Woohoo! more froggod goodness.
Sweet!
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Is this "important low cost book" a Lost Lands Campaign Setting / Gazetteer or what are you talking about?
You can't just hint without throwing us a few more bones, can you? :)
Wasn't there talk of an update of the S&W Core book and a Tsar conversion (or did I dream that?)
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Nope, it's a small campaign/world area resource. But it's an important one.
I think I have an inkling what is coming but I can't say.
I am guessing this was the one that was discussed recently dealing with the area around RA and Endhome?
I am guessing this was the one that was discussed recently dealing with the area around RA and Endhome?
Yes, the western part (most of it) of the Sinnar Coast Region map.
LOL, I don't think the title's a super-secret, just that Bill wants to make sure we've organized the prices and Kickstarter tiers and so forth before we make the big official announcements that require actual answers to questions. When you're being mysterious, you can say "you'll learn soon" instead of "Heck if I know..."
Now I feel like a complete rube; I posted to the FGG site forums asking about setting details for the area around Endholme. Hopefully this book is available soon enough to cover the campaign I've got starting in a couple weeks.
Mark, The Lost City of Barakus has a bunch of info about Endhome. That's where my players are now after getting their Magus raised.
Not only that, but quite a few self-contained Endhome-based adventures that have nothing to do with the dungeon itself.
That is so true Chuck. At present my group is on the second floor of Quarrion's Tower. We shall see if they survive. But they haven't done much exploring in Endhome proper. That is still to come.
Yes, no; you're both right. I'm not looking for stuff on the city or adventures. For example: what's Burgundia? Is there a relationship between the provinces scattered around and the Kingdom of Suilley? Closer to home, why are there hundreds of miles of open, unsettled plains between Endholme and Grollek's Grove? Does anyone live there and their settlements are just not reported on the map, or are there typically 450 miles between settlements on the Sinnar Coast?
What I was looking to do is just make a little more than a static environment for the players. In the bit on Endholme it makes mention that one of the sailors new in port in one of the bars mentions some goings on in Penmorgh. That city however is 1,450 miles from Endholme (or thereabouts). More than likely the PCs won't care because they wont get there for months if not years of real life time. Instead I was looking for info on Telar Brindel, Kaf Village, Oestre or Grolek's Grove. On the other hand if the regions north and west of Endholme were at least somewhat settled and under the protection of the city, this would be a good place for the party to start from and be more useful for future adventures.
I know; I can just SAY they are in my running of the campaign. But if there's a setting book coming out that covers some of this stuff, I'd rather have someone do the work for me. No offense Necromancer/FGG, but I'd rather spend money than time y'know?
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Mark, I understand what you are asking. I have asked about Eastgate looking for the same or similar answers too. If you wouldn't mind could you share what you come up with? I would like to make the Lost Lands my go to campaign setting for my group. I am already well on the way. One of my players wants to build a town south of Zelkor's Ferry at the ford crossing and have a wizard's academy or at least a research library there. He thinks that being near RA will entice other Magi to come and search out new magicks.
@silverhair: That is one cool idea from your player there! Wonderful idea in fact :)
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*Throws money at the screen* Take it.. Just take it all..
Mark - I think you should wait to spend money.
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Per the phone call we had a couple hours ago that should read 45 days for The Blight.
*gibber*
Mnaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrr!
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...soon...
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I will probably spend the money on this book, but here's what I have for the setting so far and it only regards the area on the overland hex map for the Sinnar Coast that I got with Barakus:
1. Several thousand years ago there's an underground city (Barakus) which attracts/creates/revitalizes many underground races. On the surface dragons rule; a bronze and a red begin a legendary rivalry which eventually leads to the bronze dragon egg in one treasure hoard near Rappan Athuk and the red dragons at RA and Barakus.
2. The undercity goes belly up; madness ensues. Grimlocks (devolved humans) are born below while above mortal kind is reduced to barbarism. An age of darkness ensues as the cataclysm also somehow affects dragons too.
3. Mortalkind re-learns civilization, culture. First to pull out of the darkness is elves and dwarves. They have ancestral memories actually embedded in the rings of trees and layers of sedimentary rock so they use magic to access it. These "Elder Races" go through a period of empires. This helps explain some old Tolkien-esque giant statues and landmarks I'm going to be adding.
4. As the Elder Races' empires begin to wane, humans have gotten to Conan/Riddle of Steel level. In the center of the Sinnar Coast area they form a barbarian empire of their own around the Burgund Throne. This rises like a wave and calls itself Burgundia.
5. Over a few hundred years the Empire of Burgundia conquers and assimilates all from Eastgate to Hawkmoon. "Empire" is a loose term; basically there's an overking and tons of vassal states that basically all do whatever they want as long as they pay Burgundia.
6. A few hundred years ago people begin to chafe against new Burgundian overlords. The empire has finally started to act like one. A series of Punic Wars occur. Suilley, secretly funded by the merchants of Endholme, breaks off forming its own kingdom. Several coastal cities become free cities. The old provinces still stay loyal to Old Burgundia; the feudal kingdom of Suilley in the meantime has some counties and stuff that they've conquered.
So around Endholme:
1. Several hundred years ago the Burgundians came up through the Gundlock Hills and began pacifying the land. They met monsters (orcs, kobolds and others) and some mortal tribes. In the Penprie they found tons of wood to use for ships.
2. Following the Gaelon to the sea they established a city and began using the forest to supply them with wood. In the north they conquered an old dwarf fortress: Telar Brindel. The city and fortress helped them make Viking-like raids up and down the coast.
3. In the forest they encountered the Circle of the Horn, a Celt-like druid circle. The druids were pacifists but they had 8 Knights of the Hart; ranger elites commanding armies of animals. Because of the druids the Burgundians could only harvest so much wood.
4. From Telar Brindel the region becomes aware of the Cult of Keld, a doomsday cult worshipped in the caves by primitives from the Duskmoon hills. The Endholmers back the Keldites, start a war within the Penprie and eventually the cult is buried in the caves but not before all 8 Knights of the Hart are slain (this relates to the Mysterious Crypt and the Grimlocks around Barakus).
5. The Endholmers want independence. A consortium of merchants pulls another secret money stunt with Suilley and in the ensuing chaos declares itself a Freeport. Burgundia is powerless to stop them.
6. Soon afterwards the coast is ravaged by a visiting red dragon. Said dragon mates, leaving progeny behind in the Duskmoon Hills. The presence of the dragon attracts kobolds, which in turn fuels more monsters coming out of the darker caves below the hills. Telar Brindel and Endholme shore up military might and, having burned a lot of bridges and lost a lot of cash to supporting wars of sedition and raiding dragons, opens its docks to the most lucrative trade it can.
7. Modern-day Endholme remains a trading mecca. The city has very open laws and favorable tarrifs ensuring its continued fortunes. Long ago much of the Penprie was clear cut for ships and glaives. As a result the plains, moors and rugged steppes which were once well settled by Burgundian logging towns have waned. Still however along the Kings Road and the Trader's Way there are small towns and villages still carrying on the ancient ways of their Burgundian roots. Endholme is now a Protectorate extending from the coast to Grollek's Grove in the west and from the Gaelon to Telar Brindel in the north.
I'll try and answer these questions in small bites. I'll work on a bit of a blog post right now, and keep going through the Kickstarter.
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Actually, I think I can answer some of these quickly.
You've actually almost nailed the official history of Suilley, except that the empire comes from the east, in the Kingdoms of Foere, rather than from Burgundia to the west.
There's a really detailed timeline in the campaign book (Greg Vaughan really likes detail, and that's one of the parts he wrote). The Borderlands have had more than one empire wash over them and then recede, and they have always been at the edges of those empires -- which is why "Borderlands" is such an apt name for the region. First the Hyperboreans controlled the area, then fell, then the Foerdewaith took over the area ...
And as the empire of the Kingdoms of Foere are now becoming decadent, drawing back, and only clawing for a control they no longer have, that's right where matters stand now. The campaign takes place against the backdrop of that receding empire.
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Essentially the three areas you're covering, Endhome, Suilley, and Burgundia are right at the intersection of three world supplements. Burgundia is covered in Greg's Cults of the Sundered Kingdoms, Endhome is covered in Lost City of Barakus, and Suilley is covered in the Borderland Provinces.
The Sundered Kingdoms and Burgundia, as described in Cults, is an area where civilization has effectively lost the battle. The area is depopulated and chaos reigns.
Suilley is a kingdom rising fast in the vacuum of power left by the retreat of the Kingdoms of Foere. Suilley technically rules Keston and Toullen since the leaders of those realms have pledged fealty to the Suilleyn King. As a result, Suilley is not only a potential beacon of hope, but is over-extended to the point of paralysis. That's why there is no eastward movement by Suilley.
The eastern range of Suilley becomes less and less loyal, and more and more independent -- these are nobles who opposed secession and now don't like being under the thumb of the Suilleyn monarchy. The area is also less settled than western Suilley, and the feudal system is less organized in terms of a good chain of fealty leading to the king (who is a westerner).
So there's a kind of buffer space in between Suilley's more settled west, and its rebellious and less-settled east. This buffer zone would make an invasion of the Sundered Kingdoms difficult, and the Lorremach Highhills are an impassable barrier in terms of military force. The area between the Lorremach and the Forlorn Peaks is technically part of Suilley but to give an idea of how loose the grip is, the same area is also claimed by the King of the Vanigoths, who has almost as much power in the region as the Kingdom of Suilley. It would be virtually impossible for Suilley to maintain a military supply line from its settled west to the borders of Old Burgundia.
Endhome is a free city, but doesn't exert much political power anywhere, unlike Bard's Gate, which gets itself right up into everyone's diplomatic grill. Endhome's trade volume is still considerably larger than Bard's Gate, though. Endhome exerts a lot of influence up the Gaelon River Valley since this is a big artery of trade for bulk goods and the city's food, but its policy is usually hands-off on outside politics. As a result, Endhome guards it borders against the chaos in Sunderland, but isn't taking any steps to go out there and establish order.
I hope all this helps...
Here is the link to the Borderlands Provinces KS.