Abandoned: World Building

[The_Universe]

Because of the apparent choice of game (Abandoned), I'm starting to build a world from the ground up. While this is, in fact, among the more enjoyable parts of GMing, it's also a good place to get player input.

That's where you come in.

I want you, to the best of your ability, describe a place that you'd want to adventure. General terms are generally better than specific, detailed descriptions. They can be big, they can be small, they can be essentially without scale. It could be a town, a village, a forest, a swamp, a mountain, a temple, a dungeon, etc. - anywhere/anything you think should be part of a world of adventure.

I'll start.

Necropolis (currently unnamed)

Rather than tiny cemetaries all over the place, with a few larger plots and mausoleums near the larger population centers, it would be cool if, because of some long-ago cataclysm, the dead of the known world (at least the human dead) were gathered in one place. A sort of quarantine for corpses. It would have to be on an island or otherwise isolated land-mass, and would probably contain enormous crypts and mausoleums for important families, as well as smaller places for the less well-to-do. The treasures of the dead should be guarded in some way - graverobbers have to be stopped, somehow. There may be mundane guards, as well as magical wards of some sort or another.

Ultimately, this place can hide any number of secrets, artifacts, and curses, or even serve as a "home base" for a ravening army of the undead. If the cataclysm that led to the necropolis's creation has been forgotten, PC's might be forced to find out why the Necroplis exists, as well.

Just a thought. What do you want to see?

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

I would like to adventure on the HIGH SEAS!! I want to fight squid monsters and whales and stuff.

On a related note, I also think it would be fun to discover undiscovered island - be explorers, as well as adventurers.

Lastly, I really want to do some adventuring in the Dwarven mountain regions - I bet they have sweet gadgets.

[DungeonmasterCal]

My current campaign is a quasi-swashbuckling Sinbad sorta thing with hints of "One Piece" tossed in for gravy.

[cuteasaurus]

Yeah..I'm gonna need an island with a volcano and perhaps some dinosaurs...so if you could get on that, that would be great...

[NuclearWookiee]

I just like variety. The "environment buffet" of Star Wars is sort of what I mean. And definately a huge walled city or two. I agree with the others, some naval travel would be nice. But maybe instead of a ship we could all have pegasii, just to spite Dave...

[The_Universe]

Originally Posted by NuclearWookiee

I just like variety. The "environment buffet" of Star Wars is sort of what I mean. And definately a huge walled city or two. I agree with the others, some naval travel would be nice. But maybe instead of a ship we could all have pegasii, just to spite Dave...

But he's not even here to feel the spite! How sad!

[NuclearWookiee]

Another thing I thought of... I'd like to have a very old feel to the game. Nothing in particular, but just the presence of lots of overgrown ruins would be very cool. Some ruins could have stories, others could be so old that nobody remembers what cataclysmic event spawned them. Given the brief world history you've given already, maybe the mortal races haven't been on their current world for this to happen. Or perhaps the ever-present ruins are remnants of the previous inhabitants. Who knows? Just a thought.

[NuclearWookiee]

Originally Posted by The_Universe

But he's not even here to feel the spite! How sad!

Come on, like we wouldn't make sure he knew... pfft

[The_Universe]

Originally Posted by NuclearWookiee

Another thing I thought of... I'd like to have a very old feel to the game. Nothing in particular, but just the presence of lots of overgrown ruins would be very cool. Some ruins could have stories, others could be so old that nobody remembers what cataclysmic event spawned them. Given the brief world history you've given already, maybe the mortal races haven't been on their current world for this to happen. Or perhaps the ever-present ruins are remnants of the previous inhabitants. Who knows? Just a thought.

When the gods brought man to this world, they found it already inhabited by giants who served dark, devouring, menacing gods. With the gods' help, these giants were driven into the north, beyond the realms of the dwarves. However, they left many of their creations behind...

Also, man has been around for a couple of thousand years, at least. In this particular history, elves and dwarves were split off as seperate races from man after arriving in/on the world - and it's been more than a couple of generations for those longer-lived races.

[The_Universe]

I've posted the current version of the map here: http://kennon.bauman.googlepages.com/taloran

Give it a gander, and then we can start talking about where we'll start, where you're from, etc.

[The_Universe]

No questions or comments on the map?

[AIM-54]

Originally Posted by The_Universe

No questions or comments on the map?

The map seems a bit incomplete, but I suppose you just scanned the one page?

I figured I came from Stonegard. But I'll bite as to where we're starting. So, where are we starting?

[The_Universe]

Upon further inspection of the webpage, some of the map does, in fact, seem to have been cut off. A link to the .pdf version of the map has been posted here, at the website I'm working on for the campaign. I'll post more about Stonegard in the near future!

[The_Universe]

Originally Posted by AIM-54

The map seems a bit incomplete, but I suppose you just scanned the one page?

I figured I came from Stonegard. But I'll bite as to where we're starting. So, where are we starting?

Stonegard is the capital of a Dwarven empire that has dominated the Iron Range since the dawn of time.

The story:

In an attempt to free mortals from the bonds of the Slaver-god Jehiel on a bleak and barren world of Jehiel's creation, Dwarves, the True Race, were led across the Veil of Worlds to Taloran by one of Jehiel's servants, the noble (if rebellious) Sariel. Sariel enlisted the aid of 9 of Jehiel's most powerful servants, including Sariel's consort Duriniel, to bring the Dwarves to a veritable paradise. Although Sariel and the 9 gods were able to steal the True Race from Jehiel's unforgiving servitude, Jehiel would not be fooled so easily. Even as Sariel led her brethren and the grateful dwarves through the Veil, Jehiel became aware of the theft, and summoned his considerable might to thwart his once-faithful servants. Sariel held off Jehiel's assault as Duriniel closed the Veil behind them, effectively hiding the True Race from the vengeful gaze of Jehiel. However, Sariel was trapped behind the veil as well, forever entombed with Jehiel, whom she had betrayed for the sake of the Dwarves.

The world that the Dwarves had been led to was not the paradise that Sariel had intended for them. Duriniel and the rest of the 9 found a world populated by hideous Giants, who worshipped bizarre, chaotic demon-gods; Duriniel would later learn and teach his adopted Children that the false and evil gods of the giants were themselves forgotten servants of the sinister Jehiel.

Duriniel refused to abandon the dreams of his imprisoned consort, and so, with the rest of the 9, the True Race waged war upon the giants, and made Taloran their own. In this Great Crusade, the gods created other races from the pure blood of the Dwarves, including Men and Elves, to help free the land from the unholy grip of the giants.

In the end, the giants were pushed into the far North, into the Flamewastes and Balogswen. Duriniel raised the Iron Range to keep the Giants entombed in the barren North, and set his favored sons upon a Crystal Throne dedicated to the memory of fallen Sariel. Duriniel gave the Dwarves dominion over the Mountains, and commanded them to reap the fruits of the earth, and to guard the South against the Giants and their foul gods. To aid in this task, Duriniel shared the secrets of Creation with one his most favored children, and bade them to create tireless creatures of spirit and stone, soul and iron--the Warforged--to stand with the Dwarves in their eternal citadels.

And so the Dwarves built great cities, and established dominion over the earth. The greatest of these is Stonegard, the Eternal City, the home of Duriniel's Crystal Throne. Fire feeds the great forges from below, bubbling up from the very depths of the earth, while water rains down from the lakes and rivers of the surface world to quench this unending flame.

Here, the Dwarves have prospered, a great city of water and fire, the first city of Taloran.

[AIM-54]

Awesome write-up Kennon. I take it Duriniel, thus, is who the Dwarves consider the "main" god of the pantheon. Is there another deity a dwarven of the warrior caste might also worship more along the lines of a militant god (as I recall Duriniel is more a Hephaestus than an Ares), or does he fulfill that role for the Dwarves as well?

[AIM-54]

In the line of world-building, I'd like to propose a city built in a swamp, with buildings on stilts, and where small boats are the primary form of transport between buildings or clusters of buildings. It might be inaccessible without some form of water transport, perhaps built thusly for defensive purposes (or at least to make it harder to find).

[The_Universe]

Originally Posted by AIM-54

In the line of world-building, I'd like to propose a city built in a swamp, with buildings on stilts, and where small boats are the primary form of transport between buildings or clusters of buildings. It might be inaccessible without some form of water transport, perhaps built thusly for defensive purposes (or at least to make it harder to find).

Check out the town of Fallmarsh on the map link. That sounds like it's just what you're looking for.

[The_Universe]

Originally Posted by AIM-54

Awesome write-up Kennon. I take it Duriniel, thus, is who the Dwarves consider the "main" god of the pantheon. Is there another deity a dwarven of the warrior caste might also worship more along the lines of a militant god (as I recall Duriniel is more a Hephaestus than an Ares), or does he fulfill that role for the Dwarves as well?

Duriniel is, indeed, the chief god of the pantheon for both Dwarves and Warforged. However, some among the warrior caste venerate Tyriel, one of Duriniel's brothers. Tyriel is the god of war, valor, strategy, and cleverness - obviously, someone that a warrior can understand. For dwarves, Tyriel is the second-most worshipped deity, after Duriniel.

The only other god that might play an important part in a dwarven scout's life is Freyariel, one of Sariel's sisters. Freyariel is a nature goddess, dedicated to fertility, growth, and love. However, as a nature goddess, Freyariel also considers the hunt part of her portfolio, and is therefore often venerated by scouts, rangers, and others who dedicated themselves to the chase.

[The_Universe]

On another note, where do you all think your characters are "from?" Some of these places are sort of obvious; Nikhil and Jeremiah's characters are probably both from somewhere in the Dwarven regions, while Liz's character likely calls one of the southern regions home. Is where they were born different from the place they have more recently called home?

Feel free to describe these places in generalities, and I will try to adjust/fill in as much as is possible.

[The_Universe]

Originally Posted by The_Universe

On another note, where do you all think your characters are "from?" Some of these places are sort of obvious; Nikhil and Jeremiah's characters are probably both from somewhere in the Dwarven regions, while Liz's character likely calls one of the southern regions home. Is where they were born different from the place they have more recently called home?

Feel free to describe these places in generalities, and I will try to adjust/fill in as much as is possible.

Asking me what might be apropriate is also perfectly acceptable. I am happy to "point you in the right direction."