The Campaign Builder's Guild

Interesting.  I like the idea of the hearths; I was wondering how fires for cooking and heating were handled.  What's the climate and weather like in Whitebuck?  Does it get windstorms or a lot of snow?  Is there a pronounced dry season?

(I'm almost out of questions, I swear!)

Quote from: Humabout
Interesting.  I like the idea of the hearths; I was wondering how fires for cooking and heating were handled.  What's the climate and weather like in Whitebuck?  Does it get windstorms or a lot of snow?  Is there a pronounced dry season?

(I'm almost out of questions, I swear!)

oh, please.  These are great questions, and we all love these questions.

Quote from: LordVreeg
oh, please.  These are great questions, and we all love these questions.

I'm just don't want to come across like I'm picking at EE's work.  His city is awesome sounding, so I want to know as much as possible about it.  There's a lot of interesting little details waiting to be described, and I'm trying to tease them out.  I just hope it's helping.

I think so.  Small, micro details are awesome

I second the question about windstorms. Trees shaking and bending (or worse yet, falling) due to high winds would be a unique and interesting threat to this kind of city.

Similarly, snow accumulating on too es and decks can collapse structures, and a heightened dry season can tremendously increase the chances of fire.

Awhich reminds me, do wildfires naturally occur in the area?

 It is cloudy in Whitebuck 135 days of the year and partly cloudy 61 days (out of a total 244 days). The city experiences at least .01 inches of rain 98 days a year. 140 inches of rain falls on the city annually. Whitebuck receives around 10 inches of snow, almost all of which falls around the Holy Day of Winter. Snow is a major threat to the city and so every adult is required by law to help shovel it off of the bridges, branches, walkways and structures. During the darkest days of Winter, many of the city's bridges are removed, to ease the burden of city maintenance (as well as eliminating avenues of travel for those who succumb to the clarion call of Yasgaram). In case of heavy snowfall, the moat that surrounds the city can be lit aflame to help increase the ambient temperature.

Windstorms (and thunderstorms) are relatively uncommon in Whitebuck. All of the trees were created to have impressively large root systems. The fact that Whitebuck is buried deep within the Dreaming Forest further mitigates the dangers of terrible windstorms. In case of a mighty storm, the trees can be tied down to the ground via rope and ironwood spikes. During the worst of such windstorms, Ironwood spells can be cast upon the trees themselves. However, the government is loathe to resort to this solution because the spell only lasts a few hours on such massive objects and the reagents required for such a powerful spell are as costly as they are rare.  

Though the trees may survive such storms, the structures built upon them may not. This is especially true in the Ochurs where there are few regulations. Whole neighborhoods can collapse, which often leads to many being injured or dying. Even knowing this, the Senate still refuses to pay for the maintenance of (what they view as) slums.

I really want to update the Amethyst Isles but I am way too busy right now. Sadly, sometimes life just isn't fair. I should be back to a regular posting schedule after the 15th.

I'm thinking of making a post about Rho-Elus and Micklewaif. The latter is interesting because it will be my first true post to deal with the main island.

I hope life clears up tidily for you.  I'll be looking forward to new posts for sure.  They'll make a nice early christamas present!

So this came up in my PbP campaign recently. I wanted to post it here for reference later.

The Rimecroft Imperium collapsed in this area about 20 years into the Seventy Years of Gloom. Many Legionaries were left behind when the Legions made a hasty evacuation. Of those that were left behind, most continued their duty to protect the people of Songwillow by amassing in Forgestar Keep. The decedents of those brave soldiers still man the castle to this day. The army at Forgestar isn't that different than the Imperial Legion of old in terms of hierarchy, structure and training. The level of professionalism there stands in stark contrast to the Knights and Men-At-Arms who now make up the bulk of the forces that protect Dreamglen.

The organizational structure is as follows:

- Pick: Smallest unit composed of 6 Legionaries and a non-commissioned officer called a No Beard.

- Shield: Composed of 6 Picks, lead by Short Beard (36 Legionaries + Officers).

- Helm: Composed of 6 Shields, lead by a Long Beard (216 Legionaries + Officers).

- Hammer: Composed of 6 Helms, lead by a Brave Beard (1296 Legionaries + Officers).

- Anvil: Composed of 6 Hammers, lead by a White Beard (7776 Legionaries + Officers).


Legion was a term adopted by the Imperium because that is what the nearest cultures to the original homeland of the Dwarves called their armies. the term Anvil and Legion are used interchangeable.

The Legion that called Songwillow home was the 31st Anvil. The Legion is nicknamed the Pit Bears, in honor of their near infamous nature to never surrender and fight to the bitter end.

The 31st Anvil has been in involved in a nearly constant war that has lasted over 70 years. The Legion struggles to maintain its numbers since battles in the Throat can often be violent and deadly. As such, the Anvil has not been at full strength since before the Gloom. Right now numbers are dwindling as the recent battles have proven quite draining. So right now there are only about 6,000 Legionaries, spread out between Forgestar, Bluerain, Rooteye and several temporary defensible positions serving as a buffer between the (northern and western) coasts and the Dreaming Forest.

Oooh.  I like that little detail.  Just a nitpick:  An Anvil shouldn't contain 6 Anvils.  I'm guessing you meant Hammers.  Very nice, though!  Have you considered what ranks are like?  Is the military professional?  Any famous units?

Quote from: Humabout
Oooh.  I like that little detail.  Just a nitpick:  An Anvil shouldn't contain 6 Anvils.  I'm guessing you meant Hammers.  Very nice, though!  Have you considered what ranks are like?  Is the military professional?  Any famous units?

Yes an Anvil is composed of an ever increasing number of Anvils until there is literally an ocean of Dwarves! :P

I do have some ideas for some famous units but do not have the time to list them out (finals cannot end soon enough). :(

I created an organizational chart for Songwillow to help me keep all of the different moving parts straight in my head.

Nice chart! This helps explain all of the relations.  Nice job!

I have uploaded the rough draft of the Map of Eastfarm to the cartography section of the main thread.