The Oracle of Life
A Pathfinder Home Campaign
Campaign Political Situation
The PCs are (or have been in the past) residents of, and loyal to, Kyonin and the Emerald Queen. During this campaign, PCs will act as agents of the Emerald Queen.
The year is 4670 (some 45 years prior to the ‘present day’ Season 6 of PFS). The nation of Andoran has just been born to Kyonin’s south, and the Elves’ strong desire is to see it succeed in its goal of establishing a free and liberty-loving society.
On Kyonin’s northern border, the confounding ‘New God’ Razmir has consolidated the city of Xer from, and murdered, the leaders of the Whispering Wood River Kingdom. Razmir has the beginnings of his kingdom, with followers, a defensible territory, and what amounts to an Army resting on Kyonin’s border. Already there has been violence between Elves and Razmir’s cultists.
Cheliax under House Thrune turned its war-torn economy around the way age-old consolidators of power always have: proscription lists.
House Thrune’s 29-year long parade of arrested “traitors” brought fresh slaves and riches from Andoran, but last Spring, the Andorans had reached the end of their limit, and cast off the yoke of Diobolic totalitarianism. The anniversary of independence is fast approaching, with suspiciously no response at all from Cheliax. As the Andorans re-order their society toward liberty and democracy, they have requested the help of the Elves in establishing relations with a variety of interests in an attempt to garner recognition, and hopefully allies, in the event that Andoran needs them. The Elves readily agreed.
Andoran's House Vaylen
Andoran’s noble House Vaylen has staked a thousand-year fortune on Andoran independence. And the long-term strategy to secure it is to establish the Inner Sea’s premier banking network, including Druma, the Dwarves of the Five Kings Mountains, Kyonin's Emerald Queen, Galt's Philosopher State, and others. To do that, they need to secure House Vaylen's stockpile of gold. The Elves of Kyonin are neither greedy nor are they in any way poor. They are considering how to aid House Vaylen, for its strength is, for the foreseeable future, Andoran’s room to grow into full autonomy.
Razmir
Razmir first appeared in Xer 8 years ago (4661), claiming to have completed the Trial of the Starstone and thus become a god. The preposterousness of this claim was greeted with silence from the Emerald Queen, and this silence remains official policy. Razmir took advantage of Elven indifference to consolodate power in Xer, to anhialate the Arch-Duchy of Aerduin in a cataclysm of fire, and to spread heralds far and wide to speak of his rise to god-hood. All of which has drawn myriad followers longing for a new god to lead humanity out of the Age of Lost Omens. With this new influx of would-be pilgrims and crusaders, Razmir overthrew (and had murdered) the Fey Council of the Whispering Wood in 4668.
Cheliax and its influences have never reached into Kyonin with any real power. Cheliax stability benefitted Kyonin, and its new, shrunken sphere of influence benefits Kyonin all the more. Kyonin has formal, long-standing relations with Cheliax that have become terribly strained in the development of Andoran independence. Kyonin’s immediate recognition of Andoran as an independent, autonomous, and especially democratic state was an act of betrayal that stung Cheliaxians deeply, but it is also one that the Devils and Priests of Asmodeus cannot help but admire for its diabolical cunning; they did not see the arrows flying towards their backs.
There are some who say that the absence of a Chelaxian invasion of Andoran is a sign that House Thrune intends to retaliate against Kyonin first and foremost. The Emerald Queen awaits an inevitable counter-stroke.
Andoran
Cheliax
Galt
Kyonin’s relationship with Galt is excellent. Galt’s latest period of literary and philosophical enlightenment is an appealing development to the Emerald Queen and the Elves of Kyonin. Galt’s enlightenment-type philosophies heavily influenced the people of Andoran, making Galt a kind of parent nation to Andoran; though Galt's political system is feudal monarchy, the people of Galt have a strong sense of history, continuity, and civic responsibility. The humans of the two nations share much, and the Emerald Queen hopes a triumvirate of sorts can be formed, founded on the principles of shared common liberty.
If Andoran succeeds, Kyonin could secure strong allies from the Inner Sea across almost half of its entire border, stretching from Augustana in Andoran to Galt and beyond (with more allies possibly gained in the River Kingdoms). All the better to focus Kyonin’s scattered military resources on Razmir, and, if necessary, Seven Arches.
Note: The Red Revolution in Galt has not yet occurred, but will in the course of the campaign. In ‘normal’ Paizo history it began in 4667.
River Kingdoms
The Elves and humans of the River Kingdoms share many values, and have enough in common that most within the Kingdoms are comfortable with Elves, especially in the southern reaches. Kyonin has both formal and informal relations with most of the Kingdoms' leaders (Seven Arches excepted), conducts ample trade in the area, and also helps protect freedom of travel and trade throughout the Selen river in its territory.
Daggermark
Kyonin's route to isolating Razmir cannot be accomplished without its strongest kingdom and largest city. The Elves of Kyonin have no formal diplomatic mission to the city, and thus, the party has been dispatched there with that specific goal. The city suffered greatly through the Winter of Need, and its military is heavily taxed defending its northern and eastern borders from monsters marauding in from the wildlands in search of food.
Dutchy of Melcat
Under constant attack by Razmir's cultists since the year 4661, the Dutchy of Melcat ceased to be in Desnus of 4670, when Razmir captured Shorestep, the Dutchy's capital, and last organized settlement.
The Loric Fells
North of Daggermark lie the wildlands of the Loric Fells. See Book 1 for further information relating to the region.
Seven Arches
The non-violent animosity that the Druids of Seven Arches visit upon all Elves is no longer tolerable to the Emerald Queen. With a hostile Razmir as neighbor across the Selen, travel routes around Razmir's holdings are critical. For the Emerald Queen, the policy of courteous avoidance ends in 4670, and the moment of gentle but firm confrontation is at hand. The Emerald Queen is rumored to have said that, "It is time to see how far the Druids wish to go to keep Elves from walking our own ancient paths."
Note: My campaign's Seven Arches will differ greatly from that in the River Kingdoms Guide, and specifically the reason for Seven Arches' no-trespassing restriction toward Elves.
Riverton
Founded 5 years ago by one of Kyonin’s native Elves, Riverton is a sometimes amusing, sometimes pitiable collection of flotsam strapped together by an Elf swordmaster who most likely has brain damage from a nearly fatal drowning. Nevertheless, the cult of the River Rat has flocked to its new home, and as a result Riverton has rapidly become an eclectic gathering place for all traffic pilots on the Selen. Brother Naerel Twice-Born holds the Elves of Kyonin in high regard, and the Emerald Queen extends her protection to the settlement, even though it is formally on Galt’s bank of the Selen. The Emerald Queen knows that the more friends that the Elves have travelling the Sellen, the better, and the pilot priests of the Rat God have a way of making barges travel faster, so the Queen is eager to earn a favor with Brother Naerel.
