The Danse Macabre and the Hounds of Velun

Below are two factions in Krevborna. The first was inspired by one of my player's riffs from his own game in the setting. The second has been around in the setting for a very long time, but this is the first real write up they've gotten.

The Danse Macabre

Ostensibly a traveling dance troupe specializing in horror-themed performances, the Danse Macabre is actually a secret society of voodoo priests and priestesses who use the opportunities afforded by their recitals to exert magical influence over their audiences.

    • Each of the Danse Macabre’s recitals is potentially a ritual enacted through dance.

    • Possible goals of a recital include causing madness within a crowd, dominating an audience member’s will, or harvesting an attendee’s soul as arcane fuel.

    • Members of the Danse Macabre relentlessly train their bodies for strength and agilitye; they make for surprisingly dangerous combatants. 

The Hounds of Velun

The Hounds of Velun are a secret society of monarchists devoted to restoring a lost heir to Krevborna’s vacant throne.

    • Most members of the Hounds of Velun are drawn from aristocratic families who lament the loss of power and influence they wielded before the Uprising.

    • The Hounds of Velun believe the royal line was not wholly extinguished; they search for an heir possessing a direct blood tie to the last tsar.

    • The Church considers the Hounds of Velun to be enemies of the faith; since the Church wishes to rule Krevborna as a theocracy, a new tsar would threaten its plans.

Magog Station/Old Perdition and Trevania House

Two adventure locations in the Vespermark. I love the idea of a "ghost train," hence Magog Station and Old Perdition. Trevania, on the other hand, is very obviously a dark play on Arthurian myth. In various ways, both locations can probably be traced back to my appreciation for Stephen King's The Dark Tower series. Magog Station and Old Perdition also has at least a little inspiration from the Ghost Train set from LEGO's Monster Fighters; that thing ruled. Additionally, the cursed sword Drachenmort is a sentient black runesword as a tip of the hat to Michael Moorcock. 

Magog Station and Old Perdition

Magog Station is a remnant of the Vlaak Empire’s outposts on the western edge of Krevborna. In its heyday, Magog Station was a railway hub for trains entering and leaving Vlaak territory. 

    • Now abandoned and left to decay, Magog Station is the terminus for a single train: Old Perdition, a beast of iron that belches steam and flame.

    • Old Perdition possesses a life of its own; it is unclear whether it is haunted by the specter of a Vlaak engineer, inhabited by a demon, or something even stranger.

    • Those who wish to board Old Perdition must bargain with the conductor for safe passage—to do otherwise is to risk evisceration at the hands of the undead crew and passengers doomed to ride Old Perdition for eternity. 

    • Those who do come to an accord with the engineer invariably find that the train is headed to the destination they desire to travel to; it arrives by night amid mist and fog, lets its living passengers disembark, and then lurches away into the darkness.

Trevania

When an adolescent knight named Nadezhda Olashenko drew the black runesword Drachenmort from the rock in which it was embedded, the people of the town of Trevania rejoiced to see the fulfillment of a foretold prophecy. To the folk of Trevania, this feat was a sign that Nadezhda was the promised templar who would lead an army to liberate Sibersk from the grip of its vampire overlords. 

    • Nadezhda has ignited a zealous and oppressive fervor in the town of Trevania. 

    • Acting under the fell influence of Drachenmort, a sentient blade that seeks to cause discord and bloodshed, Nadezhda’s paranoid dictates incite violence against supposed traitors, spies, and unbelievers. 

    • She is treated as a living saint, but her increasingly manic decrees have led to instances of false imprisonment and public executions in Trevania. 

    • Nadezhda’s proclamations are law in Trevania—very few realize that she is a fallen paladin and a puppet of the insidious magical sword that is always at her side.  

Anastasia Elanova and Erasmus Feist

Two NPCs from my campaign setting: Anastasia Elanova and Erasmus Feist. Anastasia is a monster hunter, and also secretly the heir to Krevborna's vacant throne. Erasmus Feist is a loser who was been habitually bullied by various characters in-game, but in the intervening years since he last appeared he's  been delving into alchemy and has a horrible secret of his own.

Anastasia Elanova

Anastasia Elanova is a young monster hunter who travels Krevborna slaying unnatural beasts for coin. She is also of royal blood and the nearest surviving heir of Krevborna’s tsar. Like every scion of her noble lineage, she posses the “Voice of the Tsarina.” When she puts the force of her will behind her commands, her dictates tend to be obeyed.

She knows the secret of her origins, though she would resist any attempt to install her as the land’s sovereign ruler. 

    • Appearance: Anastasia is a young woman who keeps her blonde hair boyishly short; a livid scar mars the sharp angles of her cheek.

    • Personality: She is brash and overeager to prove herself.

    • Motive: She aspires to nothing more than a life of adventure.

    • Flaw: Anastasia avoids responsibility like a plague.

Erasmus Feist and Yosef Wulfson

Erasmus Feist is a dilettante occultist who foolishly experiments with alchemy. Unfortunately, imbibing the wrong chemicals has resulted in an uncontrollable affliction: when he becomes angered, afraid, or otherwise stressed, Erasmus Feist transforms into Yosef Wulfson, a brutish lout given to licentiousness and explosive violence.

    • Appearance: Erasmus is a thin, reedy man with prematurely receding hair; Yosef is a muscular giant of a man who is slovenly in appearance.

    • Personality: Erasmus is an arrogant poseur, but he is timid; Yosef is loud, selfish, and possesses a horrid temper.

    • Motive: Erasmus desires respect he does not deserve; Yosef lives for his own perverse pleasures.

    • Flaw: Erasmus is terrified that the world will learn of his second life as Yosef; Yosef hates that he has to share his life with Erasmus.

Diremoon Revelator Shrines and Fort Gilead

The following two adventure locations in the Vespermark are meant to emphasis its status as the "wild frontier" far away from the mainstream Church and other loci of authority. "Location" is being used fast and loose to describe the Diremoon Revelator Shrines, since there are many of them dotting the Vespermark, but they were also a great opportunity to introduce a folk religion based on belief in Santa Muerte. Fort Gilead, on the other hand, is a classic convention of Wild West fiction, but I'm also giving it a little bit of gloss from Stephen King's Dark Tower books.

Diremoon Revelator Shrines

The Diremoon Revelators are followers of a folk religion that venerates Saint Vionka, a non-canonical saint, whom they believe intercedes on behalf of mortals in matters of death.

    • The Diremoon Revelators maintain no organized temples or churches—instead, they establish small shrines dedicated to Saint Vionka throughout the Vespermark. 

    • The Diremoon Revelators’ devotional shrines are most frequently found in areas prone to turmoil, violence, and danger.

    • Saint Vionka is depicted as a pale maiden clad in a black dress and wearing a matching lace veil; she is often shown accompanied by crows, ravens, and jackdaws. 

    • The Diremoon Revelators pray to Saint Vionka be to spared from “bad deaths,” such as deaths by violence or at the hands of the evil creatures who roam the land. 

    • The faithful hope that Saint Vionka will guide them to “good deaths” free from pain and strife. 

    • Saint Vionka’s faithful consider the undead to be atrocities; the most fanatical Diremoon adherents hunt undead abominations as a sacred calling.

Fort Gilead

Fort Gilead is a castle stationed on the wild frontier of the Vespermark. Fort Gilead is currently occupied by members of the Knights Labyrinthian, who are using it as their ad hoc headquarters.

      • Fort Gilead is used as a center of trade for the people living on the Vespermark’s plains. 

    • As their tranactions take place under the watchful eyes of the Knights Labyrinthian, traders are expected to be fair in their dealings.

    • The Knights Labyrinthian also use Fort Gilead as a training ground for the young “squires” of their order who have not completed their trials and are not yet recognized as full members.

    • Squires are trained in tracking, wilderness survival, and marksmanship; they are also initiated in the Knights Labyrinthian's mystical teachings and peculiar version of laconic chivalry. 

    • Within Fort Gilead, the Knights Labyrinthian compile information on the Grail Tombs gathered in their travels across Krevborna.

Urska

Did you know that Krevborna has bear people as a playable race? It's true. Below are the Savage Worlds stats I've cobbled together for them; I think I might have based them somewhat on the minotaurs from the Fantasy Companion.

Urska

Similar to humanoid polar bears in appearance, urska are generally solitary–though they sometimes rally under the banner of a strong leader who commands their stalwart loyalty. Such leadership roles are only ever assumed when a urska manages to best all challengers in deadly, ritualized combat. Urska often favor attitudes best characterized as stoic and militaristic. 

• Blunt: Taught that might makes right, urska struggle with diplomacy and tact. They have the Mean Hindrance.

• Claws: Urska claws cause Strength+d6 damage, adding +4 if the character runs at least 5” (10 yards) and hits with them.

• Cold Resistance: Urska receive a +4 bonus to resist cold effects. Damage from cold is also reduced by 4.

• Heat Weakness: Urksa suffer a –4 penalty to resist heat effects and take +4 damage from heat and fire. 

• Hulking: Urska are tall and broad, adding +1 to their Toughness. They are Size +1.

• Martial Code: Honor is very important to urska. They generally keep their word, don’t abuse or kill prisoners, and feel duty-bound to respect those who have bested them.

• Tough: Urska starting Vigor is d6, increasing the limit to d12+1.

• Uneducated: Urska society favors physical prowess over intellectual ability. Smarts rolls are made at −1.

• Unwieldy: Their muscular frames causes urska to subtract two when using equipment designed for smaller beings, and they cannot wear humanoid armor or clothing. Equipment, armor, food and clothing cost double the listed price. 

• Very Strong: Urska start with Strength d8, increasing their maximum Strength to d12+2.

Beltaire and Bordel

Two adventure locations in the Vespermark: a pilgrimage site where something very strange is happening and a frontier town run by a family of nefarious wereleopards people. Beltaire is a product of my fashion with Europe's bejeweled catacomb saints, as well as my love for the video game Blasphemous. Bordel is my Wild West-inspired take on Val Lewton's Cat People. (The name "bagheeta" is from Lewton's short story in Weird Tales that formed the basis of Cat People; it's definitely worth checking out!) There's probably also a little play on "leopards eating people's faces party" in there.

Beltaire

The ruins of Beltaire are a popular pilgrimage destination for the faithful of the Church of Holy Blood, for beneath the village lie catacombs that house the gilded and bejeweled skeletons of venerated saints. 

    • It is unknown who placed these skeletal remains within the subterranean crypts or who has taken pains to dress them in sumptuous religious vestments, but the Church’s adherents consider it an act of faith to anoint the saints’ bones with blessed oil.

    • Oddly, the saintly corpses within the caverns are sometimes found to have changed posture or position—or to have moved to a different section of the catacombs entirely. 

    • The faithful regard these unexplained movements as miraculous, but there is a darker truth to the ambulatory dead of Beltaire; when the sun sets, the unquiet spirits of Beltaire’s former residents stalk the ruins in search of prey.

    • A thriving market peddling fraudulent saintly relics, fake holy water, and other chicanery has taken root just outside the walls of the ruined village.

Bordel

Governed by a scheming brothel madame named Katarina Valdemar, Bordel is a community of swindlers who survive by providing services such as gambling, saloons, and prostitution to travelers in the Vespermark. 

    • The sins of Bordel drain the town’s visitors like parasites, draining their coin before sending them on their way, broken and humiliated by their vices. 

    • Katarina and her family run the town as if it were their personal barony; strangely, those who stand up to their despotism are often found badly mauled as if they had been attacked by wild animals. 

    • These killings are the work of the Valdemars—a family of bagheeta, werecats who turn into hybrids of man and black leopard when angered or aroused, hiding in plain sight as bawds and procurers in Bordel.