sour corn

Character Creation
Your characters will start at 1st level, advancing to 3rd level in a very short time after their escape from prison. The adventure path as given is designed to go all the way to 20th level, in theory.
We are using the Forte and Foible method of generating ability scores: Choose one ability score to set at 18 and another at 8. The remaining 4 are somewhat randomized: Roll 1d10+7 five times, drop lowest and assign as you like. You are overall especially gifted individuals. (To avoid any silliness of rerolling, you can only roll once for an array, even if you chance up your character concept for a submission.) Please use Orokos for the rolls with "It's Good to Be Evil" as the campaign.
All races from the Player's Handbook are available. Humans will be using the variant. The feral tieflings from Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide are acceptable as well. The aasimar (fallen only), goliaths, and kenku from Volo's are acceptable, as are the monstrous PC race choices of bugbear, goblin, hobgoblin, kobold and yuan-ti pureblood. If you want to play something else, such as something a bit more exotic or monstrous, hit me up on Discord. If you are a monstrous sort that can't very easily sort through polite society, don't fret too much; you will receive in-character a way to disguise your monstrous nature, and will probably want a humanoid form in mind ready for usual interactions.
You may pick any class except the Blood Hunter, the Artificer, and the Mystic from published materials or Unearthed Arcana. We will be using the Ranger Revised. Archetypes will be judged on a case-by-case basis. Please let me know what Archetype you plan to go for, and if you intend to multiclass, as I try to make class and archetype choices meaningful in the fiction.
You always receive maximum HP for each level.
You must be an Evil alignment. Lawful Evil is encouraged but not required.
Personality traits, quirks, and the like will be utilized in play for Inspiration and a great way to fill out the character.
Backgrounds no longer grant their "background trait" as given. Instead, you will select a Branding that does so in addition to your Background. (See below). You still pick a Background, which you can edit within reason, for additional proficiencies.
You will start the game with no equipment, but eventually will be able to equip yourselves with 200 gp worth of equipment. Go ahead and detail what that 200 gp of equipment would be.
Every character starts with a free Feat, which I think adds a little customization and fun to the game and makes each character feel more distinct and unique.
I will need a picture to create a token with. Generally speaking I like a standard aesthetic, so while I'm not saying "no anime", probably don't app with a picture of Shalltear Bloodfallen.

Brandings
As mentioned above, each of your characters committed a terrible crime that landed them in Branderscar Prison. These each give you a unique benefit that you can use, replacing the Background benefits other characters would normally receive, with similar narrative effects.
Arson: You have willfully started a fire that destroyed life and property. To be sent to Branderscar, you didn't start just a minor little trash fire. Your act of arson threatened a major town, city, church or castle and likely cost several or many lives. You'll be punished for your crime by facing the fire yourself.

Benefit: You always have the tools by which to start a fire at hand, or can scrounge them up in all save the most extreme circumstances, and can easily assess a structure's weaknesses, though more out of a taste for destruction than necessarily a sapper's expertise.

Attempted Murder: You tried to kill someone and didn't finish the job, leaving them bleeding but alive. To be sent to Branderscar Prison, you did not try to kill just anyone, but someone of great importance and prominence. You are to be beheaded.

Benefit: As Pirate, as your bad reputation allows you to get away with minor crimes as no one wants to invoke your wrath.

Desecration: You have violated one of the churches, cathedrals, or holy sites of the great god Mitra or his demigods. To be sent to Branderscar this was no minor act of vandalis. Instead you have done something flagrant and spectacular to dishonor the Morninglord. You will be crucified and left to die under the sun.

Benefit: You know when you are on holy ground, feeling the oppressive presence of Good and always know what would be required to despoil it and bypass its wards and protections, though may not necessarily have the means at hand.

Desertion: You have deserted from the military if one of the Talirean crowns, and been recaptured. To get sent to Branderscar this was more than a routine dereliction of duty, but abandoning your post during a time of crisis in supreme laziness or cowardice punishable by hanging.

Benefit: You always know who the weakest links are and the most likely places to find dissent and mutineers in the rank, and can always find an opportunity to stir up some trouble within an organized and military-style force.

Extortion: You have defrauded money from someone by using blackmail or threats of violence. To end up in Branderscar, this was no minor act but an attempt against someone of great prominence and for exorbitant stakes. You will be sent to the salt mines for a life of hard labor.

Benefit: You still have the leverage you had before you were imprisoned over a person of great prominence. Describe who they are, and once you are free, you may return to blackmailing them to give your organization aid, but should do so carefully.

Forgery: You forged documents issued wither by the crowns of Talingarde or by the Church of Mitra. Alas, that your forgery while competent was not entirely undetectable, at least by magic. This forged document could have cost lives, undermined the reputation of the Church or endangered the realm, and will land you in the salt mines to be worked until death.

Benefit: Any forgeries you make using any tool proficiencies (thus including works of art as well as documents) are considered "perfect" and are not detectable by mundane means, as you are not liable to make the same mistakes as before. However, magic can still reveal your treachery.

Fraud: You tried to bilk someone out of their cash. To end up in Brandescar Prison, this was no petty con job or penny ante racket. Instead you brazenly tried to defraud someone important of a huge sum of money. And it almost worked too! Oh well, to the salt mines with you!

Benefit: As Charlatan.

Grand Larceny: You had a foolproff plan to steal some great treasure. Alas, the scheme had a fatal flaw and went horribly awry. To be sent to Branderscar prison, this was no ordinary robbery attempt. You tried to steal something of great value or religious significance. For this, you will be hanged.

Benefit: As Criminal.

Grave-Robbery: It is forbidden by sacred law to dishonor a corpse after it has been sealed in its tomb by the clergy of the Mitran faith. Some may not honor this banL necromancers, golem crafters, self-styled natural philosophers and alchemists delving into the forbidden secrets of death. These ghouls expect no mercy from the magistrates of the realm, and by sending you to Branderscar Prison to be beheaded, you have received none.

Benefit: You carry the scent of death with you. Unintelligent Un-Dead ignore your presence provoked, while intelligent Un-Dead may still act against you but are better disposed to treat you as a possible ally.

Heresy: You have denied the supremacy of Mitra and his dogma and been condemned for it, whether decrying his worship or declaring some hidden truth of the world, or even been found in worship of a wicked god such as Olidammara, Erythnul, or Asmodeus himself. For this to be a crime you were not content to keep your heresy to yourself: You tried to sway others. You will be broken on the wheel in an attempt to force you to recant and repent, before you are crucified under Mitra's gaze.

Benefit: As Hermit, you define one terrible secret about the world that only you and your small group of believers would believe, and against all odds, it's true.

Kidnapping: You have abducted someone perhaps to ransom them, to sell them into slavery, or do unspeakable things to them. Unfortunately you were caught and your victim was rescued (if they weren't rescued -- you would be guilty of murder instead). To be sent to Branderscar Prison, you must have abducted someone of great importance or in a particularly gruesome manner, earning you a beheading.

Benefit: You have a safe house (that is, a lair) somewhere, a lair that you can store things away from the other villains and even people, one that the authorities don't yet know about, and can quickly find another within a few weeks if one's cover is blown.

Treason: You have willfully worked to bring down the current Monarch of Talingarde, the beloved King Markadian V, called the Brave, of House Darius, seated in Myrcia and Lord Protector of the Six Realms. Treason is the only crime that is still punished by the gruesome ritual of being drawn and quartered. Your stay at Branderscar will be brief.

Benefit: This crime makes you one of the most infamous people in the Six Realms and the attempt will not be easily forgotten, but that means you have a great reputation with all of those who wish ill on the Good people, earning you a stay in the most vile of places, even amid more intelligent monsters interested to hearing about your plot.

Murder: You have killed without just cause and been condemned for it. To be sent to Branderscar Prison, this was no typical killing but a particularly savage and unforgivable act. You may have also killed someone with powerful friends, or gone on a spree. You will be beheaded.

Benefit: You are never unarmed or harmless. You always know where to find a weapon more dangerous than simple improvised ones, or opportunities by which to inflict violence on others.

Sedition: You have attempted to covertly stir up rebellion against your rightful sovereign. This differs from treason in that you used words and incitement, even conspiracy, but did not take action. A subtle difference to be sure, but it is the difference between being hung on the gallows and a slow suffering upon the rack.

Benefit: As Folk Hero, as you can always find simple common people who are gullible enough to believe your rhetoric and give you shelter.

Witchcraft: You have been found guilty of communicating with or consorting with fiends or other wicked beings from beyond. Likely you were captured by the famed witch hunters known as the Lion's Lodge. This is common for warlocks especially. You will be be burned at the stake for this crime.

Benefit: You know a ritual by which you can communicate with an otherworldly being of middling rank and power that can give you information or aid, though always at a price. The ritual requires a human sacrifice, or something equally grave. If you have an Otherworldly Patron, the entity serves or is associated with your Patron, but is not the Patron itself.


The Setting of Talingarde


Note: Please do not hesitate to add new details, new lands, or build on existing details, so long as they don't contradict anything herein.

History
Once the myriad people of Talingarde warred amongst themselves and fought for the idols of Old Gods. The Talireans, as they are known, worshipped those deities and demigods who walked the material realm and could command respect in that heroic, but dark age. One of the many such powers that commanded worship on Talingarde was Asmodeus, the Lord of Nessus, the master of archdevils and ruler of the Nine Hells.

Asmodeus was not necessarily loved, but he was feared and respected. He even inspired the closest thing to a unified kingdom the continent had before the current state of affairs, under the dominion of Malthryn ruled by its tiefling nobility and orcish armies. Dwarven armies kept them at bay, while elvish magics cursed the orcs to degenerate, which allowed the humans to revolt against their fiendish aristocracy, centered in what is now called Keshkevar.

Warlords and knights created fiefdoms, and soon the Earls of Myrcia soon began to consolidate and elected among their number in a Wizengamot overseen by druids and wizards King Roak, who helped them conquer up and down the river that bears his name and further still.

The priesthood of the church of Mitra, brought here from the lands of Palladia, made itself very influential by tending to those who were caught in the middle of the many conflicts, and quickly swelled. A god of many shapes and faces and ceaseless love and power, Mitra was able to find worshippers among all the races of Talingarde, though it was the human Church of Mitra with its bishops and cardinals that slowly eclipsed with their metropolitans the princes of the Keshkevar.

The House of Darius, a Keshkevarine noble house sworn to Mitra, managed to defeat the Lucidorean House of Barca over years of conflict culminating in a peaceful period that has led to the current day. With the loyalty of the Earls of Myrcia secure, House Darius made inroads with every other realm, and by defeating several threats, including the hobgoblin horde and the dragon Abraxas, winning the loyalty of the dwarves and gnomes.

When the dragonborn arrived in their war junks and armed with steel and fire, refugees from a wasting Soulplague on the jungle continent of Chuult, everyone thought it was an invasion, but the King of Myrcia treated with their leader, called the Shogun, and she was convinced by his virtue, and the offer of land to settle in the mostly untamed lands of Lucidor, which was overrun with orcs and gnolls, to swear fealty to him as the first Marchion.

The elves were impressed by this rather than threatened by their new neighbors, and joined in the crusade against the orcs, pushing them forever into the mountains, and the barbarian raiders sworn to the slaughter god Erythnul called the Meleki beyond the Banishlands into the Rough Bounds. Soon after, the ageless Archduke Faeranduil joined their realms through marriage, and Good Queen Maith, the Queen Mother of Myrcia, the still youthful mother of King Markadian V, is one of those royal marriages that binds the realms of elves and men.

With all of the Six Realms allied with the King of Myrcia, fourty years ago one of the many titles claimed was that of Lord Protector of Talingarde, and by being crowned with an imperial crown by the Artifix in Blessed Milatum, he is also sometimes called the Emperor of the Six Realms, though rarely does the High King use such a title, out of humility and wise deference to the sovereignty of the other realms.

Though a succession crisis involving their old rivals, the House of Barca, arose some time shortly thereafter, there have been years of peace and prosperity across the land since. Trade with the grand kingdoms of Palladia and the colonies of Chuult have brought in travelers from all sorts of lands, and many find themselves wanting to stay here. It is an earthly paradise, and in the river basins of Keshkevar the celestials themselves come to settle. Seelie fae dance in the moonlight of Skarria and Helveylyn, and noble genies work alongside the dwarves in their great feats of craftmanship.

What will win? Six realms of incredible Good and paragons of righteousness? Or seven branded wicked bois?

The Church of Mitra
Mitra is a many faced god, sometimes represented as a winged lion in his most unusual form, but has many aspects for each of the races of his worshipers, including the unicorn which is sacred to him, though his form usually has a more fierce leonine face. He is a god of ultimate Goodness, to an overwhelming degree, such that he eclipses the worship of all other gods. Though not a jealous god necessarily, his priesthood make the effort to slowly subsume and erase all others, adopting in syncretic ways the practices of more native religions as "demigods" under Mitra as the overgod that saved Talingarde from certain destruction at the hands of his nemesis, the archdevil Asmodeus. Mitra has different racial faces as the Morninglord, appearing as an elf, dwarf, human halfling or gnome as necessary. Mitra is also varied in gender. Humans and dwarves see Mitra as a male god, halflings and dragonborn see Mitra as a goddess, and elves and gnomes celebrate its ambiguous nature. I will be using "his" because the primary Church of Mitra is dominated by the human dogma.

This is not a forced thing. Though it is true celestials are at work on Talingarde, people flocked to his worship willingly. Many of the Old Gods had been slain in their wars, including many of the founders of the various non-human pantheons. Mitra resurrected several of them in the supposedly climactic battle between Asmodeus and his general Gruumsh that was mirrored in the heavens by what took place when humans, under the exile Sartas, overthrew the tiefling aristocracy that ruled them. As the elder races have turned to pay homage in this time to the mortal King of Myrcia, the blessed vessel of Mitra on Talingarde, so too do these deities now serve Mitra. And in turn, humans worship them as well: St. Corellon is patron to poetry and song, St. Garl to cleverness and laughter, St. Moradin to craft and tradition, and St. Yondalla to hearth and the home. There are a myriad other saints too of smaller gods and heroes from local traditions, sometimes given new names, and incorporated in the many feast days and festivals the Church of Mitra puts on. Bahamut is the only other god that is seen as a peer to Mitra, though even he swears fealty to the solar deity, serving as his loyal companion and even sometimes steed.

Worship of Mitra is found in three basic organized strains: the ecumenical Church of Mitra that is centered in Blessed Miletum under the Artifix, the cloistered anchorites that protect sacred places and texts and live in contemplation of his mysteries, and the wandering friars and nuns that go across the land righting wrongs and supporting the paladins sworn to his work. The ecumenical church also organizes three other ordained orders that help provide bureaucratic support to all Six Realms, to varying degrees of involvement: The magistrates who serve out law and order and act as judges, the inquisitors who seek out remnants of diabolism and possible heresy that may threaten the peace of the Realms,

A male cleric of Mitra is called a flamen (pl. flamines) and wears a variety of colors due to his station. Female clerics of Mitra are called vestals, and keep hearths going at night. Only flamines are eligibles to become bishops (including the princely metropolitans) or ascend to the Curia as a cardinal. However, the spiritual leader of the Church of Mitra, the Artifix, is chosen from the vestals by a sacred procedure and election, and they are also those chosen to become templars and the defenders of their temples and churches.

Six Realms
The Kingdom of Myrcia: Myrcia is the shining high kingdom, primarily humans but including as well a large population of hill dwarves, stout halflings, rock gnomes, a smattering of high elves and dragonborn, and other less common races. It is a feudal but peaceful kingdom along a single river, with rolling farmlands and plentiful markets. Most of its settlements were former strongholds of old Myrcian warlords that have now spilled out to become towns, much less defensible than before. It is the cultural hub of Talingarde.
The Metropolitans of Keshkevar: The ancient cities of Keshkevar are the oldest on Talingarde, from its original human settlers, though many of the buildings were not built by humans, predating even the coming of the elves and dwarves. This was the center of the Malthryn Dominion, but today is the center of power for the Church of Mitra, as their metropolitan bishops have eclipsed the authority of their former princes to rule over the cities. It is a highly cosmopolitan area of all races, and also the highest concentration of tieflings, who once ruled as the aristocracy.
The Marches of Lucidor: Once a wild land ravaged by wild orcs and rampaging gnolls, the coming of the dragonborn proved a boon when they tamed it with their folded steel and iron discipline. The dragonborn now serve was a warrior aristocracy over the marches, which are predominately human, with the highest concentration of forest gnomes outside of Skarria. The dragonborn and the elves are very close as well, and here is the only place where you can find cathedrals and shrines devoted to a god other than Mitra, as Bahamut is respected for his allyship to the sun god. Even though it has been tamed, the people here are rougher, more militant and highly influenced by the fierce honor culture of the dragonborn. Though dueling is forbidden by the church, it and the tradition of vendetta are still practiced here by human and dragonborn alike.
The Archduchy of Helveylyn: The high elves of Helveylyn are political refugees from the grand empire of Gafgarion back on Palladia, where the elves became more and more envious of the younger races. The Veylish elves have instead tried to become closer with the younger races, though they still are slow-moving and often clueless about the quick moving political events to their south. This has also led to a split between their people, as some have moved to the eastern forests in the Banishlands to live more wild, natural lives. The Archduchy is a highly magical place close to the Feywild, and closely tied through marriage to the Kingdom of Myrcia.
The Republics of Gebroan: The three city-states of Gebroan are only one political part of the dwarves, as the old mountain dwarves that still live underground have all but isolated themselves from humankind, leaving hill dwarves to primarily be the face of their race. Mastering the desert with great engineering, and then the sea with their trade, the dwarves are the commercial backbone of Talingarde with their banks, and despite being deeply Good are still somewhat avaricious by nature, countered by their generous and protective demeanor. Each Lord Mayor of the Free Cities is elected for life, and each has chosen to recognize the King of Myrcia as their suzerain, as opposed to the Kings Beneath the Mountains.
The Baronies of Skarria: Skarria is perhaps the strangest and wildest Realm of Talingarde, surrounding the lake of Skarda. The gnomes, a wild people that are more fey than mortal, rule this land, which also includes halflings, humans, and goliaths, which are all strong allies of the gnomes. Their wolf-spider cavalry is feared and their ambush tactics have kept the hobgoblin armies in check, making them more militant than would be expected of gnomes, but they are overall a culture devoted to the protection of the natural world. They have no one leader, and indeed don't have fiefs but rather roaming Baronies of clans and families that move semi-nomadically in a circuit and burrow down in marshes, lake cities, and the forests.
People of Talingarde
Humans: Humans are roughly divided into seven ethnic groups: Myrcian, Keshkevarine, Lucidorean, Riaani, Tantalic, Yutak and Meleki. Myrcians are the Anglo-Saxon kind of western European we expect, while the Keshkevarine are semi-Hellenic North African in culture, with very dark skin and curly hair. Lucidoreans have olive skin and almond eyes, while the Riaani are known for black hair and eyes and reddish skin. The Tantalic people are Scandinavian in look with fair skin and hair and many braids. The Yutak are an almost Inuit type people that live primarily on the Isles of Sleat. The Meleki are a barbaric people wearing woad and a propensity for heterochromatic eyes, as well as cannibalism.
Dwarves: Hill dwarves, known as the Gebroans, are cosmopolitan and sea-faring people, with an eye for commerce but also strongly tied to their cliff-side cities and forts. The mountain dwarves, called the Moresain, are isolationist and blind to the goings on of the world, believing their surface-dwelling kin have turned their backs on their old culture, and can be found in the Crumples and Skysongs.
Elves: The high elves of Talingarde are much more gregarious and tend to be very eager to explore the world of the younger races, though it often seems like a holiday with them and without seriousness. They are called the Veylish. The Shalish elves, wood elves, are those that left Helveylyn to live in the Banishlands and attempt to create a purer world, and tend to hate the younger races. Dark elves are rare in Talingarde, known as Draalish or simply Draal. They are a common threat on Palladia, but only a small redoubt of their kind is found on Talingarde in the Carrow Crags.
Gnomes: The mysterious and mystical forest gnomes are the nobles of Skarria, while the rock gnomes touched by civilization and having lost some of their spark have spread as a more commoner class, though keeping still the fey moods of their cousins. Gnomes are often consider far closer to the fey than the elves are, and indeed the elves do not have a fey origin as they do in other settings, though the elves are still fond of the Seelie and often treat with them.
Dragonborn: The dragonborn come from the jungle continent of Chuult, and according to their own origins they were the chosen children of Bahamut that were created to battled the forces of Tiamat on this world. However, a terrible plague caused them to leave Chuult and resettle in Palladia and Talingarde, and those that settled here in Lucidor have become a warrior-aristocracy there. Something of a samurai vibe is intentional. Samurai with Russian accents.
Halflings: The halflings have as ever been beneath the notice of Good or Evil, living simple lives. They trace their origins to the tribal ghostwise who live in the same steppes of Attallissia as the goblinoids. Stout halflings are those that have settled to an agrarian lifestyle, found in many realms in little shires but most concentrated in the Vales, between Skarria and Myrcia. Lightfoots are a more cosmopolitan and nomadic people, living in small family units that go from town to town, working as artisans and traders.
Orcs: Orcs primarily live in the Desperations and the Rivals, and are mountain folks. They used to be live in what was Helveylyn and Lucidor, as part of the Dominion of Malthryn, and had a proud culture that has now become completely feral. Half-orcs are the best equipped to reclaim that culture, as the elves cursed full-blooded orcs to destroy themselves with enchantments.
Tieflings: Tieflings were descended from humans who consorted with devils, having a distinctly fiendish heritage that can be traced to Asmodeus himself. They formed the aristocracy of the Malthryn Dominion, and nowadays they are scattered and reviled. Not simply the descendants of fiends, those that claim the race of tiefling also claim heritage to the Dominion. They live in isolated groups in partly secret, and many have started to become diluted in blood, inspiring some to enter in somewhat incestuous partnerships. If you choose the feral subrace, you are more likely someone touched by fiendish heritage (likely more demonic than devilish), like a cambion or the like, in your family tree.
Aasimar: Aasimar are especially common in Talingarde. Though celestials, unlike fiends, do not lay with mortals, they still feel the need sometimes to have a personal touch on the world, and will choose unborn children to join their essence with and join as their guardian spirits. Some aasimar are driven down dark paths by the presence of their passenger, however. These fallen aasimar are the only ones available to players in this game, and still hear their weakened conscience, trapped inside their souls as they become terrible villains.
Goliaths: The goliaths are a rare and reclusive people, but known for being paragons of Good who try to best challenges and fight the wicked giants of the ordning. They are part of that giant hierarchy themselves, and serve as the heralds of the storm giants on very rare occasions. They live in the Skerradras mountains and are close allies of the gnomes. There are some minor tribes that live further north, near the Bounds. They have some settlements on the coast as well and make great mariners.
Kenku: The cursed children of Yan-C-Bin, they once sought to betray him and were inflicted with a terrible curse. Far more prevalent on the continent of Chuult, they came around the same time as the dragonborn due to the plague there, and are often associated with carrying it to Keshkevarine ports. They are seen as ill-omened and pests, flocking and often finding themselves in the employ of Evil due to their propensity for making excellent minions.
Goblinoids: Primarily live in the steppe and Cazcus Wild, though goblins and bugbears especially have spread everywhere in roaming bands. Especially reviled by the halflings and gnomes whom they are the natural enemies of, and possibly related to in some very old legends.
Kobolds: Scampering and found in almost any corner but especially caves and mountains, though also cities and the like in the sewers and slums. The perpetual minion of every other people, far departed from their draconic heritage.
Yuan-ti: From the jungle continent of Chuult, the yuan-ti are the racial enemies of the dragonborn and have followed them here, infiltrating on occasion in the worship of Tiamat's consort Meershaulk, and may become involved in the Asmodean conspiracy.