World Details.... Part 1 - History - Magic

Magic is restricted, the ruling class of clergy has ordained that magic is not meant to be used by anyone and leads to only to destruction. Some more background on the setting that I will be posting later: We talked about Post-apocalypse…its close, the reason for how things are now were lead up to, used to be a country ruled by mages and wizards and high magic but as time went on the races delved deeper and deeper into magic while people began worshiping a whole pantheon of gods with no single god taking control. As natural over time this lead to fighting and delving further into more elaborate and vile magics in the name of said gods. Corruption ran rampant and the acquisition of power and magical prowess trumped all others. Mages ruled supreme and would stop at nothing to conquer each other in hopes of achieving a higher state of being, some even thinking they could challenge the gods with enough time. At this point even the gods could not hold back and decided they needed to intervene, putting aside feuds with each other and agreeing that without stopping the chaos they would have no one to worship them at all. The gods began unleashing terrible storms of pure energy and plagues that attacked the spark of magic in the lesser races. The legends go so far as to speak of an avatar the was formed to represent all gods that was sent from the Astral Sea down to the World as a final measure to humble the races and make the remember they could only dream reach the Astral Sea.

During this time some gods, as gods are known to do, saw opportunity in the misfortune of the lesser races. In this case we are most interested in the machination of Erathis, the god law and civilization. As she saw it civilization was on the brink of collapse and the other gods may in fact push it over instead of bringing it back, to this end she decided to find willing mortals that would devote themselves to her will and in return she would save them from the strife. She chose a half-elf named Aonu to be her voice to the mortals, Aonu was know as the son of a judge who had later become a baron of a small county on what was considered one of the most powerful nations of the day. Aonu had grown up respecting the balance of law and the order that it sought to bring. Erathis was considered a minor god who was at best honored occasionally at a trial proceeding or at best worshiped by a small town. It is unknown how Erathis came to Aonu or what he did to gain support but within two years time their cause had won several thousand members that had unified in the township his father had previously been Baron of. When he felt he had enough support he turned to Erathis for instruction, she told him he would lead them to a new land where her law would reign and the terrors they faced would be forgotten.

From the tome "Salvation: My People Journey"
- ...And so Erathis light shone upon the land and she spoke gently to them. "You will be free from this land but you must honor me always and give yourself to the order that I bring." "No longer shall the unworthy wield powers beyond their control, no longer shall the crimes of the guilty go unpunished, for I Erathis will show you the path to true enlightenment." The sky opened to reveal the true nature of that which they had revered for so long and when they woke they gazed upon a land that was untouched by choas. The land sang with harmony as choas of nature subsided to the order of science and mathimatics."
-Greafather Aonu, G.A. 10

In your current society magic has been remembered as something to be feared; magic has been restricted, only ranking members of the church are allowed to practice and study it. The sect of the church called "The Voice" is seen as the speakers of Erathis and those who are worthy of possessing magics that she has seen fit to allow in her world. Some debate the meaning of the texts regarding who is worthy and who is not. After much debate church scholars decided that indeed Erathis has only meant for her most trusted access to the chaos of magic as only they had her will installed in them to control it.

Magic as it were is not liked by the populace as its seen as mysterious and what caused their ancestors to kill each other, so in the general population it is shunned at worst and disapproved of at best. Even church members that wield it might be unwelcome in certain shops, taverns, and the like (while in this case the owner wouldn’t dare go against a church member they wont be very hospitable to them). Magic outside of the church's control is considered heretical and punishable by death, practicing magic that comes from The Dark (more on in a later essay on the world proper) is perhaps one of the greatest offenses that one can commit. Without knowing quite why or how those of Erathis faith can discern between the magic sanctioned by the church and that which is considered foul and wild.

Let me know how you feel on this and if you have any questions as it helps me fill in details that I will forget. Also I apologize for the length I will try and tone it down for future writings but I felt like the history of the church and society is important to give you a feel of what your characters grew up in.

Side note regarding the ages and time

In the above the text come from Aonu and is ended with G.A. which is the "great age" that followed the times when they were brought to their new land. The great age ended with year 100 and was followed byt the A.A. ("after age") which it currently stand at 202 A.A.
Thus roughly 300 years has passed since that times of crisis that lead to Erathians leaving for their new world.

Sweet. That is a great first taste. I particularly love "The Voice."

One question, though... if magic is punishable by death, won't that kind of put the smack down on wizards and clerics in the party? We probably need to work out some sort of way that they aren't hamstrung any time other living people are around, or else simply as a practical matter it's not going to be much fun to be a magic-using class. Unless you want to design things so as to discourage non-magic-using classes, which might be an interesting idea. That leaves us with Fighter (defender), Ranger (striker), Rogue (striker), and Warlord (leader).

I'm not sure if you have something in mind for solving that problem, but I think we should probably try to reconcile that with the (awesome) background you've got going.

I know you've been working on this and will continue posting, but these are the things I found myself wondering as I read:

- Who leads the church of Erathis? One guy? A cabal? Are they open or secret?
- How influential is science? Is this a technologically advanced civilization?
- Is anyone outside the church considered "worthy"? Like, is there a licence you can get or something, or is it only church members who are allowed to play with their wands? (maybe that's a way of solving the problem noted above: if you can get a "magic license" then the church still controls the magic, but allows players to use their characters' abilities so long as they toe the line)
- According to the church (who are probably the only people that really know), what happened to the other gods and the rest of the world?
- What happened to Aonu (or, what does the church say happened to her)? Does she have descendants? Is she a Christ-like figure who promised to return one day? Are half-elves held in any particular regard because of her? Also, was she hot?

That's all for now. Balls, I have to wake up in like two hours.

Quote :

- What happened to Aonu (or, what does the church say happened to her)? Does she have descendants? Is she a Christ-like figure who promised to return one day? Are half-elves held in any particular regard because of her? Also, was she hot?

Aonu was the "Son of a Judge"

Just a small thought for now, I'll add more later...

So the church pessesses the only magic, which obvioulsy makes them extremely powerful and able to enact "miracles" that normal people cannot. However, if only the highest levels of the church are able to wield magic, does the standard clergy heal the populace, treat disease, etc. through mundane means only? One thing that might be considered as a possible solution to this and to some of the things mentioned by Matt, if you even see them as a challenge, would be to allow Divine magic as normal, but to place restrictions on the Arcane. I know this could prove to be a bit of a challenge for Patrick's character ideas, but I'm sure we can come up with something interesting.

Baern wrote:

Aonu was the "Son of a Judge"

Just a small thought for now, I'll add more later...

I don't get it. What does "Son of a Judge" mean?

My point was primarily that Aonu was a male.

One very small thing since I have to get back to work... I think Dean mentioned some other time to me, but not in this post, that divine magic was much more accepted as it was commonly used by church members, but arcane magic is the one with destructive consequences and stuff. Yes, this kind of limits arcane users while in the city, but I'm sure there are ways of masking the use of magic and who is using it, not to mention the possibility of corrupt members of the church one might acquire a "license" from.

Baern wrote:

My point was primarily that Aonu was a male.

Ah. My bad. I got the dude prophet and the chick goddess mixed up. Anyhoo....

Manistar wrote:

I think Dean mentioned some other time to me, but not in this post, that divine magic was much more accepted as it was commonly used by church members, but arcane magic is the one with destructive consequences and stuff. Yes, this kind of limits arcane users while in the city, but I'm sure there are ways of masking the use of magic and who is using it, not to mention the possibility of corrupt members of the church one might acquire a "license" from.

I'm not sure how one could mask the use of magic, especially because most spells have pretty spectacular effects. I'm not a wizard, though, so I don't care that much. On behalf of whoever is playing a wizard (or warlock), however, I think it is probably unfair to take away/seriously restrict the defining element of that character. I know it makes sense in a worldbuilding sort of way, but I guarantee it's going to get old when we're doing something in a city/town/any civilized region and the wizard has to sit on his ass while everyone else does their thing because without magic he's useless.

Tank wrote:

I'm not sure how one could mask the use of magic, especially because most spells have pretty spectacular effects. I'm not a wizard, though, so I don't care that much. On behalf of whoever is playing a wizard (or warlock), however, I think it is probably unfair to take away/seriously restrict the defining element of that character. I know it makes sense in a worldbuilding sort of way, but I guarantee it's going to get old when we're doing something in a city/town/any civilized region and the wizard has to sit on his ass while everyone else does their thing because without magic he's useless.

Honestly, at 1st level, I don't think this would be hard to manage at all. So starting things out would be fine. So, up until the day our characters actually start adventuring, Patricks character could have been studying magical texts, history, etc. behind closed doors. Perhaps he has access to a rebellious member of the clergy, a tome passed down through the family, or something. Granted, things cold get more complicated AFTER this point...

You mean it won't be complicated until the day we start to play? That's not very encouraging.

Also, how come your quoted text is white and mine is grey? I like yours better.

- Who leads the church of Erathis? One guy? A cabal? Are they open or secret?
>> "The Voice" is who leads the church, this is a council who's identities are keep closely guarded from would be assassins and revolutionaries etc. So while not a secret people don't refer to anyone as the Greatfather anymore as that was reserved for Aonu and none have been deemed worthy of guiding the destiny of the church. It is said and believed by most that the Voice is literally those that commune with Erathis and speak her words to the mortal races.

- How influential is science? Is this a technologically advanced civilization?
>>Science is regarded highly but not revered, there are no inventions like a lightning rail and things of that nature, for the sake of referance consider tech level would be standard Renaissance era the society basically had to start again when the made the journey to this new world. They are starting to make progress into steam power and such but only alchemists and chemist dabble with that and the process to get a license to test new tech from the church can take years. Most people feel that they are fine how they are and fear changing or progressing to far, scared they might creep back into the troubled times of the past.

- Is anyone outside the church considered "worthy"? Like, is there a licence you can get or something, or is it only church members who are allowed to play with their wands? (maybe that's a way of solving the problem noted above: if you can get a "magic license" then the church still controls the magic, but allows players to use their characters' abilities so long as they toe the line)
>>The church has been known to issue licenses to those not specifically considered clergy. As mentioned before outside of the Church control there are areas of the "world" that are considered lost, the church does not have infinite resources to send soldiers and cleircs into the Dark and as such is usually more than willing to hire mercenaries. For the most part the church as a military organization is nonexistent, there are no real threats of war from a neighbor etc. The church is always seeking to expand the words of Erathis and he not made everywhere. Dark areas of the world are where banished members of society are sent and on occasion there have been cases of people leaving freely.

- According to the church (who are probably the only people that really know), what happened to the other gods and the rest of the world?
>> This is unknown, official church stance is that the new world Erathis has given to her people is protected and other gods may not interfere. But even certain clergy have openly admitted the truth of the matter is unknown but that it is not for mortals to know. If mortals were meant to know Erathis would surely have told her clerics. Common folk have all but forgetton the other gods, we can go as far as to say their names are lost. Consider other gods in the PHB as nil...people don't talk about the former god of war Bane and such. There is no need to speak of or consider other gods as Erathis provides for the people. AKA. your character isn't going to know another god and say ok I worship Bane because I don't like Erathis. Consider contemporary Christian society, other ideas and gods are known but only in name and usually not in true meaning etc people know and accept what they grow up with and are told. A few people will branch out and whatnot but in this case it is forbidden to speak of such things.

- What happened to Aonu (or, what does the church say happened to her)? Does she have descendants? Is she a Christ-like figure who promised to return one day? Are half-elves held in any particular regard because of her? Also, was she hot?
>> Aonu was mortal and as such passed away as mortals do. There are no writing or prophecies speaking of a return. He is held in the highest regard and his name is used in reverence sometimes interchangeably with Erathis. ("Aonu's light shine upon you my son") Aonu does not have direct descendants according to the church doctrine he gave himself wholly to Erathis and was considered all others thusly he had no wife or children and lived out his days speaking the truths that were recorded and held as principles of the church.
Good question, one I was going to address in a races section: Half-elves are held with particularly high regard, the church claims that Erathis chose a Half-Elf because she say humanities wild nature balanced by the calm and steady Elves. To this end both Elves and Humans are the dominant races with both claiming to be the true reason Aonu was chosen. These three races also make up the bulk of the population. Dwarves and Dragonkin and Halfings are all common and have nothing particular about them. Teiflings are the only races that is outcast, but since the church preaches non-discrimination to all people that Erathis found worthy to bring they are not outright persecuted. Due to their small numbers and nature they are distrusted by the populace at large. Before the journey here the wizards of the old world had openly employed demonic forces to do their bidding and the scars of discrimination still linger. The slums and lower class is made up primarily of tieflings along with other races but to a smaller degree.

>>>>>Regarding Eladrin: Patrick I have changed my stance, Eladrin are so close to Elves that many see no difference and will think nothing of it. The teleportation is considered no less magical than a dragonborns breath. Some Eladrin clergy have openly wondered if their remaining connection with the Fey is a sign that Erathis did not remove them from the old world altogether but simply moved them to a new location. Church officials will not comment one way or another as "it is not our place to know only to accept what Erathis has given us"

Quick note....Magic is not going to be an utter pain unless you are setting out from the start to undermine the church and rebel and such. "I am a rouge wizard that practiced on his own and want to amass great power" is like playing in forgotten realms and saying "Ok im an evil cleric of bhaal that needs to sacrifice people to him..." etc if you do that then yeah your adventure is a pain in the ass.

This church isnt oppressive in the minds of most people, the races were badly scarred from their old memories and are still scared of reverting...they find solace in the church and believe that they have the best intentions.

If you start as a wizard then we will work on the story, most likely you were trained by the church as a tool to fight in the Dark or you had other means (family etc) that you learned and they would have had you licensed. The church quietly accepts that certain people still have the gift for magic and believes Erathis allows them this gift as a test of control. Those that show they do not have control are not allowed to live...saying no I defy the church and will not register and bow to their will is throwing it in there face that I am out for me and I know whats best.

If that doesn't make sense let me know. I think the main thing to think about is that the church is good at its heart but perhaps ruled by fear and would rather be safe for everyone than be sorry it did not control one person.

Tank wrote:

Also, how come your quoted text is white and mine is grey? I like yours better.

I used the font color changer button to make it white because I can't read the default color very well

Quote :

- Is anyone outside the church considered "worthy"? Like, is there a licence you can get or something, or is it only church members who are allowed to play with their wands? (maybe that's a way of solving the problem noted above: if you can get a "magic license" then the church still controls the magic, but allows players to use their characters' abilities so long as they toe the line)
>>The church has been known to issue licenses to those not specifically considered clergy. As mentioned before outside of the Church control there are areas of the "world" that are considered lost, the church does not have infinite resources to send soldiers and cleircs into the Dark and as such is usually more than willing to hire mercenaries. For the most part the church as a military organization is nonexistent, there are no real threats of war from a neighbor etc. The church is always seeking to expand the words of Erathis and he not made everywhere. Dark areas of the world are where banished members of society are sent and on occasion there have been cases of people leaving freely.

WOW, I love this part. This could lead to a million insanely awesome springboards into adventure. Actually, this really really leaves me wanting to know more about the Dark! Is this a physical boundary, an emotional boundary, a logical boundary, or a spiritual boundary? What are the rumors about it? What kinds of things are said to be out there?


Check out this article, which is exactly the kind of thing that this description reminded me of:

Quote :

Crossing the Threshold

The hero’s destination (AKA, the great unknown) is a land where events are often chaotic and uncontrollable, operating through rules and processes the hero does not understand.

In older stories, we symbolize this place as a dark wood, the sea beyond the horizon, the faerie ring in the meadow, or simply the world outside the village.

In terms of the psyche, the unknown symbolizes man’s unconscious mind; while this realm might contain magic and treasure, it might also contain monsters and daemons and traps from which one might never escape.

Since the unconscious is a dangerous place, the psyche guards the entrance to the deeper level of mind with a Dweller of the Threshold. If we blunder upon that entrance or arrive there intentionally but are not ready to proceed, the Guardian will chase us away.

When we are ready, we can pass by, perhaps not without a fight, and then learn who we are at our deepest levels.At the threshold, mythic heroes may have to take a leap of faith, make a strong, logical decision, and/or contend with guardians there between the known and unknown worlds.

Joseph Campbell (1) writes that beyond the threshold guardian is:“Darkness, the unknown, and danger; just as beyond the parental watch is danger to the infant and beyond the protection of his society danger to the member of the tribe. The usual person is more than content, he is even proud, to remain within the indicated bounds, and popular belief gives him every reason to fear so much as the first step into the unexplored.”

The threshold is a point of no return. Once the hero steps through it or past it, the die is cast, the next phase of the adventure begins, and quite likely the man or woman stepping into the uncertainty of next experiences will never be the same again.

The threshold in the myth about the Athenian youth Theseus is represented by his moment of choice: he must either set out on a quest to slay the Minotaur that lurks in the labyrinth beneath Crete or stay home. His father didn’t want him to go. When he decided to get on the boat with other men and head for Crete, he crossed the threshold.

Likewise, in the myth about Perseus and the Medussa, the threshold moment is a time of decision. When Perseus told King Polydectes that he would accept the challenge to bring back the head of the Gorgon Medussa, he crossed the threshold.

Down through the years, parents have said that various monsters lurk outside in the dark as a means of dissuading their children from sneaking outside at night. Village elders often told the populace that monsters roamed the area outside the village gates to keep people from wandering off into the woods.

Joseph Campbell (2) notes that “the Arcadian god Pan is the best known Classical example of a dangerous presence dwelling just beyond the protected zone of the village boundary.” Humans encountering Pan tended to run in panic, yet he could be a friend to those who paid him the proper respect.Sometimes the threshold is represented as a place.

In the movie Star Wars,“The people at the threshold are the ones who have gone to the other side and come back. They are worldly as opposed to the hero who is still innocent. The experience of the threshold passage is truly strange and exotic. Those at the threshold have seen amazing marvels such as the Hero has never witnessed. Joseph Campbell often commented the threshold passage is one of the most dangerous ‘because it is where one passes from this realm of the reliable world we know, into a realm completely beyond our powers.’” (3)

Reg Harris, (4) co-author of The Hero’s Journey: A Guide to Literature and Life sees the threshold as the place where we choose to move ahead in our own lives when the time is right:“Often at the threshold, we encounter people, beings, or situations which block our passage. These ‘threshold guardians’ have two functions. They protect us by keeping us from taking journeys for which we are unready or unprepared. However, once we are ready to meet the challenge, they step aside and point the way. More importantly, to pass the guardian is to make a commitment, to say: ‘I’m ready. I can do this.’”

Notes

(1) The Hero With a Thousand Faces
(2) The Hero With a Thousand Faces
(3) Stocker, Brian, Star Wars and the Mythic Quest – An Interview with Jonathan Young, http://www.castlebooks.com/.
(4) Harris, Reg, “The Hero’s Journey – Life’s Great Adventure,” adapted from Harris, Reg and Thompson Susan, The Hero’s Journey: A Guide to Literature and Life.

Sarge wrote:

Good question, one I was going to address in a races section: Half-elves are held with particularly high regard, the church claims that Erathis chose a Half-Elf because she say humanities wild nature balanced by the calm and steady Elves. To this end both Elves and Humans are the dominant races with both claiming to be the true reason Aonu was chosen.

This is another very intriguing point. I'd like to know more about the dynamic between Humans, Elves (and Eladrin), and Half-elves. Do these three races represent factions in anyway? How do they go about claiming stake to "the true reason Aonu was chosen"?

BTW, you're seriously doing a KICK ASS job of putting this together. I am sincerely impressed so far.

Baern wrote:

BTW, you're seriously doing a KICK ASS job of putting this together. I am sincerely impressed so far.

Total agreement.

The Sarge wrote:

Patrick I have changed my stance, Eladrin are so close to Elves that many see no difference and will think nothing of it. The teleportation is considered no less magical than a dragonborns breath. Some Eladrin clergy have openly wondered if their remaining connection with the Fey is a sign that Erathis did not remove them from the old world altogether but simply moved them to a new location.

I wonder what you and Patrick have been talking about. Are you committed to this stance? Because I'll be playing an eladrin, and I was kind of thinking of them as second-class citizens. My thinking being, an anti-magic empire not going to like a race with such close connections with magic--not only because they have a magical racial ability, but also because so many of them will be drawn to the illegal practice of magic. Anyway, the background I've been thinking about has him as the upper crusty part of the eladrin community, which itself is relatively poor and faces racial discrimination (think maybe immigrants in the late 19th century U.S. And if that conjures up nothing for you, then watch the Godfather!)

Are you open to making that change? I can certainly change my background, if you've got something going for the eladrin's place in the world already. If so, can you share? Pretty please?

Reply to both posts here.

>>... leaves me wanting to know more about the Dark! Is this a physical boundary, an emotional boundary, a logical boundary, or a spiritual boundary? What are the rumors about it? What kinds of things are said to be out there?


The Dark is not a place per se; it is the unknown. The Church controls set areas with city's generally at the heart and small towns/hamlets outside of that which will always contain Church presence. Be it an actual branch of the Church or a small office type structure the houses a cleric or two and may serve as a guard post. While the general peace means there is no military as it were there is still a guard/police force. There are still hostile creatures and untamed races (goblins, orcs, GNOMES) that live in this world. To the people and the Church they are considered lesser and not evolved for whatever reason Erathis did not bless them with the spark of a soul and thus are often considered no more than animals that bare some resemblance to the mortal races. Anyways so in the major cities you won't see much action as a guard basically clearing a drunken bar or maybe a petty thief etc. People have lived in such peace and Erathis has provided so much that there isn't much trouble people are basically content but every now and then things happen. Outside major cities there are occasional attacks from the lesser races who despise the light of civilization that they do not understand. Also an occasional creature wanders to close or a villager stays to far into a forest etc and will face trouble. This brings us to the Dark; as the light of law and civilization push forward the Dark subsides. Basically the Dark is any area that the Church does not directly control or is considered wild....this constitutes a large part of the world.

A few expeditions and explorers have gone to scout but few are heard from and often times the Church keeps their finding secret so as not to worry the general populace. People are aware of the orcs and such but don't really care to know how many are out there and whatnot. For many people in the major cities such things are all but a fairy tale and few adventurers that do bring back stories of battle are often though of less as heroes but more as story tellers. People listen and will be entertained but will dismiss the stories as entertainment soon after.

This leads me to another point, there are very few larger than life powerful adventure groups or characters. This isn't a culture wrought with battle and war it is a peaceful farming and religious
community. That is not to say there are not though but we will get to that later basically don't be expecting to save the day and have men wanting to be you and whores wanting to do you.

Bottom line: The Dark is the best area for would be adventurers or mercenaries hired by the quest to spend their time paving the way for Erathis light to fill the land. Coincidently many of these areas are forests or mountains that mortals have not conquered. People do not make summer homes in either


>>This is another very intriguing point. I'd like to know more about the dynamic between Humans, Elves (and Eladrin), and Half-elves. Do these three races represent factions in anyway? How do they go about claiming stake to "the true reason Aonu was chosen"?


This is petty, most people consider all races equal and the church preaches this. The Church is aware that finding differences is what leads to fighting and tries its best to downplay any differences between races and promote the idea that if Erathis did not find someone worth she would not have allowed them passage to her world.
As stated before there have been philosophers and such that have tried to find a link between the races and the chosen Aonu but none can find anything concrete.

Regarding Eladrin: This is how I want them to play, again promoting equality. Only the Teifling and thei obvious similarity to demons and devils prompts any racism. The abilities of the Eladrin are not considered "magic" but just something they can do. Because it is not something someone can learn and it does not grow in power the Church has agreed that they are not magical but were just gifted with it. It is no more magic than the height of a dwarf versus a human, it is just something that is. It would be like saying a black guy who jumps high or mexican that is lazy is magic....its just how it is.

Concerning your character idea, he can come from any type of family you like. The races as a whole isn't biased it could be a poor ass family or rich ass mofos.

The Sarge wrote:

Regarding Eladrin: This is how I want them to play, again promoting equality. Only the Teifling and thei obvious similarity to demons and devils prompts any racism.... Concerning your character idea, he can come from any type of family you like. The races as a whole isn't biased it could be a poor ass family or rich ass mofos.

Nah, if it's not illegal it's not cool anymore. So, um. Where do the eladrin fit in? I think I need more of a general social context to get a firmer grip on this. (Ie, not just about the eladrin, but about the society of this civilization).

To me from what I can gather is that Eladrin don't really fit in to anything, no race really fits in all the major races are represented and the only one to draw a second look is the Tiefling given the markedly different looks and demonic heritage. Eladrin just like elves , dwarves, halflings and what ever are all on equal footing and can do as they like in this society. I'm sure like any society there are upper lower and middle classes defined by wealth, if you want your eladrin character to be on top of the lower heap you can still have that story work. I have a little inside info since I spoke with you matthew, but you can still have your family have underground dealings selling potential magic items, or at the least scrolls and rituials since the church regulates those and only makes them or gives them out to those they deem worthy with licenses. Again, you can still have dealings with corrup clerics to get these scrolls and blah blah blah. FInally, just because the overall populace says there isn't rampant discrimination doesn't mean Eladrin and all races for that matter don't have their problems. The majority of the USA isn't violently racist, but there are enough that it is still out there and is known. I think the story you told me can still work with people looking down on your caste for wealth and maybe slightly for race. I think the only change is to say the society as a whole is rampantly discriminatory of this race, otherwise if you think about why would they be there at all?

I'm going to borders today to excitedly read up more on skills and feats and what not so I will come back and post on that skills post. Although to be honest I don't neccessarily agree with it since we all learn our skills independent of knowing the party members in game. YOU METAGAMER I HATE YOU!!!1