Dragons in Guang Keshar Society
As the direct descendants of Huang Ti and being made in her image, dragons are honored throughout Guang Keshar. They could be considered demi-gods or something akin to patron saints: beings can act as emissaries between mortals and the Jade Wyrm. It’s common to find votive statues of the various dragons, past and present, on family altars, which the family honors and prays to, asking for help in various areas of their lives. For their own part, dragons generally consider themselves above the affairs of mortals, though the common people don’t realize this.
This doesn’t mean that they’re above politics. They have their own extremely complex machinations they play out amongst themselves. Being immortal, dragon politics are long-range and labyrinthian. Sometimes, even the Great Houses become entangled in them, but that’s more incidental than by design; even then the focus remains on the others of their own kind. Dragon politics can also be extremely deadly–they may be immortal, but they’re not unkillable.
Having a dragon visit your hearth is considered a great blessing, unless she becomes offended or angered (usually as the result of poor hospitality). In that case, they can leave behind a terrible curse, if they so choose. Dragons are the original sorcerers and those with magical ability usually have at least a drop or two of dragon blood in their veins. Being shapeshifters, dragons may (and often do) mate with whatever species strikes their fancy. Thus, it is possible to find dragon blood in all the known races of Guang Keshar.
Those known to have dragon blood are often treated as semi-divine, or at least having been “touched” by divinity.
[Photo Courtesy of Richard Fischer via Flickr Creative Commons]
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Famous Richichi Adventurers
While adventurers are rare among the richichi, they are not unknown. Below are two of the more famous ones:
Babila Makika Thintail (Bard)
Even as a small child, Babila loved to travel. Her parents were a rare kind of richichi: traders who earned their living traveling from one market fair to another, trading in various rare and imported curios along the way. Home for her was small caravan wagon pulled by the family’s two ponies.
Babila has continued her parents’ footloose ways, only her stock-in-trade are songs and stories. She has a minor aptitude for magics, small spells to make everyday life on the road more comfortable. Her collection is also her profession: Bablia collects songs and stories from the lands she passes through, carefully recording them to preserve them for future generations. Her many friends say she has one other collection: languages. She learns languages quickly and easily and is always eager to practice what she knows.
She considers herself a pacifist and would rather talk her way out of situation, but if push comes to shove, she is quite capable of defending herself. She carries a short sword (small sized) and a short bow as well as her favorite instrument, a lap harp.
Kakio Shakka Blackfur (Knight)
Few richichi adventure. Even fewer of these become warriors. Still fewer achieve any renown for it. Only one has ever been knighted. Many legends talk of Kakio Shakka Blackfur, the man who saved the life of a prince.
The Blackfur family has traditionally served as valets, stewards, ladies-in-waiting, and companions of several families in House Kotish. While growing up, Kakio showed an early and unusual (for a richichi) interest in weapons and warfare. His mother, Shakka Malika Blackfur was steward of House Kotish at the time and thus in a position to indulge her only son. Kakio was allowed to train with the younger sons of House Kotish and soon showed great skill with a wide variety of weapons.
During that training, Kakio became friends with Katsir, the youngest son of the then Lord Kotish, Shatim, and baby brother of the Kotish heir, Klimia. As the youngest child with five brothers and one sister in-line for the throne well ahead of him, Katsir was left to do pretty much as he wished. As a teenager, he set his mind on exploring the world and seeing all the marvelous things in it. Despite extensive arms training, Katsir wasn’t as skilled a warrior as he thought, so Kakio went with him, acting as a bodyguard. Kakio was a reluctant explorer, but he swore to do all he could to protect Lady Klimia’s favorite brother.
One evening, in a tavern far from Kotish lands, Katsir found himself the target of a drunk’s insults. To save face, Katsir demanded satisfaction via a duel. Kakio, knowing that the drunk was a fighter of much greater skill than Katsir, offered to fight in his friend’s place (“He’s not worthy of your attentions, my lord. Let me take care of him for you…”). Katsir agreed. The actual duel was long and grueling and nearly killed Kakio. He survived and defeated his opponent, but lost his left eye in the process. He refused to have it restored, saying it was a reminder to himself not to be so rash in the future.
The story of the duel spread, eventually reaching Lady Klimia, who’d just succeeded her father to the Seat of Leadership. She was impressed by how Kakio had not only saved Katsir’s life, but his honor as well. She knighted the young richichi for his bravery and loyalty.
Kakio finally retired from his adventures in his late 40’s — well advanced in years for a richichi. By that point, in addition to his eye, he also lost half of one ear and gained many battle-scars, giving him the look of a grizzled warrior in his later years. He lived to the almost unheard of age of 51 (average lifespan of a richichi is 35-40 years). His only child, a son named Taktako, now serves as Lady Kotish’s personal assistant. Kakio was pleased at his son’s choice of profession and the honor it brought to the family, saying that he was happy his son had more sense than he did.
After Kakio’s death, his body was given a place of honor with the Kotish family crypt.
Other Richichi Posts
- Introducing the Richichi: A New player Race
- Richichi Adventure Seeds
- Richichi Town Life
- Richichi as Adventurers
- Of Squirrels and Men: Richichi and Other Races
Of Squirrels and Men: Richichi and Other Races
Most standard fantasy races don’t exist in Guang Keshar. But for GMs looking to use the richichi in their own game worlds or campaigns, here’s some ideas of how the richichi could relate to some of the other races commonly found in fantasy games. Keep in mind, these are [...] Continue Reading…
Richichi as Adventurers
Well, it’s been a few weeks since I’ve updated this site. I’ve been down with major sinus infections and since this is a one-man shop, when I go down, everything goes down.
But it hasn’t been a total wash. I’ve managed to do some writing, including expanding more on the [...] Continue Reading…
Product Update
Work on Lia Tsashu is proceeding, but much slower than I would like. While writing it, I’ve realized that I’ve had to gloss over several topics that really require more in-depth explanation than a city supplement would be able to give them. Because of that, I’ve revised my release [...] Continue Reading…
Richichi Town Life
Even in towns, richichi maintain their own gardens. It may only be a couple of meager pots growing tomatoes, but it is usually the pride of their home. While richichi country homes rarely rise more than a single story above ground, town homes are built with many stories and [...] Continue Reading…
Religion of the common folk
Guang Keshar has a state religion – the worship of Huang Ti, the Jade Serpent. The Church of Jade, as the organization is known, is a pyramidal organization, with the top being the High Priest(ess), the head of House Thumun who hold the Seat of Faith. All residents of [...] Continue Reading…
Using the Seafarers’ Guild in Your Game
The Seafarers’ Guild with its specialized magics and abilities can take many forms, depending on the system you’re using it with. While there are as many ways to represent the Seafarers as there are GMs, below are some suggestions based on individual systems.
D&D 3.5/Pathfinder
Probably the best way to render [...] Continue Reading…
Shapeshifting
Shapeshifting is a talent passed down through Seafarer bloodline since the sea dragon Shenlu took her first husband among human kind. It’s an innate ability, not a magical aptitude and is rare, even among Seafarers, and only occurs in those members who are descended from the original Seafarer bloodline. [...] Continue Reading…
Seafarers’ Guild Rumors
Below are some rumors about the Seafarers’ Guild. I haven’t really decided yet which ones are true, so please leave me a comment telling me which ones you would like to be true:
The guild reports to no one and is following the will of Admiral Limani without supervision or [...] Continue Reading…
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