Communal Setting: Cambria

[sniffles]

The hinterlands of Cambria, i.e. anything more than 40-50 leagues east of the coast, are dominated by a vast mountain range, stretching more than 900 miles from north to south, and with majestic snow-capped peaks more than 10,000 feet above sea level. The colonists call them the Duskfangs, for it is said that they often look like the white fangs of a great beast lying behind the dark green foothills of the Duskwood.
Rumors tell of an endless sea of grass and rolling hills beyond the duskfangs - a prarie ruled by bloodthirsty orcish nomads...

The lowlands that lie between the coast and the Duskfangs are dotted with stone circles, dolmens, menhirs, and random boulders covered with strange carvings. No one knows who created these structures or carved the symbols on the stones. A wide variety of legends and lore have developed among the settlers of Cambria, and wild rumors abound of strange lights and sounds on Midsummer's Eve, or wandering children vanishing into the stone circles on nights of the full moon. But some of the hardy settlers discount these tales and casually remove the stones from their fields to use in building houses and barns. Some folk even believe that the stones make structures more sturdy and bring luck against fire and famine.

 

[NealTS]

The lowlands that lie between the coast and the Duskfangs are dotted with stone circles, dolmens, menhirs, and random boulders covered with strange carvings. No one knows who created these structures or carved the symbols on the stones. A wide variety of legends and lore have developed among the settlers of Cambria, and wild rumors abound of strange lights and sounds on Midsummer's Eve, or wandering children vanishing into the stone circles on nights of the full moon. But some of the hardy settlers discount these tales and casually remove the stones from their fields to use in building houses and barns. Some folk even believe that the stones make structures more sturdy and bring luck against fire and famine.

The incomprehensible markings on these stones are actually prayers to malevolent, ancient gods. Any structure built using these stones is subject to planar cankers (interdimensional "weak points" described in Dragon #336). They are usually weak enough to be more curiosity than danger, and their effects are not readily attributable to the stones, so their use as building material persists. A few farmsteads, though, have had their inhabitants disappear during the night. The sites of such disappearances are rarely reinhabited.

 

[danbuter]

Occasionally, fishermen who put out to sea never return. This usually occurs on foggy days, even if the water is calm. Most experienced fishermen wait for the fog to burn off before putting out to sea.

 

[Tonguez]

Malthius Scarineye (Race:Human), a rough man in his early 40's has risen up as a promnent landowner in Cambria. Said to have made his fortune as a foul Wrecker, he has recreated himself as a Merchant with interest in shipping, land speculation and various other such businesses. Scarineye has gathered quite a following and has even begun presenting himself and his credentials to the established noble houses back in the old country. His latest project is to get himself made a magistrate so that can impose a Wreckers Court and some sense of law and order on the peoples of Cambria.

Beyond the resentment against this ambition, there are of course other rumours about him - That he was once a pirate in the crew of the dread Capt. Jack Ponsey, that he is a scorcerer who consorts with dark powers and even that he has been dead for near 100 years and only lives now because of some unnatural curse. If any or all of these are true, no-one knows for sure, and any who proclaim them too loudly is usually found mysteriously dead, drowned at sea...

 

[fnork de sporg]

There are no native fey in Cambria. Only their mad ghosts. Centuries ago they ruled this land until the Treants, who have always been evil as far as any one can tell, led a war of genocide against them and their forest allies. Since that day no one has stepped up to challenge the treants further and so they have grown lax, letting their armies go to seed. The few remaining fey, despite their undead state, are not actually evil. They are mad and will slay those they encounter without reason, but if you could ever get one to talk to you their fractured minds contain many secrets of forgotten lore. They haunt the hidden places that were once sacred to them, sundered portals and the long ago sites of desecrated druid groves. Fey who come here from abroad can sense the aura of suffering and insanity that hangs over the land, and are plagued by horrible nightmares that often turn out to prophecies of doom. On the old fey holy days these disturbing omens spread to all sleeping sentients and most cities have all night festivals of dancing and contests of skill to avoid the dreams.

 

[The Cardinal]

The southernmost part of Cambria is dominated by a stretch of badlands known as the Pockmarks Desert which reaches from the Duskfangs right up to the coast. This dry and rocky area contains several dozens of small craters called drylakes, some no more than 100 feet in diameter, the largest - named Shatterdeep - almost a mile across and over 300 feet deep.
Many strange plants and creatures can be found in the Pockmarks, almost all of them extremely dangerous or at least aggressive.
Together with certain findings of rare minerals in the northern parts of the Duskwood and up to the Firwood Coast this has led a few scholars, most noteably a certain Gilvert of Kelnmouth (human, Archivist 12), to the believe that the evil of the ancient treants may have been caused by the impact of a falling star in the area...

 

[The Cardinal]

The oldest and largest settlement in Cambria is the city known as Kelnmouth. The river Keln, which gave the city its name, is a wide slow & silent waterway that is navigable for more than 30 leagues inland, up to the foggy Greedmoor and the village of the same name - a name which originated from a short and bitterly disappointing gold rush more than 60 years ago.

 

[Tonguez]

Strange multicoloured lights are sometimes seen flashing over the highest peaks of the Duskfangs, and as no one has even been high enough to eplore them more closely many theories abound as to what they might be. The Orcs claim them to be the spirits of their ancestors, more mundane scolars proclaim them mere atmospheric anomalies, whereas those of more arcane bent see in them signs of elemental power. Their true nature will need to await adventurers willing and able to scale the mountain glaciers ...

 

[Tonguez]

Refuge is the name of the northernmost harbor in Cambria: This town of narrow streets and timber-framed houses lies above a small sheltered bay to the south of the coastal area known as Firwood Coast.
About 3-4 miles south of Refuge one can find a stretch of rocky cliffs punctured by dozens of deep caves, many of them only accessible during low tide. These so-called Moanstone Caverns are home to a very aggressive type of giant carnivorous crabs, and also to - if local legend is to be believed - a coven of sea hags...

Before the active settlement of Cambria began Refuge was a Pirate retreat and the most famous pirate of Refuge was the dread Captain Jack Ponsey aka Ponsey Jack (real name Jacq Du Ponce). Jacq Du Ponce (Elf Fighter 10 LE) had been a hero in his native land, a naval officer fighting for dominance over the newly discovered lands which would become Cambria. Jacq Du Ponce was known to be ruthless and sometimes cruel, showing no mercy to his enemies, and standing no insurrection from his allies. When his nation nation was defeated and overrun, he was immediately declared an outlaw and ordered to surrender. He refused and so turned to piracy for survival.

As pirate Jack Ponsey he had harrassed the early settlers who established Kelnmouth striking fear into the hearts of colonist and oldworlders. Legends tell of the journey he and his crew took to the uncharted island of Bimini north of Cambria and of the treasure they brought back and stored in the Moanstone Caverns. In Bimini they are also suppose to have found a fountain which bestowed upon them a terrible curse.

Jack Ponsey was killed 85 years ago in a raid against a disguised naval ship, his body was thrown overboard to be eaten by the crabs of the Moanstone caverns. Of course his legend didn't stop there and almost immediately claims of his ghost walking the Moanstone caverns began...

 

[sniffles]

The oldest and largest settlement in Cambria is the city known as Kelnmouth. The river Keln, which gave the city its name, is a wide slow & silent waterway that is navigable for more than 30 leagues inland, up to the foggy Greedmoor and the village of the same name - a name which originated from a short and bitterly disappointing gold rush more than 60 years ago.

Though it is the largest settlement in Cambria, Kelnmouth is little more than a rugged frontier town, full of rough settlers, brigands, and adventurous wanderers. Law enforcement is poor and there is little organization. In spring, when the rains begin, the unpaved roads turn to quagmires of mud. Though the river Keln is broad and slow, it is also shallow, and does not permit large vessels to reach the town. A number of merchants have established a thriving transportation industry using barges to transport goods from the river's mouth.