local religious structures and even some found themselves fervently agreeing with a dogma of self-hatred and staying in their place. They worshipped their masters as gods and killed those that gave any hint of dissent. There was the rare few that attempted efforts to help them but they were often barely effective in the wave of hatred and repression they faced.
That is not to say other groups did not exist. Rugged orc tribes that touted their independence and survival ability in the cold lands but were forced to kowtow to the dragonprinces to eat existed. Blacksmiths and jewelers among dwarves found themselves in Skalovia either by the circumstance of birth, commissioning for great projects, or stolen away and kept from their homes by the forces of the dragon princes and the cold reaches stopping would-be rescuers. Human mercenaries, artisans, entertainers, academics, and mages would often be hired and their bloodline continued in the cold reaches. Elves could not make their homes in the snow-piled forests which held beasts and was unsuitable for habitation. When the dragonprinces did not engage in pogroms against them. Indeed, multiple times in its history found the lowly set upon by high due to perceived threats or even religious fervour.
Then there were the outside threats. Adventurers will attempt to kill dragons, this is known, but the features the dragons kept in and around their hold including great magical artifacts, pieces of stars, natural places of power, general sources of energy from geothermal heating, and the like invited many to try to war against the place. These opportunities to plunder were found to be more favorable due to the divided nature of the few dozen scaleprinces found throughout it. Often, the hearth-holds were like independent city states with their own limited scope of territory. The hearth-holds would war against each other for petty slights, paranoia, plunder, revenge, and a number of other reasons beings of great stature fight. The scaleprinces kept no standing army greater than a personal retinue of guards known as the scalebound those Dragonborn raised from birth and either freely given for reward or stolen from their clutches. They were given imposing armor, brutal weaponry, and trained to perfectly strengthen each other in combat. Often, they were modified by magics to make them larger, unnaturally stronger, and to make their scales tougher. A few were even drawn from the brink of their sapience in the form of the Chainbound, dragonborn warped to be enormous beasts that were chained and fed with kobolds until their masters unleashed them on their rivals forces. In terms of "professional" militants, any of those with magical ability were kept under careful watch and control by the scaleprinces and their thrall-regents. Each latched upon with chains enchanted to make them thralls by the scaleprinces. These chains were rare and in low quantity. When their quantity ran low, great big witch hunts were held to scour those that could use magic. Along with this, often those magic-thralls would have to compete for their masters' favor on pain of death.
There was a special class of officiating arbitrators for the Regent-Thrawls. These were made up of those attuned to Ki that acted as mixtures of spy, secret police, and executioners for them. They were known as quick-pads. First, exclusively a creation of the gold dragon Vulfr made from kidnapping and subduing a group of traveling monks, it was soon copied and spread throughout Scalovia to even the edge the scale-prince of Volzig had over the others. This newly created class had their own space outside the hierarchy of Skalovia where they were only subservient to the scale-prince themselves and claimed to hear their words meaning they had power and threatened the regent-thrawls who had to tolerate them or risk being replaced. They also served as a way to obtain social mobility for those that could use ki effectively. Quick-pads were organized into clans that were the eyes of the scale-princes and their ultimate proselytizers and propagandists. They had to remove themselves from their original families and clutches and often went through harsh initiation rituals that required the murder of their own family members or a friend to prove their devotion to the dragons.
Then there were the levied hosts. Foot armies made up of the lower classes that were armed minimally and then sent to fight across the cold reaches. Some volunteered for the promise of loot and extra food for their families. Many beings, mostly kobolds, were rounded up and forced to take a spear in one hand and a shield in the other and marched across the cold reaches. Many died through disease and starvation and their 'loot' amount was very poor and could be superseded by their dragonborn 'betters'. Often the gentry supplied the cavalry and partial professional warriors. They would ride great mastiffs as large as horses, pygmy wyverns bred to carry flying mounts, mammoth beasts, and imported or captured beasts that could survive the cold. A great host that could survive the reaches could use the divided nature of the princes to plunder the dragons' treasures.
There were many invasions into Skalovia. Great invasions of the undead lead by zombie liches. Hordes of riders and raiders split from their grand hosts that tried their hands at carving out their own empires. Religious zealots on great crusades against the scale-kin. Other dragons, ancient compared to the princes, that wished to bully their younger inferiors to add to their hoards. Eruptions of fae or demonic invasions that seemed to come due to ritual or slights against the faerie and demon lords of their domains by the princes when they weren't summoned by those lowly wishing the end of the reign of the dragons. Every time, great masses of kobolds and other similar 'lower' beings died by the hundreds of thousands for masters that did not care for them. There were often times the princes set aside their petty squabbles to band together against existential threats. This came into play during the last and worst great invasion of Skalovia, the holy war of the Host of Bloody Tears and their master the Scarlet Prophet.
Millions died in this conflict. These were sent by a fully united alliance of princes. Many without proper weaponry or equipment or even hearthstones and clothing. Hearthstones are those magic artifacts that give off great amounts of heat and are key to mass transportation across the reaches. They are manufactured by the masters of forges and enchanted within a key few hearth-holds. These are often the most powerful of the holds able to leverage their power over those jealous princes without the means. Several of the cold-blooded dragonskin that require heat to survive died without them facedown in the snow. While their dragonborn 'betters' whipped them on and sent them ahead. The forces of the Host of Bloody Tears were a great mixture of many mounted knights, professional martial warriors, great hordes of the faithful of the cult of Lady Ishkaria (She Who Shed for the World), beastmasters, druids, magic users, divine paladins, and the Scarlet Prophet himself with great destructive power. He had foreseen a future where the Skalovians would produce a united empire that would threaten the stability of the world and set himself to gather a great army to exterminate all of those within from dragon to dragonling.
The prophet was eventually slain by inquisitors of the greater religion he was seen as a heretic of. His armies stuck around as great independent hordes now attacking each other and claiming the lands of the cold reaches. They used religious or fabricated claims of being favored by the true prophet. Others broke from the thought of the Bloody Tears cult entirely and warred on their former comrades at behest of the inquisitors.
This apocalyptic conflict revealed a forgotten being. The broken dragon. A lowly heir that was disowned of his claim to a throne and of his wings. The coming breaker of chains. Simply known as Uhlion the Unbound.
Locations
Hearth-Holds
Letrotsk - The dragon Kuimdr's domain. Minor hearth-hold with hearthstone creation capabilities and major industry abilities for a smaller hearth-hold. Future capital of the Uhlian Republic.
Kovolia - Most powerful hearthshold by the end of the Bloody Tears invasion.
Brescht -
Pakalia -
Verkov -Most powerful hearth-hold before the Bloody Tears invasion.
Leischig - Strange constitutional monarchy hearth-hold. Holds comatose dragon and powerful half-dragon human sorcerer thrall-regent.
Yasokilov -
Bromchau -
Soyikov -
Roscholov -
Zayenkovy -
Huradstiya -
Volenkovy -
Takarsov -
Nolkau -
Pelavzig -
Zelastaya -
Gorakalia -
Yusayavy -
Uliatov -
Kolnikaya -
Bariskaya -
Volzig - Vulfr's domain.
Mayenkovy -
Items
Scalovian Hearthstone - 100 platinum
10 lbs; This special hearthstone created in the forges of the cold reach hearth-holds is able to establish a field of heat over a radius of 100 feet and dispel any effects from cold weather or environments. They cannot stop cold-based spells nor affect them.
Monsters
Then there were the outside threats. Adventurers will attempt to kill dragons, this is known, but the features the dragons kept in and around their hold including great magical artifacts, pieces of stars, natural places of power, general sources of energy from geothermal heating, and the like invited many to try to war against the place. These opportunities to plunder were found to be more favorable due to the divided nature of the few dozen scaleprinces found throughout it. Often, the hearth-holds were like independent city states with their own limited scope of territory. The hearth-holds would war against each other for petty slights, paranoia, plunder, revenge, and a number of other reasons beings of great stature fight. The scaleprinces kept no standing army greater than a personal retinue of guards known as the scalebound those Dragonborn raised from birth and either freely given for reward or stolen from their clutches. They were given imposing armor, brutal weaponry, and trained to perfectly strengthen each other in combat. Often, they were modified by magics to make them larger, unnaturally stronger, and to make their scales tougher. A few were even drawn from the brink of their sapience in the form of the Chainbound, dragonborn warped to be enormous beasts that were chained and fed with kobolds until their masters unleashed them on their rivals forces. In terms of "professional" militants, any of those with magical ability were kept under careful watch and control by the scaleprinces and their thrall-regents. Each latched upon with chains enchanted to make them thralls by the scaleprinces. These chains were rare and in low quantity. When their quantity ran low, great big witch hunts were held to scour those that could use magic. Along with this, often those magic-thralls would have to compete for their masters' favor on pain of death.
There was a special class of officiating arbitrators for the Regent-Thrawls. These were made up of those attuned to Ki that acted as mixtures of spy, secret police, and executioners for them. They were known as quick-pads. First, exclusively a creation of the gold dragon Vulfr made from kidnapping and subduing a group of traveling monks, it was soon copied and spread throughout Scalovia to even the edge the scale-prince of Volzig had over the others. This newly created class had their own space outside the hierarchy of Skalovia where they were only subservient to the scale-prince themselves and claimed to hear their words meaning they had power and threatened the regent-thrawls who had to tolerate them or risk being replaced. They also served as a way to obtain social mobility for those that could use ki effectively. Quick-pads were organized into clans that were the eyes of the scale-princes and their ultimate proselytizers and propagandists. They had to remove themselves from their original families and clutches and often went through harsh initiation rituals that required the murder of their own family members or a friend to prove their devotion to the dragons.
Then there were the levied hosts. Foot armies made up of the lower classes that were armed minimally and then sent to fight across the cold reaches. Some volunteered for the promise of loot and extra food for their families. Many beings, mostly kobolds, were rounded up and forced to take a spear in one hand and a shield in the other and marched across the cold reaches. Many died through disease and starvation and their 'loot' amount was very poor and could be superseded by their dragonborn 'betters'. Often the gentry supplied the cavalry and partial professional warriors. They would ride great mastiffs as large as horses, pygmy wyverns bred to carry flying mounts, mammoth beasts, and imported or captured beasts that could survive the cold. A great host that could survive the reaches could use the divided nature of the princes to plunder the dragons' treasures.
There were many invasions into Skalovia. Great invasions of the undead lead by zombie liches. Hordes of riders and raiders split from their grand hosts that tried their hands at carving out their own empires. Religious zealots on great crusades against the scale-kin. Other dragons, ancient compared to the princes, that wished to bully their younger inferiors to add to their hoards. Eruptions of fae or demonic invasions that seemed to come due to ritual or slights against the faerie and demon lords of their domains by the princes when they weren't summoned by those lowly wishing the end of the reign of the dragons. Every time, great masses of kobolds and other similar 'lower' beings died by the hundreds of thousands for masters that did not care for them. There were often times the princes set aside their petty squabbles to band together against existential threats. This came into play during the last and worst great invasion of Skalovia, the holy war of the Host of Bloody Tears and their master the Scarlet Prophet.
Millions died in this conflict. These were sent by a fully united alliance of princes. Many without proper weaponry or equipment or even hearthstones and clothing. Hearthstones are those magic artifacts that give off great amounts of heat and are key to mass transportation across the reaches. They are manufactured by the masters of forges and enchanted within a key few hearth-holds. These are often the most powerful of the holds able to leverage their power over those jealous princes without the means. Several of the cold-blooded dragonskin that require heat to survive died without them facedown in the snow. While their dragonborn 'betters' whipped them on and sent them ahead. The forces of the Host of Bloody Tears were a great mixture of many mounted knights, professional martial warriors, great hordes of the faithful of the cult of Lady Ishkaria (She Who Shed for the World), beastmasters, druids, magic users, divine paladins, and the Scarlet Prophet himself with great destructive power. He had foreseen a future where the Skalovians would produce a united empire that would threaten the stability of the world and set himself to gather a great army to exterminate all of those within from dragon to dragonling.
The prophet was eventually slain by inquisitors of the greater religion he was seen as a heretic of. His armies stuck around as great independent hordes now attacking each other and claiming the lands of the cold reaches. They used religious or fabricated claims of being favored by the true prophet. Others broke from the thought of the Bloody Tears cult entirely and warred on their former comrades at behest of the inquisitors.
This apocalyptic conflict revealed a forgotten being. The broken dragon. A lowly heir that was disowned of his claim to a throne and of his wings. The coming breaker of chains. Simply known as Uhlion the Unbound.
Locations
Hearth-Holds
Letrotsk - The dragon Kuimdr's domain. Minor hearth-hold with hearthstone creation capabilities and major industry abilities for a smaller hearth-hold. Future capital of the Uhlian Republic.
Kovolia - Most powerful hearthshold by the end of the Bloody Tears invasion.
Brescht -
Pakalia -
Verkov -Most powerful hearth-hold before the Bloody Tears invasion.
Leischig - Strange constitutional monarchy hearth-hold. Holds comatose dragon and powerful half-dragon human sorcerer thrall-regent.
Yasokilov -
Bromchau -
Soyikov -
Roscholov -
Zayenkovy -
Huradstiya -
Volenkovy -
Takarsov -
Nolkau -
Pelavzig -
Zelastaya -
Gorakalia -
Yusayavy -
Uliatov -
Kolnikaya -
Bariskaya -
Volzig - Vulfr's domain.
Mayenkovy -
Items
Scalovian Hearthstone - 100 platinum
10 lbs; This special hearthstone created in the forges of the cold reach hearth-holds is able to establish a field of heat over a radius of 100 feet and dispel any effects from cold weather or environments. They cannot stop cold-based spells nor affect them.
Monsters
Scalovian Dragonborn Rider
Scalovian Scalebound
Chainbound
GIANT WIP ON REGENT THRALL
Regent-Thrall
Medium humanoid (Dragonborn), Lawful Evil
Armor Class 15 (breastplate)
Hit Points 72 (16d8)
Speed 30 ft.
STR 14 (+2) DEX 12 (+1) CON 11 (+0) INT 18 (+4) WIS 22 (+6) CHA 22 (+6)
Saving Throws Int +12, Wis +12, Cha +10
Skills Arcana +12, Deception +10, History +12, Insight +12, Intimidation +10, Perception +12, Persuasion +10
Condition Immunities charmed
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 22
Languages Common, Draconic
Challenge 17 (18,000 XP)
Withering Stare A Regent-Thrall may roll Intimidation against a creature that is opposed by a Wisdom save. If the creature fails they are charmed and in control the Regent-Thrall of the for one turn and take 1d6 Psychic damage.
Ultimate Paranoia The Regent-Thrall gains advantages on active perception checks and when they sleep may roll active perception checks to be aware and alert of anyone or anything in their vicinity at night.
Unchain A Regent-Thrall may immediately utter an activation word that causes both Chainbound and Scalebound under its control to rage and attack the closest beings to them. Even the Regent-Thrall in confusion, which is why Regent-Thralls use the activation words when their thralls are away from them. They can also use this on traitor bound that can try to oppose this rage with a wisdom check.
Breath Weapon Roll 1d10 on the Dragonborn Breathweapon chart in the Player's Handbook on page 34 to choose a weapon and scale (they have to be the same) if the Regent-Thrawl has not already been designated a scale color.
Damage Resistance Roll 1d10 on the Dragonborn Resistance chart in the Player's Handbook to choose a resistance if the Regent-Thrawl has not already been designated a scale color.
Spellcasting.
The Regent-Thrawl is a 15th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 21, +11 to hit with spell attacks). The Regent-Thrawl has the following sorcerer spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will): fire bolt, light, mage hand, prestidigitation
1st level (4 slots): detect magic, mage armor, magic missile, shield
2nd level (3 slots): misty step, suggestion, darkness
3rd level (3 slots): counterspell, fireball, fly
4th level (3 slots): greater invisibility, ice storm, banishment
5th level (2 slot): cone of cold, dominate person
6th level (1 slot): mass suggestion
7th level (1 slot): teleport
8th level (1 slot): Illusory Dragon
Actions
Thrall Rod Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 1d12+2 magic damage.
Fireball
A bright streak flashes from your pointing finger to a point you choose within range and then blossoms with a low roar into an explosion of flame. Each creature in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on that point must make a Dexterity saving throw. A target takes 8d6 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. The fire spreads around corners. It ignites flammable objects in the area that aren't being worn or carried.
Reactions
Parry The Regent-Thrawl adds 2 to its AC against one melee attack that would hit it. To do so, the noble must see the attacker and be wielding a melee weapon.
My Devoted Meatshields
Once per round as a reaction, a Regent-Thrawl can choose three creatures under its control within 15 meters to take a hit for them with a dexterity save by the creatures. Whichever one wins takes the full amount of damage in place of the regent-thrawl and moves to be adjacent to him. This uses those creatures' reactions.
Quick-Pad Monk
Medium humanoid (any race), any non-good alignment
Armor Class 16 (Unarmored Defense)
Hit Points 45 (7d8 + 14)
Speed
45 ft.
STR 11 (+0) DEX 16 (+3) CON 14 (+2) INT 13 (+1) WIS 16 (+3) CHA 10 (+0)
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