Tsardom of Gold
The Other World, Vyraj
Realm of Veles
Location: Outlands / Hinterlands
This realm is one of the three metallic kingdoms of the Slavic Pantheon, and the only one of them ruled by a good-aligned power. The Tsardom of Gold is encircled by two rivers of fire—River Pyriphlegethon (known as Smorodina here) and rougher River Puchai that flows into Smorodina at some point. The fire in these rivers burns even those resistant to normal flames. Cutters who are invited into the realm are given magical handkerchiefs—waving them near the Smorodina will cause a metallic bridge to appear or disappear. Be warned though, there’s no easy way to cross Puchai though.
While the Tsardom of Gold is located in the Hinterlands, Veles‘ power keeps it from becoming a totally surreal hodgepodge. The realm is a mixture of forest and steppe, where grasslands are dotted with patches of spruce. But don’t think this place isn’t chaotic. It is riddled with solitary houses and towers, tended by invisible servants, constructs or house spirits. Who built those houses? Nobody knows!
Okay, then who lives in these kips? Turns out it’s Veles’ petitioners, in the shape of talking animals—usually cats, bears, storks or snakes. They aren’t just talking animals like those you’d find in the Beastlands, no, they wear clothes, sleep in beds and herd their livestock. Many of them are spellcasters too. Chant goes that cats are especially tricky here—see, their purring voice can put berks to sleep. Mostly the catlike petitioners pull this trick for their own amusement, but some actually kill and eat their victims. And be warned, petitioner animals prove to be much stronger than their regular counterparts.
Of course, there are other beings in the realm. Tribes of lupin (humanoid dogs from the Prime world of Mystara) roam the forests, sometimes coming into conflict with petitioners. They mostly belong to shepherd and borzoi breeds. A small population of centaurs resides in the Tsardom of Gold, led by the wise Kitovras (planar centaur wizard [he/him] / CG), a cutter of an unusual magical might. Towards the Puchai, the terrain becomes more mountainous, and rocky hills and caves become more common. Into one of those caves extend the roots of the Birch of Life. This site is guarded by a guardian naga named Garafena and a conclave of yuan-ti.
The Dark: Long ago, the Tsardom of Gold used to be the realm of Baba Yagishna. After she died, Veles took over her realm and some of her divine domains. Indeed, some buildings in the Other World still have the remnants of what looks like bird legs.
What do you say? Where does Veles make his own home? Now that, nobody knows, cutter… but there are glorious golden palaces here, home to enigmatic spirits that don’t take kindly to greedy visitors. In some places in the Other World the mountains rise so high that the only way to proceed is through deep tunnels. But the thing which most amazes people who come here is that as soon as you emerge from the Dark Forest, you can no longer see the Spire!
Sources: Margarita and Jon Winter-Holt. Margarita notes: While this homebrew power is based on Slavic folklore and beliefs, the amount of actual information we have on pre-Christian Slavic deities is so minuscule that building any kind of lore out of it is impossible. However, there are a lot of folk beliefs about things these deities are thought to represent, which I have worked into the piece.
