Hazlan & Role Playing Ideas
Preface
Whether you’re unfamiliar or familiar with Hazlan (or Nordhazlan, which is the territory represented in our setting), it can be both fun and rewarding to share and highlight role playing concepts and ideas.
At least at the time of this post, there has been a consistent group of various players, ranging across various time zones, keeping Hazlan alive as a setting full of big potential. With the upcoming NCE, it was high time I started this thread in the forum, and I welcome players to ask questions or bounce ideas around.
What I’ll do is begin with some basics, and with NCE being announced officially just today, I won’t polish this post up too much until later.
Natives of Hazlan, Factions, and Themes
The vast majority of the population is made up of the Rashemi. While the Mulan often seem favored by many players, I can’t stress enough how important and fun playing a Rashemi can be (I’ve played both.) There are quite a few unrealized niches yet open in the setting for Rashemi players to consider or entice you.
In Nordenvall Village, which is perhaps one of the best developed hubs (thanks Onkel Bob), one big role not yet played is a Rashemi craftsman. While npc Rashemi craftsman exists, if a player were to play a Rashemi who becomes a master craftsman, that would be quite an important role to play, and there is even one rental property in Nordenvall Village that can only be leased to a Rashemi. So the setting and development team is ready for such a role. Whether your craftsman becomes a master of many or a master of one, is entirely up to you. And the various crafts have been a huge generator of role play in Nordenvall Village for well over a year or two, with a group effort and it often gives purpose when expeditions leave for foreign lands.
Other roles for Rashemi serfs are there for the taking in Nordenvall Village. There is a spa! In the spa, there are barbers, massage therapist, security guards, and attendants. Could you imagine a Rashemi with a razor in hand, shaving the scalp of the Mulan as their occupation, while the Rashemi rebels in the Tuskmorke Skoven are being scalped?
There is also a theater for bards. One big concept that I’ve yet to see a bard fill is one who creates works of religious art, which would make total sense given the themes involving religious devotion and obedience in Hazlan to the Church of the Lawgiver.
As for yet, the Rashemi rebels have not become much more than that npc group that hides out in the woods. That said, there may be some activity on that front, quietly brewing, and that is a huge story arc just waiting to happen. If you are interested in rebellion in Hazlan, as a native Rashemi, feel free to reach out for ideas on how to get involved. You’ll find the players of Mulan more than willing to play along to their own character’s demise in service of good story development in Nordhazlan.
Rebellion though in Hazlan can be nuanced. What makes Hazlan dramatically different as a domain is the religious intolerance. Rebellion could be that Rashemi who worships Hala in secret and not just that Rashemi rebel in the skoven charging at you with a greataxe. Rebellion could be a series of seemingly isolated acts of a serf, who is thought to be loyal by their Mulan rishad, who discreetly seeks to undermine Mulan society.
And then there are the Rashemi who advance by becoming Rashemi Enforcers, cracking a whip and serving to instill fear among their own kind. Some Rashemi have even gone on to take the oaths of the Gudkaede, serving in the militant branch of the Church of the Lawgiver at Nordenvall Fane.
One thing that is very distinct about Nordenvall Village is that it falls under the authority of the Fane, as it is land leased to the Fane. It is a faith community, and so the theme of sin and potential for heresy is always at play.
There is only one Kontor for a Fane. The Kontor is a venerable and feared priest for the faith community of Nordenvall Village. The Kontor is the one who delivers the sermons and also hears confessions and doles out punishments. He or she is the gatekeeper to the Iron Paradise, for many. I will point out that in the Gudkaede order, not every character is a priest.
The Dancing Crane provides other opportunities for Rashemi serfs, as does the opium den in their basement.
The bazaar is yet another developed area where empty stalls are available to players to use.
And one of the easiest ways for a Rashemi serf to get heavily involved is to have them in service to a Mulan pc. We have had at least three Mulan houses represented in game for several years now.
The Monastery of the Iron Path (thank you Herkles) is just waiting for players to seize the opportunity. With the recently added Tattooed Monk, a Mulan monk has a beautifully developed monastery dedicated to the Saint Blessed Fezima, who is credited with having led the conversion of Hazlani, saving their souls from the Hell of Slaves. The monastery is rich in detail, and is one of my all time favorites areas to hold scenes.
There is also a player faction based in Nordenvall Village: The Seekers of Jei Aryubanni. With their established Lodge and Finder’s Shop, they can easily be found in the village, and serve as a point of contact, as well, for many foreign visitors.
Outside of Nordenvall Village, we have the territory of Vraylok Ossur Kryllian. DM Stygian Witch or Brimstone most often represent the important npc, and some Mulan and Rashemi players have found roles in this niche.
Beyond that, of course, are the most infamous members of King Hazlik’s Red Academy. In Hazlan, there has only ever been one Red Wizard, and that refers to the King himself. The Red Academy has a place for any Rashemi or Mulan who meets their requirements, and even martial classes might find a role as guards or servants there. Interested in an outcast? While calibans are not tolerated in Hazlan, there are the Blooded Ones. This application required subrace has had at least a few players take a spin at it, but I have yet to see one keep at it for the duration.
Arcane classes, other than wizards, war mages, or sorcerers, also have a place in the Red Academy, such as Beguiler or Hexblade. Warlocks, due to their pact with an aspect of Myterri, as the Lawgiver faith sees it, are forbidden.
Over the years, players have held regular lectures and events within the Red Academy.
So there are two supported factions and one player faction, at minimum, at the writing of this post.
Foreigners in Hazlan, beyond hitting up the “Fire Mines” and such
While it is true, compared to other domains, that foreigners are less likely to find a place in Hazlan, it certainly does and can happen under certain circumstances. Should one convert to the Lawgiver faith, a foreigner could certainly find some measure of acceptance.
Given how much of a role religion plays though in Hazlan, where everyone is expected to attend mass twice a week (assumed practice, unless one role plays that they are skipping services), anyone who is a heathen stands out and is viewed as a dangerous liability. That said, some of our most memorable scenes in Nordenvall Village have been when foreigners do make an attempt to find either sanctuary in Hazlan from trouble elsewhere or who try to find a place, whether as a mercenary or other.
While locals are naturally wary and unfriendly towards foreigners, the players behind the scowls or mistrust are always happy to entertain rp possibilities, as long as we strike that balance between respecting the setting while also exploring paths for a foreigner to get involved in Hazlani rp.
This hardly exhausts all the ideas, but this first post is intended to share a few and to get things started, especially while some may yet be brainstorming ideas for NCE.