\page

\page

# Welcome to Hyrule! #### Or more realistically welcome to the document. Hey there. If you're reading this then you're either one of my players or someone who found this on Reddit or wherever. If you're the former then you can just skip ahead, if you're the latter then some context might be in order. I put together this document to be a more impressive and better presented version of a previous setting document I made for a dungeons and dragons fifth edition in... 2017, I think. Lemme check. Yeah, July 2017. I made it for a campaign I started running then. At the time of writing this paragraph, July 2019, it's still ongoing (although about to end). It was a great fun time, for me at least, and I got a lot of really fond memories out of it. The lore in this document, the original stuff and connective tissue, built up over that time. The main reason I'm giving this context is because... I dunno. People can be weird. The goal of this document and the headcanon I had for the setting was to produce a coherent and largely comprehensive universe to play tabletop games in. In a videogame you can skip over plot details and just not answer questions. Tabletop games make that much harder. As such there had to be more connective tissue, and since I'm the kidn of DM that over-prepares that meant that there had to be a *lot* of connective tissue. Whenever possible I've tried not to contradict canon. I've used canon names, characters and places whenever possible, and haven't omitted or changed many major canon events- this is not, for example, comparable to the Hyrule Conquest setting where iconic elements are taken and used to create a largely original universe (although I did steal a *lot* of elements from Undying Nephalim's wonderful ideas because the man is a genius in many ways). For any "original" used ideas (in big throbbing quotation marks) the main sources of inspiration have probably been Dragon Age (specifically the Fade), Hyrule Conquest (most predominantly the darknuts), and honestly Warhammer Fantasy (I like big ol' wars and battles where everyone dies. They're fun.) If this goes against your headcanon... sorry, I suppose. I picked some popular theories I liked and dumped ones I didn't- Termina isn't an afterlife, etc. Hopefully you can still enjoy it. Oh! I'm not an artist and none of the art in here is original. I made this without saving artist names so I'll try and source what I can when I'm done. If you see something of yours you want me to take out, tell me. Anyway, enjoy the thing. ## Prior \page

___ The year is 1554, the one hundredth year of the Age of Twilight, the second age of the Shaded Era, the fifth era of man. The Hero of Light reigns as king regent of Hyrule, the first and greatest of the world’s kingdoms. Yet though his rule is just the world is far from at peace. It is a time of change and uncertainty. Since the beginning of the last age, the Age of Men, the mortal kingdoms have been fractured and contentious. National lines have been drawn and redrawn in anger, and even Hyrule herself has been wounded by these wars of greed and pride. Worse still, the last hundred years have seen the return of that most grave of threats. From beyond the veil of the world, arcane dangers have returned from their aeons of exile and sealing. Hyrule has fallen twice in two generations to the forces of darkness, recovering only through the strength of great men. Though the people may spend their days as they always have, those with the knowledge are aware of how precarious the world's peace is. ___ But there is always hope. ___ When ancient terrors rise up, ancient secrets are brought to bear against them. When wrathful men march to take what is not theirs, bright hearts stand in serried lines. For every torch that splutters and dies, a new light is born in the dark. Sometimes these lights are pale candles only just holding out against the shadows, and other times they burn blinding white, a phosphorescent flare that scythes back the dark and roars its crackling laughter at the night which seeks to send it scurrying. Perhaps the coming years will bring the last twilight of Hyrule, or maybe its new sunrise is just over the horizon, waiting to dawn.

\page

# The Nature of Things

#### Being a quick summation of the reality of the world today.

\page

# The Nature of the Land

## The Kingdom- Hyrule Hyrule is the centre of the world, the greatest kingdom of mortals. It is a feudal kingdom and an absolute monarchy, ruled by a queen. It was founded approximately one and a half millennia ago, and since then has endured countless disasters and achieved untold glories. As the jewel of the world, Hyrule is the favoured land of the Goddesses, and by all means the home of civilisation. Hyrule is theocratic, and its queen is also the head of its religion, which venerates three high deities known as the Golden Goddesses, Din, Nayru and Farore, three impossibly powerful and distant deities of creation and preservation. Below those three are the queen, who is the fourth goddess, Hylia. Level with the queen are three other deities- the Great Deku Tree who is the patron deity of humanity, the Infernal Dragon who is the patron of the gorons, and the Prime Leviathan who is the patron of the zora, all of which are beings of great power who reside in and on the mortal world. From this solid bedrock of faith a government springs, stable and strong, at least on its face, against the troubles which the world brings. Around eight hundred miles from north to south, Hyrule has a temporate climate with weather which varies quite strongly through its four seasons. Most of its landscape is farmland, with the remainder being forests. Mines dot its hills. It has a population of around twenty million, of whom around ten percent live in its cities. In the north the country is warmer and rockier until it eventually reaches the Snowpeak and Eldin mountain ranges, and in the south the country becomes cooler and wetter until it borders the Faron woods. Its east coast is dominated by the Lanayru sea, which brings rain and trade, and on its west the country is hemmed in by the gerudo desert and the area known as the green frontier. The largest city of Hyrule is Acre Nova, its capital since the destruction of the old Castle Town in the Nihil War. Tolemac, Necluda, Akkala and Kakariko are also major cities, each the seat of power of a major duke or duchess who wields power second only to the Queen.

## The Continent- Deis The continent Hyrule sits on is generally known as Deis, and comprises the entirety of what is conventionally considered to be the known world. The north of the continent merges with the great mountain ranges of the Eldin volcanoes, snowpeak mountains and Tal Tal heights. The east borders the vast and uncrossable World Sea, through which one must pass to reach the distant colonies of Holodrum and Labrynna. The south is hedged by the seemingly infinite Faron Woods, a forest so vast it passes into the land where winter never ends and which no man has found the edge. The west ends in the areas known as the Green Frontier and Gerudo Desert, the very edge of where Hyrulean civilisation expanded to in its early golden era. The centre of the continent is dominated by the Lanayru Sea, a great inland body of saltwater plyed endlessly by the world’s traders. Two and a half millennia ago Deis was the heartland of a vast empire known as the Empire of Faron, or the human empire. Three hundred years ago Hyrule ruled over all the kingdoms of Deis, and its nations were provinces in its magnificent realm. Although those days are past Hyrule remains the most powerful kingdom on the continent, but now Deis is a fractured land of nations fighting and trading with one another. This is the reality of the time.

## The World- Hlofa When the world needs a name it is called Hlofa, generally considered to be a corruption of the goron word for blood. Beyond Deis the world is largely a mystery, with modern records being scant to non-existent and imperial records being lost and corrupted. As such most of any map of Hlofa is based on second hand accounts, hypothetical suppositions, and outright falsehoods. These include lands like the Xin (a rich and powerful empire in the distant north about which little is known, worshipping the Golden Goddesses like Hyrule but holding their own emperor as another deific figure) the Bharatian kingdoms of the far west (known only for the fact that they trade with Hyrule across the gerudo desert, exchanging spices and dyes for glass and iron) and the Transvin kingdoms (a motley assembly of perpetually warring minor states on the far side of the desert, about whom little is known to be constant) Two and a half millennia ago the Faron Empire ruled much of the world, but was brought low by an invasion of demons which also crippled the Xin and Bharatians. This was a dark time known as the Great Invasion, and has dictated much of the history to follow it.

\page

\page

# The Nature of The People

## Sentience Abounds Hyrule is a land of significant variety, especially amongst its intelligent populations. From the zora, a short-lived race of piscine humanoids to the gorons, biologically immortal stone behemoths, there is, at first glance, little rhyme or reason to the peoples who inhabit Hyrule. Some are respected and equal across all of the kingdom- to kill them is murder, to rob them is theft- and others are considered enemies of the land and all that is good- to kill them is war, and to rob them is plunder. ___ Though as stated there are a great many sentient species in Hyrule the vast majority of its people are of species listed below. • **Zora** are wise and graceful fish-like aquatic humanoids. They live in Hyrule’s lakes and rivers, and have their own country in the frozen mountains. They have shorter lifespans than humans. • **Gorons** are strong and stoic rotund stone humanoids. They have their own country in the volcanic regions north of Hyrule. They live for many centuries, and have no genders or family structure. • **True humans**, also known as **round eared humans**, look exactly like normal humans from other worlds, and are generally considered practical if slow. Human as a term can also refer collectively to all true humans, sheikah, hylians and gerudo. • **Hylians** are very similar to true humans, but longer lived and with pointed ears. Most Hyrulian nobles- and indeed most of the population of Hyrule- are hylians, although they are less common in other countries compared to true humans. • **Sheikah** are rare, secretive hylians with red eyes. There aren’t many sheikah in Hyrule, in the order of a few thousand. They speak their own secret language and have a clandestine religion unique to their people. • **Gerudo** are an all female race of desert dwelling humans and are generally disliked in Hyrule. They have their own nation to the west. A gerudo whose blood has become diluted from interbreeding with other types of human in their ancestry is instead known as a **hegrud**. • **Goblins** are a widely varied race of tribal raiders, with many subraces from the warlike **moblins** and tiny, vicious **miniblin** to the nomadic **bulblin** and the towering **megablin**. They are widely despised all over the world. • **Zola** or **river zora** are aquatic crocodilian people prone to raiding merchant shipping up and down Hyrule’s waterways and off its shores. They are generally unwelcome in Hyrule, and have a particularly vicious emnity with the zola, who they despise above all others. • **Alifos** are reptilian humanoids divided into two main groups. There are the militant alifos- a group of violent, nasty creatures which includes the **dinolfos**, **geru**, **rampholeon** and **sordes** races- and the peaceful alifos- a people obssessed with their way of life, whatever that may be, which includes the industrious **zuna**, the subterranean **subrosians**, and the hedonistic **tokay**. Peaceful alifos are usually welcome in Hyrule, but militant ones are not. • **Darknuts**, or **Wosu** in their own tongue, are large, dog-headed humanoids possessed of an incredibly militaristic disposition. They make their normal home in the depths of the desert, in thirteen vast stone citadels beyond the lands of the gerudo. They have a rigid code of warfare, with those who break these rules becoming the exiled **Goriya** • **Watarara** are avian humanoids distantly derived from the zora. They are very rare in Hyrule, except for once a year when they arrrive as a great migratory flock tens of thousands strong. • **Undead**, particularly those who retain their intelligence, are exceptionally uncommon in Hyrule. They are distrusted, and generally encouraged to finish whatever business brought them into existence as quickly as possible so as to cease perverting the laws of nature. • **Arcane** races, such as the **Dragons**, **Leviathans**, **Maku**, **Oocca**, **Picori** and **Kokiri** are also found in Hyrule, but in extremely small numbers or secluded from daily life. ## Civilisation and Barbary To most of Hyrule the peoples of the world can be divided neatly into civilised and non-civilised. Mostly. A civilised species is one with a Domus, a single individual who rules over their people with the authority of the crown, as appointed by the queen. Any manner of behaviour is permitted from a Domus by law, but a cruel or corrupt Domus would swiftly find their title rescinded. A species with a Domus can generally expect to be treated well and fairly in Hyrule, with a few exceptions. Species without a Domus are generally considered savage and dangerous, and strictly speaking have no rights in Hyrule. Civilised peoples include the humans, zora, and gorons, of course, but also other groups. Darknuts, subrosians and zuna have Domus to represent them, as do the eldritch races like the oocca, fairies, maku, leviathans and dragons. Goblins, zola and lizalfos on the other hand are considered to be barbarous people, and have no rights in the kingdom. ## The Chosen According to the Golden Faith, the chief religion of Hyrule, the Golden Goddesses chose three races as their **Chosen People**. These were the gorons, the zora, and the humans. They are the divinely appointed inheritors and owners of all the world, and are inherently separate from all others. Other races friendly with the chosen, such as the peaceful alifos and many arcane races, are considered **Lesser Chosen**, and afforded many holy rights which are otherwise solely the purview of the chosen. The barbarous peoples of the world are, by and large, marked as the **Unchosen**, a term often used (incorrectly) interchangably with **Nihil**, the mortal people who betrayed the world to the demonic forces of the Great Invasion. Some Unchosen, such as the wosu, are just about accepted within Hyrule. Most, including the goblins and zola, are not, and are considered active threats to civilisation. \page

\page

# The Nature of Magic ## The Rarity of the Arcane Magic is everywhere. It suffuses every part of existence, every thing that lives and dies or stands or falls contains magic. The world runs on magic, it is sustained by magic. But the world also runs on rules, on law and science and reliable systems. In the daily lives of most people magic is rare. In times past, in the Imperial and Nubian and even maybe Royal Eras magic may have been common, but now it most certainly is not. A peasant who tills the fields of Hyrule can go their whole life without seeing irrefutable magical activity. Only the more senior or otherwise exceptional priests can control an inkling of magic, and wizards and sorcerors of any note are uncommon outside the largest cities. For most people magic is strange and otherworldly, and often quite scary. ## The Seven Elements Despite the rarity of magic the field still has its scholars, its practitioners and studiers. The first thing these individuals learn is of the elements of magic. There are seven elements. Six of these are the imperfect elements, of which four are impure and two are pure. These imperfect elements are arranged like the spokes of a wheel around the seventh, perfect element, and each except the seventh is opposed by its opposite. Each element flows through the realms of the universe, in a metaphysical sense at least, creating and being created by the existing mundane forms of that element in a self-sustaining loop. Each element has its uses to magicians and is expressed in a differing way, although all can be used for direct destructive attacks. Each of the Imperfect elements has a Sage, an immortal and often unreachable guide to its flow, and a Maiden, a mortal but reachable guide. Sages are amongst the most powerful manipulators of magic in the known world and dwell in Hermitages far from civilisation. ### Light ***The Yellow Element, Diamond Magic, Luxormancy*** Light is an Imperfect, High, Transorganic and Pure element. It is the element of the Goddesses and has dominion over the Impure High elements. It is used to protect and bathe the soul, removing and abjuring foul forces. It burns where it touches evil. Its symbol, the Three over three, represents the Goddesses and their people below them. The Sage of Light is the ancient Sage Rauru Gaepora, a Hylian man elevated to the position more than one and a half millenia ago and the founder of the order of Sages. He dwells in the Sacred Realm of the Goddesses. ### Life ***The Green Element, Emerald Magic, Vitomancy*** Life is an Imperfect, High, Organic and Impure element. It is the element of the forests and the trees, and is also the element of lightning and air. It is used to restore flesh by manipulating the energies of life, and to perform great movements such as teleportations with the energies of air. Its symbol, the Four Curling, is representative of the ever-moving flow of life in the world. The Sage of Life is the Sage Saria, a kokiri girl given the position after the Nihil War when her predecessor, the Ancient Sage Bucha, was killed. She lives in a great cryptic mansion deep in the Lost Woods. ### Fire ***The Red Element, Ruby Magic, Pyromancy*** Fire is an Imperfect, Low, Inorganic and Impure element. It is the element of all heat, especially open fire but also molten metal and stone. It is used to destroy, especially when that destruction facilitates further creation, like the smelting of ore. Its symbol, the Three Overcoming, represents the creep of destruction over all things which exist or have existed. The Sage of Fire is the ancient Sage Gorko, a goron chosen for the position by Rauru Gaepora shortly after the founding of Hyrule. He resides in the great temple of fire in the creater of death mountain. ### Shadow ***The Purple Element, Amethyst Magic, Obscuromancy*** Shadow is an Imperfect, Low, Transorganic and Pure element. It is the element of dark forces, especially the demonic. It is used to decieve others and taint souls with curses. It cannot survive the presence of light. Its symbol, the Three Surrounded, does not mean what you think it does, not matter what that may be. The Sage of Shadow is the ancient Sage Purah Lysane, a Sheikah woman who took the title on behalf of her whole people. Her Hermitage is deep below Kakariko, in the warren of caves in which the sheikah test themselves. ### Death ***The Orange Element, Amber Magic, Necromancy*** Death is an Imperfect, Low, Organic and Impure element. It is also known as the element of Spirit or of Earth. It is the element used to raise the dead, or to cause sickness and infirmity. It is not an element to use lightly. Its symbol, the Two Entwined, represents the permanent and unstoppable cycle of life and death. The Sage of Death is the Sage Aaliyah Dragmire, the daughter of Ganondorf Dragmire the Dark Shah, who holds her temple in the depths of the western deserts. ### Water ***The Blue Element, Sapphire Magic, Glaciomancy*** Water, also known as Ice, is an Imperfect, Low, Inorganic and Impure element. It is an element used for creation and protection of all types. Its symbol, the Six Emerging, represents creation and formation from nothing. The Sage of Water is the Sage Ruto Nalis, a zora princess of many centuries ago who makes her home in the caverns beneath Lake Hylia. ### Time ***The White Element, Infinity Magic, Chronomancy*** The seventh element, Time, is beyond the grasp of mortals, or so it is believed. Time is Perfect, and has no Sage other than the Goddess of Time, Hylia. It is not an element to be trifled with by any means, and is studied only by a furtive few. \page

\page # The Nature of The Divine ### The Servants of the Divine In Hyrule there are a great many gods, deities by the score. Every people has a god of its own, and the nature of their worship varies with the nature of these people. Some gods have organised churches, heirarchies, and holy books. Others are informal arrangements of offerings and oral tradition. To Hyrulian scholars a god is any entity which can grant powers to a mortal supplicant. This is generally a broad definition which many laypeople would disagree with, for it includes in its number (amongst others) the fey, the pagan deities, and the hated demonic forces beneath the world. Due to this there is the further definition of High and Low gods. High gods are those who dwell beyond the world, while Low gods are present in physical forms or make reliable contact with their worshippers. High gods are vastly more powerful than Low gods, but have vastly less day-to-day impact on the world due to their absence. ### The Golden Faith The official faith of Hyrule, the Golden Faith holds that the Golden Goddesses created the world before departing. It also holds that the Goddesses raised up four lesser gods to watch the world during their absence and relay the prayers of their chosen people to the golden goddesses. ##### Din The eldest of the golden goddesses, the goddess of **power**, the creator of the world, the goddess of strength and fire, beloved by gorons and dragons, as well as warriors and labourers. ***High God, Chaotic Good*** ##### Nayru The middle of the golden goddesses, the goddess of **wisdom**,the writer of laws and forger of magic, the goddess of knowledge and water, the deity of zora and leviathans, as well as scholars and artisans. ***High God, Lawful Good*** ##### Farore The youngest of the golden goddesses,the goddess of **courage**, the creator of all life, the goddess of virtue and wind, the deity of humans and maku, as well as the common folk and most druids. ***High God, Neutral Good*** ##### Hylia A hereditary title passed matrilineally between the queens of Hyrule, the goddess of time. Many Hylias are dormant, with little active power. ***Low God, Neutral Good*** ##### The Infernal Dragon A title passed between great dragons who nominate successors to bathe in the Spring of Power. Patron deity of the gorons. ***Low God, Lawful Good*** ##### The Abyssal Leviathan A title passed between the wisest of the Leviathans who nominate successors to bathe in the spring of Wisdom. Patron deity of the zora. ***Low God, Chaotic Good*** ##### The Deku Tree A hereditary title passed along a line of maku trees, from a seed originally bathed in the Spring of Courage. Patron deity of humanity. ***Low God, Neutral Good*** ### The Old Faiths The Old Faiths, the Pagan Faiths, are religions which were followed in one way or another before the arrival of the Goddesses. They are looked down on in Hyrule, and are often forbidden if they start to cause trouble or approach the power of the Golden Faith. Of the forbidden faiths the most prominent in Hyrule are known as the Five Pagans- Oshus, Baron, Gomess, Ji and Arbitrax. ##### Jove Jove is the head of the Jovian faith, a strict monotheistic religion focused on philosophy and way of living. His faith is expressly allowed in Hyrule, and is popular amongst the poor. ***High God, Neutral Good***. ##### Gomess Gomess, the guardian of the gates of death, is an ancient pagan deity whose followers revere as the guardian and shepherd of the dead. ***Low God, True Neutral*** ##### Arbitrax The golden wolf, Arbitrax, is the judger of the guilty in the next life, and the final punishment of all monsters, or so it is believed. ***High God, Lawful Neutral***. ##### Seth The jackal-headed god of the Wosu, Seth was an angry and vicious god of warfare, who wished for violence across the world. He is now departed from this earth, but remains venerated by his people. ***Low God, Chaotic Evil*** ##### Oshus The great leviathan of the oceans and the pagan god of sailors, fishermen, and those who live on the coast, Oshus has supposedly sequestered himself in a distant plane of existence. ***Low God, Chaotic Neutral***. ##### Fairies Once popular in the land which would become the Faron Empire (and later Hyrule), fae cults worshipping the fairies and maku trees above or instead of the Goddesses are now uncommon, but by no means nonexistant. ***Low Gods, Chaotic Good*** ##### Bagamanah The deity of the gerudo, the desert mother Bagamanah is an unknown entity who seems utterly capricious, oscillating between decrees of extreme good and terrible evil. ***High God, Chaotic Neutral*** ##### Baron Baron is the old god of revenge, war, and rage. It is said he once a mortal who killed his own gods when they betrayed him. He is most frequently depicted with a furious red mask, dripping with blood. ***Low God, True Neutral*** ##### Ji Ji is the god of wealth, greed, trade and prosperity. He is the patron of merchant, the great glittering grandfather of rupees. His collowers will surely become wealthy if they work hard enough, or perhaps not if Ji's invisible hand moves in an unexpected way. ***Low God, Chaotic Neutral***. \page

\page

# The Nature of the Realms ## Above and Below According to theologians and arcanists the universe can be divided into three Realms - the Sacred Realm above all things, the Material Realm of mortals, and the Dark Realm of demons. Each is undeniably and absolutely separated from the other two, and can only be accessed by extremely powerful magic. When one enters the Sacred or Dark realms they enter the surface, that layer closest to the material realm. As they pass deeper into the Realm they come closer to its great authority- the Golden Goddesses or the Calamity respectively. This will tax their body and soul, until their physical form is burned away and only their spirit remains. ### The Sacred Realm The Sacred Realm is the realm of the Golden Goddesses, according to the Golden Faith at least. It is a perfect, glorious place which reflects the hearts of its inhabitants. Its natives are said to be the angels, perfect, benevolent beings who serve Jove or the Golden Goddesses, depending on who is asked. It is the location of the Castle of Sages, the great Hermitage of Rauru Gaepora. the Sage of Light, and is also the land in which the first Infernal Dragon, Dinraal resides after his brutal maiming at the hands of the Dark Dragon Onox the Black. In times past- specifically between the Scrambling and the Nihil War, the Triforce was kept here in its entirety. According to the Golden Faith the souls of mortals are judged by the Goddesses, with the virtuous being taken to an eternal paradise in the Sacred Realm and the despicable being cast into the endless nothingness beyond the Realms. Those neither virtuous nor despicable are reborn as mortals once again, with the hope that they will achieve virtue with time. ### The Dark Realm The Dark Realm is the realm of demons. It is a shadowy nothingness filled with malign intelligences who want nothing more than to destroy the material world. It is a place of insubstantial emotion, with dark clouds eternally forming and unforming horrifying, twisted shapes of monstrous design. There is nothing solid save for what is brought, and nothing can ever last. Though the Realms are separated by the eternal expanse of the Void, which requires powerful magic to cross, the nature of demons means they are constantly striving to breach the Void, and so the Dark Realm can be comparatively easily accessed from the Material Realm. In the depths of the Dark Realm lies the Calamity, the great opponent of the Goddesses. None save the Everking have ever seen its face and lived to speak of it. ### The Material Realm The Material Realm is the home of man and other mortals. It is a world that functions by laws and reason, rather than metaphysical reflection and emotional flux. Time flows linearly and sensibly, and the principles of physics and chemistry make it, to a certain perspective, utterly predictable and sensible. It is a place of life and death and order and chaos and fire and ice and a thousand other dualities. It has the potential to be whatever its inhabitants wish, however good or evil that may be. ## Beside and Beyond Beyond the Three Realms there are many other smaller realms, orbiting and passing through the infinite void of Nothing. These are small, self-contained existences which form separate intermediary points between the Material Realm and its neighbours. They can be created by powerful magics, or occur naturally. ### The Twilight Realm The Twilight realm lies between the Material and Dark Realms. It is a dark, dying place, with little life or light but still some permanency. It is the place to which the traitors of the Scrambling were banished nearly one thousand years ago, and the place from which the Twili emerged one century ago during the Twilight Invasion. It is only accessible through three mirrors, of which two are destroyed and one is hidden. ### The Dreaming Land The Dreaming realm lies between the Material and Sacred Realms. It is a reflection of the past of its few real inhabitants, taking samples and pieces from their history and imagination and with them forming a prison of space and time, a reflection of those they have met and the places they have been. ### The Picori Realm The homeland of the picori is a small, parasitic realm which drifts through the cosmos. It is largely material and reliable in nature, but everything inside it is sized for its inhabitants, with the tallest mountains barely the size of hills and the greatest rivers barely wetting a man's knee when he stands in them. The picori realm can only be accessed from Hyrule once every hundred years. ### The Antiplace The Antiplace is a realm parallel to the Material Realm and by appearances a reflection of it, inverted and changed. It is a favourite hideaway for the most powerful wizards of history, and has a small native population. ### The King's Sea The King's Sea is an elemental plane of water, containing only a vast ocean which stretches to every horizon, dotted only occasionally with islands on which the few natives live. It is supposedly the home of the great leviathan Oshus, the father of his race and the pagan god of the sea. The only way to enter the King's Sea is by following a mythical current through choking fogs in the furthest reaches of the open ocean- none have ever successfully made the passage and returned. \page

\page # The Nature of Adventure ## Delvers, Mercenaries, and Travellers Hyrule is a land built on the bones of empires millenia old. The ancient ruins of the Imperial and Mythic era dot the landscape, and there are few cities which do not sit atop a mess of catacombs built over centuries of civilised existence. Beyond Hyrule's borders sit thousands of foes, ever striking inwards at its soft belly. Either as a preventative against foes or as a tool for the exploitation of trasures, adventurers and their ilk are entirely necessary in Hyrule. ### Warriors The most common form of adventurer in Hyrule is some flavour of martial, men and women who make their way not on magic but on the strength of their sword arm. These fighters come in many types, following all sorts of specialisations and skills, perhaps dabbling in magic or perhaps not. Hyrule and Deis is home to perhaps a dozen knightly orders, the most famous of which is the elite Crownguard, the green-garbed knights who protect the royal family above all else. Also found are the Shields of Moraphiel, the questing knights who follow the example of the Great Heroes and seek out those in need, and the Wrack Wardens who patrol the sea on mighty vessels to strike fear into pirates everywhere. Beyond the knightly orders are far less organised but still entirely deadly cadres of fighters. Hyrule and its constituent lords have professional militaries in addition to their peasant levies. Barbarians of the far south or Green Frontier make their way into the nation, and the secrets of magic are not beyond the grasp of the common ranger. Unlike the other traditional heroic aspects, wizards and priests, there are many powerful warriors in and around Hyrule- great masters of sword and strategy can often be found, if one knows where to look. *The distribution of martials throughout Hyrule is more or less as standard for D&D. Other than the player characters and the Great Heroes the most powerful martials in the world are probably approaching the power of a 15th level PC, with higher level characters being utterly exceptional individuals, perhaps the head Jermafenser of citadel Ontheon for example.* ### Magicians Magic is uncommon in the daily lives of most in Hyrule, and mortal practitioners of it are even less so. Magic is a difficult and complex undertaking, and in almost all cases must be taught over many years of study. The main repository of arcane lore in Hyrule- or at least the largest available to applicants- is the *Academia Caecus*, the Invisible College, in Acre Nova. Contrary to its name the College is an entirely visible and extremely large building offset from the main square. The College has trained most of the wizards in Hyrule to some extent or another, and prizes itself on the scholarly pursuits of alchemy, natural philosophy, and of course the ability to blow things up with your mind. Its archmages like to believe that they rival the Sages themselves in power, and the Sages often let them think that. Beyond the College- and a few other like it, dotted across the world- a magical education becomes more difficult to acquire and scholars become much more scarce. The sheikah church of Shadow knows a great deal about the magics of darkness and illusion, but does not accept applicants. The oocca of the Sky City are experts on golemancy, but do not communicate with the ground. Remote villages ma still know how to produce druids, but they rarely teach this to outsiders, and only a great spirit of nature could ever reveal to a druid the way to true power. Other mages may also exist, reclusive individuals who have dedicated their lives to the study of the arcane, but these individuals are rare and scattered across Hyrule in often unreachable locations, usually by design. Only the exceptional could ever hope to attract the attention of such mages. The greatest arcane powers are those of the Sages themselves, but it is rare that a Sage would take on a pupil. In short if one wishes to become a great wizard it would take a vast amount of time, and incredible personal study. *High-level magicians are extremely uncommon in Hyrule. Most graduates of the College would have access to third level spells at most, and not even the Archmages there could cast a spell as mighty as teleport. Indeed, most would be below the equivalent of eleventh or twelfth level. Power beyond that is incredibly rare, and available only to those who have long since cast themselves from society.* ### Priests The clergy of Hyrule cannot, by and large, muster any sort of divine magic. The average vicar of a small town may be able to sanctify a building with the correct rites and a few scatterings of salt, but she almost certainly cannot do anything as major as casting spells. Like the ranks of the Invisible College, progress through the Church of Hyrule is not reliant on something as base as magical power. It is instead a matter of professed faith, influence, and assorted skills. Sometimes these traits come along with power, but they are not necessarily connected to them. Usually deific power comes when it is needed, not when it is asked for. The Maiden of Light -in theory the most powerful priestess of the faith and who rules over its most impressive building, the threefold cathedral- may not be able to reliably summon any real measure of magic in times of peace. In comparison a pious hermit who finds herself in a town while it comes under attack by the demons of some errant witch may find herself suddenly a font of power. Those with the genuine faith and ability to reliably summon magic, be it from a god or from a personal revelation, can expect to become figures of note within the circles they frequent, possibly even marked for great things, but will not necessarily become archbishops. Or perhaps they may, if the vagaries of fate decree such a thing. *High level priests are even rarer than high level wizards- there are almost none of them, in fact. If a Maiden (roughly equivalent to a cardinal) has cleric levels then they are likely on or around level 6.* \page

> ##### Spell Access and Lack Thereof > It cannot have escaped your notice that high level magic does not seem to exist in any great capacity in Hyrule. This is deliberate, and entirely so that you can't just go to the nearest archmage and get him to solve the world-shattering crisis for you. Link didn't simply go to the local Elminster equivalent and ask him to defeat Ganon! > > What has not yet been explained however is that certain spells simply do not exist within the setting. Why? To prevent massive plotholes when compared to the established lore. > > The following spells do not exist in Hyrule, and can only be emulated with vast effort: > > **Resurrection spells:** *Raise Dead, Reincarnate, Resurrection, Clone,* and *True Resurrection* do not exist. *Revivify* may exist, at the discretion of your DM. The resurrection of Ganondorf took untold suffering and a living sacrifice to achieve, it was not simply a 7th level spell. > > **Plane-travelling spells:** *Plane Shift* and *Astral Projection* do not exist. *Teleport* cannot be used to move between planes. The Mirror of Twilight took an entire adventure to rebuild. > > **Wish and Similar:** The spell *wish* and the class feature *divine intervention* can only be used to perform the functions of *wish* that cannot lead to it being lost. \page

# The Years Since Gone

##### If a man does not know where he has been then he cannot find his path onward.

\page

## The Mythic Era ***(Dawn of time-3000 PF)*** The years before the arrival of the goddesses were cold and dark. Almost nothing is known of these years, which stretch long into the dawn of time. What is known, or at least believed in Hyrule, is that the goddesses wrought the world from the Nothing, with Din giving it form, Nayru giving it law, and Farore giving it life. They then departed to watch their world develop and grow over uncounted years. None can say what truly occurred during these years. Primordial empires rose and fell, their names long forgotten, their legacies but a few half-remembered words and the rocky stumps of ruins jutting from the turf or the dunes. The wosu, those hound-headed men who the Hyrulians call darknuts, maintain that their god Seth lived among them and they created a glorious civilisation of uncounted Citadels in his name. The alifos call the Mythic Era the time of the Glory World, the utopian years in which they lived in a glorious state of war or labour or craft (the exact nature of the time varies depending on which alifos is asked) until the Allfathers sent them to the modern time in great arks. The Jovians call it instead the First World, that long-distant time when the Warlord and the Son and the Shepherd walked the mortal realms in physical form. The gorons sing and dance their legends of the Iron Dawn War, that endless conflict which finally earned them Din’s praise, and the zora speak of their first empire, the greatest civilisation to ever stand. A thousand contradicting stories remain of the Mythic Era. What is important to Hyrule however is how it ended- with the Goddesses returning to the world to grant their favour to humanity, the zora and the gorons, bringing the Imperial Era and the time of greatness that came with it.

\page

## The Imperial Era ***(c. 3000 PF-c. 1000 PF)*** Four and a half millennia ago the Goddesses appeared to their chosen people and gave unto them the divine favour. The strongest goron, Eldin, the wisest zora, Lanayru and the bravest human, Faron. Each Goddess spoke a few words to the entirety of their chosen people- known as the declaration- and would go on to speak to their prophet throughout their life- known as their revelation. Each took up the holy praise on behalf of his people and with this praise unified his race to produce one of the three empires- the sapphire empire of the zora who ruled the oceans, the ruby empire of the gorons who ruled the mountains, and the emerald empire of humanity who ruled the lands. There are few reliable, historic records of the Imperial Era. It is a time so very separated from the modern day, with untold years and calamities serving to destroy remaining knowledge. What is known for certain is that the empires were advanced beyond the understanding of the modern day, with sciences and magics which can no longer be replicated. The world prospered under the watchful eye of the Patron Deities. Soaring towers stretched into the sky and great edifices to the power and glory of the goddesses were created to sprawl across the land. There was, according to the scriptures, “peace and milk and honey for two thousand years”. The Book of Mudora, the holy bible of the Golden Faith, paints the Imperial Era as ideal in every way, a perfect and pious land where there was no war or strife or disease or famine. This is likely a fiction, but it has a grain of truth to it. The empires were not necessarily utopian, but they were certainly greater than the kingdoms which followed them. They were far more technologically and magically advanced than the modern kingdoms, and controlled far larger swathes of land, allowing them to make enormous and ambitious undertakings which would be impossible today. Their armies were stronger, their cities far larger, and (for a time at least) their mages more powerful. In the early days it was said that the Goddesses walked the world of the Empires. A very different force walked that same world when the Empires ended. The Empires had been raised by benevolence and light and order, by the Goddesses' will. They would fall to malice and darkness and chaos, the will of demons.

\page

\page

```` ````

***The Great Invasion *** ***(c.1000 PF)*** The Imperial Era ended in an instant. The Goddesses had long departed for the Sacred Realm, and left the Patron Deities and Hylia to rule the spirituality of the world in their stead. The mortals of the world had grown fat and content with peace, and magic itself was considered a minor triviality. In time it became a myth, and mundanity spread across the world. Then, without warning or reason, the very earth tore asunder. From fissures in the ground rose monsters, demons. Hordes of horrifying abominations and infernal lords of war spread over the land. The otherworldly invaders were unexpected and completely unknown to the ancient humans- they brought ruin to the world on an unprecedented scale, and changed the course of history forever by razing the three empires to the ground over the course of three decades of warfare. The golden ages of the world were over, and the age of struggle had begun. Records of the time are fragmentary and direct sources of information are practically non-existent- almost all knowledge of this Great Invasion comes from oral tradition, the tales of various peoples who speak of the time the world burned and man’s monuments crumbled down to the earth. What is known is that the world was pushed to the absolute brink of survival. The Great Deku Tree was slain and burned, the Infernal Dragon Dinraal was crippled, the entirety of the zora population who dwelt within the open sea- approximately ninety percent of the race- perished. In all perhaps two thirds of all life was destroyed. Demise, Malladus, Majora, Bellum, Yuga, Ghirahim, Cholerin, Onox, Veran. These are names which echo with infamy in all of the known world to this day for their actions in the Great Invasion. But the world was not undefended in this time. At first the Archdemons ran rampant across the world, carrying out the destructive will of their master, the Calamity who sprang from the Nothing. But soon they found themselves opposed by the forces of the mortal world and, eventually, even by the deities of the land themselves. Legends sprout like weeds from the time of the Great Invasion, incredible heroes and impossible battles burned deep into the racial memory. The Father of Snakes, the ancestor of all sheikah, gained the power he would pass to his ancestors in this war, as did the Thunder and Deluge dragons, the Divine Beasts, the minish progenitors and a thousand others, and above all these stood the Prime Hylia and the Everking. The Hylia of the time, known as the Prime Hylia, was a woman of staggering drive and power. In all things she was accompanied by the first Great Hero, the legendary Everking, the second chosen of Farore after Faron two millennia ago. Together they led the mortal world in a war that lasted through unimaginable strife and loss, but which ultimately saw the victory of the mortals over the demonic forces. The world was scarred, the losses had been unimaginable, but the world still stood, and the mortals of the world had survived.

\page

## The Nubian Era ***(c. 1000 PF- 0 PF)*** The Great Invasion had scarred the world like nothing before it. All three of the empires had fallen to dust, and victory had only come at unimaginable cost. The zora were practically extinct, and the other races of the world fared little better. The land itself was sick, choking with ash and darkness, the fallout of the demonic incursion. The Archdemons were dead, but they were not destroyed. Demise was imprisoned in the very place from which Farore had emerged to proclaim her love for Faron, locked behind a sacred seal which the Father of Snakes and his followers swore to watch over forever. Malladus was barely defeated, and would need to be restrained with chains that spanned a continent. Both would return with time, this was inevitable, and humanity would still be sick and ailing. It was as the Everking prepared himself to become the final link in those great binding chains that Hylia made her decision. She had in her possession a relic of impossible power, a gift from the Goddesses themselves, the Triforce. Three golden triangles representing Power, Wisdom and Courage, the three great virtues. Nothing was beyond the grasp of the Triforce, but the greater the request the more the requester would need to be in absolute balance between its three aspects. Hylia could not use the Triforce to restore the world, but she could use it to escape the sickened land. Across the world, beneath the feet of mankind, the ground split and reformed once again. High into the sky soared great islands of rock and soil, forming the sky lands. Beyond the reach of demons, mankind would be safe, to prosper and recover, rebuild what it had lost. ***The Airborne War (c.800 PF-23 PF)*** The world had been raised into the sky with the most noble of intentions, to provide a place for rebuilding and regrowth. The result was different. Mutation came to humanity, a gradual change of form which gave rise to the two races- those around Hylia becoming profound, slender and long-lived, and those around the Everking's sons becoming practical, stout and of short lifespans. With this disparity came division and with division came resentment. The sky became as fractured as the land had been in the times before the empire, politicking nations bickering and fighting. In time there came a new war, between the Purple Kingdom headed by the human descendants of Everking’s sons and the hylian White Empire, headed by the incarnations of Hylia. Though the kingdom and the empire forgot the reason for their animosity over the long years of their war the war itself remained, with the sky being wracked with conflict for centuries. Eventually the airborn islands were beset by omens, by dark clouds and creeping sickness amongst what war-weary population remained. These omens were the heralds of something far worse than mere mortal war- a new demon invasion was coming, a vast host of Shades led by the Prince of Madness began to flod down from the northern skies and threatened to engulf the remaining lands of humanity. Majora had been the architect of almost a millenium of animosity amongst the aerial lands, and now he was coming to drive the final deathblow through their collective hearts. The surviving humans set aside their grudges and banded together for the last great battle of the sky- the battle of Aurux's Reach.

\page

***Aurux's Reach (23 PF)*** The battle of Aurux's reach was a vast engagement at an isolated, independent island in the north. It was chosen for the defense thanks to its position, and the existence of a vast weapon previously used in the defense of the world during the Invasion, one of the legendary cannons of the Divine Beasts. It was at Aurux's Reach that the mortals of the sky made their first, last, and only stand against the Shade horde. They did not understand their foe, and did not know why Majora had chosen now to show his hand and attempt the annihilation of the kingdoms he had long since set against each other. Aided by the vast defensive emplacements of the Reach the armies of the Empire and the Kingdom fought for days upon days against the infinite hordes, but were gradually ground down by the ceaseless tides of bodies. The cannon of Vah Aurux fired and fired until it glowed and began to melt. Loftwing knights threw themselves into the fray without end, poisoning themselves with whatever arcane reagents they could find to stave off the astonishing fatigue. Airships pushed themselves through flocks of shades, using their propellers when their ammunition ran to nothing. Even the legendary weapons of the oocca and the rarely-seen dragons and sky whales were present and fighting for the world. Nothing worked. The Shades did not stop coming, although they were stalled and could not pass the Reach. The battle's end came when Majora himself arrived. On the fourteenth day of battle the Shade Prince descended on the last struggling defenders of the island, cackling madly as his Wrath was visited upon them. The Prince waded through his opponents, choking dragons with his clutching tendrils and slaughtering mortals by the score. He could not and would not be stopped. But, just as the battle seemed darkest, the Hero arrived. A lowly soldier of the Purple Kingdom appeared, clad in the Everking's own armour and wielding His sword. The Shades melted away before Him, fled before his impossible light, and He made battle with the Prince himself. Yet even with the artefacts he possessed the Hero could not win. And so, with a burst of phosphor-white light and a rush of ionised air, the Hero of the Sky sacrificed himself to bring forth Majora's one true opponent. The sky opened, time folded in on itself, and the Fierce Deity came forth. The Fierce Deity had been seen once before, in the Invasion, and would be seen but once ever again during the War of the Bound Chest. Little was known of him, and little remains known even now. All that could be said for certain was thus- by the Firce Deity's blade was Majora destroyed, and witout their fell leader the Shades retreated north, leaving the mortal world saved once again.

***The Death of Demise (5 PF)*** Aurux's Reach had killed thousands upon thousands, and fundamentally reshaped the world. In its wake the Hylia lay dead, as did the majority of the White Empire's knight corps. The Purple Kingdom was also ravaged , and Majora's revelation to its people had shown its very existence to be a sham concocted in the furtherance of some terrible demonic scheme. The post-Reach sky was utterly changed. Petty warlords fought over scraps of land, infrastructure was crushed beyond repair and famines set in as the fighting continued. Seeing this Rauru Gaepora, the greatest of the White Empire's knights and former husband to the Hylia, withdrew to the imperial island of skyloft with his daughter, the next Hylia. Skyloft was a holy island, said to be the land ripped from the old imperial capital, and Rauru declared it a free and sovereign land. This would be of no note were it not for one fact- Rauru had, through contrivance of circumstance, come into the possession of the Hero of the Sky's twin and orphaned sons, who he raised as knights of Skyloft. Life on Skyloft was peaceful until the omens began to return. Thunderheads gathered on every horizon, and soothsayers began to see constant nightmares as the future grew darker once again. The knights of Skyloft prepared for every eventuality as their now old masters spoke to them of the terrible Battle at the Reach, but none expected what was to come. In a burst of dark wind the impenetrable barrier between the skies and the earth was breached. The new Hylia was abducted by dark forces and spirited away to the surface. One of the Hero of the Sky's sons gave chase, descending to the land below in pursuit. The legend which tells of that pursuit, the breathless chase across forest, mountain and desert in search of a princess being cast through time and space, is well recounted and need not be spoken of here. All that matters is the result, where the Hero of the World entered into battle with the Demon King Demise and, almost impossibly, defeated the fell lord of death with a sword he had forged himself from the power of the Golden Goddesses, a weapon named the Master Sword. This had been what Majora sought to avert though the extermination of humanity in the skies. Demise was one of the greatest demons, with only the Daemon King Malladus being his equal. Sealed away at the close of the Invasion, Demise's minions had long worked to release him and bring about a new age of impossible darkness, but this future was averted by the Hero of the World. That last thunderous blow, that strike through Demise's guard which forced the holy blade through his chest, reverberated throughout the world. The King of All Devils was killed and the poisons he had forced into the earth withered and died. The world became safe and the last direct legacy of the Invasion was finally put to an end, a thousand years after the Ascent. But the King was not yet done. With his last breaths he cursed the Hero of the World, and the Hylia, forcing every vestige of power he had into a curse of undying hate which would seal the fate of the world for millenia to come. This curse would come to cause untold suffering throughout the generations, a hex which would burn Hyrule to the ground time and time again. But for now the King was dead, and the world knew to rejoice.

\page

## The Royal Era ***(0 PF-1210 AF)*** With the death of Demise the last of the darknesses plaguing the surface was destroyed, and the Hylia of the time knew it was time for humanity to return to the land. All over the world the floating islands on which mankind had made its homes, the islands which had seen the birth of the Purple Kingdom and the White Empire, descended slowly but unstoppably to the ground. With the exception of a few stubborn holdouts of the old ways the cities in the sky returned to the earth. Following the descents the people found themselves in an untamed new world, untouched by civilisation for more than a millennium. The people chose their elders and leaders, and these notables met in a great conclave with the Hylia, who explained her actions and decisions, as well as what had just occurred. She was joined in this by her father the high knight Rauru Gaepora, her closest friend the Hero of the World, and the sheikah matriarch, Purah Lysane. Overcome with gratitude and admiration the elders pledged their love and support to Hylia and declared her their leader, the Queen of all the land. Thus it was that these settlers in this strange new land found themselves unifying under one banner, the nascent kingdom of Hyrule. As the years passed the kingdom grew, spreading the power of civilisation across the land. Everywhere settlers went they found the scars of the Great Invasion, the long overgrown ruins and ancient temples of the Imperial Era. It was to this land that they brought a new hope and a new life, and a glorious new prosperity. This time, and the times of great troubles which followed it, are the Royal Era, the times when Hyrule ruled all it surveyed as the lone kingdom of man.

\page

#### The Age of Prosperity ***(0 PF-562 AF)*** The first age of the Royal Era was the Age of Prosperity, that wonderful golden time when plenty and happiness lay over every horizon. The kingdom of Hyrule’s borders spread ever outwards for more than five centuries, constantly learning and expanding. New laws were penned to direct and guide the people of the kingdom, many being revivals of the old Imperial ways. The prominent men and women of the age became the nobility of the day, and the Hyrulian feudal system was established. Castles were built to secure the new land and around them grew the homes of settlers, who found the blessing of the Maku Trees to cut back the old dark forest to produce plentiful farmland. The church became entrenched in daily life. The Book of Mudora was codified and finalised. The Sages were established, travelling far and wide to find and establish their Hermitages. The fey were found in the depths of nature and returned to the divine fold. New cities were built on the bones of old, and in them settlers found knowledge long since lost which was used to provide the basis for new philosophy. The almost mythical oocca established their cities on the few aerial islands which remained and resumed their eternal watch over the world. The zora were reborn, returned from their time as the parella race by the magic of the Leviathans. This was the golden age, the greatest years which Hyrule would ever produce, all overseen by the watchful and caring eye of a steady succession of Gaeporan queens and their attendant kings. It must have seemed like these days of glory would not end, could not end while the favour of the Goddesses was with them. But of course this was not the case.

\page

#### The Age of Chaos ***(563 AF-826 AF)*** The Age of Chaos saw the end of Hyrule's early glory days, its rapid expansion ended by a series of four interconnected calamities. For a little under three centuries Hyrule was beset by wooes and disaster, beginning with the calamitous Scrambling and ending with the Second Coming of Vaati, an otherwise meagre attack on what was by then a haggard and weary world.

***The Scrambling (563 AF-598 AF)*** The Age of Chaos began, as the Royal Era had, with a dream. A shared dream, in the sleep of all mortal peoples. A dream of the Triforce, and the infinite possibilities it offered. Whispers of the world which could be created accompanied a vision of ultimate power in every mind across the world, and the greedy and the soulless and the mad were tempted into betrayal. This was The Scrambling of 563, and it would be the first great conflict to beset the kingdom of Hyrule. In these days the Triforce was largely unprotected, held in a vault in the mortal world behind great stone doors beneath what would later become the Temple of Time in the heart of the capital. All that would be needed to take it was sufficient martial or arcane force, one who could batter down the doors and seize the treasure inside. When this knowledge escaped there were many traitors vying for the ultimate power, banded together into fragile, fractious alliances. Goblins and lizalfos were of course amongst their number, but they were also accompanied by humans and gorons and zora of all types. Even more worrying were the supposedly divine peoples who attempted to seize the Triforce- fey and oocca and dragons and leviathans. This was a time of many great and terrible armies of despoilers. The gerudo were birthed in this conflict, willingly cursed to gain the power they would need to seize the holy relic. One alliance however shone above all others- the Interlopers, an army of dark sorcerers and witches who came the closest to securing the Triforce, making pacts with demons and eldritch entities for greater power and becoming Archtraitors, the first since the Great Invasion one and a half millennia ago. They rampaged across the world and brought great pain and suffering- slaying the Great Deku Tree and the Infernal Dragon Volvagia, besieging the Oocca Sky City and summoning untold numbers of demons. However despite their despicable efforts in time they were beaten along with all others, defeated and humbled by the newly emerged Light Spirits created by the Sage Rauru. The traitors were of such vast numbers that following their surrender they could not be executed in good conscience. It was instead decided that they be imprisoned in a world between the mortal world and the Dark Realm, sealed behind three portals in a shadowy world of twilight forever. These portals were the Twilight Mirrors- the Ashen, Rotten, and Frostbitten mirrors- disks of silvered steel forged by the greatest of picori artisans. The traitors would be banished through them and would be hidden beyond the sight of man forever, hopefully bringing peace to Hyrule by preventing the Archtraitors from emerging again. Their locations, designs, and even existence would be kept a secret, to keep the traitors from ever returning. The Triforce was also taken, secreted by the Sages in the depths of the Sacred Realm in a great and mighty castle of their own making, putting it beyond the reach of simple greed and power.

\page

***The War of the Bound Chest (626 AF)*** Whilst the Mirrors were successful in keeping the Archtraitors hidden the woes of Hyrule were not over. Hyrule had less than three decades to rebuild before a new threat came, an invasion of Shades and monsters of incredible size, led by the Demon Prince Majora who was thought to have been the architect of the dreams which inspired the Scrambling. This was to be known later as the War of the Bound Chest. Few detailed records survive of this time, but it is known that the world was saved by the intervention of the picori and the fifth Great Hero, the Hero of Men, a golden child who wielded a sword forged by the picori against Majora. Though the Demon Prince could not be killed he could be defeated, sealed away within a terrible mask which vanishes from history as soon as it is mentioned. His Shades in turn were imprisoned within another device, a chest made of maku wood and bound with bands of iron and silver. ***The First Coming of Vaati (726 AF)*** The War of the Bound Chest had once again strained Hyrule. The Gustaf dynasty, a royal lineage raised to replace the Gaeporans who were destroyed in the Scrambling, was in turn destroyed by Majora’s followers and replaced with the Daltus family. Eldin, who had resumed his title of Infernal Dragon following Volvagia’s death in the Scrambling, was also dead. Hyrule needed time and space to heal, but it would not receive it. One hundred years later in 726 the world was beset again. A picori archtraitor and peerless Wind Sorcerer, Vaati, released the Shades from their imprisonment and laid the kingdom low. Once again the picori came to the aid of mankind, aiding the Hero of the Unseen against the turncoat and allowing him to destroy the demonic minish sorcerer. For this he was rewarded with marriage to the heir of the time, Zelda Daltus, reuniting the bloodlines of the Great Hero and the Goddess Hylia for the first time in seven hundred years. Though there had been suffering during Vaati’s brief reign, as there always is when a dark overlord rules, it was undone after his fall. An artefact of great power, a wish-granting device crafted by the minish smith Ezlo, was employed to restore the world to its unharmed state. The artefact was destroyed in the process, and has since proved impossible to replicate. ***The Second Coming of Vaati (826 AF)*** Many expected a disaster to return following another hundred years of peace, and they were not disappointed. When the door to the world of the picori opened once again- as it did every century- some vestigial magic flooded through and allowed Vaati to restore his body, with little of his old mind but retaining his vast well of power. Though the picori Archtraitor marauded and slew to the best of his ability he was defeated by another Great Hero, the Hero of Four, and sealed away to prevent his return once again. With this seemingly final defeat of Vaati the world returned to peace, and though many expected another disaster in the following century they were to be pleasantly surprised- 926 passed without incident, and the peace was maintained. The Age of Chaos was, seemingly, over.

\page

#### The Age of Respite ***(826 AF-1210 AF)*** The Age of Respite was a period of rebuilding and recovery following the close of the Age of Chaos. For nearly four centuries Hyrule repopulated, slowly returning to the overgrown ruins of its peripheral provinces. In time it even came to expand, settling new lands and slowly pushing out its borders. Some called it a second golden age for Hyrule, but they were mistaken- the Age of Respite had nowhere near the glory and bounty of the Age of Prosperity, and Hyrule never regained the domineering position it had retained during that now distant time of success. Despite this the Age of Respite was, largely, a time of peace and plenty. It did not end in this way, however. Though the majority of the age befitted its name, the close of the Age saw Hyrule thrown into its greatest period of suffering since the Scrambling, the terrible Nihil War. ***Colonisation (970 AF-c.1106 AF)*** As Hyrule fully reclaimed all its old territory and its population began to recover an attempt was made to settle other lands with humans who would answer the Hyrulian crown. Explorers were sent far beyond the horizon, to distant lands and mysterious shores. Some returned with stories of bountiful territories worthy of attention, and colonists were sent to these territories to claim them for Hyrule. Not all attempts at colonisation were successful in this way, with many of the first ashore falling victim to starvation, sickness or predation. Others however were entirely able to rise to the challenge, establishing successful colonies of Hyrule. Nuun, Berok, Sable, Mille Feuille, Cwstrad and a dozen other new lands were colonised, but the most successful were the colonies of Holodrum and Labrynna. Quickly rising into complex and unique cultures of their own right, these new kingdoms came to dominate the land around them, attracting immigrants from across the world. This prosperity would last until the collapse of the Labrynna royal governors, brought about by the madness and tyranny of Queen Ambi, lead to unrest in Hyrule and across the world, and the rise of a new merchant caste which would indirectly bring great ruin to Hyrule.

***The Hyrulian Civil War (1195 AF-c.1206 AF)*** As the merchants of Labrynna set up a new, independent and semi-democratic regime in Lynna city to replace the disastrous royal custodianship their successes began to cast doubts on Hyrule's political system of absolte monarchs and rule through faith. At the same time an ongoing agitation amongst humans began to emerge, with true humans beginning to resent what they considered a status of second-class citizens. Humans had long been at the very least heavily discouraged from the direct worship of Hylia, and recent efforts to suppress or destroy officially forbidden religions such as the worship of Arbitrax, Gomess, Baron, Oshus and the Maku were considered to be aimed at true humans specifically. Although the method of and reason for Ambi's deposition was never properly determined it was known to be brought about at least in part by the Oracle of Ages, a Labrynna native, a true human, and a maku worshipper. The events in Labrynna drove a stake into existing cracks in the peoples' confidence, cracks which widened over the course of the next ninety years, and then the zora and gorons hammered it in. Tensions between gorons and zora rose over a stretch of mountain known as the cliffs of Hebra and the Tamio river, with the gorons seeking the rich mineral strata and the zora looking for additional living space. Eventually these tensions boiled over, first into conflict and then into active war. The patron deities rapidly convened, and elected that the gorons were to surrender the land to the zora. Dora Dora, the infernal dragon of the age, rejected this resolution, even though the other three gods were arrayed against him. The Hylia of the time, queen Agatha II, gave the order to muster Hyrule's armies, but the general consensus amongst the army was that battling the gorons was suicidal. When the true human elements of the army became emphatic about this to the point of bordering on open revolt the Great Deku Tree revised his vote to align with Dora Dora's. The Hylia did not realign hers. The Patron deities were split. War followed. The Civil War was the first war where man had fought man without the influence of demons for more than a millenium. It was arduous and bloody, a conflict which arrayed Hyrule's core provinces against her peripheries. The humans and the gorons versus the hylians and the zora, with hyrule's ancient enemies striking whenever they could. Chaos reigned for over a decade before the war found its savior. Coming from the deserts at the head of an army, the Shah of the gerudo intervened in critical battles on both sides to bring about an unseasy stalemate and force both sides into negotiation. A true mediator, a visionary mind, a master of diplomacy, an unparalleled negotiator and a powerful orator, support for the war drained away and the people praised his name. That name was Ganondorf Dragmire. \page

\page

***The Nihil War*** ***(1206 AF-1210 AF)*** 1206 was a year of great celebration across Hyrule. The Civil War, that decade long conflict which had pitted brother against brother and daughter against mother was over. Concessions had been made by both sides in open and fair negotiation. Room had been found in the public life for wide and sweeping changes to be implemented, and the ringleaders of all factions concerned had managed to agree on a future they all found acceptable. There were pains remaining for certain- an unidentifiable sickness had claimed the life of the Great Deku Tree, and the Sage of Forest Bucha was not responding to entreaties for his aid, but these were problems which would surely resolve themselves with time. The future was bright and promising and at the centre of all this hope was one heroic figure, the great Ganondorf Dragmire, Shah of Shahs, the savior of Hyrule, a man to be crowned Duke of the Deserts and who promised to bring his kingdom back under the control of the Queen- to-be, Princess Zelda Daltus. There were even talks of royal union, of a marriage between Zelda’s elder brother and one of Ganondorf’s favoured daughters, the bewitching priestess Aaliyah Dragmire. In military circles there was a mustering for a new war, thousands of men making their way to the Shahdom to take the fight to the Wosu- whose impending Chaos Crusade had been the reason for the Shah to intervene- in a coalition of Hyrule and the Shahdom never seen before. All this changed at the ceremony in which Dragmire was to be crowned duke. At the apex of the day the proceedings were interrupted by a boy dressed all in green, who stormed into the Chapel of Three moments before the crown was placed on Dragmire’s head in a shocking and surprisingly competent attempt to kill the Shah. The boy was arrested, proceedings were halted for the day, and the Shah left the capital to return to his own people, outraged. That night the king of Hyrule, Martin Daltus, went to see the boy. The words they exchanged are unrecorded, but when Martin emerged he proclaimed that the boy was a Great Hero, the Hero of Time, and that the Shah was not to be trusted. The king ordered the Shah's immediate arrest, and geared the war-weary country to fight once again. The war that followed was the Nihil war, a disastrous conflict more costly than any which had preceded it, save perhaps for the Scrambling. The Shah had long planned for this day, and the armies he mustered covered the horizon as a thousand plots and secret alliances came to fruition. This vast force called itself the Nihil alliance and marched beneath a new banner- not the golden banner of the Shahdom, but a jet black banner with a single blood red eye, the banner of the ancient demon hordes.

Demons marched with the alliance, percolating out of the air, devils and daemons and gorgons and fiends and shades by the score. Powers not seen in the world for centuries returned in force- Onox the Black walked the world for the first time since the Scrambling, accompanied by his progeny and the possessed body of Volvagia the Incendiary. The demon witch Twinrova was seen directing the forces of the Nihil with elemental power rarely seen on the world. It seemed like the end of days once again. In retaliation the kingdom of Hyrule opened every vault it possessed. Dora Dora returned from his self-imposed exile. The fey and the Sages lent their full power. The child in green was dubbed a Great Hero, the Hero of Time, and used as a focus for the hope of the people. There was little left unutilised, save for the impossible power of the Triforce, but the siege of the Great Castle changed even that. At the apex of the siege the Hero of Time, against the urgings of the Sage Rauru, attempted to use the unified Triforce, to destroy the Nihil with a single wish. He failed, and the ancient artefact shattered into its constituent parts. Hope seemed lost until battle was joined, and it was revealed that though the Hero's heart had not been in balance he was of sufficient virtue to retain a piece of the Triforce, the fragment of Courage. Against all odds and aided by the princess herself the hero successfully broke Ganondorf in a duel, the boy striking the Shah in the stomach with the gleaming Sword of the Sages. The Shah was then captured and taken for execution by the four remaining Sages, being killed by impalement at the Arbiter's grounds, speared through the heart with that shining sword of light. With Ganondorf's defeat the Nihil alliance collapsed within hours. The goblins returned to the forests, the wosu marched back to their citadels, and the zola melted back into the waterways. Victory had been achieved, but it had not been without cost.

\page

## The Shaded Era ***(1210 AF-1554 AF, the Modern Day)*** Even as the Shah was taken for execution by the Sages he knew he had dealt a deathblow to Hyrule. The golden years were over, and the continent-spanning kingdom had been crippled by two vast wars. The dominance of the goddesses' faithful had come to a close, and the years that would follow would be ever harder. The World Tree and the Infernal Dragon were dead. The capital was razed to the point it would be abandoned altogether, and the royal family had been all slain, save for the princess herself. The people were starving from sixteen years of poor wartime harvests, and the watch and army were so undermanned that the kingdom could not hope to protect itself. Even during the execution of the Dark Shah another Sage was slain, the Sage of Water Jelyf being destroyed by means unknown. There was no respite from the constant reminders of how close Hyrule had come to destruction. The Nihil war had lasted only four years, but everywhere the people of Hyrule looked they saw ruined cities, starving livestock, and fresh graves. Ganondorf became the new example of ultimate evil to the survivors of the war, but he was not the sole target for their hate, that was shared with the newest Great Hero. The Hero of Time was not celebrated for his victories, but reviled for his failure. He had failed to prevent the war, and had failed to use the Triforce. The world had survived on dumb luck, not on his efforts. Faced with hatred from all sides the heroe travelled into the furthest reaches of the Lost Woods, never to be seen again. In his absence, and the absence of other great heroes, the world spiralled into a pit of bickering and strife as men fought each other and the monstrous peoples grew ever bolder. This was to be the Shaded Era.

\page

#### The Age of Men ***(1210 AF -1454 AF)*** The Nihil war had wounded Hyrule, and crippled her ability to rule herself. The kingdom was too large, too depopulated, and constantly beset by troubles. The queen had the holy right to rule over all of humanity, but that was simply no longer feasible. The solution to these problems was found to be the Writ of Dissolution. The provinces of Hyrule would be made into independent states, with only the Lanayru, Eldin, and Faron provinces- the true heartland- remaining with the kingdom. Six new states were created; Ordona, Arcadia, Calatia, Gamelon, Tabantha, and Maudel. These states, plus Hyrule, would form the first seven independent nations of Deis, and would maintain a peace amongst themselves with each nation being ultimately subservient to the Queen of Hyrule. This system collapsed almost immediately. Few of the newly independent rulers recognised the distant ruler of Hyrule as being their Sovereign. Others within the new states were not content to be ruled by one who ultimately was not a deity in the way the Queen was. They fell to bickering within a matter of months, followed by war- not with Hyrule, never with Hyrule, but between and within themselves. Ordona split peacably along the Corda river, forming Ordona and Sarios. Tabantha split following a devastating civil war of its own into Morias, Tabantha and Fyrsig. Calatia suffered from ever-increasing strife until the Talan Amber dynasty of dragons descended to bring order and shattered the country into Calatia, Raal, and Tonalin. Gamelon let the island of Koridai become independent through neglect. Of the original seven states only Arcadia and Maudel remained as they had been designated, with the latter becoming impossibly proud and renaming itself to Hytopia. The Writ had chnged the world. Before the Queen had retained at least theoretical sovereignty over all of humanity. Now that divine right was, to an extent, dead. This was not an age of divinity versus the demonic, or of heroes and monsters. It was of men, fighting one another. ___

***The Gamelon War (1444 AF-1451 AF)*** The Age of Men, that long and terrible time when mortals forgot their true enemies, came to a head in 1444, when Hyrule herself was invaded by those who in theory owed her everything. The reasons for the war were, as all things, infinitely complex. However a brief version would be thus: The Princess of the age, Kohm Harkinian, fell for the young and capable patrician Dandolus Onkled, the head of the Onkled house and a great figure in Gamelon politics. Buoyed by the wealth which would come his way in the near future when he became king of Hyrule Onkled financed his way to becoming serene Doge of the city-state, and was poised to become both the most powerful and most wealthy man in the world. And then, as she traveled to Gamelon to wed her beloved, Kohm died in a shipwreck. The mantle of Hylia passed to Kohm's younger sister, Lucretia. When Onkled realised his fiance was dead, that he would not be king, and that he was ruined, he requested that he marry Lucretia when she came of age. Then, as the situation in Gamelon became worse, he began to demand it. Ultimately this lead to war. Using a small horde of mercenaries Dandolus took advantage of a simultaneous upswing in goblin activity and did the unthinkable. He marched on Hyrule, attacking the new capital of Acre Nova, the city which had replaced the city of Great Castle following the Nihil war. He beseieged first the city and then the citadel at its heart, demanding his supposedly rightful bride. In response to this and seeing no true options, Lucretia cast herself from the tallest tower of the castle. The army of Onkled, realising what they had done and what horrors they had been a part of, promptly turned on him and cut the Doge down. Perhaps there were other methods of resolution, but none were apparent. The Harkinian line ended, and the mantle of Hylia passed to a nun named Zelda Boone. Hyrule's divinity, its position as the celestial kingdom of man, had been tested, and it had barely survived that test.

\page

#### The Age of Twilight ***(1454 AF-1554 AF)*** The Age of Twilight began with Zant's invasion and continues to the modern day. After a long respite from demonic and monstrous foes, the Twilight Invasion proved a sour and painful reminder of Hyrule's true enemy, and the existential threat which it poses. ***The Twilight Invasion (1454 AF)*** The Age of Twilight began, appropriately, at the close of day. As the sun set on the distant horizon the world shifted. The Ashen Twilight Mirror moved unbidden, and it opened tears in space opened across the world's surface, gaping rents through the sky, tunnels through space glowing unearthly green. From these rents poured hordes of monsters, a ravening tide of jet-black monstrosities. This was the Twilight Invasion, and it brought with it something far more dangerous than mere monsters. Using epic magics still not fully understood the tyrant king Zant began to subsume all of Hyrule into his home plane, the realm of twilight. The people of the land wasted away to spirits under the corrupting influence of the realms power, while those who accepted the darkness inside themselves became horrifying beasts of darkness and stone. Zant was the descendant of those terrible traitors of the Scrambling, and he was excercising a terrible revenge over Hyrule. It seemed there was no hope, that all the world would be consumed by the Twilight, but Hyrule's champion returned again. The eighth Great Hero, the Hero of Twilight, came from Ordona to destroy the dark king, Aided by the rightful ruler of the Twilight, the mischievous imp Midna, the hero's exploits are known to every child. The saviour of the zora, the man who wrestled gorons and rediscovered the ancient oocca, and most importantly the slayer of Zant and liberator of the kingdom. The Hero of Twilight restored Hyrule's faith in the Great Heroes, and his actions changed history. Shortly after the defeat of Zant the Hero was wed to his childhood love, a farm girl named Ilia. Together they attended the coronation of Queen Zelda Boone, who in turn married the brother of the late princess Lucretia and took his name to become Zelda VIII Harkinian. A generation passed, and another began. For fifty years Hyrule enjoyed growth and prosperity. A mining boom in Kakariko rebuilt the city from the ground up. The oocca prime Sky City descended to remain several hundred yards above Lake Hylia. The realm was at peace, but this peace was far from universal. The threat of the arcane, of demons and monsters and utter annihilation, had returned.

\page

*** The Pretender Ganon and the Gerudo Civil War (1498 AF) *** Whilst Hyrule was recovering the gerudo were embroiled in civil war between the armies of Shah Hashem and the prospective Shah Bahrom. In 1501 the forces of Bahrom were victorious and Shah Hashem was deposed, forced to flee alone to escape execution. None know to whom Hashem fled, but the events that followed are well chronicled. Somehow, most likely with significant aid, Hashem managed to take the Trident of Power, the former weapon of the Jackal-Headed god Seth, from where the wosu had secreted it in the furthest depths of the desert. With the power this artefact provided flowing through him Hashem grew proud, vengeful, and dangerous. He declared himself Ganon, the rebirth of Ganondorf Dragmire who had died at the close of the Nihil war. He entered the Lost Woods and, once again using knowledge and means of source unknown, found the Rotted Mirror of Twilight at the location in which the previous Sage of Forest Bucha had hidden it nearly a millennia prior. With it he opened a portal, bringing Dark Simulacra servants of Zant’s old regime into the mortal world. He used these as servants, freeing the wind mage Vaati from the prison he had been trapped in for seven hundred years and took the heir to the throne and granddaughter of Zelda Boone, Princess Zelda Harkinian, captive. Between them the Pretender Ganon and the picori Archtraitor wielded impossible power. An endless unseasonal winter beset Hyrule with monsters uncounted lurking in the blizzards. Dark clouds gathered over the world to spit a deathly rain on the earth, an omen of the demons who would surely come. A hero was needed, and one was found.

*** The Hero of Light and the Long Cold Winter (1504 AF) *** The Hero of Twilight was a great man, but like all great men he was mortal. History records him as a quiet, reserved man, possessed of the kind of calm only found in those who know exactly how bestial their own anger can be. After the coronation of Zelda Harkinian VIII the Hero of Twilight returned to Ordona, spending the rest of his days as a farmer and goatherd as far from the circles of nobility or magic as he could possibly be. In time he had a son, who he named Rusl after the Hero’s own adoptive father and who he raised to live a simple life on the frontiers of civilisation. But the ways of children are unpredictable, and Rusl was raised on stories from his mother about his father’s heroics. As soon as he could Rusl became a knight, achieved great glory, married a countess, and had his own children born straight into the affairs of nobility. Link Jaichen was the son of Rusl Jaichen, and grandson of the Hero of Twilight. Though his father died when Link was but a child he remained with his mother in Acre Nova and grew up a friend of Princess Zelda. When Vaati escaped his seal and took Zelda away he found a great measure of courage within him- he could and would not see her suffer at the hands of the Pretender and an Archtraitor. At the tender age of twelve Link Jaichen took up the Four Sword as his distant ancestor had before him and became the tenth Great Hero, the Hero of Light. Travelling as the Hero, the Warrior, the Mage and the Demon he overcame every challenge and defeated every opponent. He reunited the seven maidens, the distant successors of those seven women who had maintained Vaati’s seal for so many years. He fought simulacra and ghosts and Frozen Watchers and monsters too terrible to comprehend. It was by his hand that Vaati was slain finally after centuries of plaguing Hyrule, and it was thanks to his efforts that the Pretender Ganon was defeated and sealed away in the prison which had formerly held the wind mage. The Hero of Light returned to Acre Nova and became ever closer to his princess. Hyrule had suffered, but not nearly as much as it had in previous incidents. The world was still shaded, but the future was brighter.

\page

## The Present Day (**1554 AF**) The Hero of Light married his princess and became king of Hyrule. The princess became queen, and ruled fairly and well for twelve years until her death in 1540. In this time she bore five children. Rusl, the heir to the mantle of Great Hero and a boy who vanished into self-imposed exile as soon as he could. Vincol, who married a Sarion duchess and lives happily and well. Dorian, who became a preacher in the Green Frontier. Rindovus, who trained with all gusto and became the leader of the elite Kingsguard. Zelda, the youngest and only daughter, who waits to become old enough to take her mother's throne. Modern Hyrule is a country of mixed fortunes. The King-Regent has ruled for fourteen years, but his health is failing and his staggering personal power that has kept the lords of Hyrule in line for so long is dwindling. Princess Zelda stands on the cusp of adulthood, and will have to choose her king at last, which will finally end the careful political dance her father has been performing. Many whisper that she is too headstrong for her position, swayed by her youngest brother towards nationalism. Will such a queen prove unwilling to sign the Writ? Can Hyrule afford the wars that would follow? Arcane threats remain constant. The Pretender Ganon rails at his prison. Vaati’s return is expected by many, and considered inevitable by the pessimistically inclined. More mirrors of twilight, unbreakable without the tear of their queen, undoubtedly remain. Eldritch mists touch the shores of Necluda, and peasants whisper of Ghost Ships plying the moonlit waves. The dragons bark and snarl at one another and plan another civil war of their own. The psychically inclined dream of staring yellow eyes and deep, cackling laughter. ``` ```

Abroad the situation is no better. Signum, Tabantha and Fyrsig plot against each other and seek to expand themselves through new wars. Even these plotters are not safe, for when the lords of the feuding coast meet each is seeking to undo the other and take what he has. On the opposite border of Hyrule the Shah grows ever older, and the old followers of Hashem doubt him even as they prepare for his successor. Further afield the tribes of the Green Frontier struggle against goblins and zola to establish lands of their own, and beyond the great desert the Xin remain mired in their eternal struggle to pursue the wishes of the Golden Sisters, beset as always by the beasts of the Chain Fields. The wosu prepare, as always, for war. Another year of battle is coming for them, and their neighbours must be ready. Goblins and zola and lizalfos make raids in the dead of night or ambush in the day, descending silhouetted by the noonday sun and screeching their ferocious roars. The demon lords as ever make their moves against the world. Dethl maintains the eternal nightmare of Tamaranch. Bellum makes designs on the lands of Oshus. Majora rebuilds following his devastating defeat. Yuga insinuates his way into the nobility of the Antiplace. The ashes of Demise stir and plot revenge. Malladus strains against the chains that bind him to a continent. Onox and the other twelve dark dragons stand ready to do the bidding of the Calamity, and the Calamity itself... does as it wills. Delvers plumb tombs for lost powers. Knights travel the land, saving the innocent and crushing the villainous. Hunters follow and slay beasts that prey upon men. Hyrule spins towards tomorrow on the labour of a thousand thousand virtuous men and women. Now, as ever, Hyrule needs heroes.

\page

# The Peoples Abundant

##### Those who walk the lands of Hyrule, the inheritors of the Goddesses, both intended and non

\page ##### Hylians Hylians are all-rounders, capable as any class. +2 ASI (1), two +1 ASIs (1), three +1 ASIs (1), 1 cantrip (0.25), two situational advantages (0.25). Total 3.5 ##### Humans Humans are slightly more specialised than hylians, and are worse as INT or WIS casters. They make +2 ASI (1), 2 +1 ASIs (1), 1 +1 ASI (0.33) Feat (1), Situation advantage (0.125). Total 3.58 ##### Sheikah Sheikah make good rogues, especially Arcane Tricksters, and approximate good rogues when they're another class. They are one of the only races with special senses. +2 ASI (1), +1 ASI (0.5), Darkvision (0.5), two situational advantages (0.25), 3 skill proficiencies (1) or 1 expertise (0.66), 5ft. move speed (0.125). Total c.3.5 #### Gerudo Gerudo make either good warlocks, bards, or dexterity-based paladins, depending on subrace. **Basic:** 2* +1 ASI (2* 0.5), Semi-situational advantage (0.5), Damage resistance (0.125) **Priestess:** Free cantrip (0.3), +1 ASI (0.5), 3 skill proficiencies (1), +5 ft. speed (0.25). Total: 3.17 **Warrior:** +1 ASI (0.5), many weapons and light armor (0.75), skill proficiency (0.33), +10 ft. speed (0.5) Total: 3.125 **Hegrud:** 2 +1 ASIs (0.75 due to spread), situational bonus (-0.25), +5ft speed (0.125), 3 tool/skill profs (1) #### Gorons Gorons are extremely polarised, but make exceptional martials of all types. Goron balance is by far the least reliable of all the races, and I believe they are stronger than the numbers below would suggest. **Basic:** 2 +2 ASIs (2), -10 ft. speed (-0.5), +1 AC (0.5), 1 damage immunity (1), condition immunity (0.5), damage vulnerability (-1), damage immunity (1) or damage resistance/immunity (0.5), truesight (1), crippling distance blindness (-1), charge ability (0.25). Total: 2.75 to 3.25 **Son:** Small (-0.5). Total 2.25 to 2.75 **Brother:** Crucial disadvantage (-1). Total 1.75 to 2.25 **Father:** Large (2), Tough (1), Crippling lack of dexterity (-2), -2 AC (-1). Total 2.75 to 3.25 #### Zora Zora make good clerics and druids, and excellent monks. +2 ASI (1), +1 ASI (0.5), conflicting +1 ASI (0.25), swimming speed (0.25), damage resistance (0.5), "sapped" ability (0), Natural attack ability (1), damage resistance (0.5), damage vulnerability (-1), save proficiency (0.5). Total 4. #### Goblins Goblins are excellent rangers, and make good monks than **Basic:** 3 complimentary +1 ASIs (1.5), unarmed attacks (mostly useless to martials) (0.5), situational advantage (0.25). Total 2.25. **Moblin:** 1 complimentary +1 ASI (0.5), many proficiencies (+1). Total 3.75 **Bulblin:** 1 complimentary +1 ASI (0.5), 1 non-complimentary +1 ASI (0.25), skill proficiency/expertise (0.5), total 3.5 **Bokoblin:** 1 complimentary +1 ASI (0.5), 1 non-complimentary +1 ASI (0.25), 2 proficiencies (0.66). Total 3.66 **Miniblin:** Small (-0.5), -5 ft. speed (-0.25), +2 ASI (1), +1 ASI (0.5), maximum crit damage (0.5). Total 3.5. **Megablin:** Total of +3 ASI (1.5), large (2), crippling mental ASI reduction (-1), disadvantage on many saves (-1), total 3.75. #### Anouki +2 ASI (1), 2 +1 ASIs (1), 3 less useful +1 ASIs (1), damage resistance (0.5), potential resistance negation (0.5), resistance negation (0.5). Total 4.5. #### Cloudling +2 ASI (1), 2 +1 ASIs (1), 3 less useful +1 ASIs (1), 2 damage resistances (1), potental resistance negation (0.5), feather falling (0.25), situational advantage (0.25). Total 5. \page

## The Chosen ##### And the Goddesses looked upon them and said: "You are the chosen. You are the Wise, the Brave and the Powerful and you will inherit All Things."

\page

.

# Hylians SCYLLA RODE ALONG THE SERRIED
*ranks, the queen's long black hair trailing behind her as she passed. In the face of each man she saw the same expression- absolute resolve, a desire to do right by her, their homes and the Goddesses. Her heart began to stir in her chest as she pulled her horse around to address them. * *"Men of Hyrule!" She called out. "This is our war! This is our time! We are here to bring the light of Hyrule, my light, your light, to these dark times and dark lands. We have all suffered much, and I look on each of you and I see these last few terrible years, but today the course of history changes, back into our favour!"* *Scylla drew her sword, and a little sorcerous talent made light shine from the leading edge as she held it aloft. “We are the heroes! We are the kings and the warriors and the chosen of the goddesses! There is no good above us on this earth, and no evil beyond our grasp.”* *The cheer was deafening.*

Hylians are the the most common race in the kingdom of Hyrule. A variant of humanity formed during the Nubian Era in the core of the White Empire, Hylians are characterised by their slender forms, quick minds, and long, pointed ears, through which the Golden Faith claims they can hear the voices of the goddesses. They are a magically gifted people, arcane in thought and deed, and make naturally talented leaders and scholars. Hylians have had an extremely prominent role in history. The great hero is a hylian bloodline, as is the incarnation of the goddess Hylia, from which the race takes its name. The kingdom of Hyrule was founded by and primarily for hylians, and hylians make up most of its population, especially its nobility and clergy. There is nowhere in the civilised world where hylians cannot be found or where they are not welcome. \page ### Born of the Divine Sky The first Hylians were born of the ancient humans in the early Nubian Era. These new children were shorter and slighter than their parents had been, and possessed of pointed ears. Their very blood was affected by their circumstance, by the vast magic which had been weaved by the goddess Hylia to bring the survivors of the Great Invasion into the sky. This alteration- benign and pleasant as it was- had been brought about by continual exposure to the goddess and her magics, and gave them their name of "Hylians", literally those of the goddess Hylia. As the years passed it emerged that the hylians possessed a number of advantages over the previous generation. They were faster and wiser than their parents, and just as stong and resilient. They were also more inherently connected to the magic of the world- by no means mighty spellcasters, but with a much deeper link to the divine, to Hylia and through her to the three Golden Goddesses. Their traits bred true, with hylian mothers always birthing hylian children- they were a people, continuous and self-replenishing. The hylians considered themselves the chosen of their goddess thanks to these new gifts, and grew haughty with time. It was this arrogance which would eventually pit them against those humans who had been more seperated from the Goddess. Forming the nation of the White Empire beneath their harp banner the hylians made skyborne war against the Purple Kingdom of the humans... but that is a story for another time. ### The Founders of the Kingdom After the Descent the old islands of the White Empire formed what is now the heartland of Hyrule. The first conclaves to crown Hylia as queeen of Hyrule were held between the old imperial nobles and officers, and they became the core of the old nobility. They became the landed gentry, the officers of the army, the new clergy. This is a tradition which has held through the generations of Hyrule, and which has become ingrained in the Hyrulian culture. Hylians are considered formal and cerebral, if not particularly practical. There are things which are not appropriate for hylians to do, too mucky or too physical, and ways not appropriate for them to act. Though there are certainly hylian peasants they are decidedly different to other types of human- or at least that's how things are percieved. ``` ``` The truth of the matter is that hylians live largely the same as humans. They make up the majority of Hyrule's population, perhaps seventy percent of it, and must turn their hands to practical pursuits ultimately. The opinions of humans on this issue is.... complex. Most humans are content to be ruled by those who are at least mostly the same as they are, and consider the hylians capable rulers. It would not, however, be wise for a hylian ruler to push their luck regarding their supposed divine providence. ### Hylian Traits The divine magic in hylian blood gives them a number of advantages over other peoples, which are detailed below. ___ ***Ability Score Increase:*** Your ability scores all increase by one, except for one of your choice which increases by two. ***Age:*** Hylians mature and age at around the same rate as normal humans, but it is unusual for them to die of old age before the age of one hundred. ***Typical Alignment:*** Hylians have completely free will, and have no strong alignment tendencies. ***Size:*** Hylians are slightly shorter and slighter than humans, typically being between five and five and a half feet tall and weighing eighty pounds. Your size Medium. ***Speed:*** Your base walking speed is 30 feet. ***Favour of the Goddesses:*** You know one clerical cantrip in addition to any other spells you may or may not know. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for this cantrip. ***Hear the Divine:*** Hylians have advantage on wisdom(perception) checks based on sound. ***Chosen Of Farore:*** Hylians have advantage on saves made to avoid fear-based effects.

\page

# Humans “O NE MAN IS NO OBSTACLE,
*but a hundred is a militia, a thousand is an army, and ten thousand is a legion. Give me a legion of humans and I will crush anything you put in front of me.”* "*But they're just humans. Illiterate peasants and salt of the earth farmers. They won't understand the campaign, won't fathom the reasons we're out here.*" *"Ignoring that everything you said was ridiculous, it wouldn't matter. They're strong, brave, determined, and you don't need decorum to chop off a goblin's head. I'd rather have a dozen humans on my side than a score of hylians or gerudo."* ____ Humans, that ever-present umbrella that encompasses all of humanity, are the world’s dominant race. Humans are everywhere, tilling their fields, fighting their wars, raising their children. True humans are, globally, the most common subtype of this race, although they are not a majority in Hyrule itself. Taller and broader than hylians, and notably shorter lived, humans live hard, full lives, most commonly as peasants or merchants. They make poor philosophers, but they are fine farmers and cobblers, and while a nation can survive for many decades without revolutionary new thoughts it needs a steady supply of food and shoes or it will collapse under its own weight in a matter of days. ``` ``` .

> ##### So the pale ones are Hylians? > Although there are at least six different subspecies of humans in the world these divisions are not based on race, or even genetics, but the magic which suffused them and their ancestors- Hylia's magic for hylians, Bagamanah's magic for gerudo, shadow magic for sheikah etcetera. True humans from the hotter parts of the world may have skin like mahogany, and a gerudo whose fathers and grandfathers were consistently hyrulian may have very pale skin indeed. The eyes or ears tell the subspecies, nothing else. \page ### The Chosen of Farore In the days of the Mythic era the ancient humans were splintered and contentious, always fighting amongst themselves with no unifying presence to speak of. They fought for gods, for wealth and for safety, but whenever they fought they were brave. They feared little, and what they did fear they sought to defeat. It was this bravery whichearned humanity the admiration of Farore, the Golden Goddess of Courage and the progenitor of all life. She appeared to the greatest and most courageous human of all, a man named Faron, and spoke to all of humanity saying that they were her chosen people and Faron was her prophet. With this divine mandate Faron forged the first great human nation, the Emerald Empire or the Empire of Faron. The Emerald Empire of humanity, the Sapphire Empire of the zora and the Ruby Empire of the gorons met and divided up the world- all things below the waterline would belong to the zora, all things above the treeline would belong to the gorons, and all things between these extremes would belong to humanity. This agreement held, and the Emerald empire achieved great things with its new allies. There was peace for thousands of years, and all was well. ### The Birth of the New Humans The Imperial Era could not last forever, and met its death in the fires of the Great Invasion. For decades humanity fought to preserve the world, and upon its victory they were transported to the heavens, to live safely among the clouds while demon hordes ravaged the earth. It was in this new state that the ancient humans began experiencing alterations. The children born to them were affected by the great magics Hylia had wrought to bring the entire people to the skies, and were born with subtle changes. The new children had completely rounded ears, unlike the slight points of the ancient humans or the extreme points of the then also newly born hylians. Although this was strange and new it was no cause for concern, and the people accepted it as part of their new lives. As the years passed further changes became apparent- the new children were taller than their parents had been, and also stronger and more resilient. These benefits were eventually offset by a more troubling revelation- the new generations were also shorter lived than previous ones, dying a matter of decades earlier. Even humans raised in happy, healthy environments could rarely expect to exceed their ninetieth year, and most died of old age before their eightieth. The new humans became humble and pious and kept their old names of humans, seeing themselves as at best merely the continuation of the old empire. When the humans learned to travel the sky they encountered the hylians, and were dismayed to find that their long-eared counterparts had recieved the opposite changes- they were longer-lived, and had become arrogant where humans had become humble. War came shortly afterwards, and it was harsh. Though that war ended more than a millenium ago, old tensions between the two main children of the empire do still flare from time to time, and those flares can and have become raging infernos. ``` ``` ### Practical Problems When the Descent came the human-dominant islands landed on the peripheries of what is now Hyrule. Though the first laws of the new kingdom forbade anyone to see humans as different or lesser the absence of any humans from the first conclaves also kept them from the first positions of power. Even to this day humans remain something of a peasant people. This is not to be derided- they are practical, earthy, and capable, but they are not poets or mages, and certainly not nobles. Broadly humans accept this position. They live in close-knit but extended families, and work hard at their tasks. They have short lives but make the most of them, and accomplish great feats in their limited time. They favour deities other than Hylia, especially Farore, with much of the population preferring to worship the Great Deku Tree over all others. Most Jovians within Hyrule are also human, and they have a stronger tendency towards fringe folk religions than any other people. ### Human Traits The biology and upbringing of humans have noted affects on their lives, no matter their paths. Humans recieve the following benefits. ___
***Ability Score Increase:*** Your Charisma, Dexterity, Constitution and Strength scores increase by one. Any two ability scores of your choice increase by an additional +1, possibly including one or more of your previously increased scores. ***Age:*** Humans can walk by the age of three and are considered fully matured in their late teens. They can expect to live for around eighty years before their bodies cease functioning, although few will reach that age. ***Typical Alignment:*** Humans have completely free will, but tend towards moderation. Strongly good and evil humans are rare. ***Size:*** Humans stand at around five and a half to six and a half feet tall, and weigh around one hundred and twenty pounds. Your size is medium. ***Speed:*** Your walking speed is 30 feet. ***Practical:*** Humans may choose one feat at character creation. ***Chosen Of Farore:*** Humans have advantage on saves made to avoid fear-based effects.

\page

. # Sheikah NAIR STRETCHED HIS ARM AS FAR AS *he could towards the gem below. He winced as the blood rushing to his head started to build up to uncomfortable levels- he had been hanging here upside down for nearly half an hour. One arm in front of and below him, reaching for the rupee, and the other went down his front, between his legs and grasping the chain that hung from the ceiling, from the slowly-winding series of gears that was gradually moving him around the room. They'd been carrying him for the last thirty minutes, over the noxious and lethal cloud that covered the floor of the chamber, and now the glittering silver rupee was nearly in his grasp.* ***Come on, COME ON!*** *Nair felt himself slip. He snatched outwards, flailing blindly for the crystal. His hand closed around its smooth surface. He smiled as he fell to the ground, the fog dissipating. Whatever happened next didn't matter. he was a man now.*

To most of the world the sheikah are a completely unknown quantity. Despite appearing identical to hylians save for their blood-red irises, sheikah live in their own little communities, follow their own strange ways, and while they are entirely cooperative with outsiders they never, ever reveal their secrets. They speak their own language, preserved amidst the broader culture of wherever they settle. They live in the cities of others, but mingle as little as possible. They are known to be an ancient culture, one that follows the Golden Faith in some way, but all details are obscured by deliberate mists of secrecy. Behind those mists is the truth of the sheikah. Each and every member of the people is sworn to the Hyrulian throne, an ancestral pact more than one and a half millenia old. Every sheikah is trained in secretive ways- a spy, a soldier, an assassin. They form a network beneath their own church of darkness, a spreading lattice of agents and contacts beneath the ever-watching Sage of Shadow. The sheikah are more than a people. They are an order. \page ### The Binding Trials The worship of the six Sages as intermediaries to the Golden Goddesses is not uncommon in Hyrule- many humans for example add prayers to Saria into their normal religious routine, and the veneration of Gorko by the gorons as a living ancestor borders on fanatical. The sheikah however are different. All sheikah, everywhere, are bound by the same culture, the same ways and traditions. Headed by the sage of shadows, whoever that may be, the sheikah worship their ancestors and through their ancestors their single, distant progenitor, the Father of Snakes. Seeking his approval they subject themselves to terrible trials, through which they may become greater. Taught only the most rudimentary knowledge of their own faith as children, all sheikah must travel to the city of Kakariko at some point in their lives, to undertake one of the seven deadly trials that can be found in the secret warrens beneath that city. Each trial is more dangerous than the last, each after the first is increasingly lethal, and each reveals another fresh truth about the red eyed people. After the first trial a sheikah can consider themselves an adult, and may fight and drink and act as any grown sheikah may. After the second they may marry and have children, having proved their worth to the Sage of Shadow and, through her, their ancient ancestor. It is here that most sheikah end their dalliance with subterfuge, returning to lives which may be mundane or fantastical, but which could be lived by anyone who has not passed the further tests. They may be smiths or merchants or soldiers and grow old without ever again visiting those terrible catacombs, without ever again putting their life on the line to earn the favour of the Sage of Shadow. ### The Shadowed Clergy Other sheikah do return to the trials. They take the further tests, and become fully inducted into the Church of Serpents as members of its travelling clergy, a clergy with no churches or fixed abode beyond the tunnels of Kakariko. As they pass each trial they ascend in the ranks of their faith, from acolyte to Arch-Shadow. Each rank brings with it new knowledge, secrets long hidden from the wider world,and these secrets bring magical power, either gleaned from the knowledge or taught by those higher in the faith. It is with this knowledge and this magical powercthat the clergymen travel Hyrule, guiding their kin in the ways of the red-eyed faith. It is rare for a non-sheikah to know of the trials or the faith in anything other than the absolutely broadest terms, and no sheikah would dream of speaking of these traditions or teaching their tongue, Serpentine, to a non-sheikah on pain of death or exile. The few who know the secrets of the sheikah are notables such as the queen of Hyrule or have extracted the information through less than voluntary means. ### Oath Eternal and Shame Forever The reason for the extreme measures of the sheikah is complex, and based in a pair of oaths and a deep betrayal, all in the distant past.

In the Great Invasion two and a half millenia past, when the ground ruptured and horrific demons crawled from the depths to tear down the kingdoms of man, there was a great human warrior who stood against them. This man's name is long forgotten, but he is remembered by his honorific, the Father of Snakes, and he was a peerless assassin. In time the Father assembled a following of many men and women who wished to fight with him, and together these followers delved deep into dark, dangerous magics in order to enhance their abilities. These magics tainted the blood of these shadow warriors, turning their hair white and their eyes red. Their children bore the same arcane stigmata, and so did their childrens' children. Thus the Father of Snakes became the ancestor of all sheikah. When Hylia lifted the mortals of the world to the sky it was the Father of Snakes and his followers who swore to maintain the seal on the Demon King Demise, and that their children and grandchildren would uphold this oath. For a millenium they held true to their word, never once wavering in their vigil until at last the Hero of the World and the new Hylia descended from theheavens and slew the great evil which the sheikah had been guarding. In thanks the ancient sheikah swore a new oath, a promise of loyalty to the Hero and his Queen, an oath which they hold themselves to today. The modern sheikah honour, serve, and protect the royal family, above all things. This is their vow, which all must take. There has been but one breaking of that oath. At some point in Hyrule's early history the sheikah committed a grave sin which lead to untold death and suffering. Its exact nature is not known to any, save the Archshadows and the Sage herself, but its existence reminds the sheikah to watch themselves and each other, to uphold their promise at any cost.\page

``` ``` ### Darkness Breeds Suspicion The sheikah are a friendly enough folk, and nobody could accuse them of being unkind as a people, but their seperation is something many find suspicious. The sheikah may be people like any other, but not all appreciate their presence. Many Hyrulians distrust the sheikah, making their own warding signs when they see the red-eyed humans scuttling through their cities. Few could argue that they are any real threat- sheikah can be relied on absolutely, and they are loyal followers of the royal family for sure- but there is always that niggling doubt. Beyond Hyrule the fate of sheikah can be much worse. With no real loyalty to foreign crowns, crowns which sheikah oaths say must be disobeyed if they ever go against Hyrule, sheikah can be considered treacherous and often deeply unpopular. Their population beyond Hyrule remains small as a result, and they are unwelcome in many cities and towns beyond Hyrule's borders. ### Eyes Upon Eyes A common sheikah tradition is the "veve", or outer eye. This is an inked tattoo of a stylised eye over the sheikah's own eye. Although each veve is based upon the same basic symbol they can be customised in hundreds of tiny ways to tell whatever the sheikah who wears them wants to say- a name, a hometown, a disposition, a role, or almost anything else. This eye sigil, and the variations upon it, forms the basis for sheikah code. Utterly secret and beyond incomprehensible to outsiders, the code can be found scribbled into a thousand thousand places in Hyrule, a mesage lying in wait for any redeyes who find themselves in need. ### Sheikah Traits The magics in the sheikah bloodlines and the training they recieve in order to pass their trials set them up well for the life of an adventurer. All sheikah characters recieve the following adjustments to their profile. ___ ***Ability Score Increase:*** Your Dexterity score increases by two and your Intelligence score increases by one. ***Age:*** Sheikah age identically to Humans, but can live for one and a half centuries before death. ***Typical Alignment:*** Sheikah have completely free will, but tend towards the extremes of good and evil. Evil sheikah are rare, but often exceptionally dangerous. ***Size:*** Sheikah are built similarly to the ancient imperial humans, being a midpoint between modern humans and hylians. They tend to stand between five and six feet tall and weigh around one hundred pounds. Your size is medium. ***Speed:*** Your walking speed is 35 feet. ***The Trials:*** Sheikah characters gain proficiency in daggers, blowpipes, shortswords and hand crossbows, as well as the dexterity skills of stealth, acrobatics, and sleight of hand. If they would otherwise be proficient in *all* of these skills they gain expertise in *one* of these skills. ***Counterspying:*** Sheikah have advantage on perception rolls made to spot creatures who are hiding, and to determine if a creature is lying. ***Senses:*** Sheikah have darkvision to a range of sixty feet. ***Chosen Of Farore:*** Sheikah have advantage on saves made to avoid fear-based effects. \page

# Gerudo ``` ``` ____ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ____ In all the world there is no place quite like the Shahdom, and no people quite like the gerudo. Superficially appearing similar to hylians save for their vividly golden eyes, the gerudo are an all-female race of humans hailing from the deserts west of Hyrule of Hyrule, bound by an ancient curse born from their ancestors' treachery. They live in an incredibly strict caste system, in which the manner of your birth determines your entire life. It is a place where people can be sold like cattle, and witchcraft- the act of liaising with demons for power- is commonplace. ### Ten Thousand Daughters The gerudo are all women, with one exception being born roughly every one hundred years. The one man is crowned king once he comes of age, and is expected to sire many children to perpetuate his people. The gerudo society is strictly stratified into castes based on the distance of their relations to the king. The daughters and granddaughters of a king- any king- are the highest cate, the priestesses. They are caste of scholars and mages and, indeed, clergywomen. They are the governors of the Shahdom, and its leaders, who direct the nation in all things. \page The daughters and granddaughters of priestesses are high warriors, the elite forces and generals of the shahdom, and their daughters and granddaughters are in turn the low warriors, the soldiers of the nation. The warrior castes provide security and law in times of peace and are the only ones who may possess weapons when the Shahdom is not directly at war. The children of low warriors are, unless they are members of the priestess class through having the King as their father, no longer gerudo. Instead they are hegrud, half-gerudo, and form a caste of artisans and other skilled workers. The hegrud lack the golden eyes of gerudo in most (but not all) cases, and the children of hegrud are considered to also be hegrud. Hegrud can be male or female, but males are considered lesser and can never command women. Finally there are the slaves, the untouchables, the lowest caste of society. Slaves have no gerudo blood by their very definition and no rights beyond those their mistresses choose to give them. Some gerudo treat their slaves comparatively well, as household slaves in the old imperial way, but others own hordes of undesirables in a form of chattel slavery, mining or farming until death. The worst fate to await slaves and captives however is that of mind-cutting, also known as Cleaving, using witchcraft to open the slave's brain, mind and soul in order to remove unwanted aspects of all three and making obedient, tireless servants. Cleaving is frowned upon by many, but as with most activities of the Priestess caste it is not explicitly illegal. ### The Jewel of the Desert The gerudo Shahdom- named for the Shah, the title of the man who rules it- is an extremely wealthy nation considering its comparatively low population. The gerudo desert is the overland pass to many distant lands almost mythical in Hyrule. The Transvin kingdoms, the Bharatia peninsular, and the mighty Xin empire can all be reached by a sandship which wishes to brave the deep desert. The Shahdom is the gateway to and from these places, and it does a constant and lucrative trade, exchanging the goods of Hyrule and its neighbouring kingdoms for those of distant lands. Spices, silk and tea flow one way, and in return flows tallow and iron and worked glass, all meeting in the markets of the Shahdom which buzz with a hundred clamouring languages. The Shahdom also grows rich from raiding, although officially this is far from sanctioned. Gerudo pirates maintain sporadic outposts on the west coast of lake Hylia and their own eastern border, and periodically send raiding parties across the borders of Sarios, Arcadia and Hyrule itself. The outer territoties of the darknut citadels and the kingdoms of the Green Frontier also often find themselves under attack, masked women on horseback striking farms in the dead of night before vanishing into the dark In times of peace the Shahdom is a hub of culture and artistry, producing some of the world's most beautiful structures and works, as well as being at the forefront of many arcane fields- demonology is not forbidden in the Shahdom, meaning that the gerudo are one of the few peoples who truly appreciate the nature of the monsters which lie below the world. It is also a land with a deep history, with many ancient and vast structures of the imperial and mythic era rising from the sands of the desert. The Shahdom is both a great partner and terrible rival to Hyrule. The two nations have a difficult but working relationship, and the future between them is always suspect. ### The Blood Curse Fifteen hundred years ago the Sage of Spirit, Gerus, took his family and followers deep into the desert to the west of Hyrule. This clan of followers grew and grew, developing a unique presence and culture of its own in the depths of the desert. Over time the name of the tribe changed, corrupting and contracting to become "gerudo", meaning children of Gerus in an extremely roundabout way. The gerudo's seperation from Hyrule only grew over the years. This came to a head when, five centuries after Gerus left for the desert, Hyrule was split by a great civil war known as the Scrambling. This was a titanic, truly tragic conflict which would have impacts throughout the rest of history, in which dozens of independent factions vied to seize the omnipotent power of the Triforce. The mortal king of the Gerus tribe saw this as an opportunity, and on his orders a pair of twin witches were used to form a covenant with an eldritch entity known only as Bagamanah. This covenant of witchcraft would be formed on behalf of the entire tribe, and the entity gave the tribe great power in exchange for its worship. When the Sage of Spirit heard of this he returned to his descendants to dissuade them from their dark path, but he was ignored and eventually slain by the twin witches, once again on the order of the king. The gerudo went on to compete in the scrambling, and though they fought fiercely they were ultimately unsuccessful in claiming the Triforce. Returning to their desert to lick their wounds the gerudo king accused Bagamanah of failing the gerudo. This sent the sand goddes into a terribe rage, causing her to place the blood curse of the gerudo. This curse meant that the gerudo- a people obsessed with their lineage and birthright- would only have one man born to them every century, and only through the will of Bagamanah would he be born at all. In this way Bagamanah ensured the future subservience of the gerudo, a subservience which continues to this day. The modern gerudo faith may be bizarre to outsiders, revolving as it does around scraps of old religions and the Jovian faith, but it is still a religion venerating Bagamanah at its core/ > ##### Expies make life easier. > > When in doubt, gerudo names and titles should be persian, preferably ancient. Cultural affects from the area also work well. > > Bagamanah and her religion are deliberately vague and entirely up to the DM, as all things are. However it would be most fitting to base her off Ahura Mazda, the deity of the Zoroastrian faith. She is not intended to be islamic in nature- that is instead the purview of Jovianism. \page > ##### Illusions, Invisibility, and Arcane Lights > The gerudo resistance to illusions comes from the hold which Bagamanah has over their minds- their senses are hers to control, and so are much harder to manipulate. This of course brings up what exactly an illusion is, as gerudo most definitely cannot see through invisibility regardless of what school of magic it is in. > >My personal rule has always been that there are two types of illusion spell- holograms and true illusions. A hologram is a simple manipulation of light, a twisting of it so that new shapes appear (or fail to), generally not presenting itself as something which is true or real. Invisibility is a type of hologram, and if the world had cameras or similar they would record holograms as if they were real. > > A true illusion on the other hand can incorporate sounds or smells, and is much less basic. A true illusion is a direct transmission of information into the observer's brain, a manipulation of how objective truth is perceived, and which a camera would simply ignore. As a general rule if a spell requires a save or roll to determine it is *fake* then it is a true illusion. ### Gerudo Traits The innate magic and living conditions of the gerudo have caused them to deviate markedly from other hylians. These traits affect gerudo characters, and are detailed here. ___ ***Ability Score Increase:*** Your Dexterity, Charisma, and Wisdom scores increase by one. ***Age:*** Gerudo age identically to hylians, although male gerudo remain in good health until the day they die. ***Typical Alignment:*** Gerudo are free willed and intelligent, but their society in which slaves are common tends them towards evil. More senior gerudo tend to be more chaotically inclined. ***Size:*** Gerudo are built identically to hylians. Your size is medium. ***Speed:*** Your base walking speed is 40 feet (if a Warrior Caste gerudo) or 35 feet (if a hegrud or Priestess Caste gerudo). ***Cursed to One:*** Gerudo have advantage on saving throws and skill checks to resist mental effects (such as sleep, charms, fear, and paralysing effects) and discern illusions, unless the effects or illusions are being produced by the power of Bagamanah. ***Bagamanah's Blood:*** Gerudo and hegrud can choose at character creation to be resistant to necrotic *or* radiant damage. ***Subrace:*** You must pick one of the subraces below. ____ ##### Priestess Caste ***Ability Score Increase:*** Your Charisma score increases by one. ***Arcane Scholars:*** You know one warlock cantrip in addition to any other spells you may or may not know. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for this cantrip. You may not choose the *Eldritch Blast* cantrip with this feature. ***Guidance and Wisdom:*** You have proficiency in the Intelligence(Religion), (History) and (Arcana) skills. ##### Warrior Caste ***Ability Score Increase:*** Your Dexterity score increases by one. ***Warrior Training:*** You are proficient with light armour, all bows and crossbows, slings, daggers, shortswords, glaives, and the scimitar. ***Cavalrywoman:*** You have proficiency in the Wisdom(Animal Handling) skill. ##### Hegrud ***Ability Score Increase:*** Two different ability scores of your choice increase by one, one of which must *not* be Charisma or Dexterity. ***Remnants of the Curse:*** Hegrud receive a +1 modifier on saving throws and skill checks to resist mental effects (such as sleep. charm and fear, but not paralysing effects) and discern illusions, and increase their passive perception by one point for this purpose. They do not benefit from ***Cursed to One***. ***Artisan Caste:*** You gain proficiency with any one type of artisans’ tools, and any two skills or tools. > ##### A note on Half-Breeds > >Although there are a great many sentient races in Hyrule almost none are interfertile. No race can have children with another- a zora and human cannot ever concieve a child no matter the love they feel any more than a bear could mate with a shark. Different types of goblin also cannot interbreed, and nor can zora and zola. > >The only case of interfertility is the various clades of humanity, who are fully interfertile. Gerudo, hylians, sheikah and humans can all interbreed easily, with the child produced being wholly of the same race as its mother. > >The hegrud are a s;oght alteration to this rule. The child of a low warrior gerudo will always be a hegrud. After this hiccup normalcy reasserts itself- the children of female hegrud will in turn also be hegrud, and the children of male hegrud will inherit the race of their mother. > >The only exception to these rules is that the child of a male gerudo will always be a full gerudo of the priestess caste. The king renews the curse, bringing the touch of bagamanah to the child and completely dictating the child's nature. \page

.

# Gorons Goron Quote Goes Here ``` ```

There is nothing quite like a goron. Not fish nor fowl nor good red herring, a goron is a rocky humanoid, eight foot tall and nearly as wide. His flesh made of stone and his eyes of crystal. He eats rocks instead of meat and plants, and doesn’t require air or water. He wades through lava floes like a man might swim a river, but sinks in water like the stone he is. He lives an odd life, without family ties or possessions of his own, being but a cog in a vast community of brothers, eking out a living from the harsh volcanic mountains of his homeland. Accepted and often even beloved in Hyrule, the impossibly strong gorons have been close allies of humanity for millenia, for all their strange little quirks. They are friends to most, and there is nowhere they are not welcome. \page ### Men of Stone As stated, gorons do not have anything resembling a conventional anatomy. There are no female gorons, nor male ones. The rocky spines that sprout from a goron’s back grow over its life until they fall to the ground, burrow into the bedrock, and begin the long progress of digesting it to form a new goron. Gorons do not see the world conventionally either- their eyes receive sound and impact from the world around them, letting them see without even the tiniest slivers of light. They can drink lava as sport, but grow slow and sedentary in cold weather. Their teeth are impervious crystal, and can grind even solid granite into dust for consumption. Their skin is stone, their nerves are silicon, and their blood is a thick, grainy gel. Eating rocks as they do and having no real biology a human would recognise, gorons are incredibly resilient. They cannot be harmed with mere heat, and do not degrade with age, only grow. As he ends his first century of life a goron will be considered an adult, and stand a little taller than a human. At the end of his fifth century he will be more than twice this height, and have accrued a wealth of experience he will use to guide his kin. He will also grow ever more lethargic, until he reaches around a millenium of age. At this point he will be as tall and broad as a castle, and barely willing to move, instead content to sit and wait to merge with the very rock itself, returning to one-ness with the bones of the world. It is for these reasons that gorons have historically always been friends of humanity- once one surmounts their natural fear of such physically imposing creature one finds much to recommend about gorons. They do not compete with humans for land or food, and make strong, tireless workers. Without a traditional family structure gorons form strong bonds easily, making them loyal friends and staunch allies. Cynics and the generally impious have long noted that perhaps it is no coincidence that the “chosen” races of gorons and zora have long cooperated so well with humanity, and question whether the choice truly predated that cooperation as opposed to just being a justification of it. ### Communes of Fire In the modern day the gorons possess a bare fraction of their former strength, but are still a formidable and memorable people. In the craggy heights and cavernous depths of the volcanic Eldin range north of Hyrule the gorons have carved their own kingdom, a communal society in a truly inhospitable place. It is a place in which all are welcome but few other than the gorons would ever want to stay, where smoke fills the scorching air and little nature could ever hope to grow. Gorons travel often into the lowlands to work as miners or farmers or traders, and can be found throughout the civilised and uncivilised world. There are few places a goron is not welcome- even goblins and zola feel little ill will towards the gorons, as the gorons are very difficult to eat or rob- and the stone men of Din take full advantage of this fact, making their way across the world to any home that will accept them. ``` ``` ### Chosen of Din To the gorons, history begins many millennia before the rise of humanity. The gorons believe they arose from the primordial magma that flowed across the world and slowly built their own civilisation, the only creatures on the world’s surface. Their songs tell of how the world cooled, and how plants and animals arose across the world. For millennia upon millennia the gorons bore the weight of sentience alone, the sole intelligent race in existence. They grew lazy and fat in their luxurious world, and so the Golden Goddess of Power and Fire, Din, sent them a test. The gorons were beset by terrifying new creatures for ten thousand years- a war against goron-hunting monstrosities, against dodongos and nejiron and worse. This was the Iron Dawn war, and it was fought for the very survival of the gorons as a people. In the end the gorons were triumphant, and Din appeared to Eldin, the strongest of their people, to reward him with her favour. With her love binding them the gorons forged a glorious empire, unifying themselves under Eldin’s flag. They discovered other intelligent creatures- first the mighty dragons, but later they were blessed by the appearance of the zora and eventually humanity. The gorons led the world in the ways of artifice and civilisation, enjoying millennia of peace with their new allies until eventually war came to them once again. First a war with the zora came to divide them, and then the Great Invasion of demons laid the world low. Although the gorons lost much of their great civilisation they fought without compromise or retreat, and were rewarded with their survival once again. > ##### The Price of Eternity >Gorons are long-lived to the point of functional immortality, but their lethargy eventually proves lethal as they merge with the ground around them. >This fate can be avoided by repeatedly removing a goron’s outer layers to keep it small and responsive, but this has disastrous effects on the goron’s physical ability.

\page ### Goron Traits Being utterly alien as they are there are many aspects to a goron which would be worth noting for an adventurer. These aspects are detailed here. ___ ***Ability Score Increase:*** Your Strength and Constitution scores increase by two. ***Age:*** Gorons are “born” aware and intelligent. As they age gorons get larger, slower, and more lethargic. They are considered physically capable and coordinated by the end of their first century, and it is at this age thatt most gorons seek to experience the world. After five centuries they will be considered "fathers", the largest and most powerful active gorons. A goron ending their first millennium will still be alive and healthy, but almost completely nonresponsive and will soon simply choose to stop moving. ***Typical Alignment:*** Gorons tend to be staid, communal and traditional, and so tend towards a lawful alignment. ***Speed:*** Your walking speed is 20 feet. ***Monolithic:*** Gorons are made of stone, and do not need to sleep (and cannot be forced to), breathe, or drink. They do however need to eat rocks as other races eat food, and accrue fatuigue as normal. ***Lithovoric Biology:*** Gorons are immune to poison damage and the poisoned condition. A goron's armor class is permanently increased by one at all times. ***Endothermic:*** Gorons gain fatigue at half the normal rate in warm environments (such as volcanic reaches and deserts) but twice the normal rate in cold environments (such as tundra or mountaintops). Gorons who choose to be immune to cold damage at character creation have this trait reversed. ***Fireborn/Iceborn:*** Most gorons are made of stone with blood of gelatinous sand, but some few are of a more crystalline, frosty nature. Gorons are either Fireborn or Iceborn. Fireborn gorons are immune to fire damage from non magical sources, resistant to fire damage, and vulnerable to cold damage. Iceborn gorons are immune to cold damage, and vulnerable to fire damage. ***Senses:*** Gorons see through refracted sound. They have no normal sight, accurate blindsight to a range of thirty feet, and perceive the world beyond this range only as a series of dim, indistinct shapes, which should frequently give disadvantage to many types of rolls. If a goron is deafened it is also blinded, and they cannot see through magical silence. ***Rolling Charge:*** When a goron uses the Dash action during its turn it can make a melee attack as a bonus action, provided it moved that turn and did not move uphill (or up stairs etc) immediately before making the attack. ``` ``` ***Chosen of Din:*** Gorons have double the normal carrying capacity. ***Growth Group:*** Pick one of the growth groups below to repesent your age. #### Growth Groups ##### Son ***Size:*** Sons are the youngest fully mobile gorons, and are anywhere between two and four feet tall. You weigh around 300 pounds and your size is small. ##### Brother ***Size:*** Brothers are generally anywhere between four and eight feet tall, and roughly as broad. You weigh around 500 pounds, and your size is medium. ***Oaf:*** You have disadvantage on all rolls which use a dexterity modifier, including attack rolls, skill rolls, saving throws, and initiative rolls. ##### Father ***Size:*** Fathers are the oldest gorons still active, generally eight to fifteen feet tall, and roughly as broad. You weigh around 6,000 pounds, and your size is large. ***The Curse of Lethargy:*** You have automatically fail all dexterity saving throws, dexterity-based attack rolls and skill rolls, and go last in the initiative order. Your armor class is permanently decreased by two points in addition to the change listed in ***Lithovoric Biology***. ***Thickened Skin:*** You may take the ***Tough*** feat for free. > ##### Highs and Lows >The gorons are, canonically, incredibly strong and tough, able to survive in lava for extended periods of time and lift vast amounts. The options for a goron race seemed to be to either make them an NPC-only race, make a very milquetost version of the gorons which made little sense, or make them extremely polarised. > >My solution to this is shown here. The goron racial features are extremely polarised, varying between dizzying highs and plunging lows. As a goron your strengths are the strongest, and your weaknesses are the weakest. You stroll through lava and swing the largest weapons, but are incredibly slow and when cold magic arrives become extremely vulnerable. If you don't like the idea of having to deal with these weaknesses then consider if playing a goron is right for you. Don't go crying to your GM when you get oneshot by a cone of cold- that's the price you pay for getting to laugh at the green dragon earlier in the campaign!

\page

# Zora TSULITS CAST AN ARM OUT TOWARD
*the audience, his fins bristling and gills trembling in excitement as he recited his verse. His voice was clear and bright, and rang out across the amphitheatre and stretched to the surface above. "For where is the heart in the body? The core of the body, betwixt the lungs? A foolish notion says I, for it cannot be that such a great component of my soul has such earthly form.* *""Instead our hearts are ethereal, ephemeral, the core of the soul and beyond. They are our virtue and our hopes. Was it not Lanayru himself who said, 'the heart is the seed from which the spirit grows eternally, an absolute core from which all reality springs..."* *The soliloquy went on for nearly ten minutes, but the standing ovation nearly matched it.* ``` ``` Beneath the surface of Hyrule’s many waters swim the zora. A more graceful and wise people you could never hope to meet, but also possessed of an indefinable sadness and sense of loss. To many in Hyrule the zora are cursed to ill fortune- certainly this would explain the many disasters that have befallen them as a people. They are an odd people, seperate from the surface dwellers but not completely apart from them, a piscine race in a mammalian world. They have their own customs, land, and bizarre biological processes, but while many find the zora strange and unnerving they are still ultimately people, and possess every quirk and flaw that any people do. ### People of the Second Sphere Tall and lithe, there is something unspeakably alluring about the zora. Humanoid for certain with finely scaled skin that nearly glows from within, perhaps with an iridescent shimmer or a soft pastel hue. They are also hairless by nature, with tails or tendrils falling from their scalp in an emulation of the appearance of other races. Their eyes vary wildly in design, from unusually colourful human eyes to solid black orbs from which no pupils can be discerned. On their limbs grow fins and on their necks gills, allowing them to swim at incredible speeds beneath the water’s surface. They are a beautiful and serene people, and one never truly gets accustomed to their presence. \page ### The Domain Although zora can be found in moderate numbers across Hyrule and the world the majority of the race lives in The Domain, a small, semi-independent nation in the Snowpeak mountains northwest of Hyrule. A series of interconnected lakes, rivers and glaciers, the Domain’s location gives the zora both a tremendous power and a great responsibility- most of the water in Hyrule flows from its lakes, and if it were to fall to an invading force the results could be disastrous. The zora are ruled by a king or queen, a position passed on by the judgment of the ruler. A zora monarch is rarely a descendant of their predecessor, and is instead chosen from the population based on their skills in crucial fields of national governance such as poetry, sculpture and their knowledge of classical zora philosophy. In theory these monarchs are completely independent of Hyrule- in practice the depth of the alliance the two nations share and the level of power disparity between them means that the zora rarely refuse the requests of the Hyrulian crown. It is also likely that they would be unable to resist even if they wished to, although history has many notable exceptions. ### Legacy of Loss According to their own legends the zora arose in the deep oceans many years before humanity, a naturally formed race watched and fostered by the Golden Goddess of wisdom and water, Nayru. In them she nurtured intelligence, which culminated in the creation of a beautiful artwork by the primitive zora, something so complex and wonderful that it could not be remembered or explained. Overcome with pride and awe, Nayru chose the zora as her favoured people, appearing to the wisest of them all, the venerable artist Lanayru. Bound by Lanayru’s vision the zora united beneath him, praising Nayru as their deity above all others. This utopia lasted for several centuries until what is known as the deep war. One day, without warning or reason, the ground of the ocean floor cracked asunder. From the trenches beneath the waves came the zola, a horrifying abomination of the zora, who tore the zora empire to dust. For millenia the zora struggled as primitive savages until Nayru sent them her greatest gift- the Leviathans. Colossal aquatic creatures of staggering intelligence, the leviathans forced the zola back and allowed the zora to rebuild their former glory. In time the zola were driven out of the ocean and into freshwater and onto the land, and the zora declared their new empire, venerating the Leviathans alongside Nayru herself. Although it was beset by many woes, not least a seemingly apocalyptic war with the gorons, the new zora empire lasted for centuries until being torn once again in the Great Invasion. The Invasion was hard on the Sapphire Empire of Lanayru. Much of the zora race was slain as their empire fell, and indeed they suffered worse than any others at the hands of the demons. Even today the zora hate the demon prince Bellum above all other things, and his existence forms the strongest base for their current divide with the zola. The zora have never recovered their old glory. The Deep War, the Stone War, the Great Invasion, the Scrambling, the Civil War, the Nihil War- each of these hit the zora hard, and they remain weakened. Nevertheless the zora retain a great belief in their own qualities, and hope for what the future will bring. ### Zora Traits A race of fish people is strange, even in Hyrule, and this strangeness translates into changes which would be experienced by zora characters. ____ ***Ability Score Increase:*** Your Wisdom score increases by two, and your Dexterity and Charisma scores increase by one. ***Age:*** Zoras mature rapidly but strangely- they are born as tadpoles which can swim from the moment they hatch, and by the age of three have undergone a kind of metamorphosis to produce legs. They are considered mature and fully formed by eight, and venerable by fifty, but can live in this venerable state well into their second century, during which they grow rotund and slovenly. ***Typical Alignment:*** Zora tend to be free- willed and independent, if poorly organised and disparate, and so tend towards chaotic alignments. ***Size:*** Zora are tall and humanoid, but very slight and slender, typically being between six and six and a half feet tall and weighing eighty pounds. Your size Medium. ***Speed:*** Your base walking speed is 30 feet. Your base swimming speed is 60 feet. ***Cryostasis:*** Zora can be frozen solid with no ill effects, but are still vulnerable to snap freezing. Zora are resistant to cold damage, and become *sapped* for one hour whenever they take cold damage or are exposed to cold weather. While *sapped* a zora is immune to cold damage and the effects of cold weather, and can be frozen alive without penalty. Their dexterity is also reduced by two points for the duration. ***Bioelectricity:*** Zora have a natural ability to produce electricity. Zora are resistant to lightning damage. As an action they can discharge their bioelectric pouches- all creatures within ten feet (or twenty feet if you and they are underwater) must pass a dexterity save, with a DC equal to eight plus your proficiency bonus plus your Constitution bonus, or take d6 lightning damage. This ability’s damage increases by 1d6 when you reach 5th level (2d6), 11th level (3d6), and 17th level (4d6). ***Aquatic:*** Zora can breathe underwater. They must drink twice as much as a land based creature and cannot benefit from a long rest without access to enough water to wash themselves. ***Each of the sea folk...:*** Zora are vulnerable to fire damage, but resistant to lightning damage. ***Malleable forms:*** Zora are easily altered by magic. Zora have disadvantage on saves made to avoid the *polymorph* spell, and concentration checks made to maintain *polymorph* are made with advantage if the target is a zora. ***Chosen Of Nayru:*** Zora are proficient in Wisdom saving throws. If they would be proficient in Wisdom saving throws for another reason then they double their proficiency bonus for the purposes of making a Wisdom saving throw.

\page

## The Barbarous ##### The fire of life burns in us, bright even when unbidden by you and yours, beyond the sight of law and order and regimented life. There, on the edges of the world, you will find us, waiting.

\page

# Goblins Goblin Quote Since the dawn of time the goblin tribes have been the greatest rivals of humanity. Since aeons immemorial they have contested mankind's control of the land, raiding human settlements and taking whatever can be found. Goblins are a slightly animalistic people, possessed of a complex culture with an intricate heirarchy of peoples. They speak their own language, and worship their own gods. Long since pushed to the edges of the habitable world, goblins strike back whenever they can, and the civilised people are all entirely aware of this. > ##### Optional Rule: Barbarous > If your DM chooses then the following optional rule may be used at character creation for any character who is a goblin, cloudling, anouki, scrub, zola, lynel or militant alifos. > > **Barbarous:** You cannot read or write, including in your own language. You may still record spells in your spell book if necessary. > >If you have no class levels in Ranger you gain access to the ranger class feature *Natural Explorer*, but may only select one favoured terrain, regardless of your level. > >If you have any class levels in Ranger then you may instead choose one more favored terrain than you would normally be able to. ### The Measure of a Goblin There is little to unify the goblins as a people beyond a shared opposition to humanity. Their sizes differ wildly, as do their stances, builds, and facial appearances. Their minds are different too, and with different minds come wildly different dispositions. Moblins are the most commonly encountered goblins, and arguably the greatest constant threat to Hyrule. Tall, broad, heavily muscled, reasonably intelligent, extremely brave and highly militaristic, moblins peer out at the world from small piggy eyes over an equally porcine snout. Their fur coats are usually a mottled red to better blend into the undergrowth in their forested hunting grounds, but other colours are known to exist. Bulblins can be found anywhere their mounts can take them. Wiry and short, with round faces, short snouts, dappled green fur and very red eyes, bulblin are quick thinkers, but not especially intelligent- their thoughts are rapid but small. They eke out a nomadic existence, always on the move, arriving as vast bands of ululating beast riders and firing a hundred arrows. Bokoblins live in the deep forests, where they war constantly with the deku tribes. Around the height of a man, but rangy and potbellied with ugly, stretched faces, they are masters of the undergrowth, moving with stealth that belies their pale purple and blue fur. Guerillas without compare, actions to oust them from their homes with anything short of vastly overwhelming force is inevitably doomed to failure, to the point where they sometimes form an additional ring of protection for the forests. \page Miniblins are small, vicious creatures that make their homes in and around the camps of the tribes of other, larger goblins. The size of a child, their faces are wide and filled with fangs that protrude even when their mouths are closed. Their fur comes in all colours, usually specked with black. Their weapons are as vicious as they are, barbed spears and tridents which make the initial stab the least of a victim's worries. Megablins are the largest sentient creatures on the face of the planet, excepting gorons and the deeply arcane races like dragons and leviathans. They are enormous, grotesquely muscled, and bandy-legged, with a dim-witted head that stays hunched below their shoulders, and faces reminiscent of the more ugly kinds of hound. Most are a mottled bluish-grey in colour. Hinoxes are a rare mutation of megablin, born with only one eye for reasons unknown to science, which is as apatthetic on the subject as the hinoxes themselves are. ### No Past, No Memories The goblins themselves have no written history, and humans have no fathoming of where they may have come from. Goblins are recorded as having been in constant conflict with humanity- and later the zora- since the imperial era, and likely the mythic times. There is no real origin for this enmity- it has simply always been. Some goblins hold that they were the creations of demons. Others hold that they came from othersources, such as the allfathers of the alifos. The Golden Faith itself says that the goblins are the goddesses' mistake, and that the calamity harvested their weakness to birth the first demons. Most goblins don’t particularly care either way where they came from. Their religions instead focus around the here and now- around local spirits who will guide their path, around small gods who will give them the strength they need to achieve victory, around the strongest and brightest of their tribe who they hold will lead them to prosperity. ### To the Strongest Goblins hunt and gather for their food, and farm little. Preferable to all of these options however is theft- humans have taken all the best land for themselves, and grow fat on what they produce on land bought with violence. As such goblins raid civilisation whenever possible, and are a constant threat that must be watched for. Caravans are a preferred prey, but more confident goblins may attack isolated farmsteads or even villages. Moblins prefer to attack on foot, usually armed with glaives. Bulblin arrive on the backs of bulbos, enormous boars of vile temperament and smell, firing as they come. Miniblin often resort to waterborne piracy, sailing from hidden coves along the Hyral sea. Wherever one goes, one can find goblins there ready to attack. ### Goblin Traits. ***Ability Score Increase:*** Your Wisdom, Strength, and Consitution scores increase by one. ***Age:*** Goblins age at different rates. Moblins mature at roughly twice the human rate, but miniblins age twice again as fast, with bulblins and bokoblins forming a rough middle ground. Megablins age similarly to humans. ***Typical Alignment:*** Goblins are very bad at accepting any authority and very poorly organised - they are usually chaotic. ***Speed:*** Goblins have a walking speed of 30 feet, except for miniblins who have a walking speed of 25 feet. ***Clawed and Fanged:*** Goblins can use their unarmed attack as a versatile weapon. If they do so then their attack does 1(d6) damage instead. This ability’s damage increases a dice size when you reach 5th level to 1(d8), 11th level 10 1(d10), and 17th level 1(d12). ***Keen Sense of Smell:*** Goblins have advantage on wisdom(perception) checks based on smell. ***Subraces:*** You must choose one of the following subraces. ##### Moblin ***Ability Score Increase:*** Your Strength score increases by one. ***Size:*** Moblins are tall and broad and muscular- they stand at around seven feet tall and weigh one hundred and fifty pounds. Your size is medium. ***Militarised:*** You are proficient with shields, light and medium armor, and all reach weapons. ##### Bulblin ***Ability Score Increase:*** Your Dexterity and Wisdom scores increase by one. ***Size:*** Bulblins are short and rangy- they stand at around four and a half to five feet tall and weigh seventy pounds. Your size is medium. ***Beastmasters:*** You are proficient with the Wisdom(animal handling) skill. If you have interacted with the animal in question for a day or more you double your proficiency bonus when interacting with that animal.. ##### Bokoblin ***Ability Score Increase:*** Your Dexterity and Wisdom scores increase by one. ***Size:*** Bokoblins are wiry in the limbs but stout in the belly, they stand around five and a half feet tall and weigh one hundred pounds. Your size is medium. ***Woodland Hunters:*** You can try to hide when lightly obscured by foliage, heavy rain, falling snow, mist, and other natural phenomena. You also have proficiency in the Wisdom(survival) and Dexterity(stealth) skills. ##### Miniblin ***Ability Score Increase:*** Your Dexterity score increases by two and your wisdom score increases by one. ***Size:*** Miniblin are small and slight, around three feet tall and weighing around twenty pounds. Your size is small. ***Vicious:*** Miniblin automatically roll the maximum amount on any damage rolls for a critical hit. ##### Megablin; *** Ability Score Increase:*** Your Strength score increases by two. ***Size:*** Megablin are around twelve feet tall and around as broad at the shoulders, weighing around one thousand pounds. Your size is large. ***Imbeciles:*** The Intelligence and Wisdom scores of a megablin cannot be ever be above ten without external assistance such as magic. If the character creation ystem used mandates these scores be above ten then they are instead set to ten once play begins. Megablins also have disadvantage on all wisdom, dexterity, intelligence and charisma saves, as well as all initiative rolls. ***Hinox:*** You may choose to be a hinox at character creation. In this case you have disadvantage on all perception rolls based on sight, but are considered proficient in all weapons with the *thrown* special rule. \page

# Scrubs Scrub quote goes here ### The Plant People Life is not a trait exclusive to organic creatures- the gorons are proof of this, being made entirely of stone. Perhaps it is no surprise then that sentience is not restricted to animals, as proven by the deku scrubs. A scrub stands perhaps three and a half feet tall, with most of their height being their oversized head. They are broadly speaking humanoid, with short limbs and skin of bark. They live in scattered tribes in the forests and woods of Hyrule, especially the Lost Woods themselves. There they war against one another and the bokoblin tribes, constantly attempting to prove themselves as capable defenders of the Yggdrasil in order to impress their enigmatic father-god, Odolwa. ### Deku Scrub Traits ***Ability Score Increase:*** Your Dexterity score increases by two, and your Wisdom and Consitution scores increase by one. ***Age:*** Deku scrubs can move by the end of their first spring, and can live theoretically for centuries. In practical terms however it is unlikely for them to survive more than five decades before a violent or sickly death. ***Typical Alignment:*** Deku scrubs are notoriously rowdy and anarchic, and tend towards chaotic alignements. ***Speed:*** Your move speed is 20 feet. ***Size:*** Deku scrubs are small creatures, being maybe three feet tall and weighing around forty pounds. Their size is small. ***Sun Drinkers:*** Deku scrubs lose all fatigue levels on the completion of a long rest, so long as they are exposed to sunlight. They are also resistant to radiant damage. ***Arboreal:*** You can try to hide when lightly obscured by foliage, heavy rain, falling snow, mist, and other natural phenomena. You are also vulnerable to fire damage. ***Deku Shot:*** Deku scrubs can fire their seeds using rapid expansion of compressed air, shooting these surprisingly heavy and sharp projectiles over range. Deku scrubs are always equipped with the weapon below, which they spit from their mouths. | Name | Damage | Rules | |:----:|:-------|:--------:| | *Deku Shot* | 1d6 bludgeoning | *thrown* (range 30/120), *internalised*, *expectoration!* | *Internalised*: This ability’s damage increases a dice size depending on the wielder's level, increasing when you reach 5th level (1d8), 11th level (1d10), and 17th level (1d12). Deku scrubs produce two dozen pieces of ammunition for their Deku Shot per long rest, and can hold up to two dozen pieces inside themselves. *Expectoration*: This weapon cannot benefit from the *sharpshooter* feat. ***Root***: As a bonus action a Deku Scrub which is standing on something may choose to *root* or *unroot* itself. While rooted a deku scrub has advantage on any saves to avoid proning or compulsory movement, but has disadvantage on dexterity saving throws and has all their movement speeds set to 0 ft. In addition they double the number of attacks they may make per attack action, provided all mentioned attacks are used to attack with their Deku Shot weapon. \page

# Anouki Anouki quote goes here ____ The most divergent of all the human subspecies, the anouki are an ancient race of ice dwellers who live tribal lives far to the south of Hyrule. There they eke out a life in the harsh cold of their homeland, aided by ancient powers older than the goddesses of the north. ### Life Survives Wherever It Can't In the times before iron and horses the migrations of ancient humans forced tribes to expand ever-further, always moving beyond the horizon in search of a home. The anouki migrated in this way to the extreme south of the world, where the land is locked in eternal winter and a day can last for weeks. Beset by treacherous conditions the anouki turned to various powers for aid, eventually creating and incarnating the demons known as Frozen Watchers long before the Great Invasion supposedly brought the first demons to the world. With the magic and knowledge provided by the Watchers the anouki surived and eventually thrived in their new lands. They developed a complex culture based on the ice floes, the sea, the storms, and a complex animistic faith of their own, of the spirits in the wind and the lights in the sky. They became expert sailors and shipbuilders, travelling along the southern coasts in search of food and opportunity. They discovered new forms of magic, specifically forms of frost which could fell even those beings which thought themselves immune to such dangers, forms which were weaved into their very blood. Over time the anouki themselves also changed, the ambient magics they funneled through the Watchers allowing them to rapidly evolve and mutate for their environment. They became shorter, broader, tougher, better adapted for their new world. Their eyes became entirely monochromatic, without feature save for their whites and their pupils. The ice entered them too, along with the taint of the Watchers. They became a truly seperate people, as unique and consistent as any human race. ### Anouki Traits ***Ability Score Increase:*** Your Constitution score increases by two, and your other ability scores all increase by one. ***Age:*** Anouki age identically to humans. ***Typical Alignment:*** Anouki have utterly free will, and would be more than capable of organising themselves into large countries if their homeland didn't brutally crush every such attempt. They can be of any alignment. ***Speed:*** Your move speed is 30 feet. ***Size:*** Anouki are the shortest type of human, and also the broadest. They are usually between four and a half to five feet tall, and weigh around one hundred and twenty pounds. ***Heavily Insulated:*** Anouki are resistant to cold damage and the effects of cold weather. ***Frostmen:*** When an Anouki casts a spell that deals a damage type, and that damage type is not bludgeoning, piercing or slashing, then they can choose for that damage type to be cold damage. ***Piercing Hoarfrost:*** When an anouki casts a spell that by default deals cold damage that cold damage ignores damage resistance and treats damage immunity as damage resistance (which it does *not* then ignore). ***Watchers' Touch:*** Anouki are considered to be demons (fiends in standard D&D terminology) for all purposes, and not humanoids. \page

# Cloudlings Cloudling quote goes here. ____ The Cloudlings are a rare sight in Hyrule. A divergent race of humanity that are to hylians as hylians are to humans. They live in the heavens themselves, making their homes on floating islands above the cloud later, living lives of freedom and nature. ### People of the Third Sphere When the first queen of Hyrule dispelled the cloud barrier and brought the flying islands of the Nubian era back to the ground not all wished to join her. Many hylians had come to consider the skies their home, and they were loathe to surrender that home, even at the request of their goddess. The queen was not unsympathetic to this, and left a number of islands in the sky, a home for those few who refused to return. The hylians who remained in the sky mutated further with the exposure to the islands' magic, just as the their ancestors had before them. They became smaller, slighter, more graceful and more whimsical creatures. They called themselves cloudlings, and kept up the ancient traditions of the White Empire and the sky islands, of loftwing riding and aerial engineering. With time this new whimsy gave them new gifts- they became more and more in tune with the wind element, the force of life and storms that rode through their aerial homes, eventually giving them an unprecedented intuition of that element amongst humans. Ultimately however this new disposition would also cause a level of regression. Unable to commit or organise as easily the cloudlings became more and more tribal with time, eventually abandoning all pretense of codified law and taking every moment as it came. The sky is now divided between the cloudling tribes, between the Winds, the Clouds, the Squalls, and a dozen others. Rarely do they descend to Hyrule, and few Hyrulians know of the complex and chaotic world which transpires above their heads. ### Cloudling Traits ***Ability Score Increase:*** Your Dexterity score increases by two, and your other ability scores all increase by one. ***Age:*** Cloudlings age half as quickly as humans. ***Typical Alignment:*** Cloudlings have utterly free will, but are often extremely free-spirited and resistant to authority. They tend to be chaotic as a result. ***Speed:*** Your move speed is 30 feet. ***Size:*** Cloudlings are overwhelmingly small and lithe compared to their leadfooted groundwalking cousins, comparable to a more exaggerated form of base hylians. They are usually between four and a half to five feet tall, and weigh around seventy pounds. ***Altitude Acclimation:*** Cloudlings are resistant to cold and lightning damage. ***Windcallers:*** When a Cloudling casts a spell that deals a damage type, and that damage type is not bludgeoning, piercing or slashing, then they can choose for that damage type to be lightning damage. ***Featherdown:*** Cloudlings may always choose to fall as if they were the target of a *feather fall* spell. ***Chosen Of Farore:*** Cloudlings have advantage on saves made to avoid fear-based effects. \page

# Mogma Mogma quote goes here. ___ An elusive race of the Eldin mountains, the mogma resemble upright humanoid moles. Strong and broad, they spend large portions of their life below the surface, scavenging in the vast cavernous ruins of the Ruby Empire, risking their lives for the fragments of ancient goron and oocca technology on which their society is built. ### Techno-Barbarism It is difficult for organic creatures to fathom the age of the oldest ruins beneath the Eldin mountains. When the ancestors of humanity were a primordial soup there were already ancient goron castles in the mighty volcanic reaches, and the subterranean ruins of these castles are filled with ancient treasures beyond imagining. The mogma seek these treasures more or less constantly. Theirs is a culture which is barely even tribal, consisting of loose collections of families digging through the rubble in search of ancient tools and weapons. They tend towards greed, always racing ahead of one another in the hot dark caverns as they hunt for the finds which will make them rich, but are otherwise not especially malicious creatures. On the occasions mogma come to the surface it is usually to exchange their baubles for new tools or clothing. They rarely understand the purpose, design, or function of what they have, but are always willing to sell. There is a new treasure to be found, and none could bare for another to find it first. ``` ``` ### Mogma Traits Mogma, strange underground creatures that they are, have many features which would impact an adventurer of their species. ***Ability Score Increase:*** Your constitution score increases by two, and your strength score increases by one. ***Age:*** Mogma grow up quickly and live short lives. They are considered mature by the age of twelve, and generally expire by the age of fifty. ***Typical Alignment:*** Mogma do not take well to discipline or sympathy, althouch they are rarely malicious. They tend towards chaotic neutral. ***Speed:*** Your move speed is 25 feet. ***Size:*** An unearthed Mogma is roughly the size of a short human, standing at around five feet tal. They are very stocky however, and weight around 120 pounds. Their size is medium. ***Sound of Footfall:*** Mogma have tremorsense to a range of sixty feet, but are otherwise blind beyond a distance of fifteen feet. ***Subterranean:*** You may spend an action to dig until the end of your turn. While digging you have a burrowing speed of 30ft, although you can only dig through earth, not stone. You cannot be suffocated by earth. ***Sharp Claws:*** Mogma can use their unarmed attack as a versatile weapon. If they do so then their attack does 1(d6) damage instead. This ability’s damage increases a dice size when you reach 5th level to 1(d8), 11th level 10 1(d10), and 17th level 1(d12). In addition if a mogma is of 11th level or above then it may use *Subterranean* to dig through stone, although its burrowing speed is reduced to 5ft while it does so. ***Flaming Depths:*** Mogma are resistant to fire damage. \page

# Alifos Lizalfos quote goes here

Saurian humanoids with long fangs and sharp claws, the alifos are a people with a clear and stark divide. On one side of this are the militant alifos- bestial, violent creatures who dwell in tribes in the hot, humid places of the world and strike at civilisation when they can. On the other side are the peaceful alifos, obsessive reptilian creatures who value their particular field above all else in life. ``` ``` ### Cold-Blooded Slaughter The militant alifos (sometimes known collectively as lizalfos) are, like the zola, obsessed with violence. Some are more organised than their aquatic counterparts, but none could be said to be collected or regimented. The defeat of you enemies- whoever you choose for that to be- is paramount to a lizalfos, and comes before all other things. Dinolfos, Geru, and Daira are the largest of the militant alifos. Tall and strong, with jaws that can crush a man’s head like an eggshell, they are naturally built for intensive combat. The physical distinctions between the three peoples are difficult to discern, being based largely around minute differences in build and the pattern of their scales, but their habits are notably different. Dinolfos tend towards collectivist fighting while daira and geru prefer larger, more powerful weapons and individual combat, habits which are reflected in every facet of their lives. The dinolfos are always more regimented, more organised, and better equipped, while the daira and geru possess a greater individual skill and far more low cunning. Less common are aerial and chameleonic lizalfos, or sordes and rampholeon as scholars know them. Rampholeon are slightly smaller than lizalfos, and notably weaker. They do however possess a startling level of animalistic cunning and the ability to completely alter the pigmentation of their skin in order to deceive their foes, turning practically invisible while they wait in ambush. \page Sordes meanwhile are the smallest and weakest of the lizalfos, but possess large wings that sprout from their shoulders and allow them to maneuver in the air, often (but not always) extending to full flight. ### Reptilian Genius Peaceful alifos are very different to their militant brothers. They have much shorter snouts and smaller builds. They are generally considerably more intelligent on top of this, and have proven capable of constructing civilisations of their own. The most commonly seen of the peaceful alifos are the zuna. Spindly and slight, they are found primarily in the deep deserts, often around the darknut citadels. The zuna are craftsmen without compare in this world. Their smiths produce the best armour and weapons, including the armaments of the darknut legions. Subrosians on the other hand are rarely seen above ground, and when they are they are tilling the fields of other races- they are labourers above all else, and consider sloth the ultimate failing. Short and broad, they can work for days on end with only the slightest rests, and will work for anyone with little reward. They will perform any labour, but prefer mining above all other things. When underground they gather their valuable heat from magma pools, an act that would be dangerous if it weren’t for their absolute immunity to extreme heat. The last of the peaceful alifos are the tokay. Short and potbellied and simple, the tokay live hedonistic lives and rarely concern themselves with the rest of the world. The tokay are also the only alifos who do not follow the beliefs of all their kind- that in some distant time they lived in a land of glorious war, artifice or labour, watched over by their benevolent lords the allfathers, before being sent in great arks of stone to the present day. ### Alifos (Militant) Traits ***Age:*** All alifos mature by the age of five and can live long into their third century. ***Typical Alignment:*** Alifos are more likely to be lawful than any other uncivilised race, particularly the somewhat organised and sane dinolfos, but are still usually chaotic. ***Speed:*** Your move speed is 35 feet. ***Size:*** Militant alifos are all roughly the same size. Dinolfos, Geru and Daira are all around seven feet tall with only minor distinctions from one another, weighing around one hundred and seventy pounds. Chameleonic alifos are smaller and hunched, being around six and a half feet tall and weighing one hundred and thirty pounds. Aerial alifos are an exception, sacrificing a great deal of strength for the ability to swoop. They are around five and a half feet tall, weighing around ninety pounds. All are medium sized. ***Cold Blooded:*** Alifos rely on external sources of heat to survive. If they are in a cold environment such as a tundra, mountaintop, or deep cave, they gain two levels of exhaustion whenever they would normally gain one. However if they are in a warm environment such as a desert, jungle, or volcanic crater they only gain one level of exhaustion for every two they would normally gain. ***Clawed and Fanged:*** Alifos can use their unarmed attack as a versatile weapon. If they do so then their attack does 1(d6) damage instead. This ability’s damage increases a dice size when you reach 5th level to 1(d8), 11th level 10 1(d10), and 17th level 1(d12). ***Subrace:*** You must pick one of the following subraces. ``` ``` ##### Lizalfos (Dinolfos/Geru/Daira) ***Ability Score Increase:*** Your Strength score increases by two and your Constitution and Dexterity scores increases by one. ***Slaughtermasters:*** Pick a damage type: slashing (daira) or bludgeoning (geru). You are proficient with all melee weapons which deal this damage type. Alternatively you can be proficient in all melee weapons which can be wielded in one hand (dinolfos). No matter your choice you are also proficient with shields, light and medium armor, and all bows (but not crossbows). ##### Chameleonic (Rampholeon); ***Ability Score Increase:*** Your Strength, Constitution and Dexterity scores increase by one, and your wisdom score increases by two. ***Shifting skin:*** You have proficiency in the dexterity(stealth) skill. As long as you are stationary you have advantage on all dexterity(stealth) rolls. ##### Aerial (Sordes); ***Ability Score Increase:*** Your Dexterity score increases by one. ***Swoop:*** You have a fly speed of fifty feet, but must end your turn in contact with the ground or fall all the way down. While you can move you are immune to falling damage not brought about by this rule. ***Flight:*** At level 6 and above you no longer benefit from ***Swoop***. Instead you gain a flying speed of fifty feet, and are immune to falling damage while you can move.

\page ``` ```

### Alifos (Peaceful) Traits The peaceful alifos think, act, and live very differently to their warlike brothers. ___ ***Age:*** All alifos mature by the age of five and can live long into their third century. ***Typical Alignment:*** Peaceful alifos are generally more intelligent than their militant counterparts and conform overwhelmingly to lawful alignments, except for Tokay who are too simple for such concepts. ***Speed:*** Your move speed is 25 feet. ***Cold Blooded:*** Alifos rely on external sources of heat to survive. If they are in a cold environment such as a tundra, mountaintop, or deep cave, they gain two levels of exhaustion whenever they would normally gain one. However if they are in a warm environment such as a desert, jungle, or volcanic crater they only gain one level of exhaustion for every two they would normally gain. ***Clawed and Fanged:*** Alifos can use their unarmed attack as a versatile weapon. If they do so then their attack does 1d6 damage instead. This ability’s damage increases a dice size when you reach 5th level (1d8), 11th level (1d10), and 17th level (d12). ***Subrace:*** You must pick one of the following subraces. ##### Subrosian ***Ability Score Increase:*** Your Constitution score increases by three. ***Size:*** Subrosians are small but very broad, like short round reptilian boulders. They tend to be around three or four feet tall and weigh around one hundred and twenty pounds. Your size is small. ***Tireless Workers:*** Subrosians accrue one level of fatigue for every two they would normally gain (and thus gain one level of fatigue for every four levels they would normally gain when in warm environments). Subrosians lose one level of fatigue on completing a short rest, and all levels on completing a long rest. They do not sleep and cannot be forced to. ***Mine Through Lava:*** Subrosians are immune to fire damage. #### Zuna ***Ability Score Increase:*** Your Wisdom and Dexterity scores increase by one, and your Intelligence score increases by two. ***Size:*** Zuna are frail and spindly, with delicate limbs and features. They tend to stand around four feet tall and weigh approximately seventy pounds. Your size is small. ***Incomparable Artisans:*** You are considered proficient with all artisans’ tools, as well as all crossbows. ##### Tokay ***Ability Score Increase:*** Your Charisma score increases by two, and your Constitution score increases by one. ***Size:*** Tokay are potbellied and plump, but short, and spindly in the limbs. They stand at around four feet tall and weigh around ninety pounds. Your size is small. ***Hedonists:*** Tokay are resistant to poison and psychic damage, and have advantage on all saving throws to resist being charmed. If a creature immune to being charmed is immune to an effect that is meant to affect a tokay then roll a d2- on a roll of 2 it also does not affect the tokay for the next month. Tokay are also immune to all fear-based effects. \page

# Zola SAUL WATCHED THE RIVER BELOW, *burbling and flowing beneath the hull of the ship. The* Breath of Jabun *parted the water with the gentlest of wash, leaving a pleasant enough wake which slowly made its way to the banks as it spread behind the trading vessel. The weeds beneath the water stirred and waved in the current, rippling with the motion of the craft. The young boy laughed as a fish jumped from the water behind the* Breath, *glinting silver and white in the sunlight before splashing back down. It leapt repeatedly, struggling further into the air each time. Eventually it was joined by others, all striving to be free of the river.* *"Mummy, come look at the-"* *The water parted with explosive force and something much larger than a fish broke the surface. It had teeth and fins and bright blue scales and staring, mad yellow eyes, and the last thing Saul thought was that perhaps he should have considered what a fish would be trying to escape below the surface.* ____ The zola are a widely despised race, considered ugly and crude and violent. This is because they are. Zola are broad, physically imposing creatures. They are strong, brutish, and unthinking. They prize physical strength and proensity for violence above all else, and can fight almost from the moment they can walk. A combination of crocodilian and shark-like in appearance, they stand hunched and coiled, always ready to spring for the throat of their enemies. They live in anarchic subaquatic tribes in which little to nothing is ever certain. A zola is always prepared to fight, even for the most trivial things in life. ``` ``` ### Fangs Beneath the Waves The zola, sometimes called river zora, are most easily described to somebody who has not met one by what they are not. With the exception of their sub aquatic traits, everything the zora prize the zola lack, and everything the zora lack the zola possess in spades. Perhaps it is unsurprising then that the zola and zora despise each other to an incredible degree, and each takes pride in the fall of the other. The zola live in tribal structures, scattered throughout Hyrule and the broader continent. They have a habit of infesting dificult to reach areas- remote marshlands and the depths of the largest lakes. They also live in large numbers above the snowline, finding refuge in mountain lairs where their metabolism slows to a crawl and they can hunt freely both on the slopes of the mountains and down in the valleys below. The tribes of zola are always shifting, never static. They merge with conquest and split due to infighting. Their chieftains are ever-changing as challengers rise and supplant the rulers or die trying, executed and eaten for their insolence. This constant anarchy makes it hard for any real cohesion to form- zola do not create, they do not build. Zola do not marry, and their mating is better left unspoken of. They are a vicious people, without compare in the mortal realm. \page The one constant in the tribes is the gyorg, the predatory fish who accompany the zola. Gyorg are enormous, powerful, and shockingly intelligent despite their bestial ferocity. The gyorg exist above and beside the normal feuding tribal organisation as priests and shamans, guiding the zola in their worship of their deities. Though the gyorg may not be chieftains they are the power behind the throne, and no zola could call himself a ruler without the consent of the demonic aquatic monstrosities which watch over them. ``` ``` ### The Prince of Fury The zola have two religions. Their local, old gods are the first and least, consulted for luck and guidance when raiding or migrating. The true divine power however is Bellum, the Demon Prince of Anger. In the Great Invasion Bellum, appearing most frequently as a cephalopod of incomparable scale, led the zola to many victories over the zora empire. Even today he is with them, appearing as an avatar at times of great importance or sending his gorgons to aid the tribes who exalt him. The zola worship of him forms their deepest divide with the zora, humanity, and even other uncivilised people such as the goblins. Nobody who worships demons openly can be trusted. In truth, the zola do not care- the world is to be fought and taken. ### Zola Traits ____ ***Ability Score Increase:*** Your Strength score increases by 2, and your Wisdom and Constitution scores increase by 1. ***Age:*** Zolas hatch able to swim and walk. They do not die of old age until well into their second century. ***Typical Alignment:*** Zola are rebellious and violent, and so tend towards chaotic evil. ***Size:*** Zola are barely humanoid, hunched and broad. They stand at around seven feet tall and weigh around one hundred and eighty pounds. Your size Medium. ***Speed:*** Your walking speed is 30 feet, and your swimming speed is 45 feet. ***Clawed and Fanged:*** Zola can use their unarmed attack as a versatile weapon. If they do so then their attack does 1(d6) damage instead. This ability’s damage increases a dice size when you reach 5th level to 1(d8), 11th level 10 1(d10), and 17th level 1(d12). ***Cryostasis:*** Zola can be frozen solid with no ill effects, but are still vulnerable to snap freezing. Zola are resistant to cold damage, and become *sapped* for one hour whenever they take cold damage or are exposed to cold weather. While *sapped* a zola is immune to cold damage and the effects of cold weather, and can be frozen alive without penalty. Their dexterity is also reduced by two points for the duration. ***Flame Bile:*** Zola have a natural ability to produce a flaming bile which burns even underwater, boiling the space around it. Zola are resistant to fire damage. They are also always equipped with the weapon below, which they spit from their mouths. | Name | Damage | Rules | |:----:|:-------|:--------:| | *Flame Bile* | 1d6 fire | *thrown* (range 30/120), *boiling*, *internalised* | *Boiling*: If the target of this weapon is underwater then attack rolls to hit it with this weapon have advantage. Being underwater does *not* make a creature resistant to the damage of *Flame Bile*. *Internalised*: This ability’s damage increases a dice size depending on the wielder's level, increasing when you reach 5th level (1d8), 11th level (1d10), and 17th level (1d12). Zola cannot run out of ammunition for their flame bile attack, and cannot be disarmed of it without surgery. **Aquatic:** Zola can breathe underwater. They must drink twice as much as a land based creature and cannot benefit from a long rest without access to enough water to wash themselves. ***... Is the bane of the other:*** Zola are resistant to fire damage and vulnerable to lightning damage.

\page

## The Rare ##### A world of millions will always have... another. Another exception, another example, another outlier. You could no more hope to count them or account for them than you could the stars in the sky.

\page

# Darknuts NEDJEM COULD FEEL THE SCORCHING *sun on the far side of his helmet, even through the padding, even over the cooling wind produced as he rode. The rebonack licked his nose reflexively, his long canine tongue darting out behind the armoured mouthguard to cool himself down.* *His horse clattered onwards, utterly fearless beneath its darknut rider. Nedjem kept his eyes focused forwards on the enemy, praying to Seth for the resolve to bring the charge home. His grip tightened on his lance, bringing it into a couch as he rode down towards the small horde of moblins. The goblins were jeering, their spears levelled, sure they could receive the charge comfortably.* *They could not. Nedjem hit the goblins first, followed by the rest of his wing. Each rebonack* **-** *horse, armour, and darknut included* **-** *weighed the best part of one and a half tons, and hit the goblins at around forty miles an hour.* *The word Nedjem would use later was 'liquified'.* ____ A darknut- or wosu as they call themselves- stands head and shoulders above a human. From the neck down their bodies appear normal, if slightly oversized and over muscled, and covered in a fine fur, usually brown or black. Their heads however are entirely canine, with the increased senses that come with that. They are rare in Hyrule, and this is a good thing- Darknuts are possessed of a love of warfare and violence beyond that of all but the most maniacal humans. In their own lands far to the west they live in great citadels and train endlessly for war, both with external forces and each other, using slaves for their daily needs. Though not all wosu are evil they follow a dark god of chaos and war, and act in his image. There is only strength and the blade to the Wosu, and anyone who disagrees is weak and insane. ### The Children of Isfet The darknuts have a written history that allegedly stretches back to before the first humans harnessed fire. They have few myths, only factual history, a history which is only an account of brutal warfare. \page According to the wosu they are the children of a great being named Seth, a being they revere as a god. Seth and his brothers Wra and Toth fell from the skies above the world, burning and plummeting into the deserts to the west of the Shahdom where the darknuts now live. Wounded and vulnerable, the three brothers were beset by three families of dragons, who they fought for thirteen years in constant battle. Seth slew dragons until he stood on a heap of their bodies as tall as the highest mountain. Seeing his glory the remnants of one family knelt before him before turning and battling against their own kind. In this they were led by their patriarch, the great dragon named Onox the Black. Onox was the first to swear his loyalty to Seth and his brothers, and it was thanks to Onox that Seth's victory was assured. Seth and Toth then made the races of the world. Humans and goblins and zora and gorons, each of them unsatisfactory. Some were exterminated, some were cast out, and some were kept as slaves for when the perfect people were finally created. Last of all Seth made the wosu, who were perfect. To them he taught strength and integrity and the correct manners in which to live, and they grew powerful. The darknuts raised up hundreds of mighty castles which they named citadels, each the size of a small city. Then, on Seth’s instructions, they made war. For the first millennia they fought each other. Then as their own numbers dwindled they fought tribes of savages, of humans and goblins and alifos. Then they fought the new empires of humanity and the other “chosen” races. Always the darknuts were fighting, and always they won. Even as Toth vanished to places unknown the darknuts were still watched by Seth, his rule enforced by his own strength and the obedience of his mighty dark dragons. Over time Seth grew more reserved, speaking and appearing less to the wosu, until eventually he vanished altogether. Fearful and bereaved the darknuts fought ever harder, and many more citadels fell in these desperate wars, leaving a power vacuum into which the Empires of Faron, Eldin and Lanayru grew, until it looked as if the wosu might consume themselves in their violence and hand the world over to the lesser peoples. Then the Demons came.

``` ``` ### The Invasion When the Great Invasion shook the world Seth returned, and led his children as a unified people for the first time in millennia. The darknuts fought against the demons with all their strength until, eventually, those otherworldly monsters were destroyed. The cost had been great. Many citadels had fallen. The dark dragons had betrayed Seth and joined the demons. The darknuts lay in ruins, but Seth was proud of them. He left the world forever, his leadership in the Invasion showing the wosu the correct path, his last act saving them from themselves. None could deny what they had achieved in their fighting. ### Slaves and Scum A country cannot be of warriors alone. Around the citadels grow cities of lesser peoples, slaves and serfs, the majority of which are subrosians and zuna. The former produce the raw materials the darknuts consume- ore for their weapons and food for their bellies. The latter craft the arms and armour of the legions, endlessly producing swords and plate mail of incredible quality- zuna craftsmanship is prized in Hyrule and beyond, on par with that of the gorons, but few outside the citadels can afford or find even a dagger produced by the reptilian artisans, and those who can are understandably proud of their possessions. The remaining slaves are of a variety of species, many of them unique to the citadels. The leonine lynel, a humanoid body rising from the neck of a horse with a lion's head in place of its own, fight as the legions' skirmish cavalry and occasionally its most valuable mounts. The mazura, horse-headed eight foot tall giants, labour to construct the buildings of the citadels. The fokka, flightless but incredibly fast avian humanoids, work as scouts and messenders. These and hundreds of other species are the grease in the gears which keep the citadel machine turning, and are why the few Hyrulians who reach the citadels are often staggered by the sheer variety of the slave races, and many wonder if there’s truth in what the wosu say of Seth. ### The Dogs of War The military of a citadel is a professional one, with every soldier training or fighting constantly throughout their life. It does however have strict rules, a code of marshal honour dictated by Seth tens of millennia ago. A soldier must always attempt to prove themselves- duelling is always preferable to massed combat, and massed combat is always preferable to a siege. It is also absolutely disgustingly shameful to fight from a distance- archery and the use of siege weapons are only to be used when the cowardly enemy flees or hides behind his walls. At all other times darknuts are expected to fight in their supremely heavy armour- chainmail if they have yet to prove themselves, plate once they are considered adult- and engage their enemy with sword, mace and axe. Cavalry is frowned upon- any use of beasts of burden is considered an admission of personal weakness and inability to either carry your own burdens or force a slave to do it- but not forbidden. The mounted forces of the wosu, known as rebonacks, tend towards irreverence and rebelliousness as a result as they are already living on the fringes of acceptable morality. \page The last thing forbidden, hated by Seth above all others, is magic. All magic is weakness, save for that which He gives out as a reward for diligence and service. Even today, two and a half millennia after his leaving, Seth's magic arrives to the wosu through unknown means, a secret to all but the mages themselves. Darknuts know their mages as Jermafensers, and there are never more than thirteen in a citadel, each a source of immense pride. ### The Fate of the Defiant Wherever there is a law there will be those who break it, whenever there is an inviolable code of honour there will be those who seek to violate it. The wosu have a strict code to demonstrate their strength, but there are of course those who would break that code. To break the code of Seth is to label yourself a goriya- essentially worthless in the eyes of society and the great god. A lucky goriya may escape, and make their home beyond the lands of the citadels. An unlucky goriya will face death, usually by trial of combat (with the combat of course being forced into terms acceptable to the code). Even escaped goriya must be careful. A goriya who is too brazen, too open in their actions or even in their existence, will face a hunt and ensuing destruction at the hands of other wosu, lest their disgusting ways spread further.

### Darknut Traits Darknuts, violent and strong as they are, have unique traits which all darknut characters possess. ___ ***Ability Score Increase:*** Your Strength score increases by two, and your Constitution score increases by one. ***Age:*** Darknuts are considered mature in their early teens and live for around sixty years, although they maintain good health for most of their lifespan. ***Typical Alignment:*** Darknuts are either organised and militarised or unbridled and religious. They tend towards either strongly lawful or chaotic alignments. Many darknuts are evil, although not all are. ``` ``` ***Size:*** Darknuts are tall humanoids, solidly built and well-muscled. They stand at around seven and a half feet tall and weigh around two hundred pounds. Your size is medium. ***Speed:*** Your walking speed is 30 feet. ***Darknut Martial Training:*** Darknuts are proficient with all simple and martial melee weapons, except for reach weapons, as well as all armor and shields. In addition they always use the improved damage dice when wielding versatile weapons. ***Equipped As Standard:*** Even before they fully prove themselves darknuts are equipped by their citadels for war. No matter their class’ starting equipment darknuts can always choose to start with a longsword, a shield, and a suit of chain mail instead of one of their weapons and the suit of armour normally available to them (if the darknut's class does not normally start with armour then a darknut may still choose to start with a suit of chain mail). ***Proven Warriors:*** Darknuts who reach level five without being declared goriya can request a longsword, a suit of plate armour, a Wosu Blade (see *Hyrulian Weapons*) and a shield for free from any sufficiently wealthy member of their own people- the citadels will reimburse the provider later. Darknuts who start at level 5 can choose plate armour instead of the chain mail provided by Equipped As Standard. ***Keen Sense of Smell:*** Darknuts have advantage on wisdom(perception) checks based on smell. > ##### Expies Make Life Easier > When in doubt, copy it out. Darknut names work well when modelled off the ancient egyptians, and their military structure is very similar to that of ancient Rome. > >It's not possible for Darknuts to be *too* militaristic or *too* focused on violence. That's just kind of who they are and what they do. \page

# Lynel Lynel quote goes here, going to try and fit these guys on one page. ### Pride of the Desert The Lynels are a proud and dangerous race of desert-dwelling centauroids. With the upper body of a man, the lower body of a horse and the head of a lion they are peerless hunters on savannah and deserts, without compare in the realm of sentient creatures. In the wild the lynel form prides, migratory hunter-gatherer tribes following the greatest of their number. These are the Pridemasters, massive horned lynels who have grown huge and powerful through constant struggle and gorging themselves on the finest parts of their kills. The lynel are utterly in tune with their environments, a trait considered to be due to their affinity for magic- magic suffuses their bodies, moving through their every fibre. This is such an extreme saturation that the lynels can even step into the flow of magic itself for brief periods, and are naturally resistant to arcane powers. ### Pride of the Citadels Despite their strength, or perhaps because of it, lynel have been subject to servitude at the hands of the wosu for many centuries. The darknuts prize them as scouts and shock troopers, and seek to capture a them whenever possible. Unlike most other slaves of the citadels however the lynels are held in high esteem and allowed to retain their pride- some are considered, or at least consider themselves to be, citizens of the citadels, as worthy as the wosu themselves. The darknuts allow them this pride because it makes them fight with greater fury, and because not even a wosu lord can easily command a Pridemaster. Some lynels allow wosu to ride them, although such an honour is usually reserved for the most powerful of jermafensers. Such a force, of wild strength and chaotic magic, is beyond the power of almost any opponent. ### Lynel Traits ***Ability Score Increase:*** Your Strength and Constitution scores increase by one. ***Age:*** Lynels can walk from birth, have children around the age of twelve, and live for around sixty years. ***Typical Alignment:*** Lynels are fierce and prideful, tending towards chaotic alignments. ***Size:*** Lynels are tall, around ten feet or so, with alphas being twice that. Their size is detailed under *centauroid*. ***Speed:*** Your walking speed is 50 feet. ***Centauroid:*** Lynels are bizarre creatures. They are generally considered to be of their **body** size class, but are considered to be of their **torso** size class for the purposes of determining what weapons they can wield and what creatures they can grapple (note that they are still considered to be their **body** size class for determining what creatures can grapple *them*). If a lynel's size class is altered (such as by the spell *Enlarge Reduce* or the Gnat Hat) then their body and torso size classes are altered seperately and by the same amount (for example a lynel who is enlarged by the spell *Enlarge Reduce* would then have a body size class of huge and a torso size class of large). Lynels have a body size class of large, and a torso size class of medium. Alternatively they can choose to be permanently become Pridemasters at character creation or whenever they gain a level in a class, in which case their body size class is huge and their torso size class is large. ***Ferocious Pursuit:*** Lynels may perform a single attack as a bonus action, provided they have made no other attacks that turn and the creature they are attacking is missing any of its hitpoints. ***Limited Flexibility:*** Lynel who are Pridemasters suffer disadvantage on attack rolls against targets of medium size class or below. ***Flowstep:*** Lynels can cast *misty step* once per day without requiring components or a spell slot, increasing to twice per day at 5th level and three times per day at 13th level. Any riders of the lynel travel with it as it teleports. ***Arcane Blood:*** Lynels recieve a +1 modifier to all saves they make against spells. \page

# minish T*ICK-TOCK GOES THE CLOCK, THERE'S a minish in the rafters//Leave some milk for their ilk and joy will follow after//Knock-knock goes the door, there is a begging orphan//Let them in and give them food or pain will follow often* ### The Littlest People There are many nursery rhymes in Hyrule, many superstitions for little children. Most are not true- there is no Honrip which eats the feet of children who refuse to change their socks, and youths who play out on the cliffs don’t turn into gulls. There is no sprite who collects teeth and leaves rupees, no watarara who delivers babies to expecting parents. But the story of the picori- the tiny little mouse people who leave presents for the lucky and the adventurous- is true, after a fashion. The picori- or picori minish as they call themselves, with picori just being a people within the broader minish race- are an odd people, and so rare that the vast majority of hyrulians don’t believe they even exist. Shrew-like humanoids, barely two inches tall, minish go where they please and do what they want, choosing to appear only to children or the most benevolent adults. They are miniscule, industrious and highly intelligent, and there are few obstacles to such a people. The picori can and have create entire cities inside derelict townhouses, thousands of their number living in a space a human family of four would find uncomfortably cramped. Inside these buildings masses of tiny but well-made picori houses, smaller even than those human children use for their dolls, decorate every single surface and a thousand tiny wisps of smoke from miniature picori hearth fires rise from a room’s floor. The Picori speak a language copied from the big people, an approximation of hyrulian laden with words and terms nobody but a picori could fully understand, of things being jickled (good) and bobbin-wise (bad) and absolutely wide-hide (extremely bad). They copy the faiths of the big people too, building churches to Hylia a foot tall. Their culture, silly and emulative that it is, is also copied and altered, keeping human concepts like marriage and family units but encouraging revelry and charity, especially towards the bigger folk. Hiding gifts for the deserving and doing the work of the beleaguered is key to the picori as a people as a result, and those few who believe the little people exist adore them for it. Though their work may be attributed to the fae and most refuse to believe they exist the minish only take what they are given from those they help, and a little goes a long way. A picori can live like a king on a chicken breast, and they frequently do so. The little people live lavishly when they aren’t working- there is normally so much food to go around that it spoils before it is eaten, even in the depths of winter, and the minish must often race to eat their offerings as fast as they can, holding great feasts and drinking from troughs of cream. ### The Homeland To the minish the term ‘picori’ means something specific. It refers to those minish who left their ancient home, the minish realm, for a new life in Hyrule. The minish realm is another land, parallel to Hyrule, a tiny parasitic plane floating through the cosmos, attaching itself to greater realms. It is a place of grand but tiny castles, soaring mountains the size of a large house and vast flowing rivers where a man might just comfortably swim. It is a land where magic is a daily part of life and the people speak an approximation of the fae tongue, the language of all arcane races. It is a realm whose craftsmen and enchanters are unparalleled in all of known existence and in times long past would make arcane devices to cast their tiny sliver of existence through the void, always travelling to the next world. \page When the Great Invasion rocked the material world the minish realm was caught up in the universal eddies it created, attaching itself to the Material Realm seemingly permanently. Stuck at the mercy of the demons, the minish were saved by the intervention of the mortal races of Hyrule, for whom the minish created many powerful weapons and devices in return to aid in that terrible war. When the Invasion was ultimately concluded the minish found that they still could not separate themselves from Hyrule, and instead created the Minish Doors, an impenetrable gateway which would remained closed for a century, only opening for one month before resealing once again for one hundred years. Though many minish choose to travel to Hyrule to become picori every time the doorway opens, seeing it as a land of opportunities and freedom, the vast majority of the race remains on the far side of the gateway in their own slice of the multiverse, with some trying to find a way to cast themselves off once more. ### Worldwalkers Though the minish consider their small forms a great benefit in most situations they do make it hard to interact with the big people in any meaningful way, whether to spend their gifts as the picori or to negotiate with the notable people of Hyrule as the more organised homeworld minish. The solution to this was the formation of an enchantment known as the Worldwalker spell. This lifelong spell can be cast on any minish, and gives them the ability to instantaneously and easily change their size and form, from their natural minish body to their Worldwalker form and back again. This Worldwalker form normally appears to be that of a human or hylian child, or at least an adult of diminutive size. This adds another layer to the minish fairytale- it is never wise to refuse travel to a child on the highway if you want the little people to aid you in your future life. ### Adventure and Glory! Minish always have a reason to adventure. In a very real sense adventure is all that picori minish *do*. Any picori minish with the strength and skill to become an adventurer would be considered not only a fool, but possily morally suspect if they did not take the opportunity to travel, see the world, and help people. ``` ``` If they have a Worldwalker this goes double- they have been given a great gift which they must live up to, or worked hard to achieve this ability. What other use could they have for their Worldwalker other than to experience the best of life?

### Minish Traits ***Ability Score Increase:*** You receive either of the following bonuses: *Picori minish:* Your Dexterity score increases by three points. *Homeworld minish*: Your dexterity score increases by one point and your intelligence score increases by two points. ***Age:*** Minish age slowly compared to humans, and it is an unlucky minish who doesn’t live to see two gate openings. Minish are fully grown by the age of around thirty, are venerable at the age of one hundred and eighty, and live for around two and a half centuries. ***Alignment:*** Picori minish are naturally rebellious, being either predilected to it or raised by parents who were, and tend to be chaotic as a result. Homeworld minish by contrast are much more staid and traditional and so tend towards Lawful alignements. ***Size:*** Minish are of small size in their Worldwalker forms, usually around 3 to 4 feet tall and weighing around 50 pounds. In their natural forms they are around 2 inches tall and weigh around an ounce, making them of tiny size. ***Speed:*** Your walking speed is 20 ft in your worldwalker form, and 5 ft in your natural form. . ***Worldwalker:*** A minish can switch to its natural form or Worldwalker form at any time as an action. In their natural form minish are of tiny size, with a base walking speed of five feet. Any piece of equipment or object held by a minish when the minish changes form changes size and design appropriately to fit the minish’s new form, but reverts to its original size as soon as it leaves the minish’s possession. Equipment made for minish in their natural form costs the same amount as normally sized equipment (what you save in materials you spend in fine detail craftsmanship). A minish who is subject to an antimagic field transforms into their natural form and cannot transform into their Worldwalker form while in the antimagic field. ***Regional Cultures:*** Homeworld minish are proficient in the intelligence(arcana) skill, while picori minish are proficient in the dexterity(stealth) skill. ***Artisans and Enchanters:*** Homeworld minish can attune to one more magic item than would normally be allowed. They can also cast identify with no components as an action without spending any spell slots. ***Small Hands and Weapons:*** any melee or ranged weapon attack a minish performs while in its natural form (including improvised weapon attacks and unarmed attacks) does only one point of damage of the appropriate type and has one-tenth the range, regardless of spells, feats, magic item status, ability scores, or anything else. ***Quiet and Digitigrade:*** Any spell a minish attempts to cast while in its natural form has a fifty percent chance of failing to be cast, wasting the spell slot and action. A minish can also cast their own peoples’ version of any given spell the minish can currently cast, which does not have this failure chance but has one tenth the range of the normal spell, does one tenth the damage, lasts for one tenth the duration (to a minimum of six seconds if it would normally be six seconds or more), and heals one tenth as many hitpoints. Spells with areas of effect are also reduced to one tenth along all listed distances. \page

# Watarara Watarara quote goes here, going to try and fit these guys on one page. ### Fins to Feathers Long ago, when humanity abandoned a world ravaged by the Great Invasion to seek refuge above the clouds, the zora were faced with a great crisis. The waters of the world were polluted and dried by fifty years of constant war, with only a few refuges left where they could make their home. Even these refuges were, in truth, unsuitable- the zora thrived in flowing waters and open spaces, and simply could not live in these separated lagoons. A solution was found. The prime leviathan of the age, Tamaranch, used the malleable properties of the zora biology to transform them on an enormous scale. Half of the race became the parella, scyphozoan creatures that would dwell in the lagoons. The other half would become the watarara, avian humanoids who would migrate across the land in search of food and homes. This act of great magic sent Tamaranch into a deep slumber from which he could not be woken, but he gave this sacrifice gladly for his people. That was two and a half millenia ago, one thousand years before the start of the Royal Era. The parella returned to their old forms when the kingdom of Hyrule was founded, becoming the modern zora population, but the watarara never surrendered their new wings. ### Flocking Together A migrating flock of bird-men, the watarara are seen in Hyrule but once a year, but arrive in enormous numbers when their month comes. They are treated as exotic objects by most of Hyrule, but are also often considered something of a pest. When their flocks descend on cities they spend wildly on food and accommodation, occupying the traders and streets and roosting on rooftops, for weeks on end. They are civilised and sensible, living in large families within their flocks, and though they have no tongue of their own they tend to be educated and wise in their own way. ### Watarara Traits All Watarara gain the following abilities to represent their innate racial traits. ***Ability Score Increase:*** Your Wisdom, Dexterity and Intelligence scores all increase by one. ***Age:*** Watarara can fly within days of hatching, have children around the age of ten, and die old by the age of fifty or so. ***Typical Alignment:*** Watarara tend to be entirely meritocratic, and the only authority they accept is that of their flight leader. They tend to be chaotic. ***Size:*** Watarara are short and slender, with long arms which double as wings. They tend to be around five feet tall but weigh a mere seventy or eighty pounds. ***Speed:*** Your walking speed is 30 feet. ***Eagle-eyed Hunters:*** Watarara have proficiency in the wisdom(survival) skill, advantage on wisdom(perception) checks to discern things over three hundred feet away. ***Swoop:*** You have a fly speed of fifty feet, but must end your turn in contact with the ground or fall all the way down. While you can move you are immune to falling damage not brought about by this rule. ***Flight:*** At level 6 and above you no longer benefit from ***Swoop***. Instead you gain a flying speed of fifty feet, and are immune to falling damage while you can move. ***Malleable forms:*** Watarara are easily altered by magic. Watarara have disadvantage on saves made to avoid the *polymorph* spell, and concentration checks made to maintain *polymorph* are made with advantage if the target is a watarara. > ##### A Bird By Any Other Name > Watarara are based on a noncanon race from the ***Ocarina of Time*** manga, but are primarily included to allow a player to play a rito in a timeline where they don't exist. I think. It's all a bit weird. \page

# Undead T *HERE IS A DOOR AT THE END OF THE universe, past life and beyond sensation. It is the destination of everything that could ever be, an unfathomably vast gate through which everything must pass. It is the Door of Death, and in a very literaly sense it is the most real thing that could ever exist."* *"And what if I don't want to pass through the gate?"* *"You think that matters? When you step off a cliff, you think gravity cares if you want to fall? You think you'll just wave your hand, stick your lip out, dig in your heels, and the universe will just say 'Oh, I'm very sorry, didn't want to make a fuss, you don't splat today?'* *"Everyone goes through the door. You don't want to know about the people who get lost along the way."* ``` ``` When a mortal dies its soul flees its body, a vanishing spirit which moves on to the next life, a new existence. The exact details vary by faith, but the cycle of life and death is always constant- birth, death, judgement and rebirth. It is the natural way of all mortals to follow this cycle, and it is a cycle which no mortal creature can ever hope to escape- even the most ancient and powerful beings will one day succumb to the effects of time. The undead are a perversion of this cycle. They lie beside it, within it, but not of it. Through one means or another they are a perversion of life, a soul trapped within a physical form which slowly degrades until only rotten dregs remain. A shambling form staggering its way over the hillside, a pile of bones clicking and clacking into a semblance of humanity, or an ethereal sirit wielding its own brightly glowing soul. These are only three examples of the many forms of undead, but by far the most common. There may be as much variation in undeath as there is in life, but the majority fall into one of these archetypes- the shambling redead, the clattering stalfos, or the ethereal poe. ### An Unlife Unlived Though not all undead are evil their very existence as a corrupton of nature puts them outside the boundaries of what the Goddesses have permitted to exist. To compound this further there is the existence of the monstrous, mindless undead- Low and Cimmerian Undead, as they are called- who make up the majority of those outside the normal life and death cycle. \page Low Undead are the most common form of undead. They are souls trapped only in part, with much of their higher functions lost. Like demons they draw upon dark energy to maintain themselves, and so have an innate desire to kill and destroy whatever they can lay their hands on. To end them is a kindness to the memory of whoever they once were. Cimmerian Undead are the undead animated by the spirits of demons from the Dark Realm, their bodies often bloated and twisted into new forms, horned and fanged and monstrous. Like Low Undead, Cimmerian Undead exist only to propagate evil and suffering, and must be destroyed accordingly. Unlike Low Undead however Cimmerian Undead are as intelligent as the spirit who possesses them, meaning that they can perform complex tasks and hatch plots of their own even while their Lower cousins are having difficulty with the concept of door handles. The last form of Undead are High Undead. These are also often considered "perfect" undead, and retain the entirety of their old soul, or at the least a perfect copy. These undead are the closest thing to a resurrection that can ever be achieved while the Doors of Death are closed, and are in many ways the same entity who once walked the world as a mortal. > ##### Universally Despised > In case it weren't obvious, the way people treat undead should make real-world racism, even historical and medieval racism, look like a joke. If this doesn't appeal to you then consider playing a different race. ### Screaming Horrors The oldest form of undead are the redeads, a form of undeath as old as life itself. An unliving body with a soul trapped inside, redeads retain their flesh and rely on their musculature to move. Theirs is a sad and difficult lot, their unliving body unable to heal and constantly, slowly decomposing and succumbing to rot. They are a common enough form of undead, an unfortunate snarl of soul and body which can occur by accident or design. In the Mythic era there were various kings and priests who saw the redead form as a possible method of achieving immortality. They attempted to slow their inevitable demise with formaldehyde, or swaddled themselves in arcane cloth. They were always disappointed in the results, their slow and unstoppable deterioration driving them to ever-further madness even as their souls remained trapped in their failing bodies. Rarely did they enjoy their centuries of extended lifespan, with most who did not lose their minds choosing ultimately to destroy themselves. This frustration is common to all redeads, and mixes with the spiritual pain of their existences to form an uncomfortable psychic broth which foments inside them. With a little effort and a great deal of rage this ethereal malice can be projected as a sound wave, a ripple of targeted anger and hatred which can strike fear into the bravest souls. ### The Stal Plague Although it remains impossible to obtain immortality is a common goal amongst mortal life. Dragons are no exception to this rule, and though no dragon ever achieved what they sought they have come close. The stal undead, a form of undeath in which the flesh of the body sloughs off leaving only gleaming, magically- animated bone, are the result of these attempts. Stal- Stal*fos* in the case of humanoids from the raaloren word for humanity *"fossik"* and the raaloren word for death, *"stalkada"* - feel no physical sensation. Pain and irritation are lost to them, but so are scent and taste. Their emotional status also slowly becomes more and more dulled, losing the ability to feel fear and love and hate and joy, and eventually losig the ability to think altogether. Their sight remains functional and sound still reaches their soul through arcane means, but these are the only senses they retain. Although the process of creating a Stal was originally a complex and voluntary rite this has long since changed. The dark dragon, Stallord, a stalraal of incredible size and power, released what he called the Stal Plague to aid his dark masters during the Great Invasion. This plague has no outward symptoms, but lays dormant through the infected's life, activating only with their death. At this point the body reanimates, shredding off their own skin and unliving as a stal. Hundreds upon thousands of these stals exist now, hidden in the darkest places of the world and deep beneath the earth, waiting to return and spread their terrible phage.

\page

___ ___ ___ ___ ### Ghosts and Other Myths The most esoteric form of undeath is the poe, although it may also be the most tragic. They are formed from a soul whose body is destroyed utterly, but whose business is not done or whose resentment is so overwhelming that they cannot pass on. That soul becomes anchored to the world, a scintillating blue-green flame which wraps over whatever trinkets it can find nearby. If left undisturbed the soul will begin to re-exert its will over the world, eventually manifesting an ethereal form with which it will carry itself. This is a poe, a spirit bearing its own brilliant soul, shining like a beacon in its own hands as it pursues its dark business. It may pour this soul into a vessel, carrying it as a lantern or holding it in its bare hands as it roams the world. The goals of these spirits vary wildly between individual poes, often beginning with revenge against those who wronged the poe in life or accomplishing the objectives which they left unfinished, but as those goals are accomplished or obstructed the poe will begin to deviate from these goals until their actions have seemingly no reason behind them, no connection to the life they lead. It is at this point that the poe must be extremely careful. With their purpose obfuscated or concluded the poe will require a new goal to work towards. Without such the poe will begin to lose its mind, its internal coherency slowly failing and its actions reverting to a series of rote activities. The poe becomes stuck in this way, circling an area as a vengeful spirit, barely able to ditinguish the living from one another and lashing out in confusion and hate at the material world. The poe becomes a haunting spectre, a mindless animal bound to its borne soul until it is ultimately dispelled through violent force. ### Undead Traits ***Ability Score Increase:*** Your Constitution score increases by two. ***Age:*** Undead, by their very nature, do not age. ***Typical Alignment:*** High Undead do not lose their disposition from life, and so can be of any alignment. ***Size:*** Most undead are of medium size. Some truly tragic examples and undead miniblin may instead be of small size. For some reason the bodies of large monsters, such as megablin, do not seem to become High Undead. Gorons can never become undead. ***Speed:*** Your walking speed is 30 feet. ***Undead Nature:*** Undead are immune to poison damage and are resistant to necrotic damage. They are also immune to the poisoned condition. Undead do not have to sleep, eat, drink or breathe, although they accrue fatigue levels as normal. Player character undead count as being both undead and humanoid creature type for all purposes. ***Arcane Senses:*** Undead are immune to the blinded and deafened conditions, and have infinite range darkvision. ***Undead Resilience:*** If damage reduces an undead to 0 hit points and you are in your original form (for example are not wildshaped or subject to the spells polymorph, true polymorph or shapechange) you must make a Constitution saving throw with a DC of half the damage taken or ten (whichever is higher) unless the damage is radiant or from a critical hit. On a success, you drop to 1 hit point instead. ***Subrace:*** you must pick one of the following subraces. ##### Stalfos ***Rag and Bone:*** Stalfos are resistant to slashing and piercing damage, but vulnerable to bludgeoning damage. ##### Redead ***Terror Screech:*** 3 times per day you may, as an action, perform a Terror Screech- one creature within fifteen feet of you which can hear you must make a wisdom save against your spell save DC (if you have no spell save DC then the DC is instead equal to ten plus your proficiency bonus plus your charisma modifier). If te creature fails it becomes frightened of you, and can repeat the save at the end of each of its following turns, ending the effects on a successful save. If the target fails the saving throw by 5 or more, it is also paralyzed for the same duration. A target that succeeds on the saving throw is immune to your Terror Screech for the next 24 hours. ##### Poe ***Bound To This World:*** You own a Spirit Lantern, in which your soul is bound with the remnants of your life essence. If your Spirit Lantern is ever removed from your possession then you must begin making death saving throws as if you had lost all health, and cannot stabilise until your lantern is returned to you. Your lantern can only forcibly be removed from your possession instead of disarming or dismembering you, or be taken from you as an item interaction if you are ever incapable of taking an action. If you die then your form dissipates, and only your lantern is left, counting as your remains for all purposes. ***Ethereal:*** You do not actually make contact with the ground, and hover six inches above the surface of any liquid or solid body unless you choose not to. You do not take falling damage as a result, and cannot be knocked prone. You cannot use the *dodge* action, but may become or remain *ethereal* as an action. This is a seperate action to *dodge*. While *ethereal* you recieve the following benefits. * You become immune to all nonmagical damage. * You gain a flying speed of 20 ft. (hover). * You can pass through nonmagical barriers (walls etc) - but not creatures - as if they were not there, as can any objects you carry, provided the barriers are not airtight. Your *ethereal* status ends if you use your bonus action or use your action to do anything other than remain *ethereal*. If you stop being *ethereal* while entirely or partially within a solid object then you immediately take 4d10 force damage and are expelled from the object by the shortest possible route. \page

# Kokiri TEAL FELL LIKE A COMET, A BLAZING *emerald light plummeting from the sky. Below her Mido, a kokiri *-* her kokiri *-* was on the ground, yelling in pain as a pair of lizalfos fell on him with blades and fangs.* ***Hold on!*** *Teal struck mido in the small of the back, forcing him into the ground hard enough for him to bounce back up. Mist billowed from the entry point and obscured the pair. Teal felt herself spreading throughout Mido's body, her crystal merging with his flesh and bone, a union of soul and form so familiar to them both. The plants and ground of the forest twisted around them, and there was a strange creaking, cracking, organic sound.* *What stood up had crystalline fangs the length of a man's arm and arms and legs made of trunks. It towered over the two reptilian creatures, and Teal could* feel *the glint in Mido's eyes as he looked down on them.*

___ Kokiri look like children, almost. On the surface they appear as normal hylian youths of between six and twelve years old, with pointed ears and brightly-hued eyes, but the longer one looks the more discrepancies one finds. They don't blink enough, their hair moves in wind which isn't there. Even in bright sunshine their skin and clothes are dappled with shade, and the air around them smells like cut grass and peat bogs. They lack basic knowledge about daily life but know things no child should, about the secret parts of the world and the mechanisms of gods. Their perception of time is skewed- they react to questions about their age with confusion, recall seasons long since past but cannot remember the ills of yesteryear, and though they wear normal enough clothes they believe that things like leather last no time at all before they rot away. Servants of a great arboreal god, there are two forms of kokiri, each with their purpose. The friendly, personable Glade Children (as most are known) are the envoys of that god, and generally normal enough, after a fashion. On the other hand there are the lost ones, the Skull Children. The kokiri may be eerie, but the Skull Children fade out of the darkness with wide smiles and wooden skin, playing songs which seep into your bones. Skull Children are terrifying. And we don't talk about the puppets.

\page

### Forest Spirits There have always been spirits in the lost woods. They live in the deepest glade where the arboreal magic waxes strongest, where few outside peoples have ever trod, gathering around the roots of the Great Deku Tree. In long gone times there were the kaddi- crystalline and tall, covered in sharp thorns and nearly fey in appearance. After the Invasion they vanished and were replaced by the kikwi- small, mammalian and unassuming creatures which foraged for berries in the dirt. When the darkness of the Scrambling and the disasters to follow beset Hyrule the kikwi vanished in turn, and in their place came the Kalle- vast and incredibly powerful plant-based entities, a fusion of flora and fauna which could tear down a village. Now the prevalent spirits are the kokiri. Childlike and whimsical, the kokiri spend their days playing in the deep forests- in the winter they fight in the snow. In spring they pick flowers, in summer they swim in the rivers and in autumn they eat apples from the trees. Always they are accompanied by their fairies, each kokiri having their own little flitting companion. Along with the symbiotic relationship the kokiri seem to have with their fae friends- and by extension the great fairies of the wilds- the forest children revere the Great Deku Tree as their father and god, and follow his leadership on all things. Despite their apparent youth and helplessness all kokiri possess magic of varying strengths, in some cases being extremely powerful manipulators of the flows of life and wind magic. Despite this strength however it is rare for a kokiri to venture outside of their glade, an act which they consider extremely dangerous. Usually leaving is expressly forbidden by the Great Deku Tree, but on rare occasions the Tree has a task which can only be accomplished by a direct agent, and so a kokiri is sent into the world. Most often this is an act of reward, a kokiri appearing to weave some magic over a pious village or person, escpecially a newborn child, but it is also often a warning. Though the Deku Tree is the patron of humanity he can only tolerate so much desctruction of nature, and those who take from the forests or the land too quickly or greedily may be visited by a Glade Child requesting they stop for a time. The kokiri will implore that those they speak with stop their actions, turn back their paths. The kokiri does this because they know the alternative, and so dearly wish to avoid it. No Glade Child wants the Skull Children to be needed. ### The Skull Children. When the Glade Child's words are ignored, the alternative arrives. Nobody knows exactly from where the Skull Children come- to some they are hylian and human children who were lost in the deepest forests. To others they are a dark reflection of the kokiri, twisted and inverted and with a deeper connection to the forests than even the Glade Children. No matter their origin, their appearance is known, as is their method. Clad in rags and leaves, with their wooden faces split wide by toothy grins and sunken eyes of shimmering ruby which give them their name, the Skull Children emerge from the forests around the logging camp or fade out of the darkest depths of the mines playing their eldritch songs. What follows changes depending on the situation and who is telling the story. An avalanche of ferocious wildlife fils the tunnels. The lumberjacks put down their axes and dance a merry jig after the children. Every man listening spontaneously falls to the floor dead, or has his flesh vanish in a puff of smoke revealing a grinning skeleton who will haunt the site for centuries to come. Then there are the puppets which march at the behest of the Skull Children. Those wooden automatons which fall from the sky on strings connected to nothingness, their limbs unfolding to reveal fingers glinting with blades and their teeth sharp like stakes, moving soundlessly except for the click and clack of their wildly flailing arms... We don't talk about the puppets. > ##### Expies make life easier. > If you want to create fae text or get a feel for how it should sound then Irish Gaelic can be a great reference language! \page ### The Wide World Kokiri readily become adventurers by their very nature- they fear little in the glade, and by the time they have learned to fear they have also learned to be brave. Kokiri usually have the natural adventurous spirit of children, and most pair this with enough arcane power to back up their ambitions and keep them safe. This means that the world tends to reward their curiosity, and since they want for little back in the glade they have plenty of opportunities to indulge this curiosity. In addition the Deku Tree is more than capable of foretelling at least an impression of the future, and can and will send Glade and Skull Children on journeys of importance to change or ensure that future. If there is a fated adventure of great import it is entirely reasonable for the Tree to send a kokiri He considers capable of contributing to whatever group may be undertaking it. An adventuring party that finds itself accompanied by a forest spirit may be fated for greater things than it knows. ### Kokiri Names Kokiri names are very simple- they are names which sound cool or pretty or neat. They tend to use hylian names, if simplified a little, and so won't be detailed here. Fairy names on the other hand tend to follow a strict pattern- they are four letters, two consonants and two vowels. ***Fairy names:*** Aeth, Aren, Biki, Bolo, Croo, Deir, Diol, Eren, Faor, Hine, Julo, Lora, Midi, Navi, Nour, Nule, Oort, Pado, Rale, Seti, Tael, Tatl, Teal, Vili, Zien ### Kokiri Traits Being inherently eldritch beings, kokiri have many traits which are not found in other creatures and are conferred to kokiri characters. ___ ***Ability Score Increase:*** Your Charisma score increases by two. ***Age:*** Kokiri do not seem to age. ***Typical Alignment:*** Kokiri tend towards whimsy and kindness and are usually chaotic good, but other good and neutral aligned kokiri do exist. On the other hand, although some kokiri may be petty or selfish or cruel there are most definitely no evil kokiri, as the Tree would not tolerate them to continue as they were. Skull Children also have a whimsical tendency, but not even the kokiri understand their motives. Perhaps some relish what they do, perhaps not. Skull Children tend towards chaotic neutral, but it is far from inconcievable for them to be evil or good. ***Size:*** Glade Children appear to be slightly fey hylian children. Skull Children are similar, but their exposed skin is like teak. They are both around three feet tall and weigh around thirty pounds, with both having a size of small. ***Speed:*** Your walking speed is 20 feet. ***Yggdrasil’s Gaze:*** Kokiri can re-roll attack rolls and saving throw results of one. ***Arboreal:*** You can try to hide when lightly obscured by foliage, heavy rain, falling snow, mist, and other natural phenomena. You are also vulnerable to fire damage. ***Subrace:*** you must pick one of the following subraces. ``` ``` ##### Glade Child ***Fey Companion:*** You are permanently accompanied by a fairy, your closest and dearest friend. This fairy is controlled by the DM but has an initial personality, appearance, name and disposition set by you. Its profile is below. If your fairy is killed then it dissipates, returning to existence as close as possible to you at the end of your next short or long rest. If you die then your fairy is destroyed until such a time as you return to life, at which point it also reappears as close as possible to you. ##### Skull Child ***Lure and Scare:*** You have proficiency in the charisma skills of performance and intimidation. ***Hard to Kill:*** If damage reduces you to 0 hit points and you are in your original form (for example are not wildshaped or subject to the spells polymorph, true polymorph or shapechange) you may make a Constitution saving throw with a DC of half the damage taken or ten (whichever is higher) unless the damage is fire or from a critical hit. On a success, you drop to 1 hit point instead. ***Puppetmaster:*** Whenever you use a spell or item which summons a creature or a number of creatures you may instead summon Skull Puppets. Your spell still functions as normal, except any limitations on creature type or specific creature are ignored. For example a spell that lets you summon a bear would let you summon a Skull Puppet, and a spell which lets you summon 100 hitpoints worth of beasts would let you summon 100 hitpoints worth of skull puppets. You may also raise Skull Puppets instead of raising skeletons or zombies from a corpse when using create undead. Skull Puppets follow you unconditionally, have no motivations beyond those you choose to give them, and only obey you, regardless of what magic may be employed to change their minds. > ##### Playing a Kokiri > Regardless of subrace, the presence of a kokiri is A Big Deal. Your presence in the party will be notable, even moreso than other rare peoples, and this may not be something your DM wants. Whether or not the kokiri are available as a PC race is absolutely up to your DM, even moreso than with other races. > >It's also worth mentioning that the background of the kokiri is deliberately vague. Although suggestions of your true nature will be available to your DM, this is your DM's Hyrule and it works how your DM wants. Being a kokiri means by definition not knowing everything about your nature or past, and possibly having elements of your character dictated to you, including secrets about yourself which you may not have been aware of and ***may not be positive***. If this does not appeal to you or you do not trust your DM to make decisions you will like then ***do not play a kokiri***.

____ \page ____ > ## Skull Puppet >*Medium Construct, Nonaligned* > ___ > - **Armor Class** 8 > - **Hit Points** 22(3d8+9) > - **Speed** 0ft., fly 20ft. (hover) >____ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|15 (+2)|6 (-2)|16 (+3)|8 (-1)|12 (+1)|5 (-3)| >___ > - **Damage Immunities** poison, psychic > - **Damage Vulnerabilities** fire > - **Condition Immunities** charmed, poisoned, stunned, frightened > - **Senses** passive Perception 11, blindsight to 30ft. but cannot otherwise see > - **Languages** understands Fey but can't speak > - **Challenge** 1/4 (50 XP) > ___ > ***Constructed:*** If damage reduces the puppet to 0 hit points, it must make a Constitution saving throw with a DC of 5 + the damage taken, unless the damage is fire or from a critical hit. On a success, the puppet drops to 1 hit point instead. > ***Tools of the Skull Children:*** Puppets cannot be convinced or forced to knowingly disobey the Skull Child who summoned them through any means, including magical. > > ### Actions > ***Slash.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. *Hit:* 5 (1d6 + 2) slashing damage. ____ > ## Fairy >*Tiny Fey, Any Alignment* > ___ > - **Armor Class** 15 > - **Hit Points** 2(1d4) > - **Speed** 10ft., fly 40ft >____ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|3 (-4)|18 (+4)|10 (+0)|14 (+2)|13 (+1)|11 (+0)| >___ > - **Damage Immunities** poison > - **Damage Vulnerabilities** thunder > - **Condition Immunities** charmed, poisoned > - **Senses** passive Perception 11 > - **Languages** Those of the kokiri it is bonded to. > - **Challenge** 1/4 (50 XP) > ___ > ***A Fragment of Soul:*** A fairy's abilities, actions and statistics change as its kokiri levels up, as detailed below. When a level is stated, assume this is the level of the kokiri the fairy is bonded to. > ***Fragmentary Build:*** At level 4 a fairy becomes around one foot tall. At level 8 it is around the height of its kokiri and its size becomes small. > ***Fragmentary Vanishing:*** A fairy can cast *invisibility* as a bonus action at will. At level 4 this instead becomes *greater invisibility*. Both of these spells can only target the fairy and no other creatures. ___ > ***Fragmentary Traits:*** At level 4 the fairy's Dexterity score increases to 20(+5), its Constitution increases to 13(+1), and its Charisma increases to 16(+3). At level 16 these increase again to a Constitution of 14(+2), and an Intelligence of 16(+3). > > ***Fragmentary Resilience:*** At level 4 the fairy's maximum hitpoints increases to 14(4d4+4). At level 16 it increases again to 40(9d4+18). > > ***Fragmentary Speed:*** At level 4 the fairy's flying speed increases to 60 ft. > > ***Fragmentary Spellcasting:*** The fairy's innate spellcasting ability is Charisma. It can innately cast a number of spells, requiring no material components. As the fairy's kokiri gains levels it gains additional spells, as detailed below. A fairy does not lose spells as its kokiri levels, and retains all spells it has previously unlocked. >***Level 4:*** 1/day each: *dancing lights, mage hand, minor illusion, color cpray, mirror image.* >***Level 8:*** 1/day each: *major image, hallucinatory terrain, polymorph* >***Level 16:*** at will: *mage hand* >1st level (3 slots): *magic missile, shield* >2nd level (2 slots): *blur, flaming sphere* >3rd level (1 slot): *fireball* > > ### Actions > ***Stab.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. *Hit:* 1 piercing damage. > > ***Fey Beam:*** *Ranged Weapon Attack:* +6 to hit, range 40/160 ft., one target. *Hit*: 1 radiant damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or become poisoned for l minute. If its saving throw result is 5 or lower, the poisoned target falls unconscious for the same duration, or until it takes damage or another creature takes an action to shake it awake. > > ***Fairy Dust (level 4+ only):*** The fairy blows a puff of scintillating dust at one creature within 5 feet of it. The target must succeed on a DC 11 Wisdom saving throw, or for 1 minute, the target can't take reactions and must roll a d6 at the start of each of its turns to determine its behavior during the turn: >**1-4.** The target takes no action or bonus action and uses all of its movement to move in a random direction. >**5-6.** The target doesn't move, and the only thing it can do on its turn is make a DC 11 Wisdom saving throw, ending the effect on itself on a success. > > ***Major Fey Beam (level 16+ only):*** The fairy performs the following *Ranged Weapon Attack* twice: +5 to hit, range 30 ft., one target. *Hit:* 10 (3d6) radiant damage. \page # Language ### A Name by Any Other Name Hyrule and the wider world have a large number of minor languages spoken by various peoples, but these are not the standard Dungeons and ragons languages. In order to keep thematic concepts it would be wise to make some substitutions to the languages found in the Player Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide and other source materials for Fifth Edition. These are as follows: * All instances of *Common* should be replaced with *Hyrulian*. * All instances of *Druidic* and *Sylvan* should be replaced with *The Fae Tongue*. * All instances of *Infernal*, *Abyssal* and *Primordial* should be replaced with *Demonic*. * All instances of *Deep Speech* should be replaced with *Deep Abyssal*. ### A Word On Words. The following are the dominant languages of Hyrule, and ae the majority of all tongues spoken there. ***Civilised Languages:*** * *Hyrulian* is the state language of the kingdom of Hyrule and a common trader tongue all over the continent. It has twenty six characters which are utterly basic, but versatile beyond almost all others. * *Takalmma* is the language of the gerudo Shahdom. Heavily influenced by Setian and seperated from Hyrulian by one and a half millenia of cultural distance, it's almost unrecognisably connected to its mother language. * *Serpentine* is the tongue of the sheikah faith. It is beyond secretive, and is spoken only by the crimson-eyed folk. Others may never learn it barring exceptional circumstances or individuals. * *Goruah* is the language of gorons. It is chanting and rhythmic and sounds like a gradual avalanche. It is possibly the oldest language to exist in the world and has been spoken since the mythic era. * *Piscian*, the language of zora, is a flowing and graceful tongue that carries well beneath the waves. * *Vordic* is the language of the zuna, and is generally extremely methodical and precise with little to no room for interpretation. * *Setian* is spoken in the darknut citadels. It is a language best spoken in short, rapid bursts comparable to barking, and sounds extremely harsh. * *Minost* is the quiet, whistling language of the minish. ***Unvicilised Languages:*** * The variants of the goblin languages of *Blinnic* can change quite significantly by region, but are generally mutually intelligible despite being a series of guttural grunts and snarls. * *Anukk* is the gravelly language of the anouki. It is remarked as being tiring on the throat. * *Abyssal Piscian*, spoken only by the zola and their gyorg masters, vaguely resembles a vastly more brutish and unpleasant version of the zora tongue. * *Low Vordic* and the variations thereof are spoken by most uncivilised lizardfolk throughout the world. It is largely to Vordic as Abyssal Piscian is to Piscian. * *Boko* is a language of whistles and clicks. It is spoken by the scrub tribes of the Lost Woods. ***Arcane and Dead Languages:*** * The whistling and enigmatic *Fae Tongue* is spoken by the most ancient and mysterious groups, most prominently the kokiri but also the oocca and fairies of all types. * *Raaloren* is the language of dragons. It is difficult to speak for anyone who is not a dragon themselves, but not impossible, ful of hard consonants. * *Deep Abyssal* is a language spoken only by the gyorg and the leviathans. * *Imperial* is the language of ancient humans, only found written in ancient ruins. * *Lost Piscian* is a language only found in the old ruins of the zora empire. * *Demonic* is a language used to commune with demons. It is dangerous to speak, as its very nature means that when it is spoken a demon will always hear. *** ### Races and Languages Wherever relevant a character of a given race can speak the languages given below, plus any others they may learn from other sources. All player characters can also speak *Hyrulian*. * *Hylians*, *cloudlings* and *humans* can speak one language of their choice. * *Gerudo* can speak *Takalmma* and one other language of their choice. * *Sheikah* can speak *Serpentine* and one other language of their choice. * *Gorons* can speak *Goruah*. * *Zora* and *Watarara* can speak *Piscian*. * *Zuna*, *Subrosians* and *Tokay* can speak *Vordic*. * *Darknuts* can speak *Setian* and one other language of their choice, usually *Vordic*. * *Lynels* can speak *Setian* * *Goblins* can speak *Blinnic*. * *Lizalfos*, *Rampholeon* and *Sordes* can speak *Low Vordic* * *Zola* can speak *Abyssal Piscian*. * *Kokiri* can speak *The Fae Tongue* and *Boko*. * *Scrubs* can speak *Boko* * *Minish* can speak *The Fae Tongue* and also *Minost* * *Anouki* can speak *Demonic* and *Anukk* * *Mogma* can speak *Goruah* * *Undead* can speak whatever languages they spoke in life (meaning they may select any race's languages from this list except for the gorons and minish). \page

# The Devices Ingenious

##### A warrior is little better than the sword he wields.

\page ### Hyrulian Beasts Hyrule and Deis possess many creatures which can be found all across the hypothetical worlds of the cosmos. Birds, chickens, horses, and wolves call it and many other worlds home. Some native creatures however are much rarer, much more exceptional, found only on this world. Some of these creatures, ones which are extensively domesticated and which would be of use to an adventuring party, are detailed below. #### Bombchus *Cost: 75 gp* Bombchus are lithovoric vermin around a foot in length which inhabit the same broad ecosystem as the gorons. Coloured a muddy brown except for the large black explosive sphere hanging from their trails, they can function either as ambush hunters or aggressive predators, either way relying on exploding their tail to slay prey or shift rocks which their young can then feed on. Domesticated bombchus make popular livestock, used either for mining or less friendly purposes, although training them to recieve commands and not immediately attempt to blow up their masters makes them rather expensive. ___ > ## Bombchu >*Tiny beast, unaligned* > ___ > - **Armor Class** 12 > - **Hit Points** 5(1d4 + 3) > - **Speed** 40ft. >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|10 (0)|16 (+3)|16 (+3)|4 (-3)|14 (+2)|4 (-3)| >___ > - **Condition Immunities** Poisoned > - **Damage Immunities** Poison, Fire > - **Damage Vulnerabilities** Ice > - **Senses** Darkvision 120 ft. passive Perception 13 > - **Languages** Understands basic commands in various languages, but cannot speak. > - **Challenge** - (0 XP) > ___ > ***Scuttling Climb.*** The Bombchu can walk up sheer surfaces or upside-down on ceilings as if they were level floor. > ### Actions > ***Bite.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +0 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. *Hit* 1 (1+0) piercing damage > > ***Detonate:*** Each creature within 10 feet of the bombchu must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or take 3d6 fire damage. The bombchu is then immediately reduced to 0 hitpoints and then instantly stabilises. > >After detonating a Bombchu cannot do so again for seven days. ``` ``` #### Bulbos *Cost: 100 gp* Bulbos are large, boar-like creatures favoured by the bulblin as mounts. They have markedly stronger backs than horses, are faster on the charge, and are much more naturally aggressive. They are however much harder to control than horses, notably slower over long distances, and eat far more. ___ > ## Bulbo >*Large beast, unaligned* > ___ > - **Armor Class** 10 (natural armor) > - **Hit Points** 22 (3d10+6) > - **Speed** 45 ft. >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|18 (+4)|10 (0)|14 (+2)|6 (-2)|12 (+1)|7 (-2)| >___ > - **Senses** passive Perception 11 > - **Languages** none > - **Challenge** 1/2 (100 XP) > ___ > > **Strong Backed** A bulbo is no stronger than a horse, but is less concerned with concentrated loads like riders. Two medium or smaller creatures can ride a bulbo at the same time. Alternatively one large creature can ride a bulbo. Only one creature riding a bulbo may control it if it is a controlled mount. > > **Goring Rush** A bulbo may perform a *Gore* attack as a bonus action, provided it used its action to dash. > > ### Actions > ***Gore.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +6 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. *Hit:* 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage. > > ***Bite.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone

\page #### Dodongo *Cost: 250 gp* Dodongos are a species of semi-lithovoric creatures native to the eldin mountains. Naturally aggressive and extremely hard to kill, dodongos make useful and powerful war mounts for any strong enough to keep them in check. While they remain loyal there are few mounts which can hope to stand against one in battle, but any prospective dodongo rider should be aware that it only takes a small show of weakness for a dodongo to turn on its supposed master. ___ > ## Dodongo >*Large beast, unaligned* > ___ > - **Armor Class** 18 (natural armor) > - **Hit Points** 45 (6d10 + 12) > - **Speed** 30 ft. >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|16 (+3)|8 (-1)|15 (+2)|5 (-3)|12 (+1)|4 (-3)| >___ > - **Damage Immunities** Fire > - **Damage Resistances** Poison > - **Damage Vulnerabilities** Cold > - **Senses** Darkvision 120 ft. passive Perception 11 > - **Languages** none > - **Challenge** 2 (500 XP) > > **Semi-lithovoric:** The Dodongo has advantage on saves to avoid the *poisoned* condition, as well as any saves brought about by poisons. >____ > ### Actions > ***Bite.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +2 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. *Hit:* 17 (4d6 + 3) piercing damage. > > ***Swift Tail Spin.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +0 to hit, reach 5ft. Targets all creatures within range. *Hit:* 9 (2d6+2) bludgeoning damage. > > ***Fire Breath (Recharge 5-6).*** The Dodongo exhales fire in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw, taking 25 (5d8 + 2) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. ``` ``` #### King Dodongo *Cost: 600 gp* Dodongos who can survive for more than a century will eventually grow into the vast and dangerous creatures known informally as King dodongos. In the wild a king dodongo is an alpha of their species, an apex predator which roams the eldin mountains in search of prey and which is one of the few creatures which can threaten a fully-grown goron. Raising a domesticated dodongo to the age where it can assume kingship is no mean feat, but the rewards are entirely worth it. The kings are frequently less aggressive and violent than their younger kin, making them easier to control despite their vast power. This makes them extremely sought-after beasts, as siege weapons if nothing else. ___ > ## King Dodongo >*Huge beast, unaligned* > ___ > - **Armor Class** 20 (natural armor) > - **Hit Points** 92 (8d12 + 40) > - **Speed** 30 ft. >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|20 (+5)|7 (-2)|20 (+5)|6 (-2)|16 (+3)|4 (-3)| >___ > - **Damage Immunities** Fire > - **Damage Resistances** Poison > - **Damage Vulnerabilities** Cold > - **Senses** Darkvision 120 ft. passive Perception 13 > - **Languages** none > - **Challenge** 4 (500 XP) > > **Semi-lithovoric:** The King Dodongo has advantage on saves to avoid the *poisoned* condition, as well as any saves brought about by poisons. >____ > ### Actions > ***Bite.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +5 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. *Hit:* 31 (8d6 + 3) piercing damage. > > ***Fire Breath (Recharge 5-6).*** The King Dodongo exhales fire in a 30-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 30 (6d8 + 2) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

\page #### Loftwing *Cost: 400 gp* Loftwings are a breed of enormous bird, large and strong enough to carry human-sized creature on their backs while in flight. They are highly elusive, being only willing to nest on aerial islands and the tallest cliffs, and cannot be farmed in any capacity due to a propensity for sickness while in captivity. Due to this they are extremely expensive and highly prized mounts, and their taming and domestication provides much of the trade income of the cloudling islands. ___ > ## Loftwing >*Large beast, unaligned* > ___ > - **Armor Class** 14 > - **Hit Points** 16(3d10+0) > - **Speed** 20ft., fly 120 ft. >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|12 (+1)|18 (+4)|10 (+0)|6 (-2)|16 (+3)|12 (+1)| >___ > - **Senses** passive Perception 14 > - **Challenge** 1/4 (50 XP) >____ > ***Spiral Dash*** On a turn in which it dashes all attacks against a loftwing have disadvantage. > ___ > ### Actions > ***Beak and Claws.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +3 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. *Hit* 8 (2d6 + 1) slashing damage. #### Remlit *Cost: 25 gp* Remlits are small, cat-like creatures with bushy tails and oversized ears. They are noted for two features- their ability to fly using their ears over short distances and, more importantly, their enormous affinity for magic. Remlits are valued as familiars due to this trait, being more in tune with the arcane flows than any other natural creature known to exist. ___ > ## Remlit >*Tiny beast, unaligned* > ___ > - **Armor Class** 16 > - **Hit Points** 2(1d4) > - **Speed** 40ft., fly 20 ft. >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|3 (-4)|22 (+6)|10 (+0)|6 (-2)|12 (+1)|16 (+3)| >___ > - **Senses** truesight (infinite range), passive Perception 12 > - **Challenge** 1 (200 XP) ``` ``` ____ > ***Flowsense*** Remlits are considered to constantly be under the effects of a *detect magic* spell. They also suffer disadvantage on any saving throws against mental effects. > > ***Impossible Grace*** Whenever Remlits take damage, roll a d10. If the result is anything other than 1 they do not take damage. > > ***Naturally Arcane*** A Remlit can be designated as a familiar by the spell *Find Familiar* instead of summoning a spirit for the role. Remlit familiars cannot be transformed like normal familiars, and are un-designated as familiars instead of being dimissed. They can however attack as normal. > ___ > ### Actions > ***Bite and Scratch.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +6 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. *Hit* 7 (1+6) slashing damage.

\page #### Sand Seals *Cost: 200 gp* Sand seals are similar to their southern, aquatic cousins in that they are large blubbery creatures who swim through a medium. Unlike conventional seals however sand seals use their insulating blubber to keep the desert heat away from thelseves as they swim through the looser sand of the deep desert, or burrow through topsoil elsewhere in western Hyrule. ___ > ## Sand Seal >*Large beast, unaligned* > ___ > - **Armor Class** 11 (natural armor) > - **Hit Points** 22 (3d10+6) > - **Speed** 10 ft., burrow 40 ft., swim 80 ft. >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|16 (+3)|12 (1)|14 (+2)|4 (-4)|12 (+1)|7 (-2)| >___ > - **Senses** passive Perception 11 > - **Languages** none > - **Challenge** 1 (200 XP) > ___ > > > **Sand Swimmer** Sand seals can use their swimming speed when moving through sand, and take thirty minutes to begin suffocating or drowning in any medium. > > **Surface Tunnelers** Sand seals which are being ridden can burrow along the surface soil, keeping their rider's head above ground (although possibly getting them a bit mucky in the process). Provided the ground it is on is soil or mud, a sand seal may use its burrow speed in place of its normal move speed. > > ### Actions > ***Tusk Slash.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +6 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. *Hit:* 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage. ``` ``` #### Yollen Bears *Cost: 600 gp* The result of a highly risky but largely successful arcane experiment by the wizards of distant Labrynna, yollen bears are a bizarre arcano-organic race of flying, carnivorous, laser-firing ursines. Originally created to be benevolent guardians of Labrynna against the undead horrors of the Sea of No Return, the Yollen bears escaped into the wild following the battle of Yoll, and remain in the highlands of Labrynna to this day. Powerful, kind and intelligent they make great protectors and mounts, and occasionally can be found for sale in Hyrule's markets. ___ > ## Yollen Bear >*Large beast, Chaotic Good* > ___ > - **Armor Class** 12 (natural armor) > - **Hit Points** 42 (5d10+15) > - **Speed** 40 ft., swim 25 ft., fly 25 ft. >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|20 (+5)|10 (+0)|16 (+3)|7 (-2)|13 (+1)|16 (+3)| >___ > - **Senses** passive Perception 11 > - **Languages** none > - **Challenge** 2 (450 XP) > ___ > > > > **Keen Smell** The yollen bear has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell. > > > ### Actions > ***Multiattack.*** The yollen bear makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its claws. > >***Bite.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d8 + 5) piercing damage > >***Claws.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d6 + 5) slashing damage. > >***Beam Fire.*** *Ranged Weapon Attack:* +5 to hit, reach 100 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) radiant damage.

\page

#### Lynel *Cost: 6,000 gp as slaves, or 3 gp per day as hirelings* The lynels roam the deserts as migratory tribes of hunter-gatherers known as prides, always looking for their next meal. Some escape this life as mercenaries, others are taken from it as slaves. Regardless of the reason lynels can and do end up in the markets of the Shahdom, either selling their loyalty or having it sold for them. Free lynels may even make it as far as Kara Kara itself. ___ > ## Lynel >*Large monstrosity, Chaotic Neutral* > ___ > - **Armor Class** 14 (hide armor) > - **Hit Points** 51 (6d10+18) > - **Speed** 50 ft. >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|20 (+5)|12 (+1)|16 (+3)|10 (0)|13 (+1)|12 (+1)| >___ > - **Skills** Athletics +7, > - **Senses** passive Perception 11 > - **Languages** Setian, Hyrulian > - **Challenge** 2 (450 XP) > ___ > > ***Ferocious Pursuit*** Lynels may perform a single attack as a bonus action, provided they have made no other attacks that turn and the creature they are attacking is missing any of its hitpoints. > > ***Flowstep*** Lynels may cast *Misty Step* once per day without requiring components. Any riders are teleported with the Lynel. > > ### Actions > ***Multiattack.*** The lynel makes two attacks. > >***Pike.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (1d10 + 5) piercing damage > >***Longbow.*** *Ranged Weapon Attack:* +3 to hit, reach 150/600 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 1) piercing damage. ``` ``` .

#### Lynel Pridemaster *Cost: 12,000 gp as slaves or 6 gp per day as hirelings* Lynel Pridemasters are much larger than their kin and far more powerful. It is uncommon for a Pridemaster to offer themself as a mercenary, but those few who do are treasured associates to anyone with sense. ___ > ## Lynel Pridemaster >*Huge monstrosity, Chaotic Neutral* > ___ > - **Armor Class** 16 (breastplate) > - **Hit Points** 116 (11d12+44) > - **Speed** 50 ft. >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|20 (+5)|14 (+2)|19 (+4)|10 (0)|15 (+2)|14 (+2)| >___ > - **Skills** Athletics +7, > - **Senses** passive Perception 11 > - **Languages** Setian, Hyrulian > - **Challenge** 5 (1,800 XP) > ___ > > ***Ferocious Pursuit*** Lynel Pridemasters may perform a single attack as a bonus action, provided they have made no other attacks that turn and the creature they are attacking is missing any of its hitpoints. > > ***Flowstep*** Lynel Pridemasters may cast *Misty Step* three times per day without requiring components. Any riders are teleported with the Lynel Pridemaster. > > ***Inflexible*** Lynel pridemasters have disadvantage on all melee attacks against creatures of medium size or below. > > ### Actions > ***Multiattack.*** The Lynel Pridemaster makes three attacks. > >***Pike.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (2d10 + 5) piercing damage > >***Longbow.*** *Ranged Weapon Attack:* +5 to hit, reach 150/600 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d8 + 2) piercing damage. \page #### Thunderbird Thunderbirds are exceptionally rare and devastatingly powerful creatures held as the utmost examples of natural nobility and holiness. ____ > ## Thunderbird >*Huge monstrosity, Chaotic Neutral* > ___ > - **Armor Class** 16 (Natural Armor) or 20 (when Shield is unbroken) > - **Hit Points** 116 (11d12+44) > - **Speed** 50 ft., fly 100 ft. >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|20 (+5)|14 (+2)|19 (+4)|10 (0)|15 (+2)|14 (+2)| >___ > - **Damage Immunities** Force, all damage from nonmagical source (see Shield of Aeons), all damage from magical sources (see Magical Void) > - **Senses** passive Perception 11 > - **Languages** Understands all, but cannot speak > - **Challenge** 5 (1,800 XP) > ___ > > ***Shield of Aeons*** In addition to its hitpoints a Thunderbird has an additional reserve of XXX temporary hitpoints. While the Thunderbird has any bonus hitpoints it is immune to all non-magical damage and increases its armor class by 4. > > A thunderbird cannot receive temporary hitpoints from any source other than its Shield of Aeons, which returns to full at every dawn. If a Thunderbird is receiving no bonus hitpoints from its Shield of Aeons then its Shield is said to be broken. > > ***Magical Void*** While a Thunderbird's Shield is broken it is immune to magical damage. In addition no creature or object within ten feet of a Thunderbird whose Shield is broken can be affected by magic, and creatures cannot magically teleport to or use magical items within ten feet of the Thunderbird. > > ***Mage Hunter*** Thunderbirds have advantage on attack rolls against creatures which can cast spells, or which are innately magical such as angels, demons, and elementals. > > ### Actions > ***Multiattack.*** The Lynel Pridemaster makes three attacks. > > > > ***Flux Storm (Recharge 5-6).*** The Thunderbird breathes out a roiling cloud of anti-magic in a 15 foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 13 Intelligence saving throw, taking a number of 2d6s of force damage equal to the level of the highest spell slot or pact magic spell slot it possesses (so a creature with a 9th level spell slot takes 18d6 damage) regardless of whether that slot has been expended, or half as much if it passes the save. Creatures which cannot cast spells or can only cast cantrips take only 1d6 force damage instead. \page ### Hyrulian Equipment #### Bombs *Cost: 50 gp* Explosives, usually in the form of grenades, demolitions or siege ammunition, are common in Hyrule. Most explosives are made from the fruit of bomb flowers, but as these rapidly deteriorate over the course of approximately a month gunpowder is also used, especially further from the volcanic reaches which are required to grow the bomb flowers in the first place. As an action, a creature can light a bomb and throw it at a point up to 60 feet away. Each creature within 10 feet of that point must succeed on a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or take 1d6 fire damage, 1d6 slashing damage, and 1d6 thunder damage. If multiple bombs detonate simultaneously then each bomb after the first deals only 1d6 thunder damage. #### Bomb Arrows *Cost: 50 gp* Some arrows are tipped with small, mundane explosive charges. These are a great help when fighting lithovoric creatures of all types. A bomb arrow is a piece of ammunition that can be fired from, a crossbow or bow. Attacks made with bomb arrows are always made with disadvantage. Hits from bomb arrows do the normal damage of the weapon. If a creature or object is attacked (whether or not it is hit) with a bomb arrow- and the result of the attack roll is above ten, a hit, or both- then the bomb arrow explodes on or near them. The target and every creature within 5 feet of it must pass a DC 12 dexterity saving throw or take 1d6 fire damage and 1d6 thunder damage. A creature hit with the bomb arrow which triggered the explosion has disadvantage on the saving throw. #### Boomerang *Cost: Various* Boomerangs are handheld thrown weapons which are beloved for their ability to return when thrown. Skilled Boomerang throwers can easily cause boomerangs to return to them if they fail to connect with their target, and the best can make a throw which has a good chance of returning the boomerang even if it hits. ____

***Bomb.***

***Bomb Arrow.*** A boomerang is a weapon with one of the profiles below. Boomerangs are simple weapons, while military and giant boomerangs are martial weapons. | Name | Cost | Damage | Weight | Properties | |:----:|:-----------:|:-------------:|:-------------:|:-------------:| | Boomerang | 2 gp | 1d4 bludgeoning |3 lb|Thrown (range 30/120), Boomerang| | Military Boomerang | 10 gp | 1d6 slashing |4 lb|Thrown (range 30/120), Boomerang| | Giant Boomerang | 20 gp | 1d8 slashing |4 lb|Thrown (range 30/120), Two-Handed, Boomerang| **Boomerang:** If an attack with this weapon misses its target then it immediately returns to its thrower's hand and can be thrown again without requiring an item interaction (an attack is still required, however). If the attack hits its target then roll a d6- if the result is equal to or under the thrower's proficiency bonus then the boomerang returns to the user anyway. #### Deku Nuts *Cost: 50 gp* Deku is an old, seemingly sourceless word meaning *light of the forest* in both Boko and Hyrulian. Although it is most commonly used these days to refer to the godlike trees which bear that name it originally referred to a phenomena of sparkling lights in the deepest woods. These lights have since been found to be the explosions of deku nuts, fist-sized wooden growths of rare plants, designed to explode in a burst of sound and light which propels seeds across the forest floor. They make fine weapons, too. As an action, a creature can crack a deku nut and throw it at a point up to 60 feet away. Each creature within 10 feet of that point must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or be blinded and deafened until the end of their next turn. ____

***Boomerang.***

***Deku Nut.*** \page #### Hookshot *Cost: 600 gp* Hookshots are handheld mechanical devices used as middle-range grappling hooks. They are completely nonmagical, but use extremely complex and bespoke internal mechanisms which makes them relatively rare, as does the unreasonably strong and fine chain upon which the entire device relies. | Name | Cost | Damage | Weight | Properties | |:----:|:-----------:|:-------------:|:-------------:|:-------------:| | Hookshot | 600 gp | 1(1d8) piercing |10 lb|Ammunition (range 30/30), Tethering, Chain Fire, Head Switch| ***Tethering:*** A creature or object which is hit by this weapon is tethered to the attacking creature and vice versa. If a tethered creature wishes to move beyond the range of the hookshot it must pull the other creature along as if it had grappled the other creature. If grappling the other creature would be impossible (eg due to a difference in size classes) then the other creature canot be pulled. The creature which fired the hookshot can use a bonus action to retract the hookshot's chain. If this occurs then the lighter creature or object moves to the location of the heavier one, unless it can pass a contested athletics check against the heavier creature. If both creatures/objects are of the same weight then the creature which is holding the hookshot chooses which one is moved. Creatures can end a tethering by spending an action and passing a DC 12 strength check to remove the hookshot claw or spike, or by letting go of the hookshot if they are holding it. ***Chain Fire:*** This weapon does not expend ammunition when it fires, but requires a bonus action to be spent retracting its chain after firing before it can be fired again. ***Head Switch:*** A hookshot does either 1 or 1d8 piercing damage to its target depending on which head is fitted. Switching heads takes an action to perform. #### Insulated Armor *Cost: 750 gp, plus the normal cost of the armor.* The environment of Hyrule contains all manner of hazards, and its smiths are entirely aware of this. Through the careful application of materials and allows to suits of armor these hazards can be siginificantly mitigated, allowing warriors to travel to otherwise hostile environments. Insulated armor confers resistance to fire, cold, poison, acid, lightning, or thunder damage to its wearer. Any type of nonmagical armor can be modified by a skilled smith to be insulated. This is not a magical process, and the product is similarly not magical.

***Hookshot.*** #### Iron Boots *Cost: 50 gp* Iron boots are common enough in Hyrule, specially designed sabatons for maximum weight and grip. A warrior wearing them is vastly harder to move than they would otherwise be, for good or ill. A creature wearing Iron Boots has disadvanage on all dexterity saves and cannot take the Dash action, but counts as a size larger than they actually are for all purposes except for the area they take up, the size of the weapons they can wield, the size of creatures which can ride them, and whether they can grapple a particular creature. They also have advantage on all strength saves, and move half the normal distance whenever they are subjected to compulsory movement. The boots are also so heavy that they overcome any natural buoyancy the creature has, forcing it to sink in water (regardless of whether or not they are worn). Putting on or taking off the boots takes an action. #### Pictograph *Cost: 1000 gp* Pictographs are complex and expensive devices based off poorly-understood Imperial Era technology and chemistry which may border on magic. Making one takes months of work for a number of skilled craftsman, but the product is exceptional. Pictographs are small handheld devices which can be used to flawlessly replicate still images of anything seen in their viewport. A pictograph can capture and print one such picture every six seconds. Using one takes an action. Pictographs do not record illusions (as they have no brains to fool or senses to deceive), but cannot see through invisibility. #### Sailcloth *Cost: 50 gp* Sailcloths are popular tools amongst any who work at heights, or the passengers of cloudlings. While holding a Sailcloth in two hands a creature's falling speed is reduced to only 200ft per turn, does not take falling damage.

***Iron Boots.***

***Pictograph.*** ``` ``` \page ### Hyrulian Weapons Certain hyrulian weapons are found only in Hyrule, or at least are vastly more common there. Some of these nonmagical weapons are described below. | Name | Cost | Damage | Weight | Properties | |:----:|:-----------:|:-------------:|:-------------:|:-------------:| | Ball and Chain | 90 gp | 2d6 bludgeoning |18 lb| Extremely Heavy, Heavy, Swinging Strike,Two Handed| | Cobble Crusher | 75 gp | 2d6 slashing |12 lb| Extremely Heavy, Heavy, Rockbreaker, Two Handed| | Drillshaft | 150 gp | 1d8 piercing |6 lb| Drill Tipped, Heavy, Reach, Two Handed | | Feathered Edge | 30 gp | 1d8 slashing |1 lb|Versatile(1d10), Finesse, Light, Lightweight design| | Feathered Greatsword | 100 gp | 2d6 slashing |4 lb|Two handed, Finesse, Lightweight design| | Spiked Glaive | 6 gp | 1d10 piercing |6 lb| Heavy, Reach, Two Handed, Viscious | | Spiked Spear | 1 gp | 1d8 piercing |3 lb| Thrown(20/60), Versatile (1d10), Viscious| | Spring Hammer | 50 gp | 1d10 bludgeoning |2 lb| Heavy, Springloaded, Two Handed| | Wosu Sword | 150 gp | 1d8 slashing |10 lb| Heavy, Versatile (1d10), Zuna Crafted| ``` ``` ***Drill Tipped:*** This weapon is a converted ancient mining drill, operated by rapidly turning a crank at its base. Attacks made with this weapon receive a +2 modifier to their attack rolls provided the target is an object, is wearing armor, or has natural armor. ***Extremely Heavy:*** This weapons weighs an unreasonable amount. Attacks made with this weapon receive a -1 modifier to their attack rolls. ***Lightweight Design:*** This weapon was designed for use by Watarara in flight. It's easier to use while airborn, but lacks the momentum necessary to properly pierce armor. Attacks made with this weapon receive a -1 modifier to their attack rolls provided the target is an object, is wearing armor, is a goron, or has natural armor. ***Spring Loaded:*** The leading edges of this weapon are fitted with powerful springs designed to unbalance opponents on contact. Creatures hit with this weapon can be immediately pushed 5 feet from the attacker if the attacker wishes. ***Swinging Strike:*** This weapon is a very heavy ball on the end of a long chain. A wielder of this weapon can, as an action, perform a melee attack against all creatures within 5 feet of them. ***Rockbreaker:*** This goron weapon is nearly blunt, and is best compared to a long and thin mining pick. Attacks with this weapon automatically deal the maximum possible damage when rolling damage, provided the target is an object, construct, goron, or other lithovore like a dodongo. ***Viscious:*** This weapon is, by and large a poorly made primitive piece of junk. It relies on spikes and barbs to compensate for the fact it's poorly balanced and blunt. Attacks made with this weapon receive a +3 modifier to their damage rolls but a -2 modifier to their attack rolls. ***Zuna Crafted:*** This weapon was made to a long-since perfected mould by zuna artisans, perfectly balanced to allow prolongued engagements with an otherwise untenably heavy weapon. Every time a creature misses an attack with this weapon it receives a +1 modifier to attacks made with this weapon, until the start of its next turn. \page ### Magic Items Hyrule's magics and methods of enchanting are, in many ways, unique to it. The flows of magic move through reality in ways that they do not in other worlds, allowing and necessitating new and unique magical devices and weapons to be made. Items listed here may be available in specialist sellers in Hyrule's largest cities, or found as treasure in its dungeons. > ##### Default DC > Many magic items listed here rely on their user's power, but not all users are casters. When a magic item refers to its user's **Default DC** this is whichever spell save DC the user chooses at the moment of using the item. Users with no spell save DCs instead have a default DC of 8 plus their proficiency bonus. #### Adhesive Boomerang *Boomerang, Uncommon* Adhesive boomerangs are popular tools among adventurers, for when a grappling hook simply won't do or can't reach the target. They are enchanted with magics designed to grab hold of objects and bring them back to their trower, maybe using magical glue or wind magic, without compromising aerdodynamics in any way. Adhesive boomerangs can be activated with a command word, and become able to grab objects until the command word is spoken again, grabbing whatever they strike. Adhesive boomerangs which hit objects smaller than they are, or creatures of tiny size class, bring these objects and creatures back with them to the thrower of the boomerang. Adhesive boomerangs also always return to their thrower per the rule *boomerang*, regardless of whether or not they hit their target.

***Adhesive Boomerang.*** ``` ``` #### Beetledrone *Wondrous Item, Rare* Beetledrones are ancient constructs of unknown origin, occasionally unearthed in ruins. They are small devices, designed for reconnaisance over range. A beetledrone come in two parts- the plate-sized drone itself, and the similarly sized controller. The drone functions as a creature using the profile below. Any creature who holds the controller may use the assorted lights and levers on the face to direct the drone as if the drone were subject to *Dominate Monster*. A small window on the controller shows whatever the drone sees, and relays any sound it hears. A Beetledrone which is killed will return to full function after 24 hours of inactivity, during which its internal components will undergo extensive self-repair. ___ > ## Beetledrone >*Tiny construct, unaligned* > ___ > - **Armor Class** 17 > - **Hit Points** 4(1d4 + 1) > - **Speed** 20ft., flying 40 ft. >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|8 (-1)|24 (+7)|12 (+1)|1 (-5)|1 (-5)|1 (-5)| >___ > - **Condition Immunities** Poisoned, Frightened > - **Damage Immunities** Poison, Psychic > - **Senses** Darkvision 10 ft. passive Perception 5 > - **Languages** Understands basic commands in all languages, but cannot speak. > - **Challenge** - (0 XP) > >**Very Basic Intelligence:** A beetledrone can operate independently in order to preserve its own existence when uncontrolled, but it is extremely stupid. It has disadvantage on all rolls while not directly controlled. > ___ > ### Actions > ***Bite.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +9 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. *Hit* 8 (1+7) piercing damage

***Beetledrone.*** \page #### Canes Canes are ordinary wizard's staffs specially enchanted to gain some useful magical abilities. Generally relatively common, Canes make popular tools for enterprising mages of all stripes. In addition to the rules presented, all Canes are also spellcasting focuses and quarterstaffs. ##### Cane of Byrna *Wondrous Item, Uncommon* A Cane of Byrna can be used to cast *Shield of Byrna* as described below, using spell slots as normal. *Shield of Byrna* is considered to be a spell of all classes. >#### Shield of Byrna *1st-level abjuration* >___ - **Casting Time:** 1 action - **Range:** Self - **Components:** V, M (a Cane of Byrna) - **Duration:** 1 minute, concentration > >A bubble of almost invisible force springs up around your body, protecting you from harm and injuring your enemies. While the spell is active you recieve an increase to your armor class and a bonus to your saving throws of +1. In addition, whenever a creature within 5 feet of you attacks you with a melee attack, the shield erupts with a ripple of force. The attacker takes 1d6 force damage. > >Whenever you are attacked or forced to make a save while maintaining a Shield of Byrna your shield becomes disrupted, and will vanish at the end of your next turn, or immediately before the next time you re attacked or forced to make a save. If at any time you have a disrupted shield you may immediately cast *Shield of Byrna* without spending an action or counting against your spells cast that turn, replacing the shield with a new one which is not disrupted. > > If you are not attacked or forced to make a save before the Shield of Byrna expires then the spell slot used is refunded to you and can be used to cast spells again. > > **At Higher Levels:** When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the damage increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 1st. The modifier to your saving throws and armour class also increases by +1 for each slot level above 1st. ##### Cane of Pacci *Wonderous Item, Uncommon* A Cane of Pacci has seven charges, and regenerates all lost charges every sunrise. At any time a wielder of a Cane may use a charge to spend an action to speak a command word and designate a creature or object within 60 ft. That creature must make a strength save against the Cane user's default DC. If the creature fails it becomes prone, flipping over to land on its back. Objects targeted may also flip over, with whatever consequences that brings, depending on their size class. Tiny objects have an 90% chance of flipping, small objects have a 60% chance, medium objects have a 30% chance, and large objects have a 10% chance. Huge and gargantuan objects cannot be flipped in this manner. ``` ``` ##### Cane of Somaria *Wondrous Item, Uncommon* A Cane of Somaria has seven charges, and regains any spent charges at dawn. As an action a wielder of a Cane of Somaria can spend a charge to summon a 5 ft cube of any nonmagical material they wish on any flat, level surface within 30 ft that they can see, provided that space is unoccupied. Regardless of normal properties the cube cannot explode or burn. The cube also cannot undergo exotic or anachronistic changes (such as nuclear decay), cannot poison on contact, is not acidic or alkaline, and is of room temperature. The cube ceases to exist seven minutes after its creation. #### Divine Bladesaw *Melee Weapon (Greatsword), Legendary* It is said that the Father of Snakes crafted the Divine Bladesaws himself when it was found that conventional weapons could not penetrate the hides of the greatest demons. Forged from starlight and hope, the Bladesaws were imbued with savage and roaming teeth, with which they could bite through any material known to exist. A divine bladesaw recieves a +2 modifier to its to-hit and damage rolls. In addition if the Divine Bladesaw hits with two successive attacks on the same target in the same turn it *bites*, allowing its whirring teeth to begin digging deep into its victim. The creature hit by the Bladesaw is grappled by its wielder, regardless of its size, and all attacks with the Bladesaw against this target automatically hit it until the grapple is ended.

***Divine Bladesaw.*** ____ ***Canes of Pacci, Byrna, and Somaria, from back to front.***

\page #### Emerald Potion *Potion, Rarity Varies* Emerald potions are brewed by distilling down various potent magical ingredients to create a liquid which is, essentially, liquid magic that has been diluted enough not to kill the drinker. When you drink an emerald potion roll a number of d4s equal to its power. You then regain a number of spell slots, the sum of the levels of which must be below the number rolled (for example rolling a 9 would allow 3 level 3 slots to be regained, or 4 level 2 slots and 1 level 1 slot etc). No spell slot may be above the listed slot limit. Pact magic spell slots disregard the slot limit. | Potion | Rarity | Power | Slot Limit | |:----:|:-------------|:-------------|:-------------| | Basic | Uncommon |1 |2 | | Greater | Rare |2 |3 | | Superior | Very Rare | 3 |4 | | Supreme | Legendary | 4 | 5 | #### Fairy Bow *Bow(any, but not a crossbow), uncommon* A Fairy Bow uses the (minimal) intelligence of a bound sprite to direct its arrows after they leave the bow, describing slight arcs to correct errors in the aim of the wielder. Some can even hold basic conversations. Very basic, but still. Attacks made with a Fairy Bow may ignore disadvantage caused by the target being prone *or* the attacker being unable to see the target. Note that this ignores only one of these at a time- there would be no net effect on a target inside magical darkness while prone. On the other hand the Fairy Bow ignores *all* reasons for the attacker being unable to see the target at the same time (for example an invisible target inside magical darkness while the attacker is blinded), after all once you can't see the target you can't *ultra super mega double* not see them. ``` ``` #### Fairy in a Bottle *Consumable, Rare* A fairy in a bottle is, as the name suggests, a type of fairy who has been caught in a bottle, specifically a sprite. This is no mean feat due to the elusive nature of such things. A Fairy in a Bottle can be opened at any time as an action and directed to heal any creature within 15 feet of the point the bottle was opened at. The sprite inside will then immediately move and heal the targeted creature. As the healing is partly mental in nature only a calm and collected creature can receive the full benefit. Creatures which are currently in combat or who are not conscious restore 4d4+4 hitpoints. Creatures which are not in combat and are conscious instead restore 10d4+20 hitpoints. If a creature carrying a Fairy in a Bottle is reduced to zero hitpoints it will immediately open and the sprite inside will heal them, regardless of their wishes, as the sprite inside shatters the glass to save them. They will, of course, be unconscious at this point. After healing a creature the sprite dies and vanishes into nothing. #### Gnat Hat *Wondrous item (hat), Rare (Requires Attunement*) Gnat hats are slightly absurd arcane devices, originally created by the minish in order to allow taller folk to visit their world. A small number of new hats are released into Hyrule each time the minish doors open, but otherwise they appear to be impossible to produce. As an action a wearer of a gnat hat can change their height to any value equal to or below their normal height, to a minimum of two inches . This may reduce their creature size class as appropriate. For every size class they go down by reduce their move speeds (all of them) by half, and the damage done by their attacks and spells by a dice size (so a d6 becomes a d4, becomes 1 etc). If the gnat hat is removed the creature immediately returns to its normal size. Resolve any issues with size changes and available space as per the spell *Enlarge Reduce*. Attacks while shrunk cannot do less than 0 points of damage. \page #### Golden Potion *Potion, Legendary* A golden potion is the apex of potion-brewing. Made from the secretions of incredibly rare types of Chuchu, the golden potion completely revitalises a body, or at least creates the impression of total revitalisation, for a price. On drinking a Golden Potion you undergo what is, essentially, a short rest which takes only one second. Any class features which return or refresh on a short rest, including spell slots, immediately do so, and you may spend hit dice to regain hitpoints as if you had just short rested. You do however face something of a price- for the next 24 hours not matter how much or how long you rest you cannot avoid accruing levels of exhaustion as if you were not resting at all. #### Goro-Kana Armor *Armor (any), Very Rare (Requires Attunement)* The first suit of Goro-Kana armour, meaning Goron Seeing in goruah, was originally devised at great expense to allow a human to closely associate with the patriarch council of the gorons and travel in the Eldin range safely. Other suits have since been made, and are prized by adventurers for their superlative defensive capabilities. Goro-Kana armor is an enchanted form of some type of normal armor. A creature wearing Goro-Kana armor is immune to non magical fire damage, resistant to fire and poison damage, and vulnerable to cold damage. They also receive a +1 modifier to their armor class. #### Guardian Weapon *Melee Weapon(Martial), Rare* Originally created either by or for the Father of Snakes and his followers, the turquoise blades of the ancient guardian weapons are considered holy by many sheikah. It is not, strictly speaking, *illegal* for other races to use them, but it may require good reason for them to not be stolen. Guardian weapons are enchanted forms of any melee weapons which do *not* deal bludgeoning damage. Guardian weapons receive a permanent +1 modifier to their attack and damage rolls, and do force damage instead of their listed type. In addition their extremely light materials of manufacture allow for them to to be drawn and used rapidly- Guardian weapons are always finesse weapons, and the first attack made with a guardian weapon each turn using a strength modifier has advantage on its attack roll. #### High Maku Seed *Wondrous Item, Very Rare (Requires Attunement)* A Maku Tree will only produce one head-sized High Seed every century, and even then only if it is extremely venerable. It is the ultimate concentration of the Maku's own powers, and an expression of the raw powers of life. Evil and death cannot touch one who holds such an item A creature carrying a High Maku Seed is immune to necrotic damage, and resistant to poison and lightning damage. They also have advantage on any saves against mental effects (such as charms and fear) brought about by creatures of an evil alignment ``` ``` #### Lens of Truth *Wondrous Item, Very Rare* The Lenses of Truth are sacred sheikah artefacts, originally used by the Father of Snakes and his followers in order to track each other during their daring night raids on the demonic armies. A creature which looks through a Lens of Truth converts their sight (whether that is normal sight or darkvision) into truesight of the same range while looking through the lens. Coded text viewed through the lens is also automatically deciphered. ___

***Emerald, Sapphire, and Golden potions.***

***Gnat Hat, Guardian Weapon***

***Lens of Truth, Goro-Kana Armor*** \page #### Magic Arrows *Ammunition, Uncommon* Magical arrows are a common enough sight amongst the elite of Hyrule's warriors. Usually either constructed from esoteric materials or dipped in arcane resins, these weapons release explosions of magical energy on impact with their targets. Targets hit by an attack made with magical arrows take an additional d6 damage of a type determined on the purchasing of the arrows, in addition to the basic damage of the weapon attack. Fire and ice arrows are the most common, but other types are also present. #### Magneglove *Wondrous Item (glove), Rare* Magnegloves are gauntlets fitted with powerful lodestones capable of attracting any metal. Their ability to improve both a fighter's offensive and defensive capabilities is aconsidered a great boon, and goes some way to offset the issue of repeatedly sticking the wearer's hands to their own maille. Magnegloves come in individual gloves instead of pairs. If a magneglove is worn on a hand holding a shield it increases the armour class bonus that shield gives by 1. If a magneglove is worn on a hand holding a weapon then melee attacks with that weapon recieve a +2 to hit and a further +2 to all damage rolls, but the wearer suffers a penalty of -1 to their armour class. If a creature wears a pair of magnegloves it can climb up sheer metal surfaces of all types. #### Mask of Truth *Wonderous Item (mask), Rare* Masks of Truth were originally devised by the Sage of Shadow, Purah, to aid in her spying efforts They are not unobtrusive, and penetrate the thoughts of both their user and those who speak to them to discern the fundamental truths in speech. Three times every day a creature wearing a Mask of Truth can nominate a creature within its sight and subect them to the mask's power. The targeted creature must make a Charisma save against the wearer's default DC. If the save is failed then the wearer knows every time the creature speaks a lie for the next ten minutes. If they pass the save then the wearer knows that they have passed the save, but not whether or not they are lying.

***Magneglove, Magic Arrows, and Mask of Truth.*** #### Matazanon Medallions The creation of arcane disks is the most fundamental part of picori magic. From the kinstones to the Sage Medallions to the Mirrors of Twilight, most picori enchantment revolves around producing a circular disk of metal inscribed with runes. One example of these disks are the ancient Namazanon medallions, powerful weapons the size of a small shield which can be used to summon powerful energies or magics of alteration. ##### Bombos *Wondrous Item, Uncommon (Requires Attunemt)* A bombos medallion has three charges, and regenerates any spent charges at dawn. At any time the holder of a bombos medallion may use an action to spend a charge and send waves of fire emenating out from themselves. Every creature within 60 ft the user of the medallion, except the user themself, takes 3d6 fire damage. Creatures within 20 ft of the edge of this area may make a dexterity save to try and avoid the damage, with a save DC equal to the user's default DC. Creatures which pass the save take half the damage they otherwise would. ##### Ether *Wondrous Item, Very Rare (Requires Attunemt)* An ether medallion has three charges, and regenerates any spent charges at dawn. At any time the holder of an ether medallion may use an action to spend a charge and strike any creatures near to them with lightning- roll 2d6 and nominate up to that many creatures within 60 ft of you. All creatures nominated must pass a dexterity saving throw against your default DC or take 12d6 lightning damage, taking half as much damage if they pass the save. Creatures which are not touching the ground (for example are swimming, flying, or riding a mount) have disadvantage on this save. ##### Quake *Wondrous Item, Legendary (Requires Attunemt)* A quake medallion has three charges, and regenerates any spent charges at dawn. At any time the holder of a quake medallion may use an action to spend a charge and send out waves of crushing, altering magical force. Choose any number of creatures within 60 ft of you. These creatures must pass a strength saving throw against your default DC or fall prone. They must also pass a wisdom save with the same DC or be instantly polymorphed by the medallion, as per the *polymorph* spell, into a grey ooze, ignoring the normal limitations on only being able to polymorph into beasts or into creatures of the same or lower challenge rating. You do not have to maintain concentration on this polymorph, but its effects wear off after ten turns.

***Bombos, Ether, and Quake Medallions.*** \page #### Megaton Hammer *Maul, Very Rare* Megaton hammers are the hyrulian names given to the Mol-Vanton, the crusher-mallets crafted by the gorons during the Scrambling for use against their Magmatouched kin who had turned against the goddesses. The hammers are enchanted to magically and massively increase in mass when swung without reducing their velocity, summoning additional force seemingly from nowhere as they approach their victims' unlucky skulls. Megaton Hammers are large weapons (meaning they do 4d6 bludgeoning damage on a hit instead of 2d6), but can be wielded by medium creatures without incurring disadvantage due to this. Large size creatures ignore the two handed rule when wielding a megaton hammer. Objects and structures hit by Megaton hammers automatically take the maximum damage possible from the attack.

***Megaton Hammer.***

***Mirror Shield.***

***Mogma Mitts.*** #### Mirror Shield *Shield, Rare* Mirror shields are shields plated in silver, polished to a sheen, and enchanted with a subtle but powerful field which attracts and reflects incoming force. Extremely popular with those who oppose spellcasters on a regular basis. When wielding a mirror shield you recieve a +2 modifier to your armour class against ranged spell attacks. In addition whenever you take radiant or force damage you may make an additional dexterity save against the effect which caused you to take the damage, with a DC equal to the original effect (if the effect had no save then use the effect's caster's default DC, or if there was no caster then a DC of 10). If you pass this save then you take no damage from the effect, and can instead nominate one creature or object within 60 ft to take the damage in your stead. If you fail the save then you instead only take half damage from the effect. #### Mogma Mitts *Wondrous Item, Uncommon(Requires Attunement)* Crafted by mogma in order to improve their own digging abilities, these gloves are tipped with spade-shaped claws which can be used to tunnel through the earth. Although mogma are the intended users they can allow any creature to keep up with the furtive mole-folk. A creature wearing the mogma mitts can spend an action to gain a burrowing speed of 30 ft. until the end of its turn, or spend a bonus action to double a burrowing speed it has from another source for the same duration. It can only use this burrowing speed to burrow through earth, not solid rock. #### Pegasus Boots *Wondrous Item, Rare(Requires Attunement* Pegasus boots use small wings to increase the user's speed while sprinting, increasing the distance travelled every time their feet leave the ground. This allows them to cross ground quickly and, perhaps riskily, slam into opponents with considerable force. Pegasus boots allow the user to *dash* as a bonus action. In addition if the wearer of pegasus boots moves a distance equal to their full movement speed in a straight line immediately before attacking an enemy then their first attack that turn against that enemy does an additional Xd4 points of damage, where X is the wearer's current movement speed in feet divided by 10.

***Pegasus Boots.*** \page #### Sand Wand *Wondrous Item, Rare (Requires Attunement)* Sand wands were originally gerudo tools used for excavating down to the moisture underground when travelling long distances across the desert, and propelling sand-ships through the shifting sands of the deep desert. They are relatively common devices, and prized focuses for gerudo witches. Sand Wands are spell focuses. A wielder of a Sand Wand automatically knows the *mold earth* cantrip. In addition Sand Wands have seven charges, and regain all spent charges at dawn. As an action a wielder of a sand wand can use an action to spend a charge and conjure up a wall of swirling sand on the ground at a point they can see within range. The wall can be up to 30 feet long, 10 feet high, and 10 feet thick, and vanishes after ten minutes. It blocks line of sight but not movement, unless the ground beneath the wall was already sand, in which case it instead functions as if it were made of sections of a *wall of stone*. A creature is blinded while in the wall’s space and must spend 3 feet of movement for every 1 foot it moves there. If the wall would be solid and cuts through a creature’s space when it appears, the creature is pushed to one side of the wall (wielder's choice). If a creature would be surrounded on all sides by a solid wall (or the wall and another solid surface), that creature can make a Dexterity saving throw against the wielder's default DC. On a success, it can use its reaction to move up to its speed so that it is no longer enclosed by the wall. #### Sapphire Potion *Potion, Rarity Varies* Sapphire potions are quite literally combinations of ruby (or healing) potions and emerald potions. They are made by mixing a 50/50 blend of both potions by dosage and placing them within the same bottle, to be consumed later. Sapphire potions range from *Uncommon* to *Very Rare*. On drinking a sapphire potion you regenerate half the hitpoints you would have regenerated from a healing potion of that rarity, and half the total sum of spell slots (subject to the same limitations on slots) as you would from an emerald potion of that rarity. #### Whirlwind *Wondrous Item, Rare (Requires Attunement)* Whirlwinds are small handheld devices representing a clover packed into the trigger of a crossbow. They can be used to rapidly conjure up strong winds which sweep outwards in a line as a powerful whirlwind, throwing opponents around as it passes. A whirlwind has five charges. As an action a creature equipped with a whirlwind can spend a charge to summon and fire off a powerful ball of roving air. Draw a line from the whirlwind to any point within sixty feet. All creatures along that line must pass a strength saving throw aganst the user's default DC or be swept up by the whirlwind and moved thirty feet directly away from the creature carrying the whirlwind and be knocked prone. A whirlwind regains all spent charges at dawn. #### Zoraform Armor *Armor (any), Rare (Requires Attunement)* Zoraform clothing or armor is a rare gift, created as a present to those landborn creatures who are closest to the fish folk. ``` ``` Zoraform armor is an enchanted form of some type of normal armor or clothing, made of zoran coral instead of metal where applicable. If the armor normally imposes disadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks or has a Strength requirement, the Zoraform version of the armor doesn't. In addition any creature wearing Zoraform armor has a swimming speed equal to their move speed, and can breathe underwater. They are also resistant to cold and lightning damage, and vulnerability to fire damage.

***Sand Wand.***

***Whirlwind.***

***Zoraform Armor.*** \page ### Unique Items #### The Master Sword *Sword (See **Adaptive Blade **Below), Legendary* The Four Sword is an artefact of almost unparalleled craftsmanship, created by picori artisans bteween the end of the Great Invasion and the Sweep. Originally created as a weapon against Majora, it is not truly capable of destroying the mad demon but is more lethal to him than any other weapon. You gain a +4 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this weapon. It has the following additional properties. ***Adaptive Blade.*** The Master Sword’s base damage and damage type is equal to any sword found in the DnD 5e rulebook (shortsword, longsword, scimitar, greatsword or rapier), chosen by its at that moment wielder the first time they wield it. It also gains any special rules that weapon has, such as light, heavy, two handed, or finesse, and can be of any size category provided that size is no more than one larger than the wielder. The Master Sword can, regardless of its size or type of weapon, always be used as a pact weapon. ***Sword Beam:*** The Master Sword can be used to project beams of light from its blade which cut through targets to burn them from inside. Sword Beam is a special ranged attack with a range of (100/300) and the *thrown* special rule. Whenever a rule refers to the Master Sword’s damage, the damage from Sword Beams is to be included in that rule. Sword beams benefit from the Master Sword’s full to-hit modifier, including the rule *Moraphiel*, but do not benefit from *No Wall Withstands*. **Lifeline.** The Sword Beam attack does different amounts of damage based on the current hitpoints of its wielder including temporary hitpoints, detailed below. | Wielder Hitpoints Percentage | Damage Dealt | |:----:|:-------------| | Equal to or greater than 100% | 2d6 radiant | | Between 75% and 100% | 1d6 radiant | | Between 25% and 75% | None | | Between 0% and 25% | 4d6 radiant | | 0% or below | 8d6 radiant | ***Evil’s Bane.*** All demons are considered automatically vulnerable to the Master Sword’s damage, with devils and fiends taking twice as much damage again. The Master Sword can, if the wielder wishes, deal radiant damage instead of slashing damage. Damage from this weapon bypasses Resistances and Immunities, and any rule to the contrary should be ignored, regardless of what it says. ***No Wall Withstands.*** A creature or object targeted by an attack from the Master Sword cannot benefit from spells or magic bonuses which increase its AC (including, but not limited to, the spells Mage Armour and Shield as well as enchantments on equipment such as +3 armour), for the purposes of avoiding that attack. The Master Sword also automatically destroys magical walls and forcefields (including, but not limited to, wall of force, wall of fire, wall of stone or prismatic wall) in one attack, whether or not that attack hits. All layers of prismatic wall are destroyed simultaneously when attacked by the Master Sword. The Master Sword counts as Adamantine for the purposes of damaging objects and ignores enchantments on those objects which may allow them to resist the damage of the Master Sword. The Master Sword also ignores artefact status. Damage dealt by the Master Sword is deducted directly from the target’s hitpoints, ignoring the target’s temporary hitpoints. ***Moraphiel.*** The Master Sword contains a sentient, semi-autonomous spirit named Moraphiel (or Fi for short) that gives constant subtle guidance represented by its substantial to-hit bonuses. The wielder of the Master Sword can also perform an additional attack at initiative step 20, winning initiative ties. In addition the wielder of the Master Sword can, as an action, attempt to have the spirit inside the blade discern information about a creature. This is done as a Wisdom(Perception) roll, with a +3 modifier and a DC equal to the CR of the target (or level if the target does not have a CR). If successful then the wielder learns all possible information about that creature’s statblock, and the +4 bonus listed above increases to +4 for the purposes of attacking that creature and creatures of the same statblock. ***Wielded By the Worthy:*** The Master Sword can, if Moraphiel so chooses, deal 3d10 cold, fire, or radiant damage per turn to anyone who touches its handle. ***Sentience.*** The Master Sword- thanks to the presence of Moraphiel- is a sentient Neutral Good weapon with an Intelligence of 20, a Wisdom of 16, and a Charisma of 8. It has hearing and truesight out to a range of 120 feet. The weapon communicates telepathically with its wielder and can speak, read, and understand all languages. ***Personality.*** The purpose of the Master Sword is to save the world, and Moraphiel knows this. She also knows how dangerous the sword can be in the wrong hands. The Master Sword will allow anyone pure of heart (or of purified heart after being subjected to Test of Character) to wield it for as long as is required to end a significant threat to the world, but not for a moment longer, and will demand to be returned to its ancient pdestal in the Lost Woods as soon as possible. \page #### The Lokomo Sword *Sword (See **Adaptive Blade **Below), Legendary* The Lokomo sword was given as a gift by the Goddesses themselves to the seven Lokomos when they began their long vigil over malladus' continent-sized prison, the vigil which would lead to their name of the Eternal Wardens. Although it is designed to slay the King of Daemons if ever he were to escape his incarceration there are few who believe it would truly be capable of this. Nevertheless it may slow him down, for a time. You gain a +4 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this weapon. It has the following additional properties. ***Adaptive Blade.*** The Lokomo Sword is an Adaptive Blade, identical in this manner to the Master Sword. ***Daemon’s Bane.*** The Lokomo Sword can, if the wielder wishes, deal radiant damage instead of piercing damage. If the target is a Daemon then they are automatically considered vulnerable to the Lokomo Sword’s radiant damage. Daemons can never be immune to the damage of the Lokomo sword. ***Titan Slayer.*** Attack rolls made with the Lokomo sword have advantage on all targets of size category large or higher. In addition whenever the first time each turn the wielder of the Lokomo sword makes an attack against a creature they also make a number of additional attacks based on the creature’s size category, detailed below: * Large: One extra attack * Huge: Three extra attacks * Gargantuan: Six extra attacks ``` ``` #### The Phantom Sword *Sword (See **Adaptive Blade **Below), Legendary* Unlike the other legendary swords the Phantom Sword does not exist- it is a theoretical weapon which could potentially be crafted in order to defeat Bellum. You gain a +3 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this weapon. It has the following additional properties. ***Adaptive Blade.*** The Phantom Sword is an Adaptive Blade, identical in this manner to the Master Sword. ***Gorgon’s Bane.*** The Phantom Sword can, if the wielder wishes, deal radiant damage instead of piercing damage. If the target is a Gorgon then they are automatically considered vulnerable to the Phantom Sword’s radiant damage. Gorgons can never be immune to the damage of the Phantom sword. ***Phantom of the World:*** The Phantom Sword has three charges of Phantom Time when it is first drawn by its wielder. If at dawn or dusk it does not have three charges, it has three charges. A charge of Phantom Time can be spent by its user to cast the spell Phantom Time Stop (detailed below) as a bonus action. > #### Phantom Time Stop *9th-level transmutation* > ___ > - **Casting Time:** 1 action - **Range:** Self - **Components:** V - **Duration:** Instantaneous > >You briefly stop the flow of time for everyone but yourself. No time passes for other creatures, while you take 2 turns in a row, during which you can use actions and move as normal. Any attack made by you on a target within five feet during these turns automatically critically hits its target. Any other attack made during these turns has advantage. Any creature other than you which needs to make a saving throw or ability check during these turns does so with disadvantage. Creatures and objects which are reduced to zero hp or destroyed during these turns are not considered to have done so until the spell ends. \page #### The Four Sword *Sword (See **Adaptive Blade **Below), Legendary* The Four Sword is an artefact of almost unparalleled craftsmanship, created by picori artisans bteween the end of the Great Invasion and the Sweep. Originally created as a weapon against Majora, it is not truly capable of destroying the mad demon but is more lethal to him than any other weapon. You gain a +3 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this weapon. It has the following additional properties. ***Adaptive Blade.*** The Four Sword is an Adaptive Blade, identical in this manner to the Master Sword. ***Shade’s Bane.*** The Four Sword can, if the wielder wishes, deal radiant damage instead of piercing damage. If the target is a Shade then they are automatically considered vulnerable to the Four Sword’s radiant damage. Shades can never be immune to the damage of the Four sword. ***Quadrocet.*** On drawing or equipping the four sword, the wielder fractures into four distinct entities- The Hero, the Warrior, the Sage and the Demon. The Hero takes the place of the original wielder of the Four Sword, and the Warrior, Sage, and Demon appear anywhere they choose within thirty feet of the Hero. They then act independently, and share the goals and motivations of the original wielder, with a slightly altered mindset. * The Hero is sanguine, enthusiastic and charming. * The Warrior is choleric, decisive and aggressive. * The Sage is melancholic, reserved and contemplative. * The Demon is v̴̡̲͉̫͇̹̝̲͙͓̀̍́̔ḝ̷̧̮̘̲̣̙̓r̵͎͈̾͋́͆͂́͆̊̚͝y̸͕͓̌̉̐̇̉̅̌ ̷̢̛̮̤̯̻̖̝̖̣́͌́̅͂̈́̽̂͊̕͠͝d̴̡̫͕̻́̈́̓̓͛͂̂̏͐̿̋͑̎̅̚a̴̡͖͚̬̜̼̞̣͎̻̐̂͆̉̃͋͆̿̓̓̊́̇̌͘n̴̮͖͈̲̎̄͑͑̏͐̈́̈̎̐̾͌͘ģ̵͍͚̲̦̙͈̒̐̐͠è̸̺̆͐̉͊̈́̓͂́͒̋͝͠r̶̢̡̡̛̬̝̪̦̝̿̋͑͂̿̈́̃͐̌̓̚͜ͅo̴̡͍̳͉̤̮̤̹̩͒ư̴̢̢̨̲̬̻̬̬͖̜͍̣͐͑̎̋̿̀̉̌̕s̴̬̫̖͎͑̀́̒̎̊͂̆͒̏̈́́̚͠. All entities have hp equal to the original wielder of the Four Sword at the moment of fracturing, and when one entity takes damage all other entities take the same damage. If an entity other than the Hero loses consciousness, dies, is forced into another realm or stops holding its Four Sword then the entity disappears and reappears within 30 feet of the Hero with the same amount of health and the same equipment as the Hero and holding its copy of the Four Sword. If the Hero loses consciousness, dies or drops the Four Sword then all other entities disappear and the Hero returns to being the original wielder, with the wielder having hitpoints equal to the Hero’s previous amount. All entities have the same skills as the original wielder (including, but not limited to, ability scores, class features, feats, and proficiencies) and carries the same equipment, including a copy of the Four Sword. Any object removed from an entity other than the hero vanishes instantly. Objects removed from the Hero are also removed from the original wielder at such a time as they revert. All entities have the same ability scores as the original wielder, with the following changes: * The Hero: +3 Dexterity and Charisma * The Warrior: +3 Strength and Constitution * The Sage: +3 Wisdom and Intelligence * The Demon: +1 to all ability scores. In addition whenever the demon does any kind of damage to a target with an attack or spell it can deal psychic, poison or necrotic damage instead, if it chooses. Entities cannot split as per the Quadrocet rule. Obviously. \page

#### The Triforce The origins of the Triforce are shrouded in ancient myth, indecipherable to all except the most devoted scholars. It is said that it was ancient even during the time of the Invasion, an artefact left by the Goddesses themselves for use in only the direst times. It is an object of unsurpassed power, a means of producing a single wish without limitation or restriction. It has been the goal of multiplte terrible wars, and its power is coveted across the world. There is no object more powerful, and no object more holy. For this reason the golden triangles are kept safe in the Sacred Realm, within the fabled Castle of Sages, home of the Sage of Light Rauru. Any being, good or evil, may use the Triforce if it so wishes ***Infinite Power:*** Any creature which can touch the Triforce can do so as an action. This immediately begins a test of character. To perform a test of character take the difference between the largest and smallest of your charisma, strength, and wisdom modifiers. Subtract this difference from 5. This number is your *balance*. At this point the creatue must declare its wish. There is no wish which the Triforce would consider difficult, but it requires a greater level of spiritual balance from those who require more from it. The DM then decides if the wish is ***simple***, ***complex***, ***extraordinary*** or ***ridiculous***. A ***simple*** wish is any wish which would normally be possible using the spell *wish*, which would not be able to cause a permanent loss of the *wish* spell. A ***complex*** wish is a request like killing someone, severely wounding an archdemon, achieving vast personal power, or gaining immortality. A major change which affects only one individual, or a limited number of individuals. An ***extraordinary*** wish is a wish which would not be a complex wish, but which would normally require DM intervention to prevent a campaign from being derailed. It can be a world-changing event, or an undoing of a villain's rampage, for example. A ***ridiculous*** wish is a world-changing event, possibly involving the passage of time or the fate of the gods or the calamity itself. Roll two d6s. If the results of the rolls are more distant from each other than the wisher's *balance* then the wish fails, and thr triforce is split, as per ***Failed Wishes*** below. Otherwise the wish goes ahead as planned, following the both the spirit and the letter or the wish. If the wish is anything other than ***simple*** something other than d6s are rolled during the test. For a ***complex*** wish d10s are instead rolled. For an ***extraordinary*** wish d20s are instead rolled. For a ***ridiculous*** wish d100s are instead rolled. ***A Failed Wish:*** In the event of a wish on the Triforce failing it splits into its constituent parts, spiralling out across the world into those who are most worthy or most hunger for its powers. The Triforce splits into the pieces of ***Power***, ***Wisdom***, and ***Courage*** and spreads to the individuals who most exemplify these characteristics across the world. No force can prevent this split, or the passage of the pieces. ***The Cornerstone of the Universe:*** The Triforce cannot be destroyed while assembled.

\page #### Triforce Pieces ***Call To Kind:*** When within thirty feet of another Triforce wielder, the wielder of a Triforce piece can attempt to pull the pieces out of them as an action. The other wielder(s) within range must pass a Strength (if they wield the Triforce of Power), Wisdom (if they wield the Triforce of Wisdom) or Charisma (if they wield the Triforce of Courage) saving throw where the DC is the appropriate score (wisdom/strength/charisma). If one of them fails then their Triforce piece is removed, and may be taken up. If both of them fail then all pieces of the Triforce emerge, and the bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom may attempt to use the unified Triforce as a bonus action. If they do not, then the unified Triforce is placed within 5 feet of them. ***Inheritance:*** When a Triforce bearer dies and there is no other Triforce bearer within 30 ft of them their piece of the Triforce is inherited by their children. The Triforce of Courage is inherited by the bearer's firstborn male child, while the Triforce of Wisdom is inherited by the bearer's firstborn female child. The Triforce of Power is inherited by the firstborn child of either gender. If a Triforce bearer dies but there *is* another bearer within 30 ft of them the piece formerly held by the dead bearer is released. ***Soul Burnout:*** If a creature wields two pieces of the Triforce simultaneously then they constantly accrue levels of fatigue at one third the normal rate in addition to their normal fatigue gain. Fatigue gained from Soul Burnout’s constant gain cannot be reset by any means, except by giving up the Triforce pieces and spending one week recuperating for every level of fatigue the Triforce has given them. ***Beyond Reason:*** Is a creature wields three pieces of the Triforce then they gain a power functionally beyond imagining. They immediately reach 20th level in three classes of their choice, one of which must be wizard, monk, cleric, druid, or ranger, the second of which must be barbarian, fighter, monk, or paladin, and the third of which must be bard, paladin, ranger, or rogue. #### The Triforce of Wisdom One of the three cornerstones of the universe, the foundation of heaven, the Triforce of Wisdom is an intensely holy object, and a physical reminder of the goddesses’ rule made manifest. It has been wielded by generations of queens, both hylian and non, and is one of the most powerful artefacts in existence. ***Awakened Mind:*** The Triforce of Wisdom increases its wielder’s Intelligence and Wisdom scores by six points and allows it wielder to consider Wisdom or Intelligence (their choice) to be their spellcasting ability score for all purposes unless they choose otherwise. If they also wield another Triforce piece these scores instead increase by nine points. This may increase the wielder’s ability scores above twenty but not above thirty. If they wield all three pieces of the Triforce then their Wisdom and Intelligence ability scores become thirty or increase by eighteen, whichever would be higher. This can increase their scores above thirty, disregarding any rules to the contrary. ***Inherent Knowledge:*** The bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom gains proficiency in all Intelligence and Wisdom skills and saves. If they were already proficient in any these skills or saves then their proficiency bonus is instead doubled for the purposes of that skill or save. ***Phenomenal Magics:*** The bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom gains half again as many spell slots (rounding up) as they would otherwise possess of every level. They also know every spell if their number of spells known is usually unlimited, or three times as many spells if it is normally limited. If they have to prepare spells then the number of spells they can prepare also increases by half. The bearer can also cast any spell of a level for which they have a spell slot as a ritual, including those which do not have the ritual tag. ***Natural casting:*** Bearers of the Triforce of Wisdom do not require components for their spells. Ritual spells with the ritual tag cast by the bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom as rituals have a casting time of one minute. \page

# The Faiths Commanding

##### The beings to which we pledge our souls and service, for ever and a day.

\page

#### FORMATION 1. In the beginning, there was Nothing. 2. Then unto the Nothing came The Goddesses, perfect and shining and golden in mind and form. 3. The first goddess was Din, and with her great flaming arms she sculpted the world from Nothing. 4. The second goddess was Nayru, and with her impossible flowing mind she gave the sculpted world the stability of law and the flux of the arcane. 5. The third goddess was Farore, and with her shining crackling soul she gave the world life. 6. And the Goddesses beheld Creation and deemed it complete but imperfect, and so they split it in three. 7. And the Sacred Realm became the source of all that was good and the home of the Goddesses. 8. And the Material Realm became the land of all that was mortal and became the home of the world. 9. And the Dark Realm became the source of all that was evil and the home of the Nothing 10. And the Nothing became vengeful. #### FAVOUR 1.After many years had passed, the goddesses looked upon the world once again. 2. Din beheld the gorons. "These men of fire have great power." She said. "And I shall give them my favour." And so Din appeared to the one who was Eldin and spoke to the gorons of her favour. 3. Nayru beheld the zora. "These men of water have great wisdom." She said. "And I shall give them my favour." And so Nayru appeared to the one who was Lanayru and spoke to the zora of her favour. 4. Farore beheld the humans. "These men of forest have great courage." She said. "And I shall give them my favour." And so Farore appeared to the one who was Faron and spoke to the humans of her favour. 5. And the other beasts of the world saw this favour and grew jealous. And they said to the goddesses, "What of us? What favour is there for the rest?" 6. And the goddesses replied "We have spoken of our decision. You must serve our Favoured in all things, for they are the chosen and you are the unchosen. You are not strong or wise or brave, you are less than the Favoured. 7. Some beasts accepted their place in the new order of things, and knelt before the Favoured. The cattle and the hound and the horse served the Favoured as their beasts of servitude. 8. Some beasts would not bend the knee to the Favoured, but instead chose to flee from the Favoured and the goddesses. The serpent and the lion and the bear hid from the Favoured and became the creatures of the wild. 9. Some few wiser, stronger, and braver beasts chose to kneel to the Favoured, and for their humility were raised to stand with the Favoured. The dragons and the zuna and the keaton became the Lesser Chosen. 10. And the remaining beasts wailed and gnashed their teeth at their own weakness and stupidity and cowardice, but refused to kneel or flee. The goblins and the lesser alifos and the wosu became the Nihil, with no place in the eyes of the goddesses. #### EMPIRE 1. And the goddesses looked on their world and saw that their choices were good, and their role in history was all but done. 2. Din went to the most powerful of the dragons and for him she pulled the Spring of Power from the earth. He bathed in this water and became the first Infernal Dragon, and called himself Dinraal. 3. Nayru went to the wisest of the leviathans, and for him she pulled the Spring of Wisdom from the waters. He swam in this water and became the first Abyssal Leviathan, and called himself Tamaranch. 4. Farore went to the most courageous of the Maku Trees, and for him she pulled the Spring of Courage from the heavens. He was nourished by this water, and became the first Deku Tree, and called himself the Yggdrasil. 5. And the goddesses departed, their work done. 6. Eldin raised up the Goron Empire in the northern mountains, and the gorons enjoyed great prosperity. 7. Lanayru founded the Zora Empire in the eastern oceans, and the zora created great works. 8. Faron became the first ruler of the Human Empire in the central plains, and humanity achieved great glory. 9. And there was peace and joy and milk and honey for two thousand years.

\page

#### FALL 1. And the Nothing watched this with greedy eyes, hating and resenting creation, and It saw that the world possessed many creatures weak and foolish and cowardly. 2. From the goblins, walking swine of pifitful build and weak arm, the Nothing harvested impotence and weakness. 3. From the alifos, walking serpents of small mind and dull thoughts, the Nothing harvested stupidity and dullness. 4. From the wosu, walking hounds of constant malice and spiteful fear, the Nothing harvested cowardice and fearfulness. 5. And the Nothing took these traits and folded them in on themselves, inverting and moulding them into a semblance of the goddesses' light, hateful facsimiles of Power and Wisdom and Courage. 6. And the Nothing gave these creations names. They would be Demons, and they would be led by the most repulsive of their number, the five Archdemons. Demise, devil king of the dead, Malladus, daemon king of the ruins, Majora, shadeprince of the mad, Bellum, prince of the altered, and Yuga, prince of the defiled. 7. And the Nothing let Its creations loose upon the world, and they brought death and ruin and madness and alteration and defilement to the kingdoms of man and goron and zora, and the mortal races looked upon the Nothing and knew it as the Calamity, come for them all. #### DESPAIR 1. And the kingdoms of the world fell one after the other. 2. Demise brought death to the Empire of Man and burned its halls with his flame. 3. Malladus brought ruin to the Empire of Gorons, and razed its monuments with his lightning. 4. Bellum brought alteration to the Empire of Zora, and slaughtered its people with his legions. 5. And the Nihil stood with them, the goblins and the alifos and the wosu fighting to bring about the end of all things. In their cowardice, Chosen and Lesser Chosen joined the Nihil. Dark Dragons and traitor humans, seeking to save themselves. 7. And the Yggdrasil burned by the hand of Demise, and Jabus was killed by the hand of Bellum, and Dinraal fell in battle with the Dark Dragon Onox. 8. And all that remained was the Last City, the City of Castles, and the Calamity looked certain to achieve absolute victory. #### VICTORY 1. The Last City was the City in which the Mediator resided, a human woman in which each of the gods of the springs had put his absolute trust to arbitrate between them. 2. And she was a great woman of impossible power and knowledge and spirit, for she was the child of her father, Faron the Everking, and her three mothers, birthed once by each of the goddesses. 3. And the people of the Last City went to her, and chanted her name in their wish for salvation, and that name was Hylia. 4. And Hylia promised salvation to her people and she was exalted in their chanting. 5. From the depths beneath the City of Castles, Hylia brought the goddesses' greatest relic. The Triforce, ancient even in that distant time, and a tool and symbol of absolute Power, Wisdom and Courage. 6. From every place and in every way, Hylia found the means to fight. The Chosen and the Lesser Chosen flocked to her banner, and with them came all manner of aid. 7. From the deepest forests came the Fairies and the Kalle, and they struck in vengeance for the burning Yggdrasil. 8. From the highest peaks came the dragons, and for Dinraal they scorched the demons with a thousand flames. 9. From the depths of the ocean came the leviathans, and before them ran the great typhoons that tore demonic armies asunder, and still came more allies. The Oocca, the Storm Lords, the Minish, the Host of Jove, the Mogma, the Keaton, the Sheikah, the Arbiter Wolf, the Serpent Impaza, and a thousand others joined the banner of Hylia and the Everking, and the battles became ever fiercer. 11. And at that last moment, in the rubble of their Empires, the people of the Goddesses found Victory. #### RETREAT 1. But though the world was saved it was ravaged and sick, with an illness that could not be healed before its time. 2. And Hylia looked upon the wrld and saw the ailing crops and blackened water and knew there could be no home for man here. 3. Raising her hands in supplication to the Goddesses Hylia weaved a great magic, and man soared into the sky on islands of stone. 4. And man would wait on those islands, sustained by arcane air and impossible rain, to wait until the world was ready for it once again.

\page # The Golden Faith ### Prevalence Since the dawn of the Imperial Era the Golden Faith has been the dominant religion in Hyrule. It is a faith that venerates a wide and hierarchical pantheon, and contains many subdivisions that specialise in following various entities or groups within that pantheon as well as various broader movements. Some of these movements are organised and regimented, with strict theological hierarchies, and others are much more eclectic and disorganised, bound only by a shared faith. The main church of the Golden Faith in Deis is known as the Church of Hyrule. It is the state religion of Hyrule, and seventy percent or more of its inhabitants subscribe to it. It is a fully organised and codified faith, which recognises the ultimate religious authority as being the queen of Hyrule, who is also the current incarnation of Hylia. When there is a religious issue that must be considered the word of the queen has absolute importance, and Her decree on matters of faith is law. The church also has a very structured clergy- tiers of bishops, cardinals, and archbishops in a similar system to those of other worlds. This clergy is also overwhelmingly female, with men occupying the lower ranks of the faith if they are present at all. The role of a woman of the cloth is considered a good and motherly one, and not appropriate for a man’s harshness. Other than the conventional priests the Church of Hyrule also holds six key arcane position. The Maidens of the Shrine are the highest positions in the church, other than Hylia herself. Six women, one for each of the low elements, scattered throughout Hyrule and the broader continent, the Maidens advise Hylia in spiritual matters, and rule in her stead where she is not. ### Dogma The Golden Faith presents the world and all within it as the creation of three Golden Goddesses- Din, Nayru, and Farore, the goddesses of Power, Wisdom, and Courage respectively. Three golden figures, perfect in form and unknowable in thought. In the time primordial these Goddesses forged creation itself from the Nothing, the formless seething mass below the world, and the six elements of magic. Din gave the world form using the elements of fire and earth, Nayru gave it law with frost and light, and Farore gave it inhabitants with life and darkness. They separated all of creation into the three Realms- the Material Realm, the Sacred Realm, and the Dark Realm, and retreated to the Sacred Realm to watch Creation as it grew and thrived. Millennia passed until three creatures rose above the others to become the powerful gorons, wise zora, and courageous humans. Seeing their virtues the Goddesses descended to the world to declare their favour to the greatest of each of these people, and these Chosen of the Goddesses achieved great works with that favour, forming empires and creating a time of great peace. Once again the time came for the Goddesses to depart the world, in order to receive the souls of the honoured dead in the Sacred Realm. To watch over Creation in their absence they raised three new gods- the Yggdrasil, the Abyssal Leviathan, and the Infernal Dragon, the patrons of humans, zora, and gorons respectively. These deities would possess incredible power and act with the judgement of the Goddesses as their intermediaries in the Material Realm, but would ultimately be mortal and pass their titles to their successors upon their death, for nothing was beyond death that could be born of the Material Realm. But no time had passed from their creation before the three new deities began to argue, their virtues placing them at odds with one another. Seeing this the Goddesses raised one more deity- the lesser goddess Hylia. Incarnated as a mortal human woman, Hylia would be the mediator and ultimate arbiter between the three Patron Deities, and in this way would peace be obtained and preserved. And so the Goddesses retreated once again, and there was peace and milk and honey for two thousand years. ### The Golden Codex Although the morals of the Golden Faith are considered core to Hyrulian law the faith itself has very few commandments. In the eyes of the Church of Hyrule, there are no prophets of the Goddesses beyond Eldin, Faron, and Lanayru, who gave few commandments beyond that the Goddesses should be venerated above all other deities, and many urgings towards clean and kind living. There are large numbers of guidelines included- the correct routine for the day, the structure of prayers, when and how to marry, but few strict rules. There are three holy books of the Golden Faith. The first, the nearly five millenia old Book of Faron, dictates the creation of the world and the selection of the three great prophets. The second, the Book of Mudora, is an addendum to the first book written three thousand years before the present and adding the creation of the Patron Deities and Hylia, as well as a number of theological musings by the priests of the intervening years known as the Tiyarchs. The last of the holy books, the Book of Gaepora, is only one and a half millenia old, and speaks of the Great Invasion and the disasters which accompanied it. It is the primary surviving source of information about the Great Invasion, and the disasters which ended the empires. Unlike the other books the Book of Gaepora is written with an admission of fallability, as it was penned by the Sage of Light Rauru Gaepora more than a millenium after the events it describes. Collectively these books are known as the Golden Codex, a book around eight hundred pages long detailing the precepts of the Golden Faith, which can be found in every church in Hyrule. \page ## The Golden Sisters The Golden sisters are three perfect, unknowable beings who created the world at the dawn of time. They are eternal and beyond scrutiny. They do not make any direct contact with the world, and have not since they departed it in the Imperial Era, but are always watching. Their faithful recieve magic when needed through prayer, but by no means could ever contact them. ### Din, Goddess of Power The eldest of the Three Sisters and therefore the oldest being in all of existence, Din forged the world with Her great flaming arms, moulding fire and earth into the lands and seas. She is the Goddess of those who seek absolute power in order to make the world as it should be, and is exalted by most of the gorons as a result. She is also the chosen deity of many soldiers. Dragons praise Din over all others, ignoring the other sisters completely in their worship of Her. The main Dinnic faiths however merely consider Her the first and most important of the Three Sisters, and pray to Farore and Nayru when appropriate. Din’s worship has, historically, been the most likely to lead to conflict or even outright evil due to its very nature. Despite this however there is no major stigma traditionally attached to the worship of Din in Hyrule. Din’s chosen people are the gorons and She raised the Infernal Dragon before Her departure. Din's holy colour is red, her preferred element is fire, and she is pleased by percussion instruments. *Din's domains are Light, War, Forge, Strength and Destruction. Her alignment is Lawful Good. *

### Nayru, Goddess of Wisdom The middle Sister, the second to enter Creation, Nayru used Her brilliant mind to give the world law and forged the flow of magic into the seven streams known today. She is the Goddess of those who seek knowledge to better themselves and others, as well as those who wish to learn for its own sake. She is the goddess of choice for most zora, but is also venerated by scholars and artists and rulers. As well as being the goddess of knowledge and wisdom, Nayru is also the goddess of protection and the seas. She is elementally associated with ice and water- some believe that She steers blizzards and tsunamis away from Her chosen people to strike the stupid and ignorant, but this is not the mainstream view. Cults of Nayru’s Primacy believe that knowledge for its own sake is a glorious pursuit, and that Nayru will reward the world if it is wise and creates glorious works. They also believe that if the world falls to evil it will be Nayru who destroys it and brings about the next with a flood that will end the era, washing away the sins of the land. Nayru’s chosen people are the zora and She raised the Abyssal Leviathan before Her departure. Nayru's holy colour is blue, her preferred element is ice, and she is pleased by stringed instruments. *Nayru's domains are Knowledge, Light, Solidarity, Beauty, and Ambition. Her alignment is Chaotic Good. *

### Farore, Goddess of Courage The youngest Sister, Farore is the ultimate progenitor of all life, the one who took magic and law and land and formed them into the first creatures. She is the Goddess of those who need bravery and hope to better the world, whoever they may be. Although courage is the core of Farore’s portfolio it also extends to all other positive virtues, as well as force of will and all the mental qualities that make someone great. Farore is the goddess of all life and holds healers and others who would protect life and nature in high regard. She is also the patron of travellers of all types, and the goddess of storms and the wind. She is extremely popular amongst humans, and is the most popular goddess with most nonhumans as well other than their normal patron goddess. Many interpretations of texts claim that Farore alone was the wife of the Everking and therefore the mother of the Prime Hylia. This would make Her the descendant of the Great Heroes, Her chosen champions on the world, and also the distant ancestor of all queens of Hyrule. Farore’s chosen people are humanity and She raised the Deku Tree before Her departure. Farore's holy colour is green, her preferred element is wind, and she is pleased by stringed instruments. *Farore's domains are Light, Nature, Tempest, and Solidarity. Her alignment is Neutral Good. *

\page ## Hylia, Goddess of Time There are many interpretations of the details of Hylia’s origin- sometimes the Prime Hylia is the daughter of Farore by an immaculate conception, sometimes she is also the daughter of the Everking, or occasionally Faron. One notable case holds her to be somehow the daughter of all three Golden Sisters at once, and another states that she was a virtuous orphan taken in by the Sisters at the dawn of the Empire and bathed in all three divine springs. Whatever her origin, the reason for Hylia’s existence is well known- when the goddesses departed the world they raised up the three patron deities, to act as their hands in the mortal realm- the Great Deku Tree, the Infernal Dragon, and the Prime Leviathan. But these beings fell to bickering and infighting almost immediately, and so a final deity was required, an intermediary between the three patron deities who would enforce peace between them. Hylia performed her duties admirably, an unknown number of hereditary goddesses brokering peace between the other deities, and through her prosperity in the lands of mortals was assured. Hylia has long been the most active and vital goddess on the mortal world. When the Great Invasion came it was a Hylia (possibly the first) who rallied the mortal races beneath the Everking, a man cited alternately as her father, brother, or possibly husband. When victory was finally achieved it was a Hylia who tore the ground to create the floating aerial islands on which humanity could be saved from the aftermath of the war, and when a millennia had passed it was a Hylia who ordered mankind to return to the surface.

``` ```

In the modern day the queens of Hyrule are, by law and tradition, the incarnations of Hylia. The mantle of Hylia and queenship with it passes along the line of firstborn daughters as a great soaring beast of light and lightning known as the Thunderbird, a mantle which guarantees stability and peace in Hyrule. By order of the goddesses Hylia is the inheritor of humanity's right to rule "between the water of the seas and the barrens of the mountains", and it is this divine right which guarantees the rulership of every mortal on the planet. The power of a Hylia varies enormously- some have been soaring angelic figures possessed of sufficient arcane might to challenge the demon kings themselves, while others have lacked any active control over their divine abilities. Most common is that the powers of a Hylia are only available during moments of great fear and strife. Regardless of her personal status a Hylia is always the head of the central Hyrulian church, the church of Hyrule, with a structured and regimented clergy below her. She is the most popular deity beyond the Golden Sisters themselves, and her influence is undeniable even without her magical abilities. She bears her own power, a vast well directly related to that of all three Golden Goddesses, but grants her spells subconsciously- even a normally unpowered Hylia can subconsciously give magic to her followers. Hylia's colours are purple and white, and if she has an element it is light. Traditionally she is associated with all forms of music, particularly singing. *Hylia’s domains are all domains of the other Golden Goddesses, but especially light. Her alignment varies, but is usually Neutral Good.*

\page

## The Infernal Dragon Despite their long lives and staggering intelligence, dragons have many limitations. They cannot wield tools or wear armour. They cannot farm or mine, their minds seem to simply disallow the concept. Most importantly they cannot build or forge, and yet adore fine architecture and beautiful metalwork. For this reason the dragons have long been allies of the gorons, with whom they share their ancestral homeland of the Eldin mountains. It was this alliance, as well as the dragons’ incredible strength, that led Din to choose the greatest of their number to be Her hand on the world. From the earth itself She pulled a wellspring of bubbling water, and when the mightiest of the dragons bathed in it He gained a fraction of Her boundless power. In this way He became Dinraal, the first infernal dragon, the Patron Deity of the gorons and the king of all His kind. Infernal Dragons since Dinraal have been chosen by the politicking and occasional outright warfare of the dragon clans, the great dynasties who dominate draconic culture. When Dinraal fell in battle against the king of all Dark Dragons, Onox the Black, He was forced to retreat to the Sacred Realm, where He heals to this day. His appointed successor followed in his footsteps, bathing in the Spring of Power and becoming Eldin, the second Infernal Dragon. When Eldin grew old and weak He was, following a long period of *Drakenfugue* where there was no incumbent, replaced by Volvagia, who in turn was succeeded by Dora Dora following the death of Volvagia at the hands of Onox during the Scrambling. Since Dora Dora’s death in the Nihil war three hundred years ago the mantle of Infernal has been born by the drake Vyorsoth, who took up the name Warbane on his ascension. Impacted heavily by the death of his old mentor and predecessor, Warbane is a fanatical militant pacifist who has brought about a lasting peace amongst the dragon clans and violently quells all conflict between the dynasties and beyond. He shows no favour to any in this regard, not even his own clan of the Tolemac dragons. #### Domain Warbane’s domains are War, Forge, and Strength. He is functionally a gateway to Din’s own power, but will not hesitate to close that gateway if a follower incites needless violence. He speaks for the gorons above all others, but will always accept converts from other races. His alignment is Lawful Good. ##### Infernal Dragons | Regnal Name (Birth Name) | Duration | Reason For Removal | |:-------:|:-------------:| :----------: | | Dinraal (Unknown) | c.2600 PF - 1008 PF | Crippled by Onox the Black, retreated indefinitely to heal in the Sacred Realm | | Eldin (Yortakaras) | 997 PF - 3 AF | Retired due to age at the founding of Hyrule | | Volvagia (Volvagia) | 30 AF- 466 AF | Slain by Onox the Black during the Scrambling | | Eldin (Yortakaras) | 471 AF - 665 AF | Returned by popular choice. Slain during the War of the Bound Chest. | Dora Dora (Arreyadora) |680 AF - 1208 AF | Killed during the Nihil War by Volvagia’s animated corpse. | Warbane (Vyorsoth)|1215 AF - Present (1554 AF) | Incumbent.

\page

## The Prime Leviathan Although it goes against the dogma followed by most humans and the central church of Hyrule the zora maintain that they have raised not one but two empires in their long history. The first of these was the original empire, created many millennia before the rise of humanity, which was founded by Lanayru. This empire fell to a sudden and vast onslaught of zola and their gyorg masters, and was followed by thousands of years of tribal savagery and a struggle for survival. The zora were saved from this state by the leviathans. Piscine creatures of enormous size, staggering intelligence and significant arcane power, the leviathans appeared seemingly spontaneously from the depths of the ocean and with their leadership and assistance the zora drove out their ancestral foes. The zora then founded their second empire, and began venerating the leviathans above all other things save for Nayru herself. Being possessed of such brilliant wisdom it is no surprise that Nayru chose the greatest of the leviathans to be her hand on the world. From the oceans she produced the Spring of Wisdom, and as the leviathan Tamaranch bathed in it he became the first Prime Leviathan, the hereditary patron of the zora. On his death in the Great Invasion he was succeeded by Jonam, who had his own successors in turn. The current Prime Leviathan is known as Jorbic, and is an active and roaming presence in the zora domain. Each Prime Leviathan lives in close proximity to the zora, people, a constant presence and guide to his people. Some Prime Leviathans travel amongst the zora settlements, dispensing wisdom and aid, while others remain in place and allow pilgrims to come to them. Either way they are inevitable surrounded by a thousand or more devoted followers who carry out the Prime Leviathan’s will in a loose hierarchy. There is a phenomenon amongst the Prime Leviathans not seen in the other Patron Deities. For reasons unknown when a Prime Leviathan dies it may transcend the spiritual realm and be reborn as a whale-like behemoth, a cetacean creature of enormous power and seemingly endless knowledge known colloquially as a Wind Fish. These creatures take on new names and ascend to the skies to roam through the clouds, rarely if ever returning to the ground below. #### Domain Jonam's domains are Knowledge, Arcana, and Tempest. He is functionally a gateway to Farore’s own power, and is usually considered a very accessible god, even when compared to the other Patron Deities. Goron followers of the Prime Leviathan are usually rare, but other races can always find a home with him, especially those of a nautical bent such as mariners and fishermen. His alignment is Chaotic Good.

\page

## The Deku Tree In the deepest depths of the forests grow the maku trees. Given sentience through a quirk of time and circumstance, the maku trees grow in the most secluded glades of the woods. They live for centuries and gather potent magical knowledge, bending the elements of life around them and nurturing their glades to prosperity. It was this reverence for life, Her gift to the world, which drove Farore to choose a maku tree to be Her hand on the world. From the swirling storms in the sky Farore drew the Spring of Courage, and in it She planted a maku seed from the most virtuous of their number. This maku tree grew and grew to become the size of the mightiest castle, and He was dubbed the Deku Tree, the Yggdrasil, the world tree. Farore was pleased with Him, and gave Him custodianship over all life in the forests and beyond. The Yggdrasil was mighty, but He could not spread the word and influence of Farore alone. From the very spring of life itself he called the forest spirits, shaping them forms of fey crystal to create the ones who would become the Kaddi. When the first Yggdrasil fell, laid low in the Great Invasion by the demonic hosts, his seedling successor took up his mantle, inheriting his divinity as well as his memories and, importantly, his spirit servants. Over time as the Deku Trees passed away, through conflict or pestilence or age, their successors would arise each in turn and with them new spirits would often arrive. The crystalline Kaddi gave way to the mammalian Kikwi who were replaced by the botanic Kalle who in turn gave way to the humanoid Kokiri. None truly know of their origin of the successive generations of forest spirits, not even the spirits themselves. There are only two who could know this answer beyond the maku trees themselves. The first is the Sage of Forest, whoever they may be, for the Sage of Forest enjoys a special kinship with the Yggdrasil and has always been a forest spirit themself. The second is Odolwa- the arboreal giant and the creator deity of the deku scrubs, about whom even less is known than the forest spirits. #### Domain The Great Deku Tree’s domains are Life, Tempest, and Nature. He is the patron deity of all humanity, but has little time for those who have no respect for nature and life. He is a popular deity amongst humans, particularly the peasantry and rural population. His alignment is Neutral Good.

\page

# Golden Cults There are, according to the dogma of the Golden Faith, seven deities- the Three Sisters, Hylia, the Infernal Dragon, the Prime Leviathan, the Great Deku Tree, and no others. This is a fundamental truths of the religion, and one of its few true hard and fast rules. Despite this the Hyrulian landscape is spattered with powerful entities who, although they largely keep to themselves and most certainly are not gods in any way, inspire a form of worship. When these entities are in some way directly associated with the Golden Pantheon their worshippers are referred to as Golden Cults. ## Sage Cults The Sages are amongst the most powerful practitioners of magic, and where there is power faith almost always follows. ### The Founding of the Sages When Hyrule was first founded one and a half millennia ago it was done so on the back of the achievements of one man, the first King of Hyrule, the Great Hero known as the Hero of the World. His slaying of the Demon King Demise was what made the descent of mankind to the surface world possible, but this victory was only achieved thanks to a weapon known as the Master Sword. The Master Sword was and is a blade of unsurpassed power and craftsmanship, but a weapon whose power was already waning. A solution to this waning power was sought, and soon one was found. Six individuals would take on the mantle of Sages, using six artefacts known as the Sage Medallions to act as living gateways to the six elements of magic. They would then curate the power of the Master Sword, as well as controlling any number of other eldritch forces in order to keep the land bountiful and safe. The first two Sages, the hylian Sage of Light Rauru Gaepora and the sheikah Sage of Shadow Purah Lysane, selected the remaining four. These were the kikwi Bucha, the goron Gorko, the hylian Gerus Kaminari and the parella Jelyf Vahan, who became the Sages of Forest, Fire, Spirit and Water respectively. These were the Ancient Sages, the first of their kind. These six individuals travelled to remote locations with a few to no followers and established Hermitages in which they could reside in comparative isolation and security. ### Those Who Followed For many years the Sages have regulated and empowered the flows of magic. Although they are unaging and possessed of staggering power within their Hermitages they are not immortal and can be slain. \page Over the years three of the Ancient Sages have fallen- Gerus slain by his kin during the Scrambling, Bucha slain by Ganondorf Dragmire shortly before the Nihil War, and Jelyf slain after the Nihil war’s conclusion by unknown methods. Following the Nihil war another three Sages were chosen by the remaining Ancients- the kokiri Saria to replace Bucha, the zora Ruto Nalis to replace Jelyf, and the gerudo Jaliya Dragmire to replace Gerus. Although the Sages are not deities they can grant power when they believe it to be appropriate by opening the flows of magic to them. A person attempting a dangerous or risky activity which they think would be pleasing to a Sage can pray to them, and if the Sage deems it appropriate they may gift their petitioner with some amount of power. This has led to permanent cults forming around the Sages in many cases, although few are deluded enough to believe them to truly be gods. Technically the seventh element of time also has a Sage, but as this Sage is also the Goddess Hylia she had no Hermitage or Medallion. #### Domain Sages, with the exception of the Sage of Shadow Purah as detailed later, only grant powers on a permanent basis (eg creating clerics) rarely. They would be more likely to give rarer but more supplemental magics (for example those a paladin uses) or to form a personal pact (creating a warlock) with someone who they believe would be capable of improving the general situation. Their alignments vary. Sage magic should be extremely elementally focused, such as using the phoenix sorcerer to represent the power of the Sage of Fire, or perhaps using the Oath of Ancients paladin to represent a bond to the Sage of Life and the forests. ``` ```

## The Father of Snakes The worship of the Father of Snakes, also known as the Serpentine Faith, is the only explicitly racial religion in all of Hyrule. It is only available to the sheikah, no others are admitted to its ranks, and admission is automatic at the moment of a sheikah’s birth. All details of the cult (other than that it venerates the progenitor sheikah known as the Father of Snakes, has one permanent church in Kakariko, has a travelling clergy with a strict hierarchy, and that the power of its clergy is disseminated by the Sage of Shadow Purah) are strictly secret, and unknown to the general population. ### The Asp Father Sheikah myth is, like many myths and legends of Hyrule, originally shaped by the Great Invasion. The sheikah believe that during the Great Invasion there was a warrior known as the Asp, or the Father of Snakes. He was a human gifted in shadow magic, an assassin and warrior without peer,, and a noble fighter for humanity. He used arcne darkness in all his works, and he became so steeped in this magic over the years that it fundamentally changed him and his closest followers, making them into the ancestors of all modern sheikah. The Asp was also either the forger or the first recipient of the six elemental Sage Medallions, and he gifted these to his followers to use to control the Great Divine Beasts. Vah Aurux, Vah Medoh, Vah Rudania, Vah Ruta, Vah Impaza, Vah Nahboris and Nah'si Zelod. Seven invincible and vast war constructs with which the Great Invasion was won. ### The Serpentine Faith The Father of Snakes penned a holy book of his own, the Tome of Serpents, an expansion to the book of Mudora of which only one full copy exists under the care of the Sage of Shadow. It is whispered that this book reveals lies about the Goddesses written into the Golden Faith's own bible. The secrets from it are unveiled to sheikah as they pass through each of the seven trials built into the tunnels below Kakariko- all trials save the first are deadly, and all save for the first two are unnecessary for any sheikah who does not wish to become a member of and advance within the clergy. The travelling clergy of the Serpentine Faith have no permanent buildings save for the entrance to the caves of trials, and make their way across Hyrule guiding their people wherever they can find them in the ways of their faith. The powers of the clergy are granted by Purah, who gives shadow magics to any members of the church who require them. All members of the Serpentine Faith are sworn to the service of the Royal Family of Hyrule, and by extension the Sage of Shadow and her three Archshadows, functioning together as a vast web of spies and assassins who maintain the safety and sanctity of mortal life. #### Domain The Father of Snakes is no true god, but Purah can grant domains of Trickery and Death. Many members of the clergy of the Serpentine Faith would however be better served by other classes. Oath of Treachery paladins, Gloomstalker rangers, Shadow Magic sorcerers, Great Old One, Undying, Raven Queen, and Hexblade pact warlocks, as well as wizards who favour the Illusion school, would all make fine priests. Purah's alignment is Chaotic Neutral. \page

## Fey Cults Since time immemorial Hyrule has been host to fairies. Creatures of pure magic and fey by nature, little about fairies is well understood except that they possess innate arcane abilities and can be found anywhere if one knows where to look. In the times before the goddesses fey cults were extremely common and every village left a saucer of milk out for the little folk, but viewing them as deities is now heavily discouraged by the fairies themselves on the orders of Hylia. Their faith still continues in the wilder parts of Hyrule however, usually manifesting as an odd form of nature worship full of nonsense nursery rhymes and superstitions, along with a healthy reverence for the fairies themselves. ### The Queens of the Wild Fairies are bizarre creatures. Although it is rare for them to closely approach any mortal some information has been gathered on them over the years. There are, broadly speaking, three ranks of fairies- great, lesser, and sprites. All are largely benevolent spirits of nature, who are said to bring great luck on those who they show favour to. Great Fairies are extremely uncommon, rarely venturing beyond their homes in the most wild and natural parts of the world. They create their homes in natural springs and cultivate the land and air around them to become a shining example of nature’s beauty, called a Fairy’s Fountain. Inside its fountain a Great Fairy is extremely powerful, but they are loath to leave it as beyond the perimeter of carefully wrought natural magic the Great Fairy’s power is enormously diminished. Physically speaking Great Fairies appear to be human, usually hylian women anywhere between six and thirty feet tall and possessed of an incomparable beauty. This is however merely a façade, their bodies being composed of a fantastical material known only as fey crystal covered in a thin layer of skin and musculature. Inside these constructed bodies lie the true spirits of the Great Fairy, a life and sentience of utterly unknown origin and nature. Their motives are inscrutable, but their actions are generally benign and almost always highly devout- the sylvan queens serve the Goddesses, the Deku Tree, and Hyrule with a fervour which perhaps compensates for their esoteric methods. ### The Lesser and the Mindless Compared to their greater counterparts, lesser fairies are far more common, but still elusive. They appear to be small balls of colourful light from which sprout a pair of wings comparable to those of a butterfly. If one peers into the glow a humanoid form can be seen, a body comprised of fey crystal without the skin covering possessed by the Great Fairies. Lesser fairies can generally be found flitting through the deep woods and vales, occasionally venturing into more inhabited lands where they play games with any children or animals they may find. Lesser fairies are also closely associated with the kokiri, who all have a fairy who seems to belong to them personally as their closest friend. The reason for this is, like almost everything about the kokiri, unknown. Sprites are the most common and simplest fairies. They are uniformly white and have no humanoid form, merely a ball of fey crystal containing their spirit. They are almost completely unintelligent, and exist only to travel in search of the wounded virtuous, for whom they give their lives in a burst of energy to reknit wounds and soothe hearts. The ultimate origins of all three forms of fey are unknown. It is believed by most fey cults that there is a single queen of the fairies, the creator of the Great Fairies who in turn created the lesser fairies and sprites. These cults call her Titania, and the few who truly hold the fey as gods instead of merely as powerful mortal beings consider her the ultimate intelligence and driving force behind all nature. Whatever she is, Titania has seemingly directed her followers to worship and adore the Goddesses, as the Great Fairies are as ardent followers of the Golden Sisters as any mortal could ever hope to be. Great Fairies tend to have slightly eldritch-sounding names, usually given by humans in some long-distant time. Lesser fairies usually have short, four letter names. Sprites are not usually named. #### Domain Great Fairies are not strictly speaking deities, and cannot give magic to worshippers like gods do. Instead they would be more likely to create a personal pact or give small supplementary powers. These would be best represented by Fey pact warlocks, Oath of Ancients paladins, or almost any kind of druid. People born close to a Great Fairy’s Fountain could very well end up as Wild Magic sorcerers, especially if they were exposed to the presence of a Great Fairy in their youth. Almost all Great Fairies are Chaotic Good, and the remainder are Chaotic Neutral or Neutral Good. The innate powers of a kokiri could also easily be represented by any of these options. \page

## Odolwa’s Cult The deku scrubs acknowledge three powers. The highest power to them is Farore, Golden Goddess of courage and mother of the forests, but she is a distant and largely irrelevant entity. More immediate is the Great Deku Tree, who the perpetually warring tribes of scrubs are sworn to protect with their lives. The lowest power- but the deity who the scrubs praise most fervently- is their father Odolwa. A violently martial deity, Odolwa expects the absolute pinnacles of strength and loyalty from his followers, and encourages the infighting amongst the deku tribes to keep their skills and instincts sharp so that they may better defend the Great Deku Tree. The arboreal giant Odolwa is normally depicted as an inhumanly tall man with skin painted in an eclectic mix of colours and patterns. His leathery hide is green and his eyes are red, glowing behind an ornate wooden mask. In his right hand he holds a sword as tall as a human and in his left he bears a tower shield made of compacted leaves. He is a peerless warrior, but is also whispered to be a sorceror almost without compare. With these talents he defends the Great Deku Trees as their last guardian and final line of defence against the forces of darkness, a duty in which he has only failed once before when the dark Shah Ganondorf Dragmire cursed the third Tree to a slow death, something Odolwa could do little to prevent despite questing for a cure in the moments before the Nihil war began. #### Domain Odolwa’s origin and the source of his power are both unknown. Some speculate that he was once a mortal human given great boons of nature by the Deku Tree, others that he is a rare example of a masculine Great Fairy. Whatever the reason for his existence Odolwa is either unable or unwilling to give his followers arcane powers, although he may be capable of teaching them to use natural magics, for example creating a druid. Odolwa's alignment is True Neutral. \page ## Oocca Machine-Cults According to legend the greatest weapons ever created were the four Divine Beasts, the four vast mechanical marvels which fought on behalf of mortal life in the Great Invasion. To the sheikah these constructs were made either by or for the Father of Snakes, their great shadowy progenitor. To those who believe that the constructs were a gift the creators of the beasts are always the same- the pseudo-mythical oocca. ### The Avian Watchers Since the most ancient times of the mythic era, when humanity's ancestors crawled out of a hot swamp and decided to give walking their best shot, the oocca have watched the world. A race of diminutive, weak, and frighteningly intelligent bird-like creatures, the origin of the oocca is unknown even to themselves. What is know is their duty- to watch and record the world below on behalf of the Golden Goddesses, guiding it when necessary by reward or by threat. ``` ``` In this duty the oocca are aided by their constructs. Ranging in size from the fist-sized scout drones to the castle-sized Armos Titans, the oocca and the oocca alone are capable of producing and maintaining these machines of utility and war. In times past, in the earliest days of the Imperial Era, the oocca deployed their devices without concern and at every opportunity, but these times are loong since past and the oocca of the modern day are a reclusive and vulnerable people. ### The Clipping of the Wings As the world formed the oocca watched it from three vast airborn citadels named Valik, Mammon and Tyran. These citadels would form their bases of power as they monitored and safeguarded the world, three impregnable and unstoppable mobile fortress-dreadnoughts. When the Great Invasion came these fortresses were laid low. Mammon vanished, Tyran was annihilated and Valik was crippled, and with each ship the oocca lost more knowledge and personnel. Furthermore without the dreadnoughts the oocca's control over their creations was destroyed, and each terrible construct could be dominated by any magician with sufficient will. Despite turning an entire ocean into a desert in their search for the materials needed to rebuild Valik, the oocca never restored their control and so never regained their former power. ### New Hands on a New World The oocca spent the nubian era limping through the sky on the remains of Valik, finally landing on the aerial islands abandoned by humanity and hiding in the clouds. They would go on to have only the smallest influences on the newly forming kingdom of Hyrule. No longer able to reliably use their constructs the oocca allowed themselves to fade into myth, forming cults dedicated to their worship. Always small and often highly secretive in order to avoid violating the goddesses' directives, these oocca cults would rarely understand their true purpose or the nature of the beings they worship. Instead they would simply perform tasks as directed, and be rewarded in turn with material wealth or, rarely, fantastical oocca equipment. Over time these cults would become more and more ingrained within the intellectual circles of Hyrule, Xin, Bharatia, and a dozen other kingdoms as the scholars of the area became more and more infatuated with the mysterious visitors and their amazingly advanced gifts. ### The Twilit Return When Zant's evil beset the world the oocca were not unaffected, and suffered many attacks across their airborn outposts. Most notable of these incidents was one in which a satellite-city was beset by a monstrous dragon, who was eventually slain by the Hero of Twilight. Their existence thus threatened, their reality thus discovered and their absence thus untenable the oocca concluded after Zant's defeat that they could no longer remain as distant observers. They descended their largest city to the skies above Lake Hylia, taking up their current position as a bizarre but undeniable part of Hyrule's arcane community. #### Domain The oocca are technically not deities, but possess a great amount of arcane knowledge even after their losses. If a member of their cult caught their eye sufficiently the oocca would, potentially, be able to provide them with almost any form of of magical knowledge, equipment, or... alterations.

\page

## The Great Hero When the Great Invasion wracked the world it seemed as if mortal life had entered its twilight. Everything was chaos and death and fire, all begot by the horrifying hordes of demons sent by the calamity to bring ruin to the work of the Goddesses. In these times there was a great need, and a Great Hero rose to meet this need. This herp was the Everking. His name is forgotten now, his origin long since faded into divine confusion and his many deeds turned to pure legend. What is remembered is his greatest work, the ultimate victory of mortal life over demonic forces, and his death at the close of the Invasion, where he gave his life to create the seal on Malladus which would be maintained forever by the Seven Eternal Watchers. For this sacrifice an eternally greatful humanity elevated him to an impossible status, and named him the Great Hero, the greatest there would ever be. But fate is strange, and the Goddesses are always watching. In time humanity was challenged with great strife once again at the battle of Aurux's Reach, and a new figure emerged. For his actions in the battle which ended the Sky War he was dubbed the Hero of the Sky, a Great Hero perhaps not on par with the Everking but certainly closer than any man had ever been. Fate would continue to touch other young men in the years to come. The Hero of the World who slew Demise. The Hero of Men who ended the War of the Bound Chest. The Hero of Time who supposedly averted an age of terrible darkness. Men chosen by destiny, who would change the world with their heroism. The Great Heroes, all of them, have become folk legends in Hyrule. Nobody knows where they will come from, or who will be chosen to be one. Some say that they all share the blood of the Everking himself, but as each hero achieves his victory he returns to obscurity amongst the people, his line vanishing to emerge elsewhere. Anyone could become a Great Hero, and this knowledge is a great balm to many in times of crisis. The Hero May be great, but He is not reliable. His presence cannot even be guaranteed, as many terrible crises (the Civil War for one) were solved by the grit of men, not the presence of heroes. His victory itself is only likely, not assured, as shown by the Hero of Time and the Nihil War. Few can even agree on who exactly was or was not a Great Hero- the Tome of Moraphiel lists nine, with seven being supposedly named by prescience. The Emerald Chronicle records sixteen, but includes several which are not recorded elsewhere, and the Book of Mudora says that there will ultimatelly be twenty one Great Heroes, but is unable to name them. The heroes may be mysteries and uncertainties, but this only adds to their legend. Such is their presence that entire knightly orders have been founded attempting to emulate the Great Heroes, or maybe even discover future saviours of Hyrule amongst the people. The most famous of these is the Crownguard, the elite order of green-robed knights who protect the royal family at all times, but others such as the Shields of Moraphiel and the Rangers of the Deepwoods are dotted throughout the continent, striving to live up to the heroes and their legacy. #### Domain The Hero gives no magical powers and has no domains, but has inspired paladins by the score. All heroes are of a Good alignment.

\page

##### Heroes There have been, by the most popular consensus at least, ten great heroes as of the current day. They are listed here, along with their greatest deeds. ##### Great Heroes | Title | Approximate date of Activity | Deeds | |:-------:|:-------------:| :----------: | | The Hero Who Was Emperor | c.3000 PF (Imperial)| Faron, the first and only prophet of Farore and the founder of the Emerald Empire. Likely a retroactive inclusion. | | The Everking | c.1000 PF (Imperial) | The first Great Hero. Supposedly related to the first Hylia by marriage or fatherhood. | The Hero of the Sky | 20 PF (Nubian) | The Hero who defeated Majora at the battle of Aurux's Reach, and was slain in the process. | | The Hero of the World | 2 PF (Nubian) | The Hero who rebuilt the Master Sword and defeated the Demon King Demise. Would later become the first king of Hyrule. | | The Hero of Men | 626 AF (Royal) | The boy who won the War of the Bound Chest for Hyrule with the aid of the picori, defeating Majora and sealing his Shades within the titular vessel. | | The Hero of the Unseen | 726 AF(Royal)| The first hero to defeat the wind mage Vaati and seel him within the Four Sword with the help of the minish scholar Ezlo. | | The Hero of Four | 826 AF (Royal) | The second hero to face and surpass Vaati. Married Zelda V Daltus to become the king of Hyrule. | The Hero of Time | 1206 AF (Royal) | Averted a terrible future ruled by the Dark Shah, instead causing the Nihil War. Failed to use the Triforce and shattered it into its three pieces, leading to widespread distrust of the Great Heroes for centuries after. | | The Hero of Twilight | 1454 AF (Shaded)| Defeated the mad king Zant and stopped the Twilight Invasion with the aid of the Twilight Princess, Midna. Restored faith in the Great Heroes. | | The Hero of Light | 1504 AF (Shaded) | The Hero who killed Vaati and defeated the Pretender Ganon using the Four Sword. Married Queen Zelda VIII Gaepora and became king of Hyrule, remains the incumbent ruler. |

> ##### Myth and Rumour > >Other heroes are also thought to have existed by many, but are considered apocryphal by others, folk tales with no real foundation of truth or logic. They may be real and largely forgotten, a confusion of facts regarding others, the echo of heroes to come or a complete fabrication. Some are listed here. > * The Hero of the Brightling Star > > * The Hero of the Tower > > * The Hero of Night > > * The Hero Awakened > > * The Hero of the Door > > * The Hero of Heroes > > * The Hero of Iron > > * The Hero of Wind > > * The Hero of the Reckoning > > * The Hero of Legend > > * The Hero Afar > > * The Hero Between > > * The Hero at the End > > * The Hero of War

\page # Old Gods Before the arrival of the three Golden Goddesses the world was a dark, frightened place where monster roamed freely. This is the truth as preached by the clergywomen of the Golden Faith. The actual historical reality is a little less harsh- in the times primordial before the founding of the empires the mortal kingdoms had other, lesser gods. Local spirits, otherworldly beings, rogue demons and angels and travellers of strange stars. Though many of these deities were chased away by the Goddesses on their forays to the world many more still remain, too tenacious to remove easily or too insignificant to receive notice. These are the Old Gods. Mostly worshipped by small local cults or uncivilised tribes, the exalting of the Old Gods is technically forbidden in Hyrule. Sometimes this forbiddance is rigorously enforced if the god is considered a threat to the church of the Goddesses, either due to its intent or its magnitude, but at other times the deacons prefer to turn a blind eye to the traditions of the rural folk. ## Gomess, The Death Custodian In the dark, lonely, dangerous times before the empires death was a constant companion to the mortal peoples, and the scourge of undeath was a frequent fear. The spiritual solution to these fears was Gomess, the goddess of death and carrion and the watcher of the Doors of Death. A dark cloaked figure wielding a long scythe in one hand and a crook in another, Gomess is normally depicted surrounded by swarming flocks of crows, bats, ravens and locusts. A forbidding presence for sure, but normally with a face depicting warmth and care. The followers of Gomess believe her to be the reaper of life, the shepherd into the land of the dead. These followers revere death, considering the act of dying to be the absolute core of nature, and perform complex funeral rites to aid Gomess in her work. They do not however seek death or seek to cause it in others, and consider wasteful death to be the absolute sin, taxing Gomess unnecessarily. Gomess is the watcher of the Doors of Death, as well as the reaper of life. She prevents undeath and resurrection from perverting the flow of souls. No individual, no matter their villainy or virtue, can be simply returned to life while Gomess does her duty at the doors. The theologians of Hyrule have no real consensus on the nature of Gomess. Some hold her to be a rogue demon, others an independently acting angel. Although her worship is discouraged it is rare that its forbiddance is enforced, as many see her cults' relentless persecution of the creatures of the night as far more of an asset than a liability. #### Domain The domains of Gomess are Grave and occasionally Death. She also makes a fine patron for a Raven Queen or Undying warlock pact. Her alignment is True Neutral.

``` ``` ## Arbitrax, The Judging Wolf The Golden Faith preaches that when someone dies their soul is judged by the Golden Goddesses. The virtuous are taken to the Sacred Realm to live eternally in a glorious paradise, and the despicable are cast into the endless void. Those who are neither virtuous nor despicable are sent back into the world to be reborn as a member of a favoured race again, to hopefully achieve a greater virtue. The cults of Arbitrax, the Judging Wolf, teach differently. To them all souls pass into an unknown afterlife, regardless of sin or virtue. Arbitrax, normally depicted as a great golden wolf with one red eye and one eye scarred beyond use, sees this state of affairs as a great injustice. His solution is to act as a deterrent, a punishing force who takes the souls of the evil aside and tortures them until such a time as he believes they have paid for their crimes. He also saves souls unjustly captured by demons by liberating them in the Dark Realm and shepherding them on to the next life. He is supported in this by his followers, who attempt to reduce the injustices of the world by redeeming the misguided, punishing the evil, and encouraging the good. Arbitrax is generally considered to likely be a demonic or angelic being, although no consensus can be reached on his true nature. His worship waxes and wanes in Hyrule, growing steadily in power until such a time as a misguided act of retribution is performed by his followers after which the faith is persecuted for a time. #### Domain Arbitrax's domains are Protecton, Order and Zeal. It would also be appropriate for him to inspire an Oath of Vengeance or The Watcher paladin. His alignment is Lawful Neutral. \page ## Malanya, The Steppe Lord Deis' western boerder is dominated by two bodies- the gerudo desert and the green frontier. The latter of these is a seemingly infinite plain of low hills and scrubland stretching from horizon to horizon almost without feature. It is a vast and arid steppe, in which only one people can prosper- the khans. The khans, nomadic human and bulblin clans to whom the horse is everything, have ruled the steppe since the mythic era. According to fanciful legend they are born into the saddle, and spend their entire lives riding. They eat little meat except for horse meat, and drink nothing but water and horse's milk. For millenia before the arrival of the Empire the khans were unified in their worship of Malanya, the horse god of the steppes. They believed him to be a great deity of grass and earth and the world itself, equine in appearance but humanoid in form, and his galloping stirred up great winds. He was their immortal and infallible guide as they migrated across the plains, and they gave offerings to him appropriately in the hope that he would intervene to aid them in their struggles with other khans and the spirits of the earth. Even in the modern day the Khans hold Malanya as their god, but now he rules alongside another. Their greatest god is still Malanya, the great earth stallion of the steps, but *she* is Fargad, the Emerald Mare of the storms and the wife of Malanya. Their children are the clouds and the forests, and the khans worship her with all the fervour they show him. #### Domain Malanya's domains are Ambition, Strength, and War. He is of Chaotic Neutral alignment. Fargad's domains are Light, Nature, Tempest, and Solidarity, and her alignment is True Neutral, leaning into Neutral Good. ``` ``` ## Oshus, The Ocean King To the zora the years before the Imperial Era are known as the Barbary Times, when they struggled through a long and terrible dark age brought about by the fall of their mighty empire and the predations of the zola. This time was ended by the arrival of the first Leviathan shoal, around a millenium before the founding of the Emerald Empire. These leviathans were great and powerful gods given flesh, who raised up the zora and helped them to drive the zola onto the land, and none was greater than Oshus, the ocean king. A great white leviathan of unsurpassed power, Oshus was the first of the leviathans, predating his fellows by thousands or perhaps even tens of thousands of years. It is and was whispered that he was a master of the arcane, able to manipulate not only the flow of ice magic but also the very fabric of time, a feat which should be impossible. Dwelling primarily in a space beynd the world known as the King's Sea, Oshus revelled in his position as the lord of all seas, a being unchallenged beneath the waves. He brought favourable currents and winds to his chosen sailors, and sent those he felt deserving of punishment to the bottom of the oceans. He was not a pious creature however, and frequently stood against the church of Nayru and even the edicts of the goddess herself. When Nayru chose the Leviathan Tamaranch to be her voice in the world Oshus found himself challenged for the first time, and began to retreat into his own realm. In time he became less and less active in the world, but his worship continues amongst sailors, for it was never wise to earn the displeasure of the great white leviathan. #### Domain Oshus' domain is Tempest. He would also make a fine patron for a Kraken warlock. He is of True Neutral alignment.

\page ## Goht, the Master of the First Forge The food of the goron race is stone. Igneous, metamorphic or sedimentary, their diamond-hard teeth can crush anything into powder. As such they learned to dig deep long before they learned to craft tools, delving deep in a constant search for food. They unearthed many things in this ancient time before the written word, many treasures which should perhaps have remained buried. One such treasure was Goht. An enormous being of fire and steel and frost and lightning, Goht's name was given to him by those primordial gorons when he was first dug from the solid rock which encased him. The proto-gorons surrounded Goht, fascinated by his presence and his constantly-shifting form. They watched as Goht consumed the ores around him, rocks which the gorons thought to be particularly tasteless coloured stones, and saw as he turned them into bars of valuable iron, gold, and silver. Thus did Goht teach the gorons to smelt metal, and started the ancient traditions of forging and metalwork. Goht vanished into the mountains as mysteriously as he had arrived, but he had already become an object of veneration. The mechanical marvel was now the first god of the gorons, the Lord of the First Forge. Goht would not resurface until the Iron Dawn war many centuries later, fighting alongside his followers against the tides of monsters sent by Din. He would reappear many more times over the millenia, each time with a subtly different form and each time disappearing without warning. The Lord of the First Forge would also not restrict his manifestations to the gorons, appearing to the ancient humans, zora and goblins, amongst others, to teach them the secrets of metalwork. To this day he remains the god of superstitious smiths, an ageless being without source who exists only to spread the word of the forge. #### Domain Goht's domain are Fire and the Forge. Artificers would also serve well as followers of Goht. His alignment is True Neutral. He never speaks, and does not command his followers, who instead primarily just honour him for his gift to mortals. ``` ``` ## Twinmold, the Wild Herald The first appearance of Twinmold is spoken of in goron legend, a disaster which followed the Iron Dawn war. Legend tells of how a vast and terrifying worm burst from the ground, soaring high into the air before locking its jaws on its own tail. It hovered as a colossal blue Ouroboros, spinning high in the air. The gorons watched it as its enormous form eclipsed the horizon, maintaining a vigil for days and constantly expecting the beast to attack. But the days turned to weeks, and the weeks turned to years. As these years passed the sky grew darker, and the air grew colder. Then, as the clouds occluded the last of the sky and a seemingly eternal winter set in, Twinmold descended to the goron peaks in a terrible rampage, centuries after it had first risen to the sky. Gorons died in their thousands and made no impact on the worm's impenetrable shell, with respite only coming when the worm, seemingly of its own volition, vanished back into the earth. The dark winter Twinmold had ushered in did not vanish for many more centuries. The plants and animals of the world became sick and died, and in time the gorons began to die, too. Although the winter did ultimately come to a close the world was devastated, with many of the great beasts of the era being lost to time. Twinmold has reappeared multiple times since that terrible event, each time acting as a herald of some terrible natural disaster and then performing a terrible attack. Sometimes the worm is vibrant blue and heralds a storm, a flood or a terible winter, and at others it is a deep red which heralds a wildfire, a drought, or an earthquake. The Twinmold has come to be considered an embodiment of nature, the avatar of the wrathful wild just as Goht is the embodiment of artifice. It may be prayed to or even magically invoked by those who believe in a terrible and hateful wild, but it is a cult which can only be worshipped in secret, for such people are never to be trusted. #### Domain Twinmold's domain is Nature, but it would also be well served by almost any type of druid or ranger, or an Oath of the Ancients paladin. Its alignment is True Neutral.

\page ## The Oracle of Secrets In the whispers of the wind, the trickles of the streams and the crackles of the flames is knowledge. Each thing in the world influences each other thing, meaning that from any one thing the entirety of creation. This truth was first deduced in the distant mists of the mythic era. None know who determined this truth, nor who performed the great ritual to determine the secrets inherent in each thing. All that is known is the result, the Oracle of Secrets. The Oracle of Secrets is always a woman, but this is all that remains consistent between her appearances, save for her bearing of the Tome of Secrets. The Oracle appears seemingly at random to the knowledgeable and powerful #### Domain Twinmold's domain is Nature, but it would also be well served by almost any type of druid or ranger, or an Oath of the Ancients paladin. ``` ``` ## The Oracle of Ages The origin of the Oracle of the Ages is, by its nature, difficult to pinpoint. The Oracle spans time, crossing the years #### Domain Twinmold's domain is Nature, but it would also be well served by almost any type of druid or ranger, or an Oath of the Ancients paladin.

\page ## Ji, the Great Glittering Grandfather In any society the most powerful are not the strongest, the most charming or the most pious, but the wealthiest. Gems can replace anything, from strength to wit to love, a person needs nothing but wealth. This is the core belief of the faithful of Ji. Often depicted as an elderly man bedecked in finery and with a head made of a single vast jewel, Ji is the patron of traders everywhere. Though some may hold Farore as the patron of travellers and Nayru as the patron of sailors, all traders feel the call of Ji's greed somewhere deep in their souls. Ji's followers hold the gathering of wealth as the most important thing, and believe that those who deserve wealth will always find it. They also therefore believe that the poor have what they deserve- namely nothing. The religion is as a result appealing to the rich, or those who wish to become rich. For whatever it is worth- and Ji knows *exactly* how much it is worth- Ji is an extremely active god, giving reliable aid to those who make offerings to him through tiny manipulations of fate. Under Ji's glittering eye the rich get richer, provided they follow his whims. Ji's exact demands and commandments are relatively simple, but rarely easily met- Ji demands dividends, offerings of wealth in his name whether burned or discarded in one of his holy pools. When these demands are not met, whether due to an unwillingness or an inability to pay, Ji's favour rapidly abandons his faithful. Ji's exact origin is often pondered by his followers, with no real conclusion ever being made. The most common belief is that Ji was once a vastly rich king, the first to ever mine and trade rupees and the father of modern commerce. This king grew richer and richer, mining more and more gems, until there were so many rupees in the world that they lost all value. As the king died, ruined by his own hubris and greed, he swore an undying hatred of not greed or even his enemies, but of poverty itself. So born was the god of wealth, the Great Grandfather of Rupees. #### Domain Ji's domains are Trickery and Ambition. His alignment is Chaotic Neutral. ``` ``` ## Baron, the Face of Vengeance Once upon a time, there was a chieftain of great power, the ruler of a great tribe, a peerless warrior and leader of men. He piled victory upon victory, and grew prouder and prouder until he ordered the creation of an impossibly grand mask for himself to wear, a faceplate of rubies and fur to commemorate his own glory. To punish him for his hubris his gods sent an army of their own to face him, a force he could never hope to beat. The army of monsters met the chieftain's forces, and though the tribe and the chieftain fought with all skill and cunning they were slowly destroyed. The tribe had all faith in their chieftain and would not submit, even as they were slain. This slaughter continued until only the chieftain and his son remained and then, as a monster held the chieftain's son in its jaws, the gods offered the chieftain one last chance to surrender. When he finally admitted his flaws and surrendered to the gods, the monster crushed the boy in its jaws to remind the chieftain of his place. The army then descended on the chieftain, a beaten and broken man armed with nothing but a spear. That army of fell beasts is long dead, as are the gods who sent them. Their forms and names are scattered to the winds. All that remains is the story, and Baron, the bloody-faced god of revenge and war. Soldiers pray to baron when they bite at the edge of their shields in rage. When a man is betrayed he prays to baron, regardless of whether or not he knows he's doing it. Baron's face appears in the dreams of those who will soon go to war, and his blood-red mask watches them as they march to the front. He is rooted into warfare and fury itself, and cannot be extracted by even the most dedicated member of the clergy of the goddesses. #### Domain Baron's domains are War and Strength. His followers may also be conquest paladins, as well as almost any type of fighter or barbarian, particularly a battlerager, berseker or juggernaut. Baron's alignment is True Neutral.

\page ## The Nameless In the days of the old empire seven wandering stars were identified as planets, pinpricks of light which slowly danced across the night's sky. Through methods unknown the ancient astronomers also determined that these planets were worlds similar to hlofa, orbiting the sun for their own reasons. Perhaps it is from one of these planets that the Nameless come. The first sign of the Nameless' arrival is the illumination of an otherwise moonless night, the dark sky becoming bright as a second moon arrives amongst the clouds, a great glowing sphere which hoves into view with a sickening hum. From this sphere descend the Nameless, the terrifying ghosts of the stars who come to abduct and mutilate for their own twisted purposes with their great glowing claws. Usually the Nameless are gone by dawn, leaving only scorched patterns on the ground and mutilated cattle around an empty village. In some cases however there is a single survivor or a small group, blank-eyed and muttering nonsense. Often these traumatised survivors are taken by the authorities, for when their lucidity returns to them they are always possessed with a new purpose, one which seems to invariably serve the Nameless themselves. Many Nameless victims go on to form doomsday cults, preaching terror from beyond the stars and terrible space gods who must be appeased. Others act more subtly, performing acts of sabotage and assassination. The ultimate goals of the Nameless are not at all understood, but no sign has yet been seen that they are anything other than hostile to all mortal life, regardless of species. On several occasions the Nameless have outright sided with the forces of darkness against Hyrule, they are one of the few forces which fought alongside the Calamity to the bitter end during the Invasion. Perhaps then they seek the same thing it does- the utter destruction of all mortal life- and are simply waiting for their opportunity. #### Domain The Nameless have no Domains, but would work well as Great Old One warlock patrons. Their alignment is Neutral Evil. ``` ``` ## Faucheur, the Swordsouls The story of the first Faucheur is known to most of the world's smiths. The story so goes that once there was a great king, a man who breached the boundaries between life and death so that his kingdom could sit astride that greatest border. For many centuries the seal he had placed on that boundary opened only at the command of him and his followers, imbued by the power of his gods, but when some terrible and vast power laid these gods low the seal was broken, and a terrible tide of deathly energy spread over the land. Terrible monsters released by the breaking of the seal began destroying the kingdom, and the king's distant successor required a weapon of extreme power to save her land. The kingdom's smiths laboured on what was possibly the greatest weapon of all time, binding the soul of a Great Fairy into a gemstone which was then set into a scythe of blackest night. That fariy's name was Faucheur, and it was with the weapon born from her sacrifice that the queen saved her realm. Faucheur are named for this first werapon and this first fairy, so that mankind would never forget her sacrifice. Other have been forged since, each binding a spirit of some description to an arcane gemstone. Angels have been bound on the behalf of great kings, and demons have been enslaved for the darkest lords. The most powerful such weapon however is inarguably the Master Sword, a blade forged by the Goddesses for the Everking using a specifically created spirit, a comparatively young blade which has been used to destroy all manner of monsters, and een the demon kings themselves. Faucheur are rarely created, but history is long and when forged they are difficult to destroy. As such they lie in waiting across the world, in old vaults or ancient ruins, awaiting a new wielder who can reawaken their powers. #### Domain Faucheur are perfect for Hexblade parons,and can be personally owned and transferred between weapons. They would also make a good source of paladin powers, of more or less any oath. Faucheur can be of any alignment.

\page

## Bagamanah, Goddess of the Sands One of the oldest tales of the desert, the entity known as "Bagamanah" has been worshipped by assorted civilisations and races for as long as any scholar can discern. She has always been amongst the dunes, the Deep Desert Mother, a being about which little is known to this day. Civilisations and tribes worshipping her have risen and fallen throughout the millenia, with only Bagamanah remaining as the invincible and immortal empires praising her name have return to dust. The modern faith of Bagamanah owes itself to witchcraft, hubris and greed. In the terrible times of the Scrambling the king of the gerudo sought to claim the Triforce for his people, and so required a great power in order to confront not only the forces of the Goddesses but also the other contenders seeking the ultimate prize. His solution was a pair of twin witches who formed a pact on behalf of their entire people with the ancient desert deity in exchange for the girls' eternal servitude. Armed with this power the king went on to attempt to take the Triforce, but failed like all other traitors to the Goddesses. When the king returned to the deserts he accused Bagamanah of failing him. The goddess' fury was vast, and in response she brought about the curse of the gerudo, forcing the gerudo to follow her in order to preserve their lives, lineage, and nation. For the last thousand years the religion of the gerudo has remained the worship of Bagamanah. She is a capricious deity, seemingly acting with utter benevolence and grace one moment and complete discord and spite the next. Her will is rarely simple or easily discerned, and her exact nature remains a mystery. The gerudo priestesses preach that she is a being of utter duality- both a force for greatest good and most terrible evil. Bagamanah gives no commandments and does not speak directly to her followers, but as her priestesses attempt to interpret her will they create rules for those below them. These rules vary with Bagamanah's disposition and the current way of the world, as well as the priestess' own internal desires and biases, but usually focus on meditiation, internal harmony, and servitude to the desert goddess. There are as many internal divisions within the faith as there are priestesses, but they are unified in one thing- follow the goddess, or great terror will befall you. #### Domain Bagamanah's power is available to any who would seek it and submit to her will, meaning it is most easily available to gerudo. She can grant any domain she wishes. Her alignment varies by the moment, and her followers may be of any alignment as a result.

\page

## Jove, The King of Gods Other than the Golden Faith and the Golden Cults there is only one religion officially permitted in Hyrule- Jovianism. By the mandate of the Goddesses and their prophets the Jovian faith may build its churches and train its clergy within the borders of the kingdom, unmolested by the priests of the Three Sisters. It is a small faith, attracting fewer than one quarter of Hyrule’s population, but it appeals quite strongly to the rural population and has a large base of worshippers amongst true humans. Perhaps once it was much greater- according to its own legends Jovianism predates the Goddesses, and was the chief religion of the world’s kingdoms before the arrival of the Sisters- but those times are long passed. Jovianism is more closely compared to a philosophical movement than an actual religion. Unlike the Golden Faith Jovianism has a great many rules- when and what to eat, where and how to pray, with ten major rules and a thousand other smaller rules which dictate the correct bearing to live one’s life. These rules are by their very nature restrictive, but many seem to prefer the structure and order they provide to life over the more liberal attitude of the Golden Faith. The god of the Jovian faith- male and singular, which is unusual in Hyrulian religions- is Jove. An angelic being of incredible power commanding a host of similar entities, Jove’s influence is rarely if ever directly felt on the material world. Jove is not the creator of the world, but is instead its protector. He shields the world from demonic forces and is the maintainer of the barrier between the Material, Sacred, and Dark Realms. For this He is thanked and praised as a god by His followers. The most important aspect of Jovianism is largely unrelated to the deity Himself. Instead it is considered absolutely crucial that Jovians follow His teachings and philosophies on moral matters, practicing them as they were practiced in the idealised Old World from which the fables and legendary figures of the faith come. Jovian philosophy holds that there are three ideal behaviours for mortals- the path of the Shepherd, the path of the Son, and the path of the Warrior. The path of the Shepherd teaches the correct manners in which to lead and govern justly, the path of the Son teaches how to follow with deference and forgive the transgressions of others, and the Warrior teaches how to bring retribution in moderation when the transgressions of others become too great. A Jovian can and should move between a balance of all three philosophies and each individual philosophy whenever it is appropriate- lead as the Shepherd, follow as the Son, fight as the Warrior. #### Domain The Jovian clergy is organised and hierarchical, but also generally quite meagre in number, influence and wealth. Many of its priests are male. Jove’s domains are Light, Solidarity, Protection and Zeal, and His paladins are typically of the Vengeance, Conquest, Crown and Redemption oaths. His angels can and will create Celestial warlocks, and Divine Soul sorcerers may come from angelic ancestry or exposure in youth. Jove is of Neutral Good alignment.

\page

## Seth, Death Knell of Peace A deity of chaos and hate so ancient that history is but a twinkle in his eye, Seth is proof that age need not bring wisdom and an alien perspective need not bring detachment. He is a terrible and spiteful god to whom strength is everything, and anarchy is preferable to peace. In the primordial deserts Seth and his brothers Ra and Toth fell from the sky, wounded by the Goddesses and forced to the earth. On the scorched and blasted lands of the early world they found dragons and warred against them for thirteen years, defeating and enslaving three draconic clans in order to take their treasures. So much blood was spilt in this vast and unending battle that it permanently stained the region, giving it its modern name of the Land of Red Sands, and Seth one of his enduring titles, the Jackal-Lord of the Bloodied Soil. Seth then secured his surviving brother, Toth, a home as his brother created the races of the world. Goblins, zora, alifos, humans, and a hundred others were made and found to be wanting until ultimately the wosu were created, the perfect people who would gratefully serve Seth until the end of days. Toth vanished from history as Seth began to rule his new people, teaching them the ways of strength and chaos. The Darknuts raised up the first citadels and made war against one another, constantly vying for the attentions of Seth and hoping he would come to reside in their citadel, giving them his favour above all others. Seth constantly encouraged this infighting, stopping only whenever the empire of humanity seemed about to overrun the wosu. At all other times he was a constantly divisive and cruel figure, always refusing to intervene in disasters and always seeking to set wosu against each other. For thousands of years this state of affairs remained, the wosu unable to advance their society thanks to the crippling presence of Seth. When the Invasion came Seth fought alongside the demons as he saw their victory as inevitable, but was eventually enheartened by the successes of the mortal races and turned against his former allies. When the war was concluded Seth declared that it had been the greatest conflict there could ever be on this world, and there was no longer any use for him on it. Seth thus departed, ascending back into the heavens from which he had fallen and leaving the wosu to continue following his example. Seth's worship continues amongst the darknuts in two main forms. The first is from his clerics, who form the Chaos Legates, Tribunes, Centurions and Optios of the thirteenth legion of each citadel. These priests recieve their power through fervent prayer and devotion to the cause of the Red Sands, but do not speak to Seth and are not holy in and of themselves. The second form is that of the Jermafensers, those born with innate magic or who have a revelation of Seth's majesty, becoming terrifying swordsmen who seek to spread the word of the chaos jackal across the world. #### Domain Since Seth's departure from the world he has not appeared in physical form or spoken to his followers. His magic does still rech those who seek it, however. Seth's domains are War, Death, Forge, Strength, and Ambition. It would also make sense for him to inspire paladins (jermafensers) of the Oath of Conquest, or create sorcerors of the Phoenix Soul. Seth is of Chaotic Evil alignment.

\page

## Thoth, Lord of the Sunset The ancient ibis-headed lord of knowledge and magic, Thoth is a powerful and furtive being who seeks knowledge for its own sake and promotes magic without logic. One of the three brothers who fell to the land which would one day become the Red Desert, Thoth was one of two survivors of the great battle against the ancient dragons. Although it was Seth who had shouldered the burden of most of the combat it was Thoth who the jackal-headed god turned to once their ordeal was over, Thoth who was taked with forming the new order the brothers would use to exert their power on the world. Thoth commanded the dragons to build him a great library known as the Ark of Lords, and in that library he poured and pooled his vast knowledge in an attempt to create the perfect servants. Time and time again Thoth tried to craft Seth and he a worthy race of followers, and time and time again he failed. Humans, zora, goblins, lynel, alifos, zola, and a thousand other races left Thoth's great halls, and each was decried as useless by the brothers- too weak or too stupid or too cowardly, too short lived or too sedentary, too tall or too short, too ugly or too vain. Thoth's last creation was the wosu. Highly intelligent and utterly ferocious, each brother was entirely happy with their creation. But the wosu were not impressed with Thoth- for all their martial prowess and terrifying courage they could not abide Thoth himself, and they considered him weak. This saddened Seth, for he had never seen a people so perfect, and he could not choose between Thoth and his new followers. Thoth, ever wise and above such petty emotions as jealousy and regret, simply beat his mighty wings once and flew off into the sunset, to leave his creations in the care of his brother forevermore. The above is the truth as told as the darknuts, who are by no means impartial on the subject of their god and his brother. The other story, only told by the most dedicated seekers of arcane power, is that Thoth fled some ferocious clash with his brother, and did so with his own people. Known to hylians only by their fairytale name of wizzrobes, most do not believe that these followers of the Ibis-headed god exist at all. Those few who do say that the wizzrobes act alternately as Thoth's open hand and his clenched fist, gathering knowedge from practitioners of magic when possible, and destroying Thoth's enemies when he wishes it. Many of the most powerful practitioners of magic seek these wizzrobes, known to themselves as mago, hoping to add their own knowledge to the vast reserves of the god of magic in exchange for gifts of extra power from those same stores. In this way Thoth's distant citadel at the end of the sunset gathers knowledge for whatever inscrutable reasons he may possess. None may speak to him, or even know he exists, but the flow of knowledge continues, and the wizzrobes still descend on those who oppose the dissemination of magical lore. #### Domain Like Seth, Thoth's magic reaches his supplicants although none can ever speak to him. Thoth's domains are Knowledge and Ambition. Pacts with Thoth and his servants could also create Mana or Noble Genie warlocks. Many of his followers are also wizards of more or less any variety. Thoth is of Chaotic Neutral alignment.

\page

## The Elemental Queens, Rulers of the Seasons Many great fairies dot the land, their shrines hidden away in the wildest places. They live furtive, inscrutable lives far from civilisation and the predations of mortals. All serve the goddesses' plans, and are but followers of greater powers. All, that is, save for the Elemental Ladies, the Queens of the Seasons. Four Great Fairies of almost unparalleled elemental power, able to manipulate the fabric of nature itself. Four Great Fairies, worshipped as goddesses in the lands of Holodrum and Labrynna by the native Horoni. Ruedu Ron, the Wildfire queen of Flame and Summer. Mikiskaw, the Blizzard Queen of Ice and Winter. Sharad, the Tremor queen of Death and Autumn. Ilavenil, the Storm Queen of Lightning and Spring. In times long passed the Queens fought against the humans of Holodrum, a railing and raging force of nature- harvests were failed, cities were razed, and wildfires swept through the land. But the Queens could not use nature without subverting it, and so were eventually forced to negotiate with their enemies. The humans could not truly nderstand the Queens, being eternal beings of apocalyptic strength, but nor could the Queens comprehend the quick-burning eagerness of humanity. An accord was eventually found- an intermediary. The humans would nominate a woman from amongst them as an Oracle of Seasons, and she would enter a covenant with the fae on their behalf. They would allow her to control nature with all of their powers, and spoke to adjust her judgement in her mind even as humans did the same from outside. Overseen by a Maku tree as a neutral party, a deity of both humanity and the deepest nature, the Oracle would guide Holodrum onwards in balance. She would travel as she saw fit, benearth notice, but always watching. To the people of Holodrum the Oracle is a messianic figure, a saviour and judge who appears from nothing and nowhere in times of crisis or greed to save or condemn the people. She chooses her successor when she wills, with that choosing being a great honor. The tales of the land are replete with stories of the heroism and cruelty of the Oracles, and the power of the Queens. The religion worshipping the Queens is unorganised and animistic, believing wholeheartedly in the power and inherent importance of nature and the sprits therein. The people of Holodrum may also worship the Golden Goddesses, as almost all do, but must worship the Queens alongside them, as the Queens owe no fealty to the Sisters and get jealous easily. #### Domain The Queens are, unlike most Great Fairies, powerful enough to give out magical spells directly to their supplicants. Their domains are (between them), Life, Nature, Tempest, and Death. The followers of the Queens would also be well repesented by druids or rangers, and their chosen may be born with powers appropriate for a draconic bloodline sorcerer. All the queens are of True Neutral alignment.

\page

## Ganondorf, the Dark Shah At the founding of Hyrule the greatest of evils was Demise, the Demon King of the Dead who had ravaged the world for a millenium, a being of unsurpassed malice and hatred. When the people of Hyrule cursed they cursed Demise's name, and when a paragon of darkness was needed it was his name which came to mind. Now however this role has been taken up by Ganondorf Dragmire, the Dark Shah. The ultimate evil, the king of darkness and the being most hated by the Goddesses, Dragmire is renowned as the most evil mortal who had ever been born, or indeed who *could* ever be born. But where there is ambition there is admiration and where there is power there is worship. As the centuries passed Ganondorf's evil became myth, and myths are twisted in the telling. A cult of personality began to form around the Dark Shah, and some few began to see him as justified. He sought to seize the Triforce and become a god, because the gods of the world are absent or weak. He sought to increase the lot of his people, struggling in a hot, dry land. He sought to restore the natural order, where the strong and capable need not submit to the weak and useless. Though Ganondorf was no god he was certainly the match for many gods. He had the necessary intellect to master the dark arts, becoming one of the greatest warlocks the world had ever seen. He had the charm to sway thousands of disparate tribes and natural enemies to his cause, forming the Nihil alliance into the largest army of nonhumans ever seen in Hyrule's history. He also had the willpower to wield the Trident of Power, Seth's own weapon which should by all rights have destroyed his form utterly, not transformed him into an enormous boar-demon. He may not have been a god himself, but Ganondorf's power was sufficient to cause the deaths of two patron deities, two Sages, three dragon dynasty lords, six archangels, eight demon lords, twelve jermafensers, thirty great fairies, and innumerable small gods. Though Ganondorf was ultimately defeated and executed by the Sages those who venerate him are still rewarded. It is said that the ancient witch Twinrova still lives, and seeks to resurrect the Shah, who legend holds to be her son. The witch #### Domain Ganondorf is no true god, and has no domain. Hi \page

\page # The Faith Demonic Two and a half thousand years ago Hyrule was the core of a brilliant empire which spanned half the world. The Great Empire of Humanity, a unified, monolithic, unstoppable force for good and reason. Its achievements were unparalleled and its glory was undeniable. It had stood for, it is generally believed, two millennia. With the goron and zora empires at its side it brought order and peace to everywhere it surveyed, none were beyond its grasp. And then it was annihilated. From beneath the earth rose monsters. Records of the time are fragmentary and direct sources of information are practically non-existent- almost all knowledge of this Great Invasion comes from oral tradition, the tales of various peoples who speak of the time the world burned and man’s monuments crumbled down to the earth. The otherworldly invaders were unexpected and completely unknown to the ancient humans- they brought ruin to the world on an unprecedented scale, and changed the course of history forever by razing the three empires to the ground over the course of three decades. The demonic forces were only repelled through great effort and sacrifice, and they left a world forever changed and deeply scarred. The golden ages of the world were over, and the age of struggle had begun. Beneath the earth, metaphorically and physically, lie the demons. They are aberrations, monsters born beyond the light of the goddesses by the Calamity. They seek nothing but the utter destruction of the world, and will stop at nothing to achieve their goals. They have no pity or remorse, and their numbers are beyond counting. If ever they break through to Hyrule in force the world will end, and all things will be undone. Demonology, the study of demons, is expressly forbidden in Hyrule. This is a ban born both of fear and reason- the boundary between the material world and the tumultuous heaving of emotion and dark magics that is the Dark Realm is a thin wall, one which can be breached with only a little effort for a canny witch or unfortunate, unaware student. Demons promise great rewards to those who would give them life and motion on the world, and it is thought best if the common man is kept unaware of the power that lies just beyond his reach. The costs can seem so minor, at least at first. A fragment of your soul here, a cherished memory there… A few minutes of control of your body is such a minor thing to surrender in exchange for seemingly unlimited arcane power. What could a demon hope to achieve in a few minutes? There are only two things keeping demons from entering the world. The first is the physical boundary between the material universe and the dark realm. It is difficult to breach this boundary without a portal opened from the material realm, meaning that it is uncommon for demons to walk the world in their true forms except in times of direst disaster. Instead they must possess objects or individuals, or otherwise influence mortals to do their bidding. The second and most critical limitation is the demonic need for energy to sustain themselves. *Ectenis Malefica*, known to laypeople as Dark Energy, is produced in the Dark Realm as the mortal world suffers and burns. Demons feed on this energy as it ebbs and flows though the Dark Realm, and over time this dark energy builds and builds, growing from tiny pools jealously guarded by the strongest and luckiest demons to vast oceans from which millions of monsters can drink. As demons are inherently ephemeral, arcane creatures if a demon wants to exert any control on the world, even by manifesting through a portal, it must consume this dark energy, even to merely exist. The more demons manifest in the world, and the more powerful each individual demon is, the more energy they consume, with the greatest demon kings consuming vast reserves. In order to achieve their bloody goals demons must either be extremely cautious with their use of energy, act only when there is already a large reserve available, or produce more energy through their actions while on the world. Most demons will attempt to mix two or more of these methods during their excursions into the world. While the dark realm is weak, when the world is peaceful and prosperous, the demons are no real threat. But discord begets discord, and as strife builds and the dark energies they feed on wax strong the demons inevitably start setting their sights on higher goals and their ultimate objectives- the destruction of all things. Futhermore once demons have successfully entered the world they can be very hard to remove- they are incredibly resilient, and utterly relentless in their pursuit of causing suffering to bolster their own supply of hateful power. They have no fear, knowing full well that even if they are destroyed they will be reborn from the seething energies of the Dark Realm, from where they will inevitably return to take their revenge. The only way to prevent the return of a demon is with a weapon crafted specifically to banish their particular spirit, dispel their consciousness across the Dark Realm and force it to re-merge with the Calamity from whence it came. These weapons are the one thing that demons fear, for with them a mortal can inflict a semblance of true death on the demon, even if a fragment of awareness may still remain. These weapons are objects of great import and have legends of their own, independent of the wielders who have carried them. There are a great many such weapons, foremost amongst them the Master Sword, the Blade of Evil’s Bane and the weapon with which Demise was finally slain. (This needs rewriting to suck less but the lore is still correct)

\page ## The Archdemons The demons are led by five of their number, the Archdemons. Two kings, three princes. Each is a being of almost incomparable power and malice, and possesses a deep hatred of all things on this world. Between them the Archdemons control almost all of their lesser kin, driving them onwards to achieve the goals of the Calamity. ## Demise, King of the Dead There is no figure more hated by the goddesses than Demise. The ultimate incarnation of evil in the eyes of the Golden Faith, Demise is the first and possibly greatest of the demon kings, and certainly the most intelligent. Normally appearing as a man of inhuman size and power with flaming hair and covered in coal-black scutes, Demise is the supreme threat, the ultimate fate for all those who sin against the goddesses. In his right hand he holds a barbed sword the length of a man, and in his left he gathers the souls of those he has slain. According to ancient tradition the nearly infinite armies of demons commanded by Demise are known as devils. Like their master they are ferociously intelligent, deeply driven, and possessed of an utter devotion to the death of all things. They are individually powerful, but inferior to the daemons and gorgons. Demise holds in his heart a special hatred for humanity in particular, as he has fallen in battle but twice, both times to a great hero- the Everking the first time and the Hero of the World the second. Though Demise’s spirit may have been dispersed following his second defeat his malice persists, and some remnant of his intelligence directs the devils below him to this day. Before Demise’s death he cursed Hyrule with all of his power. Many believe that it is this curse which forms the semblance of him now- an aware, directing force which works constantly behind the scenes to bring ruin to the mortal realms. Surely this explains the suffering which has befallen the world time and time again, from Vaati and Majora and Ganon and by man’s own hand. ``` ``` ## Malladus, King of the Ruined Where Demise is cold malice and horrifying intelligence, Malladus is searing bestial hatred and utter brutality. He is the Force Infinite, the greatest power to ever walk the earth save for the goddesses themselves. His feet crush mountains to rubble and his great horns score canyons in the earth. Lightning follows him like a great crackling shroud and around him rages the primordial storm that tears cities to the ground. Malladus is normally depicted as an ape-like humanoid of impossible size with great bronze horns that curl to his shoulders, a mane of orange fur curling around his head and along his back, and bright blue skin that hums with lightning and glows from within with trapped thunder. He leads the daemons as their king, commanding endless army of demons of overwhelming power but possessed of only an animal intelligence. With them he seeks the ruin of all works, and to turn all things to an endless field of rubble and vitrified glass. During the Great Invasion Malladus was the last of the Archdemons to be banished, sealed two and a half millennia ago beneath the earth in the north, so far beyond the desert that the land actually becomes frosted with snow once again as it does to the south of Hyrule. Though his body was destroyed his soul remains, waiting always for a chance to return to the world. His seal is supposedly manifested as great iron bands that bestride a land larger than Hyrule, watched by six immortal guardians who exist only to prevent his return. ``` ```

\page ## Bellum, Prince of Fury Once the pride of Malladus’ daemon hordes, Bellum was a warrior of unsurpassed rage and power. Stronger than any save for the Demon Kings themselves he most frequently appeared as a cephalopod of impossible size, an abyssal monstrosity who could choke the life from a city with his thousand writhing tentacles and bring ruin and destruction upon any survivors as he crushed the buildings to rubble. A combination of absolute destructive strength and a subtle cunning that went far beyond that of the other daemons, Bellum was the greatest of the hordes and this was to be his greatest downfall and highest triumph. Bellum went almost undefeated in the Great Invasion, and when the demons were repelled he was neither dispelled nor sealed away, merely being forced to leave the world as the mortal races dispelled the demon kings and destroyed the Dark Energy reserves. Buoyed up on pride and arrogance Bellum challenged Malladus to become the king of all daemons. Bellum was a mighty creature indeed, and a force beyond almost anything which had ever walked on the world. Malladus was chained and broken in body by the mortal armies, sealed in a pocket of the Dark Realm. But Malladus was the Force Infinite who could crumble mountains with his breath and even in this weakened state he defeated Bellum. Enraged and ashamed, Bellum was not slain but was instead thrown across the blasted hellscape of the Dark Realm. With him fled a host of the most powerful daemons who had sided with him in his bid for power. Still almost uncountable in number, Bellum’s armies are small but each of the monsters at his command- Gorgons as they are called- is a beast of vast strength. They share his undying rage at their loss of stature, and constantly plot to regain their former strength. The Calamity sees this and laughs, and by the Calamity’s mirth Bellum is given the title of the Prince of Fury. ``` ``` ## Yuga, Prince of Pride The most beautiful and perfect demons are the incubi. A subset of devils the incubi are masters of persuasion, seduction and guile, and are the first to make pacts with mortals in most cases. They are alluring and wonderful, but this belies their true nature- they are vicious and sadistic beyond belief, even beyond that which is normal for demons. Unlike most forms of demon the incubi are comparatively few in number, and though they are more powerful than average they are weaker than most other forms of special demon. Despite this their guile leads them to occupy positions of power within the devil hierarchy, and the right hand of the Devil King is always an incubus. In times long since past this position was occupied by Ghirahim the Antiblade, but since his death in combat with the Hero of the World the position has been taken by Yuga the Perfected. Without direct command from Demise Yuga has been free to assume the title of Demon Prince and gather an independent force of incubi and devils as his own. These demons, especially skilled in the arts of deception and possession, refer to themselves as fiends and have corrupted more mortals and taken more vessels than all other demons combined. Yuga for his part constantly plots to increase his own power and improve the lot of the Fiends until such a time as he can fully assume Demise’s old title. He is unceasing in these efforts, always creating new witches and seeking inroads to the mortal realm, both in Hyrule and the neighbouring planes of the universe. He considers himself the ultimate perfect being and all things his by right, and employs the most painful and sadistic torture on those who would oppose him.

\page ## Majora, Prince of Madness Though the Dark Realm is a formless abyss of emotion and pain there are those who believe who believe it must abide by rules. These demonologists impose a measure of the Material Realm onto that dark and wretched place, seeing a reflection of reality which they can perhaps temper and control. This is a delusion, and Majora is the proof of this. None can say with any authority from which terrible source the Prince of Madness sprang, which profane process gave birth to the cackling king of all Shades. Those who learn his name either learn to whisper it fearfully or find their days numbered, their sanity slipping away like smoke in the wind. Every tale about the purple prince becomes cyclical, its conclusion fading into its beginning in a loop of self-referential nonsense. First-hand accounts of the ruler of Shades are contradictory at best, and gibberish at worst, stories of boneless limbs and ice-cold fire. Rules followed by every other demon are shattered by Majora's presence, and his staring rune is found carved into the cornerstones of buildings which were ruins long before the Invasion. They say Majora is one of a thousand different conflicting tales- a demonic experiment to surpass the Dark Realm, an ancient wizard who stepped too close to the void, a being from outside creation itself, or a primordial dragon who sought the Calamity's power. Maybe he is all he is said to be- a gestalt of otherwise contradictory entities. Maybe the contradictions don't matter. There is one respite from Majora's madness. His victories are always fleeting, and only his failures endure. Wherever Majora goes he is harried by the Helical God, the bright and furious antithesis to all he is. When Majora's legions of shades attack it is only a mater of time before the world is set right by the fierce deity, an entity every bit as unknown as Majora himself. Until that arrival all the world can do is wait and hope to endure the endless armies.

\page ## Other Notable Demons Demons are, by their nature, chaotic and hard to categorise. There are broad strokes in which they can be placed, such as daemons and devils, but there remain devilish daemons and daemonic devils. However once a demon incarnates their form can become more solid and amenable to study, as opposed to being a formless mess in the Dark Realm. On occasion these forms may be truly exceptional, and be given a name as they spread their own brand of the Calamity's hate across the world. ## Verans When demons incarnate in the world they require, as stated before, either a portal or a body to possess. Normally this body is that of a living mortal, but in many cases a demon would instead prefer to inhabit an artificial shell of some kind. Oocca and goron war machines are a favourite, as are corpses and, although it is more difficult, statuary of various types. The ultimate prize however is the body of a Great Fairy. Immortal and unaging, easily repaired, already perfect for holding a spirit in the mortal realm and possessed of a fantastical power, demons who can successfully possess the hollow shell of a former Great Fairy can become great threats indeed. This combination of demonic spirit and fey form is referred to as a Veran, and can remain incarnated for centuries without external support of any kind. Unlike Frozen Watchers however Verans tend to only descend further into the typical behaviour of demons, displaying extreme sadism and fractured, maddened personalities. It is the belief of Great Fairies that even when a Veran is fully transformed there remains a sliver of the fairy she once was, trapped inside the Veran’s mind and made to watch what the Veran does to the world with her body. For this reason Great Fairies who learn of the existence of a Veran will stop at nothing to ensure their destruction. ``` ``` ## Dark Dragons The Darknuts tell how in the primordial times the god Seth fell to the world and cowed a family of dragons to his side. This dynasty, led by the great dragon Onox the Black, served him faithfully for tens of millennia, growing strong and impossibly long lived off Seth’s power. When the Great Invasion came they fought alongside Seth in support of the Calamity, the victory of which the jackal-headed god considered an inevitability. Despite this at the midpoint of the war Seth changed sides to fight for the material world against the Calamity. He had seen the victories that the mortals were achieving over the demons, and hope finally returned to him. It did not return to Onox. Still a fearful and treacherous coward, Onox betrayed Seth as he had betrayed his own kind and remained on the side of the Calamity, fighting to destroy his old master. When the demons were finally repulsed Onox was sent fleeing into Dark Realm, where time and corrupting energies turned him into the first and greatest of the Dark Dragons. Thirty one dragons had served Seth. The wars of the Great Invasion and the fatal energies of the Dark Realm brought that number down to just thirteen. Onox the Black, Torvidon the Frost, Aquamentus the Horned, Mammon the Cruel, Winost the Shattered, Shandring the Three- Eyed, the two halves of Gleeok the Duality, Trinex the Armoured, Ursaka the Winged, Stallord the Bone, Tenebrane the Lost, Aurata the Gilded. Thirteen dragons of terrifying size, power, and malice, who continue to fight for the demonic cause with no home to return to and no hope of absolution. When the gates of hell open the Dark Dragons emerge and there is little to nothing that can stand before them.

\page

## Creations of The Dark Forge

## The Smiths and Automata An infinite army is merely a collection of infinite bodies, a horde of infinite monsters. It does not possess infinite weapons, and cannot armour its infinite forces. For this purpose the Dark Forge was first created. The Dark Forge exists at the absolute upper limits of the Dark Realm, where reality is thickest and where the boundaries of the Material Realm can most easily be seen. Here in a pocket of reality the weapons of the demon armies are made, an army of enslaved souls and lesser demons being forced to hammer out swords and armour for the hordes of the Calamity. It is a vast and terrible landscape of churning earth, which continuously rings to the clang and clatter of ringing steel and bubbling bronze. The air is searing hot, and thick with smoke and fumes. Raw material is constantly sought, either mined from more easily reached pockets of existence close to the Dark Realm, such as the edges of the Realm of Twilight, or filched directly for the world of mortals itself. From this hellscape come both the conventional armamanets of the demons- swords, bows, and the like- and the far more esoteric. Clanking automata stagger forth under the command of long mad demonsmiths, and archtraitor minish forge artefacts for the princes themselves. Strange and terrible weapons and creatures emerge from the Forge every moment, amassing as the Calamity readies itself for the next attack. ``` ``` ## The Forgemasters The Forge is lead by the eponymous Forgemasters, the most capable and driven demons of their ilk. It is from the Forgemasters that the most towering constructs and powerful artefacts inevitably spring, and each Forgemaster constantly competes with his numberless peers to create the most dangerous weapons with which to attack the mortal realms. Each hopes to stand atop the highest pile of enemy dead, to capture the most forge slaves, or to rip the largest hole in the Great Bastion of the Xin. For this the Forgemasters often seek the expertise of mortals, who so frequently have new and terrifying ideas of how to destroy their kin. The Forgemasters are amongst the most prolific demons at making pacts, second only to the Fiends, although they offer little magic. Instead they offer the half-mad engineers of the mortal world pride of place in the Forge on death, and an opportunity to make weapons for all eternity. The most powerful and talented of the current smiths is unquestionably Colerin, the so-called Emerald Forgemaster. Despite his meagre stature and unassuming appearance, Colerin has forged many of the most terrible weapons of the demon horde, and works tirelessly for his masters, most notably Malladus and the army of daemons, to whom the Forgemaster seems to owe a special debt. The Forgemasters whisper that once Colerin was mortal himself, an Archtraitor tempted to the Calamity's cause by the promise of revenge or power, and this is why his new plots and innovations are so brilliant. There are also those who say that Colerin is creating the greatest army of automata that the world has ever seen, a legion of steam-powered behemoths even bigger than the oocca forces at their height, and that he controls this force himself, answering to no demon lord. They say that one day Colerin's forces will spill into the world, lead by a juggernaut of such size that not even the Divine Beasts could stop it. This force will descend upon the Chainfields and scatter the world's opposition before it, breaking the continent-spanning prison on the King of Ruin and finally returning the ruinstorm to the mortal world.

\page ## Frozen Watchers The oldest form of demon worship is that of the Frozen Watchers, enormous bergs of frost containing a single madly swivelling eye the size of an ox. The creation of this specific type of incarnated demon uses techniques developed multiple millennia ago during the primordial times, sculpting and manipulating ice and flesh into a form a demon can inhabit for centuries or even longer. Frozen Watchers can incarnate with minimal energy consumption until such a time as their icy forms are destroyed. In some cases, such as when Watchers were created in the frozen south as they were by the primordial humans long before the Great Invasion, the watchers can live functionally forever, watching the world pass them by. Though the demon within the Watcher may be comparatively weak its ability to manipulate the ice which makes it up and surrounds it only grows with time until even the lowliest devil can become a major threat to those around it. Frozen Watchers frequently cannot move from the location of their creation due to their colossal size and the limitations of their environment. For this they create constructs of ice and summon lesser demons to inhabit them, creating chilfos and freezards to carry out their will. Although this will may be (and frequently is) extremely malicious Frozen watchers are more likely to be amiable than any other form of demon due to their lessened need for Dark Energy and estrangement from the Calamity’s will by distance and time. ``` ``` ## Shadow Simulacra When a demon seeks a form in the world it looks for strength, scale, and an ability to hold a soul. A permanence which it cannot find in the Dark Realm. Through a complex ritual a mortal may subvert this will, binding the demon to something as insubstantial as a shadow. When a demon is bound in this way it is usually lost immediately, dispersing bck to its terrible home. The few survivors who do not vanish in this way become the shadow simulacra. Strange wisps of creatures, the shadow simulacra have almost no form and little identity. They are a flowing darkness, a blank slate, a nothingness which can and must take on any form they behold. In this way the simulacra are perfect mirrors, able to replicate anything they see. They change in form, in powers, and to a degree in thought. They see the surface of their target's thoughts as they take on their abilities, a terrible tool for any unscrupulous mage. Whispers speak of yet more dangerous simulacra, rare beyond measure and exceptional in their ability to retain forms and thoughts. Such creatures, if they can break free of their summoners, become terrible tools of almost unstoppable power, able to become whatever they wish. They seek out the greatest foes, not to confront them but to remember them, to become them when necessary. The greatest of these simulacra is unquestionably Dethl, the terrifying nightmare who can become as he wishes and pass through the very fabric of thoughts in order to spread his deathly terror. It is said the passage of this shadow is the source of all nightmares, and that he dwells within dreams to harvest the fear within. Those who wake from Dethl's dreams are inevitably fearless- they have seen the worst that they could ever see, there is nothing left to fear now.

\page

# Other Spirits ## Angels Just as a demon is a dark spirit from a malicious place the Light Realm has its own inhabitants. These are the Angels, majestic beings of light who are sustained by the antithesis of the demons. Just as death and destruction pool in the Dark Realm, the Light Realm recieves fonts of energy as creation and life prosper in the material realm. As a result of this the angels are benevolent spirits by and large, working to spread mortal life and its creations across the surface of the world. Despite this they are alien beings, of disparate animal parts or even abstract shapes and concepts. Though their intentions are usually good they are a fundamentlly alien people, and no mistake can be made of that fact. The goddesses themselves rarely make direct use of angels, preferring instead to empower mortals on the world. The angelic hosts are therefore a rare presence in the material realm, appearing only when the situation is most dire. Most who appear in peacetime are instead pledged to Jove, or are independent actors pursuing agendas of their own. Even these angels are rare, to the point where many doubt that angels even exist. No official explanation exists for the reason that angels and their master are so uncommon in the world, but theories persist. The most broadly spread of these is a whisper amongst demonoligsts- that the creation of the world by the Goddesses used up such a vast reserve of angelic power that the inhabitants of the Light Realm can no longer easily act upon the world. This is of course a heretical lie- the Golden Goddesses' power is infinite, and any who oppose this are fools, and yet the rumour persists. ## Elementals It is a fundamental truth that a soul requires either a body or an immense power in order to remain in the material world, meaning that when a body is destroyed a soul passes on. The Dark Realm and Light Realm each function by another rule, that a spirit can incarnate formlessly with extreme ease, and so these realms are filled with formless spirits. Elementals exist at the conjunction of these two rules. Free and largely formless consciousnesses the elementals are spirits which have bonded themselves to the elemental flows of magic through the world. Just as an undead uses elemental death to bind itself to its body a fire elemental uses the power of flame to forge itself a form on the world. Such a form is often dangerous, being an unrestrained expression of a pure element, but it is not without its vulnerabilities. The chief such vulnerability is mental- an elemental is almost always an inherently flighty and temporary thing, rarely possessed of persistent memories or personality. Their forms are also inherently unstable, being made entirely of energy and so being easily disrupted by the application of further energy. A spirit may also be bound more physically, being incarnated by the request of a mage into a construct of some description. In these forms the spirit will continue to draw on the elemental magics, and may or may not begin to take fom other magics to form a more balanced supply of power, becoming such creatures as golems or the constructs of the oocca. \page

# The Lands Surrounding

##### Without a home you have nothing to protect. This is your home. Guard it well.

\page

## Hyrule **Government:** Despotic hereditary feudal theocracy **Ruler:** King-Regent Link Jaichen **Ruling dynasty:** The Harkinians **Area:** 857 sqkm (331 sqm) **Population:** c. 20.4 million **Capital:** Acre Nova **Founded:** Year 0 ____ ____ Hyrule is the greatest nation in the mortal realms. It is the lynchpin of civilisation, the source of all that is good, the wellspring of order and peace. It is a large and powerful nation, bigger and stronger than any of its neighbours, and though its greatest glories sometimes seem distant it remains the jewel of the world. ### The Queen and King Hyrule is a theocratic, feudal nation. It is ruled by a series of hereditary queens, each the firstborn daughter of the last. The queen of Hyrule is also the incarnation of the goddess Hylia and the head of the Hyrulian national church, the Church of Hylia. The queen has absolute authority in her realm, and according to dogma is also the rightful ruler of the entire material realm. If a princess of Hyrule finds herself inheriting the mantle of queen before the age of eighteen the kingdom will be ruled in her stead by her regent. This is an individual of her choice, normally her father, and is the only time a king will rule Hyrule. The king of Hyrule is otherwise merely the husband of the queen, who has whatever power she chooses to assign to him. Usually this means that the king performs much of the day to day governance of Hyrule while the queen focuses on arcane and theological matters, but history records many queens who took a more active hand in the running of the country, leaving the king as a purely military commander or just an advisor. If the entire immediate royal family is killed then the title of queen can easily be traced by the passage of the mantle of Hylia, as well as the myriad other powers the queen possesses. In this case the title will follow a passage of firstborn daughters, tracking quite far back into the family tree in many cases, until it can find a living heir for its power. .

### Feudalism The Hyrulian feudal system is very similar to an idealised version of that which is or was practiced on many other worlds. The queen owns the land, which she parcels up and doles out to the dukes and duchesses of the kingdom for whatever services they may have performed. These large pieces of land are taken by the dukes and divided further into counties to be given to counts and countesses, who divide their counties once again into baronies, cities, and parishes to be given out to barons, mayors, and priests respectively. In return the barons provide wealth and soldiers to the counts, the counts provide a portion of what they receive to the dukes, and the dukes give wealth and military forces to the queen. In this way all power and authority to rule comes from the queen, and she cannot be questioned by the nobles below her, for without her they are merely illegitimate trumped- up mortals in too fine clothes. Below this system are the peasantry. Peasants do not own land, and make up the bulk of Hyrule’s population. They are the farmers, the artisans, and the soldiers of the nation. Hyrulian peasants can move freely around the kingdom and have equal rights to the nobility in most cases. Around one quarter of peasants are true human, the rest being hylian. Very few nobles are true humans. Hyrulian citizens can worship any of the Golden Pantheon they wish, or keep the Jovian faith. Some peasants also worship old gods like Arbitrax or Gomess, and while this is technically forbidden it is not a ban that is always actively enforced. Hyrulians usually elect their mayors by the votes of merchants, but otherwise have absolutely no love for democracy, which is considered a foolish vice for those who have incompetent ruling classes. ### Technology and Society Hyrulean technology is broadly medieval. A traveller from earth would find the society and technology of Hyrule similar to that of medieval Europe, with the most similar kingdom being the old Holy Roman Empire of the 13th century. Horses, carriages, subsistence farming, feudalism, and some codified law. \page In many ways however Hyrule differs from its counterparts- its people have more rights, its power is more centralised under the queen, and technology skips ahead in places. These are the legacies of the Emerald Empire, which was a far more advanced society than Hyrule has ever been. The most obvious example of this is cannons. Hyrulian smiths can cast cannons and Hyrulian alchemists can brew gunpowder. Hyrulian warships mounting cannons are therefore a common sight, and cannons often bristle over the walls of Acre Nova during times of strife. The logic behind the forming of these weapons is not well understood, based entirely off old imperial science, but it is still done and done reliably. There are other devices made in similar ways, by craftsmen who do not truly understand what they are doing but can make their products anyway. Plate armor, telescopes, clockwork, aerofoils, and the almost magical picture-boxes are all produced based on old imperial schematics that none truly understand, but are now common enough to be available to anyone of means. ### Money and Rupees Once upon a time the people of the land which is now Hyrule traded in gold and silver coins, but now this is considered a hopelessly outdated and laughably flawed method of commerce. Since the time of the Imperial Era Hyrule has traded not in precious metals but in the gemstones known as rupees. Though this was originally a Bharatian idea it has long since been exported to much of the world, and works rather well. Rupees are thumb-sized gemstones which form into naturally regular shapes. They are also soft (at least for gemstones), which allows them to be scored with the seal of the Royal Family. Rupees also come in different colours of wildly varying rarity, which allows them to be quickly and easily seperated into different levels of value. All taken together rupees are a perfect currency- they cannot be watered-down, clipped or scotched, and so long as the national authority controls the rupee mines they cannot be forged. Rupees are, as stated, graded by colour. Green rupees are considered the baseline value, being worth one of themself. Blue rupees are worth five green rupees, red rupees are worth twenty, purple rupees are worth fifty, and gold rupees are worth one hundred. Far rarer are greater rupees of each colour, around the size of a child's fist, and which are worth one thousand times more than the lesser rupees of the same colour. ### The Royal Family The royal family is, as might be expected, something of a sprawling mess. However the immediate family is more comprehendable. The previous Queen of Hyrule was Zelda VIII Harkinian, a wise and benevolent woman who inherited the position at the age of forty two after her mother succumbed to heart palpitations. She was a widely beloved ruler and considered something of a stoic. She married her childhood friend Link Jaichen at the age of twenty and bore five healthy children before her death in 1540 in the croaking plague. The country of Hyrule is, as of 1554, currently in a regency. The ruler of the country is the King-Regent Link Jaichen, the Hero of Light and widower of the previous queen Zelda. He was once a Great Hero who defeated both Vaati and the Pretender Ganon to save his then friend and later wife, but is now an elderly man of nearly seventy years. He remains however a ruler of startling personal presence and is broadly considered an extremely capable king. Rusl is the firsborn child and will be the inheritor of the Great Hero bloodline on his father’s death. At the age of sixteen he entered a self-imposed exile so that his children could be raised as peasants, as he considered befitting for a Great Hero. His current whereabouts are unknown, but he would logically be aged around fifty years old. Vincol is the second child and was married to a princess of Sarios at a young age. He has not set foot in Hyrule in many years and prefers to rule with his wife in a Sarian duchy. He is considered an intelligent but slow man who thinks complex but lethargic thoughts. By all means he is an excellent administrator and poet. He is in his early forties and has three children of his own. Dorian is a holy man who is currently on the Green Frontier preaching the word of Hylia to the heathens. He is an intensely pious and studious fellow and is currently thirty seven years old and childless. Rindovus is the youngest male child of the previous queen and the only one currently in Hyrule. A man in his mid twenties, Rindovus runs the order of knights known as the crownguard, the elite protectors of the royal family. He is obssessed with the legends of the great Hero, and wears shining emerald plate armour. He is also remarked as being possibly the greatest swordsman alive today, save for his father. Finally there is Zelda. A young woman approaching her eighteenth birthday, Zelda has lived her life in her father's regency but remains extremely brash and headstrong. As her age of majority rapidly approaches her regency will soon end, and she will be crowned queen of Hyrule shortly afterwards. This will be a grand ceremony, in which every *domus* will swear their loyalty to her and her throne. Her path from then will be her own. ### The Dynasties Every queen of Hyrule can trace her ancestry to the first queen, Zelda I Gaepora, and through her to the Prime Hylia if legend is to be believed. However the surname of the Queen has changed on several occasions through Hyrule’s long history, most often due to the annihilation of the incumbent royal family and the position of queen being taken up by a branch who may have taken a new name. These are considered the dynasties of the royal family, and are as follows. ____ **Gaepora** 0- 565 The surname of the first queen of Hyrule and her father, the first Sage of Light. Reigned through the first Golden Age until the deaths of all members of the family during the Scrambling. ____ **Gustaf** 566-665 The shortest-lived dynasty in Hyrule’s history at only three generations. Dynasty ended by annihilation during the Sweep. ____ **Daltus** 666- 1211 The second longest reigning dynasty, producing many fine queens and several nefarious ones. The last queen died during the Civil War and her daughter took her husband’s name following the end of the Nihil War. ____ **Harkinian** 1212- 1449 Ruled over the beginning of the Shaded Era, and oversaw the dissolution and later recovery of Hyrule. Rule ended by suicide of Princess Lucretia at the close of the Gamelon War. ____ **Harkinian (Boone)** 1449- present Current royal family descended from a lowborn nun from Moruge. Queen Zelda Boone took the name of her husband who was the brother of Princess Lucretia. Boone is considered a peasant’s name and using it to refer to the royal family is a grave dishonour. \page ### Magic and the Invisible College Hyrule is home to the Deis' premier magical establishment, the arcane academy of the Invisible College. A palatial structure nestled snugly in the Golden Stacks of Acre Nova, the Invisible College educates its pupils on matters of magic and philosophy. All applicants to the College are expected to be literate before their arrival, but other than that the College has no real requirements beyond the ability to pay its rather extreme fees. It offers education on a variety of subjects, from history to medicine to natural philosophy, and is the most respected insitution for most subjects. Many minor lordlings and other nobility have been educated at the College, and form a brotherhood therein which binds across class and distance. Despite this variety however the College is best known for one thing- magic. The College teaches wizardry, the weaving of magic and understanding of enchantment. The standard course takes around two decades, beginning as early as possible in a child's life. Many stay on to make a life's work of the arcane, delving ever further into the magical secrets of the world, but most move on to other pastures once their studies are concluded, becoming advisors and battlemages across Deis. The graduates are typically powerful enough for most purposes- they can transmit their thoughts over great distance, and incinerate their foes with a wave of their hands. Power beyond this- the ability to step across space, or to rain down firey death upon an army- is much rarer, and beyond the scope of even the Archmages of the college. For this one would have to seek out the reclusive wizards who have devoted themselve wholly to the arcane arts, dotted as they are throughout the wilderness of Hyrule. One thing the college most definitely does not teach is demonology and witchcraft. Indeed the college would sooner dabble with necromancy (otherwise considered dangerous and in extremely poor taste) than investigate the nature of demons. For such power a prospective witch would have to go "off the grid", seeking out a tutor in Hyrule's underbelly or on the edges of civilised lands. ``` ``` ### The Army and Knights Hyrule's army is comprised of three sections- the levy, the tabardine, and the knights. The peasant levy is the largest and least professional element of the army, made up of conscripted soldiers who can be spared from their work without starving the country. The levy is rarely raised, only in times of extreme hardship, and so the majority of military duties in Hyrule are performd by the tabardine. The tabardine, named for the colourful tabards they wear displaying their allegiance to their lord or company, are Hyrule's main professional military force. Full-time soldiers and watchmen, the tabardine are funded by lords and nobles to keep the peace and enforce the queen's law. The tabardine most frequently come into combat with goblins, as dealing with the predations of the barbarous peoples is their most crucial responsibility and most dangerous task. The last and most professional body of Hyrule's military are the knightly orders. A combination of the kingdom's most veteran soldiers, hereditary positions, assorted volunteers and the children of nobility, the knightly orders are groups of tabardine lead by knights, heavily armoured and well trained cavalry and infantry. Most knights who are not sworn directly to the service of a lord are members of knightly orders, groups of knights independent of lords funded by gifts from nobles, as well as taxes they extract from lands they have been given to control. There are around a dozen knightly in Hyrule, the most famous being the green-armoured crownguard who defend the royal family. Other orders include the Wrack Wardens, who sail the hyral sea in search of pirates and zola forces, the Shields of Moraphiel, who follow the example of the Great Heroes and travel the land seeking to protect the weak, the Aegis of Kara, who guard Hyrule against attackers from the western deserts, and the Knights of the Peacock, who operate in Hyrule's northeast and are amongst the greatest delvers of dungeons in the world, some of the few who have ever returned from forays into the Tower of Hera. Each has its own proud and venerated history and its own labyrynthine traditions and expectations of its members, and each is a powerful force for good.

\page ### Geography The majority of Hyrule is forests, open fields, and low hills. Several major rivers snake through its territory, the largest of which is the river Hylia. Most land that is not forested is farmland, and its hills are dotted with mines and quarries. In the north the country becomes warmer and steeper, speckled with rocky crags which eventually become the edge of the eldin and snowpeak mountains, the ranges which mark the northern border. To the south the country becomes colder and wetter up to the border with Lake Hylia and the Lost Woods, a seemingly infinite expanse of forest that stretch past and around Ordona and go on beyond the distance from which any explorer has ever returned. The country is bordered to the east by the great blue expanse of the Hyral sea, and to the west by the sands of the Gerudo desert, in which the Shahdom dwells. ##### Acre Nova Acre Nova, most commonly referred to as New Castle Town, is the largest and wealthiest city in Hyrule. Centrally located at the confluence of the country’s two largest rivers, Acre Nova is the capital of the nation, and has been since it was built in 1288 following the destruction of the old Castle Town in the Nihil war. ``` ``` It is divided starkly into two parts- the inner city within the walls where people are wealthy and the largest and most impressive buildings can be found, and the outer city beyond the ramparts which is sprawling and varies from acceptably clean to squalid. The most impressive buildings in Acre Nova are Hyrule Castle, an enormous palatial structure in which the king and queen traditionally reside, Lawman’s Rook, a sprawling assortment of prisons and courthouses off three sisters’ plaza, and the Threefold Cathedral, the most grand cathedral to the glory of the goddesses still standing. The most relevant districts of the inner city are the golden stacks where most of the city’s theological and arcane institutions can be found, and the green stacks and crystal walk where merchants ply wares from across the country and wider world. Beyond the city’s walls can be found the slums of the Bleak, the largely true human settlements of South’s Lee and Southside, the zora homes of Wet Town below the surface of the Hylia, and the goron town of Ruby Rise. Acre Nova is the capital of the Castellum duchy, the duchess of which is by tradition the Queen of Hyrule.

\page ##### Kakariko Kakariko is the second largest of Hyrule’s cities. The first port of call for goods inbound from the eldin mountains, Kakariko makes its money from the trade of raw materials headed downstream and processed goods travelling to the Commune. Ravaged to the point of destruction a mere century ago it was rebuilt on the back of an enormous mining boom, and is now a town of smiths and miners, sprawling around, down and up a cavernous, arid, craggy landscape, all beneath a perpetual light smog. It contains more gorons than any other city in Hyrule proper, who thrive in these sooty conditions. It also has a burgeoning criminal element, and significant issues with law enforcement- organised criminal gangs, bands of thieves and corruption rings are known to operate throughout the city. Formerly an exclusively sheikah town kakariko was opened to the public shortly after the civil war as a sign of goodwill, but still has a higher percentage of redeyes than any other city in Hyrule. Beneath the city- specifically beneath the graveyard- there is an enormous series of catacombs, interlinked tunnels and chambers which form the seven trials of the sheikah, and at the bottom of which is the Hermitage of the Sage of Shadow, Purah. The only permanent building of the church of Snakes can be found at the very top of these tunnels, organising the affairs of sheikah across the kingdom. These tunnels also meet the surface in Qua Raym, also known as Old Kakariko. Qua Raym is a much smaller town, just across the river from Kakariko, which is not *legally* exclusive to sheikah but is almost entirely populated by them. Kakariko is the capital of the duchy of the same name. In 1554 it is ruled by Duke Thawl Oniz, a corpulent and jovial sheikah. ##### Kara Kara Kara Kara is the westernmost city in Hyrule. It is an incredibly wealthy but comparably small city, primarily being a trading post with the nations to the west of Hyrule. Almost all travellers from the Shahdom or the Citadels pass through Kara Kara, and its streets smell of exotic perfumes and ring to the sound of arguments in a dozen languages. Tea from the distant Bharatia, spices from the Transvin remnants, anything can be found in Kara Kara if one has the determination to look. Most of Hyrule’s gerudo and hegrud population come from Kara Kara, and it is the most likely place one will find darknut mercenaries for hire. At the heart of Kara Kara sit Fort Kara, the bastion against gerudo invasion and the lynchpin which any invasion of or from the deserts must account for. A large and imposing fortress, Fort Kara has nevertheless fallen on several occasions, even though it has turned away many more such attacks. ##### Herafort The Tower of Hera is an ancient tower which predates almost any other structure in Hyrule proper. Built to honour long-forgotten deities it stays standing through unknown methods, a huge and imposing spike of rock jutting from the Phalian highlands, infested with monstrosities of all stripes. Below it on one of the only eastern land approaches to Hyrule is the city of Herafort, a holding of the Duchy of Kakriko and a wealthy trading town for travellers from Calatia. ``` ``` ##### Lake Hylia A great expanse of freshwater that dominates Hyrule’s south, Lake Hylia is a place of enormous economic and spiritual importance, both to the humans on its banks and the zora who dwell in its depths. Around its shores grow a number of trading towns, the largest and most powerful being Tolemac, the capital of the duchy of the same name. Ruled by duke Baeleus Nohansen, a crotchety old hylian with a mind like a particularly vicious tack, Tolemac is a sufficiently clean and prosperous city of fishermen and traders. Any shipborne trade heading from the coast to the capital must pass through Tolemac unless it wants to take a long and winding route through lake Akkala, and the taxes and custom from traders keep Tolemac comfortable and wealthy. In the midst of lake Hylia sprout a number of islands. The largest and most awe-inspiring of these is Raalvon, on which a dynasty of dragons roosts and gives rise to the most important of Tolemac’s traditions, the King of Red Lions contest in which the townspeople compete for the attention of the drakes. Smaller and far less assuming is the island of Lacus Ianua. Ianua holds the only surface entrance to the vast and sprawling network of tunnels that spreads below Lake Hylia, in which the Sage of Water Ruto has her Hermitage as Jelyf did before her. ##### The Hyral Sea The Hyral sea dominates Hyrule's eastern borders, a large non-tidal sea enclosed on its western shore by Hyrule and on its eastern shores by the Gamelon island chain and the Unstis and Teddin peninsulas. It is a busy, well-trafficked body of water home to a large zora population, which also suffers significant predation from human and miniblin pirates. The largest city of Hyrule to touch the Hyral sea is Necluda, the third largest city of Hyrule and the capital of the Necluda duchy. Wallowing in the Moruge swamps, Necluda is a somewhat squalid city that smells of a mix between rotting vegetation, briny sea air, and the filth of cities everywhere. It's also an extremely damp city, recieving both one of the coldest climates in Hyrule and constant rain flowing in from the sea. ##### The Lost Woods There are more legends about the Lost Woods than can easily be recounted. Its southern reaches are a vast and ancient forest, largely unexplored and untouched by civilised life, which extend south forever until the land becomes locked in eternal winter. It is home to uncounted monsters and gods, particularly the Great Deku Tree himself, as well as entire lost cities of the Mythic era. Hyrule once touched this ancient woodland, but since the writ of dissolution its furthest southern borders have been ceded to Ordona and Arcadia. The woodland that now borders Hyrule's south is much newer, grown into the void of abandoned townships lost in the civil and Nihil wars. Somewhere, not far east of Ibara and Nette, the ruins of the old capital, Castle Town, lie buried in choking vegetation. Though the woodlands are nominally within Hyrule's own borders it would be a stretch to consider them under any form of control. They remain infested with tribes of scrubs, goblins, alifos and worse, perpetually feuding, warring, and raiding beyond the treeline. \page

\page ## Deis Once, three hundred years before the present day, Hyrule's borders stretched from the infinite expanse of the Great Sea to the arid wastes of the Gerudo Desert. The writ of dissolution changed that, breaking the auld kingdom into seven smaller states, eached ruled by a King-Custodian. Some of these states exist to this day while others were destroyed and reforged in the tumultuous Age of Men. ### The Southern Heart- Ordon and Sarios South of Hyrule sit the twin lands of Ordona and Sarios. Once unified as the Ordon province and later kingdom of Ordon, the kingdom split peacefully along the river Jelyf not long after its founding, forming two sister lands who are both as devoted to Hyrule as the writ could ever have hoped they would be. Ordon is a bountiful land, wet and fertile, a land of rolling hills and easy pastures. Its interior is largely given over to the territory of Lake Floria, but the surrounding land it almost all fields. It is the breadbasket of Hyrule, and its people live an easy, pastoral existence. Like Ordon, Sarios is a net exporter of grain and other crops, sending huge quantities up to the more industrialised Hyrulian heartlands. Unlike Ordon however Sarios is a land where Sage cults are extremely prolific- the land is literally named for the Sage of forests, storms, and wind- and the nobles' support of these cults forms their one serious divide with Hyrule. ### The Untamed South- Arcadia Arcadia is the southernmost of Hyrule's successors, and the least well defined, its territory waxing and waning of the expanse of the Green Frontier as its power grows and shrinks. It is also the only successor territory to remain entirely as designated in the Writ, and has a large measure of loyalty to Hyrule, if a sight less than its northern neighbours. Arcadia is sparsely populated and barely colonised. It is generally cold and windswept, a difficult land which breeds a hardy people. It is also required to periodically deal with attacks by khans and forest denizens. Arcadia's fate is permanently in a difficult balance, requiring frequent assistance from its northern neighbours to turn away the most dangerous opponents. ### The Feuding Coast- Morias, Tabantha, and Fyrsig Once the feuding coast was one land, the kingdom of Morias unified under the rulership of the king-in-Cales. This territory lasted for twenty years after the writ was first penned, until the first king met his end in an unfortunate accident. No successor could be decided, and the various nobles with potential claims on the title fell to infighting. This first bout of civil war lead to more and more violence, as the nobility came to see violence between mortals as acceptable and expected, and the feuding coast has earned its name for this violence. The nobility of the coast seize any opporunity to increase their lot within the old kingdom of Morias, and every succession is a mess of petty warlords feuding for more power. Currently the old kingdom of Morias is divided into the three territories of Morias, Tabantha, and Fyrsig, although the borders of each kingdom shift with every year.

\page

### The Shores of Sunlight- Calatia, Raal, and Unstis The plains of the Sunlight Coast were, like the Feuding Coast, once unified as one kingdom. This was the old kingdom of Calatia, and it suffered a far worse collapse than Signum ever did. The northern coast is balmy and pleasant, unlike the damp chill of the southern coast. This meant that the dons of the north could even more readily resort to violence than the counts of the south, as their men were less needed for the harvest and trade. Even before the death of their first King-Custodian Calatia fell into chaos, a deeper and more dangerous chaos than Signum had ever achieved. So severe was this violent anarchy that the Talan Amber dynasty of dragons and the First Patriarch of Gor Gorona chose to intervene, and forcibly ended the violence through massive application of force. The kingdoms were quelled, redivided into the three new kingdoms of Calatia, Raal, and Unstis. They became calm, pleasant lands to live in, which they more or less remain to this day. ### The Rugged East- Hytopia Far to the southeast of Hyrule is the distant land once known as Maudel. On the eastern coast of Deis, Maudel was a land far seperated from Hyrule. A wet and wind-swept land frequently beset by the undead of the Drablands, Maudel never owed much allegiance to far-fistant Hyrule, and quickly drifted away from the rule of its mother kingdom. .

The kings-in-styla soon paid little more than lip service to the queen who nominally guaranteed their rule, and in time barely even did that. The name Hytopia was first coined by an unusually proud and arrogant King-in-Styla during the Gamelon war, a king who held that the armies of Onkled would never have attacked a kingdom so perfect. In time Hytopia became the proper name of the kingdom, a largely unearned title and one that still rankles the queen of Hyrule. Hytopia is still a cold, wet land which has bred a hardy, warm people. They most notably seek beauty in everything, as while surrounded by such drab and difficult places they pour their hearts into arts to bring that beauty into their lives. ### The Isles of Feast and Famine- Gamelon and Koridai Since the Descent the island of Gamelon has been a powerful trading nation, a merchant republic run from the city-state of Sakado. This state of affairs continued while the merchant princes of Sakado were sworn to the queen of Hyrule, growing obscenely rich by controlling the trade across and into the Hyral Sea. This behaviour only grew stronger when the Gamelonians were made independent by the writ. The island of Koridai, a wet and sparsely-populated neighbour to Gamelon, was abandoned almost immediately by its supposed overlords. The city-state had little interest in the land of backwards, pious folk off its eastern shores, not when there was more money to be made. \page

## Gor Gorona **Government:** Communal Nation **Ruler:** First Patriarch Darbus **Ruling family:** N/A **Area:** c.2500 sqkm (c.1550 sqm) **Population:** c. 350,000 **Capital:** The Commune **Founded:** 964 PF (Preceded by Ruby Empire) Gor gorona is the homeland of the gorons. It is a barren, inhospitable place not suited for organic life. The eldin mountains on which the nation are built are extremely volcanic, and at any given time one third of the mountains will be belching smoke and ash into the air. Lava flows underfoot and the earth cracks asunder with a worrying frequency. To gorons the mountains are a land of plenty and prosperity. The goron nation stretches for vast distances across this trackless and hateful land, unopposed by other sentient creatures. Their food is bountiful and their predators are few. They carve their homes into the very rock of the mountainsides and mine and smelt ores at a furious pace to produce the tools, decorations, and weapons for which they are famous. It is their home, as it has been for thousands of years. ### The Commune Most goron settlements are tiny, mines and farms which exist to support the single goron city. Known officially as “The Commune of the Goron Peoples of the Eldin Mountains”, it is usually referred to as just “The Commune” or “Goron City”. The Commune is quite vast, a sprawling connection of buildings and tunnels wrought from stone and metal squatting at the base of Death Mountain. It is a city utterly without grace or elegance, but with a great deal of functional charm. Its population of around two hundred thousand gorons work tirelessly and fruitfully beneath a sky ruddy and darkened with fire and ash, producing the fantastical works for which the gorons are famous. The few organic peoples of the city find the atmosphere almost unbearable, and most travel with sodden cloths covering their mouths to protect against the ash and stink of sulphur. .

The city is completely communal, at least amongst its goron population, and is ruled by the Patriarch Council. The council is in turn currently lead by High Patriarch Darbus, a goron of incredible size and integrity. ### The Patriarch Council Gorons have a completely different physiology to biological creatures. They do not mate, and their children simply fall from their backs as pods. As a result of this there are no families or dynasties, as no goron knows who his father was with any real certainty. The closest thing to a family unit is the community. What families there are are formed by adoption, families formed by merit and skill. As a result the gorons have an entirely communal society. Everything is shared, and private property is limited to what a particular individual can best utilise. The brothers are not equal in skill or experience, however, and decisions must be made. To do this the oldest and wisest gorons form the patriarch council, a gathering of elders who meet to dictate the path of all gorons. This council is led by the First Patriarch, a goron generally considered the most competent for the position, who has the ultimate authority over the council and by extension the entire species. The first patriarch is in turn guided by the *Din’Gar’Voptro*, the compiled codices of all goron knowledge. These tablets have been carved over millennia upon millennia of goron civilisation, and though many have been lost to disasters thousands still remain. The discovery of a new tablet, or even a fragment of one, is a matter of great significance and the elders will pursue even the smallest rumours of the existence of one. ### Death Mountain and the Eldin Range The tallest mountain in the Eldin range is Death Mountain. A perpetually active volcano of unparalleled size, Death Mountain’s importance cannot be overstated. To the gorons it is their ancient homeland, the point from which the entire world fell from Din’s back and the fire from which Eldin rose. To the dragons it is *Dinraalvax*, the seat of all power in which only the Infernal Dragon is entitled to sit. \page In the crater lies the Hermitage of the Sage of Fire, Gorko, and around the rim sit the dying forms of the oldest and largest gorons, watching eternally over the endless volcanic expanse. It is endlessly honeycombed with tunnels, mines from which material seems to flow eternally and vents to siphon off the mountain’s molten fury safely. It is a dangerous place even to the gorons and dragons who live there, with periodic landslides, constant earth tremors, sudden lava flows and the ever-present threat of a sudden eruption and the pyroclastic death which it produces. Death Mountain is Din’s greatest gift- the ultimate test of virtue and the ultimate gift of both spiritual and material reward. Beyond Death Mountain the Eldin Range stretches seemingly forever. To the east it goes far beyond the borders of Hyrule, forming the upper border of Calatia, Raal and Unstis before it reaches the Tal Tal heights, the mountains which seperate it from the World Sea, the infinite expanse of ocean which no mortal has ever crossed. ``` ``` To the west the volcanos steadily become less active until they instead are merely the mountains of the Snowpeak range. The Snowpeaks are in general much taller than the Eldin Volcanos, but few to none are volcanic and the gorons consider them placid and dull. Iceborn gorons live amongst these peaks, strange and backwards folks with bodies seemingly of diamond and ice, practicing customs even the gorons find strange and alien. Stranger still are the yeti and their adolescent children the Yook, enormous humanoids covered in shaggy fur with great lolloping arms and teeth like daggers. The furthest west extents of the Snowpeak ranges are known to abut the lands of the Darknut Citadels, towering peaks of mountains seemingly instantly falling away to an endless desert in which only the Wosu could thrive. To the north is the Perennial Coast, and beyond that the Sapphire Bay seperates the range from the land of Labrynna.

\page

## The Zora Domain **Government:** Meritocratic Oligarchy **Ruler:** King Ralis Rutona III **Ruling family:** Rutona **Area:** c. 10,000 km2 (4,000 sq mi) **Population:** c. 500,000 **Capital:** Dominus Rutona **Founded:** 12 AF ____ The Snowpeak mountains are a range which spans an area far vaster than Hyrule itself. These mountains soar into the sky and catch rain travelling from every direction, acting as a great net which snatches the very clouds from the air. When those clouds rain upon the earth their water congregates and, ultimately, forms into seven great lakes of perfect crystalline clarity- the Zora Domain, the last true home of the zora people. ### Scyphozoan Sunset The zora have always been easy to manipulate on a physical level- they mutate often, evolve quickly, and can be changed by magic with extreme ease. When the Great Invasion ended the sick and poisoned waterways of the world could not sustain the zora people, and so they were changed to a new form, the jellyfish-like parella. When Demise was slain the zora were returned to their old forms, that of piscine humanoids, and were finally able to rebuild a semblance of the society which they had been forced to abandon. At the urging of the first queen of hyrule the zora migrated to the seven great lakes, a region protected by altitude and frost from any invaders. There the zora founded their own nation, the Domain, at the source of the most important river in Hyrule. The zora live there to this day, maintaining their mountain kingdom against all foes. ### Aqautic Life The daily life of a zora is, in contrast to a goron's, very similar to a human's. Zora are born, grow, work, fall in love, have children, and eventually die. The fact that they live largely below the surface of the water does no change this- the addition of a third dimension is largely immaterial. .

Most zora are farmers, cultivating kelp in tall fields or breeding fish in large spherical cages. Some richer and luckier zora are instead artisans, making specialist equipment for their kin. Many such zora live on the surface, usually in an above-water component of an existing zora city, making it easier to do things like smelt metal and record on paper. The armies of the domain are relatively skilled, but generally small. The domain relies on corps of professional zora soldiers who hire themselves out as mercenaries in times of peace. Few to no zora soldiers owe their allegiance to the domain over their Shoal, and the prowess of a corps is a source of great pride and a tool of leverage to the shoal which controls it. The only military force which transcends the Shaosl is the Sapphire guard, the honour guard of the Prime Leviathan. These are the holy soldiers and priests who accompany their deity as he travels the Domain, and are generlly regarded as piousbeyond reason and utterly uncorruptable. ### The Shoals The dominant political force in the zora domain are the shoals, the grand families who control almost every aspect of the Domain. The shoals have their fins in every pie, from commerce to mining to the military, and collectively dictate everything in the nation. There are seven shoals, one controlling each of the great lakes. Three of these families are the Elder Shoals, shoals which have existed since the founding of the Domain, and four are newly ascendant stars who have replaced shoals which fell out of favour. The shoals are constantly and utterly at one anothers' throats over every issue. Each one seeks to supplant the others, to become the richest and most powerful shoal of all, and to claim the best territory. Though each shoal controls one of the seven lakes these lakes are not equal, with the southern lakes being the largest and warmest while the northern ones struggle wit overcrowding and freezing over due to their higher altitude. Thus each shoal seeks to supplant those above it and take their land, while keeping their own land safe from those below them. \page Only one shoal has ever held two lakes at once, and it was destroyed shortly after by the combined efforts of all other families for its hubris. Despite this each shoal seeks to replicate this feat, to control the entire dominion as one. If the Dominion is a graceful or calm place by appearances this is only the grace of a swan- serenity and calm on the surface, frantic action and effort beneath. ##### Shoal Rutona The current rulers of the Domain are the Rutonas, the richest and largest family which also controls the largest lake, the massive Lake Rutona. Their assets are widespread, and their position allows them to become incredibly wealthy off the taxes from the entire domain. The Rutonas have been rulers of the Domain more frequently than any other shoal, and their colours of shining blue are so ubiquitous that many hylians perceive them as the colours of all zorakind. They also have the largest army, being the most critically positioned to defend against soldiers marching up from the lowlands long the river Hylia, and are not afraid to use this army to enforce their demands on the other shoals. ##### Shoal Nalis The second of the elder shoals along with Rutona and Dorephan, Shoal Nalis controls the large lake Nalis, in the centre of which rises the holy island Nalis Mountain. The mountain is the home of the Nalis Grey dragon clan, and the caves beneath its surface are the habitual home nof many Prime Leviathans, making Nalis mountain and by extension Nalis shoal extremely prestigious. Adding to this prestige is the fact that both Sages of water- Jelyf and later Ruto- were both Nalises, giving the Nalis shoal a reputation for piety and the arcane. ##### Shoal Dorephan Dorephan has held the number two spot in the Domain for many centuries, always hovering behind Rutona and siezing on their moments of weakness. Dorephan controls more arable surface land than any other Shoal, and uses the rich soil of the Dorephan bank to grow cash crops to match Rutona's own wealth. The Dorephans also control the vassal families of the Maja'di, the Maja'dan, and the Rasts, further adding to their considerable power as well as viscious frostsider soldiers for use whenever they need to exploit a weakness in the Rutona's power base. ##### Shoal Oren The Orens consider themselves the Kings of the Frostsiders, the lakes of the north which struggle with altitude and cold. Although the Orens are not an elder shoal, dating back to the middle of the Age of Prosperity, they are the eldest of the young shoals- elder than the Halsais, Pendricals, Jollas and all minor shoals- and are entirely entrenched in their position. The Orens have seen the cycle of ascent and collapse and- through tradition, honour and no small amount of force- largely removed themselves from it. No shoal but the Orens and the Nalises is fully static, even the Rutonas have been forced into less prosperous waters in the past, and Lake Dorephan was once named Lake Sidona for a shoal which no longer exists. The Orens have watched as hardy frostsider families worked hard, surpassed them, earned wealth, grew fat, and were supplanted. They have no aspirations to follow that path, maintaining the hard living countenance that frostsiders are famous for, and being entirely content in their quite comfortable rut.

\page

\page

## The Gerudo Shahdom **Government:** Despotic Empire **Ruler:** Shah Bahrom **Ruling Family:** Azima **Area:** c.3,250,000 km2 (1,250,000 sq mi) **Population:** c. 4,000,000 (6,000,000 including slaves) **Capital:** Gerosa **Founded:** 531 To the west of Kara Kara is a great arch known as the Desert Gateway. Beyond this lies the one kingdom of man in Deis which does not pledge itself to Hyrule, the gerudo Shahdom. The Shahdom is a ruthlessly strict despotic empire, where the castes of its people are rigorously enforced with a fervour that the Hyrulians would reserve only for their religion, and where slavery is a common institution. The Shahdom sprawls through the desert, focusing and unfocusing its population around a few population centres separated by scorching deserts and soaring mountains, daring the kingdom of Hyrule to make the first move. It is ruled by one man, the Shah of the gerudo, the most powerful man in the entire world and the undisputed king of his people. The language of the gerudo people is Takalmma, and the state religion is the worship of Bagamanah. ### The Kingdom in the Desert Dominating the western border of Hyrule is the gerudo desert, a harsh and dangerous place truthfully unfit for human habitation. Clusters of inhabitable land sprout around rivers and oases, but beyond these little strips of green and blue the sand and rock stretches seemingly into infinity, punctuated only by mountains and ancient imperial monuments. Though the roads within the cities are meticulously paved through centuries of labour by artisans and the slaves under them beyond the city walls the desert is largely trackless due to its ever shifting nature, and the caravans that meander through the Shahdom to provide it with its wealth must instead measure their progress by the movement of stars. ``` ``` .

In the south and east the desert cools to a savannah but remains arid, and in the north the sands become finer and deeper and the storms become more powerful until one reaches the deep desert’s sand sea which cannot be traversed without a sandship and is home to great sand-swimming leviathans. Beyond that the world is unknown to Hyrulian cartographers and contains kingdoms which are merely legend, like the semi-mythical Transvin kingdoms. Many gerudo are at least somewhat nomadic, but there are still many fine cities and towns in the Shahdom. The greatest is Ur-Hawa, the shining jewel of the desert where the ivory citadel of the Shah reaches into the sky with stark white towers, but there are many other such cities dotted through the deserts. ### The Curse Fifteen hundred years ago the Sage of Spirit, Gerus, took his people into the deserts west of Hyrule to make his home. His children and followers formed a tribe, the Gerus-do, who lived as a barely controlled peripheral state of the nascent kingdom of Hyrule. Over time this tribe grew and spread until it had indisputable control over the deserts to the immediate west of Hyrule and abutted the darknut citadels. It centralised its power slowly until it had one ruler, a king or queen of its own. When the Scrambling for the Triforce came the tribe fought against Hyrule, declaring a violent and aggressive independence. Two witches were ordered by the king of the day to form a pact on the behalf of their entire nation with an eldritch entity known as Bagamanah, the Desert Mother. The gerudo (as they were now called) were unsuccessful in their attempts to seize the ultimate power and their king placed the blame on Bagamanah and the witches. In return Bagamanah cursed the gerudo to bear only one man every one hundred years, and even then only is she was pleased. In this way the gerudo, a people quite obsessed with their own lineage, could only maintain their bloodlines through Bagamanah. \page ### The Shah and the Castes Roughly every century (or approximately two decades after the death of the previous Shah, whichever is sooner) a male child is born to a gerudo woman. This man is fated to become the Shah of the gerudo, the absolute emperor who rules the golden eyed people. Every gerudo is considered his subject, and many will mother his children. It is the Shah’s responsibility to govern his people and ensure Bagamanah is placated to bring about his successor. He is also responsible for renewing the purity of his people, and will have several thousand daughters in his lifetime. He is aided in this by gerudo biology- twins are common amongst the gerudo to the point where the majority of births have more than two children. Despite this the Shah is required to spend a large amount of time pursuing this not unenjoyable duty. The gerudo are divided into castes based on their purity, with each caste having absolute authority over the castes below it. A gerudo is a member of the highest caste for which she is eligible- the daughter of a High Warrior and the Shah is a member of the Priestess caste, not the Low Warrior caste. The highest caste is the priestess caste, consisting of the daughters of the current or previous Shah. They are a caste of scholars, theologians and arcanists of various stripes. Some are also witches who have formed pacts with demons, which is often frowned upon in the Shahdom but is not strictly forbidden. Below the priestess caste are the high and low warrior castes. The high warrior caste members are daughters of the priestess caste and are generally specialist soldiers, knights, and commanders. Their daughters, the low warrior caste, are the footsoldiers, guards and general grunts of the Shahdom. The low warrior caste are the last true gerudo. Unless they are also the children of a Shah the children of a Low Warrior are what are known as hegrud, half-gerudo. Hegrud can be either male or female. They make up the artisan caste, the skilled labourers of the shahdom, the cobblers and smiths and scribes of the nation. Their children are also hegrud of the Artisan caste, as are their childrens’ children and their childrens’ childrens’ children and so on. As in all aspects of Shahdom society- save for those relating to the Shah- Hegrud women are considered above hegrud men, who may not own property, dress indecently, give orders to a woman (except for those of the Untouchable class) or speak unless it is requested of them directly. The lowest caste of the gerudo are the Untouchable caste, the base workers and unskilled labourers. They have no gerudo blood to them at all- they are slaves and only have whatever rights their mistresses choose to assign to them. Foreigners entering the Shahdom are considered Untouchables of the Shah’s own property but it is rare that a Shah would exercise the power this gives him. ``` ``` It is impossible for a gerudo to leave her caste though any method other than becoming the mother of a Shah at which point she would be considered outside of the system. ##### The Castes | Caste | Estimated Number | Percentage of Population | |:----:|:-------------|:-------------| | Priestess | 4,000 | 0.06% | | High Warrior | 48,000 | 0.8% | | Low Warrior | 432,000 | 11% | | Artisan | 3,516,000 | 59% | | Untouchable | 2,000,000 | 33% | #### Shah Bahrom Azima In 1479 a child was born to the gerudo Priestess Takkana Shahzad. She named him Hashem. The Shah at the time, Shah Farrokh Gul, was the boy’s supposed father. Shah Farrokh was at the time eighty five years old- an elderly ruler to be certain, but one who could expect several more years before his successor was born. Nevertheless he fulfilled his duties admirably, acting as regent and tutor to the boy as tradition dictated, and abdicating when Hashem came of age. The Shahdom enjoyed a peace for a time, but it was ended abruptly in 1494 with the birth of another gerudo. A boy, named Bahrom by his High Warrior mother, born almost exactly one hundred years after Farrokh. Suspicions buried over the last fifteen years of Hashem’s regency came to the fore and tensions began to mount, with Shah Hashem’s loyalists on one side supporting his existing claim and Bahrom’s followers on the other claiming that Hashem was a hegrud at best and therefore unfit to be Shah. For a time peace was maintained as Farrokh mediated between the supporters of Bahrom and Hashem, but when he died in an unfortunate accident the tensions boiled over into a civil war. Between 1496 and 1501 the Shahdom was home to one of the bloodiest and most malicious mortal wars in all of history, a war which ended with Hashem fleeing for Sarios and Bahrom taking the throne. The aftermath of Hashem’s exodus, the escape of Vaati and the Long Winter, need not concern us here. The Shahdom has been rebuilding over the last fifty years. Bahrom has shown surprising leniency to those families who supported Hashem. Dynasties like the Shazhads and Karimis suffered few direct punishments but were forced to lead the rebuilding of the nation and have suffered great shame ever since. Bahrom is now a man in his late middle age. He has few ambitions other than centralised, competent rule and is considered a pragmatic and intelligent Shah. When there are threats they are dealt with, and when there are opportunities they are exploited. He has little hate for anyone, but also seems to have little he truly loves. \page

### Geography The Shahdom largely occupies the massive gerudo basin, a circular rim of mountains surrounding an arid landscape studded with small mountain ranges. The territory varies from light savannah to rocky desert to sandy dunes, only being verdant around the scattered oases sheltering in the lee of the mountains, and on the shores of the massive river Twinrova and lake of the same name. In the far southwest, past the redoubt of Fort Quasir, the Shahdom gives way to the endless steppe expanse of the Green Frontier, the realm of the khans and their hordes of horsemen. The rest of the west is a mixture of intermittent mountain ranges and the Deep Desert. #### The Deep Desert A vast landscape of fine, deep sand the Deep Desert cannot be crossed on foot and sucks down those who would try with a consistency simiular to that of marrow or gelatin. The desert can however be crossed by ship, by great vessels which float upon the surface like an ocean's waves and can rapidly cross the continent to the mysterious lands beyond, to retrieve the goods the people of Deis require- the rarities of spices, silk and tea. #### Gerosa Gerosa is the largest city in the Shahdom, the capital and home of the ruler. It is from here the Shah rules from the legendary Palace of Spirit, a beautiful building of spires and domes on the shores of Lake Twinrova. A critical point on the silk, spice and tea routes, taking trade from the Citadels, the Khans, and the distant kingdoms beyond the Deep Desert, Gerosa is a fabulously wealthy city. Much of its population are slaves, who have built vast and imposing buildings of amber stone in monument to its rulers. .

#### Khawar Kara The counterpoint to Kara Kara, Khawar Kara also lies on the river Kara and controls the main eastern approach to the Shahdom. Unlike Kara Kara, Khawar Kara is behind a vast and deep canyon scored into the earth, and is widely renowned as utterly unassaultable. Khawar Kara secured the safety of the Shahdom following the Scrambling and Nihil war, and is a source of great pride for many gerudo. #### Lake Hylia Though the Shahdom borders lake Hylia it makes little use of this fact- there is no major port on the shores of the Hylia, and little trade flows into the Shahdom from this area. Once the shores held the town of Boheja, a fishing town and military port, but this was destroyed in the Scrambling and ever since Hyrule has forbidden the Shahdom from ever establishing another major port on its shores, on pain of instant war. Instead the shores are used by smaller fishing hamlets and scattered piratical enclaves due to the Shahdom's unwillingness to police a shore from which it receives nothing. #### The Temple of Spirit The Temple of Spirit is the home of the Sage of Spirit, Aaliyah. The Temple was once consecrated to Bagamanah in an ancient age before Gerus arrived there, and the Deep Mother still enjoys a presence there although Aaliyah is no devotee of hers. Pilgrims come frequently to the temple, to Aaliyah herself or the vast statue of Bagamanah, and some few are lucky to catch a glimpse of Vah Naboris, the massive Divine Beast of Spirit, as it makes its occasional stops there on its aimless wandering across the vast and trackless wilderness. \page

## The Wosu Citadels **Government:** Confederated Military Dictatorships **Ruler:** First Lord Orses (disputed) **Ruling Family:** Non-dynastic **Area:** c.3,250,000 km2 (1,250,000 sq mi) **Population:** c. 1,000,000 (10,000,000 including slaves) **Capital:** Citadel Ontheon (disuputed) **Founded:** c. 50,000 PF ___ To the northwest of the Shahdom the eldest culture on Hlofa makes its home. The primordial citadels of the wosu, each a vast and unconquerable fortress already ancient while man learned to harness fire, packed with the most elite soldiers the world has ever known. ### Citadels of the Red Sands When Seth created the wosu he gave them a simple, all-encompassing command- go forth and do battle. As the sole sentient race of the primordial deserts the wosu primarily fought each other when obeying this command, perpetually becoming engaged in a series of wats fought solely for the amusement of Seth. These conflicts would come to be known as "flower wars" for the one apparent product of their battles- not territory captured or even necesarily riches gathered, but the hardy desert flowers that would grow where wosu blood fertilised the arid landscape and their marching feet churned the soil. As the darknuts fought they also sought to establish sanctuaries, bases from which the other wosu could not drive them. To do this they built the first citadels, mighty castles jutting from the desert sand or clinging to the side of sheer mountains. As the centuries passed and the art of siegecraft became ever more advanced these citadels only grew larger. The walls became taller and thicker, arranged in concentric rings of defense. The central keeps grew higher, and their palatial residences became more luxurious as they were furnished with the plunder of hundreds of wars. At first there were a hundred and sixty nine citadels of varying size, scattered across the world. Thirteen remain. Thirteen bulwarks against all the world, and thirteen unsurpassed threats to order. .

### The Chaos Heirarchy Each citadel is lead by its First Lord, the most powerful warrior, most brilliant tactician and most commanding demagogue of its people. Below him are the thirteen Chaos Legates, the most able and most dangerous wosu other than the First Lord himself, chosen by the First Lord for the aptitude. Each Legate commands a legion of six thousand wosu and seeks to be First Lord himself- when the citadel's ruler dies each Chaos Legate will feud, battle and duel until only one remains, to make himself undisputed ruler of the Citadel. At any given time one First Lord will be the greatest of their number, and have defeated or cowed all other First Lords in battle or through a duel. This First Lord is then the ruler of all the citadels, and the disputed Lord of all wosu, everywhere. If a Legate is wounded or fatigued he need not fear for his life, as no wosu would attack their foe when they are anything other than at their strongest. A Legate who is crippled however, regardless of his mental faculties, will be executed and replaced immediately- Seth has no time for such individuals. All Darknuts serve in the legions, even the clergy who form the thirteenth legion. The sole exception to this are the Jermafensers, the arcane warriors who have been blessed by Seth with either natural magics or a great revelation. These wosu exist outside and beside the legions, intervening and commanding as they see fit to guide the Citadel along the paths Seth has set for their people. The balance between the fanatacism of jermafensers and the murderous pragmatism of Legates is a fine one, but will reliably always lead to bloodshed. ### Beyond the Legions It is impossible for a land to solely consist of soldiers. There must be farmers, metalworkers, cobblers, masons and a hundred more professions besides. For this the darknuts make use of slaves on a massive scale. Since the founding of the first Citadels the wosu have had a number of client races, upon whom they are dependent. The most plentiful of these are the subrosians \page

who farm and mine for the wosu, but large numbers of other races are also found, such as the zuna who produce most of the legions' weapons and armor. The most prestigious slaves are the helots, the slaves who are permitted to be armed to serve in the legions as auxiliary forces. These include the fokka, the mazura, and the lynel, the latter very nearly being citizens of the citadels themselves. ### Geography The darknuts consider their homelands the Land of Red Dunes, an expanse of desert marked by the ruddy colour of its sand. Their reach does extend beynd this point however, with citadels being established in the lynel savannah, the Deep Desert, and across the Dracozu river in the territory known as the Zonai jungle. #### Citadel Ontheon The largest and most powerful citadel, Ontheon sits at the heart of Lake Tragula, the supposed site of Seth's impact when he fell from the heavens. The Legates of Citadel Ontheon are invariably amongst the most ferocious and cunning of all the citadels, and the First Lords of Ontheon have ruled the darknuts more often than those of any other citadel. #### Citadel Anraph In another culture Anraph would be a bulwark against invaders. To the wosu however the Anraphi are lucky marauders, well poised to constantly strike into the Shahdom. The Anraphi are the most commonly encountered in Hyrule, and are the wosu with the best grasp of human concepts like peace and negotiation. .

#### Citadel Arboris A comparatively young citadel, the Arborisi live deep within the Zonai jungle, where they frequently war with the native humans. As it would be too easy to simply attack these tribal humans with the full quality of equipment wosu have access to, Anraphi warriors frequently restrict themselves to bone and wooden weapons, giving them a reputation for savagery and backwardness. #### Citadel Torath Citadel Torath sits on one of the major trade routes across the Deep Desert and controls the vast majority of the wosu's sandborne navy. Torathi darknuts are often considered passive and cowardly by others of their people due to their willingness to trade and become rich through peace, but one doubts the Torathi marines at their peril. #### Citadel Naulochus Citadel Naulochus is responsible for projecting darknut power over the expanse of Lake Lurelin through use of its great iron-bottomed ships in which its legions travel the lake and rivers in search of opponents. Currently it is recovering from a deep shame following an attack by approximately ten million Xin soldiers, who appeared to strike it down after an unusually ambitios Naulochi raid, forcing the survivors to flee until the xin left. #### The Pyramid of Power An ancient structure created to house Seth's own weapon, the Trident of Power, which was declared too powerful for any wosu to wield. A vast structure, the pyramid is filled with treasures and relics and constantly attracts ambitious gerudo treasure hunters. These foolhardy women rarely return, but those who do are invariably rich beyond imagining. \page

## Labrynna **Government:** Oligarchic Merchant-State **Ruler:** Most Serene Archmayor Vicato Plen **Ruling Family:** Non-dynastic **Area:** **Population:** **Capital:** Lynna City. **Founded:** 977 AF ____ North of the Eldin range and the Tal Tal mountains lies the Zora Sea. Beyond this sea is the Land of Labrynna, a new enough colony of Hyrule built on the bones of an ancient land, a land ravaged by vast temporal calamity. A beautiful place, split in two and straddling time itself. ### Now and Then and Now Again In the Imperial Era the Lynnic province was one of the most prosperous and wealthy beyond the imperial heartland. A land of fertile plains and plentiful rain, the region was a powerful one and this made it a target, causing it to be amongst those hit hardest during the Great Invasion. It was the site of multiple cataclysmic battles between the forces of the Everking and the armies of demons, culminating in the Battle of Sapphire Bay, the largest naval engagement of the war. Though the armies of the Goddesses were victorious some vast arcane disaster ripped the fabric of time on and about the ocean creating the phenomenon known as the Temporstrom, an enormous outpouring of temporal energy which would periodically sweep across Labrynna, causing unforseeable changes as it summoned aspects of times past, or times to come, or times which never were. One such change was the creation of the Sea of No Return, sickly waters festering with undead who would go on to raid across Labrynna and Holodrum. Beyond this however Lynnic was a prosperous land, and large swathes remained pure despite the demonic attacks and the efforts of the Temporstrom. During the second golden era the land was recolonised by hyrulians, who established a new kingdom, known as Labrynna, beneath an offshoot of the hyrulian royal family. For decades Labrynna received immigrants from Hyrule, eventually becoming a large and powerful kingdom in its own right. .

### The Black Tower Labrynna was ruled by a dynasty which did the duty of royal custodians, ruling in the nakme of the Queen of Hyrule, for nearly two centuries until the ascent of queen Ambi the Cruel in 1156. A generally beloved ruler for much of her reign, Ambi suffered a curious and unexplained descent into madness in her later years, overseeing the construction of a vast and insane structure known only as the Black Tower. Employing strange and dark magics, Ambi forced the kingdom to devote itself entirely to the Tower, becoming a terrible tyrant until ultimately she was defeated and deposed by an individual known in Labrynna only as the Unmade Hero. With the removal of Ambi the assorted merchants and notables of Labrynna established a new ruling power, an oloigarchic assembly of the rich and powerful who would choose one oftheir own as the Most Serene Archmayor and ruler of Lynna city, the country's capital. Under the rulership of the Archmayors Labrynna slowly drifted away from Hyrule, paying merely lip service to the idea of Hylia ruling all of mankind. The Archmayors also lead Labrynna to great prosperity, whatever their other faults- the peninsular nation became slowly more and more urbanised and developed, the people became rich, or at least the rich became richer. Labrynna came to dominate the east coast trade routes, as well as the savannah silk route that came down through Annos, and Lynna city came to rival even Acre Nova in its size. ### Times and Trees The kingdom of Labrynna was founded on a land which had been uncivilised and undeveloped for years. It was not, however, empty. A native population of humans had survived since the Descent. These natives, inundated by the effects of Labrynna's fractious time, were and are a strange group of true humans known locally as Horoni. They are intensely spiritual and deeply in-tune with the power of Labrynna. They also have little truck with the supposed powers of civilisation or the Golden Godesses, preferring to live rustic lives in the foothills and mountains of the country's far east and west. \page The Horoni also have their own faith. They worship the maku trees in a complex and animistic nature cult, freqiently marginalising or outright ignoring Farore and her sisters. They also have their own messiah, their Oracle of Ages, the handmaiden to the greatest maku tree of the land. The Oracle is always female, but otherwise varies- according to arcane tradition she is reincarnated at random throughout the land after each of her deaths, not necessarily to the Horoni but, so far, always human. ``` ``` The Oracle of Ages is a powerful and natural manipulator of the time element, and her duty is to maintain the flow of time across Labrynna, a duty in which she is trained as she grows by the eldest and wisest Horoni. Some say that this duty requires little active manipulation, that time by and large takes care of itself. Others say that time is always lost, found, made and wastewd, and that it is a small miracle that yesterday comes before today. Whatever the truth is the spirits of the land seem to see fit that there is always an Oracle, regardless of all other things.

\page

## Holodrum **Government:** Semi-Anarchist Theocracy. **Ruler:** Makuru, Oracle of Seasons **Ruling Family:** Non-dynastic **Area:** 175,000 mi² **Population:** c. 800,000 **Capital:** Horon City. **Founded:** 1002 AF ____ A mysterious land drowning in the unstoppable power of the elements, Holodrum is a land of nature and idyll which does not suffer the presence of humans lightly. ### Unconquerable Nature Many have attempted to colonise Holodrum, but none have ever tamed the land. When the first Hyrulian colonisers arrived on the shores of Holodrum they found the same as the Imperial Era colonists had millenia before them- a thriving, rich land of unsurpassed beauty, dotted with ruins which were beyond ancient. The native Horoni they found, not dissimilar to those of Labrynna, worshipped an animistic religion of primordial nature and unstoppable seasons. The colonisers attempted to ignore the natives' warnings, to found new cities and build new roads, but each time they tried their efforts were rent to the earth by natural disasters- typhoons, wildfires, storms and earthquakes. Widespread destruction followed the arrival of each new wave of immigrants, until ultimately the exasperated colonial authority went to the Horoni tribes, seeking advice on how to survive in their new home. .

The Horoni elders sent the Hyrulians on a journey into the depths of the island, seeking the one ancient structure that nature had not torn to the ground, the Temple of the Seasons. ### Compromise And the Oracle Long before Faron's revelation the island of Holodrum was ruled by the most powerful fae known to exist save possibly for Titania herself- four great fairies of incomparable ability, the four Queens of the Seasons. These beings held ultimate sway over the natural power of the island, and could manipulate its seasons at will. When humans first arrived on the island in the Mythic Era these fae first railed against the humans and then, ultimately, reached a compromise. The humans would nominate a woman from amongst them as an Oracle of Seasons, and she would enter a covenant with the fae on their behalf. They would allow her to control nature, and spoke to adjust her judgement in her mind even as humans did the same from outside. Overseen by a Maku tree as a neutral party, a deity of both humanity and the deepest nature, the Oracle would guide Holodrum onwards in balance. The colonists renewed this covenant after many millenia of absence, creating a new Oracle and finding a new Maku. Under her guidance they founded new cities, but only ever small ones, cautiously intruding on nature as little as possible. The humans repaired the Temple, just as their predecessors had built it, and gave all deference to nature and the queens of the seasons alongside the Golden Goddesses. The Oracle herself would travel the land, making sure the covenant was upheld by all involved.

\page ### The Below Kingdom and Nonhumans Though most of the surface population of Holodrum are human the region also includes another major power- Subrosia. A vast network of subterranean caverns which has been inhabited by the Subrosians since ancient times, a series of tunnels and expanses riddled with lava and smoke, Subrosia is the largest concentration of Subrosians outside of the Citadels. Subrosia owes no fealty to Hoodrum, the Oracles and the Queens, but avoids conflict with the surface by avoiding disrupting the natural world of the surface and providing a steady stream of gems and rare metals through the one gateway between the realms by Horon City. Beyond the subrosians many other nonhuman races populate Holodrum, if in small numbers. The gorons matain a colony of perhaps ten thousand in the volcanic nothern reaches known as Golsir. Zola, alifos and moblins dot the wild interior, impossible to drive out without actions which would draw the ire of the queens. Perhaps worse than this are the undead of the Samasa Desert, the reanimated bodies who clawed themselves ashore from the Sea of No Return.

\page

## The Xin Regency **Government:** Beauracratic Empire **Ruler:** Unknown **Ruling Family:** Unknown **Area:** Unknown, estimated at c.5 million mi² **Population:** Unknown, estimated at c. 500,000,000 **Capital:** Unknown, named as "Yanjing", "Yanying", "Yangfong" and "Heifong" in various sources. **Founded:** c. 2500 PF, ____ The largest and most powerful nation on the face of Hlofa, the Xin regency is an almost impossibly distant and completely unknown entity in modern Hyrule. A rich and powerful beauracracy which creates many of Hyrule's greatest treasures, the distant land at the end of the silk roads, what little is known of the Xin is daunting beyond belief. ### The Eternal Regency When Farore descended to Faron her words were heard by all of humanity simultaneously. Her edicts placed humanity as her chosen people, and stated that all people should be united beneath the words of Faron. Not all believed her, and still more failed to understand. Those who did both understand and believe generally chose to wait, to remain as they were until the Emerald Empire reached them. Not all were content with this way of things. On the far side of the world, beyond the deserts and mountains and jungles, the Xin could not be more seperated from Faron and his Empire. They chose instead to form their own empire, a vast and prosperous polity arranged below the Celestial Regent, the one who would wait for the arrival of Hylia's rule. Below him sprawled a vast and complex beauracracy to administer a realm of hundreds of millions, and above him sprawled its reflection- the celestial council, a collection of dragons, fae and maku appointed by Farore. He and his followers would rule for an eternity, guided by the celestial council, an unending regency. ### Battle Unending When the Great Invasion came the Xin were hit as hard as any other part of the world, but were not decapitated in the way the Emerald Empire had been. When the second wave of the invasion force arrived under Malladus it swept down from what are now the Chain Fields, slaughtering everything it encountered. No other human nation could have held against that horde, but the Xin empire committed its vast forces without restraint. An army hundreds of millions strong met the demonic legions and held. It would continue to hold for decades, until the Everking's eventual victories in the south. Since the end of the Emerald Empire the Xin have continued to exist, but under unimaginably more strife. The Nubian Era was spent in a state of total chaos, surviving in a poisoned land which had lost more than ninety percent of its population. The Xin Empire would be reborn many times over, coming to reform its imperial beauracracy by the latest days of the era. For decades following the reformation there was peace, but this peace could not survive. The Demon King Demise's efforts at the close of the Nubian Era brought a new horde from the Chain Fields, a horde which the Eternal Watchers could not stop. A new army of millions was needed, and costly battles were fought as the armies stalled the infinite hordes of devils. Men, women and children manned the enormous and ancient fortifications that held against the Chain Fields, and by their grit the world held until Demise's death. The Celestial Regency is one of three lynchpins of the world. If the Xin fail, then there is no Hyrulian hero who can hold off the horde that will sweep across the world. The regency can now never end, for there is no Emerald Empire to join. The demons of the Chain Fields still raid whenever Hyrule wavers, with each raid requiring the vast Xin fortifications and millions of casualties to repel.

\page

## The Bharatia Remnants **Government:** Assorted Feudal and Tribal Societies **Ruler:** Various **Ruling Family:** Various **Area:** Approximately 1.7 million mi² **Population:** Around 200,000,000 **Capital:** Various. **Founded:** Various ____ Far to the west, beyond the Green Frontier, is the mysterious land of the Bharatia. A strange and distant realm controlled by a thousand competing lords vying for control in the ruins of a mighty civilisation. ### Ten Thousand Heroes The Bharatia peninsular is a strange, almost deathless land. The people believe that time is cyclical, that all things which have been will come again. Nowhere is this better exemplified than in the ancient religion of the Bharatia peninsular, the faith of Ten Thousand heroes. A syncretic faith incorporating dozens of gods and goddesses, the focus of the faith was the fabled Heroes, the chosen avatars of the deities who have been repeatedly reborn in the world to achieve their patrons' goals. Before the message of Farore the Bharatia worshipped the three high deities above all others, perfect and eternal beings beyond any earthly concept. Agni the creator and destroyer, Paan the source of law and chaos, and Dheean the arbiter of life and death. Below them was the lady Gohamma, the guard of the mortal realm against perils unimaginable, and below her were a vast number of lesser deities who would give all manner of boons or commit any form of mischief. It was these three deities who controlled the emergence of new avatars, who oversaw the cycle of life and death and who guided the men and women of the Bharatia on their journeys through the cycle of rebirth. ### Porya and the Invasion When Farore's message came out to the world little changed in the theology of Bharatia. This was almost unique in the world, and a factor never explained by theologians. Their pantheon remained, and the Heroes kept coming when they were needed. When the Emerald Empire reached the borders of Bharatia, the mighty Borhpur river, it demanded that the people of Bharatia give up their faith and join the Empire. The Empire was vastly stronger than any Bharatian state, and seemed impossible to resist. Bharatia was saved from subjugation by the actions of the great king Porya. A man of legendary drive and charm, Porya unified the disparate kingdoms of the Bharatia and met the Emerald Empire in battle. Although no force could truly stand up to the Empire of Faron he was able to fight it to a standstill and force it to the negotiating table as an equal. The results of those negotiations were as beneficial as could be expected for all parties involved. The now unified Bharatia state was vassalised by the unified empire of humanity, but was allowed to syncretise Farore into its own faith as a form of Dheann. Bharatia then prospered for centuries until the Invasion, where it was struck by the full force of Bellum and his Gorgons. Bharatia were shattered by Bellum's forces, and though they fought with all ferocity and strength they could not avert their annihilation. The few survivors were elevated to the sky by Hylia, to return at the close of the Nubian era, after which they would become a series of competing feudal states living in the ruins of Porya's great kingdom. They remain in this way to this day, a land of war and magic divided between dozens of powerful kings. Bharatia also remains a land of heroes, a lynchpin of the world as much as Deis is. There is too much magic in Bharatia, too much power waiting to be abused. If either falls, if the reborn avatars fail or the Great Hero is lost then the other will surely follow.

\page

# The Realms Beyond

##### At the far end of the rainbow is a land which will make you wish you never followed that strip of vibrant light.

\page \page

## The Realm of Dreams, Termina

## The Realm of Mirrors

## The Realm of Twilight

## The Realm of the Ocean King

Options