Eternity RPC Board
01-26-2019, 02:08 AM
(This post was last modified: 01-26-2019, 02:09 AM by 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:
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?)
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?)