In preperation for resuming our ROTRL campaign I have been E mailing further setting details to my players. On player in particular, who we will refer t as 'The Chocolate Man' is a DMs dream. he will bounce ideas back and really go with a character. His pc is a young man called Blake Beacon. I wont go into details right now but heres what he sent me as background info on Blakes homeland, known simply as Far Miramar...
"Far Mirarmar, a peninsula nation of low beaches and gently rolling hills where the Ilam people live. Where the Ilam people have allways lived in small villages clustered around the odd black menhirs that dot the landscape. Due to its location and easy ship landing and access to the Cheliax heartlands hostile armies allways choose to land here, they allways have and they allways will. They come in fleets drawn by dreams of conquest and tales of fabulous riches. The Ilam are a peaceful and pleasant people to look upon, even tempered and patient wanting for very little in the strangley fertile soil of their homeland. The strangers come for a day and kill and rape and steal the silk robes and gold platters that the very least of the Ilam eat from and the Ilam tell them welcome but please to camp within sight of the menhirs or they will not see the dawn. The strangers allways laugh at the superstitions of weak and cowardly men who do not even have armies. The next morning after the screams have finally stopped and the sun is high in the sky the Ilam do as they have allways done, leave their dead on the hillsides naked and gather to collect the weapons and goods of the invaders to sell to neighbouring countries, but never to gather the bodies of the invaders for their bodies have already gone.The duty done they collect the gifts from the rulers under Far Miramar, fresh silk burial robes freshly washed and gold funereal platters, rainbow cascades of gems and odd shaped coins, all grave goods from the tombs of Emperors and Gods.Sometimes if the rulers favour a family the dead slain by the invaders come in the night and stand out of sight of the menhirs and call for their families to say their final goodbyes. For the dead love the Ilam. All things die, men, Kings, Emperors, Gods, Concepts and stranger things must die and whilst their spiritual destinations are uncertain and for some species death may only be just another state of being they bring their final remains to rest in Far Miramar where the Ilam perform the appropriate rites perfectly as they have allways done. At one time the Ilam tell of 2 suns, of home being inland far from the sea, of the world being ice or desert, of suns dying and new ones awakening, of the patterns of stars in the sky changing, for this is Far Miramar where the Ilam have allways lived.
Cheliax views Far Miramar as an odd but loyal vassal state that chooses to pay its taxes in millitary equipment that seems to change style every few years. They have stopped sending ambassadors after they kept on vanishing and the Ilam people make no demands on the Cheliax state anyway. The wise note that there are no graveyards in far Miramar but an awful lot of the same sized gently rolling hills and the soil is ever so fertile.......... those that know the truth leave the Ilam be for it is ill to irk the dead for they have long memories and all things join them eventually.
Adventurers and others born without fear or common sense come to Far Miramar on occasion with grand plans for adventure.
A night spent s*%!ting themselves watching the multitude of shapes outside the menhirs radius watching them soon puts paid to those plans. Of course should they chose to reject the hospitality of the Ilam and to camp outside in the forests and on the gently rolling hills, well that problem just takes care of itself...."
I'd be interested for any feedback or ideas as to what people think. I'm thinking of it as something not on most maps, maybe a bit of a 'Lost' island. (I did even think of it being on one of the other planets, hence the 'Far' Miramar tag. Perhaps Blake reached Golarion through an Elven Gate or some other mysterious means?)
Great work!
Just one inconsistency: If the beach allows easy access to the Chelish heartlands, it can't really be on a different planet, unless I missed something.
Yeah, apologies for that. That was just me musing and it was after midnight when I posted. Going to have a think about his ideas and maybe post some ideas of how I can work this into the world. The planet idea was down to to much cheese!!!
Just had a thought. After reading James' blog today I might try to incorporate some type of worship of Zyphus into the idea. If its a death god perhaps the islanders are worshippers of it. Maybe they worship it not really knowing what 'it' is. Perhaps James could drop a few more hints about Zyphus?
Heres what I think I will go with:-
A lot of the background will, i think be attributed to the Earthfall. The legend of the Ilam people telling of two suns is a reference to the Starstone falling to Golarion. The fact that they tell of being inland points to there being a great geological upheaval, again during the Earthfall. Now heres the crunch. The black Menhirs are part of all that remains above ground of the binding circle that has been used over 5000 years ago to cage the Spawn of Rovvaug. The fact that any invaders to Far Miramar are mysteriously slain is due to the Guardians that watch over the Menhir's. They make sure that all who come to invade never leave. The irony is that the people who are native to Far Miramar, and who are perhaps one of the most peaceful people around are in fact living in symbiosis with the guardians of possibly the most destructive force that ever existed on Golarion - the Tarrasque!