Rabbit trail: in the Nothwest from Ivargarod to Dragon Mountain - is this area Russio-Slavic in culture? I ask about this are because of you mentioning the East is undeveloped yet.
It sounds as such of being Russo-Slavic in the name, that s why I ask. Do you have data on Bard's gate? Is this a "virgin" Game map - no game has ever been played in this land?
Yes, I would say that the lands around the rasimsky Moutnains are Russio-Slavic (but not Bard's Gate). West of Ivargarod is a land called Torassia, which comes from a d20 system adventure called
Tsar Rising. It's people worship the Slavic gods, as per the d20 sourcebook
Frost & Fur: The Explorer's Guide to the Frozen Lands by Michael Tresca. Both books were published by MonkeyGod Enterprises. Ivargarod doesn't come from those books, however. The castle is controlled by monstrous beings. I haven't decided which yet. Giants would be a good choice or maybe I'll have it be Norse-like trolls.
Bard's Gate is another d20 system sourcebook. It was published by Necromancer Games. Both Bard's Gate and Torassia are part of another region called
The Far North, which is detailed in the first post (including its CC2 overview map) of my Kanpur thread here on EN World.
Here's a quick cut and paste for Bard's Gate:
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BARD'S GATE (d20 Sourcebook)
Necromancer Games has created some of the best fantasy RPG sourcebooks ever made. And while "Bard's Gate" isn't my favorite NG book, it's an excellent city setting that can be dropped into any world. I admit that I've had some difficulty trying to figure out a place to put the city, but after pouring over my map of Kanpur, I think I've found the perfect spot for it.
Bard's Gate is a crossroads city that stands on a major trade route. That's the city's hook, as far as I can tell. Plus, the city is meant to be in a cold to temperate zone. Therefore, I've made it a gateway city to the Eastern Lands from Torassia and the rest of the Far North. It is the last major, western-style city before a traveler passes into the Horse Lands.
It sits on the Stoneheart River, which flows south towards Sogukol [not shown on the map]. Its location is vital since the southerly half of the river is untamable. There are two sets of falls and tons of rapids, which makes any sort of crossing nearly impossible. The river flows into the edge of the Great Desert and often floods in the spring.
Travelers must pass through Bard's Gate if they wish to travel the Ice Road to the Far East while, hopefully, avoiding the predatory Mongol-like raiders of Sogukol. However, travelers must also be wary of the Nani Tribes of the Orochen Forest as well as vicious gnoll raiders and the undiplomatic Liget Elves of the region. (Liget means “wood” in Hungarian.)
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While I haven't updated the information for The far North in quite some time, this description is still fairly accurate for how Bard's Gate works as part of Kulan.
I haven't run any adventures in The Horse Lands. In fact, besides the Bluffside play-by-post game I'm running on The Piazza, I've never run a game anywhere on Kanpur. All my previous games (including my current ENW pbp game) have started on Harqual.
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