Character 56 - Janzin Uth Pentracest

The results of this week’s random rolls: A charismatic, wise, and durable fetchling from the land of Nidal. He is the youngest son of noble-born knights who now live in the frontier of their shadowy land. Working through the stats and random bits of information as well as the harrow reading, we piece together the life of our new character. What class shall he be? How did he become who he is? Today we answer those questions.

Harrow Interpretation

Signifier Card: The Marriage, which represents the character himself, shows the progeny of the salamander and the water weird. It can represent a new power brought by both parties or it can show ruin. In this case I see it representing both. On the one hand the characters parents brought him into the world, but on the other his birth is what caused them to be banished to the frontier.

Card One: The Rabbit Prince often represents younger members of royalty or other powerful households. It can also show how combat isn’t always pretty. Since this represents where the character comes from both meanings are true. He is both the youngest son of noble knights and his parents probably trained him in the art of combat. This most likely means he would become some kind of combat class, although possibly underhanded combat.

Card Two: For the card that represents an event that affects the character, we have The Eclipse. It represents both self-doubt and a possible loss of faith. Although this character has a patron deity, I can see it as a loss of faith in the state religion. This also adds to his attempts to blackmail the clergy. He lost his way but has since found it in his new patron. This also goes into his influential associate, a pariah. I see this as someone from outside the church, a heretic perhaps.

Card Three: The character’s power or talent is shown to us by The Foreign Trader. This card represents a spy or peddler, people who can trade in information and make bargains, to which he usually ends up on the better end of.  Both a combatant and a deal maker, I think this helps guide what kind of class the character might take.

Card Four: The Peacock shows astonishing beauty frozen like a cockatrice’s statue, but instead of beauty I see this as representing this character’s drawback, a desire for reputation of fame. He wishes to be immortalized by his own reputation. And the cockatrice itself I take more literally and it cements the idea of a combat class from card one by being a cavalier of the order of the cockatrice.  In this case continuing with the idea different or underhanded combat I’m going to go with both the luring cavalier and the musketeer archetypes.

Janzin Uth Pentracest

Janzin’s family has always served the Umbral Court as caretakers of the lands to the south of the Usk Wood. His father is himself the youngest son one of the current Shade Barons of the region. With his older brother set to become next Shade Baron, Janzin’s father became a warrior of the court, a shadow knight.

Before Janzin was conceived his family lived well. His father married a daughter to another minor fetchling noble. The family was also blessed with two children, a son and a daughter, before the birth of Janzin. But Janzin’s conception was seen as a bad omen, for what reason he’s never learned. Regardless he was born and in allowing this his parents were banished to the realm of the horse farmers.

In Atteran Ranches, Janzin and his family lived on a small estate mostly keeping to themselves. The farmers had for generations been allowed to police themselves. His although his older brother would follow in their father’s footsteps and become a shadow knight, Janzin too was trained in the art of combat. Unlike the honorable knights of other realms, the Nidalese warriors were taught to win by any means necessary.  He was trained not only with sword and lance, but also to slide a dagger into an opponent’s back.

Life in Atteran Ranches changed over time. Rumors of a cult of Desna worshipers spread and once more the knights of house Uth Pentracrest were called to service. The farmers still looked to face this threat on their own, not wanting the Umbral Court’s overseers involved. But when Janzin was stolen away in the Desnan’s failed attempt to ‘free’ him from the wicked life of his Zon-Kuthon worshiping parents, there was nothing to stop his family from getting involved.

Although his rescue came swiftly, a posse of farmers actually returning him to his parent’s home, Janzin himself began to have doubts. A life of worship of Zon-Kuthon seemed dreary and dour, and the young fetchling wished for something more. Being the youngest son of a youngest son he feared his life would end in obscurity and Janzin hoped to be something bigger.

One of the things that led to Janzin’s crisis of faith was that he felt it was the state—and thus the church’s—fault that his parents had to live out in the boondocks. However there was never much he could do about his feelings until he on a trip home with his parents and he found evidence of his grandfather embezzling money from the church of Zon-Kuthon. The Kuthonites don’t take kindly to these sort of things and his grandfather had no choice but to deal.

If nothing else Janzin excelled at bartering and for his silence his grandfather would let his family return home. The deal, however, said that Janzin could not return with them. The patriarch of the family thought he had won a victory here, but in truth the young fetchling had no wish to return to the fold of the Kuthonites in his home city.

Janzin did feel oddly about having to deal with his family so harshly, another reason he knew the faith of the Midnight Lord was not for him. As an act of contrition he told his father what he had done and admitted his acts against the family. The elder fetchling just smiled. The edicts of Zon Kuthon might not have been solace for his son but now the father had the ammunition he needed against his own progenitor.

Alone in the world with no family, no faith, and not yet any fame Janzin struck out across Nidal toward the lands of their ally Cheliax. Along the way he found a man travelling the roads alone too. The man claimed to be an outcast knight seeking fame and fortune. Janzin, seeking the same, attached himself to the warrior. From him he was inducted into the order of the Cockatrice, a group of warriors who seek to leave their mark on the world.

The ways of the order were not the only lessons Janzin learned from this masterless knight. Worship of the archdevil Zaebos proved something the fetchling also took a liking to. Although he steered away from the truly evil, Janzin’s own noble birth and growing ego meant many of the structures of his hellish patron rung true in his heart.

Janzin eventually left his mentor’s side. He now roams the lands of Cheliax, Nidal, and Varisia in an effort to increase his notoriety; leaving in his wake battles won and women bedded.  Maybe one day he will return home, but that day is not today.

From jumbled bits of background I have lured forth the tale of Janzin Uth Pentracest. But mine is not the only story that could be molded here. What class would you have chosen for this character? Why does this does this fetchling choose to worship Zaebos? How did you interpret the harrow reading?

As Janzin comes from the shadows and tries to bring his name to light, so too does the CRB illuminate the world of gaming. If these characters shed some light on the dark recesses of your imagination, please consider donating to my Patreon. Looking for more from the CRB? Come find me on Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and Twitter. My inbox is open for questions and comments on all platforms.

You Reap What You Sow

It's Halloween, my favorite time of year. We’ve already got a witch hunter and a god that fights against things that go bump in the night for our October posts, but this month is about more than just ghouls and ghosts. It is also harvest season.

Harvest time, especially during the technological equivalent time on Golarion, is profoundly important. It is something pretty much every culture has in common, although they may celebrate it differently. This week we’re going to come up with some harvest festivals from a few different countries. We will touch on both human and non-human cultures as well.

First we’ll delve into Taldor, the great decadent empire, and its many serfs; then the common folk in the dark land of Nidal. Next we’ll explore harvests in the deserts of Katapesh; Halflings and their grand celebrations; and the Kellid subsistence farmers in the tainted lands of Numeria. Let’s take a look how all these folk celebrate.

The massive underclass of "the unbearded" make up 99% of Taldor's population. Even so the Taldane nobility sees most of the profit from a harvest. Taldor has a devastating tax rate and laws designed to keep the unbearded in poverty. It could be said that in arguably one of the oldest empires in Avistan the Taldane serfs are practically slaves.

But the lords of Taldor know what open revolt looks like; they seek not to go the way of Galt to the north. During the harvest season the Taldane nobility put on a show for the peasantry. After crops of have been taken in, the local lords set up a festival day. The serfs from across the land are invited to come and feast with their overseers.

Now to the Lords this is just show, let the peasants feel as if they’re equals. Many of the richer noblemen put on gaudy parade with over-the-top floats. They throw baubles at the serfs so that they may dress themselves up as kings and queens. At the feast the farmers see the return of some of their food stuff to eat, but it is of the lowest quality, with the weakest watered down ale to chase it.

The rulers of Taldane know full well that this does nothing tangible for their charges, but the hope is that it’s enough to keep them in their place one more season. Thus far things have gone as planned and serfs look forward to harvest time every year. The Taldane lords just hope they never look to the west and the free country of Andoran.

Even the plight of the Taldane serfs pales in comparison to the outright fear that the common folk of Nidal have for their overlords, the chosen of Zon-Kuthon. Nidal is a dark and foreboding place that any sane person would want to steer clear of. The peasantry is rightfully terrified that if they try and leave they’ll be flayed alive.

Harvest season may be a time for bringing in the grain from the fields and the fruit from the trees, but in Nidal the bigger fear is the harvest of the soul. As the nights begin to get longer and the darkness has more time to settle in, the more sinister creatures begin to walk the land. The Nidalese people use their harvest festival as a time to ward off these evils.

Large bonfires are built at the center of small farming towns. Lanterns are hung from the trees around the village to keep light in the dark places. Although Zon-Kuthon is the only god allowed worship within the borders of Nidal, silent prayers are made to various goodly gods for protection. The people drink and tell stories, usually the elders regale the young about the time a monster actually did come to the area. Finally at the end, some of the harvest is thrown into the bonfire to appease the dark god and keep the town safe.

Not all harvest festivals are dark or just for show, nor are all harvest festivals in the fall. In the far off reaches of Katapesh the biggest crop is the Pesh cactus. This succulent blooms in the spring and so the people of Katapesh celebrate their bountiful harvest during the blooming months when the sun starts to stay out longer.

The Avistani drug Pesh is primarily used by addicts with little more knowledge of the plant than its intoxicating effects. In Katapesh the drug is renowned for opening the mind’s eye and is highly sought after by seers and oracles of all stripes. During the Pesh harvest soothsayers from across the land will come gather at harvest sites to get the purest and freshest Pesh in hopes of seeing something truly monumental.

The Day of the Open Eye has become a phenomenon now, focused around these ecstatic holy men. Large gatherings have cropped up and the whole event has become a time to celebrate for all. Of course Pesh use, even by non-seers, is common. But it’s also a time to drink wine and eat copious amounts of food. The whole event ends in the wee hours of the morning when the last seer utters his final words. There is, of course, a chronicle on hand to record all visions spoken by the oracles.

One of the more peculiar occurrences of these Kelesh festivities is that they tend to draw Pugwampi. The mischievous little gremlins are drawn to the fact that half the people there are in an altered state and just ripe for their shenanigans. To this end halflings are always invited to the festivities, already added as good luck charms to everything from noble’s courts to trading caravans. It is thought that the halfling’s natural good luck will ward off the Pugwampi’s misfortune.

Halflings abound all over Golarion, but not all places see them as lucky charms. Much of Avistan sees them as second class citizens and even slaves. The place where halflings are the most free is within the borders of Andoran. Here halflings own land, run for office, and live happy and healthy lives. With that comes much more to celebrate about, and celebrate they do.

The halflings in Andoran usually live in small clusters of larger family groups, with a handful of extended families comprising the whole town. Calling someone “cousin” is almost always because they actually are. Cayden Cailean tends to be a very prominent god in these halfling towns and as such it can be seen in the way they celebrate.

The Halfling families celebrate the harvest, not in one feast but over the course of a few days. Each major family hosts a gathering and they desperately try and outdo one another. Not for vanity mind you, but for the honor of throwing the best party. Food, music, games and most of all beer are prevalent throughout these Halfling bacchanals. Some of Cayden’s most fervent worshipers try to (and often succeed at) staying drunk for the entire week.

Abundance doesn’t come naturally everywhere. The wastes of Numeria do not lend themselves to anything more than subsistence farming. The Kellids grow mostly root vegetables to partner with the meat they hunt for. Grains are mainly the province of larger towns that can afford to import them from Brevory or the River Kingdoms.

Lack of available space isn’t the only problem that Numerian farmers have to deal with. The metals and runoff that have made their way into the land after falling from the sky have poisoned much of the soil. Sometimes these contaminants are unnoticed until too late, and they don’t just kill off those who eat the tainted food. Sometimes the tainted food eats them.

Legend among the Kellids speaks of the night of the killer potato; when the alien liquids had seeped into the land mutated one of the Numerian farmer’s spuds into a perverted form of life. The homicidal potato murdered the farmer and devoured others in the village before running off into the night. Many Kellids swear that the mutant potato still roams the Numerian wastes.

During the harvest season much of the food must be checked for contamination. This process has helped form the somber harvest ritual that many Kellid tribe go through before their meager victuals can be eaten. Not every part of their ceremony is dour. Usually one of the younger men of the tribe will dress up as the mutant potato and chase around the kids, who in turn whack him with sticks. When the Potato man finally “dies” the children are offered tasty treats for their heroism.

And there you have it, five different harvest celebrations. But Golarion is a big place and there are probably many other harvest traditions. Be it Golarion or Homebrew, figuring out the important customs of a people helps shape the culture. So what are your harvest ideas?