Tongues of Vathak

The issue of language came up in my home game, when one of my players wanted to invest his wizardly character heavily into languages. The problem is, there's not a whole lot of languages that are particularly common in Vathak.

 Finally, a quill on The Captain's Quill! How meta!

The Common tongue (actually Vindari) is spoken pretty much everywhere thanks to the imperialistic and crusader-ly tendencies of the titular people. Aklo is equally common, thanks to the maddening influences of the Old Ones and bhriota tradition. Beyond that, the romni still hold onto the language passed down to them by their masters (Sylvan) and the svirfneblin that made their way to the surface still speak to one another with their ancient tongue (Undercommon).

There's a few leftover tomes from the old races, and occasionally an outsider will make an appearance with their home plane's language... but there's not a whole lot beyond that. Part of this is by design. It puts a greater focus on what I would consider the central conflicts in Vathak (the titular Shadows, and where they may spread and fester), but that doesn't really do anything for a player who wants to become the master of languages.

So I added more. 

I looked for places my players had already shown interest and added a few more details about those peoples' respective languages... and another two I've seeded in as future problems for them to encounter. Maybe these non-canon solutions to my player's problem will help flesh out your own Shadows over Vathak game!

Bhriota Skin-Script

The name of this language translates poorly into Vindari, but the name stuck as an insult to the bhriota people. Deriving from the inscrutable script of Aklo, Skin-Script is a strictly nonverbal language and is most typically only applied directly upon skin. Almost all bhriota tattoos hold some greater meanings to those fluent in Skin-Script. Those with full-body tattoos carry the legacy of grand tomes written upon them for those that can understand it.

Bhriota may select Skin-Script as a bonus language.

Caravanner's Cant

There are no shortage of thieves' cants or local dialects in the wide lands of Vathak, but those that continually travel its dangerous roads have developed a method of speaking with one another. Not entirely dissimilar to a pidgin of Sylvan and Vindari, the Caravanner's Cant has enough of its own uniquely created words (such as those referring to gullible patrons or excessively suspicious guardsmen) that is has become a new tongue in and of itself.

Romni and witchwolves may select Caravaner's Cant as a bonus language.

Whatta'ya buying? (Image courtesy of the Fattest Goblin's Patreon)

 

Goblinoid

Despite efforts to secure Vathak against its plentiful horrors, the fecundity of goblins means that eliminating the brutish creatures is nearly impossible. Even more clever and sadistic than goblinoids of other regions, the goblins of Vathak creep through the shadows armed with weapons pilfered from the vindari. Their manic language is unfitting of their increasing reverence of their bugbear masters—who, unlike others of their kind, have turned their pastimes of murder and torture into a way of life for their people.

Necril

While Sylvan was the tongue the Vampire Lords passed down to their livestock, Necril was the tongue used amongst themselves. Once considered to be the tongue of the dead, the Vampire Lords went to great lengths to ensure that only the most noble among them would recall the complex and nonstandard phonetics of this haughty language. If any Vampire Lords yet live—or, perhaps, their servants—this language may still be spoken in Vathak.

Othertongue

Although humans are the most populous group in any city of Vathak, the grim times facing the land have seen increasing numbers of “other” forms of life. These questionably living humanoids are too often looked upon with unwarranted suspicion, leading to them being treated as second-class citizens. Among these people—the cambions, dhampirs, hauntlings, and wretched that dwell in Vathak's cities—a secret language has begun to emerge as a means of communicating beneath the ever-listening ears of both the vindari and their Church.

Cambions, dhampirs, hauntlings, and wretched may select Othertongue as a bonus language.

Tipping the Scales of Warfare

One of Vathak's biggest departures from the standard Pathfinder Roleplaying Game formula (at least in my opinion) is the prevalence of firearms. When I explained this fact to my players they all sort of nodded their heads, agreed that this made sense, and picked up the usual bows and crossbows.

 A sampling of Rick's awesome art.

Except for the gunslinger. He heard that guns were common and there was a glint in his eye. “The cost how much?” Instead of starting the game with a single battered pistol (which he still did), he opened it with a quartet of pistols. Granted, most of them were just snaphaunce pistols about as likely to go off in his hands as they were to take out an enemy, but he had them.

Nothing was thought of this until he started, well, gunslinging. And it wasn't just him. Farmers with blunderbusses. City guards with pistols tucked into their belts. A marksman taking shots at them from a few range increments out and still punching holes in their touch AC with a d12 damage die. “They all have guns?”

“Not all,” I said. “And most of them only have a few shots worth of powder. But that's all you really need, isn't it?”

My players patched themselves up, plundered the bodies, and equipped even the least gun-inclined among them with at least some form of firearms. They didn't have a whole lot of bullets between them, but that was a problem for another time.

They learned the true power of firearms in holding off the Old Ones when they faced a hala demon. I rechristened it an aberration instead of a true demon, made it a servant of Yeghniths, the Air's Anger, and put it in the bleak, wind-battered foothills of the Gray Peaks. The air-demon wore them down with gale force winds, bursts of hail, and hit-and-run tactics. Their arrows could not pierce through its defensive winds and it never stood still long enough to slice in in twain with a good ol' greatsword.

 A nasty fellow, if you've only got arrows.

But firearms are the great equalizer. They overturned the cart they'd been using for travel and took cover, readying their weapons for a volley as it swooped back around to try and grab the weakest one of them and carry them away to death. Four bullets (and one musket critical) later, the abomination of Yeghniths lay crippled on the ground, bleeding into the ashen dirt of the foothills beneath the Gray Peaks.

“And that, my friends, is why Vathak has not yet been overrun by eldritch horrors.”

“Now it makes sense.”

Tone in Vathak

So I've been running my home game in Vathak. My players were immediately on board when I told them about the gray and gritty world—a place where it's only by stubborn tenacity of humans (and no shortage of guns) that civilization can hold itself together in the face of corruption, plague, and madness. They'd be beacons of good—well, mostly—in a world where goodness is something rare.

But how to best set that tone? How would I show that the One True God might not be a nice guy, but he's still one of the reasons humanity is holding on? How to show that the vindari are aggressive, unpleasant imperial types with a history of violence, and yet their military power is largely directed towards greater (and often incomprehensible) evils?

I created the Trial of Abernath.

Of the servants and saints of the One True God, St. Abernath is perhaps the most traditionally “good.” As the patron of paladins, Abernath is representative of what my players might have expected from the One True God—the sort of deity that actually cares about good, rather than simply order and survival.

My players walked into a town mid-execution, where an elderly man was to be put to the sword. The PCs, of course, jumped at this. Why execute an old man? Of what did the man stand accused? Where was the justice in killing a potential innocent? Why was there no trial for the man? And why was it such a public spectacle?

“In these dark hours, corruption festers in every corner,” the faithful replied. “Should we endanger the entire community for one man that fails to defend himself?”

I imagine the OTG doesn't care much for particulars, and neither do his faithful. One stood accused of a terrible crime without a witness to claim otherwise. Only those that invoke Abernath's name—and his Trial—could forestall the executioner's axe. His trial invoked a 72 hour grace period, where the Justiciars of Abernath (the PCs) would have free reign to prove the man's undeniable innocence before the OTG himself.

Immediately my players grew wary (and rightfully so). They thought that if the trial failed, the would join the accused in his punishment. “Nonsense,” the faithful said, “Where would be Abernath's justice in that?” But lawful good is not lawful nice.

If the trial failed (like most that did not involve PCs might), they would become the executioners. They would be the ones to swing the sword—or, in this case, to cast the first torch upon the pyre. The Trial would end with cleansing forgiveness, no matter how messy that might be. The players were less than excited by this development.

Unsurprisingly, the PCs cleared the accused's name and saved the day in a relatively short and simple adventure. But I'd introduced the zeal of the faithful and the questionable morality of the OTG. The players got to feel like heroes by successfully completing the Trial of Abernath, but faced the potential of carrying the grim weight of “justice” in a world where justice is not always just.

And that, I think, was a good introduction to Vathak.

Survivors of the Cutting Room Floor

Reviving this thing has been a long time coming. And what better way to do it than talking about my own awesome writing and throwing in a cool NPC even if you decide you hate my writing? Now that's what I call a bargain, friends.

So one of the final Fat Goblin Games releases of 2017 is one of the projects I'm most proud of: the first Faces of Vathak.

 

The line is glimpse of the many faces of Vathak, Fat Goblin's grim horror setting. It aims to provide statblocks for NPCs in a variety of roles (survivors in this case, if that was not obvious). It was great fun to dig into Vathak lore and pull out various ideas for who and what might be surviving—and exactly what they've survived. Being trusted with the first in the series is a pretty great honor, and I hope others will get as much use out of the book as I already am!

My favorite? The Fortune's Foe. These swordsmasters are gifted with the romni's knack for reading and manipulating destiny, and believe that they've got a chance of standing against the darkness of Vathak. I took a bit of liberty with Vathak lore (thanks Landon!) and decided that they were so cursed with an inability to ever truly change the fortunes and fates they read that they've entered a permanent place in romni folklore... forever running from The Ghost!

Sometimes all it takes is a glimmer of hopefulness to make the bleakness of the world all the better... or watching that hopefulness fall to despair and becoming dangerous, or even villainous. Not playing in Vathak? No problem! What better way to throw your players off than with slightly off-template human luckbenders? Rick's ever-awesome art perfectly captures that constant struggle I imagine these NPCs are facing, lost somewhere between their desire to change fortune and the grim realities of Vathak.

Best of all, they're just one of many awesome characters within!

Unfortunately, not every such character made the cut. So here's a survivor (of sorts) that I decided was a little too specific for inclusion, but is still pretty cool (if you ask me--and if you're here, you sorta are). If you like what you see here, then you should definitely pick up a copy of Faces of Vathak: Survivors!

Escaped Wretch CR 3

XP 800

Cambion fighter 1/oracle 3

NE Medium monstrous humanoid

Init –1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +4

DEFENSE

AC 18; touch 9, flat-footed 19 (+8 armor, –1 Dex, +1 natural armor)

hp 29 (4 HD; 3d8+1d10+7)

Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +5; +4 vs. disease

Resist fire 5

Defensive Abilities defensive training (+4 dodge bonus to AC vs. animals)

OFFENSE

Speed 20 ft.

Melee mwk serrated falchion +5 (2d4+8/18-20)

Ranged pox burster +2 touch (disease)

Special Attacks pass the torch (3 rounds/day)

Oracle Spells Known (CL 3rd; concentartion +5)

1st (6/day)—command (DC 14), deathwatch, doom (DC 13), murderous command^UM (DC 14),

0 (at will)—bleed, detect magic, detect poison, read magic, resistance

Mystery apocalypse^MC

TACTICS

Before Combat The wretch drinks a potion of bull's strength if he expects a prolonged melee.

During Combat The wretch throws pox bursters at large groups of enemies and directs them to inflict self-harm or otherwise hamper their abilities with his enchantments. When melee begins, he always uses power attack to tear down the softest-looking foes and sow fear (this is included in its statblock).

STATISTICS

Str 16, Dex 8, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 14

Base Atk +3; CMB +6; CMD 15

Feats Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Spell Focus (enchantment)

Skills Climb +1, Intimidate +9 (+10 with falchion), Knowledge (planes) +7, Survival +9, Swim +1; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception

Languages Common

SQ cambion mutations (disturbing presence, twisted flesh, twisted view), oracle curse (wasting), revelations (defy elements^MC [fire], pass the torch^MC)

Combat Gear potion of bull's strength, potions of cure moderate wounds (2), pox bursters^ARG (6); Other Gear masterwork serrated^SOVPG falchion, masterwork half-plate, 37 gp

^ARG This item can be found in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Advanced Race Guide.

^MC This mystery and its revelations can be found in Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Monster Codex.

^UM This spell can be found in Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Ultimate Magic.

^SOVPG This weapon quality can be found in Shadows over Vathak: Player's Guide to Vathak.

Cambions are often misunderstood across Vathak. No small number of their kind has been wrongfully persecuted for their miserable forms, thought to be corruptions of the Old Ones. For most, these were mistakes. For some pitiful souls, however, their forms are cursed gateways to forces beyond their own understanding. Often driven mad before reaching maturity, these wretches invariably find themselves locked away across Vathak, out of sight and mind. Those that manage to escape cut bloody swaths through civilized society, claiming the arms and armor of good men and women as they fall deeper into the corruptions that whisper unceasingly deep within themselves.