History

The origin of the githyanki race is lost to time. They existed within a mortal realm at one point, but moved to the Astral Plane. Were they escaping a threat? Or had they consumed all resources in their home plane and moved on to find greener pastures? Whatever their reason the githyanki abandoned their home dimension and took up permanent residence in the Astral Plane between dimensions.

Residing in the Astral Plane left the githyanki without sources of food or inspirations for artistic endeavors. To fulfill those needs, the githyanki began visiting other planes. Their main residence remained a mobile fortress city in the Astral Plane, but they sent out scouting parties to other planes. A promising plane received a full scale invasion. After an initial invasion destroys organized resistance, the githyanki occupy the plane and drain it of resources. Once the plane has been milked for all they can get, the Lich-queen orders a return to the Astral Plane. The githyanki have repeated this cycle countless times. Scout, invade, occupy, consume, and depart.

The githyanki altered their strategy slightly for the invasion of Cimmeria. The wealth of magic in the region sparked great interest in the Lich-queen, but also caution for the githyanki soldiers could not easily overwhelm the local residents. The Lich-queen orchestrated an alliance with the blue dragons. Their sovereigns had been imprisoned by the Heroes of the Dragon War. By breaking the Blue Dragon Orb, the Lich-queen won a debt from Bavastatner. She collected the debt in the form of an alliance. The blue dragons would assist the githyanki invasion of Cimmeria.

With blue dragon mounts the githyanki rained down across Cimmeria. All the most powerful heroes of the day were slain or captured and fed to the Lich-queen. Most of Cimmeria was conquered within a few days. The two holdouts were Crafterton and Nomingburg, led by the Dragon War Hero, Tracy, and the Gish Trio of Galandir, Tereman, and Blendegad. Tracy kept her halfling people safe and led a resistance movement against the githyanki. Meanwhile the githyanki looted their conquest for all of its riches.

Tracy and the Gish Trio sought to drive a wedge between the Lich-queen and Bavastatner. They learned that Bavastatner had sworn on the River Styx to uphold the alliance. As a divine being he was bound to this oath but there was a way to undo such an oath. If his soul was freed from the Styx, then he would no longer be bound by an oath on it. Tracy devised a plan and executed it. Bavastatner learned how to free his soul. He did so, becoming more powerful in the process. His escape set off the Draco-Gith War. Bavastatner led his blue dragon family against the githyanki. The war between the two powers allowed people across Cimmeria to rise up in rebellion.

Tracy and the Gish Trio struck the final blow against the Lich-queen by banishing her from Earth. Her minions could come to the plane, but she would never be able to. The Lich-queen devoured Tracy in the process, but the damage was done. Unable to enjoy the world for herself, the Lich-queen ordered an evacuation of Cimmeria. She would have to undo her banishment before returning to finish what they’d started. The Lich-queen now has a goal with the githyanki’s wandering. She seeks a method to unbind her soul and reclaim the one conquest that was taken from her.

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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)