Steeldragons, thanks for the kind words!
And hey, everyone, there's another thing I'm curious about. What made the Waste and the Scar up in the northeast corner of the map? What do you find if you travel down into the Scar's depths? What's the Red Watchtower watching over, and why is there a road that goes straight between it and the City of Clocks? Who is Jhar, and what goes on at his mysterious manse? What petrified the Petrified, and who were they before their petrification? I'm pretty sure some of these things are related.
Most welcome! Did you just sit down and come up with all of this just...randomly?....on your own? Can you do one for me?! lol. It's really fantastic and highly evocative. But to your wonderings...
Jhar: The anicient wizard Jhar was once friend and high advisor to the founding Lord(s?) of the City of Clocks. He was noted as a great summoner and the first of the realms to delve into the arcane secrets of chrono-magic. His manse was created as his own personal refuge and magical academy when he wanted or needed time away from the Court of Time.
That was ages ago and he was lost/destroyed/disappeared when he used his formidable magics to halt an invasion from...whatever/whoever is east of the Waste. None have dared the Manse and returned to tell of it since that time.
There is a huge cavern/dungeon system beneath the manse which, if followed all of the was down, connects/lets out in the bottom of the scar. (Something along a Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth line would work well.)
Some say the magical fallout from the wizard's efforts created the Waste and the Scar. Some say he even is the cause for the Petrified. Some say in his misworded dealings with a great fiend for the power to crush the invasion, he was turned into a monstrous horror (a beholder) who then, not only created the Petrified but laid waste to all of the surrounding lands (creating the Waste). OR he used his limited knowledge of chrono-magic to "speed up time" to when the invaders would no longer be there/harrassing their peaceful lands. The spell "fast forwarded" the area to a time of utter desolation and lifelessness. Jhar was either consumed within the casting or lost into the "water-ways" of the Time Stream, never to be heard from again.
The Petrified (Alternate 1): the hills just west of the Petrified are the home of a 1) Breeding ground for basilisks who wander the plains east of them...and they created the Petrified from heroes and travelers than wandered into the lizards' territory. 2) An ancient and powerful medusa who guards some long forgotten treasure in the hills there (again, the petrified are the remnants of heroes, et al, who have sought it out).
Petrified Alternate 2: They are not actually "petrified" but an invading (or just migrating) clan of Stone Giants who, with the magic of the wizard Jhar, were put into an age-long sleep. So they stand, in endless slumber, until some alotted time when the magic will wear off. OR they are simply peaceful stone giants who, in an effort to live their lives without intrusion "stand still" or use some "giant enchantment" to simply appear as large pillars of normal rock whenever someone gets there. Travelers who have attempted to map a route through the Petrified quickly some to realize that the great "statues" (or pillars of rock) move about/never are in the same place as when they last mapped. (Though none have actually ever reported
seeing them move!)
The Red Watchtower: was once an outpost of the City of Clocks (hence the direct route between them). Since the coming of [whatever creature/disaster you decide made the Waste and Scar] it has fallen out of use/abandoned to disrepair and there are few that even remember the tower is there! Just some ancient road that leads out into the "nowhere" that is the Waste. Some say it leads to the "end of the world" and you will drop off if you ever reach the end (i.e. fall into the Scar) But the well-crafted stone-paved road of a bygone era still exists, enticing would-be heroes and others seeking the reputed riches down its path to the lip of the Scar...they are invariably never heard from again.
The Red Watchtower 2: It is still in use. Commanded by the "Captain of the Scar" as an outpost and watchtower for the City of Clocks against the rising forces of goblinoids and other monstrous creatures that seem to regularly boil up from the Scar's depths. Essentially The Red Watchtower=Keep on the Borderlands and the first/topmost levels of the Scar=the Caves of Chaos. What lies deeper in the Scar, you ask? Survive the Caves and perhaps you can find out. (and don't forget, once you get to the bottom of the Scar, there's some cavern/underground system that will take you into the bowels of the Manse of Jhar.
As for why the Watchtower is the "Red" Watchtower? Could be the symbol/flag of the City of Clocks has a lot of red in it? Or it is called the Red Watchtower in remembrance of the blood that was spilt at the creation of the Waste and Scar/the loss of the tower. OR maybe it's made of some strange red metal or stone (that was quarried out of the Scar ages ago before the Scar was as huge and deep as it is now).
The Scar: In the upper levels, caves and caverns housing all manner of goblins, orcs and devious creatures. Beyond that, monsters the likes of which none have ever seen...nor care to! Some say the Scar has no bottom and will take you straight down into the bowels of Hell (or the Abyss). Some say, go deep enough, and you will find yourself in a realm where there is no "day". That the earth itself becomes your "sky" (i.e. You're in the "Underdark"/"Underworld"...enter all of the drow, duergar, mind flayers and deep gnomes you want, here.
)
Yeah...I'm loving this map. <wanders off to his smoky library muttering to himself. "So much to do...so much to do...">
--SD
