Dragons of Tirenia

The bronze dragons of Staglia were planning something. Their war against Selenizia had ground into a bloody stalemate. After years of contant warfare, their resources were stretched to the point of exhaustion. And so their troops received the order to hold their positions, while the dragon generals were all recalled to Staglia for an emergency meeting. Meanwhile, surprise attacks were launched against the marble quarries of Camarma and the surreal ruins of Larisa, only to withdraw again. The quicksilver dragons of Trion, the alchemists and inventors of Staglia's war machine.  Something big was coming. And Captain Uberto meant to find out what it was. The crew of the Brazen Nudibranch were dedicated to fighting against the draconic imperialists. It was vital that someone should infiltrate Staglia and discover what the bronze dragons were planning, before it was too late.  The first step in the Captain's plan was to lay anchor at Monte Mamiliano. This small island was a haven of...

Capitano Uberto (she/her): Human Rogue (Swashbuckler) Daughter of a disappointed merchant from Panormo, Uberto ran away to sea at the first opportunity. A small-time operator, dedicated to Clumsy and best-known for getting drunk and falling off the dock, Uberto is idealistic and inspiring, and her crew would follow her anywhere. First Mate 'Zeph' Zephyros  (he/him): Aasimar Barbarian Zeph's mother claimed that his was a virgin birth. Indeed, young Zeph's golden hair and supernatural abilities led many to whisper that he was blessed by San Iacopo, the patron of sailors. He has always lived on the sea, and the sailors who serve on his ship he takes under his dedicated care. Maria Fiore, Ship's Doctor (she/her): Human Artificer (Alchemist) Maria was a high-placed member of the Apothecaries' Guild of Fiumenze, until her vocal opposition to the de' Fisici dragons led to her expulsion. Her ideals have led to her joining the Brazen Nudibranch , even though she is ...

 In 2020, during the lockdown, I did a lot of work developing Tirenia for Kickstarter. It soon became apparent that writing an entire campaign guide in that time frame was too ambitious, so instead we produced a Dragons of Tirenia introductory guide, with a short overview of the setting (virtually all obsolete at this point, as I continue to develop the setting), an adventure and a promised impending full Kickstarter - which never eventuated, for a variety of reasons. My wife and I decided that our indie games company Sky Bear Games would rent a stall at Armageddon Expo convention to promote her computer games and my roleplaying games. To really sell the product, I decided to run the most complicated promotional campaign possible: The Siege of Medilano. We made maps, posters and stickers and got people to earn points for the two warring factions, the bronze dragons of Staglia and the silver dragons of Medilano. Every day, I ran hour-long introductory Dungeons & Dragons adventur...

  With one of the players from The Ruins of Auromia returning to Auckland briefly before moving overseas, we had a catch-up game where we revisited what those characters were up to now! We did, however, run out of time, so the end of this was extremely rushed. Two and a half years had passed since a group of adventurers defeated the arch-fairies who had pretended to be gods in Auromia, and Sorrel Acetosa had become the new genius loci of Auromia. In that time, Dova the cat-head had become first mate on the Coral Claw  under Capitano Giuseppe la Fenicottero (a flamingo-head wizard) sailing with the pirate fleet of Capitano Giovanni Bramare, a brass dragon. The three ships under his command fought against the imperialist bronze dragons of Staglia and the capitalist red dragons of Selenizia. Recently, a Staglian fleet had stopped at the island of Santa Severina and demanded its surrender, and then plundered the port when it was refused. The Coral Claw  and the other ships se...

 Given the recent changes to the Open Gaming License by Hasbro / Wizards of the Coast, we have decided to remove all Dungeons & Dragons references from Tirenia. I will be revising the world to remove any D&D-isms from it, and also to bring it in line with a Future Project that we are working on! Image: 'Aeneas Flees Burning Troy.'  Federico Barocci, 1593.

 I've been having a break from Tirenia, but I had a strange thought and wanted to get it down. What are dinosaurs? Dinosaurs were created in the War of the Host as living weapons. They were meant as living weapons. Eventually, they led to the creation of dragons, when some bright spark demon had the idea of putting a soul inside one and giving it wings and innate magic. (This also means that in Tirenia, birds did not evolve from dinosaurs, and might in fact pre-date them! What a strange thought...)Who are these angels and demons who enjoy flesh-shaping so much? What happened to the dinosaurs since then? Doubtlessly there are still some hidden away in the remote places of the world in the remote places. Perhaps some fairy or demon will bring them forth again as part of the Tirenian Wars! The Primitive World . Adolphe Pannemaker, 1857.

 Dragon Princes now has quite a complicated storyline! With every game influenced by those that came before it, and influencing those that are yet to come, there's a lot going on. You don't need to know the story across the multiple games to appreciate what's going on in your game, but if you're interested, this is a quick summary of the entire thing so far. As more games get played, I'll update this post! 1015, Summer The mercenaries of the Company of the Wolf stop the bronze dragon Generale Corragio from conquering the Salassi Valley in north-western Tirenia.  (The Company of the Wolf) 1015, Autumn The Company of the Wolf discover the ancient system of monoliths designed by the last gold dragon emperor to channel magic and destroy it before it could fall into the hands of the red dragon Rubina. Rubina and the company are killed in the explosion. The fall of the monolith network sends a surge of magic throughout Tirenia.  (The Company of the Wolf) Rubina's skul...