[While on a rescue mission gone crazed, a holy warrior and a rogue fight bandits, demons, and the urge to rip each other's clothes off.]
The mission, rescuing a princess, could be going better.
Séa is an earnest paladin, honest and gullible. Tash is...
Firstly, thanks for reading Séa Gets Lucky. I sincerely hope that it entertains you.
I tried hard to simplify my setting so that readers wouldn't get bogged down in fantasy place names and fictitious histories. So, for the curious, here is the bare-bones map and some incrementally more complicated explanations about the setting.
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Séa's home, the Priory of Torugg, overlooks the village of Brook-upon-Tricklewater. The kingdom is called Omnius, and the current king is King Pharing. There are lots of villages not illustrated, here, and the capital city of Ompex is offscreen to the north. I suppressed duchy-level organization (e.g., Brook-upon-Tricklewater is in the duchy of Bagwet, and the current duke is called Sevensson) except for Mevia, the separatist duchy.
Tash and Ghomarck are originally from Liria, a coastal kingdom with a large elf population. Millage and Buzzard Keep (just to complete the tour of the labels) figure into the story. None of these places are terribly far from each other as the crow flies.
Additional place names slipped into the story. The northern kingdom of Thwick is mentioned. Hopefully not too cliche, it is peopled by barbarians. But these barbarians are barbarians in the Dungeons and Dragons sense. In other words, it's more of a philosophy and lifestyle choice than some sort of cultural inferiority. The "Ocean-wolves of Fjordlund" are mentioned in passing. This kingdom lies across the western sea. Whenever the Fjordlund economy goes into crisis, seafaring raiders sail forth. Liria is often targeted.
Cosmogony.
If you play Dungeons and Dragons, you will notice that I borrowed from its setting and rulebook. I consider this fair play, as DnD itself is a higglety-pigglety amalgamation of folklore and monsters from dozens of cultures. In particular, I borrow from DnD "The Abyss," a stack of "planes" inhabited by demons. Each Abyssal plane has a plane lord who is in complete control of it (or else is swiftly supplanted). Communication and travel between planes is possible by magical means but requires the spending of resources. There are also celestial planes, the abodes of various deities.
Demons regard the material plane (where our heroes live) as a source of slaves, food, or territory for conquest. The gods regard the material plane as fertile ground for the flourishing of religion. Persons devoted to a particular deity will be transported in spirit to the celestial planes after death. Unless they are corrupted by demonic influences, of course. In that case, they are doomed to begin an immortal life as a half-formed malevolent Abyssal creature known as a mane. Celestia versus the Abyss is the difference between, "Welcome, honored guest," and "Down, maggot. Fifty pushups or the whip. You choose."
My pantheon is original, so let me recap it for you.
Torugg One Eye is a Lawful Neutral deity. His virtues are patience and hard work.
Koulaina is a Chaotic Good deity. The goddess of drink and dance, she celebrates the bonds of friendship and equality between individuals.
Vawl, the god of perpetual war, is Lawful Neutral. He believes that the free races can achieve perfection only through constant strife.
