My Campaign Notes

[Samloyal23]

The Fallen Kingdoms--- Haugeland​

The hills and knolls of the central heartland of the continent, northwest of the Kironos and far west of Thosia, gave the region its name, Haugeland, in the language of the local barbarians. Conquered early in their history by the centaurs of the Kironan Empire, the humans and dwarves of this area were never fully tamed, although they learned the arts of civilisation quickly, and fought constantly with the imperial legions. When the first great cataclysm struck the chieftains of the region saw their opportunity and rebelled once again, this time en masse.

Within a few short years the local chieftains became self-appointed kings and began feuding with each other, what was left of the Kironan state losing control of the region. For the next century the feuds continued but were decidedly inconclusive. Then a second cataclysm struck, destroying the easternmost kingdoms, where the sea had flooded in over the Kironan vales.

Panic set in, refugees flooding to the West, creating havoc with their tales of the devastation. One great chieftain rallied the people, organising the effort to save the refugees and establish order, and used the crisis to finally unite the feuding tribes peacefully. Backed by the Kironan priests of Athena who represented the continuation of the empire's civilising influence, he quickly organised a council of the local chieftains with a set of rules they could finally agree on. Crowned King Erik I, he established the nation of Haugeland as an independent power from the shrinking Kironan Empire by making it an independent "protectorate" of the Empire.

More later...

 

[Shaghayegh]

The Fallen Kingdoms--- Haugeland​

The hills and knolls of the central heartland of the continent, northwest of the Kironos and far west of Thosia, gave the region its name, Haugeland, in the language of the local barbarians. Conquered early in their history by the centaurs of the Kironan Empire, the humans and dwarves of this area were never fully tamed, although they learned the arts of civilisation quickly, and fought constantly with the imperial legions. When the first great cataclysm struck the chieftains of the region saw their opportunity and rebelled once again, this time en masse.

Within a few short years the local chieftains became self-appointed kings and began feuding with each other, what was left of the Kironan state losing control of the region. For the next century the feuds continued but were decidedly inconclusive. Then a second cataclysm struck, destroying the easternmost kingdoms, where the sea had flooded in over the Kironan vales.

Panic set in, refugees flooding to the West, creating havoc with their tales of the devastation. One great chieftain rallied the people, organising the effort to save the refugees and establish order, and used the crisis to finally unite the feuding tribes peacefully. Backed by the Kironan priests of Athena who represented the continuation of the empire's civilising influence, he quickly organised a council of the local chieftains with a set of rules they could finally agree on. Crowned King Erik I, he established the nation of Haugeland as an independent power from the shrinking Kironan Empire by making it an independent "protectorate" of the Empire.

More later...

You need a better name for the king. And details on the Kironans after the heartland of their nation was destroyed...

 

[Shaghayegh]

Athena looked at the club-footed, crippled smith of the gods, "We are still few in number, and while the thunderbolt is the most terrible of all weapons, we will be hard put to stop the hordes that follow Zeus. We need your craft and your cunning, Lord of Smiths, what say you?" Hephaestus thought about this and came upon a solution, building an army of soldier out of stone and iron in a new smithy, his cyclopse workers toiling away next to him. Great and terrible these were, giants as great as any spawned by Gaia.

Athena came and inspected the work of her smiths, gazing at the rows upon rows of titanic warriors. "What are you?" she said to the assembled horde. "Ia!" they replied in unison, a sound that made the base of Olympus shake. Athena looked at Hephaestus, "I approve..." she said, then turned to the assembled gods, "We march at dawn!" The Theomachy had begun...

Hmm. Picturing colossal Warforged in Greek costumes wielding spears, maching in formation...

 

[Samloyal23]

My latest work on the setting.
http://www.enworld.org/forum/d-d-legacy-discussion/326728-tales-last-lands.html

 

[Samloyal23]

Queen Aneh-tet was old. She saw the signs of the decades on the throne of the City-State of Shosnar engraved in her face. Her hair had turned from thick and black and soft to weathered and grey. Her joints were stiff; when the weather turned cold she needed a cane to walk. Her flesh sagged and her eyes were weak. Her beauty had faded but her vanity had not. She had been beautiful in her youth. So beautiful was she in her youth that men had killed each other for her attention. Men courted her power now, not her beauty. They still committed murders and other foul deeds for her attention, but it was not the same. Magical illusions could make her appear lovely, but could not make her feel beautiful. She knew something had to be done and she would spill as much blood as needed to regain her youth and beauty.

Delving into dark grimoires of lost Thosia, the land of her ancestors that was now sunken beneath the sea, she at long last found what she needed. Studying the ancient text that she had spent so many years looking for, she knew she had the answer. After several hours of preparation, she knew what had to be done. Aneh-tet summoned the youngest of her ladies in waiting, the lovely daughter of a noble warrior in her court. “Come, my darling girl, come to your queen…” Aneh-tet cooed to the innocent girl. “How old are you now, my dear?” the queen asked. The young girl was too shy to look the queen in the eye and said just loud enough to be heard “I have but 13 summers, My Queen…” The queen’s eyes lit up then narrowed to dark slits. “Perfect…” she said coldly, and then grabbed the young girl by the throat.

The dark invocation Aneh-tet had discovered went to work, as she exhaled swirls of smoke and dark flame into the mouth of the terrified servant girl. The entire court watched in terror as the young lady in waiting grew haggard and wrinkled, her hair went from silky black to grizzled grey, and her bones and muscles groaned under a sudden and onerous load of time.

Queen Aneh-tet felt the girl’s youth and vitality rush into her body in waves as she verily inhaled the fullness of youth out of the girl’s trembling body. Her skin grew firm, her wrinkles vanished, her hair regained it lustre, and her joints stopped aching. She looked at herself in a mirror and saw the young girl she had been as a teenager. She let go of the girl and laughed, a sound that was beautiful to the ear but chilling to the soul.

The girl’s father flew into a rage and charged at the queen, but a long chain with a cruel barb shot from Aneh-tet’s hand and pierced the noble’s heart. She dragged him to her by the chain as his blood poured out of his body and kissed sweetly him as he died. She laughed as the barbed chain retracted back into her hand.

The once young lady in waiting was shaking in terror and weeping for her dead father. Something dark grew inside her, her soul was tainted now. Slowly she calmed herself as the reality of her situation became clear to her. She wiped her eyes, stood up as straight as she could with her aching joints, and glared at Queen Aneh-tet, “I live to serve you, My Queen.” But inside her heart beat a hatred she had never known possible. Only the thought of revenge would warm her cold heart now…

 

[Samloyal23]

I am giving some thought to the demographics of this setting and I am thinking Humans are less than half the population of the isles. Shosnar and some of the other cities have a high percentage of human hybrids such as half-elves but some cities will have few if any humans...

 

[Samloyal23]

What guidelines do you follow when determining demographics in your campaigns? How many Humans is too few? What races do you not let overpopulate your campaigns?

 

[Samloyal23]

Changed the name of Haugeland's king to Goar. Goar was a real world chief of the Alans during the 5ht Century.

Though it is long forgotten by the Bullywugs, the prince of Lyonesse they are descended from was Clotair, whose name I took from French history.

 

[Samloyal23]

Prince Clotair did not live happily ever after, he fell into drunkenness, became the shame of his whole family, and was eventually strangled by his father for the shame he brought to his kingdom.

 

[Samloyal23]

The Necropolis
Just outside the city walls on the inland side of Shosnar is the Necropolis, home to the dead of Shosnar. A temple to Anubis stands guard, the walls of the district stretching from the sides of the temple's gate. Beyond the temple is a cemetery for the commoners of the city. Inside the temple is a second gate that leads to the tunnels holding the family crypts of the city's elite. The priests of Anubis guard the graveyard from hungry gnolls that relish the taste of carrion and protect the crypts from the Shrouds, a guild of professional grave-robbers. Despite the best efforts of the priests, bodies are still stolen, crypts robbed, and the dead occasionally rise as monstrous Undead. Illegal tunnels dug by the Shrouds are a constant nuisance. Worse, these thieves know just enough magic to speak to the dead, stealing secrets best left buried and using this information for blackmail and other crimes. The gnolls often work with the Shrouds, trading their services as muscle for slightly rancid ("ripened") carrion and a few baubles stolen from the crypts.

The priesthood of Anubis is strictly neutral politically, so the cult of Set ignores them. They are interested only in guarding the dead and stamping out the Undead. They have little interest in what goes on in the city and no urge to rule. Rumours exist though of a renegade sect that has found the body of Queen Aneh-tet's father and is seeking to make him rise as a mummy to challenge her rule. If she should find out about this sect, it could spell the end of the cult of Anubis in Shosnar.

The priesthood of Anubis is mostly Humans and Obisidan Dwarves, but there members of other races, notably the Naja-set. Temple guards are more diverse, including in their numbers many Giff and Minotaurs.

Because of the cult's neutrality and the location of the temple being outside Shosnar proper, the cult of Anubis is one of the only sects left alone by the minions of Set who control Shosnar.