Bora-Lo is a world steeped in magic and mystery. Spells, magical creatures, and magical substances are abundant.
Key: Dark-green: Equatorial rain forest. Bright-green: Moist and wet/dry subtropical forest. Golden: desert. Blue-green: Moist coastal forest. Plain-green: Other. Solid-white: Summer ice cap. Striped-white: Winter ice cap.
Scale: cos(latitude)*90*PI miles per time zone. (283 miles at the equator.)
N'Ferra discovered Bora-Lo a little over 3 years ago. The current travel time between Bora-Lo and N'Ferra is 6 months, or one year round trip. Two ships currently run the route regularly with other ships calling at irregular intervals.
Established about two years ago, the N'Ferra mission consists of 20 to 25 N'Ferran citizens and has been supplied with a spelljamming helm and vessel.
On Bora-Lo the overall level of magic is too high for most mages (including all those trained in N'Ferra) to control. All local mages use the Umana casting system, and outside mages will invoke a calamity every time they cast a spell.
On Bora-lo the standard races do not exist (other than humans). There are no orcs, elves, goblins, halflings, ogres, or other highly popular AD&D races, but there are a number of 'standard fantasy' races rarely seen in other campaigns. In addition to humans, the other races can be divided into 'Naturals' (including Centaurs, Fauns, Leprecauns, Lizardmen, Merfolk, Minotaurs, Sasquatch, and the chimera from Technomancer), 'Shapeshifters' (including Naga serpents, bear, fox, and eagle, but not including wolf), and 'Demons' (including Hellrakers, Rakshasa, Succubi, and various Undead). Elementals (from Technomancer) are also known, but while they participate in existing cultures, they do not appear to form cultures of their own.
Naturals and Shapeshifters are known to interbreed with humans, the result being an appropriate sort of halfling. The children of two similar halflings are always full blooded non-humans. Most human cultures have strong taboos against interbreeding with nonhumans.
The empire of Tsint is based on Indian myth and history. Local technology stands at 3.5 with gears and screws available. However, local materials and magic push the overall economy into 4.0 with smoke powder, high-quality paper, and navigation.
The caste system is more flexible than in our India, but the major divisions remain. Brahma are the magic-using class of priests and mages. Kshatriya are warriors. Vaisya are artisans and merchants, and Sudra are the peasantry. It is possible to change caste, but the ceremony is somewhat demeaning as you have to confess to being the illegitimate child of a member of the higher caste (who need not be named).
The following languages (and associated scripts) are spoken in or near the Tsintjan empire:
bo-Burushaski (bo-Arabic script) is spoken only in the kingdom of the Rakshasa in the far north.
bo-Hindi (bo-Devanagari script) is spoken throughout the area of Tsint and in many places beyond its borders.
bo-Kachin (bo-Kana script) is spoken in the far northeast.
bo-Manipuri (bo-Devanagari script) is spoken in northeastern areas.
bo-Nehali (bo-Devanagari script) is spoken is scattered enclaves across the western Tsint area. It is rumored to be the original tongue of the Naga (bo-Naga script).
bo-Newari (bo-Kana script) is the language of the high mountains to the north.
bo-Santali (bo-Devanagari script) is used in the northeast.
bo-Tamil (bo-Devanagari script) is spoken in the southern areas of Tsint.
In general, like in most pre-industrial societies, women have fewer rights and less status than men. However, these distinctions become fewer as you climb the caste ladder, and the distinctions of caste outweigh the distinctions of sex.
One custom held throughout Tsint is that of the "woman's area." This can range from just a corner to a complete suite of rooms, but is a place where no men are permitted. In theory, men are supposed to ignore everything that passes in these areas.
Ancient Myth says that once, when "the sun was an orb," humanity dwelled on the Orb of Storms, which at that time was a beautiful world. However, evil came to dwell there, and the best of humanity was forced to flee to Bora-lo.
| This page © 2000 by Jeff
Wilson. This page is an original creation. It is not official and
the use of any trademarks is not an endorsement by the holder of the
trademark of this work. The mention or reference of any companies or
products in these pages is not intended as a challenge to the trademarks
or copyrights concerned.
GURPS © 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. All rights reserved world wide. No part of these works may be reproduced in part or whole, in any form or by any means, without permission from the copyright holder. GURPS ® and the all-seeing pyramid are registered
trademark of Steve Jackson Games. Pyramid, Illuminati Online, and
the names of all products published by Steve Jackson Games
Incorporated are registered trademarks or trademarks of Steve Jackson
Games Incorporated or used under license. All rights are reserved by
Steve
Jackson Games. This material is used here in accordance with Steve Jackson Games' online policy.
|
| The author is a member of |
This page was created by Jefferson Wilson using the Programmer's File Editor (PFE) by Alan Phillips, and with the assistance of the Web Design Group's HTML 4.0 Reference. | Validated to |
| © 2004 by Jefferson Wilson. All rights reserved. This page last updated April 1, 2005. Contact Jeff_Wilson63@bigfoot.com with suggestions or problems. |