This preview for the Wealdland Gazetteer grants a look at the second map in the product, an overview of Aerendal, City of the Viridian Prince. Check it out here.
Get a fuller glimpse of Aerendal, the City of the Viridian Prince, and the entirety of the Wealdland, in the Wealdland Gazetteer, a free download available in March from Clockwork Gnome Publishing. The Wealdland Gazetteer is the foundation for the entire Sagas of the Wealdland line, a sandbox campaign setting developed for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.
I see a couple of names I really like! Will save substantive comments for later when I'm not in a rush.
Idris and Cadfael? Nice. Any other nods I missed?
Idris and Cadfael? Nice. Any other nods I missed?
Huh....I picked Idris at random without actually thinking about the association. But now that adds an interesting layer to the choice. Uh...I mean....yes, yes, I meant that all along.
Cadfael was definitely a literary nod, though it made a good choice as a Welsh name. Both Welsh and Anglo-Saxon are important linguistic inspirations for the Wealdland.
Each of the islands, Cadfael, Idris, Talfryn, Mair, Bronwyn and Glenys, are named after the six apprentices of an archmage known as Keledon ap Earendel-Torvel (which means "son of Earendel-Torvel", but is not explicitly the name of an individual in this case), Lord of the Platinum Mantle. Keledon was a planar exile who helped forge the future of Aerendal and reigned as the first Viridian Prince in the Wealdland. The name of the city itself is a corruption of Aei'Earendel, which means "Song for Earendel" in Keledon's language. All of this back story will be further explored in the Weadland Gazetteer.
Of course, Earendel is something of an blatant nod to Professor Tolkien and the name's legendary roots.
New Samaria is derived from Samartian which provides a clue to the nature of the immigrants who dwell there.
Thank you all for the kind words. I am happy you like how the map turned out and I hope this whets the appetite for future previews.
Idris, in addition to the Islamic association, was the name of a female character in a story that I can't find right now. Maybe Leigh Brackett.
Ah, shoot! I thought Mair was named after me!
Idris, in addition to the Islamic association, was the name of a female character in a story that I can't find right now. Maybe Leigh Brackett.
Ah, shoot! I thought Mair was named after me! ** spoiler omitted **
Aren't you an apprentice to a powerful, plane traveling wizard?
Of course, it is also Welsh for Mary. So, well, take your pick.
Idris, in addition to the Islamic association, was the name of a female character in a story that I can't find right now. Maybe Leigh Brackett.
Ah, shoot! I thought Mair was named after me! ** spoiler omitted **
Aren't you an apprentice to a powerful, plane traveling wizard?
Of course, it is also Welsh for Mary. So, well, take your pick.
What? You WANT me to talk about my D&D character?!?
What? You WANT me to talk about my D&D character?!?Idris, in addition to the Islamic association, was the name of a female character in a story that I can't find right now. Maybe Leigh Brackett.
Ah, shoot! I thought Mair was named after me! ** spoiler omitted **
Aren't you an apprentice to a powerful, plane traveling wizard?
Of course, it is also Welsh for Mary. So, well, take your pick.
Sure, I don't mind. Honestly, it has never bothered me. :)
Any chance of a non-standard PC race in this setting?
Any chance of a non-standard PC race in this setting?
Indeed.
The first will be the chorts, designed by first time designer Chris Correll. They will be addressed in the Gazetteer but will get much more traction in A Touch of Autumn: The Glades of Light and Shadow. The chorts are a fey race of cricket-like humanoids which a penchant for bardic talents.
There is certainly room for more and I am always open to new ideas.
Any chance of a non-standard PC race in this setting?Indeed.
The first will be the chorts, designed by first time designer Chris Correll. They will be addressed in the Gazetteer but will get much more traction in A Touch of Autumn: The Glades of Light and Shadow. The chorts are a fey race of cricket-like humanoids which a penchant for bardic talents.
There is certainly room for more and I am always open to new ideas.
A cricket PC race whose favored class is bard. Kind of genius, actually. Be curious to see what one looks like. Hopefully you have a starving artist. :)
Will you also have a map for the underworld? Oh great mapper;)
Are we talking about an Underdark type setting, the area underneath the city, or a megadungeon?
The answer to all of those is "yes"..eventually.
Ferron-Shelaz is the local megadungeon and folklore implicates the ruined city and its extensive dungeons beneath the Temple of the Outer Void as the source for all evil in the world. Whether that is true or not is definitely up for debate, but there is certainly something slumbering beneath the earth there.
The subterranean realm is known as the Underworld in common parlance and it shares some qualities with the mythic ideal as well. It is ruled by a terrible being known as Morithal, the Worm that Gnaws at the Roots of the Earth. This being is the patron of dark elves and seeks to swallow the sun. According to legend, its journeys through the earth created the Underworld and continue to expand it. I am uncertain how long it will take to touch on the part of the Underworld that lies beneath the Wealdland.
Finally, the islands upon which Aerendal rests are plateaus of rock roughly 80 feet high. Some of the area beneath the city is taken up with sewers, some with homes, but the rest contains tunnels, ancient crypts, and other subterranean dungeons.
Of these, Ferron-Shelaz will be touched upon in the Gazetteer and will have its own series of products in the line, starting with The Ruined City of Ferron-Shelaz: The Upper Remnants. It will not be mapped in the Gazetteer however.
I hope that answers the question. :) All of these places will be mapped eventually (hopefully) and will see print if I have anything to say about it.
A cricket PC race whose favored class is bard. Kind of genius, actually. Be curious to see what one looks like. Hopefully you have a starving artist. :)Any chance of a non-standard PC race in this setting?Indeed.
The first will be the chorts, designed by first time designer Chris Correll. They will be addressed in the Gazetteer but will get much more traction in A Touch of Autumn: The Glades of Light and Shadow. The chorts are a fey race of cricket-like humanoids which a penchant for bardic talents.
There is certainly room for more and I am always open to new ideas.
Well, I am kind of hungry right now. :) I am still working on obtaining the art for the chorts.
As a side note, tieflings are also an important part of the setting and will be discussed in the Gazetteer.
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012
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Idris, in addition to the Islamic association, was the name of a female character in a story that I can't find right now. Maybe Leigh Brackett.
Ah, shoot! I thought Mair was named after me! ** spoiler omitted **
If it was, I would have been very disappointed there wasn't a Taigland. :)
Looks very nice. Can't wait to see more.
And Taigland can always be squeezed in as a micro-nation somewhere. :)
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The subterranean realm is known as the Underworld in common parlance and it shares some qualities with the mythic ideal as well. It is ruled by a terrible being known as Morithal, the Worm that Gnaws at the Roots of the Earth. This being is the patron of dark elves and seeks to swallow the sun. According to legend, its journeys through the earth created the Underworld and continue to expand it. I am uncertain how long it will take to touch on the part of the Underworld that lies beneath the Wealdland.
Are the dark elves a matriarchy as in previous versions?
Looks very nice. Can't wait to see more.
And Taigland can always be squeezed in as a micro-nation somewhere. :)
Thank you!
Ah yes...Taigland, the Kingdom of the Everlasting Badgers. ;)
Are the dark elves a matriarchy as in previous versions?The subterranean realm is known as the Underworld in common parlance and it shares some qualities with the mythic ideal as well. It is ruled by a terrible being known as Morithal, the Worm that Gnaws at the Roots of the Earth. This being is the patron of dark elves and seeks to swallow the sun. According to legend, its journeys through the earth created the Underworld and continue to expand it. I am uncertain how long it will take to touch on the part of the Underworld that lies beneath the Wealdland.
Good question. That is not necessarily the case in the Underworld. Matriarchs hold great power, to be certain, but they do not exclusively hold the reins. Many dark elf communities are ultimately ruled by the spawn of Morithal, also known as driders. Of course, they can be of either gender.
Looks very nice. Can't wait to see more.
And Taigland can always be squeezed in as a micro-nation somewhere. :)
Thank you!
Ah yes...Taigland, the Kingdom of the Everlasting Badgers. ;)
I hear that they are badgers who goose-step to bands blaring, "Taigland, Taigland uber alle."