UO Roleplay Lore

**UO Roleplay Lore**

The universe which UO Roleplay takes place is a bit complicated—so an open mind is extraordinarily important. Here at UO Roleplay, we have attempted to composite the realm of fantasy and the knowledge of science into one believable playing experience. We attempt to explain what fantasy worlds so often take for granted using the tools of imagination, science, and the UO Gaming platform. Once you create a character for UO Roleplay, you, the player, will have to abandon your knowledge of planets and stars in the real world. Therefore, all planets are really just the same planet on separate planes of existence known as shards.

The Lore of Fracture Our Shard / Our world is known as Fracture. Our shard the Fragment of a gem that has cracks in it, inside it there is a sphere (our world) the cracks in the gem have started to touch the surface of the world.

• The Pantheon – Major Deities

• Waltrian – The High God – Waltrian symbolizes life, creation, warmth, and light. He sits at the head of the pantheon. His followers range from the devoutly faithful to the simplest peasants. Those who practice also believe that he was the first god to set forth to begin shaping the world and that he gives them the life, light, creation and warmth. While Waltrian himself is generally seen as a benevolent god some of the sects that have sprung from his following have extremely devout followers who do not share his usually benevolent nature. In general the non-secular Waltrian’s respect the laws of the various realms, are welcome in most communities, and support the common good.

Allies: Innovera, Kistas and Lasko Avatar: The Lightbringer (intended quest character where appropriate) Clergy: Referred to as ‘The Prism of Light’ or ‘The Prism’ Realms: All Practitioners: Various humanoid races but largely Humans, and Elves

Waltrian Sects • The Cycle – The followers of The Cycle are opposed to the use of arcane magic to extend one’s life, arcane magic for the purposes of healing and to any forms of necromancy. They do practice certain forms of clerical magic but in nearly all cases this is only to treat wounds that were not already fatal.

They believe that natural beings should live, and die, beholden entirely to the world as Waltrian and the gods created it. Members of this sect most often consist of alchemists, simple healers, warriors and paladins. They do not usually travel in the company of arcane magic users, but only the truly zealous seek to see it done away with outright. They may not agree with all of its applications, but as magic is so central to the world, they understand that it would not exist as it is today without it. However, they are vehemently opposed to necromancy as well as the immortal incarnate and have been known to hunt and destroy such person(s) when they’re found even in violation of local customs and laws.

• The Oath of Dawn – The members of The Oath of Dawn are largely paladins, though they have a following among the fighter castes throughout the realms as well. The Oath of Dawn believe Waltrian’s cause to be righteous and are often found battling in dungeons, wastes, and harsh and rugged wilderness in attempt to keep the creatures of the dark at bay. As with the members of The Cycle sect they are adamantly opposed to Necromancers and the immortal incarnate. Their members may travel and fight alongside practitioners of arcane magic so long as it suits their goals and does not break with the tenants of their faith. They are often at odds with The Cycles more zealous practitioners and at times this erupts into outright bloodshed.

• The Setting Sun – The members of the setting sun are more a caste than a sect. They’re largely comprised of practitioners of the Waltrain faith who once fought in his name. Many of them are far too old or feeble to continue to battle along their younger brethren and so they have taken to securing trade routes, pilgrimage paths and holy sites along the likes of town guards, mercenaries and commoners. As many of them are in their twilight years they often serve as elders and councilors in smaller villages and settlements. They openly welcome The Oath of the Dawn but are often reluctant to associate with members of The Cycle as their fervent behavior often invites unintended consequences on the communities they call home.

• The Shadow’s Edge – These are often reformed criminals, thieves, and rogues who found Waltrian’s light and now use their less than honest talents to serve as spies and informants for the clergy as well as the other larger sects. Their alignments and allegiances is as complicated as the men and women who comprise their membership. If The Cycle comes crashing through the streets of your town in search of a necromancer in hiding it is a safe bet that a member of The Shadow’s Edge is involved. They can sometimes serve as scouts and guides to The Oath of Dawn and have even been known to infiltrate groups of bandits to relay plans and information to the likes of The Setting Sun such that they can prepare their communities for impending attacks. Their activities are just as often welcome by the communities they ‘serve’ as they are scorned.

• Innovera – The Shaper – Innovera symbolizes craftsmanship, mercantilism, innovation, knowledge and fortune. She is loved by merchants, craftsmen and inventors as well as those in less common industrious professions. Adventures and the like who serve Innovera’s clergy are often mercenaries who make their living shepherding trade caravans guarding, prospectors, or serving aboard merchant vessels. The scholars who serve her generally confine themselves to craft halls, libraries and any other place wherein one might find an inventor hard at work. Despite her faithful’s love of coin, they are generally generous to those in need. They often heap scorn on to those who they view as lazy. The non-secular members of her faith are generally welcome anywhere they wander and it is not uncommon for them to become pillars in their community. Her sects are perhaps the most curious among the major gods. Unlike Waltrain, such as, their differences are far more than ideological and they are almost always at odds with each other more than anyone else. Her secular practitioner usually keep to fringe towns as their habits and practices usually grate on anyone they meet.

Allies: Waltrian, Kristas, and Lasko Avatar: The Maiden of Trade Clergy: Referred to as ‘The Purse of Innovera’ or ‘The Purse’ Realms: All Followers: All humanoid races, but generally dwarves, gnomes and halfings

Innoverian Sects • The Parsimonious – The Parsimonious are generally miserly. They often embody the best, and worst, qualities of Innovera’s faithful. They curry favor with members of Innovera’s faith that are not so skilled or wealthy as others and it is not uncommon to find them encircled by mercenaries, high walls, and all of life’s finer things. They’ve never seen a coin that couldn’t, or shouldn’t be in their pockets. They do not get along with members of The Alms of Innovera.

• Alms of Innovera –The members of The Alms of Innovera, which is just as likely to include Paladins as it is merchants and craftsmen believe that they can spread Innovera’s faith to the world by giving away their material wealth. While Innovera isn’t as popular with humans a decent number of the humans who follow her belong to this sect. They are, for obvious reasons, usually at odds with the Parsimonious.

• The Keepers – The Keepers safeguard what they consider to be forbidden knowledge born of labors of industry. They believe that some of Innovera’s knowledge is whispered to her faithful and is their purpose to secure and safeguard it from the masses. They are not above committing industrial espionage, bribery, and even murder to obtain the things they’re after. While they are only a very small and extreme sect of her faithful they often practice in secret as their beliefs usually fall afoul of common law.

Kistas – The Enchanted – Kistas symbolizes magic, knowledge, and the arts. Many of her followers include practitioners of the eight circles as well as the more advanced schools of magic, along with bards, and many of the combat castes such as battle mages and spell blades. Unlike the other deities she does not have a formal clergy and there is no recognized hierarchy among her faithful. Many of her followers gather at universities and libraries throughout the realm and her sect is divided into the different specialized schools of magic. Many of Kistas’ followers despise the dragon and demon cultists. Many of Kistas’ followers are accepting of the followers of the virtues Allies: Waltrian, Lasko, Innovera, the followers of the virtues.

Avatar: Mistress of Magic Practitioners: Nearly any race

Magic in Britannia – Britannia’s council of the towns, who rules in the absence of their Monarch, formally banned the practice of Necromancy. It is not formally taught or practiced in Britannia without falling afoul of the law. Britannia specializes in the ‘combat’ magic schools, and these specialized warriors are trained at Moonglow’s Lyaceum. Magincia is another seat of power. Their combat schools include the Battle Mages, Spell Blades, The Hexed and The Heralds.

Magic in The Lone Islands – The Lone Islands does not restrict much in the way of magic but many of the smaller towns outside of Narrowhaven and Principle are usually left to fend for themselves. In stark contrast, despite the presence of the Narrowhaven Academy, Narrowhaven is protected by a militia to keep the peace, recognizes no formal leader at this time and pride themselves on their resilience and a common air of civility. Those who practice magic within the walls of Narrowhaven are welcome by the militia so long as they do not cause problems. Those that do cause problems, if they’re not done in by the militia, will usually be undone by the bands of adventurers that are drawn to this haven of limited rule of law where the seat of power can shift in either direction depending on who is attacking or defending the town on any given day.

Magic in Calormen – The Calormen Empire is an empire in name only and does not currently have a reigning emperor. Many of the smaller villages simply fend for themselves while the large cities such as New Tashban and Varstaad have trained soldiers to defend their settlement. Calormen is well trafficked by seasoned adventures who wander its vastness and practice all sorts of magic. It does not have a recognized center of magic like The Lone Islands or Britannia but even the smallest Calormen settlements include a magic shop.

Schools of Magic Sorcery Wizardry Summoning Magery Combat Schools (Britannia) Spell Blade Battle Mage Hexed Heralds

Lasko – The Warrior – Lasko symbolizes honor, war, valor and strength. He is said to be wed to Kistas and considering the closeness among adventurers who worship in their respective patronage it is not surprising to find that where a spell caster who worships Kistas is traveling they’re in the company of a warrior who worships Lasko. Lasko’s faithful also include some of the members of the combat magic schools. As with Kistas they do not recognize a formal clergy although many of those who worship Lasko entrust matters of faith to his paladins who join them on the battlefield. They had a large following in Trinsic before its fall and if they had anything remotely resembling a clergy many of them were wiped out when the city fell. The followers of Lasko are commonplace among town guards and militias who see him as their patron. As with those who follow Kistas many of them despise the demon and dragon cultists that have spread ruin and destruction across the realm.

Allies: Kistas, Innovera and Waltrian, The followers of the virtues. Avatar: The Lord of Battle Practitioners: Nearly any race

Gruthafay – The Horror – Gruthafay symbolizes hate, rage, pain, murder and darkness. This deity can appear as man, or woman, and its worshipers include thieves, murderers, many of the non-humanoid races, much of the Drow, and all way of other persons and creatures that have fallen out of favor with society and the other gods. Its followers are a natural ally for the cultists worshipping the demons and dragons and they formally recognize those who worship at the shrine of Chaos. As you might expect they aren’t generally welcome anywhere and they gather in dungeons and holdfasts along trade routes and roads throughout the entirety of the realms. As this deity symbolizes so many awful things and encompasses many of the realms dregs its followers aren’t traditionally secular except that they’re wholly committed in their pursuit of evil. Those who worship Gruthafay and live among society are usually criminals or members of organized crime, assassins, spies and practitioners of forbidden magic.

There is no deity they will not challenge and no group they would not battle, including themselves.

Practitioners: Nearly any race Allies: The dragon gods and demon prince cultists, the followers of chaos

The Triallum - The Triallum, created during the very early days of the council of mages, was a series of tests designed to identify every aspect of a Mage's latent talents. In the upper castes of the council this gave them a hypersensitivity to magic that allowed them to learn new types of magic very quickly. Amongst the combat castes their ability to use magic was permanently altered. While they understood and could wield the eight circles, they were not able to learn or teach magic as it is taught to traditional mages. Some of them were left with crippling side effects from the ritual but not so many that the council ever refined this process.

Side effects often manifested when a combat mage attempted to learn magic beyond their caste or teach it to another. The most common side effects of the triallum included crippling pain, nausea, brain fog and headaches. In those who had no latent talent for magic but were forced to undergo the Triallum as part of their conscription even death was not uncommon.

The Dragon Gods— Entities of pure destruction, and likely the source of creation for all magic in the world. The Dragon Gods are chaotic entities, with their true motives nearly unknown. What history has shown, however, is that the Dragon Gods create, and then they destroy. The various magic they create is able to be used by any entity. There are 13 known Dragon Gods and their leader is rumored to be Ghel-Arrad. The Dragon Gods are unique beings, unable to be duplicated for any reason.

The Daemon Princes - The Daemon Princes are beings of pure evil and malice, and rulers over the Abyss. They are lead by a powerful daemon known to mortals as Trephir'k'aeyrit'ryulaq, who was deformed many ages ago. They affect the mortal world in more than one place, as they exercise their powers on people. Their goal is mainly unknown except for the fact they wish to rebuild their leader. History has revealed though, that ages ago they tried to conquer the surface world, but their leader was destroyed by a spell long forgotten in time. With this knowledge it is believed that they will attempt it again soon. There are 11 Princes in total, and one Lord, all of which are unique and could not possibly be imitated at any time, nor would they allow it, as they would destroy such an imitation in an instant.

• Cults and Minor Religions

The Dragon Cults – As the name states the Dragon Cults worship ancient and powerful dragons that reside in the realms. They come from all walks of life, are at odds with most of the realms as well as their established religions and wield the power of their masters in hopes of giving control of the known realms to the dragons.

The Demon Cults – Like the Dragon Cults the demon cults worship the demonic denizens of every good natured citizen’s nightmares. Their true motive is unclear but it would not be unreasonable to assume they’re intent on cloaking the world in fire and seeing it burned to ash all in the name of power.

The followers of Virtue – After the defeat of Exodus and the closing of the Age of Darkness, Lord British created a Virtue system designed to be a new vision of life, for which people might strive. As most of the evil from outside had been vanquished, Lord British wanted people to start rooting out the evil that lurks within themselves. Each of the eight main towns was dedicated to one of the Eight Virtues, and Shrines were built near each one of them. Castles and Shrines were also created to be dedicated to the Three Principles that lead to the Virtues. The three Principles are Truth, Love and Courage.

The places in Britannia associated with the Three Principles are:

Truth: The Lycaeum Love: Empath Abbey Courage: Serpent’s Hold The places in Britannia associated with the eight virtues are: Honesty: Moonglow Compassion: Britain and Cove Valor: Jhelom Justice: Yew Sacrifice: Minoc Honor: Trinsic Spirituality: Skara Brae Humility: Magincia

The relationship between the Principles and Virtues is sometimes explained this way:

• Honesty is respect for Truth ("that which, when you have it, means all may rely on your every word"); • Compassion is Love of others ("the quality that compels one to share the journeys of others"); • Valor is Courage to stand up against risks ("that which answers when great deeds are called for" and "the cloak that protects the other virtues"); • Justice is Truth, tempered by Love ("that which should be the same for nobles and serfs alike"); • Sacrifice is Courage to give oneself in name of Love ("that which is loath to place the self above all else"); • Honor is Courage to seek and uphold the Truth ("that which shirk no duty"); • Spirituality is to seek Truth, Love and Courage from one's own self and the world around ("that which, in knowing the self, knows all"); • Humility is the opposite of Pride - the absence of Truth, Love or Courage ("That which serfs are born with, but nobles must strive to attain").

The followers of Chaos: The followers of Chaos is also primarily rooted in Britannia. In addition to making pilgrimages to the Chaos Shrine they believe that the virtues should be codified into a set of draconian laws. Further, they believe in the anti-principles of Falsehood, Hated, and Cowardice along with the anti-virtues.

Virtue Law

Honesty Thou shalt not lie, or thou shalt lose thy tongue. Compassion Thou shalt help those in need, or thou shalt suffer the same need. Valor Thou shalt fight to the death if challenged, or thou shalt be banished as a coward. Justice Thou shalt confess to thy crime and suffer its just punishment, or thou shalt be put to death. Sacrifice Thou shalt donate half of thy income to charity, or thou shalt have no income. Honor If thou dost lose thine own honor, thou shalt take thine own life. Spirituality Thou shalt enforce the laws of virtue, or thou shalt die as a heretic. Humility Thou shalt humble thyself to thy superiors, or thou shalt suffer their wrath.

The Watcher Cults – The Watchers are a group of immortal beings that have been known to travel to the realms for various reasons. While not gods themselves many of them are incredibly powerful. Their true motivation for almost anything they do is a complete mystery, even to their faithful.

The Immoral Incarnate – Some scholars speculate that many of The Watchers are, or were at one time, the Immortal Incarnate. These beings live and die in a natural cycle except that they will eventually reincarnate with completely intact memories of their past lives. Their following is not large enough to make them a cult per say, however, many of them gain loyalists throughout their lives who will patiently wait for their reincarnation and the chance to serve them again. As with The Watchers the Immortal Incarnate are a near mystery. It is believed that, like The Watchers, they have fought both for and against the realms on either side of their large scale conflicts. Despite that several of them have helped defend the realms in the past, of their own volition, this hasn’t stopped The Cycle from hunting them.

Vampire Covens – While not a religion, and though many of them support Gruthafay, some very ancient vampires are worshipped by slaves, thralls, and hopefuls in secret in smaller towns and holdfasts throughout the realm. Some hope to gain vampiric powers, others are simply enslaved by them and serve as a means of survival. Along with the dragon and demon cults they’re one of the few groups who have earned near universal hatred and scorn from nearly every corner of the known realms.

• The Lands and their governance

• Britannia The Council of Towns: - The Council of Towns was formed after the disappearance of Britannia’s Monarchy when their ruling council was deemed unfit to lead. The council of towns controls trade routes between Britannia and the other continents of the realm as well as with each other. Nearby cities usually engage in mutual defense pacts. Individual rule of law is determined within each town by and for each town.

• Member towns and their leaders • Britain – Minister Lewis Fairchild, Human • Cove – Captain Wallace Estwein, Human • New Haven – Mayor Sarah Gideon, Human • Jhelom – Commander Roth Bosen, Human • Magincia – Magister Wendell Thorpe, Human • Minoc – High Merchant Telchar Stoneaxe, Dwarf • Moonglow – Arch-Mage Sylvani Windrider, Elf • Nujel’m – Mayor Robert Pembridge, Human • Skara Brae – Elder Paige Lyons, Human • Trinsic – High Paladin Reldar Thobin, Human – Missing since fall of Trinsic, assumed dead. • Vesper – Lord Darius Lor, Human • Yew – Abbot David Aldun • Unaffiliated Towns • Wind • Serpent’s Hold • Buccaneer’s Den • Delucia • Papua

• Notable Britannian events in the Post-British Era

• The Formation of the Council of Towns – Following the disappearance of Lord British the council of towns was formed to help govern the realm. Founding Cities • Britain • Cove • New Haven • Jhelom • Minoc • Vesper • Trinsic • Skara Brae • Nujel’m • Yew

Later additions • Moonglow – Joined after the Fall of the Council of Mages • Magincia – Joined after the Fall of the Council of Mages

The Rise and Fall of the Council of Mages – The Council of Mages ruled over Moonglow and Magincia following the disappearance of Lord British. They practiced all manner of magics, even those that are forbidden in Britannia today, the upper echelon of the magister caste treated the lesser mages who only practiced the eight circles with utter disdain. The mainland city of Wind, long affiliated with council, broke ties with them and became a haven for those dubbed renegade mages, anyone that did not wish to join the council. While this concerned the council of towns, with the absence of their monarch, many of them were too busy dealing with their own affairs to halt the rise of the council. The council began to form their own army, by creating the combat schools, and forcibly conscripted those with lesser magical talents into their ranks.

Over time this lead to the formation of the combat castes. Battle Mages: Specially trained as guards and frontline soldiers they were also expected to enforce discipline and keep order among the mages. They often trained in using swords or maces, and all of them were expected to learn to wield a mêlée weapon, shield, and spells as well as specialize in the use of heavier armor. To increase survivability many of them also increased their resistance to magic, battle focus, and magery. Their increased focus on learning the basic eight circles gave them a handful of generic summons to aid in combat. Spell Blades: Not as talented as their battle mage brethren in frontline combat, or magic, the spell blades were to be used in conjunction with the battle mages as a light brigade that specialized in blitzkriegs. Many of them trained in arts that valued speed over power, such as fencing, and it was not at all uncommon that they’d compliment their skill sets by learning alchemy or poisoning. Some of them were also used as assassins that operated outside the council’s territories.

The Hexed: These warriors, while similar to a spell blade, were specially trained to hunt down rogue mages who refused to recognize the council’s authority or would not contribute to their long term goals. Apart from Wind, they never operated outside of Moonglow or Magincia, and there were only a handful of them. They were known only to a very select group of the council to keep their identities secret. The council let their existence be known only to sew fear in anyone that might consider rebellion. The Heralds: The Heralds were largely women, and trained in the bardic arts as well as spy craft and the use of magic. They were often employed by the council to coerce the cooperation of merchants, spy on members of the council of towns, and gather information about their activities. Their existence was only discovered after the council fell, it had been kept completely secret during the council’s reign.

The Nujel’m incident: With the intention of invading Britannia’s mainland through Vesper the council of mages dispatched a group of Spell Blades to kill Nujel’m local leaders. Afterwards, knowing it would take time to gather troops from the member towns, the council would dispatch their troops under the auspices of maintaining order and then would take control take of Nujel’m so they could use it as a staging area and beachhead against any possible counterattack from the north. Nujel’m’s Mayor, Robert Pembridge, was a former privateer and formidably skilled in spy craft himself. He uncovered their plot and blew up their boat, using a fire ship, as it approached Nujel’m.

When the council learned of this, to avoid war with the mainland, they disavowed any knowledge of their actions and declared that the spell blades themselves had gone rouge. An order went out for the battle mages to detain the spell blades, and kill them if necessary, even as the council of towns began to dispatch emissaries to investigate what had occurred.

The Battle Mage rebellion: Recognizing that the council of mages saw them as disposable and it was only a matter of time before they suffered the same fate, portions of the battle mages rebelled and in a matter of days both Moonglow and Magincia erupted into fierce fighting as battle mages and spell blades killed each other in the streets fighting for and against their council masters. Magincia, with its smaller presence, was quickly taken by rebel battle mages and spell blades long sick of the council’s scheming and treachery. They organized and launched an attack on Moonglow to secure the seat of the council’s power, the Lycaeum.

The Seven Day War: The reinforcements from Magincia helped the rebels in Moonglow overthrow the council’s forces in the city proper but when they launched an assault on the Lycaeum itself they found it had already been pacified. The Lycaeum’s Head Battle Mage, Marius Underwood, and the Lycaeum’s personal guard had driven out the council’s forces and were harboring moderate and renegade mages who were intent on departing for Wind to avoid the fighting. Bent on blood the majority of the rebels demanded they turn the mages over to them. When renegade mages from Wind arrived to help those trapped in the Lycaeum the rebels mistook them for council reinforcements. Marius’ forces were drawn into the battle at that point and though vastly outnumbered they managed to make a hole through the rebel ranks for the forces from Wind. For two long days they weathered the rebel siege. On the dawning of the third day forces dispatched by the council of towns arrived on the island of Moonglow, having put down the rebels in Magincia, and began a protracted battle with rebel forces who had dug into the city. Despite heavy losses, Moonglow was taken from the rebels, and with forces pressing them from both sides they were eventually crushed. The representatives from the council of towns arrived on the sixth day, and held a session at the Lycaeum. Moonglow and Magincia were folded into the council of towns with a former council moderate, Wendell Thorpe, elected to lead Magincia. Sylvani Windrider, formerly of Moonglow who had become the provisional leader of the renegades in Wind was elected to lead Moonglow. On the seventh day the last of the rebel forces were driven from Moonglow, and the remnants conceded surrender.

The Aftermath: In the aftermath of the battle very few battle mages and spell blades were left among the living. Many of the survivors cast aside their weapons and returned to their old lives before they were conscripted. The Lycaeum was allowed to continue to operate, and has remained in working order under various leaders. Marius Underwood remained an instructor there for a time before ultimately parting ways with the Lycaeum to return to his life as an adventurer.

• The Council of Towns today At this point in time the council is in disarray over the events taking place in Trinsic and has been slow to respond. Some of the larger cities, namely Britain and Vesper are angling for the appointment of a new monarch. Cove and Minoc traditionally throw their support behind Vesper, so long as it does not jeopardize Minoc’s industry and trade or Cove’s defense. Yew, Skara Brae and Jhelom believe that Trinsic should be freed and a new representative appointed if the High Paladin is indeed dead before a new monarch is elected. New Haven, Nujel’m, and Magincia are dealing with increased threat of pirates sailing out of Buccaneer’s Den and while they recognize the importance of dealing with Trinsic, and appointing a new monarch they cannot leave their shipping lanes open to pirates. Moonglow, recovering from their part in the battle that saw the council of mages dissolved cannot lend much more than a vote to any priority that it is asked to vote on.

• The Events in Trinsic

Trinsic is being held by the forces of darkness despite the best efforts of the town’s defenders. Given the size and scope of the problem it will take a large force and not simply a handful of adventurers to retake it. Efforts by Roth Bosen of Jhelom, Paige Lyons of Skara Brae and David Aldun of Yew to rally the other members of the council of towns to retake the city have been continually voted down in favor of securing roads loading away from Trinsic and shoring up other towns.