Ghosts of Guidain (Lexicon)

[Dreamshell]

Lexicon:

Okay, this is a fun side-game and form of world building/subplot and quest generation. With the high number of players, it may get a little chaotic, but this in entirely optional, anyway.

The basic idea is that you help flesh out the setting (specifically, the history and particulars of the continent of Guidain - An "Encyclopedia Guidannica," if you will) by writing various comprehensive entries and excerpts of essays, historical records, eye-witness accounts, scientific and/or travel notes, journal logs, newspaper articles, religious scripture, folklore, mythology, plays, poems, ballads and other suchlike things (we’ll ignore the fact there’s probably a world beyond the borders of Guidain for now).

You can write from a variety of viewpoints, including different in-game NPCs (with permission and input from me), your own PCs, and even Sir Percival Cubbard himself (again with permission). But primarily you’ll want to stick to one character, your Scholar “side-PC,” whose personality and history is entirely yours to create (or not). This side-PC may even get a mention or cameo in the game (supposing they’re still alive - your Scholar can be from any time in Guidish history up to its present-day)!

You’ve already been sprinkling the game with your own little touches; Stivali Shots, Iron Cider, the Hermetic College, the NPCs derived from the creation of your PCs, and so on. Simply continue on in that fashion, but now you have a place to detail your Cool New Idea as much as you like! Likewise, I may bring things up in the game from time to time that I don’t bother to expound upon - these are yours to play with.

Now, below are some links to get you into the spirit of this side-game, but the rules don’t particularly apply to us. We may try and put things into some alphabetical order if the forum allows, but we’ll see. Just browse the links, particular the Twisted Confessions one, and try to get a feel for how this will be done (Suggestion: Check out the different Scholar profiles and some of their entries). Remember, this isn’t mandatory, so you don’t have to do this. But if you do, have fun! =D

NOTE: Do NOT put your Scholar side-PC profiles up here; place them in the Scholars thread. See that thread for the profile skeleton. This thread will be strictly for all the side-game fun.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexicon_(game)
http://www.twistedconfessions.com/confessional/index.php?n=Lexicon.HomePage  

[javeharron]

An Excerpt from “Death in the Deep: My Time in Stogorakh” by Dr. Giovanni Risona

My first impression of the dwarven Grand Alliance was one of disappointment, and it followed me through the remainder of my stay there. I expected underground palaces and feast halls, dominated by runic symbols and elaborate carvings. Instead, I was merely escorted through tunnels I had to half-crawl through, illuminated by the insufficient lights of a flickering lantern. There I was, deep under the Conqueror’s Belt, and it felt no different than squeezing into a narrow attic.

The Grand Alliance possessed some holds and caves that were more suitable for humans, given their alliances with the free men and soaring dragons that lived above. But I was not in some underground merchant’s den or wealthy hold, but Graznygrad. I was in a hold built for war, a brutal and savage war the dwarves waged almost daily without the knowledge of the men above. During my tour, the first place I insisted on visiting was the field hospital, fresh with survivors of recent skirmishes.

The dwarven caste system is utterly rigid and inflexible, save in one regard: all are allowed to become warriors. The elites of this system have no qualms about who ends up as fodder in their campaigns, but unlike most human politicians, at least the dwarven elite led from the front. Now, commanders and commoners alike were stuck in the same place, tended by surgeons and medics.

The room itself was a compact chamber, hewn out of solid granite by dwarven muscle and machinery. The illumination was provided by a novel type of gas-lamp, the details of which I am unsure of. The dwarven casualties were grouped by the severities of their wounds. Many warriors merely had flesh wounds and lacerations. I noted the dwarven custom of using vodka and hot water on wounds, which reduced the chance of infection significantly (which has also been successfully applied to humans, as my collaborators have recently confirmed). Despite the stereotype of axe-wielding fighters in full plate armor, most dwarves preferred short weapons and lighter armor when skirmishing in these tight tunnels. Many prefer pistols and small crossbows to melee weapons, using volleys of projectiles to clear entire tunnels of goblins. Hardly honorable, but certainly effective.

The first group I surveyed were those with the lightest injuries. On these sorts, the surgeons would clean their wounds, patch them up, and send them back to fight as soon as possible. They worked like a well-oiled machine, cleaning wounds, stitching cuts, and applying bandages as fast as they could. (There is little magical healing here, as dwarven rune-crafting primarily was developed around smithing more than medicine.)

Before I moved onto the more wounded ones, I noticed some dwarves stuck in a distant corner. They bore no physical injuries, but one look at their eyes showed something was wrong. They had their gazes locked forwards, as if staring through stone itself. In human lands, we called this condition “shellshock,” but the dwarves had a word for it long before humanity did. They called them the “soul-numb” or “soul-dead” (depending on the translation), those who returned as pathetic shells of the proud warriors they once were. A medic (from the Grotto of Ministration) noted that dwarves who had fought alongside each other for long periods could develop this condition when a loved one or friend fell in battle. The lucky ones were reintegrated into dwarven society somehow. Some were simply too far gone to care for themselves, and were left to waste away into pathetic, skeletal wretches. Some strongholds euthanize them rather than let them waste away, which certainly seemed more compassionate than letting them die a lingering, painful death.

Further across the room were those with more critical injuries, and it was unknown if they would survive or not. If bleeding was stopped and the patient remained conscious or had a regular pulse, they would be moved into a separate area for additional treatment. Those with broken bones, larger lacerations, and conditions requiring a significant amount of recovery time were the most common patients in this part of the room. Some amputations were performed here. I saw dwarven patients hold bullets in their teeth as a surgeon removed the limb with a hacksaw. Many teeth were shattered in what dwarves called “biting the bullet.” Unlike human hospitals, the severed limbs were quickly disposed of (although my associates were permitted to take some for research).

The less fortunate ones were crippled for life. These pathetic souls had been narrowly denied the chance for a warrior’s death, only to be forced to linger on instead. Like the soul-dead husks, some strongholds permitted the mercy killings of these members, should their injuries prove too crippling. Those who were conscious would often consent, as they were still considered to have been given the honors of a warrior’s death. Interestingly, a master smith and runecrafter has stumbled upon an invention that may prevent this pitiful waste. He has developed a way to make a form of animated prosthetic, which responds to its owner’s commands as if it was a natural limb. The techniques are similar to golem crafting, but much refinement needs to occur. However, even crude prosthetic devices remain expensive, and thus inaccessible for all but the dwarven nobility.

In the farthest corner were the mortally wounded and soon-to-be-dead. The last words of the high-ranking were recorded, records made of battles won and lost, and last rites were administered to those still conscious. The dwarven warriors all sought the hollow comfort of a warrior’s death, but a trip to a hospital like this could turn the minds of the undecided. While the dwarves possess a rigid caste system that dictates how they live their lives, the warriors were those who had relative freedom. That freedom comes at a price, which the dwarves here paid. The warrior’s death might be sought after not for honor’s sake, but for not having to live as one of the pathetic souls crushed by burdens heavier than the mountains above: the horrors of war.

Also see:
“The History of the Grand Alliance of Stogorakh,” “A Matter of Honor: A Survey of Chivalry and other Traditions,” “Warbringer: The Battles of the Equestrians”