A Brief History of Lia Tsashu

March 15, 2010 · Posted in World Background · Comment 
CHONGQING, CHINA - JANUARY 15:  Free laba porr...
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Located a little inland from Kukuri’s western coast, Lia Tsashu (pronounced LEE-a TSA-shoo) is a rarity–a Seafarers’ Guild town located inland. It started as a fishing village, named Tsashu for the river it sat next to, on opposite banks from the Richichi village of Chatki. The Richichi, who resemble 3′ tall ground squirrels are famous for the fruits of their orchards and Chatki, though not the largest orchard town, was still one of the most prominent.  It’s one of the few places in Guang Keshar that the malaka fruit–so essential to keeping sailors healthy during long ocean voyagers–can grow abundantly.

During the time of Emperor Hanatan, when Atum still sat as one of the Council of Harbingers, it’s sub-House Kukuri, seeing profit in both fish and fruit, obtained governance of both villages.  To make tax-collection easier, Kukuri merged the two villages into a single town it called Lia Tsashu. The also saw potential of it as a quiet place, far from the temptations and distractions of the larger cities to the south, where sensitive records and accounts could be handled. The Richichi are also well-known for their meticulous attention to detail. House Kukuri already employed many Richichi accountants; they felt these accountants would feel more comfortable (and therefore do their work more accurately) around more members of their own race in a town that’s scaled to their size.

Tsashu had been a minor port on the Kukuri trade route, specializing in the exporting dried fruits, nuts, and salt fish commonly used as travel food, both on shipboard and overland. The Seafarers’ Guild resented the monopoly House Kukuri (an independent Major House at that time) had over the food supplies needed by their ships. To bring this small, but important town under Seafarers’ control, they created rumors that Kukuri was building it own merchant fleet, something prohibited by Imperial Law:  only the Seafarers may operate and maintain fleets of merchant ships.

They blockaded the Kukuri islands, preventing any ships from leaving or entering legally. Any ships found entering illegally were sunk, along with their crews and cargo. Kukuri appealed to the Imperial Moot to no avail: Emperor and Moot sided with the Guild and actually aided the blockade with ships of their own. Kukuri had no choice but to sue for peace.

House Kukuri agreed to dismantle all merchant ships in current production. Additionally, as punishment, the Seafarers’ Guild demanded (and were given) the town of Lia Tsashu. Kukuri removed its accounting offices, leaving the town largely deserted. Shortly after Kukuri transferred ownership to the town to the Guild, Guild members sent to map out the borders of the town discovered a rich vein of lodestone—the valuable rock that always points due North, absolutely essential to the safe operation of ships.

Currently, Lia Tsashu remains in Seafarers’ hands. Many of the houses and lands previously own by Kukuri accountants have been filled by miners who dig out the lodestones for their living. Other trades and businesses continue as before, for Seafarers’ towns are independently chartered and as long as they pay their taxes, the Guild takes little interest in their day-to-day affairs.

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Lia Tsashu will be the first Guang Keshar product for sale from rpgGM.com. Find out more about it here:

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What’s Next?: Lia Tsashu, a Seafarers’ Town

March 10, 2010 · Posted in Teasers · 1 Comment 
With the free adventure done and out the door, I’m starting work on the first actual Guang Keshar project. This is Lia Tsashu, a Seafarers’ Town (yes, the one Malik went to in A Taste of Intrigue). In addition to details of town locations, this supplement will feature:
  • Detailed NPCs with histories, goals, and connections to other PCs.
  • Character webs that show NPC relations at a glance.
  • An interactive town map.
  • A new PC race: the Richichi.
  • Information about the Seafarers’ Guild and their shapeshifting ability.
  • A short adventure set in the town.
  • Plot hooks for further adventures in Lia Tsashu.
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Wordworm: It’ll Eat Your Words

March 3, 2010 · Posted in Monsters · 1 Comment 

I got hit with the  XP Internet Security 2010 malware program. Two days and six anti-malware programs later, I’ve finally gotten rid of it (knock on wood …). But the whole experience wasn’t a total loss, I guess, since it did give me an idea for magical vermin:

Photo courtesy [...] Continue Reading…

It’s Finally Here

February 23, 2010 · Posted in Musings · Comment 

After months of work, the Guang Keshar free adventure is finally available.

A Taste of Intrigue is a closed-room character-driven scenario designed to be used with any game system. It’s a gentle introduction to the world of Guang Keshar. It uses six pre-generated characters, which are fully detailed in the [...] Continue Reading…

“Mr Body’s Body…”: Tips and Inspiration for Running Closed-Room Adventures

February 15, 2010 · Posted in Adventures, Theory · Comment 

We’ve reached part 3 of our series on creating closed-room adventures. Now that you’ve created the adventure it’s time to run. That’s where closed-room scenarios really shine: once you’ve done all the set-up work, running the game is comparatively easy.
Running A Closed-Room Adventure
If setting up a closed-room scenario seems [...] Continue Reading…

Steps for Creating a Closed-Room Adventure

February 9, 2010 · Posted in Adventures, Theory · Comment 

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This is Part Two of our three-part series on creating and running closed-room adventures. Part One defines a closed-room adventure and why you may want to make one.

Here’s the steps I go through when I write a closed-room adventure:

What are the characters’ goals? Write [...] Continue Reading…

“Mr. Body’s Body–It’s Gone!”: Creating Closed-Room Adventures

February 2, 2010 · Posted in Adventures, Theory · Comment 

Have you ever wanted to run a game where the players do all the work? Where you can set up the situation, then just say “Go!” and watch it unfold with little to no input from you? Believe it or not, you can–by using a closed-room scenario for your [...] Continue Reading…

A Taste of Intrigue: Dramatis Personae

January 25, 2010 · Posted in Teasers · Comment 

The free adventure is in the final editing stages. It should (barring unforeseen disasters) be available for download near the end of next week.

Seeing it’s a stand-alone adventure using pre-generated characters, I thought I’d include a brief summary of those characters here:

A Note on Names
The standard naming practice in [...] Continue Reading…

A Taste of Intrigue

January 18, 2010 · Posted in Teasers · Comment 

My free adventure, A Taste of Intrigue, is in the final stretch of editing and should be available in the next two weeks. The very first newsletter will contain a link to download it. So if you’ve already signed up, you’ll still get your copy.

Here’s a teaser from the [...] Continue Reading…

Product Update and Campaign Setting Survey

January 15, 2010 · Posted in Musings · Comment 

Well, I’ve nearly finished with the freebie adventure I’m giving away when you sign up for the Guang Keshar Development Newsletter. It’s something a little different from most fantasy rpg adventures/modules. If you enjoy games like Amber Diceless and Vampire: the Masquerade and would like to a play a [...] Continue Reading…

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