Plot Arcs

A brief overview of the main plot arcs for the campaign. Bullet points list the crucial facts uncovered so far. This should serve to keep everyone aligned and up-to-date on the central plot of the campaign.

People from across the Sea

Invaders from a "Pharic League" have landed on the shores of Pacha, taking Nuqanchik as slaves and shipping them back to their homeland. The invaders have a vastly superior military, and can get through the jungle quickly and quietly.

Entire tribes have already been destroyed, the few members that escaped the slavers unable to survive the jungle. So far, the Nuqanchik have been unable to mount any type of organised resistance. Even the powers of the Chosen seem to be no true match for the invaders.

Others have also come across the sea, seeking not to enslave but to settle on Pacha. These "Houses of the Shar" have established friendly relation with some Nuqanchik; having a common foe in the Pharic League helps. Still, they are taking land and putting it under use - a potential source of conflict with the migratory tribes.

Can the Nuqanchik survive this threat?

How will the future look, now that the lands of the Nuqanchik are known to people across the waters?

• the Chikauitl have lost over a hundred adults in a confrontation with the slavers; most of them enslaved, not killed
• the Pharic League is here to raid for slaves to sell back home; they have a strong, organised military force using magic ships to stay mobile; their troops, while individually weaker than the strongest Nuqanchik warriors, are numerous and disciplined
  • so far no victory has been achieved in any larger-scale confrontation between Nuqanchik and Pharic League
  • the Shar are also enemies of the League, but currently have an (unstable) peace treaty with them - which seems not to extend to Pacha anyhow
  • some Shar work as mercenaries in Pharic League forces
• from the vast and diverse lands of the Shar, settlers and war refugees are arriving; these are looking to build a new life
  • the Hitti-Shar have established cordial relations with the Chikauitl; helping each other on several occasions; they also recently accepted Paramusuq as their god
  • the Shar-Amur, a house of the Shar weakened by a slave raid, are still indebted to the Chikauitl for rescuing many of them; Tepoyali reports they are establishing a home on the slopes of the large mountain range running through Pacha to the sea

In Search of Magic

For centuries, the Nuqanchik had the power of their Chosen, the magic of the gods, to aid them. Now most gods are gone, and the few that remain guard their power jealously, imbuing only few Chosen.

Meanwhile, the primal power of the land itself is on the rise. Siphoned or controlled by the gods in the past, spirits are growing more numerous and stronger - but while the spirits are able to bless those they favour, they also pose new problems for the Nuqanchik, who now run the danger of stumbling into the domain of a powerful spirit on their journey.

The gods are still powerful, though, and they oppose the "new order", often actively and aggressively.

Can the Nuqanchik find a stable soure of magic?

How will the balance of magical powers look like in the future?

• there are two main sources of magical power, "outer" and "primal"
• "outer" power is not from this world; this means beings of outer power often appear strange or unnatural
  • the gods of the Nuqanchik are beings of outer power; though most are gone and the few remaining are trapped here, cut off from their domain
  • there are more outer powers, like the strange fae that live in some ruins of the Rumi Runa
  • beings of outer power are not immediately killed when their body is destroyed; it depends on what happens to their power afterwards - usually it would go back to their home, but these are cut off now ...
  • outer power entities need either a host (which has to be strong enough not to be torn apart by their possession) or access to primal energy to form their own body; otherwise, they are not corporeal
  • outer entities can be destroyed in their non-corporeal form under specific circumstances
• "primal" power comes from the living world itself
  • spirits are beings of primal power
  • primal power can be stored in specially cut gems created and used by the Rumi Runa
  • sometimes primal power can accumulate in animals, creating "primal beasts" that are near-sentient and command special powers
  • outer power beings desire this primal power; the gods, in particular, seem to have controlled and consumed most of the primal power of the world in the past
  • there are "places of power", called fonts, where primal energy runs particularly strongly - here the gems can be charged, and powerful spirits can be found
    • Rumi Runa cities were build on top of these fonts - most are temples now, but some may still be undiscovered
  • the Rumi Runa seem to have been able to use primal power directly for their magic (without the aid of spirits) - likely because they are in fact created in a ritual that consumes primal power (stored in gems for this very purpose)
  • there is a way to "instill" a person with primal power using the charged gems, though it does not work on everyone an leaves a "scar on the soul" of the person that takes time to heal, making repeated use of the rite lethal
  • extended exposure to strong primal power can also leave traces behind, granting people special powers, though they initially may struggle to control them

A Shift in Society

Nuqanchik society is traditionally structured around the favor of the gods: Those chosen to receive special powers lead the tribes. Any person accepted into the tribe is touched and blessed by the gods.

Those that serve the gods directly, or those that are sacrificed to banish the rains, ascended into the domain of the gods.

Now the domains of the gods are sealed off, and those sacrificed remain behind as ghosts. The touch of the gods, long considered the blessing that makes you a true Nuqanchik, seems to anger the resurgent primal powers.

There are fewer Chosen by the day; no longer enough to lead the tribes. The other powers, traditionally declared forbidden to the tribes, are getting stronger by the day.

How will Nuqanchick society adapt to these changes - will it stagnate, collapse, or evolve into a new form?

• the Chikuaitl and some other tribes have decided to stop sacrifices for now
  • people killed close to a god no longer ascend, they remain behind as ghosts
• the rains which have always dictated the movement and gatherings of the Nuqanchik, turned out to be a chained primal phenomenon the gods used to control the tribes
  • now unleashed and freed of any influence, the rains wander the continent, but no longer start and stop by the will of the gods
  • the Chikauitl leadership has learned that there are further such forces locked away across Pacha
• the Chikauitl have been instrumental in the destruction of not one but two gods: Sinchi Uruq and Kurukap
  • both had "initiated hostilities" from the view of the tribe
  • still, many outside the tribe view them as actively destroying their old gods
• the Chikauitl no longer operate based on divine favour; instead, initiation is based on proving your usefulness to the tribe
  • leadership now rests with "speakers" of different powers: the dead, the spirits, the tribe and the past
  • this new structure has not been formalised in any way; currently it works due to the respect the leaders command - how a new generation would fit is entirely open
• other tribes show a wide range of different reactions
  • some tribes still have Chosen with powers; many of these tribes have become more zealous, seeking to regain the favor of the gods, understanding this as a second, worse apostate crisis with the gods sending the invaders to punish the heretics
  • other tribes, some with the help of the players, have turned to spirits, even bonding with them to find a new source of powers that gives them back the edge they lost with the Chosen
• time will tell how much all this threatens the unity of the Nuqanchik; so far, no violent hostilities are reported