##### The Pursuit of the Faceless
\page # The Backdrop ### What You'll Be Running The Blind Caravan is a campaign based around the protagonist party's relationship with a mysterious troupe of mercenaries, the titular Blind Caravan, as they adventure throughout the fantasy nation of Artesia. The Caravan will be an escalating threat, starting as a harmful nuisance to populations local to where the party is adventuring, and eventually becoming a major threat to the world at large which the party will have to diffuse. The Caravan is cast of exotic characters, each with a unique mask that they are never seen without. They had joined the Caravan and donned these masks as a way of putting their past lives behind them. Often, players will be antagonised by one or two Caravan members at a time, and the Caravan members' individual histories will often play a role in the plot arcs of those antagonists along with the arc of the story. ### Where You'll Be Playing Okstulla is a medieval fantasy setting defined by a moderate level of magic; spellcasting has integrated into many of Okstulla's societies, with academies of wizardry existing in the bigger cities, and the occasional prodigious sorcerer showing themselves here and there. Technology has advanced, too, with enclaves of expert craftsmen making elaborate devices from gunpowder and clockwork machinery. Artersia, as a nation, is a melting pot of cultures, as its coast borders the most popularly sailed sea of the continent. Travelers from close and far come to the port cities for work and trade, and many travel further inland in search of home or business. Further inland, the Artesian Empire puts on a less heterogeneous face, as a reigning monarchy of imperially sorcerous humans dance a political waltz with elven nobles native to the region and dragonborn clans from the eastern deserts. Other political considerations include mercantile dealings with the gnomish mechanics industry and fighting off barbaric hordes of orcs from the north. Despite the intermingling and codependence between all of these racial factions, much of the human nobility like to feel that they belong on top. ### How You'll Be Playing For the sake of brevity, race, class, and other mechanical additions are listed and linked in the following document. ##### [Mechanical Additions for the Blind Caravan](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Kfn1jtbaOfJwMBXuX95GRPncPLT0dSAeXkd9CslcRJ0/edit?usp=sharing) \page # Okstullas and Artesia Located at the southwestern end of the continent of mainland Okstullas, Artesia is a diverse and thriving land where various races, cultures, and societies coexist, all under the rule of a human empire. ### The Coast of Artesia ##### The Gallwoman's Coast The northwestern coast of Artesia, ending at the tip of the Mikkelwald Peninsula ##### The Mikkelwald Peninsula The prominent peninsula of Artesia, with the water it contains being the Mikkelwald Bay. ##### The Pensibed Coast The southeastern coast of Artesia, starting from the tip of the Mikkelwald Peninsula. ### The Empire of Artesia ### Artesian Mountain Ranges The north-south running Denias Mountains and the east-west running Kem Mountains ### North of Artesia Three seperate mountain ranges with rocky hilled areas in between. ### East of Artesia Rustamil Desert and the Rustamil Confederacy. ### The Sea of Artesia \page # People of Okstulla ## Common Races ### Humans Purebred humans exist in six primary ethnicities, with native to Artesia and four deriving from farther out regions of Okstulla. Varieties of cultures exist within each ethnic community, but this document only serves to describe the basic premises of Artesia-based human types. ##### Desertborn Hailing from the vast deserts found to Artesia's direct east, desertborn humans boast an acclimation to climates of extreme heat and are known to be accomplished bowmen. Most desertborns have roots in the Rustamil Confederacy. Desertborn clothes feature many sorts of linen wraps, using light layers to handle the desert heat. Their skin can range from fair to light brown and they are known for being well muscled. Their Common is written in a swaying, serif script, where even the dots and crosses of a word are made without lifting the pen. ##### Forestborn Native to Artesia, the forestborn occupy much of the nation's coastal cities and make up much of the inland population, up to where the forests of Artesia meet the plains. Forestborn humans tend to share a very spiritual, naturalitic faith along with the deities that they individually follow. Forestborn have advanced the art of leatherwork past nearly every other human culture, allowing them to make a surprising variety of clothes from any parts and hides. Most of them are tanned by living in the outdoor, with brown or black hair. Their Common in a thick, rough script, often scratching parts of letters back and forth to make them thicker. ##### Mountainborn Originating in the mountainous regions north of Artesia, the mountainborn are a folk that pride themselves on their craftsmanship. Mountainborn are naturally competitive with their close neighbors, the dwarves, and like the dwarves those who come to Artesia tend to settle in one of its two mountain ranges. They are light skinned and smaller than the average human, but very muscular, with a hair tone that goes from dark brown to black. Their Common is written in wide strokes, but the craftsmen among them tend to personalize their writing to sign their creations. ##### Plainsborn Also native to the country, plainsborn communities historically developed in the inland plains and steppes of Artesia, eventually founding the nation's capitol. Plainsborn humans tend to be a bit pretentious in character, and occupy most of Artesia's human nobility. With the local popularity of large farming regions and wooled livestock, plainsborn fashion features a lot of well-woven fabrics. They are slender with dark skin, with a hair tone that goes from fair to black. Their Common is written in a font very similar to traditional forestborn, but with much thinner, single-stroke lines. ##### Seaborn Though a very common population in Artesia, especially along its coasts and bluffs, seaborn humans come from the islands and subcontinents of the oceans to the south and west of the nation. They are merchants by nature, and as such are welcomed by nations worldwide, obviosuly including Artesia. The seaborn are famous for their thriving silk industry, and the clothes they wear clearly reflect that. They are lightly built, with dark hair and naturally light in skin tone. Their Common is written with clear lines and clean angles, perfect for trade papers and documentation. ##### Winterborn Winterborn come from snowy regions far and away from Artesia, up in the far north of Okstullas. They share a culture based on honor and glory, and are by far the least popular human ethnicity in Artesia. Winterborn clothing tends to be heavy and layered, with the most consistent feature being total insulation. Winterborns are light skinned and fair or red haired, taller and more muscular than other humans thanks to generations having endured the harsh, cold climates. Their Common is almost pictographic, with characters having small flourishes that evoke objects, animals, and symbols. \page ### Dragonborn Born of dragons, as their name proclaims, the dragonborn walk proudly through a world that greets them with fearful incomprehension. In older times, dragonborn would gather into clans based on the color of their scales, guided by the dragons that their bloodline descends from. Now, the clans have disestablished and most have dispersed throughout the world, with many settling in different parts of Artesia. Some, however, have started to form a new society of united dragonborn clans in the northern mountains. ### Dwarves Dwarven kingdoms stretch deep beneath the mountains where the dwarves mine gems and precious metals and forge items of wonder. They love the beauty and artistry of precious metals and fine jewelry, and in some dwarves this love festers into avarice. Whatever wealth they can’t find in their mountains, they gain through trade. They dislike boats, so enterprising humans and halflings frequently handle trade in dwarven goods along water routes. Trustworthy members of other races are welcome in dwarf settlements, though some areas are off limits even to them. Multiple dwarven kingdoms make their homes in the mountains north of Artesia, existing in large populations. A new kingdom, barely two millenia old, is developing in the Denias Mountain. ### Elves Most elves dwell in small forest villages hidden among the trees. Elves hunt game, gather food, and grow vegetables, and their skill and magic allow them to support themselves without the need for clearing and plowing land. They are talented artisans, crafting finely worked clothes and art objects. Their contact with outsiders is usually limited, though a few elves make a good living by trading crafted items for metals (which they have no interest in mining). In Artesia, elven villages can be found scattered around the forested regions, where elves, especially wood elves, are known to coexist and intermingle with forestborn humans. A greater elven kingdom exists in Artesia's eastern woods, almost completely surrounding Kem lake. ### Gnomes Gnomish settlementts tend to lie along the border between Artesia's plains and forestlands. They live underground but get more fresh air than dwarves do, enjoying the natural, living world on the surface whenever they can. Their homes are well hidden by both clever construction and simple illusions. Welcome visitors are quickly ushered into the bright, warm burrows. Those who are not welcome are unlikely to find the burrows in the first place. ``` ``` ### Halflings Some halflings live out their days in remote agricultural communities, while others form nomadic bands that travel constantly. In Artesia, halflings mingle with plainsborn humans as they work to manage the empire's farmlands. Most halfling communities are small and well-kept, led by elders rather than any type of humans,. \page ### Half-elves and Half-orcs ### Mousefolk ### Ratfolk ## Uncommon Races ### Aarakocra ### Bearkin ### Caprini ### Crockian ### Goblins ### Goliaths ### Firbolgs ### Kenku ### Kobolds ### Lizardmen ### Minotaur ### Tieflings ### Warforged ## Exotic Races ### Aasimar ### Awakened Blight ### Faceless ### Genasi ### Scarecrow ### Sharkfolk ### Shardmind ### Silva ### Tortle ### Triton ### Alrisen Races \page # Plaid Jack ### A Fractured History Traditionally, a sentient scarecrow is made by capturing a wayward soul and shunting it into a vessel, a crucified body filled with decaying plant fibers and bound into shape by woven cottons and stitched animal skins. Plaid Jack is a special case, as they were conceived from the shattered pieces of four separate souls, made to eternally struggle to remain as one, cohesive being. Jack's creator was a young and inept spellcaster lacking any guidance or mentorship. He immediately abandoned Jack, as he was in no way prepared to confront and care for the long-limbed existential crisis he had created. For a long time, Jack's mind had been a constant battle between four tortured consciousnesses, whose personalities had led to a destructive web of powerfully intimate and violently hateful relationships. A soul-bending ritual was conducted to try and seperate them into four seperate beings, but the end result was a perfectly mixed maelstrom of personhood. Since then, Plaid Jack has had one cohesive psyche, with the strength and intensity of that personality multiplied fourfold. Jack's end goal now is no longer to bifurcate themselves into normal beings, but to gather living all beings into one mind, one psyche, one supernova of thought and emotion. This dream of soul-collectivism is what will make Jack the grand villain of the campaign. ### Many-Faced To channel his powerful emotions and psyche in a healthy way, Jack cycles between multiple masks and personas. They are a bard of the college of masks, which each mask practically making them a new person. He can change masks quickly by using magic to switch out one with the other. The Survivor mask embodies Jack's primal instinct and penchant for chaos. It is an oval of solid brown fur with piercing orange eyes peering through, with the flesh seeming to grow into his head at the edges. Jack plays a horn while wearing this mask. The Thief mask embodies Jack's ruthless ambition and cruel sense of entitlement. It is made from multiple pieces of black leather stitched together, with the edges stitched to the burlap of his head. Jack plays a flute while wearing this mask. The Mage mask embodies Jack's ingenuity and passion for creation. It is made of solid grey stone, with glowing runic patterns drawn under the eyes like flowing tears. Jack plays a lute while wearing this mask. The Warrior mask embodies Jack's sense of righteusness and a thirst for justice. It is a solid mask of gold-tinged white, with the eyes in the shape of a classical tragedy mask, and the mouth shaped like the comedic counterpart. Jack plays a harp while wearing this masl. The Charlatan mask is the most rarely worn mask, worn only when Jack reaches a state of pure calmness, indifference, wellness, and balance. In this state he can be seen and heard playing the piano, though the piano itself is intangible, invisible, and seemingly nonexistant. ``` ``` ### Caravan Captain Plaid Jack founded the Blind Caravan as a mobile hostel for those who, like him, have little hold on their past or even no past at all. They are the defacto leader of the group, and guides them differently based on the persona they wear. \page
# Blindfolk of the Caravan ### Felix Heinz Felix was a hardworking father and caring husband in his past life. His expansive family owned a fruit orchard which he managed diligently, taking great pride in regionally famous apples and pears. He lived a peaceful and wonderful life, until the Ashen Wolf came. It scorched half of the orchard and devoured many of Felix's cousins, but Felix was able to save his family by making a bargain; Felix would join his pack and help spread the flame, but his family and the orchard would be protected. Now, Felix is an ashenspawn-halfling and warlock to the wolf, traveling with the Blind Caravan to maintain the anonymity needed to keep the orchard's reputation protected. An emberborn pup is always by his side, guiding him in carrying out the Wolf's will. Felix's mask is solid black twisted charcoal, with the eyes and mouth cut out. Embers in the masks' veins glow and dim as he breathes. Felix's arc is low level, probably the first the players encounter; he scorches fields, farms, a small villages, the types of places low level players would be dealing with. Felix doesn't want this destruction, but he has to do it for the sake of his family. ``` ``` ### Kraak Slightfeather Kraak was the daughter of her aarakocra clan's chieftain, and a prodigious marksman in her own right. Her clan was on good terms with a local, much more powerful city of elves. Though she was the best archer of her clan, Kraak felt that she had to prove herself as an heir by being the best archer of the entire alliance. The elves had the upper hand with their extremely secretive art of arcane archery, and Kraak needed it to stand on equal ground. When she got caught stealing the highly guarded elvish magical literature, however, her hopes were crushed, and the the alliance was nearly compromised. Kraak was no longer to be heir to the clan, and she was exiled out of shame. Now, Kraak travels with the Blind Caravan in search of more magical literature to enhance her skills, despite her excommunication. Kraak wears a leather mask shaped around her face and the top half of her beak. A glass lens is fixed over one eye, and a path over the other. Both are removable for when not in combat. Kraak's arc is low level, as the magical tomes and scriptures she steals usually relate in some way to arcane archery, as opposed to some more epically powerful magic. This arc could spawn from a city library, magic academy, isolated wizard's tower, or small town magic shop, as long as something magical has been stolen from an institution, and an owner wants it back. \page ### Fellchamber Fellchamber was remnant of the old war who found community and respect as a lawkeeper in a small town. She was known by craftmen and artisans all throughout for her ability to modify her own warforged body with powerful firearms and weaponry. She was an excellant lawman, keen in her senses and very competent in how she handled crimes of her city. One day, following a particular nasty murder involving multiple victims, Hellchamber acted too quickly, misidentifying the perpetrator, hunting him down, and eventually violently killing an innocent man. Unwilling to face the punishment for her own crimes, she replaced her warforged face with another and left her home. Now, Fellchamber is a warforged gunslinger, delivering swift and brutal vigilante justice where the law is to slow to act. Fellchamber's new face is as silver as the rest of her body, but shows no mouth or expression where her old one did. Fellchamber's arc is medium level, likely dealing with the killing of higher-ranking political officials or people who are generally of great social power. Players may even find themselves pitted against the law in ways that low level characters are not quite equipped for, ``` ``` ### Misaki Harrowleaf Misaki had a good life; a loving family, a lively port city, a close group of friends. Everything turned south for her when she discovered herself; literally herself, an mirror image of her impersonating her and taking over her life. Very quickly, Misaki found herself at ends with this elusive doppelganger, which had taken her place in all of her relationships and started problems between her and everyone she loved. This doppelganger was a duplicate, a special ability that had awakened in her, but when Misaki finally got a handle on it, it was too late. The duplicate had cut ties, and Misaki had to skip town as it had nothing in it for her anymore. Misaki is seaborn human and a hundred-faced rogue. She feels at home with the Caravan, adopting them as a sort of new family, but at the same time wishes to do good as way to, potentially, earn back the respect of old friends that she knows she'll never see again. Misaki's mask is a white fox mask with red-painted details, covering her entire face and holding back her silver-white hair. Misaki's arc is medium level, with the party's constant conflict with the Caravan inspiring Misaki to try and eliminate them once and for all. She would likely be insisted by hired mooks, other enemies of the party, and retourning characters from the Caravan. ### Orion Whent Orion was drawn to the Caravan as an institution as it embodied the principles of balance that he held so dearly. For every straight man it had, there was a wild card. For all the good that it did, it commited many acts of evil. Plaid Jack themself is an embodiment of balance, with the different masks they put on eventually balancing out behavior as they cycle through. Orion is the only member of the Caravan to have witnessed Jack wear the High Priest on more than one occasion. The ballads that the High Priest play enchant Orion through perfect artistic displays of balance and indifference. Because of this, Orion has formed a deep and obsessive attraction to Jack that challenges his fundemental beliefs of balance. In this way, Orion likely cares about the Caravan as a whole more than Jack himself. Orion is a forestborn human and a cleric of the balance domain. He has a equally deep passion for the upholdment of balance as the protection of the Caravan. Orion wears a white jester mask, with a red diamond embedded in the forhead and a red hood drawn over. Orion's arc is medium level, and starts a turnaround for the plot of the campaign; immediately following the conclusion of Misaki's art, Orion puts plans into action that pit the whole of the Blind Caravan against the party. \page ### Ohkurr Grigmukkit Ohkurr was raised in violence and bloodshed, his orc clan dominating the warfront of the norhtern mountains for as long as he could remember. Ohkurr, being a half-orc, was a bit of a black sheep, and felt the need to prove himself through hard work and labor in spite of his relative physical weakness. He soon found himself overworked, and one night, when Ohkurr, who was on watch duty, had fallen asleep from exhaustion, a horde of wereboars came into the camp and eviscerated Ohkurr's entire clan. Ohkurr was one of the few who came out alive that night, and he soon sought out groups he can help him seek vengeance. Ohkurrr is a half-orc lycan blood hunter who by the time of joining the Caravan had spent enough time hunting and slaying the wereboars he vowed to kill that he was mostly satisfied with his vengeance. Ohkurr wears a rough wooden mask covered in warpaint. The countours of the paint and the carving of the mask ellicits an image of a wild boar. Ohkurr can be introduced at early points in the story if the oppurtunity arises, likely due to some issue involving populations of werebeasts, but he is likely to be mostly a character attached to other arcs. ``` ``` ### Sica Sica loved their jungle village; they were well respected among the town and contributed well to the canopy city. The canopies were high up; the jungle Sica was born in is famous for its towering trees, and every silva in the city held a personal pride in the beauty of their home. What was good could never last, however, as season by season the storms that visited the jungle got worst, eventually leading to maelstroms and hailstorms totally atypical for the region. Sica found out the cause of these storms to acute disappointment; they themself were a magical beacon of tempestry, fueled by a magic power that brought the storms to them. Needing to find themself and gain control of their power, Sica left home for the betterment of her people. Sica is a jungle silva storm herald barbarian who acts as a muscle for the Caravan and helps them to navigate the harsher environments through which they travel. Sica wears a full-head helmet, made out of exotic barks and wood twisted into shape, all wrapped around in vine. Sica rarely leaves the Caravan's base camp, and as such would likely be introduced during late-game story arcs wear the player party and the Blind Caravan are deeply intermingled. ### Francis Oberon Indigo DuMont Francis was born to the DuMont family, a noble family from a far off land, and from his birth seemed to be scion of good fortune. From his youth, he was pampered and kept sheltered, as his mere presence brought a magical luck to his family's business and dealings. Whenever his family wasn't looking, however, he studied new, unique ways to channel his abilities; he could infuse his innate magic into cards of symbolic meaning, bending fortune to his whim and manifesting potent effects. Once he came of age, Francis set out on his own, determined to create a new family through his own fortune. He has found family in the Blind Caravan, though he finds their propensity for crime and thievery somewhat unpalatable. Francis is a desertborn human major arcana sorcerer who works as a face for the Blind Caravan and helps them to avoid punishment for the law. Francis wears a gold-embroidered fabric mask, with the black cloth covering his eyes and the top of his nose with a delicate strap keeping it to his head. Francis takes a roll in Dail politics, as his being a sorcerer entitles him to a position of political power in that cities culture. \page ### Gulthias Gulthias grew up a rulebreaker, a shameful stain on the high-class tapestry that was his noble family. He was to be sent to a boarding academy in a neighboring nation, but his unruly behavior had become so infamous that he had to be sent to a monk's monastery instead, as a last-ditch effort by his family to instill in him character and discipline. He could not be broken in, however, and when he fell in love with Henna, a young master of his, the two of them ran away, their infedility not being permitted by the temple. Gulthiasis a plainsborn human monk of the sun soul, and spends his time with the Caravan traveling with his wife, Henna. They hope to find the money and oppurtunity to start a monestary of their own, founded on principles much more tolerant that the one they came from. Gulthias wears a mask of solid bone, with the rest of his head covered by a gold linen that drapes over his body and arms as a loose cloak. Gulthias and Henla are criminals by trade, and will likely be encountered performing some sort of heist. One or both of them may tag along with another member of the Caravan to help in some task, and if one of them is hurt or killed, the other may be out for revenge. ``` ``` ### Henla Henna was adopted by her monastery in her infancy, and was raised in the practice of a dark martial art from an early age. She developed a strict character from the teachings, but despite ardently believing the ideals of the temple she always felt a subtle itch for adventure and freedom. Soon after becoming a young master of the temple, she was given Gulthias as a student to mentor, and the two quickly fell in love. The monastery deeply disapproved of the relationship, and so the two absconded to find a more comfortable life for themselves. Henna is a half-elf monk of the black star, and spends her time with the Caravan traveling with her husband, Gulthias. They hope to find the money and oppurtunity to start a monestary of their own, founded on principles much more tolerant that the one they came from. Henna wears a wooden mask over her eyes and nose carved into an animal shape, resembling a sort of fox or dog. Gulthias and Henla are criminals by trade, and will likely be encountered performing some sort of heist. One or both of them may tag along with another member of the Caravan to help in some task, and if one of them is hurt or killed, the other may be out for revenge. \page ## Background Blindfolk Conflict with the Blind Caravan will sometimes require lackeys to fight along with the Caravan's more essential characters. These Blindfolk can be grouped together as group sign-ons to the caravan, hired mercenaries, or others, and are meant to have the uniqueness needed to fit into the caravan thematically while only really fluffing their numbers when necassary. ### The Cult of Gritlittle This clan of blue-skinned goblins gather in devoted worship to Gritrittle, a goblin gods of trickery, pranks, and disguise. They are known to all wear masks that cover half their face; while most cover the left or right half, the most notorious rogues and thieves among them cover their mouths, while their trickster clerics wear masks that cover their eyes. The Cult of Gritlittles are usually tasked with helping out with jobs in thieving and assassination, though their wild and obnoxious leads to them being used as distractions as opposed to primary operatives. ### The Passersby When they can change their body to take on any appearance they will it, changelings don't need to wear masks. This clique of changelings does a lot of recon and undercover operation for the Caravan, using their abilities to blend into crowds and get insider information. They are hard to get to know personally, however, as they are privy to taking up new and different identities, and love to share their identities and personas with each other. Though many Passersby have a roguish disposition, do not be fooled; most are competent soldiers and warriors in their own right. ``` ``` ### The Hellpaw Collective These mousefolk and ratfolk have banded together in search of dark and forbidden arcana, using the Caravan as a means to grant them access to magic items and literature that could help them in their studies. These individuals, though masked when working with the Caravan, are actually agents from their Collective, which itself is a seperate, larger institution. Hellpaw Collective members wear carefully folded paper masks with elaborate designs drawn over in ink. Blindfolk from the Collective are all spellcasters by trade, with their magic rooted in fiendish, shadowy, necrotic, or otherwise sinister origins. ### Blightrunts On their travels, the Blind Caravan come across many a magical artifact. One of those items include the Blightroot, an enchanted root of the Gulthias tree that grants those bound to it control over a pack of nearly mindless blighted creatures. Currently, the Blightroot is bound to Sica, though they can command the summoned creatures to follow and take command from other members of the Caravan. The Blightgrunts typically manifest in bestial forms, though the ones in more humanoid forms take on barbaric and sorcerers abilities. Their masks are similar to Sica's, but much more twisted and made with darker woods.