Cultures of the Age of Empires

Copyright Peter Mork © 2016

To the north of the Te'klu empire lies Percoland. One first encounters the Hobgoblins who dwell in the caves of the southern God Mountains. Continuing into the mountains one encounters the Colleges of Dragons and the Quan.

Colleges of Dragons

The Collegiate culture is one that emphasize harmony with the Draconic Order and magic above all. Decades of infighting, competition, and outright war have produced a highly stratified, albeit efficient, society.

Lifestyle

Each College is allied with a flight of dragons. Whatever culture and traditions are maintained by the dragons is not clear; only a few dragons from each flight deign to be worshiped as gods. Each city state contains some mix of all three colleges. There is often more competition within a city state than between cities.

The College of War consists of those individuals with the least magical ability, the Semi spell-users. This College is responsible for producing most goods, combining magic and craft whenever possible. Of the colleges, they are the least likely to resort to violence—they are also the ones most often taken captive during skirmishes between city states.

The College of Magic includes the Magicians, Psychics, and Priests. Their members are known as the Draconic Order and their leaders interact directly with their dragon sponsors. These mages are responsible for agriculture and herding and are the most likely to call for war with a neighbor (perhaps at the best of a dragon).

Finally, the College of Doctors remains true to the old ways. These Hybrid casters manufacture the tools of magic (wands, runes, etc.) and keep the worms that spin silk. The various Doctors are only loosely organized; each College reflects the personality and motivations of its Dean. The other colleges pay tribute to the Doctors, in the vain hope that these bribes might influence the Doctors in some small way.

Clothing

The Collegiate wear grey woolen suits over brightly colored silk trousers and tunics. College membership is evident by the fur hats they wear (at least for official business): Warriors wear round hats with no brims, Magicians wear tapered hats with wide brims, and Doctors wear flat hats with wide brims or oversized hoods.

Marriage

Shortly after joining a College, members are assigned a spouse. This marriage is considered "blessed" by the dragons, but in practice it's how the College keeps its members in line. Extra-marital liaisons are common, despite the punishment: being gifted to a dragon. (Having this punishment actually carried out depends greatly on one's standing within the College.)

Religion

The Colleges are closely aligned with the Dragons. Each College and each city claims some Dragon is its sponsor. These chaos of these allegiances causes a great deal of strife both within and across cities. Nonetheless, the ensuing competition has honed the Colleges' magical skills.

Fears

The Collegiate fear the dragons and the fey. Both are terrible forces with little regard for human life. The Colleges mitigate the first threat by forming alliances with the dragons. They handle the second threat by avoiding the fairies whenever possible.

Refugees

Groups of humans and giants sometimes flee the brutality of the colleges. Moving generally north out of the mountains and into the forest, these refugees preserve the essence of the collegial lifestyle without the accompanying hierarchy and draconic presence. Without extensive magical libraries, refugees rely more on mundane means (tools, armor, and weapons) and less on magic.

Non-Humans

Quan

The Quan have no real concept of the past or the future. They live in the moment, driven by intense curiosity. They forgive quickly (as the matter is forgotten) or not at all (for the insult has always been). This perspective makes it easy for them to focus on the task before them, be it a meditation, crafting, or providing a service to a fellow being.

The Quan lead a semi-nomadic lifestyle in the God mountains. They have established small fortified outposts near the friendlier dragon colleges with whom the Quan trade. Bands of Quan strike out from these outposts to forage for food, ore, and other resources. The colleges have chartered some mercenary companies consisting of Quan, but these experiments usually fail miserably the first time discipline or morale is severely tested.

During the summer months the Quan typically run naked. When the weather turns cold, they drape themselves in layers of quilted fabrics. The squares of these quilts tell the stories of deeds they (or their ancestors) are doing. The lack of chronology constantly vexes anthropologists while soothing the uncomplicating Quan.

Hobgoblins

Hobgoblins live primarily in mountain caves and surface outposts. For centuries they have mined the rich iron deposits in these mountains. They tend to trade with one group of neighbors (usually iron for food) while waging war on another neighbor. These relationships shift from year to year based on the perceived value of the goods to be acquired.

Hobgoblin culture revolves around their love of metal. By the time they are an adult, a Hobgoblin will have collected heavy lamellar armor and an array of weapons. All Hobgoblins receive military training (for defense). Many augment that with cavalry training atop giant boars. Those with less aptitude in the martial arts choose a career in crafting, trading, or magic. These professions are all "worthy," unlike other support roles that are considered "lazy."

When not clad for battle, a Hobgoblin usually wears long wool pants (surface outposts help to protect lazy herders) and a wool vest. They also produce a wide variety of spiced sausages, which are gaining popularity in the Te'klu empire.

Skills

Available Skills

The following skills are available to the cultures from Percoland.

Starting Skills

[1] To determine a character’s background options, add up the racial cost and the culture cost (23–67). Convert that total into talent points or background options using Talent Law.