by Anders, Lou
Leflin Greenroot (LEFF-lin): Ostensibly a historian living in the city of Castlebriar, the wood elf named Leflin Greenroot enjoys gambling and is often found at the Windy Willows, listening to music and playing Charioteers.
Malos Underfoot (MAL-ohs): Patron of Dark Elves, one of five sacred elders of the elfin race, Malos is an ancestor spirit venerated by all Svartálfar. If you want inspiration for the perfect dirty trick, Malos is your patron. But don’t count on him for much that isn’t deceitful, dangerous, or deadly.
manticore (MAN-ti-kohr): Nasty creature with the body of a lion, the face of a man, and the tail of a scorpion. Manticores are known for swallowing people whole and for having rather crude senses of humor.
Mensis (MEN-siss): A deity of the fallen Gordion Empire still worshiped in parts of Katernia today, especially in the city of Gordasha. He is often depicted with crescent-like horns protruding from his shoulders.
murids (MYOO-rids): A race of rodent-people. Murids are one of the smallest races in the world, and they face the most prejudice from other races. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, they are a resourceful people. There are four types of murids. Each resembles a different rodent. Mousekin are the most timid of the murids. Hamustros (HAM-oo-strohs) may be small, but you’d never know it from their hair. The Jird (jurd) are desert dwellers fond of arid environments. Ratkins, city dwellers by nature, are the most universally disliked of all murids. They never do anything to deserve this unsavory reputation. Never.
Nasthia Greenmother (NAHS-thee-uh): Patroness of Wood Elves, one of five sacred elders of the elfin race. Nasthia is an ancestor spirit venerated by all wood elves. She is the protector of forests and nature, loved by all who love growing things.
Nelenia (nuh-LEH-nee-uh): A country at the center of the continent of Katernia, Nelenia controls a major east-west passage between two mountain ranges, making it one of the most cosmopolitan countries on the continent, with a diverse population of humans, elves, gnomes, and murids.
Order of the Oak: A centuries-old secret society dedicated to finding lost magical artifacts and then hiding them away where they can never be used to tip the balance of power in the world. Or so they say.
Orysa (oh-RISS-uh): Senior instructor of the Underhand. Students find Orysa to be as stern as they come. You really don’t want to get on her bad side. Unfortunately, that’s the only side there is.
Sacred Gordion Supremacy: A small country that formed in the wake of the collapse of the Gordion Empire. The Sacred Gordion Supremacy proclaims itself as the legitimate heirs of the Gordions, but not many people believe that. Still, the Supremacy holds power because of its control of the strait between the Somber Sea and the Sparkle Sea. The Uskirians say it is an apple waiting to be plucked, but what do they know?
scutum (SKYOO-tuhm): A type of shield carried by soldiers in the long-vanished Gordion Empire. The scutum was a rectangular, curved shield. It was made of wood and covered with canvas and leather, and had a small metal boss in the center to protect the hand.
Shambok Who Borders on Spectacular (SHAM-bahk): The current leader of the Uskirian Empire, Shambok would rather dance than wage war. But life isn’t all fun and games.
Svartálfar (SVAR-tahl-fahr): The dark elves of Norrøngard, who live under the Svartálfaheim Mountains (SVAR-tahl-fuh-hime). Once great wars were fought between the elves and the Norrønir. Now the Svartálfar mostly keep to themselves underground, but who knows what they are plotting?
Tanthal (TAN-thall): A dark elf from the city of Dark Shadow, Tanthal is snide, superior, and convinced of his own genius.
tatzelwurm (TAHT-zull-wurm): A creature native to the woods of Nelenia. It has the head and forelegs of a cat and the hind end of a serpent. Tatzelwurms are also called springwurms (SPRING-wurmz) because of their ability to leap great distances. They can be quite deadly, so be sure to carry your catswort (KATS-wohrt).
Ti-Emur (TY EE-mur): The Uskirian god of war. Ti-Emur is the trailblazer who must subdue the world so that Umalgen (oo-MAHL-gun), god of benevolence, and Karshan (KAHR-shawn), god of wisdom and knowledge, can follow in his wake. Ti-Emur is an impatient god, for only when all peoples are brought together under the banner of the Uskiri can he rest.
Underhand: An elite organization of the city of Deep Shadow dedicated to the protection of the city and the gathering of intelligence. The Underhand always has your best interest at heart. Honest.
Uskiri (USS-keer-ee): A group of once nomadic people who came together under the leadership of Yarak Uskir to form the Uskirian Empire. Now it is one of the largest and most sophisticated empires on the continent. In addition to being great warriors, the Uskiri are advanced in philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, floral arrangements, and dance.
wood elves: A subspecies of the elfin race who live in or near forests. Their skin color ranges across a variety of hues, similar to shades of tree bark and living wood.
Wyrdwood (WEIRD-wood): A forest in a valley in Norrøngard entirely surrounded by the Svartálfaheim Mountains. Humans avoid the Wyrdwood, which is home to many strange and dangerous creatures. Wyrd is the Norrønir word for “an individual’s fate or destiny.” However, any human out walking in the Wyrdwood at night might find that destiny cut short.
Yarak Uskir the Bone Breaker (YAH-rock USS-keer): The founder of the Uskirian Empire, in the year 832 AG, Yarak organized the warring nomadic bands of Uskiri into a formidable army, then proceeded to conquer several of his neighbors. At the time of his death, he charged his successors with expanding his empire southward through the Gordashan Strait. And so, for over a century, Uskirian armies periodically hurl themselves at the double walls of Gordasha.
Yelor (YAY-lohr): A dark elf and officer in the Underhand. Yelor has been assigned to the city of Castlebriar, which he dislikes, although he learns that he dislikes half giants even more.
Ynarr Ulfrsson (EE-nahr OOL-furrs-sun): A Norrønur who fought in the battle of Dragon’s Dance, Ynarr left Norrøngard after a stain on his honor. He now serves as one of four members of the Sworn, the elite private guard for the imperator of the Sacred Gordion Supremacy. Unfortunately, he seems to have bad luck with employers.
First to a Castle in the Briars,
Where ends all of life’s desires.
Over Oak and under Corn,
There to seek the soundless Horn.
A little finger holds the fate,
Where a crescent commands a straight.
Upon the arc where shatters wheel,
Alter course and come to heel.
In Sunken Palace waters reign,
King and Dragon find their bane.
When snake and cockerel sundering,
Seek ye then the Marble King.
As sung by Shambok Who Borders on Spectacular to Karn Korlundsson and Thianna Frostborn*
When I was young,
Just a wee lad,
My father said, “Shambok,
All your siblings are bad.
Kill them all
Or they’ll get you.
There’s room for only one at the top.
There’s no place for number two.
It’s a firm hand
You must have to lead a nation.
You’ll lose your head
If you’re not committed to this vocation.”
When you’re an Uskirian,
There’s more to life than fun.
You have to take the whole wide world
With saber, scimitar, and cannon gun.
The civilization that we bring
Is such a fine and worthwhile thing.
Libraries, schools, centers of philosophy.
War is a classroom, and the teacher would be me.
When I was young,
Just a wee boy,
My father told me,
“The world is more than just your toy.
You have a job,
A task you must fulfill.
Conquer the world.
Only then can you sit still.
It’s your quest.
Bringing peace to everyone.
It isn’t pretty,
But it’s a thing that must be done.”
When you’re Uskiri,
You have to travel every sea.
You have to conquer every land
For the empire’s glory.
You’ve got to break the strait
To fulfill your legacy.
So you hammer at the walls
Of the Sacred Gordion Supremacy.
When I was young,
Just a wee one,
My father told me,
To take my place in the sun,
I must succeed
Where everyone has bent the knee.
“Conquer Gordasha.
Open up the Sparkle Sea.
You will be great.”
And here Dad got a bit oracular.
“When you do this thing,
They’ll call you Shambok the Spectacular!”
*
* Translated from the Uskirian
Charioteers is a game that dates all the way back to the Gordion Empire, but it is still played today in many countries across the continent of Katernia. The game is typically played by two to four players on a board where squares are used to approximate the shape of the famous Hippodrome of Gordasha, a racetrack for chariot racing. As in the Hippodrome, four starting lanes converge into only two racing lanes. This makes some starting positions more desirable than others.
OBJECT OF THE GAME
The object of the game is to race around the board. The first player to get any two of his or her four pieces to the finish line wins first place. Game play continues to determine second, third, and last place.
STARTING THE GAME
Each player controls four playing pieces, designated by the colors red, green, black, and gold. The turn sequence occurs in this same order, red first to gold last.
At the start of play, everyone rolls one six-sided die. The player with the highest roll takes the gold team, second-highest the black team, third-highest the green team, and lowest the red team. Ties are resolved by rolling again.
The red player begins first, and turn sequence progresses from left to right: red, green, black, gold.
PLAYING THE GAME
To move, a player rolls four six-sided dice and counts the number of dice that show an even number (a 2, 4, or 6, as opposed to a 1, 3, or 5). The player can move the number of spaces equal to the number of evens in his or her roll. For example, a roll of 1, 2, 5, and 6 has two even numbers in it (2 and 6), and that player may move two spaces.
Pieces must move either in the direction of the course toward the finish line or side to side, but they may not reverse toward the starting gate. Diagonal moves are not allowed. A player may not occupy another player’s starting square.
An even number of moves may be divided between more than one playing piece. In other words, two moves can be split 1/1, and four moves may be split 2/2, 2/1/1, or 1/1/1/1. Odd moves may not be divided and must be executed by a single playing piece only. (A roll resulting in three moves, for instance, cannot be divided between playing pieces.)
SMASHING AND CRASHING
Landing on an opponent represents smashing your chariot into him or her and sends your opponent back to the start. Passing over an opponent does not.
If a playing piece is returned to the start, it is possible that a player might have more than one piece at the starting gate, and this is permissible.
Getting a result of 0 (no evens in a roll) is a crash, and the piece returns to the start. If a player has more than one piece on the board at the time he or she rolls a 0, the piece nearest to the finish line is the piece that crashes.
STAR SQUARES
Star squares provide protection. A playing piece occupying a star square cannot be returned to the start either by another player or by a crash. Two opposing pieces can occupy a square at the same time, but only one per color and no more than two pieces total.
WINNING THE GAME
The game is won by the first player to get any two of his or her four pieces across the finish line. Game play does not end when a player takes first place, but continues to determine second, third, and last place. Once a piece crosses the finish line, it is removed from play. However, a player may continue to play the game after he or she has won, using the remaining two playing pieces to affect the outcome of the remaining contestants.
Players may find that Charioteers encourages both cooperation and backstabbing, just like the chariot races in the Hippodrome!
OPTIONAL RULES
Over the centuries, variations of Charioteers have sprung up in different cities and countries around Katernia. Here are two of the most popular variations, presented as optional rules.
FAST PLAY: To speed up the game, players may roll six dice instead of four.
LONG PLAY: Players wishing for a longer game can stipulate that all four of a player’s pieces must cross the finish line in order to win, rather than two.
Twice upon a time the world began. First came the Dawn Age, a timeless era when gods, monsters, spirits, and other things for which there are no names wandered the lands and moved under the seas. From this chaos the elves arose. The Ljósálfar, whom men call the High Elves, ruled the world for centuries unchallenged. This period came to be known as the Era of Empires, and great things were accomplished that had not been done before and would not be done again. Theirs was the Light Empire, and humans existed only in the shadows of that light.
But Osius of Talsathia (an island that once existed off the southern coast of Thica) wanted more for his kind. From the dactyls, Osius learned the secrets of crafting and enchanting metals. Using a magical forge, Osius made three horns that gave him mastery over serpents. Using these horns, he gathered and enslaved the Great Dragons. The war of the Dragon King versus the Light Elves was fought for many years, and though not destroyed, the Light Empire was crippled.
But then the Great Dragons rebelled.
The dragons sank Talsathia beneath the sea; the forge and its secret knowledge were lost. But various human tribes on the continent were now free of Talsathian dominance. They picked at the remains of the Light Elf Empire, and from the scraps they snatched, they grew into what would become the Gordion Empire, the second great power of the age.
But what of the horns? Rumors of the powerful objects from Talsathia abounded.
One horn traveled to Thica. It was used there for a time. Lost and found again.*
One horn remained submerged. Legends of sunken Talsathia have lured many adventurers to their death beneath the waves.
One horn traveled to the Gordion outpost of Castrusentis, but its bearer died without successfully mastering it. Recognizing that the horn was valuable and dangerous, a secret society known as the Order of the Oak hid the horn in a special tomb. The Order recorded these events in the form of a cryptic riddle. It chose this method to both preserve the riddle’s meaning across the centuries and ensure that only society members could decipher it.
One day, the tomb was robbed by a Gordion soldier, an auxiliary conscript and dactyl dwarf of Thican ancestry. He came from the city of Ambracia, and he was known as Acmon the Anvil.
Acmon used the horn to enslave the dragon Orma (or so it was believed) and led a rebellion against the Gordion Empire in Ambracia. There, he ruled as king for a brief time, but Acmon and his dragon were overthrown by the Gordion Empire. Seeing his sister’s downfall, the great dragon Orm fled across Katernia to the land of Norrøngard. When the dragon arrived in the city of Sardeth and found Gordions, his displeasure was terrible.
Meanwhile, the Order of the Oak added two more verses to their riddle, this time hidden on Acmon’s lost shield, which he had left in the tomb in Castrusentis.
Years later, Ambracia was renamed Nova Gordion (New Gordion) by Emperor Gordas, but the name was not popular and the people called the city Gordasha instead.
When the Gordion Empire collapsed, marking the en
d of the Era of Empires, the Sacred Gordion Supremacy arose, a tiny remnant clinging to past glories. The Supremacy chose Gordasha as its capital and drew its meager power from the control of the Gordashan Strait.
Farther north, the once-wild Uskiri nomads united under the leadership of Yarak Uskir, Yarak the Bone-Breaker, who fashioned his people into a formidable power. Then Yarak turned his eyes southward to Gordasha. Ever after, Uskirian rulers hurled themselves against the city’s walls. Those walls have always held, but it is said that one day they will fall.
*
* And finally destroyed, as per the events of the novel Frostborn.
DA: THE DAWN AGE
EE: ERA OF EMPIRES
AG: AFTER GORDION
✥ ? to 4000 DA: Gods and monsters roam the world.
✥ 4000s to 2000s EE: The earliest human cultures start to emerge. On the mainland of Katernia, the Light Elf Empire arises and rules much of the continent.
✥ 1967 EE: The great Dragon King civilization is founded when Osius of Talsathia forges the three horns (and many other legendary artifacts).
✥ 1912 to 1565 EE: The War of the Dragon King vs. the Light Elves.
✥ 1565 EE: The destruction of Talsathia. Many Talsathian refugees—particularly dactyl dwarves—immigrate to Thica.
✥ 1220 EE: Gordion is founded by Gordius and Gordilla.
✥ 1138 EE: Ambracia is founded by dactyl dwarves in a period of Thican colonial expansion.
✥ 942 to 808 EE: The Gordion Empire vs. the Light Empire.
✥ 739 EE: All free Thican colonies on Katernia, including Ambracia, surrender to the Gordion Empire.
✥ 731 EE: The Gordion Empire destroys the last vestiges of the Light Empire. Ljósálfaria falls under Gordion control.
✥ 645 EE: The Gordion Empire establishes an outpost in Norrøngard, which becomes the city of Sardeth.
✥ 616 EE: The Gordion Empire conquers Thica after winning the Battle of Pymonia.
✥ 389 EE: A tomb in Castlebriar, Nelenia, is robbed by a Gordion soldier, an auxiliary conscript and a Thican from Ambracia (who claims royal Thican lineage). He inadvertently leaves clues—a shield that is left propping open a stone slab—that identifies his origins in the city of Ambracia.