Gaz F10 The Kingdom of Kaarjala - Vaults of Pandius

WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT KAARJALA“When a man remembers the land, theland remembers him.”– common Saamari saying“The elk and the bear – the king of theforest – are prized and respected by mykinsmen, but they are to be hunted. Butwoe befalls he who harms the swan, inrighteous, divine wrath.”– Lasse Aaltonen,Saamari expatriate,speaking before a group ofadventurers in Gaudavpils“The land is not cruel, Aipaloovik; it iswhat it is, and what matters is what wecan see. Men and animals were placedhere to live and die as they might. Wetake what we need, and do what we must,to survive another day. Good hunters andwomen may go to either Agelermiut orAgneriartarfik, and the lazy will go toNoqumiut, where they will always behungry. It has always been this way.“Before the white men came over themountains, life was better. But they tookthe south from us, and made their landshot. The life flow of the land changed,and many of us died as our old huntinggrounds became no more. But still theywere not done with us. Some came northriding great reindeer, and took many ofour remaining lands for their own. Theydo not fight as we do, but we learnedtheir ways to survive. One day, we willgo south again.”– Tornarsuk,Shonak warrior,speaking to his son“You can keep your cities and castles!For me, there’s nothing better than theopen road and a village inn for the night!That’s where you’ll meet the real people,the ones who built this land and keep itgoing. They live close to the land, workhard, and help their communities. Thecityfolk in Kaarja, secure behind theirwalls and obsessed with deal-making, areforgetting what it means to be Kaarjalan.Ilmarinen help us if we all end up likethem!”Pekka Outinen,Saamari warrior,chatting with an Oceansender“They say Kaarjala is ‘a landapart’…they don’t know the half of it!More like ‘a land 1,000 years in thepast!’ Seriously, the place is just a massof wild forests and half-frozen bogs, andyou can travel for days without seeinganyone! Decent pubs or inns are scarcerthan a sunny day in Littonia, too. There’sreally not much of anything that woulddraw a person.“But there’s something about the placethat keeps me here. It’s more than thechance to roam a land that’s still fairlypristine, and it’s more than the prospectof finding some ancient hoard of treasurethat predates the kingdom itself.“It’s the people. They may not havemuch more than a roof over their headsand a plot of land, but they seem at peace– both with themselves and what they dohave. They know who they are andthey’re content, and that’s good enoughfor them. Maybe it’s because the noblesleave them alone for the most part.“Anyhow, I think they know somethingwe could all afford to learn, ourselves.”– Carwen BerdelhinDarokinian adventurer,speaking to a friend in Kaarja“If Kaarjala is distant, its people aredoubly so. The founding of theirkingdom, despite great adversity, is oneof their main sagas; this is a window intotheir soul. Please understand that theysee their realm as purely the work of theirown hands, and consequently they feelthey owe allegiance to no one. To them,Alpha is just as distant as the Sea ofDread – so distant that it is not evenconsidered.“I do think that they may yet be broughtinto the fold, if you think of them as alone animal in the midst of an open field– exposed, and having to rely on itself forsurvival. One must shelter the animal,and possibly show it where to find morefood, thus satisfying needs of which thecreature may have been unaware. Renderthem aid and guidance, convince them oftheir need for such, and they may come toyou.”Tarn Oakleaf,Druid Representative to Alpha,speaking to King Ericall“It was a thing most bizarre andfrightening, brother Hiram. Upon thecold night prairie did I espy one of thosenomadic shamans engaged in gruesomeenterprise – the butchering and devouringof a reindeer for some foul purpose.“It reminded me very much of thatwhich we do not speak, so complete wasthe devourment. Brother Samuel must bemad to want to trade with the Kaarjalans,if these are the things the overland routewill encounter.”– Laradril, Leehan Explorer,writing to his brotherUsing Kaarjala withOther Game SystemsThe product that you are now holdingwas written with the Classic version ofDungeons & Dragons in mind;however, Kaarjala is fully usable as acampaign setting for other game systems.For First Edition AD&D, demihumansmust hail from lands outside of Kaarjala.The magic-user is rare, and the paladinunheard of. The barbarian class isfounded among some Vaarana as well asthe surrounding fringe cultures. Thekanteleer may be treated either as a bardor a fighter/magic-user dual class. Thenoaid could be treated as a druid/magicuserdual class. The monk and cavalierclasses, as well as psionics, areincompatible with the setting.Under Second Edition AD&D, thefollowing kits are appropriate: barbarian(Icereach, Shonak and Viaskaland),outlaw, peasant hero, wilderness warrior(mainly Vaarana), noble warrior,adventurer, all thief kits (save buccaneer)– especially beggar, bounty hunter andthug, all priest kits (save fighting-monk)with the most popular being the“dwarven” kit of craftpriest. Rangers canbe explorers, giant killers, guardians,pathfinders and wardens. Wizards aremost likely witches or astrologers.Druids typically take the adviser,avenger, lost druid, or wanderer kit.Specialist wizards are external toKaarjala proper and are limited toIllusionists, Necromancers, or Invokers.For campaigns under 3.xE, the sorcereris permitted as a character choice amongthe Vaarana, Shonak, and Viaskodans.