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GODS

0 2002 Aderac Entertainment Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

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WRITING

Mike Meads, jim pinto, Eric Steiger, John Baxter Stringfellow, and Douglas Sun

ART DIRECTION

Peter Flanagan, Andrew Getting, Travis Heerman,

jim pinto

COVER DESIGN Mark Jelfo

COVER ILLUSTRATION Lisa Hunt

INTERIOR ARTWORK Derick W. Gross, Jonathan Hunt, Lisa Hunt, Lim Guo Liang

EDITING John Hopler, jim pinto

INTERIOR DESIGN AND LAYOUT Mark Jelfo, Justin Lawler, jim pinto

PROJECT MANAGER jim pinto

PLAYTESTING AND ADVICE

James "Sparky" Sparling

SPECIAL THANKS jim pinto would like to thank everyone who worked

on this book. Your efforts were invaluable. Lisa, thank you for the holy symbols and Daerick, thank you for some incredible scenery. This line just gets better and better and all of you deserve big hugs for everything you do.

Jeff Colledge, Mike Leader, Kevin Millard,

Or at least noogies. Peter would like to thank the Ontario Consultants

on Religious Tolerance [~.religioustolerance.org] and Lorena [his wife, web address omitted]. Both were invaluable.

Another special thanks to James Sparling and Jeff Ibach for keeping us on our toes.

One more very special nod to Mike Mearls and Andrew Getting. You know why ... you vixens.

Rick Wischnef appears courtesy of Alderac Records.

DEDICATION

May we all see the world as beautifully as you do. This one is for the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzen Gyatso.

Free Tibet

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ........................................ 4 CHAPTER ONE: BARBARIAN TRIBES .................... 5 CHAPTER TWO: BUGBEARS ............................ 13 CHAPTER THREE: DARK ELVES ......................... 21 CHAPTER FOUR DEEP DWARVES ....................... 31 CHAPTER FIVE: GIANTS ................................ 32 CHAPTER SIX: GNOLLS ................................ 45 CHAPTER SEVEN: GOBLINS ............................ 54 CHAPTER EIGHT: HOBGOBLINS ........................ 62 CHAPTER NINE: IMPOSSIBLE THINGS .................. 68 CHAPTER TEN: KOBOLDS .............................. 22 CHAPTER ELEVEN: LIZARDFOLK ....................... 83 CHAPTER TWELVE: MINOTAURS ........................ 91 CHAPTER THIRTEEN: OGRES ........................... 92 CHAPTER FOURTEEN: ORCS ........................... 102 CHAPTER FIFTEEN: SYLVAN FORCES .................. 125 CHAPTER SIXTEEN: TROLLS ........................... 133 APPENDIX ONE: RELIGION ............................ 141

APPENDIX TWO: GODS ................................ 151 INDEX ................................................ 159

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TNTROD'ITCTTON Listen well, young rogue. The tale I am about to tell is

older than the world; its players, greater than a thousand mountains. I t was before the world was even born and after the great war in the heavens shook the skies asunder. I t is the fable of a thousand deaths and a million births. I t is every- thing and nothing.

I t is now. I t is never. When the great sky god wove the universe from the skin

of his father, he cut into it many holes, to stretch the skin so it could fill all the skies; in this world and the next. From these holes came the light of a million hungry eyes, peering through skies to see what our world holds. I t is the shinning world and its people are all waiting to be born.

You were among the shinning world once.

Someday. we shall return when we have no more use for this flesh.

The moon is the sky god's greatest gift, but also his great- est torment. The moon provides light, when the sun must sleep. I t provides a beacon to show us where we are whilst we sleep. And it holds the souls of a million children who will never be, children destined bejhore time to never know this world. Their damnation is to see it, but never touch it. Our existence is their sole reason for living, yet their most dread- ed bane. They watch and wait for a time when they will be free.

And on nights, when the moon is dark and hidden, they come to this world, to mingle with our ghosts and tell our secrets to all that can do us harm.

I t is for this reason that we pay homage when the moon is high and we cradle our young close to us, praying to the gods of forgiveness to watch over us on the darkest nights.

And when the time comes to give reverence and thanks to those spirits that protected us, we do not hold back. We fill our shrines with gold, jewels, and sacrifices in the name of their patience and diligence.

And SO was I .

This has always been our way. Imagine, young man, what would happen to the world if

we did not do honor our ancestors and our gods. Imagine the world beyond your door if you could not trust your kin liv- ing in this village. Imagine, just for a moment, of a world where children have no concept of their heritage or where they came from.

This, I do not wish upon any. Rest now, young one, for the time will come when you will

- Ak'bahn Tochemik, Shaman of the West People tell this tale.

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C H A P T E R O N E :

life-long friend had forsaken him for mankind, so in his wrath, he lashed out at mankind, trying to steal the gifts that To’nihe had bestowed. To’nihe discovered what Shemtec was doing and confronted him. Shemtec railed against his old friend, and they fought a great battle that lasted a hundred years. During the battle, Shemtec’s hand was burned by the sun, and ever since he has wrapped his hand in bandages to cover the ter- rible burn. When the human tribes sacrificed cattle and crops and game to him, he relented his attacks against them. But if they ever displease him, he does

hesitate to make his displeasure known and felt. Crops wither and die, game becomes scarce, the sun beats down harder, and rain ceases to fall. Legends speak of him changing into the shape of a coyote, com- ing into the camp of a tribe that displeased him, and stealing an infant from its mother. His guise as a coy-

, jackal, dingo, or wolf is most often referred to as Angry Trickster. For this reason, the tribes who

Two gods are prevalent amongst the barbarian tribes: To’nihe and Shemtec.

To’nihe is the god of life and bounty. He is a lawful good deity worshiped among many human barbarian tribes, especially nomadic and agrarian tribes. Among the agrarian tribes he is called the Great Sower, and among the nomadic tribes, the Hunter. He oversees the planting and the harvest of crops, an nt. He is the mortal enemy of Shemtec, even some times worshiped together. To’nih bountiful harvest of crops and game, as health and well being of the tribe.

Many barbarian legends say To’nihe ga first seeds of grain and told them to plant t ground, giving ancient men the knowledge ture. He then brought the rains that watered ” L

He taught men to make weapons better to hunt the beasts of land, so that hunters could provide meat for their people. The generosity that To’nihe showed to mankind made his old friend, Shemtec, jealous. When Shemtec in his jealousy tried to steal the gifts that To’nihe had given to men, To’nihe was angered, and cast Shemtec from his presence. The two have been mortal enemies ever since.

Shemtec is the god of privation. He is a chaotic neu- tral deity worshiped not for his benevolence, but to appease him into doing no harm. He is a jealous god known sometimes as the Spiteful One, the Angry Trickster, and Hunger. He is worshiped among the same tribes as To’nihe as the god who seeks to undo everything that the Great Sower has wrought. When angered, Shemtec blights their crops, plagues their game, and fouls their water. When Shemtec and To’nihe were young, they were inseparable friends. As they grew older To’nihe saw how mankind suffered for wont of food, so he went away to help them. Shemtec, who had no love for mankind, was angered that his

t these animals; they do by molesting an animal

ibes worship To’nihe because he is the great benefactor that feeds their peo- ple. He gave them the knowledge of agriculture and the ways of the hunt. Worship services to To’nihe always involve a ritual fasting for one full day prior, to show reverence for the tremendous gifts that To’nihe has bestowed and to purify the body to receive the god’s blessings. During worship services, each suppli- cant is given a single seed of the most common food crop of the region as a symbol of the god’s divine bounty. The worshippers then sing the ritual songs and dance to the thunderous beat of skin drums and the wispy piping of flutes. Regular worship services to To’nihe are held at noon on the first day of the new moon each month, but special rites are held through- out the year.

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