Page 124 - Critical Role: Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting

tal’dorei campaign guide

Plains, godless by the centaurs, and thieving by the treasures and secrets were hidden away, minotaurs have
people of Tal’Dorei. Some gnolls have found a home in had to find their own purpose in the aftermath of the
Kymal and Westruun, and other tribes like the Dust- Calamity. Like most folk, when freed, they immediate
paws have formed a tentative alliance with the city-folk retreated to the places that were most comfortable for
to ward off the bloodthirsty Ravagers. them, and there they remain to this day. Clans of mino-
taurs can often be found in winding mountain passages
lizardfolK and intricate cavern systems, using their innate compre-
hension of labyrinths to easily navigate such defensible
Once, the depraved lizardfolk were called the Kuul’tevir,
spaces. The few roving clans of minotaurs that remain in
noble masters of the earth and sky, created in the image
Exandria have developed an isolated culture that prizes
of the first dragons—and in the time of the Founding,
martial prowess but is led by spirit-whisperers similar
they built cities with magic nearly on par with that of the
to warlocks.
elves. The fires of their furnaces burned so hot their blood
turned cold, and protective powers granted to them by
fey
the gods so great that their skin turned to scales. In those
times, they were the paragon of warrior-priests.
However, in the wake of eons of violent, selfish pursuits
People don’t discover the fey; the fey discover people.
during the Age of Arcanum, they are left now diminished,
Though enchanted forests are their favored domain, the
their cities turned to rubble, their magic forgotten, and their
fair folk can be found wherever the power of nature is
god-empress succeeded by a cabal of petty warlocks. After
strong—even a flower garden in the middle of Emon. Of
untold eons, many lizardfolk were so desperate to escape the
course, Emonian fey scholars debate which came first:
squalor of K’Tawl Swamp, they chose to be dominated by
did the fey come to a forest because it was magical, or
the Cinder King. In their occupation of Emon, they once
did the magic bloom because of the fey? All fey mysteries
again felt a twinge of their ancestors’ glory—but it has again
have the same solution: if an answer exists, it is known
turned to ash. The few surviving lizardfolk kingdoms are led
only by the Archfey, and they don’t like spilling secrets.
by warlocks who siphon power from demons and immortal
The Feywild is a place of intense emotion. Happi-
spirit nagas, forfeiting their souls in a vain hope to emerge
ness becomes elation, anger becomes fury, and passions
once more from the swamps and conquer Tal’Dorei.
become obsessions. The very shape of the fey are defined
The remains of a lizardfolk empire inhabited by the Chil-
dren of the Cloaked Serpent, a people more humanoid than by their innermost feelings, and even siblings can take
lizard-like, can be found on Visa Isle, south of Daggerbay. different forms based on what they feel most strongly
about. Two daughters from pixie parents are just as likely
sahuagin to be a sprite and a satyr if one sister is drawn to war
and the other to wild parties. It is uncommon—though
Known by sailors as the “sea devils,” the shark-like
certainly not unheard of— for a fey to completely and
sahuagin are both enemy and ally to humans who ride
spontaneously change form after a life-altering event.
the waves, and are rumored to have spawned from a bot-
Since most fey live for upward of three centuries, par-
tomless trench in the ocean floor. Pods of sahuagin have
ticularly unstable fey take nearly a dozen forms over
no de facto leader, and are usually have no more than six
the course of their life, wildly altering in shape, sound,
members, though sometimes several pods band together
gender, and all other things mortals take for granted.
and collaborate on tasks they could not accomplish alone,
The only immutable fairies are the Archfey. Immortal,
forming schools. These schools follow the will of the
imperious rulers of fairykind, the Archfey very rarely
majority, and disobedience to this will is surprisingly rare.
travel to Exandria, instead spending their time scheming
The few sea devils who dominate multiple schools through
against each other plotting elaborate political overthrows.
personal strength are known as barons, and are as hated
Of course, when mortals enter their realm, the Archfey
as they are revered. Sahuagin schools that fall under the
take notice and often spy on them in person, using clever
sway of a baron are those most known for their piracy and
disguises and misdirection to keep them from disrupting
slaughter, for they steal treasure to appease their tyrant’s
their own maneuvering. Most recently, Vox Machina was
greed. Free schools often offer their service as mercenar-
trailed by Lord Artagan of the Morncrown, a jovial Arch-
ies, aiding humanoids as much as they oppose them.
fey who finds the incursions of mortals more amusing
There are some pods that have fallen under the twisting
than distressing.
influence of abhorrent, alien gods beyond the boundaries
The Arcane Pansophical has identified four other
of reality. These often become cults of worship, merging
Archfey, though little else is known about them. They
pods into larger societies in service to the maddening
include Lord Saundor the Forsaken (now deceased),
whispers of these forgotten terrors, hidden within isolated
master of the Shademurk; Lady Elmenore the Unforgiv-
ruins or swamp dens.
ing, High Warqueen of the Burning Vale and Matriarch
minotaurs of the Seelie Court; and Potentate Sammanar, They-
Who-Walk-Unseen, keeper of the Sun’s Shadow and
Originally created during the Age of Arcanum as Master of the Unseelie Court. Finally, a Pansophical spy
living siege weapons and protectors of labyrinths where in the Feywild has uncovered the existence of an Archfey
chapter 4: allies and adversaries 123