Previous: The Days of Kruk-Ma-Kali Part 1

Kruk-Ma-Kali was born never knowing who his father was. His impoverished mother, Kona-Ranor, claimed that his sire was Pallas, the Titan of war and the husband of the River Styx. Pallas despaired of his punishment in Tartarus. His rage built for centuries until he freed his bonds and escaped. He blew past the minor demons of Tartarus and swam through his wife’s waters to freedom. Once on the surface world he engaged in sins of gluttony, lust, and debauchery. One of Pallas’s nights of freedom was spent with Kona-Ranor. At the height of their copulation she uttered the name of Zeus who looked down from the heavens at the mention of his name. Zeus saw Pallas and flung him back into Tartarus, but Kruk-Ma-Kali was already conceived. Pallas’s betrayal of the River Styx with Kona-Ranor ensured he would never escape again.

Kruk-Ma-Kali grew up on the fringe of his village in the Great Valley bordering the Shacklack Desert. Zeus sent visions to the local priest to convince him that Kruk-Ma-Kali was an evil soul. The priest spread ugly rumors about Kruk-Ma-Kali and his parentage, claiming that his mother was a whore and that his father was a hunchbacked thief. The other children excluded Kruk-Ma-Kali from their social circle and he became a target for bullies. To protect himself Kruk-Ma-Kali underwent a rigorous physical regime. As his strength grew so did his size. Soon the bullying stopped as it became too dangerous. The other children simply ignored Kruk-Ma-Kali.

When Kruk-Ma-Kali turned twelve his psionic power erupted. He found he could influence people’s minds, but had little control over how he did so. He wished the other children were his friends and they were, but only temporarily. He wished that he was invisible and then people walked by him as if he wasn’t there. He wished the village priest would recant the lies he had spread about Kruk-Ma-Kali and the priest did, but it was too late for anyone’s opinion of the outcast boy to change.

Kruk-Ma-Kali’s psionic abilities grew out of control when he used his powers against his mother. Kona-Ranor told him to chop wood for their fire. He refused and telepathically ordered her to do it. She completed the task and then broke free from his power. At that moment she realized the danger Kruk-Ma-Kali’s psionic strength presented to her and to the boy himself. He would need to control it or those he controlled would realize the invisible sword he held over their heads and kill him. Kona-Ranor confronted her son and convinced him to leave their village. He would go to the nearby psionic enclave and bridle his power under the tutelage of the psions at the Shacklack School for Psions.

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I’m Isaac

Welcome to the GoCorral website! I’m Isaac Shaker and this is a place for me to write about D&D and occasionally other topics. I host a podcast called Setting the Stage that interviews different DMs about their campaigns. I’m currently focused on completing the Cimmeria campaign setting and turning it into a book.

Setting the Stage Podcast

86 – Wuxia Adventures in RPGS (Daniel and Metanoia/Ithasen) Setting the Stage, Campaigns for D&D and Other RPGs

I interviewed Daniel, my cohost of the Tabletop Community Spotlight! Daniel created his own setting called Ithasen with an in-progress wuxia TTRPG system called Metanoia to go along with it. Ithasen has a spiritual force known as Ren that pervades the world. Ren is a magical manifestation of the user's, or Rennim's, will upon the universe. Rennim that cultivate their will grow stronger and capable of more amazing feats as the concentrate their power and force of personality.Within Ithasen there are seven lineages of people that decide what type of Ren they can use. Anamor use conversion Ren. Elkyr use flux Ren. Janim use elasticity Ren. Nyl use influence Ren. Okoi use recurrence Ren. Haqol use harmony Ren. Finally, Daruner use use coalescent ren. The two races lineages that drive unique politics in Ithasen are the Daruner and the Haqol.Daruner children absorb the Ren talents of both their parents, becoming a perfect blend of Daruner and another lineage parent. Through this mixing, a Daruner family could potentially include all other lineages within itself. This power has placed Daruner as the nobility of Ithasen.Haqol's power of harmony allows them to amplify the Ren powers of others. This puts Haqol in a vulnerable position as unscrupulous people will do anything to incorporate Haqol lineage into their bloodline. Haqol have experienced something akin to a genocide as their lineage has been consistently absorbed by other lineages and diluted over the centuries.There's a whole lot more than that so strap in!Daniel has a fully setup GitHub Wiki for information on Metanoia and Ithasen that you can explore.There's a Metanoid Discord server you can join to discuss the rules and setting with other fans.The occasional musing on TTRPGs can be found on Daniel's blog, Tabletop Discourse.GoCorral YouTube Channel for watching the Tabletop Community Spotlight.Vote in the CRIT Awards! Voting is open until August 23rd.Check out the Setting the Stage website!Want to be on the show? Fill out this survey.Join our Discord!Support Setting the Stage on Patreon! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
  1. 86 – Wuxia Adventures in RPGS (Daniel and Metanoia/Ithasen)
  2. 85 – Medical Doctor D&D (Justin and Oops! All Healers!)
  3. 84 – Horseback Riding D&D Camp (Michael and SaddleSnaps)
  4. 83 – Call of Cthulhu's Garden (Hem and The Sprouting)
  5. 82 – Tarot Ghosts (George and Fears & Fortunes)