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[Let's Read] Midgard Worldbook
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<blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 7578946" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/8mu1VVA.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>The portion of the Southlands presented in the Midgard Worldbook is but the upper tip of a much larger continent <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/153189/Southlands-Campaign-Setting" target="_blank">with its own very good I might add sourcebook.</a> The "Southlands" as a whole is more properly known by its own people as the Kingdoms of Gold and Salt for the propensity of such trade goods. The realms with the most interaction with the rest of Midgard are the River Kingdom of Nuria Natal and the nation of Ishadia, who both have strong history of divine legacies and are the main blockade against Mharoti domination of the rest of the continent. To the west of Nuria Natal is the expansive Dominion of the Wind Lords, where elements of nature coexist with nomadic tribes. At the far east are the naval cities of the Corsair Coast, where legitimate business and piracy often go hand-in-hand.</p><p></p><p><strong>METAPLOT:</strong> In an interesting change of pace, the chapter opens up by filling out recent significant events: a secret religious order of Thorth-Hermes known as the Emerald Order are undergoing diplomatic missions to noble courts in the Crossroads, Seven Cities, and the Grand Duchy of Dornig against the Mharoti Empire. The minotaurs, long enemies of the dragons, are rebuilding the fallen city of Roshgazi. The mysterious reappearance of the Lost Fleet and its miraculously-living crew are spearheading the efforts. A huge slave rebellion on the island nation of Shibai disrupted the flesh trade on the sea and caused more than a few newly-freed people to join freedom-loving pirate vessels for revenge. Finally, the rise of three evil cults are growing in influence. They include the antipaladin Doomspeakers, the Emerald Order of Thoth''s scholars who obey the prophecies of a mysterious green tablet, and the nomads of Selket's Sting who petition their scorpion goddess to punish their enemies.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Nuria Natal</strong></p><p></p><p>The oldest surviving human nation bases its foundations upon a ley line-infused river. They are Fantasy Counterpart Ancient Egypt and have a close association with the gods of that pantheon. Their largest cities are named after their favored patron, such as Per-Anu and Per-Bastet. In times of great struggle and war the gods take physical form to enact mighty deeds. It is due to this divine protection that the Mharoti Empire has such great difficulty annexing their lands. However like any gods they cannot be at the beck and call of mortals, so some of their greatest mortal minions known as the god-kings were preserved in pyramid-tombs to awaken in times of great need. Some of them already walk the earth and do not always see eye-to-eye with the current ruler Thutmoses XXIII. Now Nuria Natal is more akin to a confederation of semi-autonomous city-states who unite together against a common draconic enemy.</p><p></p><p>The entries for people and places of Nuria Natal are focused strongly on the cities rather than smaller settlements and villages. Nuria, City of the River, is the capital and home to many grand pyramids, tombs, and a souk operating on a series of transient barges. Corremel is the most fertile city famed for its top-quality grains and beer. Per-Anu, the mysterious City of Crimson Pillars, is closed to entry save to trusted allies of the Cult of Anu-Akma (Anubis). It is home to loyal undead and the Red Portals, extradimensional gateways to other times and places. Per-Bastet, the City of Cats, is a cosmopolitan hub of varying people and races governed by an equally-fractured council. Its most notable natural feature is a "river" of sand cutting through the city's core. Per-Kush is famed for its many domesticated exotic animals and is home to a dwarven smith famed for the creation of huge constructs in the name of Nuria's national defense. Per-Xor is an outlier as its people are followers of the Sun God Aten, a jealous deity who has no desire to share his faithful with the rest of the pantheon. Although professing loyalty to Thutmoses, there are preachers who seek complete autonomy.</p><p></p><p>Our time in Nuria Natal ends with a list of famous tombs and ruins, such as a haunted pyramid whose vizier's devil-guided blood ritual went very, very wrong; shades of undead Mharoti buried in a sandstorm who still think the war's ongoing; and an evil offshoot of the Cult of Bast operating out of the ruined city of Tes-Luria.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Free Cities of the Desert</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/m4OpVBC.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Whereas Nuria Natal was Ancient Egypt-themed, the city-states of Siwal, Saph-Saph, and Makuria are more Arabian in flavor. They were once Nurian holdings, meant to serve as a buffer zone between the country and foreign lands. Now they are politically autonomous yet still maintain friendly relations with their ancestral neighbors. Siwal is built around a natural oasis enhanced with elemental magic, and magical vessels known as sandships are its major technological innovation. Capable of long-range trade, they are few in number but supplement the more common camel caravans. Siwal is also famed for the people's love of dance, and some even incorporate the practiced mobility into beautiful fighting arts. Priests of the water gods serve a vital social role in town and act as gardeners in addition to conducting birth and coming of age ceremonies for citizens. There's also a Grand Necropolis where a community of undead hold their own court at nightfall.</p><p></p><p>Saph-Saph is situated on a common Tamasheq nomad route and is just as much a fortress as it is a settlement. The people worship Aten and their schools raise new generations of priests and paladins. Makuria, meanwhile, trades in sellswords and mercenaries while its queen plays Nurian and Kush rulers against each other to to help business. However, the Order of Horus provides a more productive use of martial talents by monitoring trade routes and keeping them safe from danger.</p><p></p><p>Our last stop is at Golden Ulthar, a lush valley in the middle of the desert which remains so due to a forgotten civilization's land-changing magic. The only living entity of this civilization is the sphinx Sepenret, who lays eggs of stone which bear the kingdom's magic. She has a major incentive in preventing thieves and tomb-robbers from absconding with the eggs or other artifacts of Ulthar. In order to fulfill her duties, she relies upon wardens and trusted adventurers to recover these purloined treasures.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Dominion of the Wind Lords</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/8nfTaZM.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>The Dominion's lands dominate the majority of the northern Southlands, a harsh desert pocketed with rare yet precious oases and springs. The rulers are not mortals, but powerful creatures of elemental air represented by the four directional winds. These Wind Lords take an active interest in the affairs of the nomadic tribes calling the Dominion home. There used to be grand kingdoms here, such as Golden Ulthar and the minotaur city of Roshgazi, but their glory days are long past.</p><p></p><p>The Jinnborn are one of the major nomadic groups. They are not human, but rather descend from jinn and range from the Dominion to Nuria's deserts. They have strong ties to the elements and land itself and call themselves the Sab Siraat, or "people of the path." They are a new race who are further detailed in <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/188497/Unlikely-Heroes-for-5th-Edition" target="_blank">Unlikely Heroes for 5th Edition</a> or the Southlands Campaign Setting for their Pathfinder stats. As an owner of both books, they have a series of powerful abilities and in Pathfinder's case a slew of new feats. However, they are dependent on living in the desert and every month they stay away are afflicted with debilitating debuffs. This rather limits their playability in campaigns away from the Southlands.</p><p></p><p>The Tamasheq are human nomads who are Fantasy Counterpart Tuareg people. In fact, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamasheq_language" target="_blank">Tamasheq is the name of the real-world language of the Tuareg!</a> The Tamasheq organize into tribes of extended families known as vanhu who make regular trips between settlements to conduct trade. Although they portray themselves as simple nomads to outsiders, they have a secret thriving city known as Kel Azjer somewhere within the Dominion's mountains. We get a rundown on six notable vanhus who serve the various Wind Lords: the Vanhu Dewabi is ruled by a priestess who largely lairs within Nuria Natal and rustles camel for sport in addition to trade. The Vanhu Kozar serve Chergui the East Wind and use druidic magic to speak to nature spirits in order to avoid war-torn and dangerous regions. The Vanhu Lejai are fine warriors whose leader is a paladin with a pair of hunting cheetahs. The Vanhu Owey, Vanhu Adagh, and Vanhu Dinnij all serve Boreas the North Wind and have a hostile relation with the rest of the Tamasheq. They are some of the best cavalry in the Southlands and guard their elemental lord's broken tower which holds obscure knowledge.</p><p></p><p>For specific locations, we have the city of Kel Azjer located within an obscure mountaintop. It is home to all the boons of a large city, with skilled artisans, schools of mundane and magical disciplines, and grand towers and plazas. A network of Red Portals connect to areas elsewhere in Midgard as well as the planar commerce hub known as the Marketplace. The Shrine of the Spider Prophet is home to the eponymous figure, a robed person covered in a swarm of spiders favored by both the wind spirits who whisper him secrets of the land as well as his patron deity Kwansi. He has high status among the Tamasheq and foresaw a prophecy when the Mharoti Empire comes to war against their people. He is in fact looking forward to the oncoming chaos to test his skills as a warlord.</p><p></p><p>Two minotaur ruins of the Moon Kingdom are undergoing renovation by restoration efforts. The port city of Cindass is thriving in spite of its many unclaimed dangerous ruins inhabited by monsters and a fabled Golden Ark of Herosh. Roshgazi is home to a sprawling labyrinth whose halls shift of their own accord thanks to a sapient multi-personality artifact known as the <em>Heart of Roshgazi.</em> One personality is the kind-hearted <em>Poet</em> who is a helpful guide, but the malevolent <em>Broken</em> leads travelers to monsters and traps. The head of the lost Roshgazi fleet has returned to make repairs on the city, and whose leader is looking for a way to restore the Heart to its original state.</p><p></p><p>Our final location of note is the Mardas Vhula-Gai, a relic of Ankeshelian days home to magic runes and vril technology. The place is home to tribes of goblins, metallic construct guardians, and a ruthless warlord known as the Tyrant of Maras Vhula-gai who's building up a small army of raiders and assorted scum.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Corsair Coast</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/Qz56PoI.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>The final section of the Southlands chapter is also the least-detailed. The majority of focus is on Ishadia with brief write-ups for other realms. All of the people here rely upon sea trade for their livelihood, from merchant galleons to dangerous pirate vessels and warships.</p><p></p><p>Ishadia still stands in spite of their century-long war with the Mharoti Empire. Many of their cities are now but crumbling ruins, having suffered great losses. There is a brief quiet of sorts lately, as the dragons find their attention divided with other realms. But the Ishadi still stand resolute for when violence comes again. Worship of angels permeates Ishadian society, and even the most bloodthirsty cutthroat pays them respect. The Old Gods of the celestial realms once lived among their worshipers, their unions giving rise to a relatively high population of aasimar (about 3%).</p><p></p><p>Military service is compulsory for all adult citizens, a price the people accept as the cost of freedom from draconic domination. The capital city of Mardas Adamat's decorated dragon bone fortifications stand testament to that. The dammed city of Khazephon was once flooded by a dragon-caused tidal wave, and a group of lammasu sentries awaiting "the rise of a true king" stand watch over the vacant palaces claimed by the waters. Of greatest interest is the Phoenix Throne of Ishadia whose many broken shards hold powerful magic. Sequra is a tidy white city home to thriving criminal enterprises, and Shuruppak holds some of the largest and oldest temples in Midgard which used to connect extraplanar portals to the Seven Heavens. Pilgrims of many faiths from all over the world flock to the city due to this.</p><p></p><p>The Sultanate of Shibai is an incredibly wealthy island kingdom which sits at the epicenter of seabound trade in the Tethys Ocean. It was founded by Ishadian merchants whose descendants control their own port cities, and centuries worth of immigration from various lands results in a very multicultural society. The capital has a street literally paved with gold, which of course is protected from looters by <em>walls of force.</em></p><p></p><p>Mhalmet, the City of Freedom, is a den of pirates, smugglers, adventurers, and merchants with the stones to hang around these dangerous people. A council of pirate lords, thieves' guild leaders, and caravan raiders known as the Black Table governs the city. Although many among their faction fight against the slave trade, they are not above extorting protection money from "liberated" people. The Sandalwood House is a social club of big game hunters and explorers who make expeditions into the Southlands for thrills and profit.</p><p></p><p>Sar-Shaba, City of the Seal, was once the seat of the kingdom of Aksaba but now it serves as the prison of a thousand demons. Angelic sigils trap the mortal descendants of its princes and princesses who serve a generations-long duty to stand vigil over their ancestral land. But fiendish monsters aren't their only problem: a cult known as the Seven Wicked Blades is looking for a means to break the wards so that their objects of worship can run free across the Southlands.</p><p></p><p><strong>Thoughts so far:</strong> I have a soft spot for the Southlands, although that is mostly due to the setting book of the same name so I might be biased in this regard. There's quite a bit of adventuring opportunity in just about every realm, and I particularly like the "reverse tomb robber" idea of reclaiming artifacts for a sphinx patron. The minotaur cities in need of rebuilding serve as a plausible dungeon/settlement hybrid which makes sense, and the lost tombs of Nuria Natal along with its semi-independent god-themed cities are full of interesting plot ideas.</p><p></p><p>Sar-Shaba is my only major source of contention. Given the wording of its entry, it implies that the wards are a two-way street in keeping people out and demons in. The Southlands Campaign Setting proper explains that mortals can cross past its walls while the demons cannot. This helps serve as a place for Shar-Shaba to actually adventure in without undoing the wards. But the Worldbook entry is not clear on that, so otherwise it can come off as <em>"city full of interesting adventure only when all hell literally breaks loose."</em></p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Join us next time as we sail north to the Seven Cities, a realm where war is not only a way of life but a most sacred calling of their patron god Mavros!</strong></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Libertad, post: 7578946, member: 6750502"] [CENTER][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/8mu1VVA.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] The portion of the Southlands presented in the Midgard Worldbook is but the upper tip of a much larger continent [URL="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/153189/Southlands-Campaign-Setting"]with its own very good I might add sourcebook.[/URL] The "Southlands" as a whole is more properly known by its own people as the Kingdoms of Gold and Salt for the propensity of such trade goods. The realms with the most interaction with the rest of Midgard are the River Kingdom of Nuria Natal and the nation of Ishadia, who both have strong history of divine legacies and are the main blockade against Mharoti domination of the rest of the continent. To the west of Nuria Natal is the expansive Dominion of the Wind Lords, where elements of nature coexist with nomadic tribes. At the far east are the naval cities of the Corsair Coast, where legitimate business and piracy often go hand-in-hand. [B]METAPLOT:[/B] In an interesting change of pace, the chapter opens up by filling out recent significant events: a secret religious order of Thorth-Hermes known as the Emerald Order are undergoing diplomatic missions to noble courts in the Crossroads, Seven Cities, and the Grand Duchy of Dornig against the Mharoti Empire. The minotaurs, long enemies of the dragons, are rebuilding the fallen city of Roshgazi. The mysterious reappearance of the Lost Fleet and its miraculously-living crew are spearheading the efforts. A huge slave rebellion on the island nation of Shibai disrupted the flesh trade on the sea and caused more than a few newly-freed people to join freedom-loving pirate vessels for revenge. Finally, the rise of three evil cults are growing in influence. They include the antipaladin Doomspeakers, the Emerald Order of Thoth''s scholars who obey the prophecies of a mysterious green tablet, and the nomads of Selket's Sting who petition their scorpion goddess to punish their enemies. [CENTER][B]Nuria Natal[/B][/CENTER] The oldest surviving human nation bases its foundations upon a ley line-infused river. They are Fantasy Counterpart Ancient Egypt and have a close association with the gods of that pantheon. Their largest cities are named after their favored patron, such as Per-Anu and Per-Bastet. In times of great struggle and war the gods take physical form to enact mighty deeds. It is due to this divine protection that the Mharoti Empire has such great difficulty annexing their lands. However like any gods they cannot be at the beck and call of mortals, so some of their greatest mortal minions known as the god-kings were preserved in pyramid-tombs to awaken in times of great need. Some of them already walk the earth and do not always see eye-to-eye with the current ruler Thutmoses XXIII. Now Nuria Natal is more akin to a confederation of semi-autonomous city-states who unite together against a common draconic enemy. The entries for people and places of Nuria Natal are focused strongly on the cities rather than smaller settlements and villages. Nuria, City of the River, is the capital and home to many grand pyramids, tombs, and a souk operating on a series of transient barges. Corremel is the most fertile city famed for its top-quality grains and beer. Per-Anu, the mysterious City of Crimson Pillars, is closed to entry save to trusted allies of the Cult of Anu-Akma (Anubis). It is home to loyal undead and the Red Portals, extradimensional gateways to other times and places. Per-Bastet, the City of Cats, is a cosmopolitan hub of varying people and races governed by an equally-fractured council. Its most notable natural feature is a "river" of sand cutting through the city's core. Per-Kush is famed for its many domesticated exotic animals and is home to a dwarven smith famed for the creation of huge constructs in the name of Nuria's national defense. Per-Xor is an outlier as its people are followers of the Sun God Aten, a jealous deity who has no desire to share his faithful with the rest of the pantheon. Although professing loyalty to Thutmoses, there are preachers who seek complete autonomy. Our time in Nuria Natal ends with a list of famous tombs and ruins, such as a haunted pyramid whose vizier's devil-guided blood ritual went very, very wrong; shades of undead Mharoti buried in a sandstorm who still think the war's ongoing; and an evil offshoot of the Cult of Bast operating out of the ruined city of Tes-Luria. [CENTER][B]Free Cities of the Desert[/B] [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/m4OpVBC.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] Whereas Nuria Natal was Ancient Egypt-themed, the city-states of Siwal, Saph-Saph, and Makuria are more Arabian in flavor. They were once Nurian holdings, meant to serve as a buffer zone between the country and foreign lands. Now they are politically autonomous yet still maintain friendly relations with their ancestral neighbors. Siwal is built around a natural oasis enhanced with elemental magic, and magical vessels known as sandships are its major technological innovation. Capable of long-range trade, they are few in number but supplement the more common camel caravans. Siwal is also famed for the people's love of dance, and some even incorporate the practiced mobility into beautiful fighting arts. Priests of the water gods serve a vital social role in town and act as gardeners in addition to conducting birth and coming of age ceremonies for citizens. There's also a Grand Necropolis where a community of undead hold their own court at nightfall. Saph-Saph is situated on a common Tamasheq nomad route and is just as much a fortress as it is a settlement. The people worship Aten and their schools raise new generations of priests and paladins. Makuria, meanwhile, trades in sellswords and mercenaries while its queen plays Nurian and Kush rulers against each other to to help business. However, the Order of Horus provides a more productive use of martial talents by monitoring trade routes and keeping them safe from danger. Our last stop is at Golden Ulthar, a lush valley in the middle of the desert which remains so due to a forgotten civilization's land-changing magic. The only living entity of this civilization is the sphinx Sepenret, who lays eggs of stone which bear the kingdom's magic. She has a major incentive in preventing thieves and tomb-robbers from absconding with the eggs or other artifacts of Ulthar. In order to fulfill her duties, she relies upon wardens and trusted adventurers to recover these purloined treasures. [CENTER][B]Dominion of the Wind Lords[/B] [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/8nfTaZM.png[/IMG][/CENTER] The Dominion's lands dominate the majority of the northern Southlands, a harsh desert pocketed with rare yet precious oases and springs. The rulers are not mortals, but powerful creatures of elemental air represented by the four directional winds. These Wind Lords take an active interest in the affairs of the nomadic tribes calling the Dominion home. There used to be grand kingdoms here, such as Golden Ulthar and the minotaur city of Roshgazi, but their glory days are long past. The Jinnborn are one of the major nomadic groups. They are not human, but rather descend from jinn and range from the Dominion to Nuria's deserts. They have strong ties to the elements and land itself and call themselves the Sab Siraat, or "people of the path." They are a new race who are further detailed in [URL="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/188497/Unlikely-Heroes-for-5th-Edition"]Unlikely Heroes for 5th Edition[/URL] or the Southlands Campaign Setting for their Pathfinder stats. As an owner of both books, they have a series of powerful abilities and in Pathfinder's case a slew of new feats. However, they are dependent on living in the desert and every month they stay away are afflicted with debilitating debuffs. This rather limits their playability in campaigns away from the Southlands. The Tamasheq are human nomads who are Fantasy Counterpart Tuareg people. In fact, [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamasheq_language"]Tamasheq is the name of the real-world language of the Tuareg![/URL] The Tamasheq organize into tribes of extended families known as vanhu who make regular trips between settlements to conduct trade. Although they portray themselves as simple nomads to outsiders, they have a secret thriving city known as Kel Azjer somewhere within the Dominion's mountains. We get a rundown on six notable vanhus who serve the various Wind Lords: the Vanhu Dewabi is ruled by a priestess who largely lairs within Nuria Natal and rustles camel for sport in addition to trade. The Vanhu Kozar serve Chergui the East Wind and use druidic magic to speak to nature spirits in order to avoid war-torn and dangerous regions. The Vanhu Lejai are fine warriors whose leader is a paladin with a pair of hunting cheetahs. The Vanhu Owey, Vanhu Adagh, and Vanhu Dinnij all serve Boreas the North Wind and have a hostile relation with the rest of the Tamasheq. They are some of the best cavalry in the Southlands and guard their elemental lord's broken tower which holds obscure knowledge. For specific locations, we have the city of Kel Azjer located within an obscure mountaintop. It is home to all the boons of a large city, with skilled artisans, schools of mundane and magical disciplines, and grand towers and plazas. A network of Red Portals connect to areas elsewhere in Midgard as well as the planar commerce hub known as the Marketplace. The Shrine of the Spider Prophet is home to the eponymous figure, a robed person covered in a swarm of spiders favored by both the wind spirits who whisper him secrets of the land as well as his patron deity Kwansi. He has high status among the Tamasheq and foresaw a prophecy when the Mharoti Empire comes to war against their people. He is in fact looking forward to the oncoming chaos to test his skills as a warlord. Two minotaur ruins of the Moon Kingdom are undergoing renovation by restoration efforts. The port city of Cindass is thriving in spite of its many unclaimed dangerous ruins inhabited by monsters and a fabled Golden Ark of Herosh. Roshgazi is home to a sprawling labyrinth whose halls shift of their own accord thanks to a sapient multi-personality artifact known as the [I]Heart of Roshgazi.[/I] One personality is the kind-hearted [I]Poet[/I] who is a helpful guide, but the malevolent [I]Broken[/I] leads travelers to monsters and traps. The head of the lost Roshgazi fleet has returned to make repairs on the city, and whose leader is looking for a way to restore the Heart to its original state. Our final location of note is the Mardas Vhula-Gai, a relic of Ankeshelian days home to magic runes and vril technology. The place is home to tribes of goblins, metallic construct guardians, and a ruthless warlord known as the Tyrant of Maras Vhula-gai who's building up a small army of raiders and assorted scum. [CENTER][B]Corsair Coast[/B] [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/Qz56PoI.png[/IMG][/CENTER] The final section of the Southlands chapter is also the least-detailed. The majority of focus is on Ishadia with brief write-ups for other realms. All of the people here rely upon sea trade for their livelihood, from merchant galleons to dangerous pirate vessels and warships. Ishadia still stands in spite of their century-long war with the Mharoti Empire. Many of their cities are now but crumbling ruins, having suffered great losses. There is a brief quiet of sorts lately, as the dragons find their attention divided with other realms. But the Ishadi still stand resolute for when violence comes again. Worship of angels permeates Ishadian society, and even the most bloodthirsty cutthroat pays them respect. The Old Gods of the celestial realms once lived among their worshipers, their unions giving rise to a relatively high population of aasimar (about 3%). Military service is compulsory for all adult citizens, a price the people accept as the cost of freedom from draconic domination. The capital city of Mardas Adamat's decorated dragon bone fortifications stand testament to that. The dammed city of Khazephon was once flooded by a dragon-caused tidal wave, and a group of lammasu sentries awaiting "the rise of a true king" stand watch over the vacant palaces claimed by the waters. Of greatest interest is the Phoenix Throne of Ishadia whose many broken shards hold powerful magic. Sequra is a tidy white city home to thriving criminal enterprises, and Shuruppak holds some of the largest and oldest temples in Midgard which used to connect extraplanar portals to the Seven Heavens. Pilgrims of many faiths from all over the world flock to the city due to this. The Sultanate of Shibai is an incredibly wealthy island kingdom which sits at the epicenter of seabound trade in the Tethys Ocean. It was founded by Ishadian merchants whose descendants control their own port cities, and centuries worth of immigration from various lands results in a very multicultural society. The capital has a street literally paved with gold, which of course is protected from looters by [I]walls of force.[/I] Mhalmet, the City of Freedom, is a den of pirates, smugglers, adventurers, and merchants with the stones to hang around these dangerous people. A council of pirate lords, thieves' guild leaders, and caravan raiders known as the Black Table governs the city. Although many among their faction fight against the slave trade, they are not above extorting protection money from "liberated" people. The Sandalwood House is a social club of big game hunters and explorers who make expeditions into the Southlands for thrills and profit. Sar-Shaba, City of the Seal, was once the seat of the kingdom of Aksaba but now it serves as the prison of a thousand demons. Angelic sigils trap the mortal descendants of its princes and princesses who serve a generations-long duty to stand vigil over their ancestral land. But fiendish monsters aren't their only problem: a cult known as the Seven Wicked Blades is looking for a means to break the wards so that their objects of worship can run free across the Southlands. [B]Thoughts so far:[/B] I have a soft spot for the Southlands, although that is mostly due to the setting book of the same name so I might be biased in this regard. There's quite a bit of adventuring opportunity in just about every realm, and I particularly like the "reverse tomb robber" idea of reclaiming artifacts for a sphinx patron. The minotaur cities in need of rebuilding serve as a plausible dungeon/settlement hybrid which makes sense, and the lost tombs of Nuria Natal along with its semi-independent god-themed cities are full of interesting plot ideas. Sar-Shaba is my only major source of contention. Given the wording of its entry, it implies that the wards are a two-way street in keeping people out and demons in. The Southlands Campaign Setting proper explains that mortals can cross past its walls while the demons cannot. This helps serve as a place for Shar-Shaba to actually adventure in without undoing the wards. But the Worldbook entry is not clear on that, so otherwise it can come off as [I]"city full of interesting adventure only when all hell literally breaks loose."[/I] [B]Join us next time as we sail north to the Seven Cities, a realm where war is not only a way of life but a most sacred calling of their patron god Mavros![/B] [/QUOTE]
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