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How to Use This Wiki
This wiki is the player-facing reference for the Thesalon campaign.
It is meant to help you prepare for the campaign, build a character, understand the world, reference common setting ideas, and track player-safe information as the story develops.
You do not need to read everything before Session One.
Start with the pages marked as essential, then use the rest of the wiki as a reference when your character needs more context.
The Most Important Rule
Read what helps you play.
Do not feel required to study the entire setting before the first session.
Thesalon is a large world, but the campaign begins with a clear starting frame:
You are aboard the Azure Aviary, a Maritheli ship traveling through Windrider Gulf waters.
That is the most important fact before Session One.
Everything else is support.
What This Wiki Is
This wiki is a player guide, character tool, and setting reference.
| Use | Description |
|---|---|
| Player guide | It explains what players need to know before and during the campaign. |
| Character creation tool | It helps you connect your character to Marithel, the Azure Aviary, Windrider Freeport, and the wider world. |
| Setting reference | It explains public knowledge about continents, factions, laws, peoples, gods, travel, and customs. |
| Campaign aid | It can track known NPCs, active quests, rumors, session recaps, and shared party notes later. |
| Spoiler-controlled resource | It avoids revealing DM-only secrets before they appear in play. |
This wiki is not a complete secret encyclopedia.
If a mystery has not been revealed, the wiki should not confirm its answer.
What This Wiki Is Not
This wiki is not required homework.
It is not a DM secrets document.
It is not a replacement for the DM.
It is not a promise that every rumor is true.
It is not a rulebook replacement.
It is not a fixed script for how the campaign must unfold.
| Not This | Reason |
|---|---|
| Required homework | You do not need to memorize the setting. |
| DM secrets document | Hidden motives, secret villains, and unrevealed events are not included in player-safe pages. |
| DM replacement | Ask the DM if a character idea depends on secret lore, unusual status, or hidden knowledge. |
| Rumor confirmation | Rumors may be false, incomplete, outdated, exaggerated, or misunderstood. |
| Rulebook replacement | Rules summaries may help, but the rules source and DM rulings still matter. |
| Fixed canon trap | Player choices and table events can change what matters during play. |
The wiki gives structure.
The campaign creates consequences.
Recommended Reading Method
Use the wiki in layers.
Start with the essentials. Then read only the pages that help your character.
Layer 1: Essential Before Session One
Read these first:
| Page | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Welcome to the Campaign | Gives the basic campaign premise and starting frame. |
| Player Knowledge and Spoiler Policy | Explains what is safe to know and what the wiki will not reveal. |
| Campaign Tone and Themes | Sets expectations for the kind of story, danger, and choices involved. |
| What You Need Before Session One | Gives the pre-session checklist. |
| Quick Start for Character Creation | Helps you make a campaign-ready character quickly. |
| Campaign Start Overview | Explains the opening situation aboard the Azure Aviary. |
| The Azure Aviary | Introduces the ship where play begins. |
| Why Your Character Is Aboard | Helps you choose a reason to be on the ship. |
These pages tell you where the campaign starts, what kind of story it is, and what your character needs.
Layer 2: Useful for Character Creation
Read these if they match your concept:
| Character Interest | Useful Pages |
|---|---|
| General character building | Character Creation Overview |
| Homeland and origin | Character Origins by Continent |
| Shipboard starting ties | Character Ties to the Azure Aviary |
| Refugee or exile characters | Refugee and Exile Characters |
| Healer or caregiver characters | Healer and Caregiver Characters |
| Scholar or scribe characters | Scholar and Scribe Characters |
| Sailor, privateer, or shipborn characters | Sailor, Privateer, and Shipborn Characters |
| Faction-tied characters | Faction-Tied Characters |
You only need the pages relevant to your character.
Layer 3: Useful for World Context
Read these when you want broader setting information:
| Topic | Useful Page |
|---|---|
| World overview | Overview of Thesalon |
| Current era | The Current Age |
| Crownless Age | The Crownless Age |
| Peoples and ancestries | Peoples and Ancestries of Thesalon |
| Languages | Languages and Communication |
| Starting continent | Marithel at a Glance |
| Factions | Player-Safe Factions |
These pages help you understand the world your character lives in.
Layer 4: Reference During Play
Use these later as needed:
- laws and customs pages;
- faction pages;
- religion pages;
- travel and ship pages;
- maps;
- glossary;
- rumors;
- campaign tracking;
- active quest pages;
- session recaps.
These do not all need to be read before the campaign begins.
How Pages Are Classified
Each page uses metadata at the top.
This metadata helps define where the page belongs and whether it is safe for players.
Most player-safe pages use fields like these:
---
title: Example Page
section: Welcome to Thesalon
page_type: player_reference
player_safe: true
spoiler_level: none
campaign_phase: pre-session-one
status: draft
related_pages:
- ../index.md
source_files:
- Website Template
---
Metadata Fields
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
title | Page title shown in the wiki. |
section | The section where the page belongs. |
page_type | The kind of page: landing page, player reference, rules reference, tracker, glossary, and similar labels. |
player_safe | Whether the page is intended for players. |
spoiler_level | How much hidden information the page contains. |
campaign_phase | When the page is safe or useful. |
status | Draft, active, needs review, or complete. |
related_pages | Internal wiki links to connected pages. |
source_files | Source documents used to generate the page. |
Most player pages should be marked:
player_safe: true
spoiler_level: none
Spoiler Levels
The wiki uses spoiler levels to protect campaign mysteries.
| Spoiler Level | Meaning |
|---|---|
none | Safe before Session One. |
light | Safe after the campaign premise is understood or once players have basic context. |
session-revealed | Safe only after the relevant session or discovery. |
dm-only | Not player-facing unless later converted. |
Before Session One, focus on pages with:
spoiler_level: none
campaign_phase: pre-session-one
Avoid anything marked:
spoiler_level: dm-only
Page Status Labels
Page status helps track build progress.
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
draft | Usable but may still be revised. |
active | Current player-facing page. |
needs review | Needs checking for consistency, spoilers, links, or structure. |
needs regeneration | Should be rewritten to match the current plan. |
placeholder | Exists as a stub but lacks full content. |
retired | No longer part of the active site structure. |
A draft page can still be useful.
A page marked needs regeneration should not be treated as final.
How to Use the Wiki for Character Creation
Start with your character’s immediate situation.
Do not begin by trying to understand the entire world.
Use this order:
- choose why your character is in Marithel;
- choose why your character is aboard the Azure Aviary;
- choose what your character might want from Windrider Freeport;
- choose one connection to the world;
- choose one reason to stay involved when trouble begins.
Your connection to the world might be:
- homeland;
- profession;
- faction;
- faith;
- ship;
- family;
- debt;
- legal problem;
- oath;
- exile;
- refugee route;
- missing person;
- old war;
- research question;
- secret approved by the DM.
Then use the relevant reference pages for detail.
How to Use the Wiki During Play
During play, use the wiki to answer player-facing questions such as:
- What does my character know about Marithel?
- What is Blue Lantern law?
- What is Windrider Freeport known for?
- What does a shipborn character mean?
- What kinds of factions operate here?
- What does a false name imply?
- What goods or rumors might come from another continent?
- What is common knowledge about the gods?
- What does guest law usually mean?
- What happened in previous sessions?
- What active quests are we tracking?
Do not use the wiki to search for unrevealed secrets.
If something feels missing, it may be intentionally unknown.
How to Use Rumors
Rumor pages are flavor and hooks, not confirmed truth.
A rumor may be:
- true;
- false;
- partially true;
- outdated;
- planted;
- misunderstood;
- local exaggeration;
- faction propaganda;
- sailor superstition;
- a clue missing context.
Characters may know rumors based on homeland, profession, faction, or background.
| Character Type | Likely Rumors |
|---|---|
| Sailor | Sea rumors, ship rumors, route warnings, port gossip. |
| Refugee | Low Lantern rumors, claimants, aid networks, safe rooms. |
| Scholar | Old records, maps, translation errors, archive disputes. |
| Privateer | Armed-route rumors, privateering claims, false flags. |
| Cleric | Temple rumors, burial disputes, mercy cases, shrine stories. |
| Merchant | Cargo rumors, market pressure, debt, contracts. |
| Healer | Clinic rumors, disease fear, medicine shortages, patient stories. |
Use rumors to inspire character choices, not to demand certainty.
How to Use Faction Pages
Faction pages explain what most people can know.
They usually include:
- public summary;
- reputation;
- common locations;
- allies and rivals;
- character connections;
- common rumors;
- related pages.
They do not reveal secret faction plans.
A faction page may tell you what a group publicly wants, what people say about them, and how your character might connect to them.
It should not tell you what that faction is secretly doing behind the screen.
How to Use Continent Pages
Continent pages help with homeland and origin choices.
Each continent page usually explains:
- broad public reputation;
- what most people know;
- what locals might know;
- why someone from that continent might be in Marithel;
- common character concepts;
- goods, skills, or traditions that travel;
- player-safe rumors.
You do not need to choose a continent that matches your ancestry or class.
A character’s homeland, ancestry, culture, profession, faith, and faction can overlap in many ways.
How to Use Campaign Tracking Pages
Campaign tracking pages are for information discovered during play.
They may include:
- active quests;
- known NPCs;
- discovered rumors;
- ship log;
- party roster;
- shared assets;
- session recaps;
- player questions for the DM.
These pages should be updated as the campaign develops.
They should only include information the players have discovered or been told.
What to Do If Links Are Missing
Some links may point to pages that are planned but not written yet.
That is expected during the build process.
The site is being built in release waves.
| Release | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Release 0 | Site skeleton and navigation. |
| Release 1 | Pre-Session-One Player Packet. |
| Release 2 | Character Creation Expansion. |
| Release 3 | Marithel and Windrider Freeport Expansion. |
| Release 4 | Practical Play Tools. |
| Release 5 | Full Reference Expansion. |
A missing page does not mean the concept is absent from the campaign.
It may simply not be generated yet.
What to Ask the DM
Ask the DM if:
- you want a character secret;
- your character knows restricted lore;
- you want to be tied to a powerful faction;
- your character has a noble, military, religious, or legal title;
- your character is wanted, claimed, exiled, or under false identity;
- your character begins with rare magic or unusual equipment;
- your character’s backstory depends on an unrevealed mystery;
- you want to know whether a rumor can be true in your backstory;
- you are unsure whether a page is player-safe.
The DM can approve secrets, modify hooks, or connect your character to the campaign without spoiling future events.
Fast Use Guide
| Goal | Start Here |
|---|---|
| I am new to the campaign | Welcome to the Campaign |
| I need the basic reading order | Recommended First Reads |
| I am worried about spoilers | Player Knowledge and Spoiler Policy |
| I want to understand the tone | Campaign Tone and Themes |
| I need to make a character fast | Quick Start for Character Creation |
| I need a pre-session checklist | What You Need Before Session One |
| I want to know where play begins | Campaign Start Overview |
| I want to know the ship | The Azure Aviary |
| I need a reason to be aboard | Why Your Character Is Aboard |
| I want world context | Overview of Thesalon |
| I want starting-region context | Marithel at a Glance |
| I want faction context | Player-Safe Factions |
Final Guidance
Use this wiki as a map, not a script.
Read enough to understand where your character stands.
Use the rest when it becomes relevant.
Treat rumors as hooks, not answers.
Treat player-safe pages as public knowledge, not hidden truth.
Ask the DM before building around secrets.
The campaign begins aboard the Azure Aviary.
The wiki helps you know why you are there.
Related Pages
- Welcome Page
- Welcome to the Campaign
- Recommended First Reads
- Player Knowledge and Spoiler Policy
- Campaign Tone and Themes
- What You Need Before Session One
- Quick Start for Character Creation
- Player-Safe Glossary Starter
- Wiki Navigation Index
- Campaign Start Overview
- The Azure Aviary
- Why Your Character Is Aboard
- Overview of Thesalon
- Marithel at a Glance