ÄRAM: Wake of Fallen Empire

ÄRAM: Wake of Fallen Empire

Hi. Welcome to my campaign on the Continent of Äram. It is a brutal world where players must negotiate the upheavals left after the collapse of the Elven Empire of the Teulu Mawr 200 years before. Much has been forgotten since that time. There are ruined cities in the dust awaiting exploration, hidden magic guarded jealously by mages and their disciples, and tales of other coastlines barely marked on the lost charts of Teulan mariners. Smaller kingdoms remain, and could either be the only light toward a brighter time, or else merely the epilogue of civilization's collapse.

I hope this thread could be an introduction to the Continent of Äram, and I welcome any and all feedback as it progresses - seriously, anything: questions, ideas, requests for maps/illustrations, thumbs up, thumbs down, whatever. I ultimately would like to supply playable levels later in the thread, so I would appreciate any preferences people might have in terms of format, edition, etc. (I confess I still keep going back to my Gygax hardcovers from back in the day.)

I hope you enjoy. Here it goes.

ÄRAM: Wake of Fallen Empire

Over two centuries have passed since the Continent of Äram entered a darker age. It was then that Baniorath, the last elven emperor, abdicated his throne and brought a close to the crumbling Empire of the Teulu Mawr. Once withdrawn to the isles of Alfaad, the eastern home of the elven clans, he completed a quick and violent campaign through the royal house to eliminate the line of succession. Solemnly and without protest, Baniorath met his end at the hands of the Teulu Motherhood in an ancient ritual reserved for the aged chieftains of centuries past.

The men of the Continent felt the weight of the imperial collapse. Client kingdoms battled to further their claims. A line of imperial pretenders hopelessly tried to unite the free principalities of the shores of the Madratic (and indeed merely sit as figureheads to this day). Maritime freight dwindled as shipping lanes fell prey to the remnants of once-proud legions, now reduced to marauders and scavengers. The great public works of the Teulu Mawr fell into disrepair as their dwarven engineers retreated to the safety of their ancestral deeps. Clerics of the basilicas and monasteries of the Doma remained the last universal stewards of Teulan learning. But in their lust for power they destroyed the vast libraries of the old orders of magic and the mystical academies of the West.

Seafarers have witnessed the first advances of a mysterious empire to the south. And a few former hostages speak of the baffling array of technology at its disposal. Ships with two hulls. Crewmen measuring shadows with twirling bits of metal. An iron cable reaching beyond the clouds.

Another menace festers in the heart of the Continent, where the men of Gora threaten the frontier kingdoms and the upland halfling shires. It is said they call upon neither the old gods of the earth nor the dominion of the sun. They remain in the service of Caladú, the Horned God, and his host of fallen deities. It is said that the workings of Caladú have touched the earth in the expanse to the north and west, but beyond the dark hills of Gora, few men have yet to travel.

ÄRAM: Wake of Fallen Empire


GEOGRAPHY



Under the Heavens

The skies above Äram are traversed by a yellow sun whose path lowers to the south at the onset of the coldest weeks, and reaches its zenith when the summer crops have broken through the earth. After 392 days, the people of Äram would celebrate and implore the sun to return.

Two of sevens of four of sevens
Sun returning to rule the heavens…

Today's children's rhyme illustrates the ancient calendar. The first line refers to the two seasons of seven months each. Each month consisted of four weeks of seven days each. Thus 2 x 7 x 4 x 7 = 392. After 392 days, most settlements began their celebration to urge the sun to return. Celebrations could last up to two weeks, at which point the settlement's religious or political leader would announce that the sun was beginning its return. Such a determination was based on the sun's position at sunrise or sunset in relation to holy landmarks (such as hilltops or sacred groves), and sometimes in relation to rows of stones placed by the inhabitants themselves. Many such stones have been removed through building or warfare, but well-preserved cairns still exist on the islands of Nerfyrda and Lephthra, between Alfaad and the mainland.

It has been known for centuries that the year is actually between 405 and 406 days long. The Empire of the Teulu Mawr established its calendar which is still used throughout the Continent. The calendar recognizes the ancient tradition of a winter solstice celebration by adding a two-week semi-month at the end of the year, which is supplanted by a ten-day festival every four years. For ten days, people feast and celebrate. Old debts are settled, new contracts are considered to have auspicious beginnings, and all social rank and obligations are ostensibly suspended until the new year begins.

The sun is followed by two other bodies, the fast white moon and its slower tempermental sister, the blue moon. All three bodies appear to be the same size from the ground, and most cultures have developed a cosmology or religion to see them as either siblings or consorts. The white moon, Monya, occludes both the sun and the blue moon on the rare occasion of alignment. It can be the brighter of the two when full, and displays a white surface with some slightly darker patches and very thin, dark fissures. Nearly 28 days pass between full moons and it is widely accepted to be the basis for the universal system of the seven-day week and four-week month.

Blarún is the darker moon. It has has a greenish-blue cast, and unlike Monya, the patterns of its face slowly change. A pattern on one day may have completely permutated within a week's time, and occasional bright spots shine from previously darker regions - especially when full. Its lunar cycle is much slower and lasts for 160 days - making tidal predictions a very complex affair. It has never been known to occlude the white moon, but it can occlude the sun. Such an eclipse is widely seen as a grim portent, for the ensuing darkness lasts the better part of a day. There is no record of both moons and the sun ever being in alignment, and most commoners believe that such an event would signify of the end of time.

While the moons are perceived by many cultures as feminine, they tend to illustrate a complex conception of duality in religion and folklore. Monya is permanent, fast, active (or obstinate, careless, and aggressive), while Blarún is malleable, slow and passive (or agreeable, deliberate, and welcoming). Due to differences in physiology, Monya is associated with humans, halflings and dwarves, while Blarún is associated with elvenkind. (It should be noted that among elves, their corollary to monthly pain is only a biannual slight discomfort. This distinction has led to a nearly universal turn of phrase among non-elven women when not in mixed company. For example, an infuriated mother may admonish her daughter, "Girl, you know to garden comi alfa cognesc dul!" Or in Ayrish: "Girl, you know to garden like an elfmaiden knows pain!")

Most bright stars have been catalogued by human and elven astronomers, including the five bright wandering stars who seem to move back and forth along the path of the sun. Some believe these are truly stars. Some feel they are leftover fragments expelled by the sun like sparks from a bonfire. Despite the disagreement, these wandering stars continue to possess strong religious associations and influence decisions for most commoners.

During the last centuries of the Teulan Empire, fierce debates raged regarding the nature of the earth itself. Some espoused the long-held notion of the earth as a disc inside a spinning spherical firmament. Most rejected this view as simplistic and contrary to observed experience. Ships sank below the horizon - they did not shrink to the point of invisibility. The many rolling isles of Alfaad visible from hilltops were always known to hide some of their valleys below the horizon when viewed from the shore. Teleporting at noon landed the caster in the afternoon to the east, and in the morning to the west. Conservative academics argued that such phenomena were either the products of a slightly concave surface, or simply visual distortions arising from heat, such as the mirages commonly seen in southern salt pans, or short time travel associated with the wild magic necessary for a teleportation. The debate was slowly brought to a close as records and measurements from observatories scattered around the Empire were painstakingly correlated by scribes and engineers. What was intended originally as an exercise to determine the height of the sun from the floor of the earth yielded results that pointed to only one possibility. The earth is a sphere.

By the close of the Empire, academics were convinced that Monya circled the earth, but that the pair was spinning in tandem with Blarún, and all three circled the sun. The normally inflexible Doma fully accepted the finding, for it reinforced the notion that the sun was the material manifestation of the Supreme Deity as revealed by Ben Duín.

Today, the invaluable library of astronomical records resides on Alfaad, where scribes and engineers wait years to for the chance to consult it. Current study is finding instances where the light from wandering stars seems to bend around the sun, or appear sooner when closer to earth, and philosophers are suggesting amongst themselves that light itself may travel with a constant speed. These findings are not widely shared on the Continent, and most commoners retain the view from older folk tales that the earth is flat.

ÄRAM: Wake of Fallen Empire


GEOGRAPHY



The Known World

Äram was once the name given to the earth above the waters. It literally meant were ogm, or "mankind's home". But as knowledge grew of what lay beyond the horizon, and the truly vast scale of the world imposed itself, names were needed for what lay outside of Äram.

The earliest existing world maps predate the Teulan expansion, and originate from the ancient human civilizations of southern Äram, around today's Arta and Paestum. They show the world as a flat watery disc, usually with east at the top of the map. In the center is the continent of Äram, shown in rigid geometry with a sharp notch in the southeast quadrant representing the Madratic Sea. The isles of Nerfyrda, Lephthra and Alfaad align themselves within the sea as featureless rectangles. To the left, the northern continent of Boream forms a sharp arc around Äram. And as mirror image, the continent of Asur cradles Äram from the south. Clusters of featureless rectangular islands to the west are known as Vesta. The eastern top of the map is left blank, and known simply as Ocean.

During the reign of the Teulu Mawr, more detailed charts were compiled of the shipping lanes through the Madratic. Imperial navigators and pilots went from port to port for centuries collecting soundings and measuring currents and prevailing winds. The navy maintained lighthouses and even placed manned buoys at important intersections on the open sea. Coastlines were verified by astronomical observations. Although these charts were assembled on a continental scale by Teulan cartographers, the resulting maps were a closely guarded secret. Independent trading houses were taxed dearly for access to the information, and even then they were sometimes only given a written list of navigational instructions for a defined route. Few of these maps still exist, and it is believed they are kept deep within the ancient libraries of Alfaad. Today, a heavy scroll tube containing imperial elven charts would be worth many times its weight in gold for an adventuring party.

Overland routes did not receive the same close scrutiny, although many local maps were available. Such maps indicated general direction and travel time between towns, as well as landmarks, but these were largely schematic and had very little consistency of scale. Greater accuracy was not introduced until the sweeping reforms of the Emperor Durisdana. His campaign to promote overland trade and accelerate military deployment led to a vastly improved network of standardized roads. The construction was commenced under the supervision of dwarven engineers and surveyors, whose accuracy is without parallel to this day. The dwarven plans served for decades as a reliable basis for imperial cartographers, and for the first time, maps were available with a standardized scale and elevation. The benefits were immense, but these newer maps were kept closely guarded by the Empire. Of course, such maps are a rare find today, and they will command a fine sum from academics, collectors, or merchant families.

Although many current maps show the continent of Äram with a contiguous coastline, the continent itself has never been circumnavigated, and questions remain concerning how far north and west the landmass extends. There is no evidence of the existence of the ancient northern continent of Boream, and today the term refers to any of the bitter isles north of the northern sea of Moth Gar. Few have travelled beyond the Moth Gar, but tales abound of the forest people in their long lodges, islands populated by dragons, and violent lands of fire and steam.

The lands to the northwest remain largely mysterious as well. The northern hills of Gora reach the western side of the Sea of Moth Gar, and block any attempts at trade or exploration into the bleaker land beyond. The adjacent upland halfling shires offer safe overland passage between the mountain ranges. But trade routes west of the shires turn quickly southward along the western slopes, and extend southwest to the massive port cities of Csorna. North of Csorna and west of the shires sits the sweeping Nagorno Plain, home to fierce nomadic people, the border ranges of goblinkind, and weirder beings still. The Nagorno never fell under control of the Teulan Empire, and the northwestern limits of its expanse are not known. Csornan ships travel up the coast to nomadic trading camps, exchanging metal goods for furs and amber. But further travel remains too dangerous, and has always ended in tragedy.

Little is known of lands to the west. Larger islands have exclusive rights with the ruthless Csornan trading families, and remain off limits to most others. A larger landmass is understood to exist beyond these islands, perhaps larger than Äram itself, and it is considered that this land is the Vesta of legend. One of its eastern reaches is home to a group of people called the Mornites. Small truths and exaggerations of Mornite culture have come back with Csornan trading ships, leading aristocrats in the Csornan coastal cities to create their own hedonistic mystery cults based on the tales (much to the dismay of the Doma).

More is known of the southern continent of Asur. Indeed the land of Myphthra south of Alfaad was a province of the Teulu Mawr. Teulan trade routes crossed the adjacent deserts in the ancient gold/salt/slave trade before the slavers were outlawed by Durisdana. Further to the west was a people known as the Keya. The little contact made with them ceased to exist after the collapse of the Empire, but it is thought that their own southern empire has recently explored the seas south of Äram with designs on expansion. Their technology seems to rival that of the Continent, and some of the royal houses of Äram have discussed the Keyan Empire and the threat it may pose to the known world.

Some knowledge of the northern coastline of Asur exists among traders today, although most trade carried on by the houses of Csorna and Ayr is only with Myphthra south of Alfaad. There are rumors that a circumnavigation of Asur was accomplished recently in 202, and that the charts exist somewhere in the Avoca Islands in the southern Madratic, but this claim is unsubstantiated.

To the east lies Ocean. Few vessels return with anything more than strange catches in their nets, and tales of skies devoid of flies and birds. The farthest voyages have failed to retrieve any soundings, and those who have not returned are believed to be the victims of the fierce storms which can batter the eastern shores of Ayr, Alfaad and Myphthra.

ÄRAM: Wake of Fallen Empire


GEOGRAPHY



Äram: Land and Climate of the Continent

The continent of Äram shares a variety of landforms and weather patterns. The treacherous southern reaches extend into warm seas, where winters are characterized by maritime rain and frost is rare. Indeed, the southernmost shores can host groves of fruit trees normally found only on the continent of Asur to the south, and palm trees are not uncommon. Contrast this with the bitter northern reaches, where no tree will grow and patches of rocky soil support only stunted grass and lichens. Ice-choked inlets and seas open for only a few months of the year, if at all. And the few who live here must contend with the constant threat of large predators and other more enchanted adversaries.

The civilized lands of the Continent extend far enough to the north where the midsummer sky never quite goes dark. But the worst of winter is held at bay here by a warm current traveling northward through the Madratic Sea. Farther inland from the warm sea, the winters can be fierce. The cold has hardened the people to the north and west, such as the armies of Gora and the fierce nomads of the Nagorno Plain. It has also strengthened the hamlets of the upland halflings whose people display a fierce loyalty to family and shire, defending their warm burrow-hearths to the death.

The Continent itself consists of a generally central highland, sprouting massive mountain ranges that run on a north-south axis. Most of the civilized land sits on two sub-continental arms that extend from the Continent's heart. One arm tapers toward the south, with the rugged mountains bisecting it. The other juts from the central highlands toward the east, separating the warm seas of the Madratic from the northern sea of Moth Gar. Beyond this arm lie volcanic isles and archipelagos to the east and north. South of these rest the isles of Lephthra, Nerfyrda and Alfaad, which frame the eastern Madratic and are the last landfall before the vast Ocean to the east.

On the western side of Äram, the Somnatic Sea prevents extremes of temperature, but channels its moisture to the north. The southern Somnatic coast is a dry and rugged place. The many sharp isles and inlets of Arta have historically made it a difficult place to rule, and today the labyrinthine coast offers safe haven for ancient city-states and outlaws alike. Farther north, the coast of Csorna offers safe inlets for the old merchant dynasties who have stood since they guarded the western frontier of the Teulan Empire. The rainy season occurs during the winter months. Frost and snow is a rarity, although many snow-capped peaks can be seen by coastal inhabitants when their cities are not enshrouded in a characteristic fog.

Farther up the coast stands the wild coastal range, a region never tamed by the Teulu Mawr. Its usually dormant volcanic peaks trap maritime rain which give rise to impenetrable forests. Behind the coastal ranges sits the vast, dusty tablelands of the Nagorno Plain, blazing hot in the summer months but soon battered by arctic air. The coastal regions to the north become even more inhospitable, as the dense forest terrain is carved by steep fjords and tall glaciers.

During the winter, the eastern arm of the Continent is locked in ice and snow. Overland trade is reduced to a small stream, and most northern ports on the Moth Gar are shut down for many weeks. The Madratic ports within reach of warm currents remain accessible year-round. The land of Ayr benefits from this situation as one of the main trading centers in an intercontinental triangle of shipping. Ayr with its wide ships exports wool, tin and small manufactures. Myphthra on the southern continent of Asur provides a stopping point for gold, salt and spices - the spoils of unsavory activity farther south. The great merchant dynasties of Csorna on the Somnatic Sea to the west export wine, amber, furs and exotic western goods, riding the warm Madratic current back north to Ayr.

The summer months see the opening of overland routes for trade. Professional soldiers take merchant caravans in their charge, protecting them from the onslaughts of marauders and goblinkind. Pilgrimages are made to the holy sites of the Doma. Scholars travel to consult the few remaining stores of knowledge. And another class of urban dweller comes out to take advantage of all of them.

In the eastern Madratic, the end of summer is sometimes heralded by the arrival of fierce spinning storms, sometimes hundreds of miles across, leading even the most secular academics to utter quick prayers to the older gods of Mananan and Jovurno.

Increased dangers on the open seas in recent decades have in turn hurt overland trade, and many areas are beginning to revert to a more agrarian society. This has left a large class of unemployed men-at-arms. Some of them give up the sword in exchange for the plow, some pursue lives of exploration and adventure among the many ruins and wilderness, but others have chosen to remain as armies without masters, spreading terror through once-civilized lands.

ÄRAM: Wake of Fallen Empire


GEOGRAPHY



Äram: Seats of Power and Wild Lands (The East)

Alfaad
The name itself suggests the source of all things. Alfaa - the first rune of the Teulan alphabet. Alfai - one of elvenkind. Also known as Alfheim on the Continent, Alfaad is the island home of the elven clans. The term can designate the single landform itself, or refer to the entire cluster of elven isles in the vicinity. While Alfaad is home to the clans of Cleddyf o Gweundir and the Hwyldugoch, it is the ancient clan of the Teulu Mawr who achieved prominence and established the Empire on the Continent. Today, the clan chieftains tenuously share power and have withdrawn from Continental affairs. The body of Imperial knowledge has become fragmented as smaller warlords jealously guard ancient libraries. Magical and mathematical learning is done either in secret or within massive oaken strongholds. The Doma is allowed to practice although most inhabitants have shed their religious affiliation in exchange for the older secular values of communal responsibility. The Teulan Motherhood maintains its genealogical records and arranges most marriages in pursuit of its millenarian aims.

Lephthra and Nerfyrda
These two main islands between Alfaad and the Continent to the north have enjoyed a large share of autonomy granted by the earliest Teulan emperors. Their subsequent isolation has kept many of their ancient customs intact. The few coastal trading towns give little clue as to the densely forested interior. Tales abound of a fierce cult of darkly stained warriors, fueled by mead, mushrooms and hyperventilation. The few missionaries of the Doma who have returned from travels upriver speak of megalithic sanctuaries devoted to the Earth Mother and the Horned God, giants who tame wyrms, and a wilderness dense with dark magic.

Ayr
One of the oldest Teulan provinces on the Continent, Ayr is now an autonomous monarchy and among the most cosmopolitan centers of the known world. The southern reaches across the strait from Nerfyrda host the last elven communities on the Continent. Ayr's position at the eastern end of Äram places it within the warm Madratic current and affords it a generous agricultural surplus. The kingdom spans a narrow strait to the north, watching over all traffic between the sea of Moth Gar and open water. Its fertile hills support wide ranges for sheep, making it the chief exporter of wool since ancient times. The cities of Ayr are at the nexus of maritime and overland trade, and are great exchange centers of knowledge and culture. Many adventurers start their careers among the many opportunities of the Ayrish coast.

Holdrid Isles
This rocky archipelago extends east from southern Ayr and Lephthra. It has never supported large communities or agriculture. No crown lays claim to the area, and the few inhabitants depend upon the spoils from derelict vessels run aground. Besides the occasional warped hermit, the inlets afford some protection to human marauders and gangs of goblinkind. The moderate level of danger and intrigue gives fledgling adventurers a chance to test their mettle.

Homar
North of the Holdrids and across the channel from Ayr, Homar is the gateway to the north. The people of Homar were at one time ferocious adversaries threatening the northeastern reaches of the Teulan Empire. Though much of their past glory was entombed in the high hanging valleys of the interior, among the burial grounds of forgotten chieftains and kings. The people of Homar now produce ivory, rare leathers and whale oils for much of the Continent by way of Ayrish merchants. Although within the past generation, fierce fighting has periodically erupted between Ayr and Homar over coastal trading rights. It is not uncommon for noblemen on either side of the channel to have spent a year or two of their youth as hostages, maintaining a fragile peace.

Gallume
West of Ayr sits the wide expanse of the Kingdom of Gallume. A checkerboard of powerful fiefdoms rival the supremacy of the Galls Crown, but a prosperous economy curtails any latent threats of secession. Nearly constant small scale combat among nobles and a prevalent overland trade support a class of men-at-arms serving in free companies at the service of the highest bidder. Whereas Ayr has its feared longbowmen, Galls swordsmen are among the best in the known world, and most universal training drills stem from the teachings of the Galls master Baierbecq in the early 2nd century. The rolling plains of the north and center of the country give way to the steep mountain ranges of the south, the spine of the eastern Continental arm which was never fully tamed by the Teulan Empire. Today's inhabitants of the mountains speak a host of old languages and share the gorges and hollows with lesser bandit kingdoms. Forgotten mines pierce the mountains, harboring the remnants of persecuted magic schools and mystical orders who attempt the summons of darker beings to strike at the heart of the Doma farther south.

Der Vernerlands
During the height of the Teulan Empire, the wheat and barley of the entire northern coastal plain passed through the mills and shipyards of this small province on the south shore of the Moth Gar. Der Vernerlands still accommodate a great deal of the bulk shipping through the Moth Gar, and much of the imperial lading technology survives to make this home to the most efficient ports of call on the Continent. Old mercantile houses have consolidated textile concerns to produce fine cloth from Ayrish wool and now Western cotton. The web of corrupt relationships between merchants, shippers and spinning houses has left the urban centers of Der Vernerlands ripe for secret crime syndicates, and the towns can periodically erupt in waves of bloody vendettas.

Vione
Home of the Basilica of the Sun, and the Most Prior Synod, Vione is the heart of the Doma and the source of religious direction for much of the Continent. The royal house claims much of the coast west of southern Ayr and the massive peninsula extending into the Madratic as its own. But the wealth and influence of the Doma rivals that of the crown, and the relations between the two can be explosive. Nobles of the peninsula exploit the tenuous balance when possible, leaving the land in a tangle of shifting alliances and warring factions. Elsewhere on the Continent, the Doma may coexist with other sects of Ben Duín and older cults. But on the peninsula the Doma anoints military orders of the faithful, whose fanatical zeal and intolerance spread terror to rival the elven genocide two hundred years before.

ÄRAM: Wake of Fallen Empire


GEOGRAPHY



Äram: Seats of Power and Wild Lands (The West)

Friedbeck
During the reign of the Teulu Mawr, the people of this rugged land on the Sea of Moth Gar were the guardians of the northwestern frontier before Gora. Although the hated Goran hordes briefly spilled forth through this land at the twilight of the Empire, many of the old borders and citadels remain intact. The kingdom is now an association of powerful dukes whose heavy cavalry is supported by an increasingly servile agrarian base. Small pockets remain in the tangled forests of the south, leftover from the Goran incursion, where inhabitants have learned the powers of Caladú, the Goran Horned God. And now, some ambitious nobles in these forests look west across the frontier toward scheming Goran high priests, and see them as like-minded brothers.

Gora
The name evokes mystery and terror in the hearts of all people of Äram. The Goran people curse the names of Durisdana and Ben Duín, and submit to the masters of the dark magic of the Horned God Caladú and his host of fallen deities. This country touching the Moth Gar is ancient, having withstood repeated invasions and never falling before the armies of the Teulan Empire. The Goran people were a source of slaves for the early Empire, and their oral history speaks to their fierce resistance as well as their annihilated collective pride. Despite the proclamations of the Emperor Durisdana banning slavery within the Empire and such trade on the high seas, all Goran men, women and children were considered fair game for capture through warfare. Such Goran prisoners were sent to the vast imperial commercial farms farther east, where they lived as slaves in all but name. Their descendants roam to this day throughout the eastern lands as itinerant squatters and thieves. The injustice has never been forgotten in Gora, where the enlightened Teulan reign is remembered as an era of evil hypocrisy and arbitrary rule. The armies of Gora have long known the skills of the wild horsemen of the Nagorno Plain farther west. Goran cavalry adopted the Nagornan cord stirrup at the fall of the Teulan Empire, and used a variant to enable devastating heavy cavalry raids against light mounted bowmen throughout the first century. With their heavy steeds and insanely deformed charging weaponry, the Goran cavalry remains the most feared to this day. They might soon be able to attain their dream of rolling down the broad plains of the Varazdin River basin toward the Madratic coast, blocking overland routes between East and West—effectively cleaving the Continent in two.

Lipik
The homeland of the halfling people, the Shires of Lipik occupy a hilly upland between the north-south mountain ranges of Äram. Its people are the stewards of the overland trade routes linking the eastern kingdoms, such as Ayr and Gallume, with Csorna on the Somnatic coast to the west. Despite the civilized traffic, much of Lipik is at a defensive stance. Most of the western border is open to the high plains of the Nagorno, and at the whim of its merciless mounted hordes. In the mountains to the north, many dwarven fortresses and bunker outposts have fallen into the hands of denizens from much greater depths. The passes have opened, allowing Nagornan warlords safe passage to their berserking brother tribes to the northeast of Lipik. The mountains to the south harbor outlaw free companies, small bandit kingdoms, and clans of goblinkind who periodically descend to ravage caravans passing through the foothills. But Gora shares most of Lipik's eastern border, where the halfling shires steel themselves for impending attacks. The first such incursion occurred in 204, when Goran forces briefly took the eastern walled town of Surany. Lipikan troops repelled the invaders within several weeks with aid from an oddly patched-together army consisting of Csornan troops, free companies from an Avocan warlord, and a mysterious battalion of magic-wielding warriors who descended into Surany from a heavy floating airship.

Free Princes
Not a political unit as such, the Free Princes are any of the patchwork of small warring domains on the Madratic coast stretching from the mouth of the Varazdin in the north down to the high desert wastes just north of Paestum. While a royal house does claim succession from the Teulan Emperors, and considers many of these domains under its dominion, such control is negligible at best, and these domains pay the royal house a small tribute, if any. The Imperial commercial plantations were abandoned here during the closing centuries of the Empire, and the institutions of slavery gradually evolved into the agrarian forms of serfdom common today. Most commoners work lands for a warlord to build equity toward ownership, but equity agreements can be easily forfeited through crop failure or warfare, and most commoners remain in a lifetime cycle of indentured servitude. These lands were once the home of Ben Duín in centuries past, and as such were the battleground of many of the sectarian wars of succession to ensue. Today, the mystical orders of Ben Duín outside of the Doma hold greater power and freedom among the Free Princes. Much knowledge of pre-Teulan mathematics, alchemy and magecraft escaped the wrath of the Doma and survives in relative secrecy among the many fortress schools throughout the region.

Paestum
Occupying the warm southern horn of the Continent, Paestum was home to great civilizations predating even the Teulu Mawr. Although granted a large share of self-rule, the provinces of Paestum were among the first to secede from the Teulan Empire. Rival imperial military commanders became the pretenders of their own outlaw empires, as warfare turned the ancient cities and palaces into a mockery of their past glory. The great Teulan irrigation works collapsed to the north, leaving whole cities prey to the high desert waste and its awakened horrors. Today, Paestum is dotted with dusty tent cities among its ancient broken columns. The overlords have neglected their patrols through the advancing desert, where a few lucky travelers survive to tell of an immense iron tower shimmering in the distant heat.

Arta
Perhaps the oldest surviving civilization on the Continent, this cluster of cities on the Somnatic coast west of Paestum was the gateway to the west before the Teulu Mawr. Most secular magic used today was once introduced to the Continent through Artan mystical orders. Schools of philosophy and the natural sciences flourished through contact with the civilizations of the Farther West, though such contact has long since disappeared. The work of Artan philosophers informed all elven emperors since Durisdana, permeating the Poesod of Ben Duín and most subsequent religious life on the Continent. Today, Arta's maze of rocky isles and inlets continue to hinder efforts at a unified Artan polity, and most city-states have recently stopped tribute to the royal house at Volos. The lack of central authority has plagued the waterways with piracy and less savory beings, and on land the newly erupting regional feuds have already eradicated entire villages caught in the shifting web of alliances.

Terra Sulla
Looking out to sea from the southern horn of the Continent, one can see the gleaming white towers of Terra Sulla. Though not as old as the cities of Arta and Paestum, Terra Sulla has stood since the early days of the empire, and generations of its regents have acted as stewards of these treacherous straits. The city administers its home island and the rest of the archipelago to the south. Despite desperate battles in the first and early second centuries, no crown has been able to claim these isles as its own. The regents have customarily rejected offers of monarchy from the high council, and the people of Terra Sulla remain loyal only to the now-empty throne of the Teulan Empire. Because of this unusual political role, the city has historically served the Continent's leaders as neutral ground for treaties and negotiations. In late 204, a small Keyan flotilla landed on the southernmost isle of Barca and began fortifying the hilltop before a joint force of Terra Sullans and Csornans decimated them. The defeated Keyans committed suicide before capture, and one Keyan vessel escaped. A forum in Terra Sulla has been planned for summer 205 in which envoys from the southern kingdoms will discuss preparations for the Keyan menace.

Csorna
This country on the Continent's west coast was considered the frontier of the Teulan Empire, but it has been home to previous civilizations, many of them forgotten save for the strange ruins which dot the landscape. The deep harbors on the Somnatic coast have historically been home to the best shipwrights in the known world, and the ancient trading dynasties have kept their power through the rise and fall of the Teulu Mawr. The Csornan royal army has no equal on the Continent, and it has been deployed as far away as the Goran border with Lipik. The merchant houses have exclusive trading rights with the western islands, and their prestige will only grow as new goods are brought through Csorna to the other ports of the Continent. Despite the apparent strength, the Csornan crown is beholden to the trading dynasties for its power, and small autonomous principalities exist inland. The friction has increasingly come to a head, as private armies become emboldened to challenge the royal authority.

ÄRAM: Wake of Fallen Empire


GEOGRAPHY



Äram: Seats of Power and Wild Lands (Outlands)

Nagorno Plain
North of Csorna and west of Lipik, beyond the old frontiers of the Teulan Empire, sit the vast dusty tablelands of the Nagorno Plain. A forbidding land of fierce nomads, wild magic and wandering horrors, the Nagorno has never been tamed, and its limit is not known. Giant squat towers dot the otherwise featureless terrain, the last evidence of the forgotten civilizations who failed to dominate this wasteland. The tribes of the Plain are the best horsemen in the world. Other warlords seek these mounted bowmen for their uncanny accuracy, but such service is always short-lived. The horsemen were the first to employ the cord stirrup, which gave their cavalry a decided advantage against invaders, and the technology has only found its way through the rest of the Continent in the last century. The normally reticent Nagornan mercenaries have shared stories of hags who meander through the rolling plains, befouling the land with dark magic and serving as cult objects for entire tribes who fall prey to their whims.

Western Isles
Absent from many mariner's charts, the Western Isles sit far out in the Somnatic Sea, well over a week's sail from the shores of Csorna and Arta. This cluster of kingdoms seems to be the source of the novel spices, perfumes and textiles which the Csornan merchant houses have introduced to the Continent in the last century. Little is known of their people outside of the Csornan cartel, but they claim their ancestral home lies farther west. They worship strange monstrous gods and are fiercely secretive of their world beyond the ports of call. Their language is difficult to speak, and its script is nearly impenetrable. But some Csornan academics have spotted words shared with the nomadic tribes of the Nagorno, and some mages who have seen the script cannot dispute the similarities to the flowing hand in their own spell books. The islanders seem to have a superior grasp of metallurgy and alchemy, and they are aware of the ancient works of Artan philosophers and mathematicians. Naval battles between Csornan privateers and Artan vessels in the mid-2nd century cemented the Csornan merchant houses' unchallenged trading rights with the island kingdoms, and today the merchant forces will attack other Continental ships in the area immediately and with grim intent.

Mornite Kingdoms
While this mysterious people are believed to be inhabitants of the legendary western landmass of Vesta, the absence of contact with the Mornites indicates that this may be a people who live only in the minds of storytellers. Regardless, the bizarre stories of this nation have led some Csornan aristocrats to develop their own hedonistic mystery cults secretly devoted to the weird Mornite pantheon. In Khovitsa, seat of the Csornan Crown, some supposedly Mornite rugs and tapestries brought back from the Western Isles depict a corpulent race standing eight feet tall, and nearly as wide, referred to as the Ulukzun. Indeed, one of Khovitsa's subterranean cults has displayed a sacrificial bowl (supposedly from Vesta) made from a cranium with a two-foot diameter. Whether the Ulukzun and Mornites are synonymous, discrete or imaginary remains open to conjecture. Csornan clerics of the Doma waste no time on the distinction, however, and some have launched a merciless campaign against the mystery cults as a refuge for foreign influence, evil and depravity.

Keya
Little is known of this empire on the southern continent of Asur, but most of the people of Äram foresee a savage conflict with this southern leviathan. A extremely well-armed but outnumbered Keyan force briefly occupied an island under the dominion of Terra Sulla, and Keyan vessels have been spotted farther north off the mainland and among the Avoca Islands. Envoys from the northern kingdoms are warily considering an alliance to deal with the Keyan threat. The Doma has just begun to take notice of the problem, and its authority may be the impetus needed to mobilize the armies of Äram in the future. It is believed that the head of state is an empress of unknown name, and that Keyan royal lineage is matrilineal, but this cannot be confirmed. Neither diplomatic relations nor trade have been achieved with the Keyans. The few attempts have led to bloody defeat dealt by disturbingly swift carracks with unfamiliar rigging. Only a handful of prisoners have ever escaped to tell of their experience. A few spoke of interminable straight canals and massive cities with waterways in place of streets. One remembers a group of arguing officers holding identical twirling metallic devices. Another saw a mound of earth obliterated by a shuddering tower of fire. And one dying fugitive found on a plank of Madratic flotsam spoke of a "wheel of the sky", lasting only long enough to say, "It is like nothing I have ever seen..."

Avoca Islands
It is common knowledge among the seafarers of Äram that salt spray rots the teeth, but west of Alfaad the mariners of the Avoca Islands have been spared this malady by a higher power. Indeed the small kingdoms of this island chain seem to have escaped much of the strife of the past centuries. Claimed by the Teulu Mawr, but never colonized, the Avocas are a subtropical haven of shallow banks, mangroves, sea cows and citrus trees. The inhabitants speak a plurality of languages distinct from the various regional patois of Teulan vernacular used on the Continent. Their pantheon is both complex and immense, with an array of gods, lesser deities and local spirits. Avocan clerics tend to have low limits on their power, and reports of divine visitation are not uncommon. This has led some to suspect that the beings of religious devotion in the Avocas are not in fact divine, but are instead highly magical mortal creatures. In early 205, a strange dual-hulled Keyan barge ran aground on the shallow Avoca Bank, arousing the wrath of an uncharacteristically powerful local warlord. Large numbers of Keyan troops were slain or taken prisoner, and the political fallout remains to be seen. In addition to the usual private merchants, official state vessels from Myphthra have visited islands on diplomatic missions, offering military protection from the Keyan menace, presumably in exchange for tribute. Whether or not these islands become a battleground, the Avoca Bank seems to be rife with wild magic, with divine visitations, deep pits that radiate magic, and tales of entire ships falling into holes in the sea.

Myphthra
Also called Mithstor on the Continent, the country of Myphthra was the southernmost province of the Teulan Empire, occupying the eastern edge of the continent of Asur. Secondary political boundaries within the former province have remained largely intact, and the imperial provincial assembly has survived the fall of the empire. The current ruling body chooses one of its own as an executive chieftain, and some district emissaries are even chosen by the district's landowning males by election. This is similar to political processes in some Artan city-states (which have no gender or property restrictions), but these processes seem to have evolved independently. The country is a major trading power on par with Ayr and Csorna, supplying gold, salt and spices to the northern kingdoms. It is widely understood and seldom spoken that Myphthra's access to such commodities is leveraged by unsavory conduct farther south, including wholesale piracy and human trafficking. While such conduct is anathema to the post-Teulan peoples of the north, the cargo ships continue to sail, and the merchant families grow more envious of each other's opulence. During the reign of the Teulan emperors, a large population of elves inhabited Myphthra's arid west, traversing the adjacent desert in long caravans. The elven community disappeared into the dunes since the fall of the empire, and their present situation is unknown. Some question their survival, some feel they moved south to the source of Myphthra's unsavory trade, and others wonder if they moved farther west, perhaps up rivers to the dark heart of Keya itself.

ÄRAM: Wake of Fallen Empire


GEOGRAPHY



Maps of the Known World

[I am reserving this reply for the future site of five maps to illustrate the geography of Äram described above:

1) Ancient map from Paestum in the schematic "L+O" style mentioned in paragraph 2 of "The Known World". Italicized description with Artan or Paestan script.

2) Mappamundi illustrated by Liutprano a canón of Cremensk. 400-500 yrs old from very beginning of Teulan decline. Heavily stylized. Teulan script.

3) Chart from Leonidas, navigator in service of Naskus of Doshen in the Avocas. Shows circumnavigation of Asur from 202 (see "The Known World", paragraph 9), and indications of large landmass of Vesta to the west. Bare bones and functional.

4) Series of accurate maps from Adobe Illustrator showing coordinates. Specifically for DMs. Elevation and political boundaries. And another with climate zones, ocean currents and volcanic activity.

5) A much less detailed and highly schematic map which could serve as a guide for players. Considering 2 versions - one for parties that start off in Ayr in the northeast, and another for campaigns starting in Csorna on the west coast.

(Csornan map may be good for my planned output of CS series modules:
CS1: Through the Horns of Merenik
CS2: Hordö
CS3: The Tears of Jovurno
CS4: Fording the Urno
CS5: Ypsala Beseiged)

All campaign-description posts are delineated with Äram title and boldface heading, so feel free to include any comments or responses within this thread!

-Mike]

ÄRAM: Wake of Fallen Empire


GEOGRAPHY



Beyond the Veil

Even before the people of Äram could wonder what lay beyond their shores, their minds were filled with deeper questions. Who ensures the return of our crops? Who has given us the gifts of fire and magic? Who granted us our sacred stories? And how can we be here to even ask? The answers lay somewhere outside of common sensory experience. And only a few have returned to speak of what lies beyond.

Among the oldest healers, some were granted the power to quicken the recently deceased among their cairn rows and sacred groves. A few of the departed returned whole, others sat silently brooding for a few days of life, and the rest terrorized their former companions as mindlessly violent aberrations. Even as the religious orders have honed their divine magic, there has yet to be a case where the resurrected could recall a single memory from their lifeless state.

Other magics attempted to cheat fate through possession. The rhythmic trances of ancient possession troupes allowed performers to negate their own consciousness and serve as temporary vessels for other beings. It was these methods that inspired spellcasters to inhabit the bodies of the living through specially enchanted receptacles. In this way, a few more sinister mages were known to have passed through the bodies of the young for generations, but their deaths would inevitably arise through complacency and accident.

Despite these failures, continued magical efforts would yield abilities to traverse space in a non-material form, eventually allowing spellcasters to visit new realms of existence. Such practice required months of concentrated study, diet and meditation for a single such attempt. But enough experiences were collaborated to suggest that these other realms were not merely the product of willful hallucinations. These were worlds that intersected the material realm, inhabited by powerful beings who claimed to empower the faithful of Äram and countless other worlds.

These closely guarded techniques came to be known as the Seeking Way. Originating among the inlets of Arta long before the Teulan Empire, they now are employed by several schools of magic throughout the known world. Study and preparation of these arts is still arduous, but the power gained is immense. Such abilities have been found on scrolls by few lucky adventurers. The ancient Order of Lacdevu, in the rugged eastern frontier of Csorna, claims to possess the deepest knowledge of these new realms and the ability to commune with the dead.

Long before the first explorations of the Seeking Way, a cluster of forgotten civilizations thrived in western Äram. Only a few of their structures remain among the desolate corners of Arta, Csorna and the Nagorno. Their statues of beast-headed men guard deadly tombs of unsurpassed magic. Their few deciphered inscriptions speak of vast temple-cities, and a cultish devotion to a line of god-kings with names like Gorogzagog and Bulshozagog. Adventurers who have survived the ancient tombs have brought back a range of artifacts operating as portals to other realms. Some lasted long enough only to loose unearthly horrors. Others opened onto finite pockets of space with bizarre physical properties, or even allowed passage to other consecrated sites in the known world and undiscovered lands. Some even claimed to possess portals to grant them access to the realms of the gods. The descendants of these ancient civilizations are said to have escaped a race of subterranean mind enslavers long before the dawn of history. They may survive today as something other than human among the colossal fissures deep below the hills of Csorna and in the dusty tablelands of the Nagorno Plain. Today's academics only faintly grasp these techniques, referring to them as the Sending Way. Magical research of this technique has built upon the spellcraft required for teleportation and the gating of unholy beings.

While neither the Seeking Way nor the Sending Way is fully understood, it is clear that they impart nearly divine abilities to mere mortals. The religious ramifications are potentially enormous, as it is possible that the lesser deities of smaller sects could be exposed as fallible beings of limited power. Practitioners of these arts should be aware that they will be regarded with deep mistrust and even hatred by those whose power depends upon the monopoly of magical abilities and divine access.

Long ago, these outer realms were understood to be the province of gods and heroes. Among mortals, the paradises after life were reserved for despotic rulers who ensured their own safe passage through monumental constructions. Common people did not expect such rewards after life, and the most they could hope for was the "good sleep" granted to those who fulfilled their obligations and remained in the good words of the living through story and song. All of this changed after the life of Ben Duín.