Players Guide to Crimson Moon

[Baron Sir Katzu the Farquestor]

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Guide to Crimson Moon and the Untamed Wilds
Being a Complete Account
By Katzushima "The Far-Questor"

FORWARD

In my years in the land of Amtgardia I have witnessed many varied and exotic locals, from the soaring metropolis of the Kingdom of Elemental Air to the Lair of the Daemonic Champion Horemaut. I have shared a gutter with the poorest citizens of Fiery Nights in the Great North and have served as Crown Guard to Her Majesty Fionnghal of the Wetlands.

None of this compares with the province on the Eastern border of the Kingdom of the Wetlands, known in Amtgardia as Crimson Moon. Within its borders have lived heroes of light and champions of darkness, nobles and bastards (sometimes the two have even been the same,) mighty warriors and magnificent wizards, all while sandwiched between the civilized Kingdom of the Wetlands to the West and the savagery of the Great Untamed Wilds to the East.

It is an honor I count very dear to have been there at the beginning of this great land and my even greater honor to now compile for my readers an account of the people, places, and history of this amazing province for your edification and understanding. Here you will find the highs and lows of a people continually assaulted by intrigue, famine, the elements, and treachery (both from within and without.) Despite it all and including some very major wounds bordering on fatal, the province has proven its mettle and its right to live.

For if anything can be said of a resident of Crimson Moon, it is that they are survivors; stronger for their hardships, which are considerable. I invite you, dear reader, to read on and meet these intriguing and hardy folk, perhaps to glean some wisdom from their struggles.

~~ Lord Sir Katzushima the Farquestor, Master of the Amtgard Quest Guild
P.S.: Thanks to advances in a magical form of paper, the following guide is “living” in a sense, and will update as history moves forward and as more information surrounding the province is uncovered.

NOTABLE RESIDENTS

• Duke Sir Sebastian du Lac, (AR6, BB6, BD6, DR6, HE6, MO2, MN2, SC6, WA6, WI6) -
  
• Viscount Master Taven Char, Esq. (AS6, MO6, MN1, RA1, WA6, WI1) -
  
• Baroness Kalene, Esq -
  
• Viscountess Dame Samara du Lac (AS1, BB1, HE5, WA6, WI6) -
  
• Baron Sir Katzushima “The Farquestor” (AP6, AS3, BB2, BD6, DR4, HE6, MO6, MN2, PA6, SC6, WA6, WI6) -
  
• Lord Master Bain Ironwolf, Esq. (AR1, AS3, BB6, BD2, DR6, HE2, MO1, MN3, SC1, WA2, WI3) -
  
• Lady Constance Wargasm (AR1, BB3, BD5, DR1, MN1, RA1, WA3, WI1) -
  
• Lord Angus McCru (BB6, DR2, MO2, MN2, WI6) -
  
• Lord Gigantes, Esq (BB6, HE4, MN1, RA1) -
  
• Lord Low-Key Ein (AS6, HE1, MO5, MN4, SC3) -
  
• Portheus Warsack, Esq., Defender of the Realm (AR3, BB6, HE6, MN3, SC6, WA6, WI6) -
  
• “The Obsidian Wall” (NPC6) -
  

EVENTS (Local Customs and Traditions)

• The Bear Pit
  

LOCATIONS
Legitimate

• Du Lac Manor (Home of Sebastian and Samara)
  
• The Sword and Sphere Tavern
  
• Heralds Guild
  
• Smiths
  [**] Blacksmith
  [**] Weaponsmith
  [**] Armorsmith
  
• Auction House
  
• Carriage Service
  
• Barber
  
• Churches
  
• Docks
  
• Graveyards
  
• Clothing stores

Legitimate?

• Adventurer’s Guildhall

Illigitimate

• Thieves Guild

List of Past Monarchs (in no particular order):

Lord Galron (multiple)
Lady Tempest Fyre (multiple)
Sir Katzushima (multiple)
Thane Gunnar (multiple)
Stryker (multiple)
Gremio
Ravenna
Vonix
Slavage
Nevavarwen
Azrael
Lady Constance
Viscount Taven Char
Angus McCru
Gorehawk
GreyRock
Adara Silvermoon
Shinto
Lord Low-Key Ein
Don Sebastian du Lac


HISTORY OF THE PROVINCE

• Ancient History
  While Crimson Moon was not yet formed until the Mundane year 1999, it is the year 1998 where our story actually begins, as the lands now called the Untamed Wilds extended into the Area around the Lake of Amber Twilight. Savagery ruled the land, the only known outpost of civilization being a group of rangers and tribesmen who campaigned under the name ‘The Brotherhood of Steel,’ who based their patrols out of a little village whose name, while lost to antiquity, translated from an Old Tongue as ‘Red Crescent.’ Towards the close of ’98, the Northman Gunnar Tyrson, his wife Ashlann, The High Elf Daelox Demarin, the Saxon healer Maera Halvorsdottir, The woodsman Jadeth Carthan, the Catperson Mirame Bastet, and the Wood Elf Galron Silvermoon would all arrive in the area and build walls around the city, officially naming it “Crimson Moon.” Along with them would come myself, your humble author, at the time a simple monk.
  
  The young Crimson Moon was ruled by what was referred to as “The War Council,” more a senate of the older residents than any actual feudal system, but as survival had to take priority over proceedure in the earliest of days the system stood. In the early part of the year, Daelox, Maera and I were sent by the War Council along the King’s Road to a Duchy called Granyte Spyre, the crown jewel of the Kingdom of the Wetlands.
  
  To walk the streets of Granyte Spyre in those days was an exercise in wonderment, and we quickly found our crude iron weaponry to be inferior and heavy. Among the Duchy we met a sage by the name of DAXON Goldmoon, who with no thought for himself bestowed to me a sword made of a much lighter and stronger metal than I had worked before. He also entrusted to Daelox a copy of the Kingdom’s Laws and unto Maera he granted a tome of potent magics. Gladly we took these gifts and returned to Crimson Moon, shared them with the rest of the Council, and within a week Jadeth and his smiths had produced a dozen of these new blades and half a dozen arrows based on the alloy.
  
  The first real challenge came when we had to change the provinces government. The Wetlands (and indeed all of Amtgardia) follow a feudal structure, which took some time to convince the leadership was worthwhile. Over time we saw the wisdom, and Galron took the office of Sheriff due to his wisdom in leadership, Jadeth became our Regent by virtue of his skill at artifice, Gunnar became our Champion by his might in battle, and I ascended as chancellor due to my skill with finance and efficiency.
  
  The root of our early problems, though, was our reluctance to fully abolish the War Council, which had formed a shadow government of sorts – for the best of intentions at the time – to rule even should the officers be inept. Within a year we had become a Barony and saw the addition of Morrigan, Magnus, Stryker, Orson, Alucard, and a bit later Leif, Sebastian, Gremio, and Ravenna.
  
  To look at the Duchy at that time was to look at a golden city with a rotten underbelly. Over the next year, the War Council grew more corrupt and depraved, possessed as we later found by a daemon who fed on such activities and emotions.
  
  On the new year's eve of 2001, a single night of revel and debauchery proved to us the existence of a great evil and spelled the undoing of the mighty Duchy that was able to command the kingdom to its knees. From that night on two factions rose within Crimson Moon. There were tons of names for both of them and undoubtedly a good deal of hurt feelings on both sides, and so to honor those who have gone before I will not go into the subject further. Within a year a third of the Duchy had passed into the Land Beyond and another third had moved to the South, forming a village called "Colonial Mist." Crimson Moon and Colonial Mist would fight each other for another 6-9 months before both groups, languishing over our separation sat down and talked, keeping the old province’s name and finally deciding to abolish the War Council and the other causes of the hardships of the past.
  
  The mundane year 2002 saw amazing and historic events overtake the Duchy and the Wetlands as a whole. In the midst of what the kingdom would call the “CM/CM War,” a rash of anti-monster sentiment errupted which alienated many of the kingdom’s most notable residents. To ease race relations within the kingdom, King Crom inducted many members of the kingdom into the Four Great Orders of Knighthood. This descision did not sit well with High King Aramithris of Meadowlake of the Burning Lands, the High Kingdom over all of the Kingdoms in Amtgardia at the time (the High Kingdom is thankfully no more.)
  
  The High King had decided the Chivalric Orders of the Wetlands had not given due diligence to their admission standards and ordered the Wetlands monarchy dissolved and the provinces placed under martial law. Crimson Moon was blessedly spared as at the time the Duchy had no knights and the Burning Lands had to pass through the entire Wetlands to reach the little outpost of civilization. As the Burning Lands reached the Duchy of Granyte Spyre, word reached us of declarations of support from the Kingdoms of the Emerald Hills, Goldenvale, Golden Plains, and indeed most of the other subject crowns of Amtgardia. With such a large outcry, the Burning Lands allowed the knightings to stand, reinstated the Wetlands monarchy, and their demands changed to requests. Slowly the crisis ended and the world returned to… well, as normal as life had ever been in the Duchy.
  
  As those matters came to an end other, more sinister matters became apparent. An ancient foe of the Duchy had always been Maphic, Dread Lord of Darkmoor. A servant and loyalist of the Demon King Margul, Maphic had always had his eye on the obliteration of Crimson Moon, and time and again he had been foiled by myself and others of similar temperment. For years we had thought the sacrifice of Lord Talon Leafguard had settled the matter, but shortly after the calm, I uncovered evidence of Maphic’s cult reforming in a ziggurat to the Southwest of the city. Moreover, cultists had entered the town and had begun spreading excerpts from the Book of the Ebon Hand (Maphic’s holy book.) They were actively recruiting.
  
  After driving them out of our province, they later went into Granyte Spyre and Shadowkeep, where we persued them mercilessly. After returning we buried his ziggurat and consecrated the earth. May we never have to go back to that foul place.
  
  I have often divided the history of Crimson Moon on the year 2003, for in it some very defining moments occurred, one of which was my departure from the Wetlands for the Rising Winds. Another was the calling of Stryker, Bard Extraordinairre, back to the Mists his Druidic masters inhabited. To date he has yet to return, but for one I felt his loss greater than I’d say before.
  
  
  
• Recent History
  Most of 2004 was quiet, and in the year 2005 many dooms befell the Wetlands and Crimson Moon in particular. Firstly, two hurricanes wracked the Gulf of the Wetlands, demolishing many structures and killing many people. It took many months to even return to normal gathering, and even then the regrowth was initially slow.
  
  After the recovery, many of the natives chose to fortify their own homesteads and form what became the Shire of Crystal Caverns. This state lasted for a number of months and in light of the cost of repair Crystal Caverns chose to merge with Crimson Moon once more.
  
  Of course, I must with diligence and no humility report my own elevation to membership in the Knightly Order of the Flame. It was abrupt, but welcome.
  
  2006 saw a scandal whereby the Kingdom was tainted by corruption, the most significant sign of this being the loss of all of Crimson Moon’s votes. The issue was rectified, but those scars would stay n us for some time.
  
  In 2007 a Pirate ship named Roulette came to Crimson Moon and has been with us ever since.
  
  2008 saw things both dreadful and wonderful. Rebellion arose against the rule of Kaiser Silvertip, two more hurricanes flattened the Kingdom, though CM was blessedly spared from much of the brunt, we added many new nobles and higher nobility in the Duchy in the likes of Baron Taven Char elevating from Lordship, Baronet Samara elevating from Ladyship, and the creation of nobility for the Baron’s wife, Lady Callisto.
  
  As a final cap to the year, a momentous event occurred for the first time in a decade the Wetlands saw snow, for such events occur rarely enough here to warrant discussion.
  
  The next year… so many things have occurred and so many things lie on the horizon. I shall try to be as accurate as I can, though some topics still hit home for me. It seems that even in my age I can still be moved to tears.
  
  The first and one of the brightest events was the elevation of my dear compatriot Baronet Dame Samara to the peerage, also a member of the Order of the Flame. Another matter was my return to the Duchy, though there was some sadness that brought that about.
  
  My brother, Kenji, was murdered in a back alley. Also, at that time the “mighty” Goblin Bard Stikk was finally eaten by a wild baby wolf, which has had the mixed response of silencing the local Goblin Tribe that had infested the Duchy like sand in your clothes after a trip to the coast. On the downside, people had become soft and complacent without the constant raids. Rumor exists of a storybook the Goblin Tribe is passing through its numbers recounting the deeds of Stikk the Mighty, and they wait for one to lead them as Stikk would…
  
  Our ultimate crucible, however, would come in the middle of the year with the rise of the Black Gate and the obliteration of Crimson Moon, what we now call “the Old City.” Its demolition was immediate and total, the sole saving grace being that many of our people were attending the mid-reign celebration of Crimson Moon’s own “Emperor” Sebastian.
  
  At first the survivors tried to rebuild on the blighted land, but that was quickly decided to be folly. The survivors then wandered around for several weeks, many people dying without a clean source of food or water. Finally we found a location on the Western edge of the Lake, but that was hostile and the blight finally spread to that area as well. Making a desparate choice, the Duchess Constance and the other officers blazed a trail to the East, deeper into the Untamed Wilds. There we found a good area for the survivors to settle, forming what we call the “New City.” Here amid the old forest we found enough room for us all, but at a price.
  
  The local Gatormen had seen the Old City’s demise and figured it was our fault either by action or inaction, and assaulted us. Also, the Barbarian Horde was outraged that none of us went to check on them and have been building their defenses.
  
  Dangerous times lie ahead, but hope exists also. Only time will tell what fate will befall this place, but Fate tends to smile on us far more than she frowns.
  
  

Traditional Forms of Address and Etiquette
(adapted from the document “Customs and Etiquette” by the Duchy of Astral Winds)

NOTE: The below forms should only be observed when the noble in question is “wearing the crown,” meaning acting in an official capacity of his/her office or formally wearing their badge of nobility. When in doubt as to the “proper” thing to do, use these guidelines – its never a bad thing to be polite, after all!

NOTE: In Amtgard we have both Nobles of Title (called “Titular Nobles” in this document) as well as Officers with the same title as an awarded Noble Title (called “Territorial Nobles” in this document.) For purposes of etiquette, both are referred to using the same structure.


Kingdom Soverign
• Your Majesty
• His/Her Majesty
• My Liege

The Kingdom Soverign Presumptive (Monarch-elect)
• Your Highness
• His/Her Highness
• My Liege

Duke (All variations; Includes Titular Dukes as well as Territorial Dukes)
• Your Grace
• His/Her Grace
• My Lord Duke/My Lady Duchess
• Titular Duke – Duke/Duchess [NAME] of [PROVINCE]
• Territorial Duke – [NAME], Duke/Duchess of [PROVINCE]

Count/Viscount
• Your Excellence/Your Excellency
• His/Her Excellency
• My Lord Count or Viscount/My Lady Countess or Viscountess

Baron (Includes Titular Barons as well as Territorial Barons)
• Your Excellence
• His/Her Excellency
• My Lord Baron/My Lady Baroness
• Titular Baron – Baron/Baroness [NAME] of [PROVINCE]
• Territorial Baron – [NAME], Baron/Baroness of [PROVINCE]

Baronet
• Your Lordship/Your Ladyship
• His Lordship/Her Ladyship
• My Lord Baronet/My Lady Baronettess

Lord
• Your Lordship/Your Ladyship
• His Lordship/Her Ladyship
• My Lord/My Lady

Knighthood
• Sir/Dame(Ma’am)
• [NAME], Knight of the [KNIGHTLY ORDER]

Master (Titular)
• Master [NAME]

Master (of Order)
• Master [NAME]
• [NAME], Master of the Order of the [ORDER]

Master (of Class)
• [NAME], Master [CLASS]

Defender
• My Lord Defender
• [NAME], Defender of the Realm

Walker of the Middle
• My Lord Walker
• [NAME], Walker of the Middle

Squire
• Squire [NAME]
• [NAME], Esq.

Sheriff
• Your Honor
• His/Her Honor
• My Lord Sheriff/My Lady Sheriff
• [Name,] Sheriff of [PROVINCE]

Provincial Regent
• My Lord/Lady Regent
• [NAME], Regent of the [LEVEL] of [PROVINCE]

Provincial Chancellor
• My Lord/Lady Chancellor
• [NAME], Chancellor of the [LEVEL] of [PROVINCE]

Provincial Champion
• My Lord/Lady Champion
• [NAME], Champion of the [LEVEL] of [PROVINCE]