Beyond the Wall, an OOC Thread

[Seperallis]

I did it! I brought it back! Woo! A lot of what follows will be copy-pasted, but much has been changed, especially the premise. So pay attention! or don't.

I had an idea some years ago to see how we can do a sort of psychological character roleplay. However, I realized I really didn't want to go so far as to make an entire RP arc so full of doom and gloom and "stress" or whatever. Instead, I've changed the idea into being more of a tabletop format played via forum. A forum-DnD almost, except nothing will be rolled (unless I want "fate" to decide how I respond to something I guess, as DM) and no stats will be tracked, but characters will be persistent from one "campaign" to another - including their risk of death - if anything gets that far, and their actions will have consequences and might even become Andlosheim lore.

But don't worry about that, all it means is that I won't be spelling things out for you: it's up to you to let me know what your characters are doing, and it's up to me to give you good and complete directions (and make sure you're entertained enough to continue, of course). I won't be "pulling punches" as it were, but I will of course be fair and give as much warning as any situation warrants if it might involve character death. You just focus on making and writing and playing good characters, I'll be fair and make sure the story is good (enough), and everything else will fall into place!

Speaking of everything else, here's the meat of it:

Overview
As you might have guessed, this is a character RP. My focus is of course on the plot, but a big part of what I want to see and explore is the development of characters, as they are molded over time by the challenges they face, and the consequences of the actions they perform. The ultimate goal will of course be to complete the group's mission, but how they go about it could have lasting consequences for them and the realm. Some characters may even die...and that's okay! Don't get mad, I'm here to make a compelling story after all, and a story where danger abounds yet everyone is somehow immune to said danger is hardly compelling!

The roleplay of course takes place in Andlosheim, but far on the fringes of human civilization in a land known as Darnathir, several decades before the actions of the "main" plot. Darnathir used to be a homeland for other races, until human settlers arrived on its shores from far, far beyond the waves; over time, they subsumed the local civilizations via the usual methods that humans have of subsuming cultures. The various citystates of what is generously called a "kingdom" are now dominated by humanity, with any other races generally given a suspicious side-eye or relegated to second-class citizens. Mages are mostly in a similar boat, with magic and its practitioners tightly regulated and controlled through most of the realm. Furthermore, women are generally accepted as being as capable at any task as a man by virtue of both necessity and practice, almost like a fantastical wild west; the land is also one of deep-rooted societal norms where "women should be women and men should be men," whatever that means (this view generally doesn't extend to the Riders due to its nature). Basically, Darnathir is a land of "tradition," but for all its faults and backwardness is a tradition built on a need for social consensus in order for humanity to merely survive in a land that wants to see it gone. Everything and everyone has a place and a purpose, and many consider that upsetting that order will be the downfall of humanity.

I only emphasize this so you can have a clear understanding of what to expect.

The characters that are part of this roleplay would all be members of an organization known as the Riders, whose crest is an azure field with a single, white, rearing Pegasus. These Riders are unique in that they pledge an allegiance to the realm, not to any particular city-state or even not to the king. While they often take cases and requests for these various factions and often act with the king's direction and authority, their oath binds them to act for the good of the entire realm: they are funded by all the cities, and ruled by none. While the organization is most well known for its military arm - guarding the frontiers and keeping the peace - the organization runs far deeper to include high-level policing, espionage, disaster response/cleanup...anything that might need going for the general good of the realm, and its members drawn from all facets of society based purely mostly on any skills that will meet the organization's needs.

I can tell you right now that many of the challenges faced by characters will have nothing to do with fighting or other direct conflict, and there is definitely a place for those without combat abilities. One could say such people might even be required for success of the mission(s). *hint hint*

Of course, this means new characters would have to be created. Non-human and/or magical characters will be outright declined without speaking to me about your character concept beforehand; this is due to the restrictions of Darnathir's society. I will of course create a character sheet for people to create their characters, if they desire. The most important thing to remember is that your character have a skill useful to the group in some way, and deep personalities and histories. Multiple characters are allowed...encouraged, even, if you plan on continuing to roleplay following certain members' eventual deaths, though I feel you'll only have one at a time out on any particular mission.

---

Okay, so here's the deal. My original plan was to have all the information that anyone could ever want, in the library. While I've been doing some writing in my notebook, the progress I've made on it, and the depths into which I delve with the subject makes it clear that my ideal scenario isn't going to happen for several months at least a really long time.

I'm going to write summaries on as much as I can as fast as I can, trying to hit all the major information that is absolutely necessary to making a character and having a basic understanding of the setting.

If you still have any questions, feel free to ask them and I'll give you the info you so desire. Speaking of which, I'll place an "FAQ" of questions that have been asked and answered down under these topics.

So, here goes, in spoiler form:

Show ContentMagic:

Magic

I'm putting this first, just because I know it'll be a thing that'll seriously affect at least one character.

Magic is heavily regulated throughout Darnathir, especially in Holmevang, to the point that mages and the like effectively do not exist in public. Aside from those living in the much more cosmopolitan city of Eshn'edhil, mages are almost mythical to most people, kept out of sight due to the close imprisonment "supervision" by the Order, given such authority by virtue of the law of the land. Any mage is required to be physically restrained by a heavy metal collar and chain that makes the practice of magic much more difficult, and socially bound to a member of the Order in Darnathir who is charged  with both protecting the mage (held much more helpless by their collar) and - more importantly - protecting the people from the "dangers" and corruption of the mage.

There are two notable exceptions to this policy. The first and most visible are clergy, priests and other clerics of the official human pantheon. The second, much less known, are mages in direct service of King and country (including the White Riders), who exchange the privilege of free movement and free agency for being eternally scarred with a brand of the King's mark upon their face, visible to all that look upon them. Any mage not so affiliated, or otherwise "restrained" by the Order, is living an illegal life, an apostate in a land that despises their existence, a dangerous rogue who may be freely detained or killed without question or recourse.

Why such heavy restrictions on mages? Originally, mages were blamed for the events of the Cataclysm (to be explained in the History below). As a means of maintaining peace, power & order in a fractured & ravaged land, provisions were given for the previously distrusted Order to receive nearly boundless power and influence to pursue these scourges, and a general mistrust formed over the "radical, corruptible free agents" of mages.

Thankfully, the Order's power has since been diminished to little more than babysitters for mages, but the legacy remains.

Show ContentGeography and Places:

-- Click for larger image --

This map is obviously a quick shitpiece to get something up and isn't done; people can just make up towns for their characters, which I can put on the map, or use what's available.

Geography
As a whole, Darnathir lies far beyond the ocean from Sidgard on a large island-continent (name pending), taking up roughly 1/10th of the landmass. Maybe. I not sure, I haven't settled on the final form of the continent...but I do know it's surrounded by water, so most of what takes place on it takes place in relative isolation to more distant realms, such as Sidgard.

Darnathir's geography is generally temperate and includes: dense forest in the south, fertile plains in the heart of the country, rocky crags in the East and Northeast, and rolling hills and mountains in the West. Three main rivers run through the country, West to East: the Memyzht, which defines the edges of the northern frontier and bisects the port city of Myzh; the Stilna, broad and slow, the life-giving artery of the land that nourishes the central plains and upon which the capital Darnathis sits; and the Milra, whose winding course defined and carries beyond the dense foliage of the southern frontiers. West, beyond the uplands south of Calmor's Garrison, lie vast uninhabitable arid wastes, a product of the Cataclysm, a deadened scar upon the land to serve as a constant reminder of the dangers of unchecked magics.

Places (of note)
Darnathis -
The seat of power of the old elvish city-state of the same name, Darnathis is now the home of the Andryr kings and the central point of human influence on the continent. The city itself was already the largest in the region in ancient times, protected by two sets of walls on both banks of the river Stilna, and has only grown more so after human conquest and migration. More recently a third wall was added in A.C. 462 (S.Y. 4022) around much of the "New Town," though it has continued to sprawl beyond even these and along the byways and avenues leading to the city, and much of the forested countryside has given way to miles of farmsteads and pastures rich from the fertile river plains.

Despite its size, the city maintains strict order in public law and appearances. The well-funded town watch is under employ of the local Burgher Council, a group of esteemed city civic, merchant, and guild leaders who manage affairs of the city by concensus, and headed by the town Bailiff who serves with the authority of the King. Wealth and status are very clearly shown in the layout of the city's ringed districts: those most recent arrivals, with the least means, or who have otherwise been barred from the city live in the ever-growing alleys outside its walls. Inside the outer earthwork and timber wall is the "new town" where craftsmen ply their trade near the Lower Market square and young money and new residents live; buildings here have a very familiar human feel with wattle, daub, plaster, timber, and sometimes masonry construction. Within the second ring's old and battered stone wall, one can find the upper market, guild houses and manufactories, homes for the more distinguished, and the cathedral - which once served the gods of elves - now in service to Tyrus and the Valhalnir, and all of them built in the old "moulded stone" style of their original elvish inhabitants and their smooth, contiguous and seamless contours. Much of the same arcutecture continues within the third wall and outer bailey.

Castle Rock sits in the middle of the river. Once home to the magnificent Crystal Palace, not sit the inner bailey and keep of its new human rulers and the Andryr family.

As the jewel of the kingdom and under the close scruitiny of the Court, the city is well maintained with large public works rarely seen elsewhere; hygene is important, and fresh water is carried into the city from mountain springs via several sets of aquaducts and pumped directly from the Stilna well upstream of the city and delivered via pipes and ducts, and the old elvish sewers in the old city expanded to servenearly every home. Bath houses and public latrines are common; avenues are wide, well maintained and, most notably, cleaned regularly.

Myzh -
Once the largest human city and center of culture, the sacking in A.C. 338 (S.Y. 3898) scattered its inhabitants and drove them south. The last two hundred years has seen the coastal trade hub rebuild into an important center of trade once more, but the recent rise of Eshn'edhil as a trading port and the introduction of shallow-draft ships that can sail the Stilna has meant the new Myzh is only an image of its former self. Flanked by two forts and sitting upon the cliffs above the mouth of the river Memyzht, the city has a commanding view of its surroundings.

The city and its surrounds are ruled by a small group of mercantile patrician families, though Darnathis has held a large garrison there since Togugh's invasion and the Andryr kings have since then interfered in local matters: slavery, once legal in the city since antiquity, has allegedly been outlawed in recent decades. Regardless, the local guilds still hold much power.

The city's defining feature is that much of it extends beyond the cliff upon which it's built, with avenues winding down the cliff face and disappearing into a literal "undercity;" most of these tunnels were built long ago during the city's height, and much of them still sit abandoned. The city's well-known still for its extensive craftshouses under the protection and association of the local guilds; money and skill talks in Myzh, and anyone with either (and preferably both) can make their way here with little judgment. The centerpiece of the city was once the old coliseum, which now sits defunct. Magistrate's Hill looks over the city, upon which sits the forum where the city's patricians meet elect the city's ruling Magistrate and discuss matters.

Eshn'edhil -
Also called Enstrad, the great City of Eshn'edhil was one of the old elvish city-states with the longest contact with humans, sitting not far south of Haroldstrand in the mouth of the river Milra. For a long time it had close and amenable relations with the settlement until the long war between humans and elves, where the city's army sent Haroldstrand into the sea. Of the old elvish kingdoms, it was the first to eventually surrender and submit, saving itself from siege and destruction; it is thus the largest preserved example of ancient architecture in the kingdom (Manuhil being much smaller).

Eshn'edhil is a city of canals, and sits entirely on reclaimed lands around an island in the mouth of the Milra. Though without walls, a ring of towers protects the city, and its winding and narrow walkways make navigation difficult. Natives use a unique system of teleportation gates to easily traverse between different islands, through the defensive towers, and even to Castle Enstrad itself, a white-stone rocky fortress that dominates the flat landscape.

Eshn'edhil is also a city of learning, containing the largest library in Darnathir, most of which is open to the public: the Great Annals of Knowledge, Time, and History, compiled and kept safe within the protective shell of Castle Enstrad, is rumored to contain the endless works of both the elvish and human worlds, written and unwritten, recorded and not. Its spaces are impossibly cavernous, a leftover elvish design subsumed and expanded by its new inhabitants. It is said that many such, smaller places existed throughout Darnathir before the Cataclysm, before the Order; times were hard on the city afterwards as learning and scholarship retreated, but the city and its collections, and its elven inhabitants, survived and have seen a revival in recent years.

The destruction of Myzh saw Eshn'edhil become a much more prominent city in recent generations, but the more lax restructions on mages has truly been a boon to the city. Without Myzh, Enstrad became the largest coastal city; an entirely new port and adjoining trade quarter was built, and the city has seen a flourishing of culture, wealth and scholarship that has made it a center for innovation that the country hasn't seen for ages.

Holmevang -
Darnathir's stalwart bastion against the hordes of the north. The northern fortress-city began its life as a human settlement in the wild lands beyond the mountains, and grew into the northernmost watchpost in defense of the pass further south, long before the Wall or even the Stenraamna were built. Using nearby darkstone quarries to build its walls and developing a well-drilled permanent army to defend itself on its isolated frontier, the castle and its town grew into a formidible defensive home, the inner and outer walls thick and ironclad with steel gates rolling on sets of gears; these give the city's fortress its moniker, the Iron Citadel.

Holmevang eeks out an existence in a land that doesn't want it there, and much of the people live a meager existence in a harsh climate. The kings of Holmevang, house Eirikur, themselves are rich from the wealth of the nearby mines, the largest single dig in the country. Many of the people live and work in the underground forges in the old bored-out mines, which have the added benefit of keeping things very warm during the cold harsh snows...even if everything is tainted with the soot of their labor. The old world's dwarves that struck out to make their fortune in Darnathir can be found here, living in conditions they often find most familiar.

This is a land where order and tradition rule above all others simply as a means of survival, and here more than anywhere are the people most skeptical of mages, who are all but outlawed...and actually this attitude extends to many strangers in general, as people who are different could bring changes which could disrupt an order and way of doing things that has kept these people alive against all odds. While some of the more well-off surface-dwellers might have the luxury for such things as passions and liberties, most know that devotion to one's duty is what keeps this society continuing against the odds that have been stacked against it for centuries.

Milransari -
the old capital of Manuhil before its inclusion into the growing human kingdom, it is an elvish city deep in the dense southern forests near to the banks of the Milra. The city remains something of a sanctuary for the Old Inhabitants of the realm, where few humans live. Nearly all of the buildings are built in the old moulded stone and wood styles of the elves, full of twisting organic shapes within, around, and upon the trees of this old forest. Many of the old customs are still kept here, despite the nearby garrison from Darnathis, making it something of a window to the past.

Fallgarde -
Known as Syn Caelora in the old days (and more commonly the Black Citadel now), Fallgarde are the ruins of the last old elvish realm to oppose the realms of man in Darnathir, from which the liches of the cataclysm made their pact and launched their campaign of destruction. The land here is a desolate waste that has long since eaten away at itself and died from the twisted magics that turned its inhabitants into an undying, unfeeling rotten horde. Adventurers have saught their fortune here from time to time in the ruins of Fallgarde and nearby, though hardly any were crazy enough to breach the grounds of the Black Citadel, or at least lucky enough to live to spread the tale. The place has pretty much remained untouched since the destruction of the last lich, but who knows what horrors still linger?

Calbas -
Sitting in the craggy hills at the foot of the Bellowing Peaks, this small mining town is home to the large and prestigious Calbas Quarries, from which some of the finest building stones are cut and transported across the kingdom. It's an otherwise unremarkable town, though home to several master masons and many more apprentices hoping to learn their craft.

Bhonn -
A trading town in the Blood Hills that sits on the crossroads of the main Holmevang-Myzh and Holmevang-Darnathis highways. Not especially large, though well-served by merchants and home to a broad array of establishments that ply their custom to strangers, travelers, and other such wayfarers.

Calmorshaven -
A small town, fairly normal, and unremarkable except for their several well-known stables and horse ranches, Calmorshaven is known mostly as a place of supply and support for the nearby frontier fort, Calmor's Garrison, which acts primarily as training camp and headquarters for the Riders of Darnathir.

Kegan -
A sizable village just east of the Thundering Summit and within the south forests, it sits upon the Southern Highway out of the kingdom to foreign realms, and is the first large settlement most southern visitors come to when entering the kingdom. Pretty normal for a village that supports its local countryside, the place is notable for its frankly huge biannual markets - one after the spring melt, and one at the autumn harvests - that draw people from all over the realm, and even many from far beyond it.

Causari -
Arguably the most isolated point in the kingdom, Causari is little more than a small fishing hamlet supporting a nearby military outpost, whose central tower dominates the misty, windswept landscape. The tower serves as an observation point for potential enemy navies coming to Myzh, or armies coming around the Kholgrum Rise in the north. Being sent to this distant edge of civilization is often seen as a punishment of sorts.

Stenraamna -
Stonebreach was the name given to the narrow, jagged, natural low pass through the Bellowing Peaks through which the first human travelers passed on their way to settling Holmevang. Eventually the pass was altered slightly, its pathways widened and secured for easier and consistent travel by wagons and caravans. Eventually the pass was fortified, the fortress taking on the name of the pass in which it resides, and a town grew up around this new checkpoint...which also took the name of the pass; the name can thus accurately be used for all three, and "fort," "town," or "pass" is usually added to distinguish them. In any case, the fort and its surrounds are ruled by a military governorship granted by the kings of Holmevang, and acted as a tax and customs check and indomitable fortress before the unification of the realms under the Andryr family in Darnathis.

Haroldstrand -
The oldest permanent human settlement in Darnathir. Though once the center of human power in the region, the town eventually ceded that title to Myzh and fell into a slow decline from ever growing irrelevance as settlement moved from the craggy eastern shores to the Memyzht river valley, and its power eventually ended with the sinking of its coastal castle into the sea by elvish magics during the great wars. The town has recovered since then, but it is little more than a fishing harbor now and holds none of the significance of its past, except as a point of heritage.

(possibly more to come?)

Show ContentHistory in Brief:

(Very brief. Or maybe not so brief; I'm working on it, but I'm up to several hand-written pages.)

Humans are originally alien to Darnathir, which was an old elvish kingdom long ago. How long ago? Let's do a quick timeline:

About Sidgardian Year (SY) 2500, First contact was made with an elvish civilization from across the vast Miklavastansaer. "Turbulent waters" toss a trading vessel headed for Lenssian ports off-course. With a broken rudder, the vessel drifted with the wind and sea before running aground on previously uncharted shores. Presumed lost at sea by people back home, the survivors of the harrowing trip (detailed somewhere in a story based on the log of its captain, Gerrat Mylner) make contact with a never before known elvish kingdom; trading what remained of their belongings for provisions and a seaworthy ship, 9 of the original 45 crew eventually return to the Storslagen, while 12 remain in this new, strange land.

Approx. S.Y. 2600, shipbuilding practices of the age make leaps and bounds in Sidgard and the human realms with discoveries made from the return of the strange elvish ship. Knowledge spreads, but craftsmen in the Storslagen become the first to create both larger and faster ocean-faring ships capable of enduring longer voyages. While most still ply the safe and known routes, a new interest in exploration begins: a fleet of exploration ships is assembled under Thebaldus Shaunson to find the land mentioned in the journals of Captain Mylner. After a month at sea, the fleet strikes unmarked, hidden shoals on what was supposed to be a clear route, and is forced to return to Sidgardian ports.

S.Y. 2700, The search for a safe route continues, and some question if the land even exists. Interest wanes in this mystical "land of elves," though the strange and exotic human land of Shin is discovered, a boon of knowledge and wealth. Sporadic exploration ships continue to chart the odd, shifting, mist-draped mid-ocean shoals, which they name Duspitr.

By S.Y. 2800, the discovery is made that these mid-ocean shoals are related to a gargantuan, roaming sea turtle. How the turtle lives, where it goes to or where it's from, and other mysteries remain unsolved, though the turtle's movements are charted and shown regular and consistent in where it appears, finally making the seas fully navigable. Colart Reinald becomes the first explorer to both find his way to this wild new continent and make his way back having made contact with the natives. Trade fleets are soon to follow, opening the port of Myzh as the first major trading partner. Some few travel to make their fortunes.

S.Y. 2948, the first permanent, continuous settlement of Sidgardian humans is founded at what becomes Haroldstrand. A hardy nature and short generations sees humanity spread by migration - peaceful and otherwise - across most of the region since, though the Darnathir area (which they call the entire continent, actually) remains their chief center of human population and civilization on the continent...but I'm getting ahead of myself

S.Y. 3070's, human influence has spread across the northern plains by this point in a widely-dispersed patchwork of small communities and petty "kingdoms," from Haroldstrand on the east coast to Holmevang - far across the plains and beyond the Spines in the west. Darnathis, Manuhil and Eshn'edhil remain independent elvish realms.

S.Y. 3200's, and the original settlements in the east still hold considerable influence but life on the rocky shores and empty plains was poor and hard, so human civilization began to centralize west-northwestward more around the Memyzht. Sitting at the mouth of this river of rising importance, the ancient seaside city-state of Myzh morphed into a cosmopolitan mix of new and old, east and west, that rivaled the power and grandeur of even the Old World's most renown cities.

S.Y. 3268, and not all was peaceful. Most of the remaining Elven city-states, and especially the shining jewel of Eshn'edhil, began to openly resent and perhaps fear as a plague the rising influence of these short-lived upstarts from beyond the waves. Whatever their reasons, the Elven powers and their various puppets allied together and launched a vicious campaign to reassert hegemony over the lands they had "lost" to the sprawling human encroachment. With ancient magic, skilled fighters, and ferocious thralls they overwhelmed the fractured and unprepared human lands. Any who did not submit to the supremacy of the Mer were slaughtered to the man, and while most took the first option, many were swept asunder by the second: places like Haroldstrand, whose gates stood fast in brave defiance until elvish magics broke the land from under foot and washed the entire citadel into the waves.

S.Y. 3270's, and with victory close at hand, Elven city-state politics intervened. The Elven alliance broke down as disparate factions with different war aims squabbled amongst themselves before openly attacking each other over their various ambitions, even going so far as to create pacts with some of their former human enemies...and so the war dragged on, fueled by animosities far older than any human history. Before the decade's end, all sides would exhaust themselves, and the "war" would smolder in a state of near-lawless uncertainty for the next 300 years.

S.Y. 3550's, and over the past decades, new imported weaponry, tactics, and the generally short generations of the human population compared to their long-lived enemies began to counter Elven superiority and win the game of attrition. What were once the last vestiges of humanity on the continent were now in firm control of Holmevang and Myzh as the balance of power shifted and the frontier boundaries moved closer to the status quo. Still, it wasn't until Thrisbras Haak assumed lordship of Holmevang (as payment for a bet, no less. What bet? Wouldn't you like to know) and took leadership of the human alliance that a path to peace, bloody though it might be, was realized.

S.Y. 3559, and the both recklessly ambitious and sharp witted Lord Haak forced negotiated surrenders of Darnathis and Eshn'edhil after several decisive victories in his three year campaign of war. Exhausted, the ancient Elven city-states were subsumed into the new human union. Riding through the gates of Darnathis as conquering hero, Haak proclaimed himself "King of Darnathir," founding its first (albiet short-lived) ruling dynasty. Human lands now stretched from north of the Memyzht south past the Stilna to the forests of Manuhil.

But the worst was yet to come.

A.C. 0 (S.Y. 3560), and one elven city-state refused to give up the fight: Syn Caelora, past the far western marches continued to fight despite the collapse of its alliance. With human armies approaching in the late autumn, the leaders of Syn Caelora made a blood pact with demons and dragons, and made overtures to their gods asking for strength and forgiveness as they performed the blood rituals that sacrificed their entire peoples to decimate the invading armies. Syn Caelora's rich flora shrank into barren wastes and its people twisted into pain-wracked shambling horrors, while the "great" Elven leaders and archmages became as demigods: undying, unfeeling liches of immense power sowing ruin upon the lands with their twisted allies at their side.

A.C. 1 - 40's (S.Y. 3561-3600's), and one by one the great liches and their hordes were defeated, but not before causing much havoc for humanity in Darnathir: old and noble houses fell, while new ones rose before they too were cut down; mountains cracked and rivers shifted and twisted in the monumental war for survival while settlements large and small were desecrated and destroyed by the hordes. Even the gates of Darnathis shook from siege, and although the city stood fast and survived, its timeless Crystal Palace and many of its inhabitants did not. Truly, much was lost.

One of the many things lost in this time was freedom for those who practiced the magical arts. The liches were of course beings of great magical power who had once been powerful mages, and the destruction they'd sewn left many fearful and resentful of those who practiced these arts, beginning a long distrust with magic and even bookish intellectualism, which was seen as the hallmark of the mage. At one point, The Order, which had previously been kept out of Darnathir, was invited in to control and even hunt those who practiced magical arts outside of specific prescribed circles, such as those in service to the state or clergy (ignoring the irony that it was elvish clergy in service of "the state" that had become liches). Over time, the power and authority of The Order in Darnathir grew to almost rival that of its counterpart in Sidgard.

A.C. 42 - 338 (S.Y. 3602 - 3898), and what is known as the Great Peace lasts for 300 years with little interruption (and the exception of a couple minor internal crises). With the defeat of the last known lich, the land started to know peace once more. The Andryr family that rose to prominence in the latter months of the turmoil captured power in Darnathis and solidified its authority in the coming years, and still holds power there to this day (with a couple barley-notable exceptions). For many generations, humanity rebuilt once more and reached new heights of prosperity. Exhausted from centuries of fighting, old enemies settled their enmity in the following years as well: Manuhil allowed itself to be nominally absorbed into the fledgling kingdom (technically making it a kind of empire, I'd guess. Anyway...), while the rest of the southern powers made their peace and turned their attentions elsewhere.

A.C. 338 (S.Y. 3898), and no peace can last forever, and the northern tribes arrive to end the great peace. Well, technically they've always been there: fractured warbands of orcs, goblinkin, and other wild societies who roamed north of Darnathir in uncharted lands, their alliances and holdings always shifting in the politics and grudges of their barbarian culture and posing little actual threat beyond raiding frontier homesteads of some poor settlers every once in a while. With incredible strength and uncharacteristic guile for an orc, the warlord Togugh hav Kilug rose above his rivals to unite much of these tribes into a great Horde, with him as their first "Orok." He set about pacifying the other clans and beastmen, gathering them to him with his battle prowess, but the lands of these northern tribes were spoilt and poor, and soon his sights fell upon the rich lands of Darnathir.

With tens of thousands of warriors behind him, he invaded south with no warning, burning and pillaging human homesteads as he went, but he wasn't here for simple raiding; he reached the upper banks of the Memyzht, the heart human civilization, and began a reign of terror as he obliterated the unprepared garrisons and wiped town after town off the map, seizing much bounty and many thousands of slaves or "cattle" and sending a great human wave of people fleeing his hand south toward the Stilna, where many of them still reside. Before long he came to the great city of Myzh, crashed the walls with an army of trolls and ogres, and sacked the great city such that the sky and river both burned with the same smoke and rust. He moved further south, pillaging as he went, before heading inexplicably east towards the Stenraamna, whose gates heroically held for twenty-two long days and nights before the army of Darnathis appeared in the south to challenge their larger foe; the horde turned to face them, but was outflanked by the army of Holmevang that had arrived on the other side of the pass days before and which poured through the gates of the fort. The battle was fierce and the cacophony of corpses stained the grasses and gave the Blood Hills their name; the balance of the battle could have swung either way for hours until Orok Togugh was eventually killed in the fighting - though it's said he took twenty men with him - and his horde routed not too long after.

A.C. 348 - 375 (S.Y. 3908 - 3935), and plans for the frontier wall - known simply as "The Wall" - are finished and construction begins near both Holmevang and Myzh, the latter of which was still a desolate shadow of its former self. Plans for the wall change several times over the course of its construction, such as after another attempted invasion by another orc leader, Orok Yargug hav Hig, who was strong but lacked Togugh's capability and thus was defeated by a much more alert defense north of Myzh. The attempt did at least force a reconsideration of the wall, moving its final location many miles north.

Even though the wall is technically not completed near Myzh, construction completes due to new fortifications being built in the area.

A.C. 397 (S.Y. 3957), and the wall is tested once again, though this time in Holmevang, as another Orok (whose name is not known) attempts to break the completed wall. The wall and its defenders hold easily. Another horde would try again some years later, and suffer the same fate, though it's noted that these hordes don't have the same overwhelming strength as Togugh's original horde.

A.C. 402 (S.Y. 3962), and the Riders of Holmevang are originally formed as a branch of Holmevang's army, to patrol the frontiers and beyond the wall. The Riders of Darnathir are formed in Darnathis soon after for the same purpose, though this branch eventually moves beyond purely an arm of the Darnathis army and becomes a separate organization servicing the entire kingdom whose purpose changes to keeping the peace, though patrolling the frontiers remains an integral function of the group.

Near this time, efforts by the ruling Andryr family have seen some erosion of The Order's power in Darnathir. Some say the formation of the Riders is part of this, though public confidence is mages had been on the rise since the first invasion of the northern hordes, where the kingdom's battle mages were integral to ending the northern threat, and whose rituals staved off death and plague for those who survived. Also, the Cataclysm is ages past by now, though superstition is still a powerful force.

A.C. 522 (S.Y. 4077) is the "current year" for the beginning of Beyond the Wall.

A.C. 545 (S.Y. 4100) is the "current year" for Elke's adventure to stop the Blackspawn to begin.

Show ContentIn-Frequently Asked Questions:

I gotta copy them!

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Characters
Okay! So, given all that, if you want to partake and make characters, I've attached a quick character form that you can fill out that will have the minimum necessary; you can of course add more, and I definitely encourage it.

Code:

[u][b]Name:[/b][/u]
[u][b]Gender:[/b][/u]
[u][b]Age:[/b][/u]
[u][b]Race:[/b][/u]
[u][b]Allegiance:[/b][/u]
[u][b]Description:[/b][/u]
[b][u]Personality:[/u][/b]
[b][u]Biography:[/u][/b]
[u][b]Abilities/Strengths/Weaknesses:[/b][/u]

[Sal]

Name: Fimri Bucephalas “Buck” Syodhozlyn III
Gender: Male
Age: 32
Race: Human
Allegiance: The Riders

Description: Buck is a solidly built, albeit short man. He is quick - and proud - to claim that what he lacks in stature is due to, and made up for by his family’s long history of carrying royal dwarven blood - his great-great-great-great grandma Braenlissa was a full-blooded dwarf, after all, and a queen to boot! (This is not true, although generations of carefully crafted tales for posterity that have become a bit more embellished with each retelling means no one currently alive in the Syodhozlyn lineage knows any better. Buck and his family are, perhaps uninterestingly, just short.) Barrel-chested and thick limbed from a lifetime of driving cattle, he’s nearly wider around than he is tall. He keeps a messy crop of sun-faded brown hair, usually pulled back, braided, and banded out of the way, that flows into an impressively bushy beard by way of perfectly mirrored mutton chops. He seems to have a permanent leathery tan to his skin, offset by a golden fleece of body hair. There’s a kindness to his facial features and warm, brown eyes enhance the effect. Nothing about his appearance is particularly eye-catching to the majority, but as his pappy always says, beauty is in the eye of the bee-holder (neither pappy nor Buck are sure what that means, but they have a certain reverence for apiarists and their all-knowledge of physical beauty.)

As for clothing, he prefers little adornment and opts for sturdy, utilitarian textiles - leather, canvas, and wool are much more useful than silks and other dantier fabrics. No man ever found himself in need of a lace doily six days into a cattle drive, after all. He dresses as is befitting of a man who spends much of his time in a saddle and carries as little as possible: a tent, a rope, a multipurpose knife, a good quality cast iron skillet, a farrier’s kit, maybe a few other small pieces of gear. His heavy-soled boots are perfect for stirrups and for marching on foot.

Personality: Buck is a man’s man. And a ladies’ man. Well, in fact, he kind of just gets along with everyone. A charmer without trying, he has perfected the art of buttering-up and finds that there aren’t many sorts he can’t get along with when he puts his mind to it. He can be overwhelming for the more introverted, homebody types, but he chooses to believe they’ll open up to him if he’s even more persistent. (He’s sometimes correct.)

Buck is also, rather unfortunately, something of an idiot. Born and raised on the range far from the civilized world of city slickers and government ministries and mages, Buck never received much of a formal education. He can recite the alphabet, knows his numbers, and can perform some basic arithmetic - mostly for the purposes of livestock-associated accounting - but he lacks factual knowledge about many things. History, if not regularly recounted in a storytelling format, eludes him. Chemistry, in his vocabulary, is only something that a gal might find she shares with her beau if things are going well romantically. He has only a basic reading ability, and even less of an ability to write.

But what he lacks in the ability to recite facts, he mostly makes up for in common sense garnered through experience. He’s got a pretty good grasp on navigation and pathfinding; he knows a good deal about large animal biology, physiology, and medicine (and honestly, how different can people be?); and his survival skills are top notch. He’s reverse engineered a good bit of machinery in his time and, in doing so, has sorted out most of the mechanics behind the object. Most often, he can figure out when he’s being taken for a ride, although it takes him a bit longer to catch onto a scam than the average man of his age, and it may be too late to fix a situation by that time. But his hindsight is 20/20. 20/30, maybe. Okay, 20/40 at worst.

Being lucky also helps.

Buck is neither a pacifist nor a warmonger. He lets his head and his heart split the decision when it comes time to react to an escalating situation. He likes to think that he can be the bigger man most of the time, but it would be a lie to say he doesn’t get a kick out of the occasional down-‘n-dirty brawl (especially when he wins.)

Biography: —WIP—

Abilities/Strengths/Weaknesses:

Strengths:

Charmer. Despite his lack of formal education, Buck is very charismatic and most find him endearing. There are those who find his personality overwhelming or even obnoxious, but he’s pretty good at reading people and can usually reel in his more boisterous side if needed. Sympathy and empathy are two tools he’s able to wield pretty well in order to get into the good graces of those around him, and he is genuinely caring and very loyal to anyone he considers his friend. And while he mostly uses this power for good and harmony, it would be false to say that he never uses it for personal gain.

Animal whisperer. Whether hoofed or clawed, feathered or scaled, large or small, Buck is good with just about every kind of animal. Horses and cattle are his forte. He can break a young stallion without a harsh whip in a matter of days and can read the general mood in a herd of steer as plain as if they were people. He’s also a huge dog and cat lover.

“Just a scratch!” He can take a pretty hefty beating and still walk away, unassisted, and have a good laugh over it. Similarly, he can eat almost anything without ill effects.

Brute strength. Despite being shorter than most, he’s decently strong and can turn almost any heavy object into a blunt-force projectile.


Weaknesses:

Illiteracy. He can recognize common signage (“danger”, “inn”, “Welcome to (Town Name Here)”, etc.) and can sound things out phonetically correct about eighty percent of the time, but he’s no reader. Definitely no writer. Despite this, he remains the best reader in his family, and having never been told otherwise, is completely unaware that he’s at the reading level of a seven year old. Maybe he’s dyslexic - who can say?

”I reckon you could say I’m an expert.” As with his language skills, Buck often has the false impression that he has knowledge of things that he, clearly, does not. That weird, blobby shape he just scratched into the dirt with a stick, for instance? “Why, that’s a secret ma-a-agical spell taught to me by a man who was wearing a golden dragon skin. He says it’s a protection wart— err, ward? Somethin’!” You look at the shape again. It’s just a smiley face.

Pretty women. He’ll do a lot of dumb things for a leggy blonde. He’s got many an [angry] ex from his youthful days of sewing wild oats who would testify.

Landlubber. Buck has only been to sea once. The ordeal lasted only two nights and three days, but resulted in a panic that caused such a commotion that he has not so much as stepped foot in a rowboat since (and left him banned from doing business with a particular chartering company). He much prefers the trusty earth and solid soil to being surrounded by something full of sharks that would swallow a man up in seconds and leave no trace. He cannot swim.

Not-so-fine motor skills. He’s a bit of a bull in a china shop.

In general, his attributes would be as follows (scale is 1 - 12):
Strength: 9
Constitution: 11
Dexterity: 5
Intelligence: 4
Wisdom: 6
Charisma: 11

[Ayzek]

Name: Asmund Gosta Thorsen
Gender: Male
Age: 42
Race: Hyoomon
Allegiance:  The Church?  of Latter-day Saints Dat boi
Description:
Asmund is a middle-aged man with greying blond hair kept in a bowl cut. He is of average build, albeit slightly on the scrawny side. A man of (the) god(s), Asmund wears little beyond a boring, brown tunic and matching boots. He carries a leather bag and a wooden staff topped with a sapphire, as well as a dagger and other tools of the trade. He is rather inexpressive, so it surprises some he has a dedicated wife and multiple sons.

Personality:
In general, he is quite stoic and focused. He has a soft-spot for children and his wife, for which his personality turns right around. Nonetheless, he can get along with most people just fine--he's not anti-social or reserved. He is quite learned in his fields, which include healing magic, the human body, and herbal medicine. He can read well enough and complete simple math.

Biography:
Booooooo.

Abilities/Strengths/Weaknesses:
Strengths
Healing Magic, medicine, basic biology. He has a pact with Eira, Valhalnir god of healing and medicine.

Weaknesses
He's of average constitution and is not very good at fighting, either physically or with magic. His pact with Eira prevents him from personally taking another life, be it human, demi-human or animal.

[Ayzek]

Name: Kari Magnahild
Gender: Female
Age: 24
Race: Human
Allegiance: RIDERS
Description:
Kari is a beautiful redhead with big boobs a smaller than average chest. She keeps her hair short, to the point where she is often confused with a guy. Pale-skinned, she prefers to keep her body protected from the sun, lest it turn redder than her hair. She is tall for her gender and well-built. She carries a backpack with a variety of tools. Her main weapon is a sword, though she also carries a small shield and a couple shorter blades.

Personality:
Kari was raised to be a warrior. Her battle sense is strong and extends somewhat into general interactions with others. She can somewhat tell if someone has immediately malicious intentions or otherwise intends to harm her. She is nonetheless young and somewhat naive, though is capable of beating her way out of any trouble that might cause. Generally friendly, her strong sense of justice gives her little patience for crime or evil, including mages.

Raised the daughter of a minor lord, she is able to read and write and do mathematics. She loves to eat, drink, and exercise.

Biography:
BOOOOOOOOO.

Abilities/Strengths/Weaknesses:
Strengths
Her combat skills are exception; she has defeated even fine knights.

Perhaps a bit too loving, her father had her develop a tolerance to many common poisons.

Weakness
She is a sucker for a sob-story.

She is infertile (she does not know this yet).

[Seperallis]

Well I did it! I finally filled out the Geography and Places section in the original post! From this point I think I've done the absolute minimum to prepare the campaign/setting for roleplay, until there are more specifics that come up during writing, or if people have more questions.

From this point, I think I'm ready to begin. So if we're still interested, and if more people would like to take part (I'd like at least 3 people besides myself, ideally), then let's get cracking sometime soonish, yeah?

For ease of seeing what's new, I copied the geography section below. Everything under the "places" header is new:

Show ContentGeography and Places:

Geography
As a whole, Darnathir lies far beyond the ocean from Sidgard on a large island-continent (name pending), taking up roughly 1/10th of the landmass. Maybe. I not sure, I haven't settled on the final form of the continent...but I do know it's surrounded by water, so most of what takes place on it takes place in relative isolation to more distant realms, such as Sidgard.

Darnathir's geography is generally temperate and includes: dense forest in the south, fertile plains in the heart of the country, rocky crags in the East and Northeast, and rolling hills and mountains in the West. Three main rivers run through the country, West to East: the Memyzht, which defines the edges of the northern frontier and bisects the port city of Myzh; the Stilna, broad and slow, the life-giving artery of the land that nourishes the central plains and upon which the capital Darnathis sits; and the Milra, whose winding course defined and carries beyond the dense foliage of the southern frontiers. West, beyond the uplands south of Calmor's Garrison, lie vast uninhabitable arid wastes, a product of the Cataclysm, a deadened scar upon the land to serve as a constant reminder of the dangers of unchecked magics.

Places (of note)
Darnathis -
The seat of power of the old elvish city-state of the same name, Darnathis is now the home of the Andryr kings and the central point of human influence on the continent. The city itself was already the largest in the region in ancient times, protected by two sets of walls on both banks of the river Stilna, and has only grown more so after human conquest and migration. More recently a third wall was added in A.C. 462 (S.Y. 4022) around much of the "New Town," though it has continued to sprawl beyond even these and along the byways and avenues leading to the city, and much of the forested countryside has given way to miles of farmsteads and pastures rich from the fertile river plains.

Despite its size, the city maintains strict order in public law and appearances. The well-funded town watch is under employ of the local Burgher Council, a group of esteemed city civic, merchant, and guild leaders who manage affairs of the city by concensus, and headed by the town Bailiff who serves with the authority of the King. Wealth and status are very clearly shown in the layout of the city's ringed districts: those most recent arrivals, with the least means, or who have otherwise been barred from the city live in the ever-growing alleys outside its walls. Inside the outer earthwork and timber wall is the "new town" where craftsmen ply their trade near the Lower Market square and young money and new residents live; buildings here have a very familiar human feel with wattle, daub, plaster, timber, and sometimes masonry construction. Within the second ring's old and battered stone wall, one can find the upper market, guild houses and manufactories, homes for the more distinguished, and the cathedral - which once served the gods of elves - now in service to Tyrus and the Valhalnir, and all of them built in the old "moulded stone" style of their original elvish inhabitants and their smooth, contiguous and seamless contours. Much of the same arcutecture continues within the third wall and outer bailey.

Castle Rock sits in the middle of the river. Once home to the magnificent Crystal Palace, not sit the inner bailey and keep of its new human rulers and the Andryr family.

As the jewel of the kingdom and under the close scruitiny of the Court, the city is well maintained with large public works rarely seen elsewhere; hygene is important, and fresh water is carried into the city from mountain springs via several sets of aquaducts and pumped directly from the Stilna well upstream of the city and delivered via pipes and ducts, and the old elvish sewers in the old city expanded to servenearly every home. Bath houses and public latrines are common; avenues are wide, well maintained and, most notably, cleaned regularly.

Myzh -
Once the largest human city and center of culture, the sacking in A.C. 338 (S.Y. 3898) scattered its inhabitants and drove them south. The last two hundred years has seen the coastal trade hub rebuild into an important center of trade once more, but the recent rise of Eshn'edhil as a trading port and the introduction of shallow-draft ships that can sail the Stilna has meant the new Myzh is only an image of its former self. Flanked by two forts and sitting upon the cliffs above the mouth of the river Memyzht, the city has a commanding view of its surroundings.

The city and its surrounds are ruled by a small group of mercantile patrician families, though Darnathis has held a large garrison there since Togugh's invasion and the Andryr kings have since then interfered in local matters: slavery, once legal in the city since antiquity, has allegedly been outlawed in recent decades. Regardless, the local guilds still hold much power.

The city's defining feature is that much of it extends beyond the cliff upon which it's built, with avenues winding down the cliff face and disappearing into a literal "undercity;" most of these tunnels were built long ago during the city's height, and much of them still sit abandoned. The city's well-known still for its extensive craftshouses under the protection and association of the local guilds; money and skill talks in Myzh, and anyone with either (and preferably both) can make their way here with little judgment. The centerpiece of the city was once the old coliseum, which now sits defunct. Magistrate's Hill looks over the city, upon which sits the forum where the city's patricians meet elect the city's ruling Magistrate and discuss matters.

Eshn'edhil -
Also called Enstrad, the great City of Eshn'edhil was one of the old elvish city-states with the longest contact with humans, sitting not far south of Haroldstrand in the mouth of the river Milra. For a long time it had close and amenable relations with the settlement until the long war between humans and elves, where the city's army sent Haroldstrand into the sea. Of the old elvish kingdoms, it was the first to eventually surrender and submit, saving itself from siege and destruction; it is thus the largest preserved example of ancient architecture in the kingdom (Manuhil being much smaller).

Eshn'edhil is a city of canals, and sits entirely on reclaimed lands around an island in the mouth of the Milra. Though without walls, a ring of towers protects the city, and its winding and narrow walkways make navigation difficult. Natives use a unique system of teleportation gates to easily traverse between different islands, through the defensive towers, and even to Castle Enstrad itself, a white-stone rocky fortress that dominates the flat landscape.

Eshn'edhil is also a city of learning, containing the largest library in Darnathir, most of which is open to the public: the Great Annals of Knowledge, Time, and History, compiled and kept safe within the protective shell of Castle Enstrad, is rumored to contain the endless works of both the elvish and human worlds, written and unwritten, recorded and not. Its spaces are impossibly cavernous, a leftover elvish design subsumed and expanded by its new inhabitants. It is said that many such, smaller places existed throughout Darnathir before the Cataclysm, before the Order; times were hard on the city afterwards as learning and scholarship retreated, but the city and its collections, and its elven inhabitants, survived and have seen a revival in recent years.

The destruction of Myzh saw Eshn'edhil become a much more prominent city in recent generations, but the more lax restructions on mages has truly been a boon to the city. Without Myzh, Enstrad became the largest coastal city; an entirely new port and adjoining trade quarter was built, and the city has seen a flourishing of culture, wealth and scholarship that has made it a center for innovation that the country hasn't seen for ages.

Holmevang -
Darnathir's stalwart bastion against the hordes of the north. The northern fortress-city began its life as a human settlement in the wild lands beyond the mountains, and grew into the northernmost watchpost in defense of the pass further south, long before the Wall or even the Stenraamna were built. Using nearby darkstone quarries to build its walls and developing a well-drilled permanent army to defend itself on its isolated frontier, the castle and its town grew into a formidible defensive home, the inner and outer walls thick and ironclad with steel gates rolling on sets of gears; these give the city's fortress its moniker, the Iron Citadel.

Holmevang eeks out an existence in a land that doesn't want it there, and much of the people live a meager existence in a harsh climate. The kings of Holmevang, house Eirikur, themselves are rich from the wealth of the nearby mines, the largest single dig in the country. Many of the people live and work in the underground forges in the old bored-out mines, which have the added benefit of keeping things very warm during the cold harsh snows...even if everything is tainted with the soot of their labor. The old world's dwarves that struck out to make their fortune in Darnathir can be found here, living in conditions they often find most familiar.

This is a land where order and tradition rule above all others simply as a means of survival, and here more than anywhere are the people most skeptical of mages, who are all but outlawed...and actually this attitude extends to many strangers in general, as people who are different could bring changes which could disrupt an order and way of doing things that has kept these people alive against all odds. While some of the more well-off surface-dwellers might have the luxury for such things as passions and liberties, most know that devotion to one's duty is what keeps this society continuing against the odds that have been stacked against it for centuries.

Milransari -
the old capital of Manuhil before its inclusion into the growing human kingdom, it is an elvish city deep in the dense southern forests near to the banks of the Milra. The city remains something of a sanctuary for the Old Inhabitants of the realm, where few humans live. Nearly all of the buildings are built in the old moulded stone and wood styles of the elves, full of twisting organic shapes within, around, and upon the trees of this old forest. Many of the old customs are still kept here, despite the nearby garrison from Darnathis, making it something of a window to the past.

Fallgarde -
Known as Syn Caelora in the old days (and more commonly the Black Citadel now), Fallgarde are the ruins of the last old elvish realm to oppose the realms of man in Darnathir, from which the liches of the cataclysm made their pact and launched their campaign of destruction. The land here is a desolate waste that has long since eaten away at itself and died from the twisted magics that turned its inhabitants into an undying, unfeeling rotten horde. Adventurers have saught their fortune here from time to time in the ruins of Fallgarde and nearby, though hardly any were crazy enough to breach the grounds of the Black Citadel, or at least lucky enough to live to spread the tale. The place has pretty much remained untouched since the destruction of the last lich, but who knows what horrors still linger?

Calbas -
Sitting in the craggy hills at the foot of the Bellowing Peaks, this small mining town is home to the large and prestigious Calbas Quarries, from which some of the finest building stones are cut and transported across the kingdom. It's an otherwise unremarkable town, though home to several master masons and many more apprentices hoping to learn their craft.

Bhonn -
A trading town in the Blood Hills that sits on the crossroads of the main Holmevang-Myzh and Holmevang-Darnathis highways. Not especially large, though well-served by merchants and home to a broad array of establishments that ply their custom to strangers, travelers, and other such wayfarers.

Calmorshaven -
A small town, fairly normal, and unremarkable except for their several well-known stables and horse ranches, Calmorshaven is known mostly as a place of supply and support for the nearby frontier fort, Calmor's Garrison, which acts primarily as training camp and headquarters for the Riders of Darnathir.

Kegan -
A sizable village just east of the Thundering Summit and within the south forests, it sits upon the Southern Highway out of the kingdom to foreign realms, and is the first large settlement most southern visitors come to when entering the kingdom. Pretty normal for a village that supports its local countryside, the place is notable for its frankly huge biannual markets - one after the spring melt, and one at the autumn harvests - that draw people from all over the realm, and even many from far beyond it.

Causari -
Arguably the most isolated point in the kingdom, Causari is little more than a small fishing hamlet supporting a nearby military outpost, whose central tower dominates the misty, windswept landscape. The tower serves as an observation point for potential enemy navies coming to Myzh, or armies coming around the Kholgrum Rise in the north. Being sent to this distant edge of civilization is often seen as a punishment of sorts.

Stenraamna -
Stonebreach was the name given to the narrow, jagged, natural low pass through the Bellowing Peaks through which the first human travelers passed on their way to settling Holmevang. Eventually the pass was altered slightly, its pathways widened and secured for easier and consistent travel by wagons and caravans. Eventually the pass was fortified, the fortress taking on the name of the pass in which it resides, and a town grew up around this new checkpoint...which also took the name of the pass; the name can thus accurately be used for all three, and "fort," "town," or "pass" is usually added to distinguish them. In any case, the fort and its surrounds are ruled by a military governorship granted by the kings of Holmevang, and acted as a tax and customs check and indomitable fortress before the unification of the realms under the Andryr family in Darnathis.

Haroldstrand -
The oldest permanent human settlement in Darnathir. Though once the center of human power in the region, the town eventually ceded that title to Myzh and fell into a slow decline from ever growing irrelevance as settlement moved from the craggy eastern shores to the Memyzht river valley, and its power eventually ended with the sinking of its coastal castle into the sea by elvish magics during the great wars. The town has recovered since then, but it is little more than a fishing harbor now and holds none of the significance of its past, except as a point of heritage.

(possibly more to come?)