Friday, May 3, 2024

Usharia


Spoilers for potential players. GMs only...

Usharia is meant to be an off map location to house the adventuring party's patron. But what happens if the characters want to go back there?

First, Usharia is meant to be very distant from the adventure region to give players some autonomy from their patrons, and to limit the availability of many items and magic. They have to go into the dungeon to find their own. So the journey will be long and difficult to return. 

But I don't think you really need a whole city or town for Usharia. If I were to do so I'd suggest dropping in Dulwich from Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands, swapping the NPCs at the cathedral for those detailed below and changing any other relevant details. Otherwise you really just need the cathedral and some NPCs.

Cartography by Dyson Logos

The map above is available at the link and released under a commercial attribution license by Dyson Logos. I think it's perfect for the Cathedral of St. Tevra at Usharia.

Cathedral of St. Tevra


St. Tevra

The legend of St. Tevra is depicted through the statuary and painted panels around the walls in the main nave and sanctuary of the cathedral. Born a poor child in Uqance, St. Tevra is said to have been cast a blessed coin by St. Tedmund as he rode through the city on his departure to slay the green worm Goavraynth. She almost spent the coin on a bit of bread and a warm drink, but instead her feet led her to a wheelwright's shop where she was apprenticed. Many years later she embarked on adventures, the details of which are lost to time, until she was knighted and made a Holy Lancer of the Order of the Nine. 

Archbishop Garvey

Archbishop Garvey is an elderly priest who has risen through the Church hierarchy due to his efforts in the ministry. Previously the leader of the Church of Our Lady St. Adevalia in the small town of Barrowmark, and the head of the Monastic Order of St. Orpheus of the Iron Spike, he was promoted and assigned to St. Tevra's just a few years ago. While he maintains great loyalty to the teachings of St. Tevra, he has added statues of St. Adevalia and St. Orpheus on the left and right alcoves before the inner sanctum to the north of the main nave of the cathedral.

Preferring to be called Father Garvey in less formal instances, the priest is a devout believer in the Nine, the Heavenly Choirs, and the Saints. He is uneasy with having an Archdeacon work alongside him, as the previous deacons he worked with in Barrowmark and at the monastery largerly treated their positions as a ceremonial title alongside their affairs as minor nobles. Having an Archdeacon take such an active role managing the political affairs of the Church bothers him, although he guards these thoughts well. 

Father Garvey largely leaves the ceremonies and worship conducted in St. Tevra's to the younger priests and acolytes, reasoning that they need to learn the skills to lead the Church one day. He spends much of his time in his office off the main nave, or wandering the gardens in quiet contemplation and secret yearning for a return to his simpler life as a lesser priest or contemplating the mysteries alongside the monks of St. Orpheus.

Archdeacon Tamari Philona

The Archdeacon takes her office very seriously, having come up under the tutelage of senior deacons in the Church diplomatic corps. She has reached the pinnacle of her career. While she is extremely devoted to the Church as an organization, she is less versed in the theology and finds ceremonies with hymns, prayers, and incense a bore (but she attends nevertheless to keep up the image of the Church). Archdeacon Philona finds Father Garvey to be quaint and naive in his faith, and doubts that he is capable of doing what she knows from experience is necessary to protect the Church. Philona maintains connections to less reputable people and organizations by necessity, so that should the Church need an action taken to protect it that wouldn't fall into it's definitions of morality, it can be done for the greater good.


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