The Kyngdoms has released the latest article in our weekly series on the City of Blackfen - the first of three parts exploring the Themes of Blackfen. Every week we bring a new article exploring the city and further fleshing out the detail, until eventually you will have an entire city to explore and use in your games. The Kyngdoms is system free, so can be used as an excellent backdrop for your Pathfinder game. Blackfen offers an exciting place to base your game and as the weeks progress, you will discover both the good and bad of the city, with detailed locations, people, hooks and a wealth of information to fill out your game.
This is the fourth article on Blackfen, having so far brought you a map of the city, overview, plus the history. Future weeks will look at the gangs, magic, religion, as well detailing over 60 locations.
This week, we look at the Themes of Blackfen.
All cities exist on a recipe of half-truths, rumor, propaganda, and lies, and Blackfen is no different. Rumor soon becomes fact, lies are believed, and the truth often lost, buried, or just plain ignored. With illiteracy high and the news passed mouth to mouth, it should come as no surprise that the news and rumors that dominate the thinking of the chattering classes are all too often skewed and misunderstood. Nonetheless, this boiling pot of misinformation forms the basis of the daily news as the ordinary folk of Blackfen understand it and out of which the major themes which dominate thinking have emerged. These can be broken down into 8 broad areas: the defense of Blackfen, the Black Undeath of Zykerathox, religious tensions in the city, the Hirgot - Vendire family feud, the triangle of violence between the three main gangs, Black Lake, Kirn Swamp and Billet Bog, and The Hanging Hill and Gibbet Grove.
These 8 themes will be looked at over the next three weeks, giving the reader a good sense of things that instill fear, pride, horror and plain intrigue into the people of Blackfen. As well as building the overall picture of life in the city, they also offer good ideas for plots and hooks. This week looks at two of the themes which dominate the chattering classes on a daily basis - the defense of the city and the threat of the Black Undeath of Zykerathox.