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A while ago, I backed a Savage Worlds setting called Heroes of Terra: The Mushroom War on kickstarter. The best way I can describe it is Super Mario Bros as seen through a pulp action lens. I don't know why, but it really struck a chord with me, so I backed the project at a high enough tier to add a significant NPC to the world. Enter Raekek the Exile. His name is pronounced Ray Kek

The creatures named in the description are roughly analogous to things from the Mario universe, so for the sake of understanding this writeup: Kappa = Koopa; Myconites = Toads; Pudia = Shyguys/Sniffits; Quetzal = Yoshi; Mandragora = Peach; Chainmaw = Chain Chomp.
They're not directly 1:1 comparisons. For instance: myconites are subterranean hive minds and Kappa are a warrior race.

[Quote]Raekek the Exile[/Quote]
[Quote]The kappa called Raekek is far from appearing to be a great warrior. Indeed, he is thin and aged, his brown and yellow scales faded but his blue-inked tattoos still bright and vivid on his back and arms. Raekek swaddles himself in blue robes, hung with fetishes and trinkets; though he carries no bones of the honored dead, he wears a pair of cracked gold-rimmed spectacles of mandragoran make to aid with his failing eyesight. Few who meet Raekek would suspect that this ancient, seemingly addled kappa was instrumental in the rise of the Dragon Emperor to power.

As a younger kappa, Raekek was a brilliant strategist, making up for his lack of physical strength with an intellect and cunning that dwarfed his peers. He guided his tribe to victory after victory, but he longed for more. One night, Raekek followed a falling star out into the wastes, hoping to find the rare and precious metal that sometimes came from such objects; instead, he found a slaughtered tribe, the only survivor a single hatchling. Raekek thought this was a sign from the ancestors and raised the child as his own, teaching him everything he knew about tactics, leadership, and tradition.

Raekek’s prodigy proved to be as apt as his mentor, and far more charismatic. Unfortunately, the greatest lesson that Raekek hoped to impart was lost on the boy—the use of strategic force for maximum effect and minimal casualties. Where Raekek preferred tactics that seized resources with little loss of life, his pupil instead utilized overwhelming force, ruining anything he couldn’t take and forcing the survivors to bend the knee or be destroyed.

As Raekek’s pupil grew into the tyrant now known as the Dragon Emperor, Raekek himself grew disillusioned with what he had created. He was disgusted by his pupil’s disregard for the lives of his own people, and he was horrified by the abandoning of tribal tradition in favor of imperial ambition. After the Mushroom War, Raekek vanished; his disappearance was credited as a field loss rather than a defection, but his recent reappearance gives the lie to that report.

Raekek’s current purpose is unknown. He seems content to act as the leader of his “village of misfits,” but it remains to be seen whether or not his former student is willing to leave sleeping elders lie.[/Quote]

[Quote]Sidebar: The Village of Misfits
Rumor has it that somewhere in the Zacatl Grasslands is a hidden village ruled by a calm kappa. The whispers say that it is a home for anyone who doesn’t fit in and just wants to be left alone, a haven for those who would be spurned by both sides in the Mushroom War. Kappa without courage, myconites who have abandoned the swarm for individuality, lonely pudica, quetzal without a tribe, mandragora who want a life outside of their social hierarchy—all these and more can be found in the so-called Village of Exiles.

The rumors grow ever-stranger with each passing day. Some say that the Village is home to a talking dry bones, a ghost that is hungrier for conversation than for souls, a chainmaw that acts like a friendly dog—no story seems too wild. In some ways, the rumors are even self-affirming; when a strange being with nowhere else to go hears about a village where they might be accepted, they tend to bring their strangeness along with them.

There are other rumors that suggest the Village of Exiles is actually a rebel stronghold where their leader is—calmly, quietly—plotting the end of the Dragon Empire. This ancient and wizened kappa, Raekek, supposedly has a war room hidden in the tunnels under his hut where he organizes and strategizes the downfall of a kappa he once considered a son. If these last rumors are true, then the Village of Exiles may soon become a central rallying point for the revived Mushroom War.[/Quote]

If this sounds cool to you, you should check out the book when it releases. This picture is going to be in that book! Right now they have some preview stuff on Drive Thru RPG, I'm gonna drop some links below. The game uses Savage Worlds Adventure Edition.

Heroes of Terra: Mushroom War Jumpstart
Heroes of Terra: Mushroom War Bestiary Preview
Heroes of Terra: Mushroom War Player's Guide (Rough Cut)

If you enjoy my work consider supporting me monthly on Patreon
Or sending a one-time donation by Buying Me a Ko-Fi

Posted using PostyBirb

Description

A while ago, I backed a Savage Worlds setting called Heroes of Terra: The Mushroom War on kickstarter. The best way I can describe it is Super Mario Bros as seen through a pulp action lens. I don't know why, but it really struck a chord with me, so I backed the project at a high enough tier to add a significant NPC to the world. Enter Raekek the Exile. His name is pronounced Ray Kek

The creatures named in the description are roughly analogous to things from the Mario universe, so for the sake of understanding this writeup: Kappa = Koopa; Myconites = Toads; Pudia = Shyguys/Sniffits; Quetzal = Yoshi; Mandragora = Peach; Chainmaw = Chain Chomp.
They're not directly 1:1 comparisons. For instance: myconites are subterranean hive minds and Kappa are a warrior race.

[Quote]Raekek the Exile[/Quote]
[Quote]The kappa called Raekek is far from appearing to be a great warrior. Indeed, he is thin and aged, his brown and yellow scales faded but his blue-inked tattoos still bright and vivid on his back and arms. Raekek swaddles himself in blue robes, hung with fetishes and trinkets; though he carries no bones of the honored dead, he wears a pair of cracked gold-rimmed spectacles of mandragoran make to aid with his failing eyesight. Few who meet Raekek would suspect that this ancient, seemingly addled kappa was instrumental in the rise of the Dragon Emperor to power.

As a younger kappa, Raekek was a brilliant strategist, making up for his lack of physical strength with an intellect and cunning that dwarfed his peers. He guided his tribe to victory after victory, but he longed for more. One night, Raekek followed a falling star out into the wastes, hoping to find the rare and precious metal that sometimes came from such objects; instead, he found a slaughtered tribe, the only survivor a single hatchling. Raekek thought this was a sign from the ancestors and raised the child as his own, teaching him everything he knew about tactics, leadership, and tradition.

Raekek’s prodigy proved to be as apt as his mentor, and far more charismatic. Unfortunately, the greatest lesson that Raekek hoped to impart was lost on the boy—the use of strategic force for maximum effect and minimal casualties. Where Raekek preferred tactics that seized resources with little loss of life, his pupil instead utilized overwhelming force, ruining anything he couldn’t take and forcing the survivors to bend the knee or be destroyed.

As Raekek’s pupil grew into the tyrant now known as the Dragon Emperor, Raekek himself grew disillusioned with what he had created. He was disgusted by his pupil’s disregard for the lives of his own people, and he was horrified by the abandoning of tribal tradition in favor of imperial ambition. After the Mushroom War, Raekek vanished; his disappearance was credited as a field loss rather than a defection, but his recent reappearance gives the lie to that report.

Raekek’s current purpose is unknown. He seems content to act as the leader of his “village of misfits,” but it remains to be seen whether or not his former student is willing to leave sleeping elders lie.[/Quote]

[Quote]Sidebar: The Village of Misfits
Rumor has it that somewhere in the Zacatl Grasslands is a hidden village ruled by a calm kappa. The whispers say that it is a home for anyone who doesn’t fit in and just wants to be left alone, a haven for those who would be spurned by both sides in the Mushroom War. Kappa without courage, myconites who have abandoned the swarm for individuality, lonely pudica, quetzal without a tribe, mandragora who want a life outside of their social hierarchy—all these and more can be found in the so-called Village of Exiles.

The rumors grow ever-stranger with each passing day. Some say that the Village is home to a talking dry bones, a ghost that is hungrier for conversation than for souls, a chainmaw that acts like a friendly dog—no story seems too wild. In some ways, the rumors are even self-affirming; when a strange being with nowhere else to go hears about a village where they might be accepted, they tend to bring their strangeness along with them.

There are other rumors that suggest the Village of Exiles is actually a rebel stronghold where their leader is—calmly, quietly—plotting the end of the Dragon Empire. This ancient and wizened kappa, Raekek, supposedly has a war room hidden in the tunnels under his hut where he organizes and strategizes the downfall of a kappa he once considered a son. If these last rumors are true, then the Village of Exiles may soon become a central rallying point for the revived Mushroom War.[/Quote]

If this sounds cool to you, you should check out the book when it releases. This picture is going to be in that book! Right now they have some preview stuff on Drive Thru RPG, I'm gonna drop some links below. The game uses Savage Worlds Adventure Edition.

Heroes of Terra: Mushroom War Jumpstart
Heroes of Terra: Mushroom War Bestiary Preview
Heroes of Terra: Mushroom War Player's Guide (Rough Cut)

If you enjoy my work consider supporting me monthly on Patreon
Or sending a one-time donation by Buying Me a Ko-Fi

Posted using PostyBirb