| SirRodericMurgatroyd |
I'm planning a transition from Fall of Plaguestone into a 2e conversion of Tower of the Last Baron, and I'm trying to figure out where exactly in Andoran the town of Piren's Bluff is supposed to be. The few maps that show a specific location don't seem to match any of the textual descriptions available, and the various descriptions aren't particularly consistent either. On top of that, the surrounding geography doesn't suggest that the pass the town protects should be militarily important, which runs counter to basically everything else written about Piren's Bluff.
The following is all the relevant info I've found about Piren's Bluff from Paizo publications:
1. The map of Andoran from the Inner Sea World Guide (p. 44) places Piren's Bluff about halfway between the Arthfell Forest and the Aspodell Mountains.
2. According to Tower of the Last Baron (p. 3), Piren's Bluff is "[s]ituated at the furthest reaches of what is still technically considered Darkmoon Vale, Piren’s Bluff sits on the border between Cheliax and Andoran, overlooking a pass across the Aspodell Mountains [Aspodell Pass] that is key to Andoran’s defensive strategy."
3. According to Guide to Darkmoon Vale (p. 8), the Aspodell Crossroads "is the intersection of the Aspodell Pass road at the eastern foothills of the mountains and the north/south trade road skirting the mountains that intersects it." The Pass stands "only a few miles East of Pirren's Bluff".
Taking all the above into account, and the fact that the entire plot of Tower of the Last Baron, the only module ever set in Piren's Bluff, is predicated on PB being a border town guarding a mountain pass, I'm inclined to think that the map location in (1) is just plain wrong. Throwing out (1) and taking (2) and (3), then, Piren's Bluff is likely much closer to the border than indicated on the Andoran map, being a few miles deep into the foothills of the Aspodell Mountains.
This leaves another problem, though: TotLB and GtDMV both clearly state that the Aspodell Pass is the only pass through the Aspodell mountains --- i.e. the border between Cheliax and Andoran --- and thus the primary route into Andoran for a potential invading Chelaxian army. However, as can be seen on any map of Andoran/Isger/Cheliax (including the one linked above), there is a massive gap between the southwestern foothills of the Aspodell Mountains and the sea further to the south. The fact that GtDMV also mentions a "north/south trade road skirting the mountains" strengthens the idea that there is indeed a viable route between the mountains and the coast, rather than through the mountains. Then surely Cheliax's armies could just as easily walk straight in through the coastal trade route, rendering the chokepoint at Aspodell Pass irrelevant?
It seems the only resolution to all of the aforementioned contradictions would be to alter the map so that (1) the Aspodell Mountains actually reach much further down south than depicted on most maps, leveling out close to the sea and leaving only a Thermopylae-esque narrow pass, and that (2) Piren's Bluff sits atop that pass, at the southern extremity of the Aspodell Mountains.
I'm curious about other peoples' interpretations of the geography surrounding Piren's Bluff. Is the above a reasonable conclusion, or is there another interpretation that hews closer to existing maps?
| Ixal |
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
As the map is now the mountain past would be the hardest route to march an army through, defended or not. It is more a unlikely sneak attack option than the primary route to Cheliax. The coastal route is much more easy to travel, especially with an army.
And even if you close down the gap by additional mountains (you can also use swamps if you do not want to alter the map, although they are less effective blocker), the primary threat then would be a sea invasion. Not D-Day storming of some fortress, but simply to offload an army right behind the mountains with barges and march on from there, supported and supplied by the fleet until they reach populated areas.
There is also another gap, coming from the north through Isger (its a vassal of Cheliax after all) and follow the Foam River.