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NOW LIVE! Into the Woods--new character species, eerie monsters, and haunting villains to populate the woodlands of your D&D games.
[OOC/FULL] Valusia
- Thread starter Destan
- Start date
Destan
Citizen of Val Hor
I planned on emailing each PC an “introductory package” but, on reflection, thought it may be best to post it here so it’ll remain easily accessible. This post does not begin the adventure, but rather paints an admittedly bleak picture of your ‘place’ in the world.
I’m going to try to do this in a conversational tone, and I will only be revealing what (little) information your character would initially know. Some of you may have character backgrounds that would necessitate knowing more of the world around you; we’ll handle that on an individual basis via email.
Let’s start simply and expand from there.
Take a look at the small map attached to an earlier post on this thread. That image is an accurate depiction of your geographical knowledge. You know there’s a large world around you, certainly, but such a world has little to no bearing on your daily life. Hence, we won’t discuss it here.
Your ‘world’ is Argos, and Argos is a fishing village on the western banks of Raider’s Bay. Argos is comprised of some fifty households and a handful of communal buildings – a smithy, an inn, a bowyer’s shop, and a few warehouses. More than half of the houses are built upon wooden stilts – the Dead Fens to the south encroach northward with each passing year.
Hard upon the banks of the Bay is a motte-and-bailey structure wherein Lord Crayke resides. Crayke is unmarried and childless and, though you find it hard to comprehend, is not a fisherman. Rarely does he leave the wooden palisades surrounding his fort. On those few occasions he does venture forth, it’s only to visit a particular woman who works and resides in the Sighing Cypress inn. He seems an unhappy man and, when found deep in his cups within the Cypress, never ceases to bemoan the fact he lives where he does. He never eats fish.
Perhaps a day’s sail north, on the opposite shores of the Bay, rests Minetown. You’ve never set foot in the place, but you can easily mark the foothills surrounding the community. To sail north of those foothills, no matter how tempting the fishing, is to invite danger. Those waters, you know, are not your own. Minetown is filled with Rhelmsmen. You know, hundreds of years ago, that the land of Rhelm was part of the Valudian Empire – your Empire, as odd as that sounds. Rhelmsmen don’t seem to care for you and those like you, and you don’t care for them. Wondering the why of it would not do anyone any good. You’ve never seen one, to tell it true, but you imagine them to be an ugly and stunted race.
Opposite Minetown, on the Valudian side of the Bay – your side – the great forest of Fletcher’s Haven ends in gently rolling plains. Somewhere inland, beyond where you can see while aboard ship, is the town of Ox Bow. Occasionally a mailed warrior from Ox Bow will ride into town for Crayke’s keep, following the rocky coastline, but such men never stay long, and rarely talk. At least, they don’t talk to you.
There’s one road out of Argos. The Fletchway skirts the eastern border of the Haven, and travels southward toward parts unknown. When traders arrive to purchase fish and pelts, they nearly always enter town upon the Fletchway. A few times each season, a handful of clerics will arrive bringing sweetmeats and offering aid. These men and women come from a temple dedicated to a god named Eldath. These travelers, also, arrive upon the Fletchway.
There’s little to be proud of with respect to Argos. Though between fishing and hunting and other mundane chores, there’s little time to worry about pride. Your fellow townsfolk, however, do cling to one aspect of communal dignity, and that is this: No one outside of Argos can traverse the Dead Fens as capably as you. That no one would want to do such a thing is of little consequence.
When traders arrive and they hear you tell of a recent hunt within the swamplands, their eyes invariably widen. More than once they have asked you for information; apparently, many outsiders seem to think untold wealth lays half-buried within the muck, forgotten treasures from old empires whose names are unknown to you. If it does, you’ve never seen it. The only treasure you’ve found consists of pelts found on the backs of musk rats, coons, otters, and other similar animals.
Your town, you’re fairly certain, is unimportant because there’s no reason to pass through Argos to get to anywhere that is important. Gloomy forest is to the west, interminable swamplands to the south, and inhospitable waters to the east.
Edit: I realized after posting that the above info may give the impression that the starting group has been designated and the invitation to join is now closed. They haven't, and it's not.
I’m going to try to do this in a conversational tone, and I will only be revealing what (little) information your character would initially know. Some of you may have character backgrounds that would necessitate knowing more of the world around you; we’ll handle that on an individual basis via email.
Let’s start simply and expand from there.
Take a look at the small map attached to an earlier post on this thread. That image is an accurate depiction of your geographical knowledge. You know there’s a large world around you, certainly, but such a world has little to no bearing on your daily life. Hence, we won’t discuss it here.
Your ‘world’ is Argos, and Argos is a fishing village on the western banks of Raider’s Bay. Argos is comprised of some fifty households and a handful of communal buildings – a smithy, an inn, a bowyer’s shop, and a few warehouses. More than half of the houses are built upon wooden stilts – the Dead Fens to the south encroach northward with each passing year.
Hard upon the banks of the Bay is a motte-and-bailey structure wherein Lord Crayke resides. Crayke is unmarried and childless and, though you find it hard to comprehend, is not a fisherman. Rarely does he leave the wooden palisades surrounding his fort. On those few occasions he does venture forth, it’s only to visit a particular woman who works and resides in the Sighing Cypress inn. He seems an unhappy man and, when found deep in his cups within the Cypress, never ceases to bemoan the fact he lives where he does. He never eats fish.
Perhaps a day’s sail north, on the opposite shores of the Bay, rests Minetown. You’ve never set foot in the place, but you can easily mark the foothills surrounding the community. To sail north of those foothills, no matter how tempting the fishing, is to invite danger. Those waters, you know, are not your own. Minetown is filled with Rhelmsmen. You know, hundreds of years ago, that the land of Rhelm was part of the Valudian Empire – your Empire, as odd as that sounds. Rhelmsmen don’t seem to care for you and those like you, and you don’t care for them. Wondering the why of it would not do anyone any good. You’ve never seen one, to tell it true, but you imagine them to be an ugly and stunted race.
Opposite Minetown, on the Valudian side of the Bay – your side – the great forest of Fletcher’s Haven ends in gently rolling plains. Somewhere inland, beyond where you can see while aboard ship, is the town of Ox Bow. Occasionally a mailed warrior from Ox Bow will ride into town for Crayke’s keep, following the rocky coastline, but such men never stay long, and rarely talk. At least, they don’t talk to you.
There’s one road out of Argos. The Fletchway skirts the eastern border of the Haven, and travels southward toward parts unknown. When traders arrive to purchase fish and pelts, they nearly always enter town upon the Fletchway. A few times each season, a handful of clerics will arrive bringing sweetmeats and offering aid. These men and women come from a temple dedicated to a god named Eldath. These travelers, also, arrive upon the Fletchway.
There’s little to be proud of with respect to Argos. Though between fishing and hunting and other mundane chores, there’s little time to worry about pride. Your fellow townsfolk, however, do cling to one aspect of communal dignity, and that is this: No one outside of Argos can traverse the Dead Fens as capably as you. That no one would want to do such a thing is of little consequence.
When traders arrive and they hear you tell of a recent hunt within the swamplands, their eyes invariably widen. More than once they have asked you for information; apparently, many outsiders seem to think untold wealth lays half-buried within the muck, forgotten treasures from old empires whose names are unknown to you. If it does, you’ve never seen it. The only treasure you’ve found consists of pelts found on the backs of musk rats, coons, otters, and other similar animals.
Your town, you’re fairly certain, is unimportant because there’s no reason to pass through Argos to get to anywhere that is important. Gloomy forest is to the west, interminable swamplands to the south, and inhospitable waters to the east.
Edit: I realized after posting that the above info may give the impression that the starting group has been designated and the invitation to join is now closed. They haven't, and it's not.
Last edited:
darkdancer
First Post
email sent - if too many applicants, please add me to your growing list of alternates 
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