Category: Fantasy

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June gaming element challenge – Keys of Power: The Key of Hope

Item Type: Artifact

The Key of Hope is a bright white moonstone key with an opalescent effect to it.  This key is most mysterious; those who have studied it have been wholly unable to divine its powers while it has been in their possession–though admittedly, scholars have rarely been able to study it.  It is in fact held in trust for the scion of a particular line and is safely secured at Santrellis for the time being.  The Key of Hope, like the Gatekeeper’s Key, has been passed down within a particular family line, though this passage can be traced for twice as long at least as the inheritance of the Gatekeeper’s Key.

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June gaming element challenge – Keys of Power: The Gatekeeper’s Key

Item Type: Artifact

The keys of power are drawn and bound to particular carriers.

The Gatekeeper’s Key is a black moonstone key with silver veining that seems to have the power over life and death.  Tales also have it being known as the Assassin’s Key or Silentus’ Key.  A very few stories have it listed as Shadowen’s Key, but these do not seem to fit the tales of the man known as Shadowen.  Most refer to it as the Gatekeeper’s Key for various reasons, amongst them a particular tale that seems to indicate that the key’s true power is to open or close the gateway to the world beyond, to the heavens or the flames of the Hells.  It has been passed down the generations of a single family for at least the last five hundred years.

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June gaming element challenge – Arcadius

Item Type: Deity

Arcadius – God of the earth

Arcadius, god of the earth, is often forgotten in the worship of those living in the “civilized” world.  The continent of Arcadia is sacred to him.
In truth, the elves largely worship the pairing of Immeria and Arcadius as the Goddess and God, the Divine Equals.  Many of the shrines and ruins in the wilds of Arcadia bear strong elven architectural features and were in fact crafted thousands of years ago by a combination of humans and elves that once lived on the massive continent).

Principle organizations: Kami no Kyoudai (Brothers Divine)

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June gaming element challenge – Immeria

Item Type: Deity

Immeria – Goddess of the Sea

Immeria is the goddess sailors pray and sacrifice to, but only rarely, as much of Maraeternum are fairly irreligious in practice, though the belief is strong—enough sailors have seen her power at work to know that she is still a force in the world.  A shrine to the pale-haired goddess exists in every major port, usually tended by either a member of the Sorores Maritimae or the Kami no Kyoudai.  The Immersea is said to be sacred to her.

Principle organizations: Sorores Maritimae (Sisters Maritime), Kami no Kyoudai (Brothers Divine)

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June gaming element challenge – Fragments of the Crownsong of Aristylia

Item Type: Fragments of a song or prophecy

The rise of the Unknown Star
Born of the moon’s light,
Of the black of night,
Blighted by betrayal, cursed and thrown down,
Forced to wait in silence and in doubt
For the coming of a new light
Born of two lines, pure and tainted,
Dark and light
But chosen of a Goddess shadowed,
Come to claim what once was lost
What once was stolen away
To claim the legacy of the Night and the Star.

With children grown
And from nest flown
Returned to the lands
Of a life long gone.
A threat from without and within
A fight that cannot be lost she must win.

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June gaming element challenge – Immerian Prayer Beads

Item Type: Common religious item

Most commonly found in the hands of sailors, fishermen, and others whose livelihood depends upon the waters of the Immersea, these ropes of 90 beads are a symbol of devotion and a tool of prayer to Immeria, Goddess of the Sea. The beads are typically made of shell or glass, though some of the finest are made of pearl or polished gemstones. The most devout followers know each specific prayer associated with the subsections of ten beads, though most laymen simply offer their prayers while handling their beads.

Many are crafted by the Sisters Maritime and blessed in their Houses throughout the Free Isles.

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June gaming element challenge: “The Night and the Evening Star”

Item Type: Bard’s song

Upon a midnight clear
After twilight’s last dawning
The union of houses is blessed by the stars
Darkness and light are thus wedded.
How can the night love the evening star?
And how can the moon condemn them?
How is it fate can be so cruel
And destiny let it be?

Brighter than the lights of the world
The light of their love did shine
But for the wrongs of their kin
The young lovers, they would pay.

How can the night love the evening star?
And how can the moon condemn them?
How is it fate can be so cruel
And destiny let it be?

And from the love of the star and night
A beautiful child was born
Brighter than the sun in the sky
The child’s light did shine.

How can the night love the evening star?
And how can the moon condemn them?
How is it fate can be so cruel
And destiny let it be?

Love is brief, even when meant to be,
And theirs was no exception.
All life was stolen from the night,
Under the frightened eyes of the star.

How can the night love the evening star?
And how can the moon condemn them?
How is it fate can be so cruel
And destiny let it be?

The blood of the night thus was spilled
And the wars of the crown raged on.
The son that they had was lost to us,
Lost to you and me.

How can the night love the evening star?
And how can the moon condemn them?
How is it fate can be so cruel
And destiny let it be?

How can the night love the evening star?
And how can the moon condemn them?
Fate ensures what’s meant to be,
As does destiny.

And so from memory fades their tale,
Of the love of the night and the star.