Fertile Lands
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Fertile Lands is a D&D setting DMed by President Velociraptor.
Contents |
Geography
Summary
The areas within this campaign are collectively known as the Fertile Lands. The centerpiece of the Fertile Lands is known as Elsir Vale, reigned over by the capital of Brindol. The Vale stretches almost 400 miles east to west and averages 100 miles north to south.
Elsir Vale lies above the tropical latitudes. Summers are warm and rainy, and winters are cold and rainy. Large stretches of the area are quite arid, and the vale is flanked by savannahs and deserts sretretching for mile after dusty mile. The forests that stretch across the northern reaches are windy and sweet relief in the summertime's heat, but gravely cold in the winter.
Basic Geography
To the south are the Wyvernwwatch Mountains. They contain the Hammerfist Clan, dwarves who are currently engaged in a fierce battle for control of the mountains with the Blackstone Clan, ogres who moved in a century ago and recently became very military-oriented. The Silver Throne was set in the Brown Hills.
The southwest Thornwaste is a desert rumoured to be populated by a mysterious race of desert fey, who appear as sunbaked elves and steal supplies from those who wander too near. As a result, the roads avoid the Thornwaste.
To the west as Wyrmsmoke Mountains. They contain a clan of ogres known as the Magi, rumoured to be led by an Ogre Magi (hence the name). Although not strictly peaceful, they maintain friendly trade relations with the nearby town of Drellin's Ferry. The Skull Gorge would cut Elsir Vale off from the northwest, save for the Dwarfbridge. It is possible to go around it, but that requires crossing water or a 3-day trek into mountainous hobgoblin territory.
To the northwest is the Witchwood and the Blackfens. The Witchwood is generally held to be haunted by the restless spirits of the ancient druidic tribal peoples who once dwelled her an era ago. The witchwood is a lush, wet woodland interspersed with swampy stretches. It blends well into the Blackfens, which tend to be marsh- that is, most of the landscape is a treeless maze of open water, reeds and wet grassy flats that shelter waterfowl. In the days of Rhest the marsh was far smaller, but it has grown steadily since the kingdom's dissolution. Half-drowned farmhouses, diliapidated barns and sheds and sinking fieldstone fences tell the tale of abandoned lands. Wild elves live in the Blackfens, known as the Darkfen Elves to the common folk and as the Tiri Kitor to elf friends.
The northeast is the Giantshield mountain range, where few tread. Giants made it their home in ancient past, and with the ancient dwarf empire gone have begun to do so again. Marth Forest lies in the mountain range's crook and is safe to travel, used as a hunting range during the summer season. The eastern edge of the forest leads into a massive cliff overlooking the sea.
The southeast holds the Golden Plains, beyond which lie the exotic kingdoms of the Orientals. Dennovar and Silverkin maintain a safe border between them, where the plains are farmed.
The centre of the Elsir Vale holds the multiple villages and Brindol.
History
Ancient History (DC 15)
An era ago, a dragon from the deserts that would become the Thornwastes made the Wyrmsmoke Mountains his home, and legends state he ascended to godhood. Many temples were raised in this area to his name, and his wrath was said to have turned the desert south to the Thornwastes, carved the Skull Gorge and turned the Golden Rock of the Giantshield to the Red Rock to the Red Rock it is today. It is said the tribal people of the Vale banded together and defeated him, and when he fell to the earth his temples were swallowed up by great quakes, and his gorges filled with water.
The scattered human towns and villages that would become the kingdom of Brindol grew up along the Dawn Way, an important east-west trade road linking the heavily settled lands that lie northwest of the Endless Plains with the exotic kingdoms and goods of coastal lands to the southeast. The Dawn Way was built by an ancient dwarf kingdom that spanned the Wyrmsmoke and Giantshield a thousand years ago; that kingdom is gone now, but their roads and bridges remain.
Few humans lived in the vale during the years after the fall of the dwarven empire; the presence of monsters and raiders kept most caravans from daring the trek. Five hundred years ago, the city of Rhest came to control both the Elsir Vale the land north of the Giantshields and founded the city of Dennovar for coastal traders. More and more traders traveled the Dawn Way, and towns sprouted up under the kingdom's shield - Brindol, Talar, Terrelton, Wyrmhearth, and the rest.
The kingdom of Rhest collapsed under civil strife, monstrous incursions and magical blights. Almost two hundred years ago, the city of Rhest was burned by a savage horde out of the Wyrmsmoke Mountains. Although the warriors of Rhest kileld many of the goblins and their kind, the city was abandoned and the kingdom of Rhest dissipated into the tribal people of the North and the villages of the Vale. The blackfens swallowed the ruined city.
Around a century ago, it is said that the people of the exotic kingdoms to the southeast attempted to claim Elsir Vale for their own, to ensure trade with the great civilizations past the Endless Plain. This attempt almost succeeded, save for the efforts of heroes from the Vale who roused the people into fighting, formed an alliance with the Hammerfist dwarves, the Darkfen Elves and even a silver dragon and defeated the army sent to claim them in a single battle upon the Golden Plains near Hillwatch.
The leader of these heroes, the Lord Holden Jarmaath, was promptly crowned King, and his town of Brindol made the capital of the Vale. From here forth the Elsir Vale was the Kingdom of Brindol, and prospered and grew into civilization. The silver dragon begifted upon him a silver throne, which he gave to his best friend and most competent military leader, the Lord of Brown Hills, whose town became known as the Silverkin. His forces became the Knights of the Silver Throne, known for their elite competence and mystical powers.
The time of year is currently Spring, with Summer approaching.
Recent History (The Rebellion)
14 months before the current time, the people of Brindol were being heavily taxed and suffering from famine due to a drought in the harvest season previous. Unhappiness with the King grew due to his perceived apathy towards his people, and a diplomat chosen by a gathering of the village lords returned unable to gain audience with the King. Growing desperate, a band of rebels launched a raid upon a supply caravan coming from the Southeast, taking much needed supplies. Brindol dispatched a force to track down the raiders, who were summarily executed.
This act incited the whole of the Elsir Vale into rebellion, each village forming a militia and contributing men and weapons to the cause. Leaders appeared out of the blue to guide the rebellion, who took calling themself Dustcoats- for all they had was the dust on their coats. For five months the rebellion dispatched Loyalists send to calm down each village, with no real effort made to quash them. Brindol seemed afraid to aggressively put down the rebellion. It was well known that the Queen sympathized with the Dustcoats, and publically questioned the actions against them.
During the time of the rebellion, the Lord of the Silver Throne sent his forces to assist the Loyalists and Brindol. However, he was assassinated, and his knights were forced to return home to figure the matter, leaving the common soldiers he'd sent leaderless. The loss of the Knights weakened Brindol considerably. A new Lord was chosen, and the killer discovered to be a rogue knight, who destroyed the Throne before fleeing. Strangely, the knight returned to Brindol and led the forces of Silverkin left there until the war ended, then dissapeared.
With the loss of the Silver Knights five months into the war, the Dustcoats launched a massive attack on Brindol, breaking down a portion of the defensive wall and claiming half the city before being forced into stalemate. They held onto their half of the city for a month, engaging in skirmishes, neither side pushing strongly against the other. Spies infiltrated each side, and assassins struck each night at the leaders. Special guards were assigned to defend each one.
However, the loyalist's guards failed, and the Queen was found dead in her bedroom while the King was fending off an assassin. Enraged by the loss of his wife, he gathered his elite guard, the Brindol Lions, adventurers who had been offered comfy wages for taking care of problems the common guard could not, and together they fell upon Dustcoat positions. The dustcoats had no force that could match the Lions, and upon hearing the Queen was dead, many if not most felt ashamed that it had come to that, and deserted once they had fled out of the city, returning to where they had come. The leaders dissapeared, and the rebellion was officially over.