Rise of the Xindhi or RoX:
This role-playing game takes place during the civil war among the Xindhi, between Queen Scathach and her half brother Otik. You can choose to be in the Queens army as either Xindhi or assume the role of a Talisan mercenary or wizard, or as a Dou'far scout or even a Shu'fasa adventurer. RoX follows the storyline of the books closely but as with all games you can create a story that takes place beneath the meta-story.
Some Places in the Books and in Rise of the Xindhi RPG-
The Dreaming City- city-fortress for the Dreaming Queen Scathach – Darda’s training hall is located in it.
Almar-Sut- city-fortress for the Gothi and Otik the Usurper- the Slave Markets are located in this place. As are the Grand Temple- the Gothi sanctuary. The Citadel is the Paladin’s barracks.
Carbera- a small village north and east of the Dreaming City, ruins are located at one end of the vale that leads deep into the mountains. It is rumored that there are Shu’fasa in these ruins.
Jahnsan- A large port city on the coast. Talisan merchants set out from the caravansary to trade across the Xindhi Lands.
Gray Roost- A fortified town in the hills south of Almar-Sut. It is rumored that the followers of Skuld, the Gray Walkers, reside here and travel the world influencing events with the skills that the trickster God gives them; The Gray Walkers are assassins and fanatics.
Dramatic personae: Rise of the Xindhi.
The Major Races:
The Xindhi- tall, ruddy-skinned people, who tend to dress in brightly colored clothing. They are mostly farmers who live in the harsh northern lands. Their form of government is a monarchy, with a priest caste that advises and advances politics via their mastery of the Aesr (magic). If they have any control of their Aesr, it manifests in their eyes via a myriad of colored energy that swirls and mists around their head.
The more powerful users of the Aesr they become, the more skeletal in appearance they appear as they begin to sustained themselves via their Aesr. The magic strips away their flesh the more they use the inherent energies native to their race.
The Talisa- is a race of dark skinned people, who live on the western continent, and are master traders and merchants. The Talisa are masters of an earth aesr that allows them to draw the earth around their body, encasing it with rocks and earth giving them immense strength and transforming themselves into a giant golem like creature standing nearly 9 feet tall, weighing nearly 1,000 lbs.. They can use their aesr to affect or manipulate the earth around them in addition to altering their appearance. As a character they automatically know earth manipulation.
The Talisa and Xindhi can marry and produce children, however the children will only exhibit one or the others aesr not both. There are offshoot races that can trace their lineage to the Xindhi or the Talisa as both races spread everywhere across the world. However, the likelihood of any great manifestation of Aesr is rare and often limited in scope.
The Shu'fasa- is a race of massive beings standing anywhere from 12 feet to16 feet tall, weighing anywhere from 900 to 2,200 lbs. Their skin is a deep black-gray. They have four massive arms and huge wedge shaped heads with three eyes in a row on the sides of the head. Their teeth are 2-3 inches long and sharp. They have three toed feet and thick squat tails to counter balance them. Their hands are wickedly clawed and able to rip and shred stone or metal with ease. Their form of government is tribal and ruled by a war chief and a shaman. They tend to live in massive caves and along the wildest mountains of the world. They worship Ghoukas. There is no offshoot race related to the Shu'fasa.
The Dou'far- is a race of small, muscular beings standing no taller than 5 feet tall and weighing about 80-100 lbs. They have large eyes and ears, feline in appearance. They are seclusive and secretive hardly having any dealings with the other races. Often considered myths they haunt forests. They are covered in a tawny fur and have a tribal like society replete with shamans and each tribe is led by a chieftain. The Dou'far have a unique ability to blend in with their surroundings. Their Aesr manifest as an ability to shape change into an Alphyn. They worship Skuld by the name Dhat-Badan. They cannot inter-marry with any other race.
Religion-
The Xindhi religion has two principles gods- Rhydderch the Shining One and Marva the Shadowed, with Skuld as the third active and most mysterious deity.
Rhydderch the Shining One: Rhydderch is the primary god of the Xindhi and the Talisan. He is a warrior/storm god as well as the teacher of the Aesr to the Gothi and chief god in a pantheon of Xindhi gods. However, to the Talisa he is the supreme god and the other gods regulated to the position of minions and helpers. The Talisa see Marva as the dark tempter who strives to overthrow the Shining one and create Morbas in the world to torment the children of Rhydderch. Rhydderch created the dreaming gate and Marva the nightmare gate.
Skuld is the trickster god(dess?): Skuld being able to shape shift and is the god(dess) who most frequently intervenes or interferes with the races of the world. Skuld being a shadowy god has attracted some of the darker elements to his/her call. Skuld is the one god/dess who stays neutral in all interactions. It is their movement that keeps the eternal balance in check. However those following Skuld often see their nefarious actions as nothing more than maintaining the balance of light and dark.
Marva the Shadowed One: Marva is the opposite of Rhydderch, being a moon deity. She is also ruler of the Xindhi underworld, Morbas. Marva created the Nightmare gate as the twin of the dreaming gate. Marva seeks to encompass the world in her dark grasp. Her son Ghoukas is her instrument in the world. Marva one is the opposite of Rhydderch; she is the moon goddess, controls all manner of nightmare beasts, and is the harbinger of bad luck and doom, as well as judger of the dead.
Ghoukas the Lord of Nightmares: Ghoukas is a monstrous demigod who resembles the Shu'fasa, abet a little larger. He stands 20' tall with four extremely powerful arms, along with a long, whip-like tail. Ghoukas is the son of Marva the Shadowed One. Ghoukas commands aspects of the Aesr and seeks to seize the Twin Gates to bring darkness upon the world. The Shu'fasa worship Ghoukas as the supreme god and work to spread his cruel reach in the world.
Bannruod the Lord of Darkness: Bannruod is a demi-god who appears as a handsome man with alabaster colored skin and eggshell white hair. He is surrounded by a roiling, miasma of darkness that seems to be alive. Few worship Bannruod. However when traveling at night or for protection from the night many people light the “white candle” at dusk to appease the lord of darkness and ask for his mercy.
Myr'ashra the Light-Bearer: Myr'ashra is a demi-god who appears as a stunningly beautiful woman with blue-eyes and soft blue-white hair. She is the goddess of the harvest, the morning sun and peace. Her followers espouse the Pax Myraic, the peace of Myr'ashra. A faith that believes all life is sacred. That being said the temples of the Light-Bearer are often in inhospitable and dangerous places, where the Order of Myr'ashra, the Myrmidons ensure the saftey of the temples and all who follow her word. She like all demi-gods has small pockets of believers around the world. Her followers distrust and actively battle the followers of Ghoukas and Bannruod. Myr'ashra is the daughter of Rhydderch.
The Talisa religion is monotheistic, they worship Rhydderch only, and all other gods in the pantheon are servants of the one god. The Talisa Gothi view Myr'ashra accept her as the daughter of Rhydderch and prayer to her to intervene on their behalf with her father. While not worshiping Marva, they do acknowledge her as the opponent and enemy of Rhydderch. While they worship a male deity and his opponent is a female, women are equals and familial lines are through the female. The Talisa do fight amongst themselves for trade routes and exotic sellable items. While not normally war-like, some have taken to use their abilities to sell themselves as mercenaries.
The Twin Gates are identical stone gates that allow any who has total mastery of the Aesr to open them in order to travel between worlds. However, Marva devised her gate so once it was open would allow Ghoukas to enter the world to seize the dreaming gate. A sect of the Talisan, called the Guardians of Stone, has sworn to protect and keep the gates safe from any who would open them. They have created the Stones of Change to protect the gates.