Samhain is a world found in Amber: Shadow Wars -a role-playing game, played at RPoL, using the Amber Diceless RPG from Phage Press.
It was a dark and stormy night…In terms of Amber-verse geography, Samhain lies towards the middle area between Amber and Chaos, but more towards Chaos than Amber.Turbulent and fast-moving storms cover Samhain, making the sight of the sky rare. Some storms etch themselves into the permanent landscape of the world, lasting centuries. One storm in particular is known to have existed through all of recorded history, moving only a few hundred miles in all that time, and covering about as much geography as well. The culture of Samhain is complex and stratified. Power and influence define caste placement, requiring an individual to achieve ranks through cunning, politics and duels. Women dominate the social structure of Samhain, generally proving stronger in the psychic and magical arenas. Men, who are always of a lower caste, commonly remain slaves or workers through thier lives. Technology is low and magic dominant. Non-psychic individuals are rare and disdained. Duels, battles, open warfare and even marriage negotiations are carried out by sorcery and psyche. Those with skill at swords are rare, but respected for their speed and efficiency- yet still being considered socially beneath most everyone. Swordsmen find it impossible to rise in social rank without impressive arcane skills to back their steel. Both metal and wood are sparse on Samhain, making stone the main building material, and both are coveted symbols of status and power. Architecture focuses on columns and buttressed arches, height is always a desirable attribute in any structure. The goal is to look down on your neighbors whenever possible. |