Questions and answers: General

You shrug -- both mentally and physically -- and tell Brighid, “I’ve got a bunch of questions bouncing around in my head so let’s just take them as they come. First, time. How many seconds in a minute, minutes in an hour, hours in a day, days in a week and month, and months in a year here in the Realms?”

“Well,” She replies with a wry smile, “That certainly is a bunch of questions. There are sixty seconds in a minute, sixty minutes in an hour, and twenty-four hours in a day, roughly speaking. There are magical items and spells which can track time precisely, but those are diversions for scholars and people with too much time on their hands. Weeks are made up of seven days, and there are either four or five weeks in each month. There are ten months in the year, which alternate four and five weeks, for a total of forty-five weeks in the year. The first and last day of the year are not part of any week or month, so there are a total of three hundred and seventeen days in each year.

“The days of the week are named simply: Firstday, Secondday, Thirdday, and so on up to Seventhday. Anyone in any land should recognize those names. Some regions have their own local names for the days of the week, but you should not worry about those, at least for now. Months are much more varied and there are at least three different names for each month just in the Wildlands and nearby human nations. Again, you really should not need to worry about them for now.

“I can see you about to ask, so I will go ahead and answer.” Brighid says with a smug grin, “The current date is Thirdday of the third week of the month of Siobhan the Slayer in the year 597 of the Godless Age. That is the seventh month of the year by our reckoning, and we are in early fall."

“Whoa, hold on,” You interrupt. “What do you mean, year 597 of the Godless Age? I am pretty sure I was in bed with at least one Goddess just last week, and you are a Paladin of the Brighaid. At least three Gods clearly exist.”

“It is a little bit of an exaggeration, but not much. The Gods still exist as Powers of the Realms, but their ability to interact with mortals is very limited and few give them any thought. Long, long ago, the Gods walked among us and granted miraculous gifts to those who found their favor, but eventually Gods came into active conflict with each other. The Realms were nearly torn apart by their power. Eventually, the mightiest heroes from all across the Realms gathered together and took the battle to the Gods, one at a time, and banished them to the Outer Realms, sealing most of their power.

“That was the end of the Age of Living Gods and the start of the Age of Withdrawal. The human nations have flourished without the Gods of the wilder people to hold them back. Just under six hundred years ago, the great High Elven fortress-capital Haedirn Laer-gilarn was conquered and sacked by an army of humans and the cathedral of Faendair, their chief deity, was torn stone from stone and all the priests were slain. When no divine reprisal was visited on the humans, the Age changed to the Godless Age.”

“Alright,” you say slowly, “I understand why it’s called that now, but I still have a question. You say ‘the Age changed’, not ‘scholars decided to call that the start of the new Age’ or anything like that. Is there a reason for that or am I just running into linguistic traps?”

“My understanding,” Brighid responds, “is that shortly after the destruction of the cathedral and the slaughter of the priests, every single person in the Realms received a notification that the Age of Withdrawal was ended and the Godless Age had begun. I did not witness it myself, of course, but all of the histories of the time mention it and agree on the name of the Age.”

“So Ages aren’t just some way for scholars to divide up history, they actually have some deeper importance. Good to know, I guess, but at this point it’s academic. Thank you for the explanation, though.” You give Brighid a kiss.

She shakes her head and says, “Actually, I am not sure just how academic it is. You are the Chosen of the Brighaid and have been contacted directly by Them. The Powers have whisked who only knows how many people from how many worlds to the Realms and made them their own Chosen. I have a very strong feeling that the Godless Age is nearly over.”

You grimace. “I don’t like it, but I also can’t really do anything about it at the moment. I would love nothing more than to just live out my days in peace here with you, but you’re probably right, my Patron did says they expended a massive amount of power just to speak with me secretly. No being of that power level is going to expend their strength just to give me a cryptic speech and a pat on the back, and certainly not to do it without drawing attention.”

You give her a one-armed hug and munch on breakfast for a little bit, then ask another question. “Alright, backtracking a little: You said that there are several different names for each month just among the other tribes and nations in this region. Leaving aside the months part of that, what is the geography and political landscape of this region?” Seeing her slightly confused look, you clarify, “What are the tribes and nations around us, and what is the land like? Obviously the Starchasers’ land is mostly misty hills, and I can see the mountains to the west, what other terrain should I know about?”

Brighid smiles gratefully at you for the clarification and settles in for a bit of a lecture, taking bites of food in between sentences. “Well, as you said our lands are mostly in the Mistvale Highlands, which is part of a greater region known as the Wildlands. None of the nearby human nations claim the Wildlands -- or if they do, they do not dare enforce such claims. The Mistvale Highlands, Cloudwall Mountains, and Roottangle Forest make up the majority of the Wildlands. The forest is to the east of us, the mountains, as you said, to the west. The highlands stretch out between the two. South of us, past the Highlands, is the human Kingdom of Gilhardt; to their east is the Kingdom of Zedny, and to Gilhardt’s west is the Feralon Republic. There are no human nations north of the Wildlands, and I do not know the names of any nations which might be past the mountains or forest; both serve as natural barriers which protect the Highlands from those directions.”

She takes a sip of water, then continues, “The Wildlands themselves are covered in various small non-human tribes, like us. There is no overall government, although our legends say that Bannagh Macht once served as a central meeting point and neutral ground for the tribes, where they could work out treaties and so on with each other even while their people were at war. Anyway, the nearby tribes are, hmmm… Just southeast of us are the Mist Stalkers, a tribe of Mist Leopard Catfolk; we fought a war with when I was still just a child. Along the river to the west live the Snow-Water Riders, a clan of Cu-Uisce; they are traders, mercenaries, and adventurers for the most part. The territory of the Ebon Bone-kin lies on the other side of Bannagh Macht, they are creepy wolven necromancers and dark mages, but I cannot say that they are evil. West and southwest of us are the Sapphire Sky Horde -- do not ask me why they call themselves that, it is a strange name even for the Wildlands -- they are Gargoyles and there really are not enough of them to call them a horde, but I am certainly not going to try to argue with a creature made of living stone. To the northeast are the Ash Shroud Sisterhood, they are Harpies and I do not know much about them other than they are very welcoming to men and quite the opposite to women.”

She eats some more, then continues, “I do not know much about the groups who live farther afield of us, I am sorry to tell you. I know there are Dwarves in the mountains and Elves in the forest, but I do not know the names of their cultures. Mother would know more, as would Gerwyn.”

You nod, considering, then ask, “I can at least make baseline assumptions about most of those, but what is a Cu-Uisce? That isn’t something I’ve heard of before.”

“They are sort of like wolven, I guess, but river-beasts instead of wolves? They are about human sized, humanoid, with a rounded head and a thick tail, short fur all over their bodies, very sleek-looking. They live in and on the river and do not like to travel far from water for long periods of time. Like Wolven, they can shift their form to a more human-like shape, although they keep their webbed hands and feet. The Snow-Water Riders I have met are very friendly and outgoing, and they love parties and games.”

You kiss Brighid. “Thanks, lover. Do you mind giving me a run-down like that for the others?”

She grins mischievously at you and asks, “If I say I do mind, can I get you to give me something in return for all this talking you are making me do?” You stick your tongue out at her and she laughs. “Alright, alright, you are not nearly as pretty when you pout, so I will give in for now.

“The Mist Stalkers are Mist Leopard Catfolk, like I said: they’re a little smaller than humans, with light grey fur dappled with clusters of darker grey spots. They blend in with the mists around here incredibly well, which is why they were able to fight us so effectively in the war despite the difference in size and speed. I have heard that their women are little better than slaves, but they are even more distrustful of outsiders than we Starchasers are, so I have never actually met any.

“The Ebon Bone-kin, like I said, creep me out, but they are not evil. They have a large number of necromancers and dark mages among their numbers, but they do not raise armies of undead or anything. In fact, from what Gerwyn has said about them, they kill anyone they find animating the dead. Instead they commune with their ancestor spirits and the other spirits of the honorable dead. They are usually fairly neutral towards us, leaving us alone as long as we leave them alone. Oh, and they are Wolven; wolf-like humanoids just like Catfolk are cat-like humanoids, except that Wolven can assume a less bestial form. They keep their eye color and sharp teeth when in human shape, though, so they are not that hard to pick out if you know what you are looking for.

“The Sapphire Sky Horde are enigmatic. I think there used to be many more of them, but now they only number around a hundred or so if the rumors are to be believed. They are Gargoyles, living statues, and the next best thing to indestructible. You do not want to get into a fight with a Gargoyle, they are just as fast as any other humanoid but they are vastly stronger and tougher. If they have a weakness, they certainly do not advertise it, and I do not know what it is. Some of them have wings and can fly, but not all of them. The Sapphire Sky Gargoyles in particular keep to themselves and mostly ignore the outside world; you could probably walk straight through their lands without knowing they were there.”

“And of course the Ash Shroud Sisterhood… They are Harpies, which are an exclusively female race. They have a standard humanlike body, about the same size as you, except that they have four huge wings and feathers for hair. Like I said, they welcome males with open arms and open legs; since there are no male harpies, they seduce, bribe, and if they are especially horny, kidnap males of other species to breed with them. They do not hurt the men, though, that I have ever heard of. Women they drive out of their territory, not much for competition, I guess. They are supposed to be exceptional warriors, but I have never faced one, so I could not say.

“Does that satisfy my Lord’s curiosity?” Brighid smirks at you.