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[Let's Read] Brancalonia: Spaghetti Fantasy Setting
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<blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 8331200" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/hdi7hyO.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Welcome to the longest chapter in the book, detailing the major regional setting. This chapter starts out with a short history followed up by 15 regions, the major seas, and what is known about lands beyond the Kingdom’s borders.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Hasty History of the Kingdom</strong></p><p></p><p>The earliest known civilizations in what is now the Kingdom were inhabited by ancient populations of sylvans and cyclopes, the latter of whom were wiped out by the seafaring Pelagians. Other foreign conquerors soon followed, and the major coasts and waterways became settled for farmland. Soon a federation of villages would turn into the kingdom of Plutonia, which would soon conquer the entire Peninsula along with neighboring islands and territories. This mighty civilization remained stable for centuries until plagues, invasions, civil wars, and other maladies forced a noble by the name of Dracone to ascend the throne and turn Plutonia into a harsh dictatorship. He was able to quell the various wars, cementing his power base and founding what became known as the Draconian Empire. In spite of the harsh laws the era of Draconia also saw great progress in science, technology, and the literary arts.</p><p></p><p>But nothing lasts forever, and Draconia fell. Not to the whims of mortals, but that of nature. An earthquake unprecedented in size and scope opened a rift beneath the capital city, killing millions of people and creating a major power vacuum. Even worse, said earthquake opened the Eternal Gate linking the mortal realm with Inferno, allowing legions of devils and other monsters to spill forth into the Empire’s remnants. This not only caused many subjugated peoples to take the opportunity to declare independence, but this apocalyptic series of events caused many to turn to a religion known as the Calendar Creed, faced with a literal Hell being right on their doorstep.</p><p></p><p>Historians have found out that not a single year has passed since the Draconian Empire’s fall without a war, marking the era as the Thousand Years’ War. What was once the Empire’s outermost territories were the most peaceful, giving rise to independent kingdoms such as Altomagna, Soldania, Frange, Great Brigantain, and other clever allusions to real-world countries. As for the Peninsula proper, it has been cursed to be uniquely unstable with all manner of bandits, mercenaries, and nobles of questionable lineage and even more questionable morality.</p><p></p><p>There was one major attempt to pacify this region. One hundred years ago the Brancalonia Peninsula and neighboring islands were territories of the Empire of Altomagna, whose ruling Catozzi dynasty wore an Iron Crown as demonstration of their right to rule. But after said dynasty was torn apart by intrigue and back-stabbing and thus the loss of the Iron Crown, an alliance of various bandits and local lords in southern Brancalonia joined forces. With their combined power they countered Altomagna’s rule and turned much of the Peninsula into an unofficial self-governing territory. A big bounty was placed on Buemondo the Fat, who was most responsible for this rebellion, and whoever could capture or kill him would gain regency of the Kingdom.</p><p></p><p>That of course never happened, and Altomagna’s Catozzi line became less able to enforce its edicts. In an odd way, this helped bring about a common cultural unifier among what became known as the Bounty Kingdom. All manner of nobles both real and frauds have sought to claim the title of “legitimate Bounty King” and try to become a new Dracone, but so far none of them managed to attain large-scale control of this fractured land. The Iron Crown has long since been missing, and thus far all attempts foreign and domestic to reunify the Kingdom have failed.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Regions</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center">[spoiler]<img src="https://i.imgur.com/x5m5lTs.jpeg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />[/spoiler]</p><p></p><p>What follows is Brancalonia’s major regions. Each of them has an overriding theme that makes them different from the others, which is most evident in their title section which describes their major features in an interesting way. For example, the province of Quinotaria is listed as “Quinotaria, or of Ancestral Ruins, Sea Monsters, and Gorgons” while Alazia is listed as “Alazia, or of Lost Empires and Descents Into Inferno.” It’s a bit wordy to list each such title for this review, but the book does a good job telling you right up front what kinds of adventures can be had in this region</p><p></p><p><em>Quinotaria</em> is a coastal region whose seaside villages are isolated and often practice local traditions and religions not found elsewhere in the Kingdom. The Father of the Deep is a popular god among local pagans, and the sylvans living here have more amphibian features. Inland things are just as wild, with mining towns in the mountains supported by far-off merchant investments, and the vicious warrior known as the Black Dog defends these places from foreign intruders...while forcing the local populace into forced labor.</p><p></p><p>Quinotaria’s largest city is Lungariva, a thriving port whose ruling band of merchants monopolized virtually every local service industry. Nicknamed Hoteliers, they are known for the Alberghi franchise, buildings that function as multi-purpose inns, taverns, shops, and money-changers. Even castles have been converted into hotels, but are out of the price range of all but the richest of the rich.</p><p></p><p>Common jobs in Quinotaria involve meetings with the rich and powerful in Lungariva, finding more illegitimate purchases in its back alleys, freeing people imprisoned by the Black Dog, and exploring the various caves and ancestral ruins of ancient seafaring civilizations.</p><p></p><p><em>Falcamonte</em> is a forested region ruled over by the Falcamontese, a noble family which has overburdened itself with a confusing array of titles, writs, and licenses that leave many people unsure of who is in charge of what. The capital city of Tauringa is home to noble estates and merchant villas, with vineyards run by monasteries as is tradition and their wine a prized export. Beyond these walled bastions are no man’s lands full of robbers, local witches known as mascas, and an underground civilization known as the gobbolini who live in the mountains and have a tendency to insult and attack passersby.</p><p></p><p>We also have a notable non-binary noble, albeit described with a bit of an unfortunate turn of phrase:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Jobs in Falcamonte likely involve being hired by Count Notte for various sensitive tasks, being paid by a noble family to find their missing daughter who may very well be the new Queen of the Gobbolini, and getting involved in schemes and celebrations during the Palio of Alferia. This last one is a local holiday held at the end of the harvest which sees a flair-up in family feuds.</p><p></p><p><em>Galaverna</em> is a land of greed and progress. At once it is blessed with wealth of many kinds: its workshops and factories turn out expert craftsmanship, its abundance of water basins and waterways leads to vast farmland, and guiscards and other spellcasters form companies to ply trades supplemented with arcane arts. And yet it is also cursed by such bounty: everything has a price, and the ruling merchant princes known as the Greats are all too willing to spill coin and blood to get a leg-up on the competition. The water basins also create as many uninhabitable marshes as farmland, and its capital city of Tarantasia is believed to be secretly ruled by a dragon known as the Chief of Chiefs. If this is true, then the city’s feuding families above would be but mere upstarts who deluded themselves into thinking they’re the real rulers. The region is also home to the Heretic Alps believed to contain vast stores of untapped mineral wealth, and from Overmountain come occasional bands of foreigners. This makes Galaverna a good ‘starting point’ for PCs not belonging to expressly Brancalonian races and classes.</p><p></p><p>Jobs in Galaverna involve discovering mountain tombs in the Heretic Alps, being hired by one of the factions of Tarantasia to establish dominance over the region, and being hired by greedy tax collectors, soldiers of fortune, or as like-minded minions for Galaverna’s “captains of industry.”</p><p></p><p><em>Vortigana</em> is the largest region in the Kingdom, so-named for the many whirlpools that dot its waters. The local climates vary the most, ranging from marshes and lagoons to woodland hills to rugged valleys and mountains. The capital city of Vortiga, also known as Vortiga the Black, is a cyclopean city connected by a maze of bridges, walkways, and canals ruled over by a masked assembly known as the Great Council. The city is known for hosting great Carnivals, but other notable metropoli include the fey-ruled city of Aurona, Perdenza which is known for bizarre foods, and the artistic city of Patavia home to a prestigious college. Beyond the major population centers include autonomous mountain villages who govern themselves, marauding pirates along the coast, disbanded soldiers from Altomagna, a high population of sylvan tribes who often war against each other, and local varieties of marionettes. Cabin dolls are made from triflewood built from shipwrecks, while saintlets are made as living symbols of Saints to be used in rituals of the Creed. Although not present in the corebook, these marionettes are detailed as subraces in the Macaronicon supplement.</p><p></p><p>Jobs in Vortigana involve piracy (fighting or contributing to the practice), exploring the wilderness for legendary treasures, or having the bad judgment to cross Vorgita’s Council.</p><p></p><p><em>Pianaverna</em> is located south of the previous three regions and ruled in name only by Galaverna’s Greats. Holding only a sparse population, this mist-shrouded region has a reputation for fell magic and monsters such as hags and bavalisks. There also exist more “human” dangers such as forts of mercenary companies and the violent inhabitants of the Pagan Plain. The faithful of the Creed view Pianaverna as a challenge, seeking to preach the teachings of the Saints to the heathens “most in need of help.” The Pagan Plain’s “king of all kings” is Ardarico, a fool who manages to hold onto power for his unmatched physical might and little else. More competent dangers in the region include the Lowland Brigands who are a small yet professional army ruled over by a morgant known as the Queen of Batons, the Passers who engage in smuggling and illegal trafficking throughout the Kingdom’s northern regions, and the Duchess Spinella who leads a group of women warriors known as the Nooserippers so named for saving their own and commoner women from hanging.</p><p></p><p>Jobs in Pianaverna involve defending smaller isolated villages from greater threats (and sometimes monsters and said threats from villagers), panning for gold in the delta region that is too close for comfort to Penumbria’s Mistide, and hiding out from authorities in this trackless yet dangerous region.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/rZpSuqT.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><em>Penumbria</em> is perhaps the most dangerous and feared region in the Kingdom. It is surrounded by the Mistide, a magical curtain of sulfurous mist believed to be the result of fell magic and requires skilled guides to cross (and there are rules for braving this harrowing journey; the greatest danger is becoming lost and gaining Exhaustion levels from the dread aura). While Penumbria has an aristocracy in the form of the Dukes of Castel Notturno, the real power in the region is the Criminese Cupola, an assortment of family-based organized crime syndicates who hold sway over specific kinds of illegal activity. Their power and wealth reaches far beyond the Mistide, and their agents can be found all over the Kingdom. The region overall has little in the way of centralized power. Beyond the Crimini gangs whose alliances are subject to fraying and refastening, there’s the swampland of Morassi whose population center of Feretro is home to smugglers and pirates, pagan tribes of sylvans known as the Hoodlums, and the Kingdom’s most feared mercenary company, the Dragoons. Known for their distinctive armor that covers them from head to toe, they are prized for their ruthless skill but not often hired due to their propensity for turning against their former employers if they become weak enough to plunder at war’s end.</p><p></p><p>Penumbria is also notable for being an exception to the Kingdom’s shrugging tolerance. The Gifted, marionettes, and members of magical classes are hated by the populace; most of the time this is represented as mocking crowds and hateful barbs, although violence can occur and is tolerated by the authorities. Such people crossing the Mistide do well to avail themselves of a Crimini don, earning protection for their stay. A subrace of marionettes known as the guignols implant themselves as cysts in living creatures, growing over time until they burst forth fully-grown.</p><p></p><p>Jobs in Penumbria are nasty, brutish, and often lead to dramatically-shortened lifespans. There’s always work to be done for or against the region’s power players, and precious few people trust each other, knowing that today’s employer can be tomorrow’s target.</p><p></p><p><em>Torrigiana</em> is the most magical realm of the Kingdom. Extravaganza is strong and omnipresent, manifesting as a pleasant sunlit climate, vast forests of triflewood from which the marionette race was fastened, the everyday presence of Turquoise fey and talking animals in villages and the countryside, and settlements with interesting features such as Frittole which is believed to contain portals to other times and places. The district of Cuccaigne, which surrounds the capital city of Cucca, is perhaps the strangest place of all: the surrounding landscape is entirely edible, ranging from salamis hanging from orchards, rocks made of cheese, breadsticks growing like grass, and local fauna which comes ready-to eat such as flying spit-roasted birds. However this is a trap, for those who partake of these natural magical meals soon become enchanted to eat until they literally explode. Cucca itself is known as the City of Toys for its Permanent Fair, a 24/7 parade of games, shows, and other attractions whose participants often find themselves befalling some misfortune such as a companion vanishing into thin air or all of their money replaced by colored paper. The boggy marshland of Maremma Impestata is home to the region’s greatest and strangest dangers, such as mosquitoes that bite other mosquitoes, bandit horsemen who ride on other horsemen, and cutthroats who specialize in cutting the throats of other cutthroats. Finally there’s the Mount of Fiascos of Hyena, the richest bank in the Kingdom whose malebranche owner is believed to launder money from Inferno. All attempts at pulling off heists have caused some degree of unconventional tragedy to befall the would-be robbers, which is where the bank gets its name.</p><p></p><p>Jobs in Torrigiana always have some additional layer of magical weirdness stacked on top of an otherwise conventional adventuring scenario.</p><p></p><p><em>Borgo Stricchiano</em> is technically part of Torrigiana but lengthy and self-contained enough to merit its own section. It is an archipelago of three islands, one of which is home to a race of horses whose queen is appointed by a blind black stallion every year. The islands are home to only one inn known as the Marbowl, and ancient pacts with nature spirits cause curses to befall those who needlessly cause harm to the local flora and fauna. The archipelago is also home to the Monastery of Saint Patron, home to the most skilled scribes of the Kingdom who dispatch members to travel the lands and collect rare tomes to bring back to the Monastery. There’s also the Swamp Hag, a legendary figure possessed of unmatched magical power, and the de’ Vasi family whose royal bloodline is full of strange beings. The family villa houses a large library whose most famed text is the Book of Secrets of Villa de’ Vasi. It can only be read by those willing to write a secret of their own onto one of its pages. Once that occurs the ink fades away, replaced by someone else’s secret and a related task or job to fulfill.</p><p></p><p>Jobs in Borgo Stricchiano involve the local deals and goings-on of the above; the adventure hooks practically write themselves!</p><p></p><p><em>Spoletaria </em> was designed to act as a buffer zone against the dangers of Penumbria. Once part of the now-gone Kingdom of the Two Scyllas, the former fortresses are now occupied by sellswords and Penumbrians fleeing their homeland. The region is also famed for its many skilled fencing schools that teach a variety of sword-fighting styles, including a few forbidden techniques. The rural places are wastelands of poor soil whose populations are eager to fight at the drop of a hat. Its most civilized city of Aquilea is still home to its fair share of problems, such as the unfortunate pattern of its rulers turning into birds.</p><p></p><p>Jobs in Spoletaria tend to involve fighting of various kinds, as the Spoletarians aren’t ones for subtlety. There’s also hunts for the legendary sarchiapone, said to be as treacherous as the foioncus and as elusive as the rumphus, but nobody has any idea of what such a creature looks like.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/ldmAv62.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><em>Alazia</em> once bore the administrative hearts of Plutonia and the Draconian Empire, home to the largest city in the known world that brought people and riches from all over. Now it is a forsaken land, home to innumerable ruins inhabited by devils and undead. A volcanic mountain range known as the Four Devils is home to the only remaining fire dragons of the Kingdom, whose ferocity was so infamous that the Draconian Empire derived its many symbols from them. But in spite of such dangers, civilization thrives: first there are the pagan Rupi who worship a hybrid faith of old Draconian religions and the Creed, the Buri hills known for fine wine and beautiful people, sylvan and pagan pilgrims who pay homage to the Draconian goddess Thumpa whose cult is ruled over by the Masked King of the Wood, and the city of Ophitia that reveres the Mother of Serpents. This last city is home to scoundrels and villains of all kinds, ruled over by a renegade noble known as the King of Knives who has one of the highest Bounties in the Kingdom.</p><p></p><p>The former Draconian capital is known as the Wasteland, and looks like an endless series of ancient Roman-style ruins spaced haphazardly along cracked ground. It eventually ends in an abyss of sulfurous water and mud known as Hell’s Mouth, home to the Eternal Gate sitting at the bottom of the ruined city. Sitting mere miles from here is Vaticin City and Port Patacca. The former is the first sect of the Creed, a near-impenetrable fortress of churches and monasteries who administer affairs to the faithful of the Kingdom. Port Patacca is a city ruled over by representatives of trade guilds who dub themselves the “Free Commune of the People.” They have a steadfast alliance with Vaticin City, which no plot or political strife has managed to sunder.</p><p></p><p>Jobs in Alazia specialize in ruin-delving and spelunking, as the innumerable treasures of the Draconian Empire lay buried beneath the earth just waiting to be found. Not to mention the above-ground ruins which are still protected by curses and monsters of all sorts. Port Patacca is full of urban intrigue of various kinds, and Ophitia much the same but with the worst humanity has to offer.</p><p></p><p>We also get two sidebars expanding upon the Creed. Basically it’s a monotheistic faith that venerates a creator deity known as the Ternal Father, the Godhead, and various other names. They believe that the Seven Heavens of the Firmament are a reward for those who lived just lives, much as Hell/Inferno is the punishment for those whose lives were wicked. The Creed is an evolution from an older religion known as the New Doctrine dating from Plutonian times, and there are other theological interpretations besides the Creed that are popular in other areas of the world. The Creed itself is split into four Patriarchates which in theory have equal power and coordinate efforts, although the Patriarchate of Vaticin City is the oldest and most powerful.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I have no idea if an angel named Bingo is some sort of cultural in-joke referencing something I’m not aware of, or if the name alone is meant to be ridiculous on its own.</p><p></p><p><strong>Thoughts So Far:</strong> The first half of the Bounty Kingdom has a pretty strong start. The regions are thematically distinctive and full of interesting people and places with built-in adventuring ideas. I’d be hard pressed to pick a favorite as any comparisons are going to be apples-to-oranges. Torrigiana’s magical weirdness aside, there’s quite a bit of regions with roaming monsters. This stands in a bit of a contradiction with the prior chapter’s claim of humanoid threats being the more common hindrance to roaming bands of Knaves. But this isn’t really a complaint, as I feel that such things enhance the setting rather than detract from it.</p><p></p><p><strong>Join us next time as we cover the rest of the Bounty Kingdom in Part 2!</strong></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Libertad, post: 8331200, member: 6750502"] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/hdi7hyO.png[/img][/center] Welcome to the longest chapter in the book, detailing the major regional setting. This chapter starts out with a short history followed up by 15 regions, the major seas, and what is known about lands beyond the Kingdom’s borders. [center][b]Hasty History of the Kingdom[/b][/center] The earliest known civilizations in what is now the Kingdom were inhabited by ancient populations of sylvans and cyclopes, the latter of whom were wiped out by the seafaring Pelagians. Other foreign conquerors soon followed, and the major coasts and waterways became settled for farmland. Soon a federation of villages would turn into the kingdom of Plutonia, which would soon conquer the entire Peninsula along with neighboring islands and territories. This mighty civilization remained stable for centuries until plagues, invasions, civil wars, and other maladies forced a noble by the name of Dracone to ascend the throne and turn Plutonia into a harsh dictatorship. He was able to quell the various wars, cementing his power base and founding what became known as the Draconian Empire. In spite of the harsh laws the era of Draconia also saw great progress in science, technology, and the literary arts. But nothing lasts forever, and Draconia fell. Not to the whims of mortals, but that of nature. An earthquake unprecedented in size and scope opened a rift beneath the capital city, killing millions of people and creating a major power vacuum. Even worse, said earthquake opened the Eternal Gate linking the mortal realm with Inferno, allowing legions of devils and other monsters to spill forth into the Empire’s remnants. This not only caused many subjugated peoples to take the opportunity to declare independence, but this apocalyptic series of events caused many to turn to a religion known as the Calendar Creed, faced with a literal Hell being right on their doorstep. Historians have found out that not a single year has passed since the Draconian Empire’s fall without a war, marking the era as the Thousand Years’ War. What was once the Empire’s outermost territories were the most peaceful, giving rise to independent kingdoms such as Altomagna, Soldania, Frange, Great Brigantain, and other clever allusions to real-world countries. As for the Peninsula proper, it has been cursed to be uniquely unstable with all manner of bandits, mercenaries, and nobles of questionable lineage and even more questionable morality. There was one major attempt to pacify this region. One hundred years ago the Brancalonia Peninsula and neighboring islands were territories of the Empire of Altomagna, whose ruling Catozzi dynasty wore an Iron Crown as demonstration of their right to rule. But after said dynasty was torn apart by intrigue and back-stabbing and thus the loss of the Iron Crown, an alliance of various bandits and local lords in southern Brancalonia joined forces. With their combined power they countered Altomagna’s rule and turned much of the Peninsula into an unofficial self-governing territory. A big bounty was placed on Buemondo the Fat, who was most responsible for this rebellion, and whoever could capture or kill him would gain regency of the Kingdom. That of course never happened, and Altomagna’s Catozzi line became less able to enforce its edicts. In an odd way, this helped bring about a common cultural unifier among what became known as the Bounty Kingdom. All manner of nobles both real and frauds have sought to claim the title of “legitimate Bounty King” and try to become a new Dracone, but so far none of them managed to attain large-scale control of this fractured land. The Iron Crown has long since been missing, and thus far all attempts foreign and domestic to reunify the Kingdom have failed. [center][b]Regions[/b] [spoiler][img]https://i.imgur.com/x5m5lTs.jpeg[/img][/spoiler][/center] What follows is Brancalonia’s major regions. Each of them has an overriding theme that makes them different from the others, which is most evident in their title section which describes their major features in an interesting way. For example, the province of Quinotaria is listed as “Quinotaria, or of Ancestral Ruins, Sea Monsters, and Gorgons” while Alazia is listed as “Alazia, or of Lost Empires and Descents Into Inferno.” It’s a bit wordy to list each such title for this review, but the book does a good job telling you right up front what kinds of adventures can be had in this region [i]Quinotaria[/i] is a coastal region whose seaside villages are isolated and often practice local traditions and religions not found elsewhere in the Kingdom. The Father of the Deep is a popular god among local pagans, and the sylvans living here have more amphibian features. Inland things are just as wild, with mining towns in the mountains supported by far-off merchant investments, and the vicious warrior known as the Black Dog defends these places from foreign intruders...while forcing the local populace into forced labor. Quinotaria’s largest city is Lungariva, a thriving port whose ruling band of merchants monopolized virtually every local service industry. Nicknamed Hoteliers, they are known for the Alberghi franchise, buildings that function as multi-purpose inns, taverns, shops, and money-changers. Even castles have been converted into hotels, but are out of the price range of all but the richest of the rich. Common jobs in Quinotaria involve meetings with the rich and powerful in Lungariva, finding more illegitimate purchases in its back alleys, freeing people imprisoned by the Black Dog, and exploring the various caves and ancestral ruins of ancient seafaring civilizations. [i]Falcamonte[/i] is a forested region ruled over by the Falcamontese, a noble family which has overburdened itself with a confusing array of titles, writs, and licenses that leave many people unsure of who is in charge of what. The capital city of Tauringa is home to noble estates and merchant villas, with vineyards run by monasteries as is tradition and their wine a prized export. Beyond these walled bastions are no man’s lands full of robbers, local witches known as mascas, and an underground civilization known as the gobbolini who live in the mountains and have a tendency to insult and attack passersby. We also have a notable non-binary noble, albeit described with a bit of an unfortunate turn of phrase: Jobs in Falcamonte likely involve being hired by Count Notte for various sensitive tasks, being paid by a noble family to find their missing daughter who may very well be the new Queen of the Gobbolini, and getting involved in schemes and celebrations during the Palio of Alferia. This last one is a local holiday held at the end of the harvest which sees a flair-up in family feuds. [i]Galaverna[/i] is a land of greed and progress. At once it is blessed with wealth of many kinds: its workshops and factories turn out expert craftsmanship, its abundance of water basins and waterways leads to vast farmland, and guiscards and other spellcasters form companies to ply trades supplemented with arcane arts. And yet it is also cursed by such bounty: everything has a price, and the ruling merchant princes known as the Greats are all too willing to spill coin and blood to get a leg-up on the competition. The water basins also create as many uninhabitable marshes as farmland, and its capital city of Tarantasia is believed to be secretly ruled by a dragon known as the Chief of Chiefs. If this is true, then the city’s feuding families above would be but mere upstarts who deluded themselves into thinking they’re the real rulers. The region is also home to the Heretic Alps believed to contain vast stores of untapped mineral wealth, and from Overmountain come occasional bands of foreigners. This makes Galaverna a good ‘starting point’ for PCs not belonging to expressly Brancalonian races and classes. Jobs in Galaverna involve discovering mountain tombs in the Heretic Alps, being hired by one of the factions of Tarantasia to establish dominance over the region, and being hired by greedy tax collectors, soldiers of fortune, or as like-minded minions for Galaverna’s “captains of industry.” [i]Vortigana[/i] is the largest region in the Kingdom, so-named for the many whirlpools that dot its waters. The local climates vary the most, ranging from marshes and lagoons to woodland hills to rugged valleys and mountains. The capital city of Vortiga, also known as Vortiga the Black, is a cyclopean city connected by a maze of bridges, walkways, and canals ruled over by a masked assembly known as the Great Council. The city is known for hosting great Carnivals, but other notable metropoli include the fey-ruled city of Aurona, Perdenza which is known for bizarre foods, and the artistic city of Patavia home to a prestigious college. Beyond the major population centers include autonomous mountain villages who govern themselves, marauding pirates along the coast, disbanded soldiers from Altomagna, a high population of sylvan tribes who often war against each other, and local varieties of marionettes. Cabin dolls are made from triflewood built from shipwrecks, while saintlets are made as living symbols of Saints to be used in rituals of the Creed. Although not present in the corebook, these marionettes are detailed as subraces in the Macaronicon supplement. Jobs in Vortigana involve piracy (fighting or contributing to the practice), exploring the wilderness for legendary treasures, or having the bad judgment to cross Vorgita’s Council. [i]Pianaverna[/i] is located south of the previous three regions and ruled in name only by Galaverna’s Greats. Holding only a sparse population, this mist-shrouded region has a reputation for fell magic and monsters such as hags and bavalisks. There also exist more “human” dangers such as forts of mercenary companies and the violent inhabitants of the Pagan Plain. The faithful of the Creed view Pianaverna as a challenge, seeking to preach the teachings of the Saints to the heathens “most in need of help.” The Pagan Plain’s “king of all kings” is Ardarico, a fool who manages to hold onto power for his unmatched physical might and little else. More competent dangers in the region include the Lowland Brigands who are a small yet professional army ruled over by a morgant known as the Queen of Batons, the Passers who engage in smuggling and illegal trafficking throughout the Kingdom’s northern regions, and the Duchess Spinella who leads a group of women warriors known as the Nooserippers so named for saving their own and commoner women from hanging. Jobs in Pianaverna involve defending smaller isolated villages from greater threats (and sometimes monsters and said threats from villagers), panning for gold in the delta region that is too close for comfort to Penumbria’s Mistide, and hiding out from authorities in this trackless yet dangerous region. [img]https://i.imgur.com/rZpSuqT.png[/img] [i]Penumbria[/i] is perhaps the most dangerous and feared region in the Kingdom. It is surrounded by the Mistide, a magical curtain of sulfurous mist believed to be the result of fell magic and requires skilled guides to cross (and there are rules for braving this harrowing journey; the greatest danger is becoming lost and gaining Exhaustion levels from the dread aura). While Penumbria has an aristocracy in the form of the Dukes of Castel Notturno, the real power in the region is the Criminese Cupola, an assortment of family-based organized crime syndicates who hold sway over specific kinds of illegal activity. Their power and wealth reaches far beyond the Mistide, and their agents can be found all over the Kingdom. The region overall has little in the way of centralized power. Beyond the Crimini gangs whose alliances are subject to fraying and refastening, there’s the swampland of Morassi whose population center of Feretro is home to smugglers and pirates, pagan tribes of sylvans known as the Hoodlums, and the Kingdom’s most feared mercenary company, the Dragoons. Known for their distinctive armor that covers them from head to toe, they are prized for their ruthless skill but not often hired due to their propensity for turning against their former employers if they become weak enough to plunder at war’s end. Penumbria is also notable for being an exception to the Kingdom’s shrugging tolerance. The Gifted, marionettes, and members of magical classes are hated by the populace; most of the time this is represented as mocking crowds and hateful barbs, although violence can occur and is tolerated by the authorities. Such people crossing the Mistide do well to avail themselves of a Crimini don, earning protection for their stay. A subrace of marionettes known as the guignols implant themselves as cysts in living creatures, growing over time until they burst forth fully-grown. Jobs in Penumbria are nasty, brutish, and often lead to dramatically-shortened lifespans. There’s always work to be done for or against the region’s power players, and precious few people trust each other, knowing that today’s employer can be tomorrow’s target. [i]Torrigiana[/i] is the most magical realm of the Kingdom. Extravaganza is strong and omnipresent, manifesting as a pleasant sunlit climate, vast forests of triflewood from which the marionette race was fastened, the everyday presence of Turquoise fey and talking animals in villages and the countryside, and settlements with interesting features such as Frittole which is believed to contain portals to other times and places. The district of Cuccaigne, which surrounds the capital city of Cucca, is perhaps the strangest place of all: the surrounding landscape is entirely edible, ranging from salamis hanging from orchards, rocks made of cheese, breadsticks growing like grass, and local fauna which comes ready-to eat such as flying spit-roasted birds. However this is a trap, for those who partake of these natural magical meals soon become enchanted to eat until they literally explode. Cucca itself is known as the City of Toys for its Permanent Fair, a 24/7 parade of games, shows, and other attractions whose participants often find themselves befalling some misfortune such as a companion vanishing into thin air or all of their money replaced by colored paper. The boggy marshland of Maremma Impestata is home to the region’s greatest and strangest dangers, such as mosquitoes that bite other mosquitoes, bandit horsemen who ride on other horsemen, and cutthroats who specialize in cutting the throats of other cutthroats. Finally there’s the Mount of Fiascos of Hyena, the richest bank in the Kingdom whose malebranche owner is believed to launder money from Inferno. All attempts at pulling off heists have caused some degree of unconventional tragedy to befall the would-be robbers, which is where the bank gets its name. Jobs in Torrigiana always have some additional layer of magical weirdness stacked on top of an otherwise conventional adventuring scenario. [i]Borgo Stricchiano[/i] is technically part of Torrigiana but lengthy and self-contained enough to merit its own section. It is an archipelago of three islands, one of which is home to a race of horses whose queen is appointed by a blind black stallion every year. The islands are home to only one inn known as the Marbowl, and ancient pacts with nature spirits cause curses to befall those who needlessly cause harm to the local flora and fauna. The archipelago is also home to the Monastery of Saint Patron, home to the most skilled scribes of the Kingdom who dispatch members to travel the lands and collect rare tomes to bring back to the Monastery. There’s also the Swamp Hag, a legendary figure possessed of unmatched magical power, and the de’ Vasi family whose royal bloodline is full of strange beings. The family villa houses a large library whose most famed text is the Book of Secrets of Villa de’ Vasi. It can only be read by those willing to write a secret of their own onto one of its pages. Once that occurs the ink fades away, replaced by someone else’s secret and a related task or job to fulfill. Jobs in Borgo Stricchiano involve the local deals and goings-on of the above; the adventure hooks practically write themselves! [i]Spoletaria [/i] was designed to act as a buffer zone against the dangers of Penumbria. Once part of the now-gone Kingdom of the Two Scyllas, the former fortresses are now occupied by sellswords and Penumbrians fleeing their homeland. The region is also famed for its many skilled fencing schools that teach a variety of sword-fighting styles, including a few forbidden techniques. The rural places are wastelands of poor soil whose populations are eager to fight at the drop of a hat. Its most civilized city of Aquilea is still home to its fair share of problems, such as the unfortunate pattern of its rulers turning into birds. Jobs in Spoletaria tend to involve fighting of various kinds, as the Spoletarians aren’t ones for subtlety. There’s also hunts for the legendary sarchiapone, said to be as treacherous as the foioncus and as elusive as the rumphus, but nobody has any idea of what such a creature looks like. [img]https://i.imgur.com/ldmAv62.png[/img] [i]Alazia[/i] once bore the administrative hearts of Plutonia and the Draconian Empire, home to the largest city in the known world that brought people and riches from all over. Now it is a forsaken land, home to innumerable ruins inhabited by devils and undead. A volcanic mountain range known as the Four Devils is home to the only remaining fire dragons of the Kingdom, whose ferocity was so infamous that the Draconian Empire derived its many symbols from them. But in spite of such dangers, civilization thrives: first there are the pagan Rupi who worship a hybrid faith of old Draconian religions and the Creed, the Buri hills known for fine wine and beautiful people, sylvan and pagan pilgrims who pay homage to the Draconian goddess Thumpa whose cult is ruled over by the Masked King of the Wood, and the city of Ophitia that reveres the Mother of Serpents. This last city is home to scoundrels and villains of all kinds, ruled over by a renegade noble known as the King of Knives who has one of the highest Bounties in the Kingdom. The former Draconian capital is known as the Wasteland, and looks like an endless series of ancient Roman-style ruins spaced haphazardly along cracked ground. It eventually ends in an abyss of sulfurous water and mud known as Hell’s Mouth, home to the Eternal Gate sitting at the bottom of the ruined city. Sitting mere miles from here is Vaticin City and Port Patacca. The former is the first sect of the Creed, a near-impenetrable fortress of churches and monasteries who administer affairs to the faithful of the Kingdom. Port Patacca is a city ruled over by representatives of trade guilds who dub themselves the “Free Commune of the People.” They have a steadfast alliance with Vaticin City, which no plot or political strife has managed to sunder. Jobs in Alazia specialize in ruin-delving and spelunking, as the innumerable treasures of the Draconian Empire lay buried beneath the earth just waiting to be found. Not to mention the above-ground ruins which are still protected by curses and monsters of all sorts. Port Patacca is full of urban intrigue of various kinds, and Ophitia much the same but with the worst humanity has to offer. We also get two sidebars expanding upon the Creed. Basically it’s a monotheistic faith that venerates a creator deity known as the Ternal Father, the Godhead, and various other names. They believe that the Seven Heavens of the Firmament are a reward for those who lived just lives, much as Hell/Inferno is the punishment for those whose lives were wicked. The Creed is an evolution from an older religion known as the New Doctrine dating from Plutonian times, and there are other theological interpretations besides the Creed that are popular in other areas of the world. The Creed itself is split into four Patriarchates which in theory have equal power and coordinate efforts, although the Patriarchate of Vaticin City is the oldest and most powerful. I have no idea if an angel named Bingo is some sort of cultural in-joke referencing something I’m not aware of, or if the name alone is meant to be ridiculous on its own. [b]Thoughts So Far:[/b] The first half of the Bounty Kingdom has a pretty strong start. The regions are thematically distinctive and full of interesting people and places with built-in adventuring ideas. I’d be hard pressed to pick a favorite as any comparisons are going to be apples-to-oranges. Torrigiana’s magical weirdness aside, there’s quite a bit of regions with roaming monsters. This stands in a bit of a contradiction with the prior chapter’s claim of humanoid threats being the more common hindrance to roaming bands of Knaves. But this isn’t really a complaint, as I feel that such things enhance the setting rather than detract from it. [b]Join us next time as we cover the rest of the Bounty Kingdom in Part 2![/b] [/QUOTE]
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