Player’s Knowledge #
Description & Ambiance: Aaruna is a land of wide open plains dotted with small stands of trees and constantly shifting streams on their way to the great Aaru River. Travelers to Aaru find architecture on a massive scale. Buildings constructed using only natural materials and accented with wide tranquil water features and lush gardens teeming with native plants of all kinds.
Government & Public Law: The matriarchs care for all the citizens as if they were their own children. They are elevated to this respected position not just through age and wisdom but also their scholarly achievements. They focus their efforts on promoting communal harmony, protecting the huge stores of knowledge and the guidance of the stars.
Exports & Reputation: Their vast stores of knowledge and unparalleled astronomical experience make the nation of Aaruna considered one of the wisest nations on Kemet. Their expertly crafted star charts and high quality glass products are highly sought-after by foreign nations.
Rumors & Folklore (Unverified):
“The Grand Matriarchs can truly speak to the stars and seem to know your destiny before you do.”
“The Loxodon are never in a rush because they were born of the stars.”
“It is said the huge domed observatories aren’t just for watching stars, but are enormous engines that pull magic from the sky.”
DM’s Lore #
Formal Name: Aaruna
Type & Rank: Theocratic Meritocracy/Elder Council, Intellectual Power
Population: 313,257
Language/Name influences: Ancient Egyptian, African, Loxodon
Synopsis: A nation in the central grasslands of Monsherba where sentient Loxodon emerged from celestial essences found in the Aaru River.
True History & Key Dates:
24,675 BR: The earliest Loxodon herds form into a loose coalition called Aaruna, guided by a collective of matriarchs and the founding myths of the Herd-Mother.
9,807 BR: Society evolves at a glacial pace; traditions solidify into a theocratic tone, leading to the Age of Ashta.
1,490 AR: The rise of great libraries and industry leads to the formation of a substantive government to interface with foreign powers.
Internal Conflicts & Secrets:
Science and Spirituality: Rapid technological advancement has caused friction between the younger, scientifically-minded generations and the traditionalists who fear a loss of spiritual connection to the Herd-Mother.
Divining the Future: The council has mastered astral divining magics to sense future events, but they keep this practice a closely guarded secret to prevent the power from being used maliciously by outsiders.
Religious Secret: Modern theologians have discovered critical, deliberate errors in the original star charts that form the basis of the Herd-Mother myths, threatening to unravel their entire spiritual lineage.
Key NPCs & Power Structure:
Coming soon
Economy & Military Might:
Economy: Centered on master glassmaking and the export of precisely calibrated celestial lenses and star charts used for navigation and weather prediction.
Military: Aaruna maintains a strictly neutral and defensive posture, utilizing brute physical force only when provoked by the surrounding human kingdoms.
Adventure Hooks:
Political: A foreign diplomat has stolen a document detailing a vision of a world-shifting event; the party must retrieve it before the secret spreads.
Exploration: The Chief Astronomer tasks the party with investigating a meteor crash site to extract rare metals and celestial data.
Intrigue: The High Hierophant secretly hires the party to recover a relic she believes will prove the Herd-Mother’s existence once and for all.