Classes: Indian (Dungeon, Jan. 1996)
Special Classes:
Weapons: Indian (Dungeon, Jan. 1993); bade'in weapons from Dark Sun
The Iron Autocracy stretches over a vast continent and includes mountains, forests, deserts, wastes and an inland sea. The variety of flora and fauna within the Autocracy is equally as great.
There are a variety of races both native and foreign to Samru in the Iron Autocracy which, unlike Sasiru Kian, is willing to harbor strangers (a tendency probably coincident with its more flexible social class divisions). The native race of the Iron Autocracy is the satamharanthu, feline bipeds of great magical and personal power. While the satamharanthu are the ruling race, they give the drow and grey lines of the aseku great responsibility as well, and lesser aseku lines can also enter fairly high-ranking callings. Half-aseku are fairly rare, usually of a human/aseku mix. These tend to be trained in magic and kept as part-slaves. Enslaved or registered mages are called Aquiescents. Humans in the Iron Autoracy are Saarai, slender, black-skinned people with curly brown or black hair and dark brown or black eyes. Their ancestors took blood-oaths to the dragons-imperate and they are thus closely tied to the ruling class by bonds of magic and tradition. Many Saarai train as engineers or psionicists. Interestingly, Saarai eye color is linked to psionic traits. Those with blue eyes are "Seekers," or clairsentients; those with grey eyes are "Movers," or psychokinetics; those with green eyes are "Healers," or psychometabolists; those with violet eyes "Binders," or telepaths, those with red eyes (and often who are albino) are "Jammers," or psychoports; and those with white eyes (often blind) are "Aides," or metapsionicists. Yuanu-ti and Kiani seldom stay long in the Iron Autocracy, but those denizens of Sasiru Kian who care to stay may also enter any of the free or slave callings. Visitants may choose to practice a free calling, but are never enslaved. Like satamharanthu, they are killed rather than chained. Very few visitants, however, are allowed to stay long on Samru, since the satamharanthu prefer to keep their world-dealings private (and possibly since the Avatarchs have more difficulty tempting alien minds, and thus are likely to pressure their vassals to reject visitants' requests to stay). Business, most satamharanthu firmly maintain, can be carried out between the spheres.
In addition, individuals may be physically altered by the darkflux' effects or by genetic mutation, which produces 'aberrants.' Aberrants may be physically altered, in which case they tend to be killed or enslaved, or mentally altered, in which case they are usually mad (and thus killed) or psionic (and thus enslaved). For the most part, physical aberrancy has been bred out of the Iron Autocracy while mental aberrancy has been informally bred into the population (as wild powers) and formally bred into the slave Hounds. Thus, most free individuals in the Iron Autocracy have some sort of wild psionic power, with those possessing the more potent powers often able to rise in social class and settle in a high-ranked calling. A few free individuals are fully functional psionics, but they are either registered with the templars (usually as Tracers), or jealously guard their secret in order to gain a political edge. Registered or enslaved psionicists have their faces tatooed with psi-sigils that can only be seen through aura-reading, or when they are using their psionic powers. These sigils take various forms but usually frame or cross the face.
The Iron Autocracy is a very urban and tolerant empire, home to a variety of races and willing to accept a variety of cultural differences. The satamharanthu themselves are politically and diplomatically adept, busy maintaining their hold over an autocracy that spreads not only over this world but over the entire crux cruciform. While satamharanthu themselves are extremely sensitive to political favor and disfavor and have developed a complicated "game" of status indicators such as gift-giving, seating arrangements, invitation order and even color schemes, they only engage in such delicate manipulations among themselves. When they need to deal with other races, they tend to adopt the customs of the foreigners.
Once the satamharanthu have defeated an area, they purge it of oppositional forces and then maintain a very loose rulership over it, preferring to leave the defeated people to their own affairs as long as they continue to acknowledge the satamharnthu as their masters. In general, the satamharanthu do not meddle in the day-to-day affairs of their subjects. A numerically scarce race, there is one ascendate in charge of each dominiusi on Samru, one satamharanthu to act as its aspect, and one satamharanthu dominate in charge of each state within the dominiusu. The rest of the satamharanthu are either viators or diplomats and functionaries among the other quanrusu. The templars, carnifexes, technarchs and warmasters on Samru are usually aseku, especially in Yijan Jalil. This arrangement makes it rather simple for the subject races of the autocracy to carry on their lives, as most of them will never see their land's ruler or any other member of the dominant race.
The satamharanthu have certain divisions of labor, "callings," that are similar, but less rigid, to the Sasiru Kian castes. For the most part, any individual may move freely from one calling to another (exceptions are the aristocracy of the aspects and dominates, and the specifically guarded profession of the viators). Individual races' guilds and other professional or social institutions are generally left alone by the satamharanthu once the race has been subjected to satamharanthu rulership; however, they are subject to being overseen by the satamharanthu templars. The castes of ascendate, aspect, templar, carnifex, technarch and warmaster are called The Exalted Castes. Those who serve in the Tarin Tor belong to the lictor caste, one of the The Cardinal Castes. Those who work the land or serve belong to The Subordinate Caste.
An ascendate is a being who has performed the correct rituals and survived the metamorphosis into a Dragon-Imperate. These dragons-imperate are intensely sorcerous creatures with complex minds and inscrutable motives. They feed upon souls to draw strength. These souls are captured in Pactblades, also known as Swords of Tribute, Hellblades, or simply, Thieves. Pactblades steal the soul of anyone who is killed with the sword, locking the soul into the blade (or rather, into a pocket dimension that the blade shunts stolen energies into, but that's an academic point). The swords are emptied of their captured souls in a templar ceremony that transfers the souls to the dragon-imperate. Some individuals can themselves draw the soul-energy from the Pactblades; powerful templars and others have sometimes mastered this ability. Usually, however, it is not done without a dragon-imperate's permission. Pactblades, like Baneblades, have a way of bonding with their owner. A Pactblade forms an akasic bond with its owner after three days of bodily proximity. The bond will wear out and need to be reestablished at the rate of 1 day for every year the blade has been borne by that individual. While a Pactblade is bonded to its owner, however, it reduces the aging rate of the individual, so that for every year the individual lives, s/he only ages one day. All officers in the Tarin Tor are issued Pactblades; the near-immortality granted by possession of a Pactblade is a strong incentive for many to join the Tarin Tor.
In the Iron Autocracy, the aspect draws and channels the ascendate's powers. Aspects head the politics of their domiusi, both on Samru and with spelljamming races, and oversee vast bureaucracies of competitive functionaries. As a result, while powerful, aspects are also too busy to engage in much more than the ritual appearance at a court or state function. Business is tended to by a triumvirate formed by the templar-illuminate, the head carnifex (who has no differentiating title), and the grand technarch. Theoretically, the warmaster is equally as powerful as the triumvirate, but in fact the warmaster usually accompanies the aspect and remains uninvolved in most political business.
Templars are the bureaucrats and the carnifexes are the police. The two branches are rivals but often work together on investigations. Templars oversee the breeding and use of Hounds, psionically gifted slaves who are pampered and used to hunt down fugitives (especially renegade mages) and traitors. Carnifexes oversee the breeding and use of their hunting beasts (DDG Dharzi Hunting Hounds), which never lose a scent once it has been found. Between the two branches, they command a potent force to keep (or abuse) the peace.
| Calling | Type | Race |
| Ascendate | Uruler of Dominius | Dragon ascendate |
| Aspect-Thaumatarch | Head of Dominius | Satamharanthu |
| Templar (-Illuminate) | Templar | Satamharanthu, Aseku (drow, grey) |
| Carnifex | Torturer | Satamharanthu, Aseku (drow, grey) |
| Technarch | Facilitator (engineer), Perceiver (scientist), Wardens (tend wards) | Satamharanthu, Aseku (drow, grey) |
| Warmaster | Cavalier, Duelist | Satamharanthu, Aseku (drow, grey) |
| Dominate | Ruler of a state | Satamharanthu |
| Visitant | Spelljammer, other | Hallanar, Illithidi, Tyrant, Thri-Kreen, Hur-Kevakka |
| Viator | Spelljammer, of Samru | Satamharanthu |
| Paragon/Heller | Paragon (paladin) or Heller (antipaladin) | Aseku |
| Defiler | Defiler, Elictor, Chaote (wild), Elementalist (darksun) | Aseku |
| Chanteur | Bard | Aseku |
| Lictor | Fighter | Aseku |
| Tracer | Bounty Hunter, Scout | Aseku |
| Predate | Thief, Assassin | Aseku |
| Merchant | Merchant | Aseku |
| Aquiescent | Half-Slave: Mage | Half-aseku |
| Esthant | Slave: Artist | Half-aseku, human |
| Hound | Slave: Psionic | Half-aseku, human |
| Gladiator | Slave: Any fighter | Half-aseku, human |
| Milites | Slave: Any figher, as a soldier | Half-aseku, human |
| Plebate | Slave: Farmer | Half-aseku, human |
| Servile | Slave: Laborer | Half-aseku, human |
Slaves have all had their faces tatooed; this is a practice the Iron Autocracy shares with Sasiru Kian, having found it a convenient way of keeping the subservients from making escape attempts. All slaves have a vertical black bar running across the right side of their face, and horizontally across the backs of their hands. Acquiescents are tattooed in particular patterns that indicate their school and mentors, as part of the satamharanthu attempt to keep track of their mages. In addition, templars are branded on the right hand and left shoulder blade with the mark of the ascendate they serve. Templars found in a rival dominius are tortured and questioned, and usually killed or enslaved. Like the tattooing of slaves, this practice tends to keep the naturally ambitious and untrustworthy templars from attempting to act as double agents.
In contrast to the superstitious Yijan Jalil, nobody in the Shadowed Lands worships deities per se; the god-like abilities of the ascendates and bloodfealts are recognized and templars draw power from them, but they are not given the same sort of religious adoration that deities are given. The satamharanthu recognize the power of the avatararchs, from their old dealings with those corrupting, malign powers. However, instead worshipping them, the avatarchs are shunned and even blasphemed against, and the satamharanthu take strong steps to prevent the avatarchs from once more gaining a grip over their minds and lands. Thus, there are no healers, druids, clerics or rangers in the Shadowed Lands; no class that calls upon the power of the gods. The only exception is the (anti) paladin, who does not worship a deity but who draws on the ascendates' or bloodfealts' powers like a templar in order to carry out the ruler's will where or in ways that a templar cannot.
This is done because the avatarchs can manipulate what the Shadowed Lands call the darkflux, the akasic energy that runs along the pattern of the world and crystal sphere. They use their powers to tempt individuals to evil, drawing such individuals into their grasp by granting them powers, tapping their dreams and nightmares and giving them shape. [1] Each of the bloodfealts, ascendates and aspects is engaged in a constant struggle against the avatarchs. Some have given in and revel in evil, mere vassals of the avatarchs, and some resist. [2] Most bloodfealts have accepted the avatarchs' rule, mostly as a result of natural yuanu-ti amorality. Regardless of whether or not a ruler resists the avatarchs, each has been "given" a mendicant that answers to the avatarch but can be summoned by, and does the bidding of, the bloodfealt, ascendate or aspect. These mendicants, called binders in Sasiru Kian and devourers in the Iron Autocracy, roam the dominius or boundland to which it has been sent and acts autonomously when not working. The gift cannot be rejected; the avatarchs will not take the mendicant back or stop it from serving when called.
Because mages also manipulate the darkflux, they are particularly sucseptible to the avatarchs' temptations. Thus, most mages are cruentors (bloodmages), defilers (lifemages), or chaotes (wild mages). Magery is a rare and protected skill, with most mages able to trace a lineage back many generations through their masters and affiliated by ancient friendship or enmity with each other as a result of those lineages. Templars record the existence of every known mage and keep careful track of their whereabouts and doings; the use of magic is strictly regulated, and teaching a new mage is forbidden without the express permission of the aspect. As magic in the Shadowed Lands has a variety of sensory effects due to the sensitized darkflux, its use is somewhat difficult to hide. [3] This isn't to say, of course, that it doesn't happen more often than the templars would like to admit.
Other, more benign forms of magical manipulation are possible in the Shadowed Lands, and foreigners and visitants sometimes practice such arts; however, many turn quickly to the faster and more powerful evil forms of magic once they see the advantage such forms offer.
The plague that affected Yijan Jalil a few decades ago occurred in the Shadowed Lands many centuries ago. Thus, genetic mutations are rare but not feared, and the various peoples deal differently with their appearance. Psionic power appears most commonly as a wild talent, but some devotants (both genetically programmed and personally motivated) have become psionic masters.
The most potent of powers in the Shadowed Lands are the bloodfealts (in Sasiru Kian) and the ascendates (in the Iron Autocracy), called collectively the dragons-imperate. These beings have evolved into draconic beings and have the powers to divine curse and ancient curse [4] as well as speak thaumaturgy verus. They are, however, usually engaged in political struggle with each other, the avatarchs, or various enemies (the native Empire of the Ebon Depths, the alien illithidi or eye tyrants, etc) and seldom pay attention to the mortal affairs of their lands. In Sasiru Kian, the vizier is only a mortal stand-in for the absent bloodfealt, but in the Iron Autocracy, the aspect can draw and channel the ascendate's powers and is thus the second-most powerful in the Shadowed Lands. They head the politics of their lands, both on Samru and with sojourning [5] races, and oversee vast bureaucracies of competitive functionaries. As a result, while powerful, the aspects are also too busy to engage in much more than the ritual appearance at a court or state function.
Corruption runs rampant in the Shadowed Lands, as might be expected in an area where the Avatarchs are engaged in a constant campaign to seduce all intelligence to evil. As a result, politics is much more lively an activity than might be expected in an ancient and decadent empire. Since both Venefaxae and Satamharanthu are virtually immortal (albeit obviously not invulnerable), high-level political manuevering must be considered in terms of decades or centuries rather than years. At the same time, given Sasiru Kian's court Poisoners and the Iron Autocracy's court Carnifexes, it is obvious that lower-level political manuevering is often quick, decisive, and deadly.
1. Because the avatarchs take an active interest in tempting individuals, the Ravenloft Power Check rule, p. 18-20, is in effect in the Shadowed Lands.
2. For the 'rewards' given thralls and champions, see Slaves to Darkness, Warhammer, pp. 114-136.
3. Dragonkings pp. 48-51.
4. Dragonkings
5. Spelljammer
| Dominiusi | City-Title | Aspect | Devourers | Patron |
| Damnare-Elas | The Brooding City | Eserchie of the Terror Throne | Rendface, Master of the Despairing Silence | Culpate (guilt) |
| Ferousce-Dhir | The Bastion | Sadai | Maulgrim*, Who Tears His Foes Asunder | Iron Scream (bloodshed) |
| Demitere-Halshas | The Reborn City | Ialde | Ripwight, Lord of the Mocking Laughter | Demean (infamy) |
| Maledecte-Sivaiel | City of Masques | Kainen | Fumewrack, He Who Howls Blasphemies | Apostate (blasphemy) |
| Neniar-Shradu | The Shattered City | Alloces | Redichor**, Who Reaps the Decaying Souls | Dirge (death) |
| Discrimne-Jilhu | The Vanishing City | Cimeies | Ashichor**, Who Stalks the Forsaken Paths | Parlous (danger) |
| Invidis-Keatvi | Of the Brazen Gates | Daletay | Loathspur, Whose Step Shakes the Land | Spite (hatred) |
| Falasce-Kharnaeil | Of the Carmine Mist | Sier | Spumetainter, Who Twists the Irreality | Meretrice (deception) |
| Simular-Aile | City of Black Whimsy | Kasdaye | Rutwarper | Pedant (insincerity) |
| Invisus-Isiti | The Desolate City | Yroul | Ripwail, Who Rides the Firestorm | Nocuous (obnoxious) |
| Venophasce-Odhi | The Iron City | Iobel | Fluxgore, The Eldritch Dancer | Sardonicus (black magic) |
| Celare-In | Of the Ashen Towers | Cabiel | Howlbitter, Who Vomits Darkness | Nocturne (darkness) |
| Mendasce-Milhaiel | The Metallic Garden | Carniveau | Cutreaper, Lord of Lost Heresies | Cant (lies) |
| Maerere-Jharaiel | The Derelict City | Jezalel | Leperfury, Who Purges the Night | Grieve (despair) |
| Ignavis-Quadhi | Of the Myriad Beasts | Jerathel | Slashbiter, Who Screams Between the Stars | Craven (cowardice) |
Each dominius is run by its ascendate or aspect, and governed by the triumvirate. Only about one percent of any dominius consists of the aristocracy (the dominates, templars, carnifexes, etc). About forty percent are free, and about sixty percent slave. The structure of the dominiusi is basically feudal, and the dominiusi is divided into seperate states that are ruled by dominates. The aspect of each dominiusi has a very similar household to the dominate (described below), except in addition he or she has a templar-illuminate, who oversees the templars and the hounds and is in charge of watching visitants and foreigners; a carnifex, who oversees the carnifexes and works with the templars, and a master technarch, who oversees the dominius' technarchs. The aspect's high warmaster oversees the dominates as well as the usual military sections. The aspect is personally in charge of keeping track of defilers.
Dominates are usually located in large cities; however, smaller cities, towns and villages may be more or less free of the satamharanthu presence, although there is usually at least a templar living somewhere in the village who reports to the dominate once a year or whenever there is need.
Mendasce-Milhaiel
Capital: City of Metallic Gardens
Aspect: Carniveau
Terrain: Stormspike Mountain
Majority Race: Sati, Human - Saarai, Aseku - grey, drow
Other Races: Human - Mul
Invidus-Keatvi
Capital: City of the Brazen Gates
Aspect: Deletay
Terrain: The Crystal Desert
Majority Race: Sati, Human - Saarai, Aseku - grey, drow
Other Races: Human - Mul
Falasce-Kharnaeil
Capital: City of the Carmine Mist
Aspect: Sier
Terrain: The Crystal Desert
Majority Race: Sati, Human - Saarai, Aseku - grey, drow
Other Races: Human - Mul
Neniar-Shradu
Capital: The Shattered City
Aspect: Alloces
Terrain: Seeking Mountains, Dreaming Sea
Majority Race: Sati, Human - Saarai, Aseku - grey, drow
Other Races: Human - Mul
Damnare-Elas
Capital: The Brooding City
Aspect: Eserchie of the Terror Throne, Imperate
Terrain: Rusted Lands, Dreaming Sea, Broken Mountains
Majority Race: Sati, Human - Saarai, Aseku - grey, drow
Other Races: Dray (The Rusted Lands), Bade'in - Uhruk (Broken Mts), Human - Mul
The Brooding City
[Palace Map: I.C.E. ShadowWorld, Jaiman - Citadel of the Dragonlord]
Venophasce-Odhi
Capital: The Iron City
Aspect: Iobel
Terrain: Rusted Lands, Broken Mountains
Majority Race: Sati, Human - Saarai, Aseku - grey, drow
Other Races: Bade'in - Uhruk (Broken Mts), Human - Mul
Celare-In
Capital: City of the Ashen Towers
Aspect: Cabiel
Terrain: Rusted Lands
Majority Race: Sati, Human - Saarai, Aseku - grey, drow
Other Races: Human - Mul
Invisus-Isiti
Capital: The Desolate City
Aspect: Yroul
Terrain: Chaos Wastes, Bone Mountains
Majority Race: Sati, Human - Saarai, Aseku - grey, drow
Other Races: Aarakocra - Kiar (The Chaos Wastes), Dray (The Chaos Wastes), Bade'in - Uhruk (Bone Mts), Human - Mul
Simular-Aile
Capital: City of Black Whimsy
Aspect: Kasdaye
Terrain: Bone Mountains, Shadow Forest, Dreaming Sea
Majority Race: Sati, Human - Saarai, Aseku - grey, drow
Other Races: Bade'in - Uhruk (Bone Mts), Human - Mul
Ilrahu-Ras, City of the Broken Gate
[Maps: Task Force Game's Lejentia: Skully's Harbor & Fort Bevits]
This small two-island city off the coast of Simular-Aile is a primarily military outpost that marks the setting-off point for ships bound to the Cognoterre from the Iron Autocracy. The island is also the point where visitors from the Cognoterre enter the Iron Autocracy. The city is primarily run by aseku and humans but the city reflects the odd architecture of the Malachaim, who ran the island before the Night Sun burned the interplanar gates closed.
Discrimne-Jilhu
Capital: The Vanishing City
Aspect: Cimeies
Terrain: Seeking Mountains, Dreaming Sea
Majority Race: Sati, Human - Saarai, Aseku - grey, drow
Other Races: Human - Mul
Maerere-Jharaiel
Capital: The Derelict City
Aspect: Jezalel
Terrain: Island
Majority Race: Sati, Human - Saarai, Aseku - grey, drow
Other Races: Human - Mul
Ignavus-Quadhi
Capital: City of the Myriad Beasts
Aspect: Jerathel
Terrain: Island
Majority Race: Sati, Human - Saarai, Aseku - grey, drow
Other Races: Human - Mul
Ferousce-Dhir
Capital: The Bastion
Aspect: Sadai
Terrain: Island, Lost Mountains
Majority Race: Sati, Human - Saarai, Aseku - grey, drow
Other Races: Human - Mul
Demitere-Halshas
Capital: The Reborn City
Aspect: Ialde
Terrain: Island, Lost Mountains
Majority Race: Sati, Human - Saarai, Aseku - grey, drow
Other Races: Human - Mul
Maledecte-Sivaiel
Capital: City of Masques
Aspect: Kainen
Terrain: Island, Lost Mountains, Verdigris Cliffs, Vale of Sin
Majority Race: Sati, Human - Saarai, Aseku - grey, drow
Other Races: Human - Mul
