Qualinost


 Yes, Qualinost is the name of an ancient Elven city in the Dragonlance saga, abandoned by the Qualinesti Elves at the beginning of the War of the Lance.

http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/art/s/t/stardriv/qualinost1.jpg.html

 

I liked the name so I use it in my own campaign world, but the city of Qualinost in the Entwood is very different from the one in Dragonlance. Contrast this description of the Dragonlance Qualinost:

http://www.geocities.com/lunastuff/place/Quali.html

 

Whereas this is more how I envision the Qualinost of my own campaign world:

"Qualinost is the major High Elf city on the continent of Tyrannos. The Qualinesti craftsmen produce Mithril armor that is traded with other Elven nations, but never with the kingdoms of Man or (heaven forbid!) the Goblinoids. The Qualinesti have recently made the decision to sever diplomatic ties with Eastrealm (one of the kingdoms of Man, adjacent to the Entwood) for 100 years, and any non-fey who trespass into the Entwood are to be executed on sight." 

 

No "crushed rose quartz" or "silver and white stone", I'm afraid. The city's founders were able to use Wood Shape, Plant Growth and Wall of Thorns to construct their homes out of living trees. Over time, as the  city grew, some buildings were constructed on the forest floor.

 

Transmute Mud to Rock, Wall of Stone and Stone Shape were handy spells for that purpose (moss is encouraged to grow on the stone, which the Elves find aesthetically pleasing as well as serving as camouflage).

However, no trees are ever felled to make way for houses, which places an upper limit on the size of any single building. This means that  Qualinost covers a much wider surface area than a typical human city of the same population. The number of Elves who choose to live in Qualinost is actually declining, and some of the city's buildings stand empty. Many young Elves feel stifled by the insular nature of the Qualinesti, and leave for nearby Human cities instead, or take up the bivouacking lifestyle of the Grugach. 

 

Qualinost is ruled by a council of 9 philosopher-kings, mostly Wizards and Clerics. Only the wisest citizens are selected for the council, and it is a lifetime appointment. Due to the Elven lifespan, new council members rarely need to be chosen more than once in a century. 

 

The Seldanqith festival is from 2nd Edition (The Complete Book of Elves, TSR 1992): http://www.add2.dk/add_filer/elfshandbook.pdf 

 

Although most descriptions are short on detail, I have taken a lot of inspiration from the bacchanalian orgies of ancient Rome (Bacchus was the Roman name for Dionysus) as well as Aleister Crowley's modern interpretation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionysus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maenads 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacchanal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleister_Crowley

 

The Archdruid Mael and his followers do not worship Dionysus, taking a True Neutral rather than Chaotic Neutral aspect of nature. I haven't yet fixed the details of the Centaur's religion, so if you have any suggestions then by all means send them to me. It doesn't even have to be from the ancient Greek pantheon - feel free to pick something from the Celtic or other traditions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid

 

Wood Elf, Poison Elf, Qualinesti and Grugach can all be found locally in the city of Helsmuth where the game takes place. Gray Elves and Drow would be travellers from further afield.

 

The Elven city of Qualinost is situated in the Entwood: millions of hectares of forest on the south-western end of the continent of

Tyrannos. The city lies well-concealed, a short distance from the banks of the Bréleñsíre. This river was a major conduit of trade

between the Elves and Eastrealm (one of the kingdoms of man). However, the Qualinesti have only recently severed diplomatic ties and sealed their borders. Any non-fey who trespass into the Entwood will be executed on sight. Qualinesti have the standard Elven statistics: DEX+2 CON-2 Preferred class is Wizard. Most Qualinesti are Lawful Neutral.

  

There are many communities of Wood Elves in the Entwood. They do not build cities, but tend to intermingle with small towns and villages of Centauri, Sprites, Korred, Lycanthropes (Werebears and Wereboar) and other forest creatures. Elite units of Wood Elf Rangers act as enforcers for the Unicorns, hunting down Goblinoid invaders or anything else that threatens the forest. Stats are: STR+2 DEX+2 CON-2 INT-2 CHA-2 Most Wood Elves are True Neutral

  

Also inhabiting the Entwood are the Grugach: tribal, bivouacking Elves who are a law unto themselves. With complete disdain for even the semi-civilized existence of the Qualinesti, the Grugach live as one with nature. Their preferred class is Sorcerer, although they employ mischievous fey majick rather than the more commonplace fireball or magic missile. Most Grugach are Chaotic Neutral, and many become Maenads or join one of the other mystery cults of the sylvan deities. DEX+2 INT-2

 

The diametrical opposite of the Grugach, Poison Elves are the urbanized, hookah-smoking assassins of Elvenkind. Prone to substance abuse and impulsive actions, they are nevertheless very capable survivors. Poison Elf statistics are STR-2 DEX+2 INT+2 WIS-2. Most Poison Elves are Neutral Evil alignment, and their preferred class is  Rogue. They are originally descended from the Qualinesti, but were disaffected with the insular nature of their bretheren. Living in Human cities, they gradually developed into a separate race. Many expect the Poison Elves to breed themselves out of existence by intermarrying with Humans, but it is little known that many of them also have Shadar-Kai parentage.

  

The Drow of the Underdark make occasional forays into the surface world, and in particular the Human city of Helsmuth is relatively

accepting of them. Poison Elves bear the Drow no animosity: although they consider them arrogant and untrustworthy, they keep that opinion to themselves. The Drow supply the assassins' guild with rare poisons and other tools of the trade, in exchange for information. Mezoberranzanyr spies are everywhere, furthering the arcane designs of the spider queen Lloth. Female Drow are usually Clerics, and the race is synonymous with the Chaotic Evil alignment.

  

The aloof Gray Elves are the closest to the Leshay ancestor race (or at least, they like to think so...). STR-2 DEX+2 CON-2 INT+2. Their flying citadels roam the planet, and their armies of dragon riders are universally feared. However, Gray Elves generally avoid interfering with "lesser races" - they are more concerned with events on other planes of existence. The wild rumours of peasants abducted by Gray Elves for sinister experiments are surely nothing more than the superstitious, ignorant babbling of xenophobes ...