Pathfinder Chronicles - Gazetteer - Asamnet

the surface world. Aided by the cloak of night cast upon
the world by the Starstone strike, the orcs subjugated the
fearful, sickly humans with ease, terrorizing central
and northern Avistan for centuries before the darkness
lifted and rebellious humans cast their new masters from
their gruesome thrones. With the aid of the dwarves and
half lings, the humans made waste of the young orcish
kingdoms and pushed their enemies to the desolate
mountains and darkened forests of the world. The orcs
have never ceded their claim upon their “ancestral” lands,
and the raids have continued throughout history.
Half-orcs are most common along the borderlands of
the hostile wilds, where orcs launch raids against their
civilized cousins. The deep interior of the Kodar Mountains
hides many crumbling orc cities still teeming with the
vicious creatures, while the Menador range—cleared of
orcs in the early days of the Age of Enthronement—once
more echoes with savage war drums. The Hold of Belkzen
takes its name from an orc, and its tribal armies represent
the largest open gathering of orcs in Avistan. Wherever
orcs march hand-in-hand with conf lict, half-orcs thrive.
Further from these strongholds, in the cosmopolitan cities
of the Inner Sea and Garund, the folk of the civilized world
live free from the reality of orcish terror, so half-orcs enjoy
lives relatively free from bigotry and suspicion.
Often despite their best efforts, half-orcs have great
difficulty shedding their savage natures and adapting
to the world of humans. Impatient, impulsive, greedy,
prone to violence when frustrated, and perhaps a bit
stupid, half-orcs display many disagreeable orc traits,
and yet they are also indelibly human. Capable of delicate
craftwork and beautiful art, most half-orcs have a deeply
hidden compassion and empathy. They are capable
of the full spectrum of human emotions, including
some completely alien to their more savage side. These
emotions gain half-orcs intense ridicule in orc society,
but the perceived weakness is actually the half-orc’s
greatest strength. While half-orcs commonly serve at the
very bottom of orc raiding parties and in the dregs of orc
Gazetteer: Characters
society, their natural cunning and ingenuity affords them
opportunities to lead by example and take charge of the
very orcs who had brutalized them in youth. For all the
mockery and derision full-blooded orcs heap upon their
half-breed cousins, they’re certainly willing to follow
them if the half-orc consistently provides victorious
plans and lucrative spoils—provided, of course, that the
half-orc is capable of defending his rule in combat. Some
orc warlords breed them as tacticians and spies.
Adventuring half-orcs often relish the chance to move
from place to place, especially to lands far-removed from
the depredations of the orcs. A soldier in an orc or human
army subsists on meager pay until he dies in battle. The
adventuring life often has the same end, but with the promise
of a far greater reward. Such half-orcs often serve adventuring
parties as “dumb muscle,” but ironically, those half-orcs who
survive a lifetime of bigotry to become adventurers have done
so almost exclusively thanks to their wits.
classes
While the majority of characters struggling to survive across
the face of Golarion are commoners, experts, or warriors, truly
exceptional heroes are made of sterner stuff. The following
section explores each standard class in detail, giving it a place
in the world. These descriptions also include alternative
rules for these classes designed to match their abilities to the
f lavor of the Pathfinder Chronicles campaign setting.
Barbarian
Barbarians are a misunderstood lot. Much of this
confusion comes from the wide variety of barbarian lifestyles.
While the tribes who rule the Lands of the Linnorm
Kings follow the ancient traditions and rites of their ancestors,
making them among the most
“civilized” barbarians, their brethren who
wander the wastes of Sarkoris are little
more than monsters, attacking and
devouring anything that crosses their
path, be it man or beast.
Kellid
The curious and violent nature of the Kellid tribesmen of Avistan’s northern plains lead many to
lives of exploration and adventure in the temperate southlands of the Inner Sea. Brawny, darkhaired,
and tempered by the harsh conditions common to the f latlands of the Mammoth
Lords or Numeria, Kellids are considered primitive by much of the civilized world. Some
Kellids practice an ancient animistic religion, but most bow these days to Gorum.
Trapped between the treacherous Witch Queen of Irrisen to the west and the disastrous
Worldwound to the east, Kellids tend to distrust magic, and even those who have
abandoned their superstitious homelands for the civilized south tend to hold arcane
matters in low regard. Kellids are common throughout Avistan (especially on the
fringes of Old Cheliax). Most speak Hallit and have little time for the fancy written
languages of weaker peoples.
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