Rhunarian Primer

An Adventurer's Primer On Rhunaria, the Ghostlands, and the Great Rift Between

(Notice: The primer has a few minor errors and miscalculations, but will soon be fully updated.)

On Rhunaria: Rhunaria is a material plane in its self-contained cosmology, joined to the
ethereal spirit-realms of the Ghostlands by the astral void of the Great Rift. Rhunaria is
much like early Renaissance-era Earth in general terrain, weather, climates, and
inhabitants for the most part, on a smaller scale. Dwarves, humans, and some goblinoids
have developed primitive firearm technology, devising simple flint-lock pistols and
muskets of questionable reliability, while halflings, gnomes, and humans create many
great artworks, and impressive structures are raised all around the known world, from the
pyramid-palaces of Riza to the Gilden cathedrals and the dwarven strongholds. The
world is young and so are its people, but they have made great leaps especially with the
aid of magic, which is abundant in Rhunaria but only partially understood by the
priesthoods and mage academies. Little is yet known of how magic works, and the
invocations of mages and priests alike are rather crude methods of harnessing its power,
though they strive through the ages to master the use of Rhunaria's latent magic.

    Only a relatively small portion of Rhunaria has been explored and civilized so far by the
various humanoid races; humans, elves, dwarves, gnomes, halflings, kobolds, goblins,
bugbears, hobgoblins, and a few others. The humans dwell in the tropical and
semi-tropical northeastern reaches of the known world, bordering the Platinum Sea and
the vast ocean, while elves live somewhere in the unmapped far west or far north.
Dwarves, gnomes, and orcs reside in the south where the climate is cooler, even
sub-arctic in the orcish domains, while goblinoids live scattered through the west and
middle-lands. Halflings live in some unknown distant place that is half-mythical as far as
other races are concerned, while kobolds and other creatures seem to lair just about
everywhere in small enclaves. Still, the known world encompasses only a relatively small
domain, only 3 or 4 months' worth of ride on horseback in both length and breadth,
excluding the hidden territories inhabited by elves or halflings, and no one has explored
very far in any direction beyond the lands already inhabited.

On Humanoids: The current year in Rhunaria is CM 941 by the Common Measure of
time used amongst halflings and many humans; 941 years since the fall of the Elvish
Dominion (officially the Illustrious Kingdom of Linaerelesti, before its overthrow) and its
great and terrible Mage-King. The Elvish Dominion had conquered and subjugated all
non-elven humanoids in the known lands, ruling over them for an age before the enslaved
peoples revolted, destroying the Dominion and most of elvenkind. Few elves escaped
into the primeval forests and jungles where they could evade pursuit, and the elvish
survivors went into hiding for well nigh a millenium, such that only an occasional jungle elf
or family ventures out into other lands now to live and make peace with the descendents
of their former slaves.

    Other elves survived underground in vaults beneath the surface of Rhunaria, the dark
elves transformed by the vile Mage-King before the Great Rebellion, who remain loyal to
their lost creator's goals and occasionally send forays to the surface for pillaging and
slaying in the cities of non-elves. Another remnant of elvenkind is the sea elves whom the
Mage-King transformed against their will, and the sea elves have always sought to be free
and have peace with the other races. Kobolds, yuan-ti, minotaurs, hags, lizardmen,
ogres, trolls, and other fell abominations were likewise forged by the Elven Mage-King's
perverted sorcery and alchemy, fusing enslaved humanoids with all manner of monstrous
beast for the purpose of bolstering the Mage-King's army, but inadvertently loosed upon
the world in the chaos of the Great Rebellion.

    Aside from the former Mage-King's creations, most humanoids of Rhunaria evolved
from the catlike Nari race, whose direct descendents in body and culture are the jungle
elves, though many human tribes retain some Nari culture as well. The Nari were a
superstitious and nomadic people, prolific and far-traveling in their curiousity, developing
the first known civilization of Rhunaria in ages past. They developed the rudiments of
shamanism and other divine magic, as well as the first vestiges of the arcane magical
traditions of wu jen, which eventually developed into wizardry and bardic spellsongs. Nari
crafted mighty glyph relics incorporating their spirit-lore and the mystical heiroglyphs of
Nari language, binding spirits great and small to create the first magic items, though that
art is long since forgotten. Eventually the Nari disappeared from the annals of history as
they were consumed by hubris, pride, and the desire to master everything they found in
the world. Their descendents cropped up in places the Nari traveled through in their early
years, having evolved differently as they settled different lands and pursued other
lifepaths, such as the dwarf-ancestors who gave up mysticism for invention and wealth.

On Beasts And Spirits: The world's magic hastened evolution for many creatures in
Rhunaria, though the majority of beasts remain unintelligent and dangerous still, as the
currents of magic are unpredictable and fickle indeed with their gifts. Animals are far more
numerous than humanoids, and great beasts stalk the land in places where Nari-kin have
not yet visited. Even the humanoid-inhabited lands are not wholly safe, with many
townships in close proximity and well-guarded with walls or warriors, and fell beasts roam
the hinterlands between cities and nations, though the most common threat is simply
humanoid bandits and raiders. Dragons and other great beasts are rarely seen and
supposedly few in number, and most seem to be simply the stuff of rumor and legend.
Fiendish and celestial creatures are found once in a while after crossing the Great Rift
between the Ghostlands and Rhunaria, but are not much more common than dragonkin
and their ilk. Other incarnate spirit-creatures are encountered now and then, such as the
fabled treefolk and fey that roam (or haunt, as many commonfolk would say) the forests
and jungles, taking vengeance on loggers and hunters for the plants and beasts that
cannot, while playing and feasting merrily alongside children and travelers they encounter.

    Incorporeal spirits are everywhere in Rhunaria, or more accurately the Ghostlands that
coexist beside Rhunaria, a spiritual realm overlaid upon the physical (or perhaps vice
versa) that most folk cannot perceive, and spirits reside in the Ghostlands while partially
bound to physical pieces of nature. There are spirits of rocks, spirits of trees, spirits of air,
spirits of flame, spirits of water, and spirits of various creatures and objects, such as the
souls of mortal creatures (which are more tightly bound to their physical bodies and
unable to perceive the Ghostlands around them). Whether these spirits are the incarnate
elements of the physical world or the true essence of it is unknown, since they take so
many forms and are unwilling to speak about their origins. Shamans, shugenja, wu jen,
some clerics, and some sorcerers are able to perceive Ghostlands spirits to a certain
extent and produce spell effects through directing the spirits, but mortals have only a
limited capacity to see and manipulate spirits in such a manner. For many it is simply a
friendly relationship they forge with the spirits, allowing them to ask favors of those spirits
they befriend, while others use magic to bind spirits and carry out the master's will.

On Magic: The working of magic is mildly prolific in Rhunaria, but most of it is of a low
calibre and scale; local adepts, mages, and priests producing a handful of minor magical
effects in service to their communities for some small profit, some even crafting minor
magic items to sell on occasion. Few powerful spellcasters live in Rhunaria, as it
becomes exceedingly more difficult to advance in power after a certain point; of the only
creatures that can provide components for powerful spells or challenge a great mage or
priest sufficiently to prove their worth or refine their art, most are rare and
little-understood, often slaying any spellcaster that tries to hunt them. The mystical
energy needed to advance in power and spellweaving is otherwise hard to accumulate,
and only by releasing it from the corpses of powerful beasts can a spellcaster advance
with any acceptable degree of speed or efficiency. While anyone in Rhunaria can take up
the study of arcane magic or devote themselves to spirituality, few people have the
inherant gift for magic like sorcery, bardic spellsongs, or monkish ki development, and it is
rarely possible or effective for anyone, within a mortal lifetime, to develop significant
magical power of any sort without going into conflict and slaying great beasts to fuel that
power's development.

    Rhunaria has few academies for learning the use of arcane magic, and they are fairly
small in general, though errant sorcerers and bards are more prolific because of their
minimal need for training. Arcane spellcasters of Rhunaria include primarily bards,
sorcerers, wizards, and wu jen, and most of these arcane magic-users simply learn
individually from a mentor. The only significant producers of arcane magic items in
Rhunaria are the gnomes, though halflings and Gilden produce a fair number of minor
arcane items as well. Arcane magic is viewed with some degree of suspicion and distaste
amongst dwarves and Tashi humans, while goblinoids, orcs, and tribal humans have very
little arcane talent or skill. Priesthoods are more widespread in Rhunaria, and particularly
devout or lucky priests develop a special bond with the object of their faith, whether it is a
concept such as nature (the source of a druid's or ranger's power), a deity or deities (the
source of a cleric's or paladin's power), or various spirits (the source of a shaman's,
shugenja's, sohei's, or samurai's power).

    Divine spellcasters in Rhunaria are clerics, druids, shamans, shugenjas, and sohei,
though samurai and others occasionally draw upon the gifts of spirits for some minor
boon, such as a samurai's enchanted blades. Halflings and Rizan humans tend to create
quite a few divine magic items, compared to the other races who only create a few. The
gnomes are not very pious nor inclined towards worship and supplication, or anything else
so solemn and stodgy, so there are few gnomish wielders of divine magic, while
goblinoids and kobolds likewise have little inclination toward such things, though they do
have a slightly greater number of minor divine magic-users compared to gnomes.
Dwarves, orcs, elves, goblinoids, and Tashi humans tend to despise religions other than
their own individual people's beliefs, and don't get along well at all with followers of other
faiths, though there are a rare few exceptions (i.e. elves and Tashi humans are somewhat
less spiteful towards fellow animist religions such as those of halflings, tribal humans,
kobolds, and eachother).

On Timekeeping: The standard calendar used in Rhunaria is the Common Measure
(CM), devised by halflings and humans in the aftermath of the Great Rebellion, though the
use of this calendar has spread somewhat to other humanoid folk. Other calendars exist,
but are only used within their culture of origin, such as the Rizan calendar (called by them
the Divine Measure of Time, as provided by their founder Ahotep-Riza, with dates
presented using the initials DMT), the Dalechron Annum (exclusive to the dwarven
Ur-Dalechron Hegemony, with dates measured in STF, Since The Founding), and a few
others, but CM is the most common calendar. The Common Measure, like most calendars,
is based on the cycles of the sun, moon, and seasons. Each year in the Common
Measure is 232 days long, divided into 32 weeks of 7 days each, with each day 24 hours
in length. Each year has the usual four seasons, and each season is 2 months long, each
month 4 weeks in length, with each year starting on the 1st day of the first spring month.
The Rhunarian moon completes one cycle every 29 days, with the 29th day of each lunar
cycle (night of the full moon) signifying the end of the month, and the day following that is
actually a special day inbetween months. Thus, the first day of each lunar cycle is
reserved as a day of dread or festivity, depending on which day of the year it is.

    The four universal holidays, separate from any months, are the festival day of the vernal
equinox (Fest Day, 29th day of the year), the midsummer day of the summer solstice
(Midsummer's Rejoice, 87th day of the year), the rest day of the autumnal equinox (Resting
Day, 145th day of the year), and the midwinter day of the winter solstice (Midwinter's
Solace, 203rd day of the year). Fest Day is a celebratory holiday between the first and
second months of the year, spent feasting, dancing, drinking, and otherwise enjoying a
daylong break amidst the busy planting season of spring. Midsummer's Rejoice is a
similarly festive and jaunty holiday spent mostly playing sports followed by extensive
dancing and music, celebrating the long stretch of free time between planting and harvest
seasons. Resting Day is more of a personal and quieter holiday spent relaxing and
feasting, taking a break from the rigors of the harvest season of autumn. Midwinter's
Solace is an even quieter and more personal holiday than that, spent mostly amongst
individual families in their homes, telling stories of the year that has past and giving thankful
prayers for getting the year's work done and being able to rest easy throughout winter,
appreciating the good things of the past year and looking forward to the year to come.

    The four universal dread-days, separate from any months, are solemn and fearful days
spent locked indoors in worry, avoiding the dangers outside as these days are superstitious
times of darkness and evil. These are the days of the lunar eclipse, where the full moon
blocks out most of the sun in midday and cloaks the land in chill shadow. Since nearly
everyone stays home, the days of dread are often used by bandits and thieves to plunder
shops and warehouses, though most folk try and keep such places well-locked and heavily
barred on the eve of the lunar eclipse. Lunar eclipses (dread-days) occur on the 58th,
116th, 174th, and 232nd days of the year, which are referred to as Dread Day the 1st, 2nd,
3rd, and 4th, respectively. Solar eclipses are exceedingly rare despite the frequent lunar
eclipses; the sun blocks the moon in midday once every few centuries, such days being
scorchingly hot and especially feared.

    The standard days of each week in the Common Measure of time are generally called, in
order from the first to last day of the week, Dayun (day-oon), Daytu (day-too), Dayri
(day-ree), Dayir (day-yeer), Dayev (day-yevv), Dayas (day-iss), and Dayan (day-enn).
These pidgin names came from the humans, as they remade their cultures and languages
after the fall of the Elven Empire. As each day is 24 hours long, it is generally 1 hour of
twilight followed by 10 hours of light, then 1 more hour of twilight, and finally 10 hours of
darkness. The clocks of Rhunarian folk, generally nothing more than sundials,
waterclocks, and hourglasses, mark the twilight of dawn as the 1st hour of the day in spring
and autumn, the 24th hour in summer (when the days are longest), and the 2nd hour of the
day in winter (when the days are shortest). The twilight of dusk is marked as the 12th hour
of the day in spring and autumn, the 13th hour in summer, and the 11th hour of the day in
winter. Thus, daylight lasts 12 hours in summer and 8 hours in winter, but is 10 hours as
usual in spring and autumn, and somewhere inbetween during the first and last two weeks
of each season. Noon is at 7 o'clock most days, as a result, and midnight is at 18 o'clock
most days, give or take an hour during the summer or winter as appropriate. Rumor has it
that dwarves, those inscrutable headcases, have actually built mechanical clocks, but who
believes the dwarves? In any case, an hour is 60 minutes long, and each minute is 60
seconds in length, as can be expected. The eight months of the Rhunarian calendar, in
order from 1st to 8th, beginning of spring to end of winter, are Fallow, Seeding, Suncrest,
Heatwrath, Harvester, Gatherfast, Cloudblight, and Culling. Dates are presented in the
format CM 941-8-27, meaning the 27th day of the 8th month in the year 941 under the
Common Measure of time.

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Disclaimer: Astral plane, ethereal plane, material plane, yuan-ti, and class names are property of Wizards
of the Coast, Inc., a division of Hasbro Corporation. Far as I know. All other content on this webpage is
copyright (c) 2004 and copyright (c) 2005, property of John J. Korsog, Jr., internet aliases Arkhandus and
Mist Phantom. This material is free for personal use but not for commercial distribution.