While phoda have an organized society, they have little use for written language or written laws. Instead, all phoda follow the Phoda Creed, which was created by the Great Shrew and is passed down from generation to generation in the form of stories called “The Tales of the Creed“. Each line in the creed has accompanying tales associated with it that phoda children are taught at an early age by the Creedtellers. The Creed forms the foundation of phoda society.
Each phoda village is governed by a single leader, called The Shrew. It is the Shrew’s responsibility to continue the safety and prosperity of the town, ensure the town has enough Creedtellers, and make sure that the Creed is adhered to.
This curious and mischievous attitude often gives them a reputation for being untrustworthy. In truth, phoda take their jobs very seriously, form very tight friendships, and take upholding the honor of their families very seriously; they just have their own way of showing it. Of course, even the closest friend to a phoda still has to be ready for the next unintentional disaster!
One day, while hiding from a group of ratmen, a young phoda was startled when he heard a soft whisper coming from some nearby brush. The young phoda peered into the brush and saw a small brown mouse. The mouse whispered to the phoda that his people would not survive if they continued to let the ratmen bully them. The young phoda, frightened but also intrigued, listened to the mouse as the she told him of what his people could achieve. As the mouse finished her tale, the young phoda felt his courage grow. Finally, he rallied some nearby phoda who threw rocks and attacked with tree branches to drive off the ratmen. The young phoda knew it wouldn’t be long before the ratmen returned so he organized the few phoda who did not flee. For the next couple of days, they fashioned weapons from wood and stone and formulated a strategy of defense.
When the ratmen returned, they found not a scattered group of frightened phoda, but instead an organized resistance of armed warriors. The phoda quickly routed the ratmen, letting out a cheer of victory.
But the young phoda knew that if his people continued to live as they had, their victory would be wasted. He led as many phoda as he could out of the forest and began building a small village. Over time, more phoda entered the village until at last, the village grew into a full fledged town. The young phoda assumed an unofficial leadership role and helped organize his people.
Once the town was established and running smoothly, the young phoda led an expedition into the nearby forest and drove the ratmen far away from the phoda homes. He gathered the rest of the phoda in the forest and brought them to the town.
The citizens of this new town asked the young phoda to be their leader, dubbing him “The Shrew.” He humbly accepted the position and as his first act as leader, he created the Phoda Creed. He organized the first Phoda army from the group of phoda who fought alongside him, calling them the “Defenders of the Shrew”. Never again would the phoda live as uncivilized animals.
The Great Shrew (as he came to be known) saved the phoda race from sure extinction and his memory is kept alive in the Tales of the Creed.
Live with honor, and be welcomed into the burrow of The Great Shrew.
Common Phoda Words
Shrew - a phoda village leader
The Great Shrew - the first phoda leader, the one who brought civilization to the phoda
Brood - family
Burrow - town
Burrow of The Great Shrew - the name for all of phoda society
Creedteller - one how speaks the Tales of the Creed
Defender of the Shrew - an elite phoda warrior (can be of any Path)
Glimmers - gold and gems
Tooth - melee weapon, usually an axe
Biter - one who follows the Path of the Blade
Sparker - one who follows the Path of the Arcane
Shader - one who follows the Path of Balance
Growler - one who follows the Path of Nature
Flitters - pixies
Brother / Sister - term of endearment given to a close friend. It is a great honor to have phoda refer to you as a brother or sister. It means they have welcomed you as a member of their brood
Rodent - one who has fallen from grace, a grave insult
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THE TALES OF THE CREED
The stories for the phoda Creed are passed down to each generation by the Creedtellers as a way for phoda to maintain their culture. The stories are said to have been created by the Great Shrew when the phoda first stepped from being animals in the woods to being a proud and prolific race. An example of a tale for each line of the creed follows, but there are many more.
--Fight with unending bravery, lest you lose your burrow to the undeserving.
There once was a phoda town in the middle of a remote, but very fertile region. The phoda did not work the land for the most part, preferring to trade wares with the other villages to earn glimmers.
Unknown to the phoda, they had built their village near the land of a local baron. Soon, the Baron became greedy and wanted the fertile land for his own. He hired a mercenary army to drive the phoda from the land so that he could take it and farm it to feed his growing population. The army greatly outnumbered the phoda in the village and soon marched towards its wall.
The army’s leader (an honorable man, but one who accepted the job because his army was in dire need of supplies) approached the gates, offering the phoda a chance to surrender and avoid a fight. Despite the fact that every phoda knew they could not hold out against such a force, they agreed to defend their homes as best they could. The village’s Shrew refused the offer telling the mercenary leader his people would never leave.
The phoda defended the wall of their small town for days, taking heavy loses, but inflicting just as many on the army. Every day before each attack on the wall, the army leader would approach the gates and plead with the phoda to surrender. Each day, the Shrew refused. On the sixth day of the battle, the phoda were starved and terribly outnumbered.
The leader, knowing victory was at hand, but wishing to stop the bloodshed, once again called to the Shrew and asked the phoda to surrender. The Shrew refused, telling the warrior they would fight to the last, adding that the phoda would be sure to take as many kills as they received. A threat not taken lightly by the warrior, who’s army had suffered horrendous loses in each siege attempt, despite their greater numbers.
The warrior, perplexed as to why the phoda would be so willing to die for land they didn’t even make much use of yelled a question to the Shrew.
“Why fight, knowing you cannot win? There is plenty of other land for you to settle in.”
The answer was simple and to the point…“This is our home.”
The warrior leader suddenly felt very ashamed as he turned away and rode back to his army. Moments later, the army turned around and retreated away from the village, leaving the phoda Shrew more than a little perplexed.
It was heard later that the army leader returned the payment to the noble, telling him his army would never again fight an unjust cause, no matter the pay.
No army ever again attacked the village.
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--Hide well your glimmers, lest the enemy wage war to steal our wealth.
There once was a poor phoda who lived with his Brood in a farming village in the outskirts of a larger city. On occasion, the phoda would travel to the city and marvel at the wares being sold at the shops and stands. He greatly resented the stares of disdain the nobles would look at him with as he walked past them in his dirty, plain robes. The phoda hated his state of poverty and often dreamed of the day he could afford luxuries and impress the people of this city.
One day the poor phoda came across a cave in the wilderness. His curiosity getting the best of him, he entered the cave and soon became quite lost. After many hours, he found himself staring at the most amazing site. Glimmers! A whole pile of glimmers! The treasure from a long forgotten stash. The phoda quickly grabbed all of the gold and after finding his way out, made his way to the city. He immediately went to the clothing store and purchased their finest robe, a huge necklace of gold and silver, and rings for each finger.
Feeling quite proud of himself and having some gold left over, he made his way to the local tavern to present himself to the nobles as he so often day dreamed. He arrived in all his splendor, making quite the scene and drinking to his belly’s content. He made many friends that day, some of whom seemed quite interested in the location of his village…where such rich phoda surely must live. Not wanting to admit his roots, the phoda spoke of his brood’s riches as the men continued to buy him drinks.
The phoda finished his drink and left the city, eager to share his story with his Brood. Hours later, the phoda saw smoke on the horizon, coming from the direction of his village. His worst fears came to pass as he came upon the smoking ruins of the huts and buildings of his village. He search and found the leader of his burrow, wounded, but still alive. The Shrew looked at him sadly and said, “They came here demanding the our riches and when they found none, they burned our homes!”
The phoda looked at what little gold he had left in his pockets, their glimmer lost.
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--Attend often to your mate. Every brood strengthens our burrow.
There once was an old phoda blacksmith who married at an early age and over the years had many children. His children who grew up and had children of their own and soon the brood was quite large. The old phoda took his role as the patriarch very seriously and wished dearly to provide for this family. But, in time the brood grew even larger and although most of his sons and daughters had moved away from the family home to start their own broods, the old phoda still felt a responsibility to support them. Despite his wife’s disagreement, he decided to take another job working as a waiter at the local inn in addition to his work as a smith.
One evening, after a particularly grueling day at the forge for the old phoda, a group of human nobles entered the tavern and ordered drinks. The overworked phoda could feel the stress of age taking its toll as he tried to keep awake and serve the customers, who had become quite drunk.
As his fatigue finally took him, the phoda accidentally spilled some ale on the noble’s brand new pants. The noble immediately jumped up from his seat and demanded that the phoda pay for the ruined pants. The old phoda tried to explain that he did not have enough gold and offered to work something else out. The noble, unsympathetic and still very drunk, told the old phoda that such a disgrace could not be ignored and challenged the phoda to a duel, threatening to kill him on the spot if he did not agree.
The old phoda had little experience actually using weapons, but realized he had no choice, lest his family lose their provider. The duel was set for the next day at sunrise. The old phoda returned to his wife and told her what happened. Terrified of losing her husband, she tried to convince him not to go to the duel, but he told her he had to.
The next day came too soon for the old phoda’s liking. He barely took note that his wife was not home as he dressed quickly and took his axe from its place on the wall. He walked to the agreed upon place for the duel and prepared to fight to the best of his ability. The noble and his friends went over the rules with the phoda, sneering openly, knowing the old phoda didn’t stand a chance.
Just as the duel was about to begin, a shout rang out from over a nearby hill. The phoda, the noble, and his men turned to see dozens of phoda walking towards them, all of them armed.
“This is a duel! None of ye have the right to be here brandishing your weapons!”, yelled the noble as his men unsheathed their swords.
The phoda‘s wife looked at the noble, and with an icy tone exclaimed, “If you aim to fight one of us, you’ll have to fight all of us.” And with that, all the brood hefted their axes from their shoulders and advanced on the party of nobles.
The noble and his entourage quickly lowered their swords and let the phoda be. The old phoda could not hide his tears as his brood embraced him.
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--Sharpen well your tooth, so that it may bite deep the flesh of our enemies.
There once was a phoda guard in a small village who rose up the ranks and eventually landed a cushy job as the captain in charge of the town vault. Since the vault was so deep underground and hidden with spells no attempt had ever been made to steal the burrow’s glimmers.
As the years passed, no incidents were reported by him or any of the other vault guards. The glimmers were safe and the vault remained a secret from the outside world. The phoda village prospered greatly. As much as he enjoyed his role as a warrior, the phoda captain found the constant drilling and training that came with being a guard tiresome.
“What was the point of practicing for an attack that would never happen?”, he thought often.
Soon the doldrums of guard duty and the constant, unending drilling became too much for the phoda captain. Unbeknownst to his superiors, he lessened the practicing of vault break-in drills with the other phoda guards. Eventually he even stopping caring for his equipment, most notably his tooth. His lackadaisical attitude soon infected the entire vault guard.
“What’s the point of sharpening this blade day in an day out when I never get to use it?”, he would remark often to his reports.
On one particularly boring guard shift, he decided to let the other guards go to the local tavern, making them promise to bring him back some brew. The guards left their captain alone at the vault door, as he kicked up his feet and took a nap.
Suddenly there was a loud crack and the corridor filled with smoke. The phoda jumped from his chair and peered through he smoke as three black shapes came towards him. As the smoke cleared, he could clearly see three humans, one obviously a mage, the other two brandishing swords and shields.
Immediately the phoda guard reached for his axe and demanded the men leave at once. The two fighters laughed and advanced. Despite his lack of recent training, the phoda captain was a skilled fighter and figured he could take on all three of the robbers if he had to.
He ducked under a vicious cut and lifted his axe in an arc over his head, slamming it down on one attacker’s chest. The axe, weakend from years of neglect and misuse, snapped in half as it impacted on the fighter’s plate armor. The men laughed again and pushed the phoda aside, knocking him unconscious. They opened the vault and stole the precious glimmers before again teleporting from view.
When the phoda captain awoke, he looked at his tooth as if he had been betrayed. But then he realized, it was he who betrayed his tooth…and his burrow.
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--Learn well the Creed, so that your burrow may thrive.
After the passing of the Great Shrew, some phoda ventured out in the world and created their own villages. One such village was deep in the heart of a dense forest. Far away from other villages and sheltered from the outside world by the density of the forest, the village grew steadily. Life was not easy for the phoda however, and it took all of their hard work and organization to keep the village thriving and protected from threats inside the forest itself.
The village began to prosper and the phoda settled into a life of relative safety. However, the Shrew of this particular village did not work to maintain his Creedtellers. He saw them as a drain on the village’s resources. Everyone in the village already knew the Creed, they could all tell the stories to their children. Instead, he had them work tasks with the other phoda to ensure the burrow‘s defenses against the threats within the forest.
Over time, as the old phoda Creedtellers passed on. Eventually, there were no Creedtellers left to speak or teach the tales to others. Soon the Tales of the Creed were told with less and less accuracy by the other phoda until they bore little to no resemblance to the actual Tales at all. The phoda village fell into disarray, their system of beliefs in shambles and their Shrew unable to find other phoda to help retell the Tales. Soon the phoda lost there way and began slowly reverting back to their more basic, animal-like instincts. They stopped maintaining their village, their society fell into chaos, and the Tales of the Creed weren’t told at all. The village fell into such disrepair and disorder that the phoda began to leave, heading deeper into the forest. Finally, the last phoda left the village and returned to the wilds, never to be seen again.
The Creed was lost and so to was the burrow.
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--Live with honor, and be welcomed into the Burrow of The Great Shrew.
Back in the days immediately following the creation of the Great Shrew‘s village, an elven tribe settled near the new phoda village. More advanced in both technology and magic, the elves taught the phoda all they knew. One day, an elven scout spotted a horde of mindless monsters rampaging their way towards both towns.
The elves knew that should these phoda fall, the entire phoda society could perish. They tried to convince the Great Shrew to take his people to the hills while the elves fought against the monsters, but the Great Shrew refused. The elves decided the phoda civilization must survive, no matter the cost and sent half their army to help defend the phoda town.
At the phoda village, both the elves and the phoda fought bravely and were able to defeat the monsters. The elves at the phoda village all died, doing their best to keep the phoda casualties to a minimum. The next day the Great Shrew led his people to the elven town to find it in ruins. Not a single elf survived the attack…or so they thought. While sifting through some rubble, a phoda woman heard the cries of a baby. Frantically she dug into the rubble where she found an elven baby, dirty but unhurt. She took the baby back to the phoda village.
As the years passed the elven baby grew into an elven woman. The phoda did their best to teach her of her people’s ways but soon it became apparent that she needed to see her own people. The phoda woman took her adopted child out of the phoda village and towards where an elven city was thought to be. After a week of travel, she left her daughter at the city gates, gave her some glimmers, and with a heavy heart, told her to find her place with her people.
Immediately it became apparent to the elven woman that she did not fit in. Her phoda-made attire (especially her notched blade) and her strange mannerisms made the elves uncomfortable. But eventually she impressed the captain of the city guards with her swordplay (the phoda had trained her well) and found work as a city guard.
One night, an alarm shook the elven woman out of her bed, followed by the cries of battle. She raced into the streets and found out the city was under attack by a horde of Gnolls. The elves could hold for a while, but eventually the city would fall. Later that night, the elven woman slipped out of the city and ran into the wilderness.
For weeks the Gnolls lay siege to the city. Just as the attackers breached the outer wall, a series of horns sounded in the distance. The elves and the gnolls on the wall stopped their fighting for a moment and looked out towards the plains as hundreds of phoda raced towards them, their axes shining in the bright sunlight. At their lead was a lone elf, her notched sword held high.
Their strength renewed by the arrival of the apparent allies, the elves drove the Gnolls back off their wall and into the tide of phoda. The gnolls were crushed between the force of the two armies and the few that survived fled to the nearby hills. When the area was secure, the elven Lord extended his hand to the Great Shrew who took it firmly. The other elves saluted the phoda army and the two sides made plans to ensure a long lasting alliance.
Later that night, after the feast to celebrate the victory, the phoda mother looked up at her daughter and asked if she had found her place with her people.
The young elf answered, “Yes.”, and then smiled as she walked with her mother back to the phoda town.
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Hope this gives you some ideas as to what the Phoda are all about and inspires you to write some of your own Tales of the Creed!
Stratics Central
