I was supposed to post something substantial yesterday, but I forgot and... whatever. Anyway, I'm thinking about writing a bit about fitness here, anyone interested in that at all? The gym dude told me I need to eat 4000 calories a day this morning (urgh!) so it's on my mind.
Here's the gazetter thing, extra typos added free of charge.
The Map is
here
Province of the Forgotten Empire
The region known lies just north of the Sunburst
Sea. Once, long ago, Sansool existed as province of the Forgotten Empire, but
in the present, the region is contested territory with many groups fighting for
control and survival. Locals look
back on the ill-remembered imperial past as a sort of golden age, but it has
little bearing on the day-to-day lives of most. This is not the case, however, for every one; adventurers
spend their lives delving into the imperial ruins seeking glory, riches, or
perhaps the power granted by forgotten relics of the imperial age.
The Black Spire is a
massive and fortified tower, built of black basalt. One of only a few intact imperial era fortifications in the
region, the original purpose of the Black spire is unknown; although it is
thought that it may have been a temple to chaotic god. Currently it is controlled by
Rictus, the self styled Witch King. A huge encampment of gnoll warriors
surrounds its base.
Blyx is situated at
the eastern edge of Olde Dragon Swamp. Populated by men and dwarves for the
most part Blyx conducts trade with everyone from the lizard men of the swamp to
the white apes of the Crags. A council of Wizards known as the Silent Society
runs Blyx. The city’s trade is prosperous and the Silent Society uses the
wealth generated thus to influence affairs far and wide. Blyxian spies are sad
to infest every city, church and court throughout the land.
The Crags, a broken,
rocky badland, represent the sad remains of an ancient mountains chain, worn
away by time, and shattered by earthly upheaval. Although oases hide among the
rocks in some few places, the major part of the Crags is barren and merciless.
Outlaws and Savage bands of white apes fight over what little there is.
Glistendome. Built
long ago by the imperials, Castle Glistendome resides on the Green Isle in The
Witch’s Water and is a mighty fortress city. The city has been held by the elves for well over a thousand
years. When they took ownership of the city form the imperials, the elves
assumed stewardship of the Golden Peacock, the wood wall and the Wyrd tree.
Like many imperial constructions the castle and the city below are riddled with
secret passages and hidden chambers. The Old Road, an ancient imperial thoroughfare, runs west from
Castle Glistendome to the shattered gates of ruined Moon Keep.
The Gloomy Mountains: Ancient
basaltic mountain range. The average peak is about 12,000’ feet high at the
summit. The extent of the range is unknown and no records exist of anyone
visiting the western slope. In the southern expanse of the range some of the
deeper valleys contain microclimatic pockets of jungle. Major settlements in
the mountains include Urux and the Black Spire.
The Witch Wood:
Ancient home of the elves, the wood continues to the north and east of what is
shown on the map. All manner of beasts inhabit the forest. Although there are
many elves living at Castle Glistendome, many more live throughout the forest.
The elves trade the products of their magical orchards, and handmade treasures
of many sorts, with the men of Urux and Blyx and the Dwarves of Kurg.
Jungle of Nar: situated at sea level the Jungle of Nar
has a much warmer wetter climate than most of the province. Gargantuan, ancient
creatures found nowhere else in the province reside in this storybook rain
forest. Mysterious ruins of unknown but obviously ancient origin, perhaps
predating even the Forgotten Empire, are strewn through out the depths of the
forest. The city of Kurg, a dwarfish whaling town resides at the edge of the
primeval forest, along the southern coast of the province.
Kurg: 1000 years ago, at the close of the Second Summer,
the dwarves who fled the horror unleashed at Urux (then called Bal-Rindurr)
settled far to the south of the catastrophe and took up the hunting of whales
and other giant beasts of the sea. Since this initial settlement, the folk of
Kurg have prospered, but the settlement has changed but a little. Following
long tradition the city minds its own affairs, taking its living from the
jungle and the sea.
The Lurch: As a name,
“The Lurch” refers both to the large
dormant volcano just south of the Screeching Stones and the stunted malformed
woodland that surrounds its swollen eminance. The Serpent People made a city here once, deep in
pre-imperial times. Over the epochs, successive volcanic events buried and
sealed away several iterations of the great city. Each time the volcano erupted
the serpent people would return and create another layer. These cities exist
now, one piled atop the other, all entombed beneath the flank of the great
mountain.
The strange and twisted woodland, which surrounds the
volcano, is famous for its carrion stench and populations of giant insects.
The Moon Hills: Fog
shrouded, lycanthrope infested and wizard haunted highland region. There are
many minor imperial ruins in this region. Warring clans of Halflings reside in
cold, ramshackle castles seprated from one another by leagues, brought together
by hatred and blood feud.
Moon Keep: Ruined
imperial site. An intact funerary complex is situated beneath the remains of
main structure.
Stargleam’s Wall: Perhaps
the signature relic of the Second Summer. The elvish king Stargleam had this
wall built in order to hold back the forces of the first Witch-King, Skorn, but
something went very wrong. Stargleam’s chief advisor and Wizard, Althon
betrayed him by secretly defiling the Wall with forbidden rituals. As a result
a presence entered the spaces between the walls within the great
wall. Things fell apart. At first, the wall crumbled and resisted repair.
Later, over the course of a single night remembered now as the Grief the soldiers manning the great wall went insane and
slew one another- down to the last.
Mores elves died in that one night then during the entirety of the
Summer War up until that point. The elves were effectively undone, the few who
remained fled to Camirill. With the elves defeated, the Summer War entered its
final phase. Althon raised the thousands of dead soliders along the wall as
mindless revenants of savage aspect. He set them upon the forces of Skorn. In
the end the land was torn asunder and all who vied for conquest were humbled by
it. The Second Summer had come to a close and the Long Fall had begun.
Old Dragon Swamp: roughly 100 years after the Grief,
a dragon came down upon the elvish countries. His wrath devastated the land and
transformed it. where once there had been a lake now there was a stinking
smoking fen. Although, he is rarely seen these days, it is commonly believed
that Igor still resides in the swamp. Igor is the most powerful single entity
in the province. Many worship him as a god. His agents move in every walk of
life, throughout the province.
Urux: At the end of
the second summer, the dwarves and Ur-men, who worked and lived at Bal- Rindurr
had advanced the arts of mining and metallurgy to new heights. Prosperity was
at an all time high, but greed and avaricious pride ruled the minds of the folk
and they wanted more and more. Eventually, due to the desire to progress in
some quarters and the desire to profit in others, the dwarfish overlords
yielded to popular demand and made use of chaos magic to further the city’s
mining efforts. The exact details are known to few today, but there was a
terrible catastrophe; a hole was rent in the earth’s crust at the root of the
mountain, and Bal-Rindurr itself was sundered and its subterranean towers
toppled. In the months that followed, the dwarfish survivors fled the city.
The Witch Wood: ancient
haunted forest, long believed to be cursed. The elvish court and people were
driven to the witch wood after Igor destroyed Camarill. In exchange for a place
within the wood, the forest god Mogu, made the elves bind themselves to the
forest through a magical ritual. The ritual made the elves the stewards of the
forest. Mogu has remained silent since the time of the great ritual, but it is
rumored that he will return if he grows dissatisfied with his chosen stewards.
The Witch Water is a
haunted lake which contains Glistendome and the island upon which it was built.
At night, shimmering spectral shapes slide to and fro beneath the waves and
when the moon is full the ghostly ruins of cities long forgotten can be seen
aglow upon the lake floor.
