Dragons of Tirenia

Recently, my book club members expressed an interest in trying D&D! I started writing a new adventure for them set in the marble quarries of Camarma, but the silly season is a busy time! Then I realised that I had an adventure already: Fiumenze Nights, about the death of the artist Michele di Lodovico. I've given up on finishing that game (sadly - it was going in a very interesting direction!), so it seemed the logical choice to play it with a new group and maybe reach the end at last! This first session covers the same basic ground as the first two sessions of the previous play-through, although a few details have changed. In Fiumenze, it is the dury of the sbirri  to maintain public order. They are the city guards who defend the people - since most of the guilds and the wealthy merchants maintain their own personal forces, which are better paid and equipped. They report to the Gonfaloniere di Giustizia,  a public official selected by lot who serves for two months at a ...

A confraternity is a voluntary organisation of lay people who are gathered to do good deeds (as defined by the church). Working together, they are able to accomplish greater things than they would be able to do individually. For example, the Confraternita di San Camillo sponsors a paupers' hospital in Vanzenia, and ensures that there is care available to even the very poor in the city. Others sponsor festivals, offer charity for the poor, bury paupers, pray for the souls of the living or the dead, or encourage the arts. Some confraternities are powerful social organisations, whose members reap immense benefits from the connections that they make, and may also engage in trade or other enterprises together; others have anonymous membership. A confraternity may be open to all, or it may be restricted by social class, sex, age or citizenship: however, they tend to be one of the more 'open' institutions, where people of all parts of society can work together for the public good....

(This one's out of character, to record my new thoughts.) I'd always known that dragons represented sins, which a medieval viewpoint. I always knew that the church literally prohibited dragons, but that the current leaders say the passages are meant to be taken metaphorically.  But there are seven sins and only five dragons! As a result, Tirenia welcomes its new draconic overlords! Two more good and two more evil dragons, from some of the supplementary material not yet converted to 5th Edition, are joining the ten established dragon broods. The evil Brown Dragons  live in Felsina (Bologna) - they promote the greatest university in Tirenia, and are famous gourmands. The good Mercury Dragons  are in Trion (Turin), where they serve the bronze dragons and are great alchemists. The evil G rey Dragons fought as condottieri, before becoming lords of Pirusi (Rimini); so did the good Iron Dragons  in Matauro (Urbino), and they are now deadly rivals. That's 150...

Do not trust the dragon of wrath, for he brings bloodshed, destroying reconciliation. Do not trust the dragon of gluttony, for he consumes rapaciously, leaving nothing for others.  Do not trust the dragon of envy, for he turns brother against brother. Do not trust the dragon of luxury, for he desires all things for himself. Do not trust the dragon of greed, for he sells anything so as to buy everything. Do not trust the dragon of sloth, for he quells good deeds through inaction. Do not trust the dragon of pride, for he would set himself equal to the firmament itself. These words from the Storia  are officially taken by the church as metaphorical. The 'dragons' are the seven sins that can stain the soul so direly that it remains affected beyond this lifetime. A soul that is too stained may damn itself to Inferno, never again to be reborn. However, there are some who believe that these lines should be taken literally: as an exhortation to beware dragon-kind itse...

Population:  150,000 Dragon:  Staglia has been ruled by bronze dragons ever since the fall of the Auromian Empire. Imperatore Achille is the current leader of the bronze dragons. Politics:  Staglia is a benevolent fascist military dictatorship. The bronze dragons believe that the world was better off when under the control of the gold dragons. Other bronze dragons are generales, who are advisors to the Imperatore. While the bronze dragons do not see themselves as being as wise or capable as the gold dragons, they are a better alternative than anyone else. Should a new gold dragon emperor appear, it would destroy the Staglian empire. Economics:  Staglia was the first city-state to develop its own merchant navy. It is strongly in favour of private enterprise for public good. Merchants are taxed to enrich the state coffers, but those who suffer hardship can apply for support from the state. There is virtually no unemployment: state-owned enterprises and the army me...

King Carlo of Orso was a historical king who united much of northern Tirenia during his lifetime. After the fall of the Auromian Empire and the establishment of the Church, there was considerable civic disruption. The Church did not want to take temporal power, and this resulted in a power vacuum. Carlo was a minor landowner and military leader whose use of heavy cavalry and skillful diplomacy led to him carving out a realm of his own. He took great care to promote the interests of the Church, and the High Ordinarch legitimized him in turn, eventually crowning him as Emperor of Tirenia and Defender of the Faith. Carlo spent a lot of time on campaign. When word reached Orso that he had been killed in battle, his son Moderio took the crown. Carlo was not dead, however: when he returned, Morderio refused to give up the crown and the two killed each other in battle. Carlo spent considerable time strengthening the key city-states in northern Tirenia and weakening the power of the nobility...

All things in Tellaia are connected to the elements of reality. People believe that all living things are made up of the elements of air, earth, fire and water, and that this determines their personality. Aether is not included - it is the element that tethers the soul to the body, and it is what makes it possible for humans to use magic. Instead of having personality traits based on their background, a Tirenian character may instead wish to derive their personality from their elements (or 'humours'). Some people will have traits from different elements, while others will be strongly focussed on a single element. It is believed that a person's elemental nature also determines what sort of magic they will use, though there are no rules for this. Some character races and classes lend themselves to particular elements as well - many barbarians would have a strong connection to the element of Fire, which is related to anger, while an element-touched (genasi) character might...