EditHighlander Fire-Worshipers- Tone: An aggressive nation of fire-worshipers
- Timeframe: -168 to present"
- Artifice: Primitive
- Region: Albizia
- Capital: City-state of Baem (~15,000)
- Notable Settlements: There are many outlying settlements beholden to Baem
- Government: Theocracy
- Ruler: The Voice of the Flame
- Races: Human (~30,000)
- Languages: Linnorn
- Religions: Fira, The Lady of Flame
- Coinage: Baem does not mint it's own coins. Foreign coins are treated by weight; Linnorian coins are most common.
EditSynopsis
Baem is a highland fortress city built close up against a granite atoll called the Tower of Eternal Flame which sprouts up from the hills like a spire, standing fifty feet above the ground and shooting a gout of ever-burning flame another twenty feet into the air from the rock itself.
In PY-217, Endun Aranem of Linnoria saw visions of a flaming goddess whom he mystically knew was named Fira. In his visions Fira called to him, promising eternal life in return for his dedication to her. Endun wandered Albizia for years, searching for Fira and simultaneously preaching the messages he learned of her in his visions. He gathered a small but dedicated following, and finally was guided to a remote hilltop, where before the eyes of the assembled worshipers the granite atoll arose and sprung alight.
Endun abandoned his old name and declared himself "The Voice of the Flame", and directed his followers to build their new home at the base of the spire. He named the settlement Baem, which means simply "Home" in Linnorian.
The people of the Flame have prospered in the centuries since and the population has grown substantially. The city has grown somewhat organically, with no actual planned street layout. Newcomers often get lost easily.
EditMagic The Voice leads a small cadre of Votaries, granted many gifts by their goddess, the least of which is apparently eternal life. The Voice is able to create fearsome and dangerous elemental servants from the Eternal Flame on special occasions when Fira is particularly well sated and satisfied. These Fire Spirits, commanded by Votaries, serve as the primary military might of Baem and the church's enforcers.
EditDetailsFira is not a quiet goddess. She often demands sacrifices, evidenced by a loud rumbling of the earth around the spire and a decreased size and brightness of the Eternal Flame; the Flame even burns blue when she is angered. At such times the people of Baem give blood sacrifices of animals and sometimes prisoners or slaves at the base of the spire over the course of several days of frenzied worship and celebration. When Fira is pleased the Eternal Flame flares higher and then returns to its normal state.
Baem controls their region using commanded Fire Spirits. They levy a yearly tax of slaves, food, and goods on many communities within a few days travel in most directions of Baem, and are thus despised by their neighbors.
EditAdventure Seeds Couldn't Hurt!: some kind of unusual but natural occurrence is believed to be a sign of an angered Fira, and the locals solution is to grab some visiting outsiders and sacrifice them at the base of the Eternal Flame...
Humans
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