Desert city. Ishpar

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The area in the middle, Hamastra, is a fertile tectonic rift valley that divides the continent and is a sort of shortcut from one side to the other. Other than that I have no idea.

Also feel free to replace existing names, I'm not wed to anything

>>94186738
OK. Unfortunately, Ishpar is being harried by the Gryphon-Kings of Caldecar, who dwell in the Jagged Peaks. These were common bandits who fled into the mountains to escape justice, where they uncovered a clutch of gryphon eggs and became fearsome airborne caravan raiders. They're bleeding Ishpar to death by looting any caravan bound for its gates, including those carrying necessary supplies for the isolated city -- and rival city-states are all too happy to buy the stolen goods at a discount.

>>94186729
pay up first

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>>94186991
OK here are 5 glasscoins, trading beads for each finger, several silver moon-coins in different phases, brass griffons from Ishpar, triangular gold coins from Jinradesh and a compass to measure their angles, plain iron trading marks from the west, a writ you can redeem at the Bank of the Dead, petrified eyes used as currency by savages (including rare bright red ones from what must have been fire eaters), key-coins for the traders' vaults in Saralan (you can't predict exactly what will be inside), puzzle coins that have no value unless you can find the other pieces they fit with, breath-money that you’ll have to hold in your mouth until find someone to pay it to, powder of ground ivory from ancient beasts, a stoppered ounce of living mercury, assorted strange lost coins and currency-figurines recovered from the sunken ruins of the south, and a black adamant four-star from Iirizon that will prick the hand used in a false transaction.

diverse family of plants with psychoactive saps/syrups/pollens that become strongest when bees use them to make a dark red honey. no doubt these drugs give you magic powers but are terrible for you -- possibly while using them you have to cut your veins open to let blood out or the drugs will increase the pressure in your veins so much that they explode. with prolonged use over time they make your veins thicken and grow outside your skin like gross roots and vines.

also there should be drugs rendered from the poisons of various animals, and glowing gels extracted from bioluminescent creatures.

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>>94186729
I've got an area in my setting my players refuse to go to, so I don't have much planned out but I love the idea of it.

A great forest of mighty trees sits on the edge of the Estarian plains and the barren wastes of the Undying Lands unlike any other in Avalon. Trees that are so large it could take minutes to walk around, if you could keep up with it, that is.

The Marching Forest is a system of migratory trees that slowly crawl their way around the lake of the Needle's Eye. They follow a predictable yearly cycle, churning the soil beneath them into arable land as they pass through. No permanent settlements can be made in the tree's migratory path as they'd be trampled beneath thousands of twisting roots, but small clusters of elaborate tree houses form ever changing towns among the branches.

Mobile farmsteads work the land around the migratory path year round until harvest time, when the forests come back and the treefolk bring the farmers up to their homes in the branches. By the time their crops are all sold and their stocks replenished, the farmers are dropped back off onto freshly tilled earth, ready for the next season's growth.

High among the canopies of the tallest trees are settlements of the mysterious Syzygy, large furry moth-like people that use their proximity to the moon and stars to read omens of the future.

I want to know what game this is going to be used for.

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>>94190216
Love the astrologer moth people. Reminds me of an idea I had recently for star-worshipping firefly people called the Luminatra...

The marching trees risk being an ent ripoff, but maybe it could connect to the hallucinogenic sap idea I mentioned above — perhaps those magical saps come only from moving plants and are neurotoxic to other creatures because they are somehow the plant's "neurochemicals".

>>94190490
D&D, but I doubt all the standard D&D monsters or races are present there. The vibe I'm getting is that it should feel exotic but a little more muted and down to earth — you might encounter a gross crawling beast of tentacles, but not completely garish and outlandish monsters like beholders or ethereal filchers (which I usually love). Even traditional demons might be too otherworldly; instead of summoning a bat winged demon in a runic circle, an evil sorcerer might animate a homunculus with an evil spirit.

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>>94186729
It annoys me that there is a "The __ North", "The __ South", "The __ Easts", but no "The __ West".

Despite there obviously being a major western land area. Doesnt work well with my Symetry Autism.
So I guess id Call Ganaroth "The __ West".

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>>94186729
Different subraces of catgirls with fat tits live scattered around the whole continent, to make your setting extra sophisticated

>>94192435
I'd go the other way and try to reduce the amount of naming major things by cardinal directions.

>>94192529
sounds less easy to remember and less immediately evocative. Id prefer for
thier to have 2 names. whatever provincial vulgate, and an immediately recognizable descriptor such as "the _ north/south/east/west"
Ganaroth means nothing to me

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>>94186729
Here lies a consistent magic pulse that spews sand out every few hours

>>94186729
I like the geography here.

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There was a village called Albinkirk that was torn apart during a recent war. War has changed in recent decades, with the infantry squares with it's brightly colored uniforms steadily being replaced by trenches and massed artillery strikes... And such was the fate of that village. Artillery had blasted the fortified buildings.

With it's shells, bullets, canisters, and even some old cannonballs for good measure.

>>94186729
In Hamastra lies the remannts of the great divine pillars, the Tower of Babel that underpins reality. Although ruined it still stands miles tall. If it were to truly shatter then mankind would lose their ability to speak and descend back into mindless beasts.

>>94192746
Nice try but this shit has already been done recently. The map clearly gives off a fantasy-medievalish vibe

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>>94192746
>>94192877
Agreed that it's high fantasy, but something could be done with colored magical/alchemical gunpowders. Perhaps sorcerous powders that unleash spirits of fire or powders made with ground dragon bones that produce the effects of dragon breath (if there are dragons in this world). I could see the Fortress Run on the east coast being guarded by forts armed with primitive "dragonmouth" cannons (or djinnmouth/hellmouth).

>>94192435
>>94192551
(pic related) The Misty/Windy/Clouded/Placid West?

I think Ganaroth was supposed to be generic medieval fantasyland, so I'd like this neighboring area to be anything OTHER than the obligatory Celtic land of mist, twilight, shadows, druids and tragic heroes, but frankly that's what springs to mind. Better ideas?


>>94192698
Nice.
>>94192601
The Sandspume. Done.
>>94192772
A Tower of Speech with one level for each language could be interesting. Perhaps there are more huge buildings of this sort that were built by giants.

>>94193128
speaking of druids, we're used to seeing druidic cults of nature and animal worship be overshadowed by centralized religions of powerful gods, based on what happened with Christianity and pagan religions in Europe. But what if in this world, druids are the ones with the powerful centralized religions and great temples while the squabbling priests of different gods are the sidelined ones?

Animal worship died out in real life as humans tamed nature but maybe it persisted here because there are monsters more powerful than any real animal. Monster worship could be big.

>>94193128
I like the misty west, yes.
brings to mind albion and arthurian shit.

THough I also like the windy west (beyond just alliteration) brings to mind windmills and does seem like the place that has the most prominent cluster of settlements.
>>94193191
>druids
the problem with that is that centralized religions are usually cognate with centralized god worship. animism is mirrors a likewise decentralized society. Not that you couldnt go for a celtic angle. Id think monster worship would be more a thing in "the wild north" as per its name.

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>>94193242
>Wind, merchantalism
maybe make it dutch-ish. like if the netherlands was big instead of smol.
Or maybe go off of midieval flanders which was a big power house in medieval europe, but not often talked about.

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A few foreign Empires have established colonies alongside the coasts. Kingsport, established on the mouth of Malorienwood, functions as a penal colony. A dumping ground for convicts, political dissidents, religious minorities, and unwanted children with a supply line harried by fierce storms and pirates... It can be said that man's first steps into the dark continent are going to be long and hard. Made ever worse by the natives who, unlike other colonial adventures, were quite resistive to their guns and germs and steel and opium...

Infact, the fungus of the continent would wreak havoc upon the landed gentry in the far west and distant east.

>>94193286
Read the room, bruh.
See:
>>94192877
>>94193128

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>>94186729
Alright. There's a fortress in the Brass Desert made out of the ruins of a lost city. One of the Dark Lords lives there and used to be the 'chosen one' until the winds of fate and the cycle of history made him turn into the prophesized lord of darkness. Yeah, it's Bungie time baby.

>>94193242
Yeah. You'd have to imagine animistic/druidic beliefs that developed into a centralized religion — henge-cathedrals and so on. IRL that might not be so different from the major religions of today, but in a D&D-style world it's interesting to imagine druids controlling the major religion while clerics and their gods are on the sidelines. But I'm not wed to the idea.

>>94193253
What about a netherlands inspired colony in the south that polder-ifies the marshlands and grows huge colorful fields of the sentient dangerous psychoactive flowers mentioned above? Then back home the druidic culture could be trying to build greenhouses to grow them domestically.

>>94193286
I like the fungus. The weird plant life of the south seems like it could be a recurring theme.

>>94193338
Reasonable. I like the implication that fate is real but instead of meaning everything is predestined, there are somehow "winds" or "cycles" where timing is everything and things can just as easily flip on you.

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>>94186729
Going off the map here.
>Ganaroth, Mistwind, Maloriendwood: they have to look European. Ganaroth might tend towards the Germanic whereas the Malorienwood maybe southern French or even Mediterranean in appearance. There's probably a firbolg-ish half elf people around Malorienwood that are good archers and shit. Mistwind gives me a Fae vibe too.
>The Wild North: either Norse or Slavs. I've also seen people that live in the Urals that are the most lily white people you'll see outside of a Mormon compound but have slanted eyes.
>Wyverndale: these guys resemble mountain peoples. So Scots, Swiss, Coloradans, hell even Canadians that live in the northern territories.
>The Verdant South: probably Mediterranean peoples. Their skin gets darker the closer you get to Morril. Possibly Italic in appearance in the north, Turkic and Persian in the south.
>Jalakra: Chinese or East Indian. I'm also getting a steppe vibe here so there could be nomadic raiders that terrorize the South and Jalakra from time to time. They could be Mongols but also the Lakota due to the plain biome of the territory.
>Morril: They possibly look like the Burmese or the Vietnamese. Honestly? Remember the swamp benders from goddamn Avatar? That's the vibe I'm getting here.
>The Arid East: they could be Arab. But the colder temperatures could suggest a Navajo or even an Anasazi aspect to the region. These guys are probably going to get shrekt pretty fast though.

>>94193338
YES. I was also getting a huge myth vibe here.

>Evernight Reach: massive gigachad redhead berserkers live here. You can fuck over the boyars and junkers all you want, but as soon as you piss them off it's over.

>>94193253
windmills, wool, and widows.
luxurious tapestries, gothic cathedrals, and Questions of Knightly deeds, guile, and sanctity. The first writing of the grail was a comission for Philip, count of flanders in "Perceval, the Story of the Grail" by Chretian de troyes. Second only to the northern italian city states in terms of wealth and culture in the middle ages.

(picrelated, Lady and the unicorn tapestry of wool and silk woven in Flanders.)

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>>94193823
forgot pic

>>94186729
What system?

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>>94193128
>Ganaroth
Nah. Ganaroth is the mudcore, truly medieval backwater in which Elves and Dwarves make way for Fey creatures and Blymmes. The peasants are a superstitious lot, living in fear as a set of bickering kingdoms fights over which pompous crowned head becomes king of them all. The people of this land are not Druids, in fact they not only believe in a wrathful deity that punishes them with hellfire and damnation, but they believe that's the only way to keep people good. Without god, without Him holding your feet over the pit of fire, you turn to sin.

Men, especially young men, turn into violent lecherous savages who quickly turn their swords on you. And young women fall to witchcraft and Satan without the fist of the lord. While the south sits in Merrie England, here you can see the medieval mind at its absolute worst with preachers giving sermons speaking of hellfire and damnation. Made even worse is the German character of the land.

This is the land of Mephistopheles and the Loup Garou. Here devils tempt man to sin, paving the way to their ultimate damnation, while men afflicted with a bestial curse wander the woods in search of victims. It's also the realm of Fey beings who demand tribute from villages or else they'll take your sons and daughters, bewitching them to fairieland where you'll never see them again. It's a realm of black forests pockmarked with villages and towns, in which knights play chess with death himself and black goats are harbingers of doom.

It's still highly fantastical with haunted castles and fairies, but not in the DND way. Oh no... And naive adventuring parties better think twice before crossing a forked road. Beware the fiddle!

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Alright, you want generic high fantasy? I'll give you it!
>Wizards have united under the White Council.
>The White Council are sworn against the dark arts.
>And the Dark Lord(s).
>The Dark Arts includes necromancy, demonology, and other bad no nos.
>The Council rules over magical society and lets mundanes rule over mundane society.
>Northern kings, southern kings, dukes, archbishops, shit even village chiefs put up with them for some reason.
>Wizard cops are called Wardens and kill evil wizards.
>Most powerful wizard is called the...
Fuck it.
>>94193338
>Avatara!
>Only the master of all 10 (?) magic disciplines can stop the Dark Lord(s) and bring balance back to the world.

>>94186729
Obviously the lands on ocean side of Jagged Peaks is a highly fertile land, sadly due terrible winds on the sea of tattered sails it's not really accessible without crossing the dangerous and treacherous Jagged Peaks themselves

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>>94186729
>Avlim, the crystal lake
Avlim the crystal-lake, lies in an extensive mountain basin, which closes around a vast flooded valley, like the edge of a chalice.
its water, or rather the crystal clear, slightly fluorescent substance, which at first glance appears to be water, allows one to see even to the deepest layers of the water body. Transparent, crystalline fish of all sizes can be observed floating through its depths. The bottom of the lake is covered in a pearly white layer of mineral dust. Besides the shimmering water and crystal inhabitants, there's another peculiarity about the Avlim Lake.
After the first dawn, as soon as the first rays of sun shine on the water surface, an extraordinary evaporation process is set in motion.
Even with the naked eye one can clearly see how the water surface gradually sinks and sinks, while a fine, glittering vapor rises in swirling streaks from the lake, covering everything on its shores with a glossy dew.
It should be noted, that this does not seem to require any special temperatures.In fact, the climate around Avlim tends to be pleasantly mild. Initially the evaporation process moves relatively slow, but the speed accelerates as the water surface approaches the bottom. At the same time, the rising clouds of mist become more dense and clearly visible.

>>94194253
By midday the lake is already two-thirds empty and a change can be noticed in the behavior of the shiny crystal fish.
While they were previously mostly just gliding around slow and peacefully, the closer they get to each other, due to the decreasing amount of fluid, the more restless they get and the more hectic their movements become. Towards the late afternoon, when about two thirds of the lake have already evaporated, the unrest slowly turns aggressive.
The larger fish begin snapping at the smaller ones with their massive jaws filled with dagger-like crystal teeth. When that is no longer enough to make room for themselves, they finally begin to pursue and hunt down the smaller specimens in order to eventually devour them one by one.
In the late evening, when the sun slowly sets and the last rays of sunshine reflect in the moist mineral dust at the bottom of the lake, all the water has finally evaporated and only the largest fish are left silently gasping, as they writhe on dry land in their final twitches.
Eventually the flapping of the last fish stops, his diamond eyes turn milky, and with Avlim gone, the real natural miracle begins.

>>94194261
>Erelin, the night forest
As soon as the sun-disk has disappeared behind the horizon, the bodies of the first fish begin to bulge and burst open, with the previously devoured smaller fish belching out, whose bodies also burst open to reveal even smaller ones and so on. When the last fish in the food chain are reached this way, their bellies start to break open too, releasing small newborn birds, which clumsily unfold their wings for the first time and one by one rise up into the night air. Nightingales, magpies, doves, shrikes, birds of paradise, ravens, crows, storks, nightjars, owls and other more wondrous ones that defy any description. Their plumage, reflecting the moonlight, is mostly as black as coal while others have feathers shining in all the colors of the night. Cornflower blue, moon silver, violett, plunket, gray, lavender or white. While the dark flocks of birds rise into the night sky, something wonderful happens on the fertile ground of the dried lake.
The remains of the fish carcasses have rotted away as if time lapsed while something is beginning to stir beneath the soil. The diamond eyes of the fish, the only things left of them, have sunken into the damp ground, where they now break open like seeds that are starting to sprout. The seed grow very quickly, you could watch it. They unfold leaves and stems, sprout buds that burst into wonderful, glowing, silvery leaves and phosphorescent white flowers. Small fruits are forming, which, as soon as they are ripe, explode and spray a shower of sparks, from which new seeds emerge.

>>94194308
New plants grow from these new seeds, but they have different shapes, resembling fern fronds or mushrooms, giant thistles, bushes, horsetails or gnarled trees. Many of them glowing and shining in an eerie but captivating light.
Soon, around and on all sides, the velvet darkness gets filled with sprouting and growing plants of light.
These plants seem to rely on some sort of lunar photosynthesis and are inexhaustible in producing ever new shapes and forms. Always larger flower buds open and ever richer umbels emerge. Weirdly all this growth takes place in complete silence, only occasionally interrupted by the alluring song of one of the night birds, which have grown too and are now perching on the growing roots and branches of Erelin. The growth of the night plants continues silently, gently and unstoppably. After a while, some plants have reached the height of barn doors, some are as big as fruit trees.
There are fans made of long, emerald green leaves, flowers like peacock tails full of iridescent eyes. Other plants resemble pagodas, made of umbrellas of violet silk, stretched one above the other. Some of the thicker trunks are twisted together. Because they are translucent, some of them look like they are made of milky glass, lit from within.
There are flowers that resemble large clusters of blue and yellow lanterns.
In some places thousands upon thousands of tiny starflowers hang like glittering silver waterfalls, or dark gold curtains of bluebells with long, tassel-like stamens. These luminous night plants grow even more lush and dense, gradually interweaving themselves into a wonderful network of mild light.
The strangely shaped and bright fruits of Erelin are not only edible but taste excellent, some sour, some sweet, some a little bitter, but all extremely appetizing.

>>94194317
The overgrown thicket of light plants gradually forms a dense latticework of treetops, a glowing fabric that encloses any unsuspecting trespasser, like a large tent. Little sparks of light rain down everywhere, from which new seeds sprout. These smoldering seeds cover most of the forest floor.
At midnight, the largest trunks in the Erelin forest have reached the height and thickness of church towers - and yet they are still growing. In some places these shimmering giant pillars are so close together that it gets impossible to slip between them. Thorny lianas and aerial roots grow down from above and intertwine with the thicket to form an impenetrable bush, while new smoldering seeds continue to fall like a shower of sparks.
The transcendental experience of standing in a clearing in the Erelin forest can be at best compared to the sublime feeling of looking up inside a huge, ornate cathedral, a literal dome of light.
In this forest, where there are no seasons or the change of day and night, the experience of time is something completely different. Minutes can feel like hours and hours like days.
At witching hour, the smoldering undergrowth of the forest gradually stopps growing and has become so thick that it blocks the view on all sides when standing on the forest floor.
If anyone at this point in time were so bold as to climb to the top of one of the tallest trees of Erelin, then he would be greeted by a magnificent sight. The velvet darkness of a starry sky arching above, and below the infinity of the treetops of Erelin stretched out in a play of colors that almost overwhelms the eyes. The night birds have now reached their adult form and are starting to sing their most beautiful and enchanting songs, in order to seize their only chance in life to attract a potential mate. However, this beautiful condition only lasts until the sun rises.

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I imagine this is roughly the scale: up to Nunavut in the north with the southern swamps being around the same latitude as the everglades. Ganaroth is the size of Washington, Oregon and Idaho combined, with a chunk of Nevada if you factor in the Desolations of Shinspar (whatever they may be).

The fact that this matches up decently well makes me think about using America rather than Eurasia as a model. Although really, I'd like it to be neither and instead feel purely fantastical.

>>94194036
Yeah, Monty Python medieval mud villages is my impulse for Ganaroth as well, since it seems like the vibe of the world so far is more sword and sorcery than shiny knights and castles. But instead of purely European maybe it could be blended with an almost American frontier aesthetic or something. Fey creatures are a good fit; "Sylvan Sidansar" in the south of Ganaroth could be a fey forest. But a straight sendup of medieval Christianity is boring IMO — can you think of something cooler for their superstitions/beliefs?

>>94193468
The idea of putting Anasazi type stuff in the east area is cool. They could have cliff dwellings on the east side of the mountain range. Barbarians in Evernight Reach is tropey but probably unavoidable. As for ethnicities I think it's more interesting to make up fantasy ones. In the Ganaroth area maybe you have multiple pale-skinned ethnicities like "giantstock" and albino "waifs".

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>>94194352
Already at the first dawn, the trees, plants and mushrooms of the night forest begin to melt into a clear, shimmering substance, which first flows down in small rivulets and finally cascades into the depths like wild torrents, quickly filling up the valley below. The fragile bodies of the now visibly aged night birds tear open, some of them still in flight, and thousands of shiny pearls roll out of them like roe.
They rain down onto the wet surface of Avlim, the Crystal Lake, where they form concentric circles on impact. Before their bodies can even hit the ground, the feathers and flesh of the birds have already disintegrated and crumbled into a glistening white powder that flutters down on the morning scene like snow and slowly sinks to the bottom of the lake. When the first sunlight hits the floating white pearls, they begin to crack and break apart as crystalline fish hatch out of them, quickly growing in size, not knowing that their lives too will soon come to an end.

>>94194253
>a pearly white layer of mineral dust
>covering everything on its shores with a glossy dew
every player will call this the Cum Lake...

>>94194419
reading on, that's kind of cool. maybe add an A and make it "Avalim"? sounds kind of like Avalon.

I like the concept but having the forest grow every night feels a little too fairyland; maybe this is an annual cycle?

>>94194452
>reading on, that's kind of cool. maybe add an A and make it "Avalim"
Sure, I'm fine with that.
>maybe this is an annual cycle?
Anon, it's called the night forest.
Only growing at night is kind of it's whole shtick.

>>94194317
I actually love the name "The Night Forest" and the idea of the moon-fed plants though. Simple but great imagery. Even if you simplified it to a forest that is plain and dun by day but opens up with luminescent moonflowers by night it would still be neat.

>>94194475
Sure, I guess it would work fine too. I personally prefer the dichotomy, however. Feels more powerful in an allegorical sense

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>>94194173
Witches, unlike their pretentious male counterparts, are far more decentralized. Preferring smaller, more localized covens that work in the mundane community instead of acting like a government within a government. Witches tend to police their own, using local witch courts to try and judge the ner-do-wells among their ranks. The intense gender segregation among magic users dates back to antiquity and beyond, with some pointing towards pagan cults. Indeed, some Witch bloodlines trace their roots to old cults dedicated to one feminine deity or another.

Wizards and Witches, despite their Houses having been forced to intermarry through the aeons, do not get along. Apart of this is due to politics: the White Council dislikes how Witches play fast and loose with Magical Law (if there's truly such a thing). After all: when a Witch decides to build a kingdom, they call themselves the witch queen and rule directly. This is highly illegal and against the accords that set the precedence for magical society.

This angers Wizards as magic is never meant to enslave mundanes, merely guide them. Hence why it's perfectly legal for Wizards to have kingdoms with all power, de-facto, held by the local wizard college or what not as they 'guide' the mundie king.

>>94194401
No Catholic Church? A realm of dark forests full of witches and terrible monsters? American?.. Oh shit. Salem time.

>>94194485
Yeah it might just be for a more fairytale setting. I'll mark it in provisionally.

>>94194475
>>94194485
Also imagine your players deciding to explore this forest at night and ending up trying not to drown in the morning or players taking a boat trip on this totally unsuspecting lake in the evening. Great opportunities to surprise and fuck with them a little.
Including whimsical stuff doesn't have to be a bad thing imo.
Gives the world a legitimate sense of wonder if done right.

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Roundup of geography additions from today, marked in red.

>>94186738
1. Ishpar, desert city in the shadow of the Jagged Peaks.
>>94186782
2. Gryphon-Kings' Roost: Mountain hideout of the the griffon riding bandit kings known as the Gryphon-Kings of Caldecar.
3. Caldecar: Ruins of an abandoned desert town that the presumptuous Gryphon-Kings have taken over as their mock "capital".
>>94190216
4. The Silkspun Spires: Moth-like beings who revere the stars and have great knowledge of astrology have webbed ancient ruined towers in the south with their silk to create their dwellings.
>>94192601
5. The Sandspume: Hole in the desert that geysers out giant plumes of sand.
>>94192772
6. The Tower of Tongues: Some kind of monolithic ancient building in Hamastra possibly built by giants.
>>94193286
7. Kingsport: Penal colony on the mouth of the river that flows through Malorienwood.
>>94193253
>>94193385 (You)
8. Flowerfields: A colony in the swampy south where colorful fields of toxic, psychoactive sentient flowers are grown for export. The inhabitants are trying to recover sunken marshland for agriculture.
>>94193338
9. The Fatelost Fortress: Fortress-ruin in the Brass Desert home to some kind of villain.
>>94194253
10. Avalim/Erelim, the Night Forest: Magical lake-forest (or just forest?) with flowers that bloom only in the moonlight.

-----

Plus a lot of other worldbuilding.

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>>94194419
The main reason the sea of shattered hulls is called the sea of shattered hulls is due to a creature known as the "Sawfish" (pic related). Occasionally also called the "Sea Wolf", this sea monster is feared because of the serrated crest on its back set with razor-sharp bones, reminiscent of the teeth of a saw, with which it can cut seamlessly through boat hulls and cause entire fleets to capsize. Sailors do not like the sawfish because it causes ships to sink. The sawfish tires after thirty or forty stadia and dives back into the water to devour fish. Contrary to what its name suggests, the sawfish is in fact a mammal and has fur. He's also a non opportunistic carnivore who prefers to feed on shipwrecked sailors.

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These are the Isles of Iirizon ("ear is on"). Iirizon is the name of the biggest one. The smaller ones all have double i names like this:

Saraziir
Karaziir
Miriziir
Tarajiir
Iiriskar

>>94186729
holy fuck these names suck

>>94194583
I've seen much worse desu

>>94194583
let me guess you think humans should live in Milltown elves should live in Greenwood and dwarves should live in Forgedeep

>>94186729
Why is the east so hot?

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>>94194401
>In the Ganaroth area maybe you have multiple pale-skinned ethnicities like "giantstock" and albino "waifs".
Let me try something.
>Ganaroth is home to the Rostmen, a single ethnic group split up into four different kingdoms. While very subtle, very slight physical variations exist between the four, they're exceptionally fair in skin and hair with a penchant towards aquiline noses and steely blue eyes. Interbreeding with the northern peoples have given many Rostmen grey eyes as well, with a small but very defensive red haired minority aggressively defending their status in 'civil' society.
>The Kingdoms of Virina, Sangrield, Drachenland, and Eisen have been at each other's throats for centuries. Centuries of inbreeding have led to all four royal families having valid claims on the other leading to nonstop power plays at expanding their territory thus keeping the four in a never-ending competition for land. Then there's many more independent duchies, counties, and kingdoms adding even more geopolitical turmoil to the region.
And they're not Catholic. Oh no... They're Protestant. And not just Protestant, the fire and brimstone type.
>The Rostland Church believes in predestination. They believe that God knows all, knows who's damned and chooses those that can be saved at the time of their birth. Everything is set in stone, only his loyal congregations will see the light of the divine with the rest given to hellfire. And even if you're saved, God could take it away with the snap of a finger.
There's also Calvinist rants about total depravity somewhere but I'm about to go to sleep. Ethnic minorities exist, mostly differentiated by hair color and face shape with entire books published on how you can tell whose a witch based upon their nose. It sucks ass to be the one olive skinned person in the Rostland but... At least you're not Dave the Blymme. Now he has it rough!

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>>94186782
>Gryphon-Kings of Caldecar
Maybe their gryphons can look like this?

>>94193253
>>Wind, merchantalism
What if the windmills are actually magical constructs built to literally steal the wind. Hear me out. The wind is stolen and subsequently stored in a special type of bag (made from the skin of some mythical animal or some shit) and sold at exorbitant prices which are inflated due to the intentionally created wind shortage.

>>94186729
I'm tired of the "wild, cold north, wet, warm south" stereotype. Flip it and place it on the southern hemisphere.

>>94194606
It's not hot, it's dry. And you can easily explain this by winds coming mainly from the east, making the atmosphere dump all the water while it's pushed over those mountains.

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>>94194692
>>94187347
>breath-money that you’ll have to hold in your mouth until find someone to pay it to,

>>94194660
or GRRM griffins (picrel)...imagine how tragic that would be.

>>94194626
The idea of arguments over small differences in ethnic features spiraling into accusations of witchcraft is hilarious. Perhaps the line between fey and witches is highly blurred in the minds of the layfolk and having "sylvan" features is a common accusation. (There may even be a people with nut-brown skin, green eyes and button noses from the forested part of Ganaroth who are directly suspected of being fey blooded.)

The question of ethnicity is ultimately impossible to answer without asking whether humans are native to the continent. My impulse is to say they aren't.

There's clearly a link between the name of the continent "Ganalon" and the country "Ganaroth"; maybe it was colonized by the ... Gan? .... people and Ganaroth is where they landed or something. Then maybe another ethnic group colonized it from the peninsulas in the southeast, which could be the tip of another continent or could be part of a larger island chain. On the other hand, maybe humans simply evolved in Hamastra. Or maybe this is one of those worlds where life was placed/terraformed by aliens/angels/godlike beings whatever -- I get a mental image of very tall, thin archfey with elongated, slightly bug/alien-like faces who were "progenitor"/"nephilim"/"lifeseeder" types. Like a mix of slenderman, 1950s aliens, elves, and butterflies. It's something you could do.

On the other hand Leif Erikson colonizing the continent from the northwest while tropical peoples colonized it from the southeast would also work. Hamastra probably *should* be the "cradle of evolution" on this continent, but perhaps for the continent's native sapient species (giants?) rather than humans.

>>94194606
>>94194811
yeah the idea seems to be westerly winds with the mountains blocking moisture. FYI the yellow is supposed to be plains and the tan (see Brass Desert) is desert.

>>94194820
I actually like the mental image of the tall thin high-cheeked bug-eyed gossamer butterfly elf alien archfey who "seed life" or whatever. Whether for use here or somewhere else I'm saving that image

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Shalazar, a castle built atop a leyline confluence brimming with magic deep in the wild woods and mountains of the frozen north.

Setting out to find it is seemingly impossible, as even if one supposedly knows where it is on the map, trying to find Shalazar blind finds one retracing old steps, going in circles, stumbling across the same frozen marshes and bogs over and over again. Only those with innate magic power can even sense a route in the first place, and even then it is more of a vague intuition until one has actually stepped foot inside the icy walls.

The castle itself is as much an enigma as the befuddling landscape. Impossibly larger on the inside than out, ancient automatons built by long forgotten beings rove the halls performing tasks from cleaning and fetching asked for parcels to even just staring vaguely at something even wizards cannot discern alongside a host of mundane humanoids that have somehow found their way into the castle and now serve their magical betters.

The castle's main function is as Elysium for magic users. Pure neutral ground respected however begrudgingly by the loftiest lich to the lowliest cantrip mage. For magic users of all talent and ideals it is a free haven and refuge, where the only governing law is to not harm those accepted within it's walls and, while inside Shalazar, to just be quite excellent to one another. Those that cannot abide these simple rules find themselves rapidly ejected from the castle, stepping through a door and finding themselves in steamy jungles or searing deserts hundreds of miles away, or disappearing in the long recesses of the night.

The castle seemingly wants for nothing, and magic users could spend their whole lives within its warm opulent walls pursuing whatever magical experiments they wish...so long as they engage in activities that might offend more extremely morally opposed guests in private chambers.

>>94194820
Umm, sir … those are witcher gryphons not GRRM gryphons.

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>>94194553
The feared centaur khans rule the deserts and steppes from Öalun all the way down to the Ketar Tombway. They see themselves as superior to humans, but will accept them as slaves or defected soldiers in their hordes. The centaurs are nomads and travel in huge tent cities whose dust clouds can be seen from miles away.
They mostly follow hit and run archery tactics but also have some heavily armored knights in their ranks. They khans make use of psychological warfare tactics such as piling up massive piles of skulls after successful raids, the quartering of enemies, the trampling to death of disaffecters or quartering as a punishment for looting during battle. They give neighboring areas into which they invade the choice of whether they want to surrender and join the Khanate or whether they want their cities to be burned down, their women to be cruelly violated and their men to be slaughtered. Because of this quite a few parties have surrendered to them in the past. Especially when done so without being asked, the cenatur khans are known to treat those who surrender to them well, only making them pay a small tax and demanding some gifts or recruits for the horde. The most powerful khan of the centaurs, the khākān, khan of the khans Omurtag is the de-facto-leader of all centaurs going by a who has the biggest horde logic.

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>>94186729

So can we clarify a few things?

>1.) Outside colonization or no colonization?
On one hand, it explains the presence of man and solidifies him as an outside force. That being said, the 19th Century seems to be too highly advanced. 18th and 17th centuries seem to work better if we're going with that route. On the other hand, no colonialism solidifies the high fantasy aspect of the setting.
>2.) Are humans native to the setting?
Humans seem to be run counter to the fey races, particularly the insectoid ones.
>3.) Dorfs and Elves?
Are we going high fantasy or something else?

>>94199131
Just passing by but my suggestion is to leave out everything american coded and go the classical european medieval route but put in some effort to actually make it interesting. Including higher tech automatically ruins a good fantasy setting except that's specifically what the setting is going for like Arcanum. Otherwise just don't do it imo. I could go on a tantrum about this throwing around more cringy popculture references like LOTR or Princess Mononoke but I'll spare you.

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>>94199131
1) Humans having colonized the continent doesn't mean the tech level has to be Age of Exploration. People colonized the Americas in prehistory via a land bridge, they colonized the pacific islands even earlier in primitive canoes and rafts, etc. And in a fantasy world you can invent ways for people to cross even big oceans — weather mages to subdue waves, pacts with sea gods for safe passage, ships pulled by krakens, ships powered by elemental engines, flying across on dragonback, etc. So even if humans aren't native to this continent it's an open question when the colonization occurred.

Re tech level, I think going past a renaissance tech level at most would be a mistake because the shape of the continent seems a little too whimsical/mythical for "historical fiction". Probably it's an idiosyncratic tech level where you have barbarians in furs but also "mysterious mystical explosive powders". Magic, again, can come to our side here because different kinds of magic can be equalizers between cultures with different levels of metallurgy or whatever—a barbarian with totemic beast powers is much more of a threat than his tech level suggests.


2) If they aren't the question is what creatures *are* native to this continent. Some ideas that have been thrown out so far are fey, giants, and plant creatures in the south (as well as possibly the moth people). The most interesting would be new inventions.

There might be no native sapient/humanoid species because it was dominated by monsters.

3) One way to handle the traditional tolkien races is to have a roughly similar race in the setting that has different fluff but uses their stats. There could be human subraces that match up to them for example -- fey crossbreeds and tunnel dwelling mole-men or whatever.

>>94199228
American elements don't mean a colonial tech level. Ganaroth could have terrain inspired by Idaho and WA (picrel) and have bigfoot apes living in the woods while being mudcore medieval.

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>>94194626
I would throw in some Anglicanism (Rostland is Canadian apparently). Or rather, the dissolution of the monasteries and the retention of old Catholic titles. While you still have bishops, high priests, vicars, the works- be they worshippers of a pantheon or one God - they're still beholden to the king's law. Indeed, the downfall of the old Church has led to the priesthood playing second fiddle to the nobility with the holy order's wealth being redistributed by the kings in order to fund their numerous wars. The effects on the Rostmenn and their southern neighbors are twofold:

>1.) The priesthood, while holding some political influence, is no longer the dumping ground for unwanted sons and daughters. Many of the bastards take up the sword or become administrators.
>2.) Ironically, with the end of the convents, women have been barred from the priesthood. Only human men can choose the life of the cloth.
>3.) Monasteries and convents have been repurposed into asylums, hospitals, and schools. Some have been outright abandoned, becoming dungeons.
>4.) Monks, Clerics, and Paladins are unavailable to humans as a class.

On the plus side, while the old Church has died out, the reformed faith has control over education and most hospitals leading to an increase in literacy among humans. While you still roll peasants and die of cholera, at least you can recognize your name.

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>>94197960
Not unreasonable (and neat pic), maybe mix some native american influence in there instead of purely mongol. They could also be elk centaurs, goat centaurs or some other ungulate...

>>94200057
One thing about the map is that there are big regions with broad labels. "Ganaroth" is almost certainly a regional name consisting of a patchwork of smaller realms, whether or not they are united under one or more kings (the mud village aesthetic is also not incompatible with certain free communities run by more communitarian structures like town councils, aldermen, yearly elected "season-kings", or "wise women" (witches).

I think the superstitious/fear element is great. Throw the sasquatch-filled forests of the american northwest, the witch and devil filled autumn glooms of the northeast, and the hag and fey haunted black forests of old Europe together in a blender and glaze it with the primeval fantasy feeling of a Conan movie.

As for how it actually looks, I think basing its landscape on the pacific northwest and idaho is great because those landscapes are objectively quite gloomy and spooky, yet they aren't seen in a lot of fantasy worlds because they don't have the same tradition of folklore around them due to how late they were settled.

Hags and witches are obviously a big presence there. For some reason I imagine witches and hags having a big connection to MILK -- something about the corrupted/twisted femininity/motherhood theme. I imagine they use their own breastmilk to make their potions, drink the milk of monsters, and create other weird milk based concoctions. Actually, I saw some screencaps from the recent movie "The Substance" that could be used as inspiration where the character becomes like a living teratoma (picrel). Maybe hags look like this and witchcraft has something to do with infant sacrifice/miscarriages/giving birth to monsters?

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"Agatha Furmantle" would be a good, simple name for a hunched hag-queen who wears a bearpelt cape with the paws clasped around her shoulders.

Another thing about the Ganaroth region is you have this bay in the picture. What if you have a bunch of feuding port cities situated around it, each part of a different fief/kingdom? they could even raid each other when appropriate.

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any ideas for how to make the sasquatch inspired cold-weather dire apes that live in the Ganaroth woods more unique?

Another idea for hags/witches: when a woman is dying in childbirth, certain midwives who practice "the old ways" know potions or techniques that will save her life, at the cost of turning her into a hag. This practice is now suppressed for it is seen as making a pact with demons, but some elderly midwives will still quietly do so — but the mother so transformed will have to run away and live in the woods lest she be pitchforked.

This practice could involve some kind of necromantic C-section...

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>>94200374
May I introduce you to Witcher's take on the Three Witches. Hideous, deformed, cruel, yet they look after their domain in their own screwed up way. They use hair to predict the future, bestow curses, and hold century long grudges over the pettiest of slights. They're not nice and play by rules only fully understood by other witches.

Eventually the Witches will tame themselves down into the cutesy sweethearts of Kikki and Little Witch Academia but that's five hundred years down the line. It's hag time for you, my dear adventurers.

>>94199838
>Ganaroth could have terrain inspired by Idaho and WA (picrel) and have bigfoot apes living in the woods while being mudcore medieval.
It would be pretty disgusting though

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It's very rare to find a 'normal' wizard or witch who isn't completely screwed up. Or obsessed with stupid magic society bullshit. Or traumatized from both. Happy, much less normal upbringings are pretty rare in the magic world so a well-adjusted wizard who had a kind teacher are rarer still making them more valuable than gold. But if there's any type of magic user that's consistently kind... It's those that specialize in death magic.

>>94200057
They go by many names: spirit singers, reapers, mediums... The Purple Wizards who specialize in putting the dead to rest. They trace their origins to mortuary cults in distant antiquity, those who preserved the deceased and presided over funerary ceremonies. During the days of the old Church, entire temples were dedicated to the gods of death. Entire monasteries would painstakingly maintain catacombs, knightly orders dedicated to slaying the undead, hell undertakers themselves were seen as unwelcome but inevitable visitors. But with the downfall of the organized Temple, the death cults were cracked down on by greedy kings who saw the great catacombs and graveyards as ample pillaging opportunities.

And the wizards, particularly those with a fiery temperament, purged the keepers of death lore under the illusion that they were necromancers. However, Necromancers summoned the dead to do their bidding. Purple Wizards dedicated their entire lives to putting the dead to rest so in truth, the purge was a cold blooded political maneuver by the White Council to get rid of another 'aberrant' school of magic. A few Purple Wizards survived in the wilderness where they were isolated from magical society

Purple apprentices are usually taken when they're older than normal, usually at around eleven or twelve years of age and have the touch of death to them. Perhaps it's the isolation, perhaps it's experiencing death at a young age, perhaps it's the grim nature of their work... But reapers are far more empathetic than their peers.

>>94201061
I like the concept of the reapers. I know they're meant to be benevolent but perhaps this could trace to some ancient custom where they would serve as itinerant scapegoats who would do the uncomfortable work of forcibly "putting to rest" the people a hardscrabble community couldn't afford to care for -- executing criminals but also painlessly putting to death the lame, sick and elderly, as well as children with deformities. Perhaps farmers would let passing reapers know their help was needed by placing a bag over the head of their scarecrow and provide discreet payment by putting a bag of coins in the scarecrow's hand. Of course this practice may no longer persist.

Coincidentally I have a D&D world where each color corresponds to a school of magic and purple is necromancy. Maybe reapers are technically necromancers, but are "good necromancers" who refuse to animate the dead and as such object to the term?

>>94201146
Yep. They're 'technically' necromancers because they can evoke ghosts and use neurotic spells. So spells like decay, acid blast, or spirit summons are the norm. Where the differ from necromancers in truth is the fact that they stray away from summoning skeletons or hordes of wights to do their bidding. They get a bad rep because they did have to euthanize people in antiquity which goes against Magic Law*.

*Of course, the Black Council also has Magic Law... Necromancers are little better than their peers.

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The Kingdom of Kaledor emerged from the chaos of the Magi Wars as a true contender for the north. Warring with Virina to the south, the mountain folk to the north, and the eastern savages, House Koester emerged as a true contender for unifying Rostland. While Rolf Koester can trace his ancestry to the Knights of the Grassy Vale, he did away with the prancing horse and embraced the unicorn as his sigil. Unicorns are, after all, savage animals.

>>94201293
Yet some claim he took the sigil as a knowing wink to the fact that his noble bride, though they shared a bed for three decades, remained forever a virgin...

>>94201293
Drawing up a more detailed map of the ganaroth area right now so we can go into more detail about exact kingdom placement/locations.

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It's the golden age of the knighthood. The nonstop wars have led to preeminence of the knight as the need for heavy calvary has never been greater. Be it shattering bowmen, men-at-arms, feral serfs, rowdy peasants, or northern berserkers, the warriors of the aristocracy have proven their mettle not only in war but in peace. The joust is the penultimate sport of the west with thousands flocking to the cities to watch the game of kings. It's the age of chivalry, the age of spectacular violence, when legends are made and heroes are born!

For a century, brief as it may be, the knights RIDE!

>>94200057
The Age of Knights is ironically a direct consequence of this. Without the Church providing a life path for third sons, they had no choice but to take up the sword. For the highborn, they became squires before being knighted. For the lowborn, Men-at-Arms who serve their liege lords. The Church, famed for it's inquisitions and corruption, was one of the great stabilizing forces in civilization but now... It's the Iron Century.

"Pick up your sword and FIGHT!"

>>94201389
Appreciate the input but for the love of God guys this is for D&D not Chainmail. I swear there are some people on this board who think history books are too high-magic.

>>94201389
With that said btw, I think a medieval-esque quilt of principalities and duchies (with the attendant warring) would be more interesting than Forgotten Realms style pseudo-modern nation-kingdoms.

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>>94201439
>>94201453
Knights are classic DND. There's nothing quite like seeing a massed calvary charge into an orc horde, the dim witted greenskins breaking before the force of the lance. But if we need some high fantasy that can be arranged... Oh yes. Knights need a good quest!

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-- Kingdoms of the Ganaroth region --

See pic for key. Randomly spitballing here so open to changes.

This is the "default fantasy starting area" so I think it deserves more detail.

FORESTS A, B and C: In broad strokes, Forest A is the low-level starting area forest with sasquatches (dire apes), Forest B has hags and witches, and Forest C to the south has fey.

1. WYVERNDALE: Generic fantasy "starting area" situated along the River Wyvern. Dramatic rocky landscapes in the shadow of the snowcapped Icecrags. Starting hub on the river and a port town to the west. Surrounded by a variety of interesting areas.
2. NORTHERN VALES: Weird, remote inbred valleys tucked away in the northern crook of the mountains. Rough and tumble country, highly pastoral. Here you'll find tall impossibly balanced stone cairns, ancient customs, witches ruling villages, cousins f'ing cousins, etc.
3. FREEFIELDS: Stretch of land ruled by the farmers themselves in some sort of proto-democratic council system. Slightly dysfunctional and slow to respond to threats but amiable. Capital is landlocked town of Humblefield.
3A: Breakaway state from the Freefields by people either following some demagogue or trying an even more ambitious, doomed collectivist experiment. Realm now riven down the middle and Freefield doesn't want to start a civil war (although some in the breakaway state want to "liberate" the rest of the country).
4. PORT CITY STATE: Principality/city state on the peninsula containing the central, major city state in the northern bay. Biggest city in northern Ganaroth something of a "northern capital" but lacks the quality and quantity of land to become a major kingdom.
5. [NORTHERN WARDENS]: Rugged warrior principality that guards against the monsters and barbarians from Evernight Reach to the north.
6. [FISHER KINGDOM]: Strip-shaped coastal kingdom of fishermen. Its capital holds a prime position controlling the mouth of the bay but southward the rustic fisherfolk have odd beliefs.

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>>94201180
Black Magic Law seems to be more... 'Lax' than White Magic Law. Remember the edgy sith academy from KOTOR I? That's what they act like.

>>94201549
>Freefields
>Knights fighting in every direction.
>Dark Lord to the east.
>Berserkers to the north.
Yeah, these guys are fucked. The circle city was never a great design.

>>94201549
7. [COAST KINGDOM 1]: Its sheltered coastal capital has better access to the farmland of the interior than the two major maritime cities of areas 4 + 6, giving it a bigger population than either but less maritime influence. Once part of a major coastal kingdom that filled areas 7, 8, and 9 but now the kingdom has broken up and it's in a war with 9 for dominance, using its large population to send out large armies.
8. THE WARSCAR: This area of middle ground between areas 7 and 9 has become a burned ash-filled no-man's land thanks to the vicious war between the two.
9. [COAST KINGDOM 2]: Open to debate, but at war with 7.
10. TRUETHRONE: This city-state was the original capital of the colonists who sailed to Ganalon from the north-west, and was the seat of the first king crowned in Ganaroth centuries ago. As such, the king of Truethrone claims to be Ganaroth's legitimate monarch and observes all the solemnities of this claimed station, but with only a single city in his control is utterly powerless to do anything more about it.
11. [CENTRAL KINGDOM]: Starting from an unassuming and vulnerable position in the center of the Hundred Fiefdoms (area 12), this expansionist kingdom has managed to eat up nearby rivals and emerge as a major power. It aspires to challenge area 14 as the ruling kingdom in the realm and have its king crowned high king. However, its previous king, Terathorn, became convinced that in order to challenge area 14 his kingdom needed sea access, so he threw away his more capable predecessor's plans to conduct a successful but extraordinarily costly campaign to claim a tenuous, twisting path to the coast. This twisting tongue of land is known as Terathorn's Claim; the coastal end of it was won at such great and destructive cost that it's called the Ashfield. Above the Ashfield sits the Ashbastion, a coastal fortress that Terathorn built. Following this Pyrrhic campaign, Terathorn's successor is facing the possible implosion of his kingdom.

>>94201293
Could Caledor be area 11 ("Central Kingdom")? Or where would you put it on the map? Maybe in the gray area between 9 and 18?

>>94186729
We have a worldbuilding general here. There all other nogames "worldbuilders" can post about their "settings" they will never play in.

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>>94201608
Sure. 12 can be Sangrield. Virina can be the name for 7. Drachenland can be the name for 9. Eisen could be the name for 14.

>>94201610
Go back to the 40k general, Matt.

>>94201549
>>94201604
12. THE HUNDRED FIEFS: The big gray area in the center is a morass of tiny warring principalities. This serves as an area where a DM can easily insert whatever kingdom or city state they want.
13. SIDANSAR BARONY: Bordering the fey-filled forest of Sylvan Sidansar, barony is populated by a green-eyed, nut-brown-skinned, button-nosed ethnicity who some claim are the result of fey admixture. Witches here practice "green magic" and grow magic briars. Supplies lumber to other areas one assumes.
14. [CAPITAL KINGDOM]: Most powerful kingdom with most legitimate High King claimant and the biggest city. However, the kingdom — including its capital — lie right across the river from the Desolations of Shinspar, where dangers no doubt dwell — bandit warlords if nothing worse.
15. RIVERREALM: One of the "big 3" most powerful kingdoms along with 14 and 11. Controls highly fertile land and its capital, at the juncture of rivers at its southern tip, is the second most prominent city in Ganaroth after 14's capital (and by pure population possibly the largest?). Rivalry with 14 but can't afford war with it due to their interdependence. Has its eyes on 16.
16: [WESTERN RIVERREALM]: Guards the pass to the northern lands, making it a trade hub. But what was formerly its southern territory has been harassed and taken over by 17, which is also raiding its river traffic. In addition to this it rightfully fears conflict with an ambitious and well-fed 15.
17. DUBIOUS BANDIT REALM: An allegedly half-giant warlord with a hag advisor has fashioned a stronghold at the southern tip of the Icecrags and has used this base to scourge, raid and take over a swathe of valuable territory that belonged to kingdoms 14 and 16, leading all the way up to Riverrealm's capital. Despite this remarkable success it has pissed off three powerful kingdoms and now fears being squashed like a bug in reprisal.

>>94186729
not me reading "glowingice" as "glownigger"
i need to take a break from this site

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Dwarves are a pissed off race. Their homeland is lost, their mineshafts are all gone, all they have is a singular drive to survive and get their revenge. They're not even axe wielding fighters anymore, they all died during the war. They're grenadiers, sappers, demolition men as the surviving dwarves were miners and artisans.

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>>94201692
(cont)
To prevent this, the hag has advised the half-giant warlord to send ambassadors to Riverrealm, hoping the river kingdom will legitimize and help them as a way of impeding its rivals in 14 and 16. Yet it's a far-fetched strategy, and the hag believes she may have to rely on enchantment magic to make a deal.
18: RANCHLANDS: Flat open largely empty plains in the shadow of the mountains, poor in irrigation and bad for agriculture but good for cattle. Imagine ranches in Montana. The ranchers are highly suspicious of the forest to the north.
19. REIGN-IN-EXILE: A young prince dispossessed of his rightful throne journeyed north with his supporters and men-at-arms and established a rather pitiful and perilous small realm hidden by the eaves of Forest B. His enemies mockingly called him "The Forest King" due to his impoverished state. Yet as humble as his Oakgrove Court may be, he has found new strength in an alliance with a mystical warlord of the forest (see 20).
20. FENDRELEN: An antlered, enigmatic ranger-lord of the forest — agreed by all to be some kind of fey, though none can agree exactly what kind; some say he's an elf, some a centaur — has made an alliance with the young prince who rules area 19. Stalking the wood with his hunters, he's prevented the prince's enemies from seeking out and destroying him. Yet Fendrelen's motives are not altruistic; in exchange for protection the Forest King has granted him his own retainers. After training these men into hardened rangers, he's used them to lead raids into the Hundred Fiefs and establish a small fiefdom of his own, named after himself. Whether he has any more use for the Forest King remains to be seen.
Rumors of “The Forest King and Fendrelen Nightstag” have started to spread as exaggerated figures of terror to remote parts of the realm, the young prince with a mocking epithet becoming a powerful fey lord of folklore.
21. [WITCH REALM]: A small evil vale ruled by witches.

>>94201549
>>94201745
22. ROVINGHAVEN: A pirate city-state founded in an isolated position on the coast where it can prey on sea traffic into the bay, which has made it an enemy of areas 14 and 6 in particular, as well as the foreign nations who trade with them. Can't be reached by land without going through the dangerous forest.
23. ICE BARBARIANS: Ultimately we all know it's inevitable that ice berserkers live in Evernight Reach and threaten the civilized areas to the south.

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Those are the Ganaroth regions -- add your own suggestions or fill in the placeholder ones if you want. Here's an updated map of the ones with names.

>>94201293
Reminder to myself, the "Rolf Koester" character with this art for him is pretty decent so as mentioned I'll add his kingdom between 9 and 20.

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The last of the Dwarven warriors seek nothing but death. They failed to defend their Kals and now launch themselves into suicidal melees, seeking a glorious death in battle to assuage their grave dishonor. Every Warrior should've died with their Kals, and the survivors know that their gods will damn them for their failure, leaving them to a grim, grey afterlife in which they wander a misty surface never returning to the earth. This is reflective of all dwarves as they're a dying race with few known females left alive, the survivors among the dwarves have adopted a grim and fatalistic view towards their future.

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>>94201835
The noble dwarves try to petition human leaders to reclaim their mines, offering gold and jewels as a potential reward. It never works. Most successful expeditions are carried out by working dwarves, often with adventuring parties paid by the local dwarven community pooling just enough money to get professionals in on the job.

>>94201687
tweaking name to Drachenveld or Drachenveldt (veld/veldt as in “field”). Actually that could be a good fit for the central area 11 because it sounds aggressive.

I think the story I sketched out for area 11 is interesting. You have a kingdom that rose above the fray to become the most powerful nation in The Hundred Fiefs and a rival to the current capital (area 14). But then a ruler dismayed with the fact that his nation is landlocked spends all his military capital on a harebrained campaign to reach the coast. He succeeds, but the new coastal land, while a lifeline in terms of trade, is completely overextended and hard to defend from 7 and 9, while the fiefdoms back inland are all massing against you because your army is decimated. You were up but now you're on the verge of losing it all. What do you do? More importantly, what do the players do — will they help the new king save his kingdom and become the new capital? Do they work as diplomats of area 14 to covertly organize an alliance of the Hundred Fiefs to take 11 down? Will they storm the Ashbastion on the coast on behalf of one of the coastal powers? Etc. These multi-nation situations become pretty fun pretty quick.

But instead of getting carried away playing fantasy politics you have to make sure players are invested. One thing that can make these situations more compelling in an actual game is to give each country a clear culture/belief-set so players can choose which team they identify with. Freefields already has this for example, but kingdom 11 lacks a motive other than power. Maybe it wants to win so that it can take down the weak decadent coastal courtiers in area 14 and implement strict legal reforms throughout the land or whatever. Or if not the whole culture, create a dispute between countries where players can decide which side's grievance they think is more just. Or give each land something unique that they can pay the PCs for helping them.

>>94201724
I like this, but the issue with "our Xes are different" in a game is that if a player wants to play an X it's usually because he wants to play the version of the X he knows. Two ways to get around this are making them different but even more X, like making dwarves blind mole-people or something or battlebots that use alcohol as literal fuel or whatever. Another which I suggested earlier is to make it be nominally a completely different race but use the X race's stats which usually goes over better IME.

>>94201293
What could the unicorn kingdom stand for in terms of its place in the campaign world? Is it like the classical chivalry kingdom taken up to 11 where the knights must swear vows of chastity in order to ride unicorns? Maybe yes, but you put a twist on it and make them black knights riding black unicorns or something instead of holy knights riding silver ones. Or maybe the unicorn stuff is figurative and they are called the "Iron Unicorns" because they outfit their horses with iron horns they use during charges. "The Iron Unicorn" would be a cool epithet for a warrior-king btw.

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>>94202620
Nah. The Unicorn is it's coat of arms. Like the Red Dragon of Wales or the Lion of Normandy. They inspire feelings of might, of majesty, that the lord of that land can beat your ass in and there's nothing you can do about it.

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>>94202600
>>94202620
The Unicorn probably ties into their national mythos, somehow. Even if there's no single Unicorn anywhere in the world, some ancient story exists of a unicorn doing something in that land so the lords have adopted it. Made even better by medieval people seeing unicorns as a dangerous beast so there's a precedence for using it as a symbol of strength regardless of how it's perceived as being effeminate to modern eyes.

>>94203479
Not necessarily, Marginalia could be used as the basis for a whole multitude of sigils. While most of the high-born use animals that are either badass symbols of strength (the lion, wolf, dog, sun, knight holding the decapitated head of his rival, etc.) or represent the character of their land (fish, bat, eagle, sail, etc.), some use the doodles they've found in old manuscripts. Some of these knights probably came from 'higher' monastic orders that were shut down so some might use the weird doodles they drew as the basis for their coat of arms. 99% of the time, these are just drawings meant to demoralize their foes be it on the field or in a tourney.

If your foe in the melee has something like pic related on his banner, you're dealing with an interesting guy.

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>>94203612
Speaking of marginalia, allow me to introduce you to the rabbits. Rabbits were portrayed as nasty little villains in medieval art, possibly a early form of political cartoons drawn by bemused monks as they sat hunched by the candlelight. And the fun part? There has to be at least knight that has adopted the hare as his sigil. While the symbol of a rabbit probably hearkens many to laugh, seasoned knights know better as rabbits can be fierce during mating season.

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>>94203644
I know all about the rabbits. That's great.

Tried some AI concept art to help visualize cities that are vaguely medieval yet could be from unfamiliar fantasy cultures. Here's one that's OK looking -- obviously replace the orthodox crosses with flags or fantasy religious symbols.

If hags represent corrupted femininity, would be interesting to have monsters that represent corrupted masculinity — maybe grotesquely overmuscled bodybuilder "hulks"? Hags and hulks? What else could corrupted masculinity mean?

>>94186729
Projects like this need a certain amount of moderation otherwise they'll just end up as an incoherent mess. Whoever was involved in creating the Expedition to Agartha decent thing managed to get this right.

Fallen Jalakra! Empire of Song and Light that was! Jalakra the bright! Jalakra the lauded! Jalakra the storied! Harken unto the bards when they tell of Jalakra; their guild dates to those distant days, even if it rather lower now when they tell tales to the dour lords of Wyverndale in their gloomy fortresses to while away the winter.

In reality, Jalakra was a rather nasty empire for everyone that wasn't one of the favored castes (nobility and priesthood especially, the bards being an offshoot of the priests of the god of song and tale) but memories of the bad parts have dulled over time in most of Ganalon. The one notable thing was the royal palace and capital, which was on a floating island and so nearly unassailable. The fall was literal; the capital tumbled from the sky and crashed to earth, and it broke the empire. Why did it fall? Presumably only known to those who died in the event. The fall triggered a widespread revolt, as both peasants and soldiery fell upon what remained of their shaken former lords.
The amazing thing is that the bards somehow survived and managed to keep singing some the Jalakran praise-hymns (though sometimes with some swift renaming to insert the name of a local nabob, expedience being what it is in all places and time).

>>94200425
>a hunched hag-queen who wears a bearpelt cape
How about Allerleirauh as a last name instead of Furmantle.
It basically means "pelts / furs of all sorts" in german and it is the title of a fairytale about the story of a princess who escapes her father's desire to marry her, disguises herself in a cloak made of many animal furs, works as a kitchen maid, and eventually reveals her true identity after catching the attention of another king during royal festivities.

>>94205454
The Devouring Mother imprisons the child by keeping it emotionally dependent and destroying its autonomy. She clings to it and thereby prevents independent development which becomes a crushing force that keeps the individual passive and dependent. The image of devouring symbolizes the fact that she “swallows” the individual, binds it to herself and inhibits all independence.

The Negative Father oppresses the child through authoritarian control, emotional coldness or outright violence. He suppresses the child's individual freedom and creative potential through authoritarian strictness and dogmatic rules. He does not promote independence but rather enforces blind obedience which he enforces through violence.

(Stolen from CG Jung)

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>>94203612
Unicorns arent "feminine" women and girls just worhsip them because they are secretly attracted to their unfiltered phallic energy which pop-culturally speaking has lead to some confusion. True chads identify with the unicorn instead of feeling sexually threatened by it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=9MKyku2cvl4

>>94205454
>>94205669
>>94205708
Thinking about it why not just combine these two. Unicorns basically already are aggressive, muscular horses with an allegorical penis on the forehead. Why could just play further into that making them sentient authoritarian monsters that will provoke, threaten and attack everything that does not submit to their will.

Does anyone know a decent software to generate and edit hex maps? I've tried wordographer but it's so janky I feel like I'm always fighting against it. I don't care if it's free or not

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>>94205787
The Nuglahs (intime word for unicorn) are physically imposing, extremely muscular beasts capable of a neighing but cold and commanding sounding language. Their unbreakable horns are long, sharp and they can pierce through stone with them. They wield them as weapons and think of them as prove of their innate authority.
A wound inflicted by a nuglah horn does not clot and never truly heals. Their is society is valuing beauty and strength in the strong and demanding submission from the weak.
The Nuglahs have enslaved the Houyhnhnms who live under their tyrannical control. They rule over them through violence, intimidation, and fear and derogatorily call them "degenerate apelings". Houyhnhnms are bestial, humanoid creatures with grotesque, apelike features, deformed looking bodies and stooped posture. They are covered in coarse, matted hair, with skin that is filthy and scabbed. Their faces are a hideous mix of animal and human traits and grotesquly distorted with madness and cruelty in their eyes.
Though they walk on two legs, Houyhnhnms often crawl or scramble on all fours like beasts.
They are strong but not particularly intelligent, and they live in squalor, driven by their base instincts and lust for shiny objects.
They are prone to infighting and communicate in grunts, screeches, and wild gestures.
They create crude shelters and wallow in mud and waste, hoarding anything shiny or edible.
Wherever they go, they leave destruction and filth in their wake.
They embody everything the Nuglahs despise. Ugliness, weakness, flith and chaos.
The Nuglahs treat them accordingly, stripe them of any autonomy and force them into hard physical labor (which they themselves can't do because, well no hands). They also send them into battle as shock troops or cannon fodder.
Any sign of rebellion gets brutally crushed and the rebellious ones impaled and trampled ensuring that no Houyhnhnm can rise above its prescribed place.

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Orcs, while succeeding in overwhelming the Dwarven mines, were beaten during the Great War. They now squat in the Icecrags, scavenging from ruined mineshafts and raiding the Wyverndale for food. While the Orcs still know smithing, they have forgotten the secrets of steel and industry that made their armies the unstoppable force a century ago, forgoing any role in society save for that of the warrior. True Orc blacksmiths have all died out, with all knowledge of metallurgy being passed down from Orc tribe to Orc tribe, forging ramshackle weapons to make war upon the humans.

In a great irony, they're a dying culture due to possessing a self-destructive culture that necessitates never ending conflict. While some Orcs like the young Kaless* aim to change that, having a code of honor that's truly a rarity among orcs, most of the old greenskins are regressing into a state of primordial savagery: wielding stone clubs and running into battle completely naked. Some orcs have even taken to wearing woad or red ochre in battle, seeing a way to terrify their enemies. But despite being a truly fierce race that would laugh at a dragon, the civilized people have stopped viewing them as a threat.

The Icecrags are too treacherous to the men of Ganaroth so they prefer to mine the easier lodes of the Wyverndale, and the Dwarves? The Dwarves, unlike the Orcs, are a truly dying race. There's less and less Dwarf men every year, meaning less and less aimless expeditions to reclaim a Dwarven hall. While the dwarves are proud, having earned the orcs grudging respect, they simply lack the numbers to launch a true invasion of the 'crags which ironically works in the orc's favor.

It's only a matter of time before someone unites the orcs into a single empire. Be it Kaless, the young warrior who with his brave fool hearty ideas of honor and law, or the ageing Molor's love for conquest and savagery.

*Yeah, before anyone says it: yeah, I'm a trekkie.

>>94192601
>sea of shattered hulls
Would it not have a name made before the invention of ships? Doesn’t make sense to name it that desu.

>>94192746
I just knew I'd see something like this. You cannot have a worldbuilding thread like this without some fucking autist coming in and forcing their annoying fixation with Napeonic warfare, pike and shotte, early firearms, etc.

>>94207566
Well it was quickly shutdown, and the Dorf poster gave a good retcon: knife ears pissed off the Dwarf Chads, Legolas go boom boom.

>>94207566
It could be worse. The crab guy didn't show up.

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>>94205468
I can make a doc to keep track of the lore.
Main thing is a cohesive tone. For this the tone is in the middle — not historical/low-fantasy where the countries are just copies of real ones but also not a surreal fairyland. It's sword and sorcery.

>>94205479
I like the anecdote of the noble flying city crashing and the earthbound peasants falling upon a killing the survivors. Having the aristocrats literally float off the ground makes their fear of and distance from the populace very literal. Flying cities could become too fantastical/fairyland, but maybe it fits if Jalakra was like the sorcerous empire and it was a one-off thing.

Clearly the whole southern area is meant to be full of ancient ruins, many overgrown by plants and sunken in swamps. But Jalakra's fall could also be more recent; maybe it was conquered by foreign invaders and guerilla cells still operate in the forests to its west, hoping to reclaim their land. But making it a sorcerous land feels right. It also doesn't have to be human; my instant metal image is of humanoids with metallic-colored skin and slightly odd head shapes. Of course, it could just be that the sorcerers of Jalakra paint their skin with metallic paints. Maybe this could hint at worship/connnection to metallic dragons? (Dragons and their presence or nonpresence in the setting are an elephant in the room I haven't brought up yet.)

>>94205708
>>94205787
I like this a lot. My impulse for the unicorn kingdom is that from a distance it's an image of idealized knighthood but then there's some sort of dark twist to it. Making the unicorns themselves slightly sinister and domineering fits with that.

>>94207294
Like dragons, goblinoids/evil humanoid mooks are another elephant in the room I've been avoiding. If they exist anywhere, a good place would be the "Desolations of Shinspar", which puts them in prime position to descend in hordes on the royal capital. Varags from 3e (see pic) are one interesting orc substitute.

>>94205551
Prefer the easier to pronounce name but could easily use the folktale for inspiration.

Speaking of hags here are some hag ideas from my notes:

Agatha Furmantle - Legendary hag-queen of the northern vales, wears a grizzly pelt. In nod to folktale, was a princess who ran away from home.
Ruinous Dusk - A feral indigo-blue night hag with skull jewelry, knotted black hair and a sky-splitting shriek. Yet by day she turns into her beautiful dawn-pale sister, Lustrous Aurora. They're two people who share the same body.
Lady Aperider - Takes piggyback rides on sasquatches and gleefully copulates with them. Has rather simian neanderthalic features herself. Helps them capture other young maidens. Wears long swinging braids. Was once the village idiot. (Ulna Aperider)
Ekki Icetouch - Arctic hag who wears a polar bear pelt; frostbite has blackened her face and caused her nose to fall off. Helps the ice barbarians.
Lady Feyfair - A hag with a chillingly beautiful face and hair, but hideous from the neck down — covered in diseased boils and pustules, hideously warty and aged.
Jessica Shadowqueen - Ordinary woman who can’t cast spells but her shadow can.
Lady Leatherbelly - An obese hag. A primitive C-section almost cost her her life; she survived by stitching cow’s leather over her stomach, giving her cow’s udders.
Gretchin Womb-Rot - Has had countless miscarriages. Evil spirits inhabit the corpses of her dead infants, turning them into flying demonic imp familiars.
Lady Leash - Leads her hellspawn child around by its still-attached umbilical, refusing to let it go free.
Regan Stomachspill - Bulimic hag who vomits out sprays of acidic bile. Nubs for teeth.
Emaciata something - Looks like that skeletal anorexic eceleb who gets posted here.
Ellys Allseer - Blind hag who cut off her husband’s testicles and used them to replace her eyes.

Then you could do one that eats her children, and various other corruptions of motherhood/femininity/etc.

>>94208195
>>94200374
On reflection I really like the idea of basing the default hag appearance on the teratoma tumor monster from “The Substance”. It comes across as a sort of twisted life magic, which fits the theme of witchcraft being a corruption of a mother’s “life-giving” capacity (and the similar idea I mentioned that witches brew potions with their own breastmilk, etc). Also, I like the idea that one way hags are created is when witchcraft is used to save a woman from one of the many forms of death they might face in the medieval era, like death from childbirth, starvation, infection, or the plague, but that the magic that saves their life also turns them into monsters. And the deformed tumorous appearance fits very well with that.

Fleshing out one of the villains: the bandit king of area 17.

>>94201692
> 17. DUBIOUS BANDIT REALM: An allegedly half-giant warlord with a hag advisor has fashioned a stronghold at the southern tip of the Icecrags and has used this base to scourge, raid and take over a swathe of valuable territory that belonged to kingdoms 14 and 16. Despite 17's success it has pissed off three powerful kingdoms and now fears being squashed like a bug in reprisal.

Hruln Half-Giant was a brutal northborn mercenary who made his name fighting in the Hundred Fiefs. He was highly effective but would start ravaging innocent villages, including your own, the second you stopped paying him. When it became clear to him that an unreliable outsider like himself would never be granted a knighthood or land, he seized a castle for his own — but when the aristocrats he took captive inside mocked him, he killed them in fury rather than offering them for ransom, making him a blackname (persona non grata) throughout the Fiefs. So he led his men north and sold his services to Area 5, helping fight the barbarians of Evernight Reach. Against these savages there were no rules of warfare. He began leading daring raids through the passes of the Icecrags, and even befriended the primitive Cragmen who dwelt in those harsh peaks. But on one of these audacious raids he disappeared, presumed dead.

Years later he suddenly reappeared, descending from the mountains far more powerful than before. At his side was the wretched hag seeress Blind Elystra, who had become his mentor and advisor, determined to help him achieve his destiny as a great king. She had somehow helped him to obtain several powerful artifacts, including a Mattock of the Titans and the Sunderhorn — one blow upon which can split stone walls apart. Some say the hag warms his bed as a nurturing elder concubine, while others claim she took his testicles as payment for leading him to greatness.

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>>94208866
Using the Horn and the Mattock, he personally fashioned the Cragfort, a crude and jagged fortress of split stone, hewn from the natural rock of the southernmost peak of the Icecrags. (Shaped vaguely like picrel but made entirely of natural stone.) As he projects his power into the surrounding lands -- and as brigands and outcasts of all kinds flock to his banner, eager to raid and spoil -- he's also used these tools to personally carve trenches and earthworks, helping rapidly fortify the lands he lays claim to. The fact that he puts in his own sweat like this is one of the reasons his troops love him.

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>>94208908
regarding the unnatural spiky shape of the Cragfort picture I'm imagining that when you blow the Sunderhorn at unworked stone, the stone will crack apart at sharp angles. I imagine he "softened up" the mountainside by cracking it up this way and then did the carving/building work with the Mattock.

Was also contemplating giving him a moaning diamond that he wears in his crown or on his forehead like a third eye: https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:The_Moaning_Diamond

>>94186729
>gANALon
>two halves split down the middle
>"""lake""" Hamastra
Could you at least try to hide your magical realm?

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>>94208954
I see what you mean but when you actually orient it that way it doesn't look as profane as you'd expect.

>>94208975
>already figured it out
>OP still tries to make me look at his totally not goatse map
I appreciate your tenacity.

>>94201831
Just realized that the nobles of area 6 are sea urchin themed. The tidepools along the coast contain psionic sea urchins whose needles are potently venomed.

The ridiculous part is this — the nobles somehow psionically control the sea urchins, which levitate in the air and are used as weapons (possibly spitting needles at enemies?).

The ruling stronghold is called Urchinhold and at its center is the House of Tides, whose lower levels are like indoor tidepools, crusted with barnacles. The nobles sleep on beds of kelp. More later.

twist on sleeping beauty -- people who live in the wild north randomly fall into icesleep, a form of icicle-encrusted magical hibernation that can last for years. you know you will enter icesleep soon when you start having icedreams.

area 16, which controls the mountain pass to the north, is ruled by Lord Marten/Marven Summersnow. There's a tragic rift between him and his cousin, Lord Melvyn Wintersnow. Perhaps it was over a northern bride they both coveted, who fell into an icesleep before either could marry her -- they both blame each other. Lord Melvyn left court and now leads the errant band of questing knights known as the Knights of the Frozen Rose or the Winterlorn Knights, whose arms are a blue winter rose. They sally forth into the frozen northern woods seeking a way to thaw his love. But with Riverrealm now threatening area 16, the ruling Lord Summersnow needs to mend the rift with his brother for the good of his realm if nothing else -- both to get the help of Lord Melvyn's knights and men at arms, and because the chilly divide between the noble families is making it impossible for him to rule effectively.

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A list of potential 'foreign' encounters. These are exceptionally rare (roll a 99 on an encounter sheet) with the vast majority doubting they even exist:

1-4: High Elves: elves are also truly foreign to the continent. They come from a distant eastern continent and pay visits to their cousins in Ganalon. While they're beautiful and wise, High Elves are even more egotistical than their 'backwards' cousins, bragging about the spired cities of their homeland.

5-9: sea dwarves. There's a caste of dwarves that live somewhere to the distant west and they're hearty seamen. They have little in common with the dwarves of Ganalon, viewing their doom with the mockery traditionally reserved for dwarves of lesser castes. They can range from hearty mariners to grim whalers or even pirates.

10-15: Northmen, vikings. They come from an archipelago from the distant northwest. Distantly related to the men of Ganarath, they worship grim war gods that demand human sacrifice. They sometimes get lost in a storm and wind up in Ganalon. Grim men who view a death in battle as the highest honor, they will charge against foes that greatly overpower them.

16-20: Exploratores: Before they're thrown in, there's an 'exotic,' 'diverse*' empire dominated by tanned mediterranean humans who conquer and enslave everything around them for that is the nature of war. But they're from a distant continent that has only had tangential contact with Gandora, preferring the easier targets back home to making a perilous voyage across the sea. That does not stop the exploratores, however.

21-30: Gobbos. Sometimes a bunch of dispshit greenskins build a raft. Sometimes they survive and end in Ganalon. They're little different from their cousins in the desolation.

cont.

*It's diverse in the sense that you can buy anything from the slave market.

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>>94212226
31-40: lost fishermen. Low level commoners blown off course. Can range from Portuguese to Japanese depending upon region.

41-50: Apemen. Isolated humans that were trapped in the underdark for so long they regressed into savage ape creatures.

51-60: Troglodytes. Humans that were trapped in the underdark. Stone age.

61-70: Kobolds. One Kobold invented the ship. One kobold crashed the ship. Now you get to deal with them.

71-80: crashed trade galley. In the southeast, the mighty Emperors charter trade ships to explore the world. This one didn't make it. (true story, a Chinese trade galley might have sunk near Madagascar)

81-85: trade galley. Merchants from the southeast. Sell exotic goods for jacked up prices.

86-90: monk. A monk from the distant east has found your land. He now meditates in peace.

91-95: corsair crew. The corsairs have tormented the far west for centuries but this ship was blown off course. Now these dusky skinned men raid Gandora in the name of their god.

96-99: foreign wizard. A wizard with exotic traditions. (separate table needed)

100: Dragon. Most dragons are assholes. The wavy serpentine dragons are different.

Speaking of dragons, any ideas for how dragons work here? Ways to make them slightly interesting/novel? You certainly need at least one dragon overlord on the southeast peninsula/islands.

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The ruins of the Tower of Tongues is overrun by goblins. In fact, this is the place where goblins emerge from. As they meddle with the tower more and more the languages of the world diverge further from each other, but none dare dislodge them because the Tower is warded by primeval magic from the dawn of time. This close association of goblins with meaningless language has coined the phrase 'gobbledygook' to refer to gibberish that someone doesn't understand.

Goblins are the masters of language and often use their sly tongues to deceive and take advantage of other races.

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>>94216360
I like it!

what if they or a related race are called "quilltongues" and have the abililty to "speak" writing onto surfaces? Like they will talk at a stone wall and the words will be incised in it. Similarly they can speak words at you and the words will be incised in your flesh like umbridge's quill in harry potter. perhaps they literally have cat-like razortongues to represent this.

btw, a name that occurred to me: "The House of Lost Horizons". It makes me think of some cartographer's or historian's guild that preserves knowledge of lands over the sea (or even other planets?) to which contact has been lost.

Also a "House of Tremors" in the capital city that is like a drug den for users of the drugs that give you magical powers. People inside go through the strange fits and otherworldly visions of their drug trips, hovering, transforming, and so on.