Under Endless Skies: Notes upon another setting

The land beneath the Endless Sky is vast and varied. Trackless steppe and wide-open plains stretch to either horizon, broken only by great herds of reindeer and mammoths and jarn; at night, fireflies glow over the prairie grasses. In some places the grass grows so high even the tallest people can’t see over it. Bountiful river valleys, broad and flat-bottomed, are divided by steep, narrow ranges of sky-shattering mountains with snow-capped peaks. Rivers wind though the fertile black soil, some slow and braided with marshy, reed-filled islands, others wild, shallow, fast-moving rocky streams. Roads roam muddy between the villages of the dark, dense, foggy northern pine forests; they cross through bare landscapes of salt deserts and badlands and bone-dry scrub, where the nomads and traders move between the oases and shaded mango groves. Summers are hot; in the north, winters are cold and snowy, in the south, wet and variable.

Its people call their world Zama.

Humans are the most common and widespread folk, people of many cultures.

Elves are hill tribes, shepherds and salt-sellers, dwelling in dry alpine valleys. Thousands of years ago they held a kingdom, shaded by olive-trees and pomegranates, the people garbed in flowers and wearing the horns of goats. Their kingdom is long dead, its statues weathered faceless, its temples’ columns tumbled into the tall grass; but they have never yet been conquered, and the ancient blood still runs through their veins.

Dwarves are known as Naimas, smaller and stockier than humans, averaging four feet tall and 130 pounds. Their skin ranges from pale blue-gray to dark gray, and their hair is white; their eyes are pale, generally blue or green but occasionally lavender or pale red. They are fond of bright colors, using certain minerals and subterranean organisms for their dyes. They spend much of their time meditating and in contemplation, and are seen as mountaintop mystics. Though others sometimes see them as shy or wary, this is due to reservation on their part – they prefer speaking a carefully selected phrase than entering a long discussion. Their primary deity is Mat Zamana, the goddess of the earth.

Many empires have sought to conquer the lands beneath the Endless Sky, but all have eventually fallen and faded into the wind, their ruins swallowed by the earth. The nomads were here before, and here they remain.

What Cultures Left Behind:

Many cities lie empty beneath the endless sky, memories of cultures and kingdoms now departed. But just as many rose and fell without leaving such obvious traces, nomads who never bothered with cities or small tribes whose villages of earth and wood are long vanished. Their voices are gone, but echoes remain.

d6	Echoes In The Wind (roll 1d4 times)
1	d4 Vessels. 1. Egg-shaped pottery, delicate, decorated with rope imprints. 2. Thick-walled corded ware. 3. Bronze vessels decorated with scenes of daily life. 4. Carved and polished stone.
2	d4 Apparel. 1. Rings and armlets of gold 2. Ivory beads. 3. Copper and bronze earrings. 4. Golden amulets and necklaces.
3	d8 Weapons. 1. Worked spear- and arrow-points of bone or antler. 2. Fine flint blades. 3. Stone battle-axes. 4. Bronze spearheads and arrowheads 5. Single-bladed bronze knives. 6. Bronze axes. 7. Good iron weapons, with decorations of plated gold. 8. Slender, lute-shaped bronze daggers.
4	d4 Armor. 1. Bronze helmets. 2. Iron helmets; attached masks of stern faces hide and protect the wearer’s own. 3. Armor of bronze scales. 4. Chain shirts of silvery metal.
5	d8 Other Artifacts. 1. Golden animal figurines. 2. Statuettes, the rough shape of women, carved of stone. 3. Bronze figurines of bird-headed women, long-faced scaly-skinned men, and fanciful creatures. 4. Plates of hammered copper, in the shapes of people and animals. 5. Bronze mirrors. 6. Ancient woolen carpets, imported woven fabric and silk, images of riders, stags, and griffins. 7. Leather or felt masks for their mireens, with stag antlers or rams’ horns. 8. Small seals of jet and ivory, incised with markings in a script none can read.
6	d4 Structures. 1. Earth mounds and tumuli 2. Standing stones, dolmens and megaliths jutting from the grass. 3. Stone statues of people or animals. 4. Stone cairns and long barrows.

Jarn

Largely undomesticable. Four skin-covered horns, which males use in displays and fighting. Troops of five to fifteen members – one adult male, one to three females, and their common offspring that stay in the group until two or three. Young females join other harems, bachelor males and old males that have lost their harems join bachelor groups. Multiple family groups may join to form a herd, especially on the plains. Females have smaller or no horns than males. Live on the steppe and in light forest regions, grazing on shrubs and branches and tough grasses.

AC 8, HD 2+2 (11 hp), Att 1 x ram (1d4), 1 x hooves (1d4), THAC0 17, MV 150’, SV D12 W13 P14 B15 S16 (F2), ML 5, AL Neutral, XP 40, NA 0 (3d10), TT None

Charge: if the Jarn moves at least 60 feet in a straight line toward a target before ramming it, the target takes an additional 1d6 damage, and must save vs paralysis or be knocked off their feet.