Communal World Building

[Tonguez]

The Plume

About 20 miles out from the Farrago rivermouth a billowing plume of steam and ash rises from the broiling waters. The water around this plume is yellowed and sulfurous and a danger to unprotected craft and swimmers. Deep beneath the waves the plume spouts up from a bottomless trench, it's entrance eight miles across and maybe 30 miles long. The sides of the trench are crawling with gigantic corals, sea anemone, crabs, tubeworms and other sea life which would usually be found at deeper levels.

The most unusual denizens of the trench however are the gnomes, who maintain an extensive burrow in the walls of the trench, powered by the volcanic plume, with breathable air geneated by cultivation of an unusal sponge. These gnomes mine the useful alchemical substances found in the trench and get around by use of a fleet of Kwalish apparatus.

The gnomes only go ashore at night and otherwise avoid contact with the land dwellers

 

[Gilladian]

Below and to the south of the dwarvish city of Ontokoth lie deeper caves that connect to both the city and to the smaller towns that encircle it. One large cave is used by the dwarves as mentioned above for their yearly religious rituals, but others house many other communities and racial groups. One such cavern is much vaster than the others, and is half-filled with ice-cold waters, run-off from the Djard mountain glaciers. It also has deep underwater connections with the ocean, and the fertile ocean trench of the Kwalish Gnomes.

This interconnection allows a tribe of mongrelfolk known as the Trash of the Deep to survive on the Undersea; they have a raft village built mostly of huge chunks of fungus harvested from nearby fungal forests, but also from anything they can trade with the gnomes, the dwarves or any other passers-by. It is said that they know the Undersea and all its tunnels, passages, springs, sink-holes and hidden caves better than any other dwellers in the deep; but they are shy and wary of giving up their secrets to adventurers, who have often cheated them in the past.

 

[Razjah]

In the Land of the Falls is a growing threat the the mist elves- Kobolds.

These small reptilian creatures are no threat individually, they are frail, weak, and cowardly. But they breed like rabbits, attack in numbers, and use tactics like choke points, poisons, and traps they feign retreat through and allow the heavier races to set off before turning around and advancing again. In the waterfall filled lands, the mist and trees shroud the sun, the light hours are short and with no moon or stars for light, the nights are dark and long. While having a violent and possibly cruel streak, the kobolds produce amazing works of art from wood carvings to weaving to body expression such as tattoos and piercings. They also love their fashion of bark, leaves, woven plants, and the pelts of small animals. The only thing more beautiful to kobolds than their art is a battle scar- aware of their many physical weaknesses, such scars are rare and wondrous. Faking such a scar is blasphemous and any kobold who is caught forging such scars is sacrificed to their god Zul-Rygl-hiertp, Zul the Hidden One to foreign tongues unable to say the name properly.

 

[Electric Wizard]

deleted

 

[Electric Wizard]

The Dawn Queen

The Land of the Falls was once the domain of the Dawn Queen. She knew the names of every waterfall and they bent to her will alone. The waters protected the elves in those days. Any non-elf who drank the water fell into a deep slumber. Some never awoke, and a few may still snore amongst the ferns and moss. Those who did awaken forgot all of their memories and languages and descended into gibbering madness. Nobody knows what happened to the Dawn Queen. Most elves believe she sailed across the eastern sea to wed the sun, and that she will someday return and rule again. Today, the Land of the Falls is a patchwork of fiefdoms ruled by wizards, sorcerers and druids who have learned to control the waterfalls. Warfare is uncommon between these mage-states. They prefer to settle disputes through elaborate duels and contests. But it is by no means a peaceful land. A growing number of elves fall victim to kobold traps and ambushes as the creatures creep into the forest.

 

[Razjah]

The Serpent of Ontokoth

The mongrelfolk, or Trash of the Deep, have a legend of a great serpent like creature that moves through the Undersea. There is little proof of this myth, but large scales can be found in the water and no other creature matches them. The Mongrelfolk secretly hate that this creature has managed to hide from them for so long, they know everything about the Undersea except it's lair. The Serpent is real, and feeds on wanderers who venture into the Undersea- spitting out their clothes hundreds of feet from the site of the strike.

 

[Tonguez]

The native fauna of Izabella coast is notable for its lack of large mammalian predators and this is largely due to the flocks of Avialans that stalk through the mountains, grasslands and forests of the region. Ranging from the large terrorbirds and deinonychus to smaller velociraptors, Soriopteryx and microraptors, these feathered beasts flock together to hunt the other creatures and people of the land and they have also found the creatures introduced by the colonist to be very much to their liking. Other larger monstrous predators are spoken of in the legends of the Izabella coast but none are as numerous as the Avialans,

Despite the dangers posed in handling these animals some have been domesticated by the Ol'Turin beastriders who use them as hunting companions and even as mounts. Frenzies of velociraptors are often spotted along the River Farrago and Soriopteryx in particular have become a popular pet in Tolno with eggs being collected wild from the forest in the Land of the Falls...

 

[Fiddleback]

The Great Puzzle Palace of Kehdribul lies nestled between the twin spires of Mt. White Top and The Sunless Peak far to the North. Kept in near constant shadow aside from a few weeks each Summer, the Great Puzzle Palace was constructed ages ago by the Wizard-Priest Kehdribul as an unassailable fortress in the last years of the Elemental Wars. The exact method of construction is unknown, but rumors say that Khehdribul himself leveled a third peak to begin the initial construction having found a massive, maze-like complex of caves in it's heart. From this foundation, Kehdribul built up his palace using every trick known, and some unknown, to man. Sparse reports from the few brave enough, or at least claiming such bravery, to have ventured there and survived tell tales of shifting rooms, endless hallways, false doors leading to nothingness and perhaps even portals to other planes of existence.

Some say the Palace is guarded by unreal creatures of mist and shadow, fell guardians invisible to the naked eye. Others, that even getting in to the Puzzle Palace is an impossibility and once in, nearly as impossible to get out again. Tales told in taverns in the late hours of the night suggest that Kehdribul himself still walks the ancient halls and takes a dim, and often lethal, view of trespassers.

Whatever the case may be, the Great Puzzle Palace of Kehdribul stands as a stark reminder of the former power of the ancient days and the man who built her.

 

[Gilladian]

We need a map of this world! If I were any kind of artist, I'd draw one - is anyone up for the challenge?

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

We need a map of this world! If I were any kind of artist, I'd draw one - is anyone up for the challenge?

Sure, give me a couple more hours, almost there It isn't going to be fancy, just a way to keep rough track of what exists and where it is/may be related to other stuff (and I'm sure it will get changed a lot).