Castillania -- vignette and vague sketch for Latin-style campaign setting [Archive] - Wizards Community

Castillania -- vignette and vague sketch for Latin-style campaign setting [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
JulesCARV
10-12-07, 09:53 PM General Jesus Iglesias y Cardoso was not a naturally outgoing man. In fact, although everyone assumed that the hobgoblin would soon be el presidente, being the apparent leader of the new junta which called itself the Emergency Order Restoration Council, he was beginning to have second thoughts about the constant publicity, every eye in Salazia focused on him. So long as someone loyal to the Nine Hells was in charge, he thought he might prefer to go back to his old role.

Standing next to the plate of fried plantains, the hobgoblin general took the oppurtunity in the pause from the conversation to drink some more of the wine. That would make all of the conversations about his "vision" for the direction El Republica de Salazia would take in the future a bit easier. He was no more a lush than he was a socialite, but it was easier to embrace both alien elements simultaneously than it was to abandon either his sobriety or his introversion independently.

He was just putting the wine glass down when one of the mariachis entertaining this party, a portly, middle-aged human man with a bushy mustache, appeared in front of him, a guitar slung over his shoulder.

"General, allow me to honor you with a little song," he said. Jesus was about to demur, but the mariachi continued in a soft song before he could say anything.

He's fascinating me, the general realized. He knew what was happening, but he could not cry out for the guards, nor even reach for his rapier. He stood dumbly before the mariachi as he sang and played his song. An erinyes ambassador looked at him briefly, a look of concern on her face, but then she apparently decided that no concern was warranted and went back to her conversation with Maria, the general's wife.

This went on for what seemed like a minute, although it was probably a shorter time than that, when the general felt a sharp pain in his neck. Oh. so that was a distraction so that I could be assassinated, he thought in a cool abstraction that guarded him from actually comprehending what was happening to him.

He felt poison beginning to course through his veins. Black lotus extract, probably, he thought, as he fell to the floor.

Then the mariachi's face melted, the illusion -- no, the transmutation, an illusion would never have gotten him this far past security, even if he did have several collaborators among the guards -- falling, to reveal the face of Pablo Sanchez. It was a lean, sculpted killer's face with prominent half-elven features, quite unlike that of the portly, amiable mariachi as which that spell had made him appear. "My father looks upon us from his resting place in the Abyss," he said, "and I know he is happy to see that I have avenged his death."

The guards almost got Pablo, before he stepped through a dimension door, disappearing to... somewhere.

Jesus had always worn some armor. Tonight, under his dress uniform, he had worn an enchanted mithral chain shirt, a small amulet of natural armor beneath his shirt, and a ring of protection; unobtrusive, yet it quieted his paranoia. Yet it had not protected him in the slightest. He died as the guards begin to attempt to trace Pablo's teleportation amid recriminations of how they had failed to catch the disguised mariachi.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Castillania is a world where the Blood War is not confined to the Lower Planes, but the dominant political force of the material plane -- or at least this planet within the material plane.

Large, permanently-open portals to the Abyss and Baator exist in various parts of Castillania. The Abyss and Baator both strive to dominate Castillanian politics by backing client states with leaders loyal to them and their ideals.

Baator's influence is primarily welcomed by wealthy land owners, the Church of the Sacred Mother, an LN church devoted to Wee Jas which constitutes the largest religion in Castillania, the military, and the goblinoids who form the elite of Castillanian society. It espouses a harsh form of order based on domination by the current elite.

The Abyss, by contrast, finds is primary appeal among the disenfranchised: peons and slaves on plantations, the humans, halflings, elves, orcs, and dwarves who make up the lower classes, and outlaws and criminal elements within Castillanian societies, such as drug dealers and gangsters. It supports a brutal, violent form of populism, which sees kidnapped goblin landlords pitted against each other in arenas for popular entertainment, churches ransacked, and caudillos with cultlike followings stripping the possessions of the elite to distribute to their own supporters. Loyalists of the Abyss frequently worship the Abyss itself religiously, rather than any particular deity.

A few states attempt independence from the Abyss and Baator. These range from states which genuinely attempt to establish an independent, just social order to states run be egomaniacal totalitarians who refuse to subordinate themselves to either of the major planar powers.

For the most part, however, coups, assassinations, wars, and rebellions through Castillania are driven by the planar war between the Abyss and Baator. Unstable, violent, and fractious, the republics and empires that cover Castillania are rarely able to resist the mix of patronage and intimidation from one of the planes.

In addition to the major religion of the Church of the Sacred Mother and direct worship of the Abyss, a new religion has arisen. Small, independent congregations devoted to Ehlonna gather in half-finished basements and private homes, where they seek an informal, frequently ecstatic form of communion with the benign nature goddess, where the worshippers frequently speak in tongues incomprehensible even to magical divinations. The worship of Ehlonna is frequently seen as a form of protest against "unnatural" extraplanar meddling in Castillania.

Castillania has a pastiche "Latin" feel. The societies of Castillania are diverse, with all races mingled in a common society and culture. They are not, however, by any means egalitarian: the goblinoids -- especially hobgoblins -- who conquered this world centuries in the past may no longer have any official special status, but they nonetheless jealously, albeit unofficially, guard their supremacy with Baatezu support.

Although the politics and culture of Castillania resemble Cold War Latin America, the technology and magic remain that of standard D&D, with chainmail, axes, and wizardry.
CombatMedic
10-13-07, 12:38 AM Since there are permanently open portals to the Abyss and the Nine Hells, are fiends a pretty common sight? What's keeping either side from doing a full-scale invasion of the Prime Material?

Binders and warlocks might fit in well, if you like those classes. Binders could be connected with fiends, rather than vestiges.
JulesCARV
10-13-07, 02:50 PM Fiends are not rare, but I wouldn't quite call them common.

Basically, both the Abyss and Baator know that an actual invasion by one of the planes of the other's client states would lead to a full scale war which would basically destroy Castillania, and they both think that if they take a (marginally) subtler, more manipulative approach, they might be able to secure Castillania as their own fiefdom and have it securely entrenched enough that they can prevent the other plane from reversing this situation, and they'd both rather have Castillania in their possession than destroyed.

That said, extraplanar invasions do happen sometimes, but it's almost always an invasion by one of the planes of its own client states. For instance, Baator invading a pro-Baatorian state that has begun to go in an excessively independent direction and installing a more cooperative regime. Baator outright invading pro-Abyssal state would be too provocative and risky.
GoriceXII
10-14-07, 04:48 PM Out of curiousity what made you decide on a latin-American feel to things?
JulesCARV
10-14-07, 11:20 PM *shrugs* It struck me as a fun idea. It's easier than making up a cultural context whole cloth, and not as trite as "pseudo-European" or "pseudo-Asian" settings.

That, and I've always wanted to play a bard who looked like Antonio Banderas. Well, not always, but for maybe a week or so.
Light Dragon
10-16-07, 09:11 PM I really enjoy the freshness of this idea and the nice tale introducing everything.

Best of luck!

~LD
Light Dragon
11-13-07, 12:44 AM Any more forthcoming?
JulesCARV
11-14-07, 08:50 PM No, not really. I mainly just wanted to post a short sketch here, but I never really intended to develop it fully. If you have any ideas, though, go ahead and post them.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
JulesCARV 10-12-07, 09:53 PM	General Jesus Iglesias y Cardoso was not a naturally outgoing man. In fact, although everyone assumed that the hobgoblin would soon be el presidente, being the apparent leader of the new junta which called itself the Emergency Order Restoration Council, he was beginning to have second thoughts about the constant publicity, every eye in Salazia focused on him. So long as someone loyal to the Nine Hells was in charge, he thought he might prefer to go back to his old role. Standing next to the plate of fried plantains, the hobgoblin general took the oppurtunity in the pause from the conversation to drink some more of the wine. That would make all of the conversations about his "vision" for the direction El Republica de Salazia would take in the future a bit easier. He was no more a lush than he was a socialite, but it was easier to embrace both alien elements simultaneously than it was to abandon either his sobriety or his introversion independently. He was just putting the wine glass down when one of the mariachis entertaining this party, a portly, middle-aged human man with a bushy mustache, appeared in front of him, a guitar slung over his shoulder. "General, allow me to honor you with a little song," he said. Jesus was about to demur, but the mariachi continued in a soft song before he could say anything. He's fascinating me, the general realized. He knew what was happening, but he could not cry out for the guards, nor even reach for his rapier. He stood dumbly before the mariachi as he sang and played his song. An erinyes ambassador looked at him briefly, a look of concern on her face, but then she apparently decided that no concern was warranted and went back to her conversation with Maria, the general's wife. This went on for what seemed like a minute, although it was probably a shorter time than that, when the general felt a sharp pain in his neck. Oh. so that was a distraction so that I could be assassinated, he thought in a cool abstraction that guarded him from actually comprehending what was happening to him. He felt poison beginning to course through his veins. Black lotus extract, probably, he thought, as he fell to the floor. Then the mariachi's face melted, the illusion -- no, the transmutation, an illusion would never have gotten him this far past security, even if he did have several collaborators among the guards -- falling, to reveal the face of Pablo Sanchez. It was a lean, sculpted killer's face with prominent half-elven features, quite unlike that of the portly, amiable mariachi as which that spell had made him appear. "My father looks upon us from his resting place in the Abyss," he said, "and I know he is happy to see that I have avenged his death." The guards almost got Pablo, before he stepped through a dimension door, disappearing to... somewhere. Jesus had always worn some armor. Tonight, under his dress uniform, he had worn an enchanted mithral chain shirt, a small amulet of natural armor beneath his shirt, and a ring of protection; unobtrusive, yet it quieted his paranoia. Yet it had not protected him in the slightest. He died as the guards begin to attempt to trace Pablo's teleportation amid recriminations of how they had failed to catch the disguised mariachi. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Castillania is a world where the Blood War is not confined to the Lower Planes, but the dominant political force of the material plane -- or at least this planet within the material plane. Large, permanently-open portals to the Abyss and Baator exist in various parts of Castillania. The Abyss and Baator both strive to dominate Castillanian politics by backing client states with leaders loyal to them and their ideals. Baator's influence is primarily welcomed by wealthy land owners, the Church of the Sacred Mother, an LN church devoted to Wee Jas which constitutes the largest religion in Castillania, the military, and the goblinoids who form the elite of Castillanian society. It espouses a harsh form of order based on domination by the current elite. The Abyss, by contrast, finds is primary appeal among the disenfranchised: peons and slaves on plantations, the humans, halflings, elves, orcs, and dwarves who make up the lower classes, and outlaws and criminal elements within Castillanian societies, such as drug dealers and gangsters. It supports a brutal, violent form of populism, which sees kidnapped goblin landlords pitted against each other in arenas for popular entertainment, churches ransacked, and caudillos with cultlike followings stripping the possessions of the elite to distribute to their own supporters. Loyalists of the Abyss frequently worship the Abyss itself religiously, rather than any particular deity. A few states attempt independence from the Abyss and Baator. These range from states which genuinely attempt to establish an independent, just social order to states run be egomaniacal totalitarians who refuse to subordinate themselves to either of the major planar powers. For the most part, however, coups, assassinations, wars, and rebellions through Castillania are driven by the planar war between the Abyss and Baator. Unstable, violent, and fractious, the republics and empires that cover Castillania are rarely able to resist the mix of patronage and intimidation from one of the planes. In addition to the major religion of the Church of the Sacred Mother and direct worship of the Abyss, a new religion has arisen. Small, independent congregations devoted to Ehlonna gather in half-finished basements and private homes, where they seek an informal, frequently ecstatic form of communion with the benign nature goddess, where the worshippers frequently speak in tongues incomprehensible even to magical divinations. The worship of Ehlonna is frequently seen as a form of protest against "unnatural" extraplanar meddling in Castillania. Castillania has a pastiche "Latin" feel. The societies of Castillania are diverse, with all races mingled in a common society and culture. They are not, however, by any means egalitarian: the goblinoids -- especially hobgoblins -- who conquered this world centuries in the past may no longer have any official special status, but they nonetheless jealously, albeit unofficially, guard their supremacy with Baatezu support. Although the politics and culture of Castillania resemble Cold War Latin America, the technology and magic remain that of standard D&D, with chainmail, axes, and wizardry.
CombatMedic 10-13-07, 12:38 AM	Since there are permanently open portals to the Abyss and the Nine Hells, are fiends a pretty common sight? What's keeping either side from doing a full-scale invasion of the Prime Material? Binders and warlocks might fit in well, if you like those classes. Binders could be connected with fiends, rather than vestiges.
JulesCARV 10-13-07, 02:50 PM	Fiends are not rare, but I wouldn't quite call them common. Basically, both the Abyss and Baator know that an actual invasion by one of the planes of the other's client states would lead to a full scale war which would basically destroy Castillania, and they both think that if they take a (marginally) subtler, more manipulative approach, they might be able to secure Castillania as their own fiefdom and have it securely entrenched enough that they can prevent the other plane from reversing this situation, and they'd both rather have Castillania in their possession than destroyed. That said, extraplanar invasions do happen sometimes, but it's almost always an invasion by one of the planes of its own client states. For instance, Baator invading a pro-Baatorian state that has begun to go in an excessively independent direction and installing a more cooperative regime. Baator outright invading pro-Abyssal state would be too provocative and risky.
GoriceXII 10-14-07, 04:48 PM	Out of curiousity what made you decide on a latin-American feel to things?
JulesCARV 10-14-07, 11:20 PM	shrugs It struck me as a fun idea. It's easier than making up a cultural context whole cloth, and not as trite as "pseudo-European" or "pseudo-Asian" settings. That, and I've always wanted to play a bard who looked like Antonio Banderas. Well, not always, but for maybe a week or so.
Light Dragon 10-16-07, 09:11 PM	I really enjoy the freshness of this idea and the nice tale introducing everything. Best of luck! ~LD
Light Dragon 11-13-07, 12:44 AM	Any more forthcoming?
JulesCARV 11-14-07, 08:50 PM	No, not really. I mainly just wanted to post a short sketch here, but I never really intended to develop it fully. If you have any ideas, though, go ahead and post them.