Knowledge 0: What You Know

This is a baseline level of knowledge for a generic character. You will need to supplement it with your own character’s skills and experience, acquired during creation and in play! While you are perfectly intelligent and indeed quite knowledgeable about the minutiae of your daily life, you are relatively ignorant about many things out-of-character modern folk take for granted. Your character does not have to hold the opinions expressed here – rather, they reflect how the average person thinks!

Remember to ask a ref to give you the Knowledge II skill brief regarding your country of origin – these skills give you information based on your level of Knowledge.

The World

The world is called Urth. It is curved, and has edges. In the south it is hot, in the north it is cold, in the west there is much water, in the east is much land.

There are a lot of countries in the world. You know the name of the country you hail from and some details about it. You will know the names of neighbouring countries, and you will definitely know of Durholme (as many problems come from there).

There are two moons. One has always been there, the other appeared in the early 1300s. A lot of Elemental elves started turning grey around the time that this moon appeared, and they were all very scared.

The sun is warm and great, if a bit painful to look directly at. Most plants need sunlight. All plants need water.

There are a lot of stars. They move around, but some are more predictable than others. Clever folk can use them to navigate. Certain people think that they can use the stars to see the future, but that sounds silly!

People

There are a number of people living in the world. The most common type of person is a human, but there are other species. The most common of these are orcs, true elves, elemental elves, and dwarves.

• Orcs are green, and they are physically stronger and hardier than humans. They usually live in the wilderness. Some orcs are punier than other orcs, and they are called “goblins”.
• True elves are people with pointy ears. They look a bit frail, but are quick. Their people are known to be wastrels and you shouldn’t leave them unattended near valuables like silverware.
• Elemental elves are elves that have elemental magic inside of them. They can usually do magic and they usually despise true elves. They’re far more respectable than their non-elemental kin.
• Dwarves are people with a silver pattern across their eyes, and they usually have beards. They used to have a vast empire, but then it collapsed. They’re a clever sort of folk, though.

There exist other, rarer kinds of people. Some people are half-animal, half-human, and they are called “beastkin”. It’s unlikely that you’ve seen any type of beastkin aside from vetch, which are half-rat people.

You’re also aware of trolls – strange humanoids typically covered in fur, with blue patterning across their face. Whether they are people or monsters is uncertain. They are big, scary, and impossibly tough. Some trolls are even bigger and scarier than others.

Threats

All manner of fell beasts make their home on Urth.

Undead are vile and disgusting creatures which are reanimated dead bodies. They are almost definitely evil or at the very least unnatural. There are different kinds of undead, but the most obvious kind is the skeleton. You have also heard about vampires in myths and legends – these are the most fearsome type of undead that you know of, and depending on where you are from and who you worship, they are either venerated or despised.

Demons are hideously evil and terrifying. If one catches you, they will eat you and everyone you know, soul and all! Some people can apparently control demons, and they are called “demonologists”. If someone said they were one, you’d probably try to find the nearest, strongest-looking paladin and have them drive the “demonologist” away before they could sacrifice your family’s souls to their dark masters.

You’ve probably heard of Fae. These are creatures that are born from nature, and they really don’t like man-made things like metal. If you anger a fae, you’ll probably get cursed somehow. Druids are people who help look after fae to make sure they don’t get angry.

Elementals are creatures formed entirely out of elements like fire or water. You have almost definitely not seen one personally. Apparently, some people can turn into elementals.

There were weird animal-creatures called the “Unmoored” that appeared in early 1306. They looked like they had bones growing out of them and bled oil, and it’s likely that you saw a pack of them at some point. They attacked people on sight to try to eat them. Thankfully, as far as you know, they’ve been just about wiped out.

Other people are by far the biggest and most common threat to your livelihood and life. Bandits, pirates, and the like are very common – one can get very rich very quickly by working that kind of life, so it’s no wonder people pursue it. There are also just plain evil people out there, like mad sorcerers, cultists to esoteric powers, and servants of more dubious gods such as The Dominion of Vortex (whose worship is illegal in many countries because of the chaos its followers sow).

The world’s wildlife is also scary at times. Some animals like cows, chickens, and mewlips are usually very friendly (and quite cuddly, in the case of mewlips). However, wolves, bears, and other large carnivorous creatures are absolutely nasty and will eat you if they get the chance. You also know of ‘werewolves’ – people who turn into ravenous wolves on the full moon to devour their neighbours and friends. Thankfully, it’s unlikely that you’ve ever seen this type of beast… or maybe you’re very lucky to have seen one (or something you thought was one) and lived to tell the tale.

Religion

Gods are awesome, powerful beings who look after their followers and protect them and their souls from harm (especially from demons). If you really took the time to think, you could probably name just about every god. However, you likely primarily worship one or two gods and know their strictures. You won’t get smote or anything like that if you don’t follow the strictures closely (unless you are a spiritually blessed priest). You will be disappointing your god, however, and the idea of that makes you sad.

Gods are split into three pantheons, which occasionally change.

If you are familiar with the Bone pantheon: it used to be the Torch pantheon, and has only existed at all since the early 1290s, and the Rat Lord only joined in 1300 (before that there was Anseah, god of the sick, instead).

If you are familiar with the Seal pantheon: it used to be the Mace pantheon, and St John was in charge of it, until the mid 1290s.

Some people worship things other than gods. Elemental elves (and some others) worship the ‘Elemental Lords’. These are very powerful elementals who are like the gods. A few strange people worship the land or the sea or local idols and spirits. Others still worship their ancestors.

Your Life

You’re fairly certain about your personal capabilities, but you don’t know everything about yourself. For instance, you are familiar with all the animal organs you find in a butcher’s shop. You are pretty sure that if animals have organs, you also have organs, but even if you do, you are not sure what they’d be there for. You do know that they need to stay inside you, though. The idea of cutting open a corpse to try and learn more about such things is disgusting – desecrating a dead body like that is frowned upon at best by goodly folk.

You possess a soul, which is very important and is your real self that does the thinking, but you aren’t sure where it lives other than “inside you”. Losing it somehow would be very bad. When you die, the god you worship will take your soul and look after you in their afterlife. You don’t know what will happen to someone who dies without worshipping a god, which is somewhat existentially terrifying.

Getting hurt is bad. If you’re hurt, you bleed red blood. If you are an elemental elf, you bleed magic appropriate to your element instead of regular blood. Sometimes you heal up fine, but sometimes a wound will go horrible. Then you need to find a priest or an alchemist who can heal you. The longer you let a wound bleed, the more chance there is of it going horrible. If it gets too bad, a chirurgeon will probably have to sever the afflicted limb. Priests and alchemists can also heal you if you are diseased or otherwise unwell but you shouldn’t go to them for something minor like a cold – they’re busy people with much better things to do!

You are aware of the common metals (iron, copper, tin, bronze, gold, etc.) and often use tools/ornaments made from them or their various alloys as appropriate. You may have heard folktales regarding any of these metals; feel free to make some up, such as “copper repels mermaids” or “lead makes dwarves faint”. You are also aware of other such basic materials, like wood, stone, etc.

You may be aware that magically charged metals exist, although you do not know what their purpose might be. Cold iron is presumably iron that is cold, although most iron is cold to the touch unless it’s been in the sun for a while, so that’s not very special.

Professions

Farmers and peasants are a respectable kind of people because they make the food that everyone else uses to stay alive. Merchants can be greedy money-grubbing sorts, but how else would you get things your own home village doesn’t make? Nobles have a great responsibility to the people in their care and are almost definitely deserving of their position. You almost certainly look up to your king / other ruling figure. If they seem to be doing bad things, it’s probably because they have evil advisors.

Mages are people who can use magic. You hear they can set things on fire with a look and grow crops from seed to full-size in an instant with a wave of their hand! You probably don’t know one, though; they’re pretty rare. It would be impressive to meet a mage! You may have heard of “geomancy” as an extra-dangerous kind of magic (unless you are a Teletosian, in which case you have as much detail as the Teletos page gives you).

Priests are people who are really close to a particular god and who can perform miracles in that god’s name. Your average common preacher can’t do that, as they have to be extremely devoted. The most common forms of miracles that you know of can be used to heal the sick or injured, or help you talk to the spirit of a dead friend. Priests who are good at fighting are called “Paladins”.

You likely know many artisans, and they are typically respectable people that can make useful things like horseshoes, ornaments, and weapons. A hextechnician is a rare kind of artisan that puts magic in things they make, but you know little of that art.

You probably know at least one alchemist. They are weird people and their homes stink, but they can often help you if you get hurt or ill, so they are usually well-liked.

You almost definitely know at least one chirurgeon, though their skill is usually limited to getting you bandaged up when you’re bleeding or otherwise helping you stay alive if they need to cut off a body part.

Trained warriors usually serve the local militia to help ward off bandits and hostile creatures. They’re better at fighting than ordinary, untrained folk and help keep everyone safe. Much of a typical country’s army is made up of warriors.

Scouts are people who are good at… well, scouting! Some of them are shifty sorts and might even be criminals, but others are far more respectable, acting as hunters or guides! You almost definitely know a few scouts.

It is unlikely that you know any druids unless you are from Erin, but you vaguely know that they keep the fae in the wilds safe, happy, and placated.