Codex: The Red Book of Inzae

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Grendelwulf
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Codex: The Red Book of Inzae

Post by Grendelwulf »

Hello everyone,
Although I have been a long time wargamer and role-playing gamer, I am new to C&C.
I have played a few games of C&C, and I know many CKs who set their games in the world of Aihrde.
However, I discovered Aihrde has a sister-world: Inzae — "A land forged by the rage of a dragon."
I want to experience the best of both worlds and provide something new for my players.
For my Red Book of Inzae, the resources I have tracked down so far are:

YEAR TLG CODE TITLE — Notes
2000 TLG 1201 ?? Vakhund: Into the Unknown — S&S FRPG
2000 TLG 1201 ?? Vakhund: Into the Unknown — d20
2000 TLG 1202 ?? Dzeebagd: Under Dark and Misty Ground — d20
2001 TLG 1203 ?? Felsentheim: Dogs of War — d20
2001 TLG 1702 ?? Vakhund: Into the Unknown — d20
2002 The Seeker v4(3) — Inzae: The Graffenvold
2002 The Seeker v4(4) — Inzae: Halpveg and Holdings and Bergholt Preview
2003 The Seeker v5(1) — Inzae: Significant Places & NPCs and By Shadow of Night: Bergholt
2003 TLG 1204 ?? Bergholt I: By Shadow of Night — d20, fold-out map
2003 TLG 1205 ?? Bergholt II: The Black Moon — unpublished
2007 TLG 8090 I1 Into the Unknown: Vakhund — C&C
2007 TLG 8091 I2 Under Dark & Misty Ground: Dzeebagd — C&C
2007 TLG 8092 I3 Dogs of War: Felsentheim — C&C
2010 TLG 1124 The Crusader #24 — Notes from the World of Inzae & map
2014 TLG 1127 The Crusader #27 — Inzae: The Inner World & map
2014 TLG 12012 ?? Vakhund: Into the Unknown — C&C
2014 TLG 12022 ?? Dzeebagd: Under Dark and Misty Ground — C&C
2014 TLG 12032 ?? Felsentheim: Dogs of War — C&C
2015 TLG 80901 D1 Death in the Treklant — C&C I1, I2, I3
2016 CG 19403 Tales of Two Worlds — short stories from Aihrde & Inzae
2017 TLG 80911 D2 By Shadow of Night — C&C
2017 TLG 80911 D2 MAP Bergholt Map — C&C
2017 TLG 82011 Inzae Primer — C&C
2018 TLG 80921 D3 Beneath the Black Moon — C&C
2018 TLG 80951 D4 The Burning Firmanent — C&C
2018 TLG 80961 D5 Caverns of Ambuscadia — C&C
2018 TLG 80971 D6 Desecration and Damnation — C&C
2019 TLG 80991 D7 Den of Iniquity — C&C
2019 TLG 81001 The Dragon's Crucible — C&C, Primer, D1, D2, D3, D7, & maps
2019 TLG 81011 ?? A Princely Heritage — C&C
2019 TLG 82966 Inzae World Map — C&C
2020 TLG 19350 IN1 Into the Unknown — 5e
2020 TLG 19351 IN2 Under Dark & Misty Ground — 5e
2020 TLG 19352 IN3 Dogs of War — 5e
2022 TLG PATREON The Dragon's Crucible: Hoord — regional information


If anyone could help me add to the list or provide any commentary on their own experiences in the World of Inzae, I would be glad to hear about them.

I am currently working on the maps of Inzae from the above sources. I found an early one that had a scale provided, and I have been using PS to overlay successively larger maps to get a better sense of size for the territories. I am being mindful of distances mentioned in module texts and aligning the maps by settlements' positions and terrain features common amongst the maps.

Thanks for reading,

Gaetano
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My Codex: The Red Book of Inzae Thread

"There is not enough hate in Inzae to fill the chalice of my vengeance" — Davis Chenault

serleran
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Re: Codex of Inzae — The Red Book of Inzaa

Post by serleran »

There exists a map for Inzae:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/24 ... -World-Map

I have no comment on how useful it is as I do not purchase PDFs much less through DriveThru... but, I did not see it mentioned on your list. However, I may just be uninformed and it may simply be part of the Primer...

Oh, and you may find some nuggets from an older official thread from Inzae's creator Davis Chenault: https://www.trolllord.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=33

For example, he mentions a map in Bergholdt as "good for Inzae" so, presumably, that adventure would be worth your time to consider especially since you have its "sequel" on your list.

I don't have the time or inclination but when the Crusader magazine started, the Bros mentioned it would contain material for both settings. There may a bit here and there in one of its issues. Honestly, never bothered to read them all. ***

Oh, and the Codex of Erde may contain a mention or three (it has been nearly 20 years since I read it... so I don't remember). I believe this was reprinted with the "corrected" spelling for C&C.

[Edit] *** (original text not modified so that "peak" is either hilarious or you literally get a single mountaintop...)

So I lied. I looked and it seems two issues of Crusader have something Inzae. #6 and #27.

#6 has this blurb -- Special Features: Davis Chenault, co-creator of Castles and Crusades, gives us a birds eye view of the stunning and deadly dangerous World of Inzae.

#27 has this one -- Inzae: The Inner World ~ Davis and Stephen Chenault. From the coming Primer. Just a peak.

So you can probably skip #27 unless they did some Troll Magic and edited out material when printing the Primer which has been known to happen.

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Re: Codex: The Red Book of Inzae

Post by Grendelwulf »

Hail serleran,
serleran wrote:
Fri Dec 02, 2022 5:24 am
There exists a map for Inzae:
Yes, the map on DriveThru is also available on TLG's store. You are correct that I should have listed it. It is now edited in above.

The digital version of the Primer has two versions of that map as well.
One as is with the green continent with place names at the center of the Sundering Seas,
and the other with marked borderlines and different place names for the larger regions.
serleran wrote:
Fri Dec 02, 2022 5:24 am
Oh, and you may find some nuggets from an older official thread from Inzae's creator Davis Chenault: https://www.trolllord.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=33
Thanks, I will be scribbling quite a few notes from there.
A Bergholt map is also at the TLG store, as well as being in the D3 Beneath the Black Moon module.
I presume it may be the same as Bergholt I, but I should track down a copy to be sure.

I appreciate your looking at the Crusaders issues. I want to get them at some point.
I did get an older Erde codex, but I haven't gone through it yet.

I will see if I can add to the references you mentioned with any others and tack another list to my first post.

Thanks again for your help,

Gaetano
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"There is not enough hate in Inzae to fill the chalice of my vengeance" — Davis Chenault

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Re: Codex: The Red Book of Inzae

Post by Grendelwulf »

As I continue to dive into the 500+ pages of material on the World of Inzae,
I wanted to share my attempt at giving a scale to the world map,

First, I needed a map with a given scale. I began with identical maps found in:
— I1 Into the Unknown: Vakhund (printed in grey)
— D1 Death in the Treklant (printed in gold)

The maps cover an area including a part of the Graffenvold, the towns of Frisia, Mejketer, Vakhund, etc.
The best part is they have a given scale of 30-miles, shown by a measured line.
Based on the line, I added two hex grids, one for 30-mile hexes and the other for 10-mile hexes.
For clarity of the measured line, I rotated it within the hex grid.

Image

I will do my best to keep this and future images at a moderate size.
Next up will be an overlay to a larger map. . .
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"There is not enough hate in Inzae to fill the chalice of my vengeance" — Davis Chenault

Grendelwulf
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Re: Codex: The Red Book of Inzae

Post by Grendelwulf »

Step two on mapping:

Taking another map from modules I1 and D1 (printed in grey & gold respectively)
The region covers Dampfrat to Bergholt.
— flipped the map upside down to show proper N/S in relation to the Inzae world map
— overlayed/resized our first gold map (from the previous post), matching three common markers (Fresia & Mejketek (both marked by red dots) and the Dampfrat (marked by a green circle)
— Found Vakhund was off between the two maps by 10 to 20 miles (red circle)
— established a 30-mile and 10-mile hex sizes for grey map

Image

Image

Yea, I know, my grid was a little sloppy with the hex overlays (dark black lines in the upper area caused by pieces of two grids not being aligned correctly. I needed to make a larger-sized grid to cover the whole map. Got impatient, sorry.

The fortunate news is the town of Frisia lies 60-miles north of Vakhund and 100-miles south of the city of Halpveg is exactly where the module text states they should be.

Okay, I cleaned up the grids. Large hexes are 30-miles with smaller sub-hexes at 10-miles.
Switched to the gold version of the map from D1. It looks brighter.
I carefully nudged Vakhund between its two locations from the first and current map
The shown distance better reflects the module's written text.
Ah, forgot to rotate the map for North to be on top, but I will do that when overlaying it with the next larger map.

Image

Next up, overlaying to the next larger scale map.
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My Codex: The Red Book of Inzae Thread

"There is not enough hate in Inzae to fill the chalice of my vengeance" — Davis Chenault

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Re: Codex: The Red Book of Inzae

Post by Grendelwulf »

Step three on mapping . . .

Test 3: Map from module D2 of the Interzae area
— flip the previous gold map upside down to show North at top
— overlay/resize gold map, matching points for Bergholt and coastline
— Gold map coastline is drawn slightly different compared to later maps
— establishing 30-mile hex size for this grey map (10-mile hex is too difficult to see at this scale)

Image

Here is the full 30-mile hex grid. I may do a larger 90 mile hex grid as the overlays grow towards the larger Inzae world map.

Image

For further comparison, here is another color map of a portion of the Interzae from D3 Beneath the Black Moon.
Also, I included a larger 90-mile hex grid with the 30-mile sub-hexes.

Image

Here is the map with the 90-mile & 30-mile sub-hexes. Much better in my opinion.

Image

Next up, looking at placing this onto the large world map of Inzae . . .
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"There is not enough hate in Inzae to fill the chalice of my vengeance" — Davis Chenault

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Re: Codex: The Red Book of Inzae

Post by Grendelwulf »

Step four on mapping . . .

Finally reaching the two large world maps of Inzae (found in the digital primer and The Dragon's Crucible box set}
— overlay/resize the grey Interzae map, matching location of points for the city of Bergholt and coastline
— establishing the size of large 90-mile hexes & 30-mile sub-hexes
— the two hex grids appeared to have shifted slightly, so they need to be realigned

Image

The 30-mile hexes were darkening the image at this scale. I dropped them and will only use the 90-mile hexes.
I can always use the smaller sub-hexes when and if I zoom in on areas to make separate maps.

Image

Image

Okay, there you have it! The Inzae World Map with scale hexes.
At least a rough approximation all based on one of the early small maps and its scale.

The Inzae World Map:
— There are 137 hex columns across and 75 hex rows top-to-bottom
— There is a total of 10,275 90-mile hexes for a total area of 72,079,125 sq. miles
— each 90-mile hex has an area of 7,015 sq miles (accounted for hexes, not squares)

60% Land on map
— Inzae = 6,114 hexes for an area of 42,889,710 sq. miles (a bit less than the land area of Earth)

40% Water on map
— Sundering Seas (what is shown) = 3,755 hexes for a total area of 26,341,325 sq. miles
— Interzae = 360 hexes for an area of 2,525,400 sq. miles
— Osterzae = 46 hexes for an area of 322,690 sq. miles

Further comparisons:
— Venus has a surface area of 178 million sq miles
— Earth has a surface area of 197 million sq miles (land area 29.2% with 57.51 million sq miles)
— Mars has a surface area of 56 million sq miles

I hope some of you may have found this useful.
It certainly isn't exact and later maps may conflict (due to artist styles, module texts, etc).
For example, the Urstin Peninsula maps in D7 Den of Iniquity reshapes the area and conflicts with the module text.
Any overlaying of them will need some redesign of the coastline. That will be a task for Sisyphus another day.

Thank you for following along,

Gaetano
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"There is not enough hate in Inzae to fill the chalice of my vengeance" — Davis Chenault

serleran
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Re: Codex of Inzae — The Red Book of Inzaa

Post by serleran »

You might want to contact the Trolls more directly and ask them what happened to the original plans for Inzae... there was supposed to be a 4-part series, starting with a module named "The Charnel House". I believe this was intended to be in a boxed setting "Rings of Brass."

Also, here is everything popped using "Inzae" as a flag word from the Trolls' blog:

https://trolldens.blogspot.com/search?q=inzae

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Re: Codex: The Red Book of Inzae

Post by Grendelwulf »

serleran wrote:
Fri Dec 02, 2022 7:32 pm
You might want to contact the Trolls more directly and ask them what happened to the original plans for Inzae... there was supposed to be a 4-part series, starting with a module named "The Charnel House". I believe this was intended to be in a boxed setting "Rings of Brass."

Also, here is everything popped using "Inzae" as a flag word from the Trolls' blog:

https://trolldens.blogspot.com/search?q=inzae
A mighty thanks again serleran!
I will get onto it.

[update] The Troll Dens is a cool source. Some are only mentions by name, i.e. "Davis is working on Inzae" but still some cool nuggets.
Flagged other Inzae words like Bergholt, Inzaa, Raglesborg, etc. Excellent! [/update]

Gaetano
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Re: Codex: The Red Book of Inzae

Post by Grendelwulf »

Looking closer at The Crusader magazines, as serleran suggested, and found a few interesting articles by Davis Chenault.
They aren't all Inzae-oriented, but they make for some good reading. There are some real gems in those magazines.

Bonus: Issues #24 & $27 have a slightly different map of The Interzae which was less labeled.

Articles by Davis Chenault [except where otherwise credited]

2005 Jan. The Crusader #01
— Alea Iactus Est: Steve and Davis share their story of developing "Castles & Crusades"

2005 Jul. The Crusader @02
— Fiction: Frankenburry - The Crack Parade

2006 Winter The Crusader #03
— Fiction: Frankenburry - The Crack Parade

2006 Spring The Crusader #04
— Multi-Classing Guidelines

2007 Summer The Crusader #06
— Keeper's Notes: mAlignment

2007 Aug. The Crusader #07
— Keeper's Notes: Wasting Time

2008 Mar. The Crusader #08 [issue #09 has a disclaimer this article was written by Casey Canfield]
— Keeper's Notes: Running a Game: Playing Monsters and NPCs

2008 Aug. The Crusader @11 [written by Todd Gray, not Davis Chenault]
— Angry Gamer: A Look at Old Davis!

2008 Dec. The Crusader #14
— Book Review: A Series of Unfortunate Events
— Keeper's Notes: Creating Magic Items

2010 Dec. The Crusader #24
— Unusual Roadside Encounters: The Hunt
— Notes from the World of Inzae (with a map of The Interzae)

2014 (?) The Crusader #27
— Inzae: The Inner World (with issue #24's map of The Interzae)

Here is the newly found Interzae map with my scaled 90-mile hex grid added.
Image
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Re: Codex: The Red Book of Inzae

Post by Grendelwulf »

Some of these morsels are from way back, so I am including them for research and study.
Here are a few choice cuts from the threads of Inzae . . .
Thematics of Aihrde and Inzae
by cleaverthepit » Wed May 03, 2006 11:33 am
...
Key to understanding the differences in what might appear to be another fantasy campaign setting is the Language of Destruction and Language of Creation. These are the two languages from which existence comes. Words are power and sounds, properly spoken, create and destroy. The All Father knows/is the Language of Creation. Inzaa knows/is the language of destruction. Each knows a bit of the others language but neither could master both.

Now, how does this play out. Characters in Aihrde are planting flags on the moon while in Inzae, they are polishing brass on the Titantic.

I will explore these themes and how to play them in future posts.

Davis
by cleaverthepit » Sun May 07, 2006 1:47 am

So I thought I would give an example of how one might play out similar adventures in Erde and Inzae as a manner of showing how the themes effect a game in a general manner.

Take the Treklant series as an example. The plot is simple. Rescue a princess from the clutches of goblins and return her to safety. In Inzae this is possible but NOT without leaving a wake of destruction afterword that follows and even catches up with the characters (battle at felsentheim). The thing is, all good deeds go punished! In Airhde, though the same things could have happened, there would have been room for a clearcut ending once the princess is rescued - even as early as at Dzeebagd. The follow on events would not necessarily have happened. In Inzae there is a necessary repercussion. Usually this repercussion outweighs, in scale, the deed it follows.

Another aspect the players have noted is that Inzae is more about survival rather than overcoming.

Davis
by Troll Lord » Thu May 11, 2006 2:57 pm

Inzae is definately a world that is filled with struggle. Aihrde is far closer to the typical fantasy setting. If you must have a comparison Inzae is closer to the world of Wagner's Kane...lots of misery, death and struggle and nothing to show for it. It takes a certain amount of moxie to play in Inzae as it is truly an unforgiving place...in game mechanic terms I mean, not just thematic elements, simply saying the word Inzae causes the Mother Dragon Inzaa to grumble and can cause earthquakes...

Steve
by Troll Lord » Sat May 13, 2006 1:45 am

As to the relation of the two worlds, Inzae is bowl shaped, curving all the from center to edge. Beyond the edge lies the void. Aihrde is/was flat. Imagine if you will a cup and saucer. Turn them over. The cup is now underneath the saucer, that is Inzae. Inzaa the dragon lies buried beneath the crust of Inzae, legends say that her backbone lies directly beneath the Bergrucken Mountains (north of Kayomar and Maine). When Unklar 'bent' the world he wrapped it around the world of Inzae binding it within Aihrde.

This is all in an esoteric sense as Inzae has its own cosmological plane scape, an infinite expanse all bound within the finite space of Aihrde.

There are some maps webpage.... http://trolllord.com/files/cosmos.pdf

(these are unedited for the new version mind you)

Steve
by cleaverthepit » Sat May 13, 2006 10:25 am

Yes the map in Bergholt is a good rendering of Inzae.

Before there was ought, there was not. Inzae swam through (was) the Maelstrom while the All Father created. Inzae could not create per se but through her destructive powers caused matter to come into existance. The All Father created matter (sorta).

IN short, the All Father created worlds and things while Inzaa simply destroyed them. She was jealous and wanted to learn the language of creation so went to the All Father. He gave her some lessons. She took to them real well, but not rrrreeealy well. She knows the language only imperfectly. Hence all her creations are imperfect reflections of the All Fathers.

The all father creates a flat world, Inzae a bowl shaped world.

The two were bound by the rings of brass so that Inzaa could transport things over from Airhde to Inzae. They also traded things. Inzaa's first clutch of eggs for a tree (which promptly withered). She also brought over the first dwarves (the first dwarves in Inzae are also called Trottigen Giants and why the dwarves call Inzae Medelen meaning the Middle World - the world between Stone and Aihrde).

The wrapping of the world around Inzae really refers to the closing of the Rings of Brass and the virtual stoppage of movement between the two worlds.

Now mind you, seperate cosmologies were created over several decades while steve and I were wandering around doing our own thing. We had little reference to one anothers ideas. We were on our way to gen con several years back going over our mutual universe cosmologies when we realized how perfectly they meshed....

odd thing that.

Davis
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Re: Codex: The Red Book of Inzae

Post by Grendelwulf »

Here is a second helping of more choice cuts from the threads of Inzae for research and study . . .
Death in the Treklant
by Troll Lord » Thu May 11, 2006 2:57 pm

In Davis' treklant series of adventures I lost three characters in short order. The third character, a frontiersmen from Felsentheim, found himself standing alone in the village with his new wife. Goblins had breached the walls and were swarming throughout the compound and around me. Utterly cut off (the rest of the party was already making good their escape, leaving me to my fate no doubt) I pulled my wife to me and while I kissed her I ran her through. She died in my arms as I turned on the goblins who overwhelmed me and killed my young buck without mercy!

Thus is life in Inzae . . .

Steve
(C&C) I1 Into the Unknown (NOW AVAILABLE)
by Troll Lord » Tue Aug 29, 2006 3:08 am

Apparently the Preperation House was edited but the Charnal House was cut entirely. So Davis is bringing all that back to the table. I love Vakhund . . . Tower of the Dog . . . as it was one of the best advents that Davis ran us through. Of course, keeping to form, my character was killed.

Steve
A non-Human Campaign
by cleaverthepit » Thu Dec 14, 2006 9:27 pm

I occasionally run an all dwarf campaign. I have not changed any of the rules. The campaign is set beneath the Kambrian mountains in Inzae and the dwarves are battling the hordes of goblins coming up from the depths.

It seems to run fine without tinkering.

davis
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Re: Codex: The Red Book of Inzae

Post by Grendelwulf »

Okay, for now, here is the final round for choice cuts from the threads of Inzae to digest for study . . .
Cosmological conundrum for Airdhe and Inzae
by cleaverthepit » Fri Dec 15, 2006 6:10 pm

In the cosmology of both worlds, the All Father and Inzaa came before anything else existed. The All Father dreamed things into being and Inzaa allowed them to form out of the Maelstrom.

So, did the All Father dream Inzae into existence or did the All Father spill out of the Maelstrom unknown to Inzaa. There are two camps.

Some propose that both the All Father and Inzae are one and each a manifestation of polar ends of that 'one's' being.

This conundrum has confounded man for ages and no solution has been found.

Davis
Developing INzae
by cleaverthepit » Tue Oct 09, 2007 7:24 pm

I have given this quite a bit of thought over the years. I would like to do it. I am not concerned horribly about its financial success (other than the time it takes away from other projects it can be short printed so the financing is not a BIG issue) as it would be a vanity project.

There are some issues.

For those who have played in the setting as designed many trope of 'the game ' tend to be dropped.

1. level acquisition tends to fall back in importance as there is always - ALWAYS - some more powerful and deadly than you around the corner. Survival and bettering your corner of the world tend to become end goals. Retirement of characters is a common occurence. This usually occurs around levels 4-6. few players go beyond that. A palpable sense of exhaustion sets in.

How to rectify that in a viable setting.

2. Inzae is house-ruled to death

Should those house rules be included as a separate - nearly unique - system

3. Gold and treasure are rare rare rare.... wits, skill and not a little luck see one through on a day-to-day basis.

how to rectify that goal.

My concern is keeping the flavor of Inzae. Some will like others not. How open should I make it so people can run with the baseline etc.

Ohh also, in the home setting there are no gnomes, halflings or elves. essentially you get to play Human, dwarf, orc or goblin.

. . .

Davis
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Re: Codex: The Red Book of Inzae

Post by Grendelwulf »

Alright, there is always room for dessert. Here are another set of choice cuts from the threads of Inzae for study . . .
Inzae, Troke, dwarven settlement pattern
by cleaverthepit » Fri Dec 12, 2008 7:54 pm

It is impossible to determine the events that propel the dwarves of the Troke to make new settlements, but they do so on rare occasions. These new settlements are called Klostens. What is known, is that the Kloster, who are the spiritual leaders of the dwarves, divine the necessity of a new settlement and approach a ruling clan to fund and organize the process. On rarer occasions, the Kloster act as a group or individually to settle a new Klosten, funding and organizing the process themselves.

The new Klosten is a simple affair and almost always consists of a main building which houses a brewery and common room. Atop this or attached to it are a series of rooms to house the dwarves who have chosen to settle there. A Kloster is always placed in charge of the operation and maintains control of the Klostens functions for a period of months or even years.

Many of the Klosten become homes to traveling dwarves and the places are generally very open to visitors (compensation is of course expected). In time, the Kloster move out and build another brew house or an attached brewery and residence. The original structure of the Klosten becomes a hostel, tavern or similar establishment. The latter is generally managed by a representative of the family or clan which organized the original venture.

In times past, Klosten were built just for dwarves and humans or others of large stature found them uncomfortable and uniinviting. In the Troke, the dwarves close relationship with humans has modified this somewhat. The initial structure of the Klosten is built to accommodate humans. It has, in fact, become common practice for humans to accompany the dwarves who settle a new Klosten acting as guards, guides, or otherwise.

Few humans are aware of that the placement of the Klosten of the Troke are quite controlled and planned out. Each is constructed around a tree called which humans formally name the Rhuwan but which the dwarves name the Agnar. Many are aware the Rhuwan is a powerful symbol to the dwarves and some are aware of its elemental ties to the dwarves but only a very few are aware of the Rhuwans central role in dwarven spiritual life. Similarly, the wood, leaves, bark, flowers and fruit of the Rhuwan tree is known to have magical qualities, but only a few know how great these qualities are.

The Klosten are built around or near the rhuwan tree and is an ubiquitous feature of the Klosten and found in nearly every every dwarven settlement, no matter how large or small, in the Troke.
Post by cleaverthepit » Fri Dec 12, 2008 8:24 pm

The setting will come with 4 new racial classes for dwarves

religious leader

warrior

hunter

Adventurer

3 races of dwarves

The Dvergar are deep dwarves who live deep under the earth.

The Hazelgar are mountain dwarves who live in the Kragenmores.

The Nidavgar are hill or forest dwarves who hale from the Troke.

each race has its own particular qualities (and limitation) that effect class as well

normal classes are not open to dwarves.
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Re: Codex: The Red Book of Inzae

Post by Grendelwulf »

Pondering the primary themes of Inzae:

1. All good deeds go punished! There is a necessary repercussion, which usually outweighs, in scale, the deed it follows.
2. The setting is more about survival rather than overcoming. It is a world that is filled with struggle.
3. It is closer to the world of Karl Wagner's Kane...lots of misery, death and struggle and nothing to show for it.

The world of Inzae is bowl shaped, curving all the from center to edge. Beyond the edge lies the void.

Inzae is a cosmic food dish!
Revenge is a dish best served cold? Or hot? Whichever way, Inzaa the Great Dragon is going to eat everything all up!

I am reminded of a line from the Hellraiser films' main antagonist, Pinhead.
" There is a secret song at the center of the world... and its sound is like razors through flesh."

Ohm/Om is alleged to be the vibrational chord resonating calm throughout the universe.

Inzae's resonance is a SCREAM! InzAA! AAAAAAA!

I can see the equivalent of Inzaen monks throwing their heads back and unleashing primal raging howls!
The unleashed energy of arriving at birth, bloody and screaming, into a strange existence where every new sensation affects the raw nerves of body, mind, and spirit.

As we have been told, the swirling mass of chaos, the Maelstrom, birthed the Great Dragon.
In solitude she thrashed about her dark world, attempting to consume herself at one point before tearing through the veil and witnessing the All Father's light, as the stories go. Inzaa was inspired to create, even flawed with her primal nature for destruction.

Effectively, she is the blood of the world. She is the spark residing within all things Inzaen — from the land and the seas to everything that crawls, walks, or flies in its realm.

There can be no tranquil resonance surrounding Inzae, like the Om.

The overwhelming rage of Inzaa comes from within every atom, every cell, every ounce of matter and breath of air.
Everything screams. Even as it is filled with the life spark of Inzaa, it begins to die. And it knows it.

Perhaps the pain, struggles, and deaths upon Inzae are needed to restore the Great Dragon?
As she rests in her "Crucible", the spilled blood hitting the ground brings life to Her.
All blood is hers, afterall. The "bowl shaped world" is really a cosmic chalice.
A chalice for her blood. She is the blood of Inzae and their blood is hers.

So, when fully restored, she will rise! Rise to destroy Inzae in a cosmic ballet of death and life, again and again.

I can understand the "all deeds go punished" sentiment as really being a tangible part of the setting.

If it is to be reflected in the rules somehow, perhaps it should be done as negative adjustments?
In a karmic rules sort of way? Maybe having less plus bonuses?
Would random encounters become more prevalent?
Are there increased sorts of entropy that affects armor, weapons, and equipment?
If something can go wrong, it definitely will!

Thoughts to keep myself up at night, while staring at the two frozen moons in the skies of Inzae.
The moons with their eternal stare. All that is missing is the smile. . . oh, wait.
The smile is Inzaa's as she rests below the deeps of the Interzae.

G.
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My Codex: The Red Book of Inzae Thread

"There is not enough hate in Inzae to fill the chalice of my vengeance" — Davis Chenault

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Re: Codex: The Red Book of Inzae

Post by Captain_K »

You have been very busy in 5 days.

You might want to see if you can go to the source and chat with Davis, heck, at this rate he should hire you to help him finish!
Wow, Another Natural One! You guys are a sink hole for luck. Stay away from my dice.

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Re: Codex: The Red Book of Inzae

Post by Grendelwulf »

Captain_K wrote:
Tue Dec 06, 2022 1:14 am
You have been very busy in 5 days.
Yea, a little bit.
My desk is covered with Inzae modules, notes, and printouts.
I will slow down and take a few breaths before continuing.
Captain_K wrote:
Tue Dec 06, 2022 1:14 am
You might want to see if you can go to the source and chat with Davis, heck, at this rate he should hire you to help him finish!
I have tagged him and sent messages in Discord. No reply yet, but he is certainly busy these days with projects.
Don't want to seem all "Kathy Bates" :lol:

G.
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My Codex: The Red Book of Inzae Thread

"There is not enough hate in Inzae to fill the chalice of my vengeance" — Davis Chenault

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Re: Codex: The Red Book of Inzae

Post by Grendelwulf »

Here are some of Davis' comments on classes, magic items, and spell casting which could be related to how he applies them to Inzae . . .

Re: No More "Normal" Magic Items
by cleaverthepit » Sun Apr 15, 2012 10:16 pm

I agree, all magic weapons such should be unique and have histories and unique powers. And they should be rare.

Davis
Any interest in Sword and Sorcery type rules for CnC
by cleaverthepit » Sun Feb 12, 2012 1:42 pm

So I have been dickering about a great deal over the past year on my home rules for Inzae. It's quite a revamp of CnC (class-less, level-less, 2d10 as base roll etc) but still uses the basic philosophy and engine. So, we've tested the variants a few times (certainly not thoroughly at this point) and several of the group said it had a real SnS feel to it. Very brutal, very quick (minus a few issues of record keeping) and built for small groups (2-3 players) and so very not DnD - but that is in part the setting.

Anyway, is there much interest in driving forward with this idea? Like I need something else on my plate.

Davis
Re: Any interest in Sword and Sorcery type rules for CnC
by cleaverthepit » Wed Feb 15, 2012 12:59 pm

In the current model, the pcs start about 30 percent better off stat and hip wise than a normal person. They also have significantly better skills.

Using a bell curve die roll (2d19) creates some Interesting math on bonuses. a pc with a +1 to hit has a much better than five percent chance increase than the current CnC model. The bonuses add up quick.

The nature of SnS is such that a multitask able character is a must. Rather than go with broad classes, I went with skills and skill areas. So, one can design, in quick order a pc that can track, perform seem roguish activities and fight well. as well, one could throw together a more pure warrior type or pure roguish type.

Here's the interesting thing. There is no balance per se. A person trained as a pure fighter. Fighting a pc who has been trained as a pure thief (meaning picking pockets, picking locks, and the various abilities contained therein) is unlikely to survive in a straight up fight against the fighter. They simply trained differently.

Magic is being worked on. It is not Vancian, rather, you learn it, you know it. It is more ritualistic and less mundane.

More in a bit

Davis
Re: Any interest in Sword and Sorcery type rules for CnC
by cleaverthepit » Wed Feb 15, 2012 4:53 pm

all right, long post short.

No fire and forget spells. You learn a spell, you know it.

Casting has many limiting factors, components (materials, sacrifices, etc) timing (full moon, star alignment, etc), and capacity to cast.

I am thinking of mana cost or HP cost or something like that.

Another thing, spells would take time to cast.

So imagine a heal spell. It would work if a particular caster learned the spell, gathered the components, went to a temple, and performed the spell, that might take hours or even days to work.

Imagine a summoning spell, go to mountain top, on quarter moon, pour molten silver into runes etched into the ground, cast a spell to summon a creature. The casting may take hours or more.

Something along those lines. Not sure how to handle or if I even want quick spells.
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My Codex: The Red Book of Inzae Thread

"There is not enough hate in Inzae to fill the chalice of my vengeance" — Davis Chenault

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Re: Codex: The Red Book of Inzae

Post by Grendelwulf »

On the subject of Inzae''s moons. . .
Davis Chenault of Troll Lord Games, creator of Inzae, replied on Twitter in regard to the world's moons. . . .
Many of the ‘stars’ in the sky are motionless as well. Some spin at random, others in precise measurable movements. Navigation at night can be easy as the motionless stars help. As there is no magnetic pole, compasses and the like do not exist.

There are two moons. These are named Fenumian and Terrivial (sisters). Both are Irselmin, meaning they stayed aloof from the rebellion against the Dragon (this is not entirely true but partially).

Fenumian glows a pale orange at night and is near invisible during the day, her light being extinguished by that of the sun. She is variously called ‘the menace of evil’ and the ‘truthful eye.’ She can see and tries to expose those of ill-intent.

Terrevial can be seen when the sun is dragged over Inzae, but she is black as pitch, like a hole in the sky. Her pale light is only visible at night. She is called the ‘guardian of dreams’ and ‘protector of the night.’

Both sit motionless in the sky and cannot act on the world or under the world, only in the firmament above Inzae. They are and variously referred to as the “watchers,” and the ‘eyes of Inzae.’

Her power to do so during the day is not great. It is at night she is most powerful. She is cursed by some and beloved by others. Like her sister, being unable to act on or under the world, she can only convey what she sees through vision, dreams, and similar.

Many pray to her during difficult times for guidance. Because dreams linger in the firmament, Terrevial can affect dreaming, visions, etc.

Troll Lord Games
@trolllordgames
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My Codex: The Red Book of Inzae Thread

"There is not enough hate in Inzae to fill the chalice of my vengeance" — Davis Chenault

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Re: Codex: The Red Book of Inzae

Post by Grendelwulf »

The Calendar of Inzae — The Fenumia
extrapolated from the Inzae Primer

Wilken = day
Woken = week
Maat = month
Fenuma = year
Krissle = epoch
Grosskrissle = great epoch

1 Wilken
10 Wilken = 1 Woken
40 Wilken = 4 Woken = 1 Maat
400 Wilken = 40 Woken = 10 Maats = 1 Fenuma
160,000 Wilken = 16,000 Woken = 4,000 Maats = 400 Fenumas = 1 Krissle
64,000,000 Wilken = 6,400,000 Woken = 1,600,000 Maats = 160,000 Fenumas = 400 Krissles = 1 Grosskissle (Great Epoch)

G.
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