Communal Setting: Cambria

[fnork de sporg]

Fully fifty percent of the businesses operating in kelnmouth are saloons or taverns. 80 percent of the women who live there are prostitutes, and almost a third of those are petty thieves as well. Kelnmouth's main business is a port, for those anxious to leave this land and for those foolish or unlucky enough to arrive here. There is no church of the faith in this town at the moment. It keeps getting burnt down. The faithful must walk four miles inland to a small chapel surrounded by large protective walls. The city is built inland to avoid the sometimes dangerously unpredictable tides. And, informally, to avoid the strange fogs that seem to consume the unwary. When the weather is right these fogs will actually reach to the city it self, and these days it is understood no one is to leave their houses. Many buildings have short connecting hallways to their neighbors, or neighboring saloon, for just such an occurrence.

 

[Tonguez]

There is a killer in Kelnmouth, who stalks the streets and preys upon the unwary and unwanted. Who that Stalker might be during the day is still subject to much speculation but at night it is a terror equal to the fog.

Unbeknownst to most the Stalker is in fact a Ghoulish Shadowdancer, able to maintain the guise of humanity despite its unnatural hunger...

 

[The Cardinal]

Every visitor of Kelnmouth will at least hear about the Splinterpalace, though only the most daring, dangerous or foolish will actually go to see, let alone *enter* the place.
The Splinterpalace is a large conglomerat of dozens of old or even ancient buildings in the most seedy part of town. The "palace" looks like as if all those buildings, from timber-framed houses and old driftwood sheds and barracks to crumbling brick structures and wooden warehouses, had once been dropped from a certain height by a giant on the exact same place - a giant, who then glued and nailed the broken remnants of these buildings into a new crooked whole.
Here one may find absolutely any kind of tavern, brothel, alchemist, weapons dealer, opium den, or "antiques" shop one can think of - and then some.
Rumor has it that the only real thieves guild in all of Cambria has its headquarters somewhere in the maze that is the endless connection of hallways, backdoors, shops, inns, cellars, secret doors, and leaky roofs that is the Splinterpalace. The palace is also supposed to harbor a monthly auction, open to all who can find it, where all the *really* good (or evil) stuff can be bought or sold...

 

[Tonguez]

A mere 8 leagues south of the Pockmarks is the Throat of Sekola, a region of open sea which is subject to the random appearance of a huge whirlpool. The Throat can appear anyway within a vast area of over 150 leagues radius, and varies in size and intensity. It has caught many unwary ships in its grasp and dragged them to their doom.
Sailor legend associates the whirlpool with the sea goddess Sekola and most considered it to be a malevolent being in its own right, but then sailors are a superstitious lot...

 

[fnork de sporg]

Sin Berries are a form of plant that can be found in small clusters throughout Cambria. It likes open sunlight sticking to the sparse and rocky areas but can also be found growing atop trees in the more forested sections near the inland mountains. When eaten Sin Berries give the body an languid and relaxed feeling, and make the mind much looser in regards to morals and ethics. When properly refined, an easy process for those that know it, it becomes a powerful and highly addictive narcotic. There's no real benefit top using and once your hooked the DCs to get off are in the 30s. And yet the world's demand for it never seems to lessen. The coastal towns and cities of Cambria are rife with it's pathetic and broken users, willing to do anything to obtain more of thick red syrup. Right now Sin Berries are still a mostly Cambrian phenomenon, but many opportunistic blackhearts are even now busy exporting it's horrors to the rest of the world.

 

[The Cardinal]

Some say that the plague of the sin berries is only the just reward for the introduction of destilled alcohol to the native humanoids of Cambria.
When Cambria was discovered the first explorers and settlers met serious opposition in the form of a dark-skinned subspecies of hobgoblins who lived in hundreds of small villages along the coast. These tribes were not really aggressive, just territorial and disciplined - however, when confronted with the strong spirits offered by certain traders, the honor and discipline of most tribes dissolved overnight into senseless violence, debauchery, madness, and death.
Nowadays the only surviving tribes live in the extreme southeast - at the edge of the Pockmarks - and in the high north, where the cold and windswept tundra begins.
The remaining native hobgoblins, which are a common sight in most larger settlements, live a pathetic life as beggars, thugs, thieves, low-rate servants, rat catchers, or even slaves.

 

[sniffles]

The little-explored Duskfang Mountains are riddles with caves, some of which appear to have been dug with tools rather than created by natural forces. The hobgoblin natives make no claim to having made the caves and will warn the settlers to stay away from the mountains. But rumors of gold and precious gems in the mountains are beginning to circulate in Kelnmouth.

 

[NealTS]

Every visitor of Kelnmouth will at least hear about the Splinterpalace, though only the most daring, dangerous or foolish will actually go to see, let alone *enter* the place.
The Splinterpalace is a large conglomerat of dozens of old or even ancient buildings in the most seedy part of town. The "palace" looks like as if all those buildings, from timber-framed houses and old driftwood sheds and barracks to crumbling brick structures and wooden warehouses, had once been dropped from a certain height by a giant on the exact same place - a giant, who then glued and nailed the broken remnants of these buildings into a new crooked whole.
Here one may find absolutely any kind of tavern, brothel, alchemist, weapons dealer, opium den, or "antiques" shop one can think of - and then some.
Rumor has it that the only real thieves guild in all of Cambria has its headquarters somewhere in the maze that is the endless connection of hallways, backdoors, shops, inns, cellars, secret doors, and leaky roofs that is the Splinterpalace. The palace is also supposed to harbor a monthly auction, open to all who can find it, where all the *really* good (or evil) stuff can be bought or sold...

The Splinterpalace's mazelike corridors seem to shift on their own on a regular basis. Anyone staying within the area during such a shift will not notice a thing, and, indeed, will instinctively know the new layout. Infrequent visitors, however, are forced to ask for new directions every time they enter the bizarre place. Occasionally, a visitor is consumed in the shift, disappearing forever with all knowledge of his or her existence erased in the minds of the Splinterpalace's residents.

 

[The Cardinal]

Cambria is home to some beasts and animals unknown in the old homelands of the settlers.
Though almost none can claim to actually have seen one, maybe the most notorious of these creatures is the Cambrian Mutebear, sometimes also called Tundra Beast. These predators look like a cross between a large polar bear and a dire wolf - and are more dangerous than both. Mutebears range in size from the small pony-sized mountain-dwelling variant to the enormous bull-sized monsters of the frozen north beyond the Cambrian Tundra - and they always hunt in packs, with more cunning and tactical intelligence than wolves. But even a single mutebear is a fearsome opponent with its powerful jaws, enormous paws, and the thick grey or white pelt, which can stop even sword blows from penetrating to the beast's skin - not to mention the fact, that mutebears will outrun any human, elf or horse over short distances, and can run for up to a full day without rest at the pace of a jogging human!
The name "Mutebear" has its roots in the uncanny silence with which these animals move and hunt: They never utter a single sound - no howl, no growl or roar - and the thick fur under their paws allows them to move more quietly than most cats, so that lonely travelers may suddenly find themselves surrounded by a whole pack of mutebears, staring at them with silent hungry blue eyes.
However, there are also some good news on these monsters: they are exceedingly rare outside of the deep wilderness of the Duskfangs or the northern tundra - and rumors about mutebear packs with over a hundred members roaming the endless prarie beyond the Duskfangs are probably really just rumors...

 

[Tonguez]

Nowadays the only surviving tribes live in the extreme southeast - at the edge of the Pockmarks - and in the high north, where the cold and windswept tundra begins. The remaining native hobgoblins, which are a common sight in most larger settlements, live a pathetic life as beggars, thugs, thieves, low-rate servants, rat catchers, or even slaves.

But an ancient custom of the natives may yet have ramifications for the settlers and a few of the new settlers exploring the duskfangs have already fallen victim to savage cannibalistic attacks. Others tell stories of creatures in Duskfangs that a taller than human and hobgoblin alike, shaggy haired creatures with cruel claws and a taste for human flesh.

The few hobgoblin tribesmen who cling to the old ways nod knowingly, secretly rejoicing at the news for it means that the link between the spirit world and the flesh world that the foreign liquor has blocked is being renewed.

The creatures are called Wetiko in the native tongue and are said to derive from the ancient custom of twin-slaying. To the Hobgoblisn twins were an abomination and so when such a pair was born the second was taken and left as a sacrifice to the Duskfangs. However when the survivng twin came of age they were known to be great warriors for in times of great distress they had a spirit-twin who would appear and slay their enemies.

(Metanotes: These creatures could be represented by hobgoblin ghouls or ghosts, bugbears or hobgoblins lycanthorpes (or by a new creature). The main 'additional power' being that they will appear when a hobgoblin 'twin' is in distress)