The Campaign Builder's Guild

Behold, the CBG August Contest:


In this contest, it is your job to create new frontier, beyond the boundaries of a typical campaign area.  Whether it is "beyond the black," several light years past the last planet in your sci-fi solar system, or if it just "over the hill," one mile beyond the cliché old, one-street village, what defines this frontier?  Here are some things to consider.

1 - Questions to consider and answer:
What is this scarcely-explored place?  What is its history?     What are its deadly dangers? What are its tantalizing lures? What sorts of people are trying to claim/map/explore/exploit it? What lives there already?  What are the mysteries surrounding it?  Why has it not been subsumed by the local government(s)?

2 - Don't be too broad:
You don't have to detail an entire unexplored continent, or heavens forbid, an entire galaxy that is currently unexplored.  This is a contest to describe the typical, "Here there be dragons," part of your campaign setting.  Just beyond the edges of the map.  Just past the old stone monolith in the Forbidden Forest.  The areas that contain myths and reasons for being unexplored, as well as those that are known to hold particular dangers.

3 - Some Necessary Includes:

* A detailed description of the area, in terms of climate, landscape, geology.
* A brief description of the closest governed area, whether it be the last planet in a system, or the last city-state in the region.
* A detailed reason for why the closest governed area has not attempted to (or succeeded at) fully explore and gain control of the frontier.
* A brief description of the final outpost/city/etc within the governed area before crossing the boundary into the frontier.
* At least one growing threat within the frontier that could be detrimental to the governed area.
* At least one detailed adventure location in the frontier (preferably with map, but that is not necessary).

4 - Some Possible Includes:

* A list of random encounters.
* A list of mythological references and superstitions to the frontier.

4b - Something NOT to include:

* A map.  All will be explained in due course, but it is unnecessary for you to create a map of your frontier-land.
* Setting-Specific Information.  The frontier needs to be able to stand on its own in any setting.  That means that if the frontier you design has to have a certain homebrew rule in place to properly function, you need to redesign your frontier to work with generic rulesets.

5 - Necessary Disclaimer Stuff (Below in Spoiler Box):
[spoiler=Disclaimers]
Please read all these rules before entering.  If you enter the contest, it is assumed that you have read and agree with all the rules presented below.  Any entries/contesters found in contrast with these rules will be disqualified from the contest and will be ineligible for any prizes.
0. VERY IMPORTANT All entries must be original content, or if outside material is used, it must be used with the express written permission of the original creator.  Anything that is the Product Identity (PI) of Wizards of the Coast can be used for submission, but will not be allowed to be published in the Guide, should it win.
1. No one under the age of seventeen (17) can enter a contest without the consent of a parent or a Legal Guardian.
2. Rules and guidelines will vary. Some restrictions may apply.
3. All winners will be contacted by e-mail within seven (7) days of the contest ending.
4. To claim your winning prize, simply follow the easy instructions in your e-mail notification.
5. If we do not hear from you within seven (7) days of notification, we'll select an alternate winner.
6. Read all the rules, entry requirements and deadlines of each contest before entering.
7. The Campaign Builders' Guild (the CBG) reserves sole and final judgment as to all matters concerning its contests. All decisions are final.
8. Winners are responsible for all Federal, State and Local taxes, if applicable.
9. Void where prohibited and where all Federal, State and local laws and regulations apply.
10. Prizes cannot be exchanged, substituted or transferred, without the prior written consent of the contest sponsor if applicable or the Campaign Builders' Guild (the CBG).  
11. Odds of winning a prize depends on the number of eligible entries received and are determined by each contest's specific  
 criteria of awarding prizes.  
12. If you are a contest winner you also authorize the Campaign Builders' Guild (the CBG) and its affiliates to use your name and/or screen name for promotion purposes and publicity purposes without compensation, as well as for use in the Campaign Builder's Guide.  
13. These rules are subject to change without notice.  
14. Unless otherwise specified, only members 17 years of age and under as stated in rule number 1 above in the general guidelines, and 18 years of age and older can enter or become eligible to win any of the prizes with respect to any contests or make any submissions of any kind to the Campaign Builders' Guild (the CBG).  
15. The Campaign Builders' Guild (the CBG) is not responsible for error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of your entry.  
16. You agree that the Campaign Builders' Guild (the CBG) and its respective representatives shall have no Liability, in connection with the acceptance and use of prizes awarded, including liability for personal injury and property damage.[/spoiler]

There will be a grand prize, and a runner-up in this contest.  Both winners will have their work featured in an upcoming issue of the Guide, and the grand prize winner will be able to choose an item from the Campaign Builder's Gear.  Now, currently, we are having an issue or two with our Campaign Builder's Gear site, and hopefully everything will be worked out by the end of the contest, but we have been unable to get the last contest winner's prize sent to him up to this date.  If the problem persists, we will find some other way to award the winner of this contest (as well as the last contest).

The contest will be going through 12:00 AM EST, Sunday, August 26, 2007.  After which, a winner will be chosen by vote, and a new contest will be presented for September.

Good luck!  May the best frontier win!

-Ish

PS - Please put all chit-chat, talk, funny remarks, discussion, and shenanigans in the Discussion Thread.

Updated with rule 4B

Rule 4B added to

Knock Knock!

[ooc]Here it is, my humble contribution. I hope you enjoy it, and likewise hope I haven't forgotten anything.

Cheers,
-LC[/ooc]


It's almost as if some cosmic painter ran out of paints, or perhaps out of attention, leaving a patch of blank canvas sprawling to the horizon.

Wind rushes by-- not howling, for there is nothing for it to howl against-- as if in a hurry to be somewhere else. As far as the eye can see, fine, pale sand lies in lazy dunes, shifting slowly with the wind, delicate pink as a pressed-upon fingernail. The rippling sands' languorous flowing seems almost a grisly caricature of an ocean in the hands of some idle god, its waves turned solid, ground into dust, slowed to an intolerable crawl. The color seems leeched out of even the sky here.

The sight is somewhat disturbing, but there's no time to stand and watch. Already, the powder-fine sand is shifting beneath your feet, drifting up around your ankles, getting started on drowning you. It's anybody's guess how many similar explorers have been buried alive out here, seeking wealth. It's enough to make a person hesitate before hiking off toward that pale horizon. Better not hesitate for too long; the Glass Ocean demands movement.

Your footprints vanish moments after you pass, and the landscape is a blank sprawl of canvas once again.

Cartographer's Notes

[note=Vague Directions]The Glass Ocean is not a Jade Stage project. It's intended to work fine when dropped into any setting, and as such, I'm leaving location and directions pretty vague. You might want to stick it on the east end of a continent, or you might want to stick it on the west. Who am I to contradict you by stating which direction the coast lies?[/note]The Glass Ocean is a peculiar desert, and explorers believe it to be geologically unique. It exists as a broad, wide expanse bounded by the Knucklebones on one side and the more conventional sea on the other. Estimates of the Glass Ocean's size can be made by measuring the length of its borders, but its lack of landmarks and peculiar winds (which similarly affect oceanic navigation off the Glass Ocean's shores) make reliable measurements impossible. Different explorers state the Glass Ocean's area to span anywhere from 500 to 25,000 square miles-- far too wide a range for comfort.

Copperhead Rock

The land-side boundary of the Glass Ocean is a low line of stone cliffs, knobbly and smooth from their constant exposure to the Ocean's sand-laden winds. So named because of their resemblance to the half-buried fingers of giant hands clawing their way from out of the earth, the Knucklebones are, for much of their length, little taller than the height of a man. They mark an abrupt drop in altitude for travelers entering the Glass Ocean, and it is perhaps due to some undocumented quality of their mineral composition that the Glass Ocean's strange weather stays confined to the desert.

Copperhead Rock is a small outpost atop the Knucklebones, built in the partial shadow of a large and prominent rock formation by the same name. The stone formation juts upward like an irate, scolding finger, leaning slightly over the edge of the desert, a welcome landmark for explorers returning to safety and civilization. The outpost is a scattered collection of brick-brown tents of varying sizes, some of which function as rented lodging for explorers and observers of the Ocean, others of which function as primitive supply depots stocked by entrepreneurial traders, and one which acts as barracks for a handful of wind-worn guards tasked with protecting Copperhead Rock from thieves or possible attacks from desert creatures.

Nothing in Copperhead Rock is self-sufficient-- there's no food or water to be had for miles. The outpost has no resident craftsmen, and even the simplest tools and supplies must be brought by caravan from Lemis Keep, the nearest city. Those that work at the Rock rely on funding from glass hunters in need of a staging area from which to explore the desert, and on the availability of supplies from the keep. Without either, Copperhead Rock would be abandoned.

Lemis Keep itself is small by castle standards, a white stone edifice perched on cliffs overlooking the sea. It stands about a half-day's swift ride from Copperhead Rock, though most travel, especially supply caravans, takes significantly longer. The keep and its surrounding lands are governed by the Duke of Lemis, a shrewd and logical man appointed to the position to curtail problems involving bandits and monsters in the region. The Duke of Lemis has become interested in the lucrative desert glass trade, but has yet to take official action on it, unconvinced that the profit is worth the Glass Ocean's risks.

Oceanic Weather

[note=Crunch - Properties of Desert Glass]The precise value and effect of desert glass can be adjusted by the GM based on a number of factors, not least of which are the world's magic/tech level, features of economy, and the GM's determination to lure players into the Glass Ocean. Some suggested uses are given below.

Smooth-Polished Glass...

* ...gives weapons an X% chance to bypass damage reduction they would not normally bypass.
* ...gives armor and protective gear a +X bonus to the wearer's saving throws against a randomly chosen school of magic.
* ...gives wands, staves, and similarly charged items an X% chance not to consume a charge when used.

Crystal-Faceted Glass...

* ...gives weapons an X% chance to inflict bonus electrical damage on a successful attack.
* ...gives armor and protective gear an X% chance to temporarily boost one of the wearer's ability scores when the wearer takes damage in battle.
* ...gives wands, staves, and similarly charged items an X% chance to act at an increased caster level when used.

[/note]The most easily noticeable weather feature of the Glass Ocean is its incessant wind. The constant, fast-moving gusts sweep the desert at all times, hastening or slackening their pace or changing direction in no predictable pattern. Those who have studied the winds say their uncanny behavior matches no other wind patterns in the world, but this lends them no useful insight for predicting when the winds will be comparatively mild and when they will be at their worst. Furthermore, the cause of the strange winds is unknown, and theories range from air-shaping channels in the Knucklebones to naturally occurring magical anomalies. Regardless, fine particles of windblown sand polish stone to a smooth sheen, assail unprotected skin, and lend a pale haze to the air, while causing the creeping dune phenomenon so reminiscent of ocean waves.

However, it is the lightning in the Glass Ocean that draws explorers and profiteers to the region. Though the sky is dry and cloudless, heat lightning strikes frequently in this desert, particularly at night. Ground strikes melt and vaporize patches of sand with their heat, and the frozen puddles of glass formed by the cooling molten sand bear unique properties-- and great value. This naturally-occurring desert glass contains its own unique arcane resonance, and can be used to create objects of power. When the desert glass is smoothed and polished into orbs or cut and faceted into artificial "crystals," it amplifies magical energy, a property that makes the material understandably coveted and expensive. Explorers in the Glass Ocean often brave its hazards in hopes of finding these lightning strike locations before the blowing sand conceals the valuable glass.

The lack of water to act as a heat reservoir means that temperatures in the Glass Ocean fluctuate wildly from day to night. The constant wind ameliorates the noonday heat somewhat, but temperatures at night can drop to freezing and below. These extremes are milder in the region of the desert nearest the sea, and the most seasoned travelers know that gradually warmer nights will indicate an approach to the shore several days before the smell of salt will.

Hazards!

[note=Things Malfunction]A combination of fierce winds, lingering electrical discharge, and hypothesized magical "background noise" make many things unreliable here. The following is a partial list of things that should probably not be relied upon.

* Carrying sound (including speech, shouting, and sonic-based magic)
* Spells and abilities that allow flight, or approximate it
* Ranged weaponry (projectiles are easily blown off course)
* Most devices with moving parts
* Wheeled vehicles, pack animals and riding beasts (which often become mired in the sand)
* Magnets (including compass needles)

[/note]In addition to the blowing sand and temperature extremes, travelers in the Glass Ocean must prepare adequate food and water supplies, and conserve them zealously. Foraging is all but impossible in this desert, and immoderate or careless explorers may easily find themselves dying of hunger or thirst. The bewildering winds, shifting dunes, and lack of landmarks magnify this problem; even with careful rationing, travelers may become lost in the desert, unable to find their way out to safety before supplies are exhausted.

A more familiar hazard wears humanoid form-- explorers must be wary of each other, because the high value of a successful desert glass find can ignite murderous avarice, and brigands have been known to kill desert travelers on the mere suspicion that they might be carrying raw glass out of the desert.

Creatures that Call This Place Home

Life in the Glass Ocean is scarce, and some explorers go for days, weeks, or even entire expeditions without encountering living creatures. Only the hardiest of beasts can survive the punishing climate, and competition, particularly against ill-prepared humanoid explorers, can be fierce.

[note=Extra Creepy Creatures]The Glass Ocean seems mostly empty, but that's no good reason to make assumptions. GMs may wish to populate it with a few tougher, scarier monsters, in addition to the smaller creature hazards and difficult weather conditions. The best choices for inclusion are creatures that can stay well-hidden, maintaining the desert's illusion of relative emptiness. Sand-burrowing dragons and wind-riding zephyrs are among my favorite choices, with various reptiles, carrion birds, and burrowing nasties taking honorable mention.[/note]Glassflies can be found in most parts of the Ocean, and many explorers jokingly attribute their presence to the spiteful curse of some god or wizard. These beetle-like insects can fly for short distances and can burrow in sand, and their translucent shells are quite strong. The vary widely in size, from the width of a fingernail to the size of large rats, and tend to travel in swarms. Because of the vast numbers of glassflies in the Ocean and the lack of plant matter, most people assume that the flies are the beginning link of desert food chains, and that they eat the desert's sand, adding its minerals to their glossy exoskeletons. They sting painfully and occasionally attack larger creatures, though their reasons for doing so are unknown. A popular theory is that they use carcasses to lay their eggs, but this has not been confirmed. Their stings raise painful welts and induce mild fever, but most hazardous is the desperately increased thirst that results from the injury. Only the largest of glassflies are capable of significantly injuring the typical explorer, but once stung, a victim's chances of surviving the desert must be severely reevaluated.

Certain hardy species of large lizards dwell in the Glass Ocean as well, tending to stay within a short distance of Shale-Table Cay or other sources of water. They use glassflies as a source of food, cracking the tough shells with their overdeveloped jaws, protected from stings by their leathery scales. These lizards do not typically attack travelers unless they feel threatened. However, they are intelligent enough to steal food and water supplies, and can bite through most types of containers to get access to their contents. They tend to sun themselves by day, becoming active at night, so travelers are advised to sleep lightly and guard their supplies well.

Getting Lost...

Navigation in the Glass Ocean is nigh-impossible. The area is unmapped, unexplored, and devoid of landmarks. No guides know the secrets of its constantly-flowing wavelike dunes. Compass needles drift aimlessly, with no confidence in the idea of "north." Only the careful and prepared explorers choose to tackle these difficulties, and the smart ones pack extra water and rations to account for the likelihood of getting lost.

It takes very little time for a traveler in the Glass Ocean to move out of sight of the Knucklebones. With a bleak, flat horizon on all sides and a constantly-shifting wind erasing one's footsteps, it can be difficult to maintain a straight course. Unwary or unlucky wanderers can trek in circles for days without realizing their peril.

... And What You Might Find

The following is a short list of some of the most common things travelers may stumble upon in the Glass Ocean. Some travelers have reported seeing such strange and remarkable things that heatstroke and dehydration-induced hysteria are the most credible explanations, while others may travel for weeks and see nothing but sand.

[note=Keeping Challenges Challenging]Most of the dangers of the Glass Ocean involve environmental hazards-- hunger, thirst, and exposure. Even the creatures fit this theme, being primarily dangerous because they increase explorers' chances of being caught without sufficient supplies to escape the desert. This means that magic can very easily short-circuit this entire area, since standard D&D rules give even neophyte spellcasters tricks to survive the desert. Spells that conjure food and water, help casters navigate, teleport, or weather the elements can take much of the desert's sting away. A group with rings of sustenance or a few bags of holding stashed with provisions could survive here indefinitely, assuming they can avoid bandits. For these reasons the Glass Ocean works best in low-magic worlds, or worlds where access to these spells is limited.

For games in higher-magic settings, the GM is obligated to short-circuit the players' problematic magical abilities and resources to preserve the Glass Ocean's challenge. The easiest way to do this is to accentuate the effects of the Ocean's peculiar magical "background noise," so that it interferes with conjuration and teleportation effects that attempt to move or create objects or people within the desert. This also nicely explains why no other groups of adventurers have used magic to conquer the Glass Ocean, but be prepared for players to (rightly) label this a cheap trick.

It is also possible to interpret that the combination of natural arcane interference and incessant howling winds make it impossible for spellcasters to replenish their spell supplies within the Glass Ocean. This does nothing to address problematic equipment, but provides thematic unity by converting spells into a resource that must be conserved over days or weeks-- just like travelers' food and water stores.[/note]

*

Stones. Occasional boulders litter the desert, worn smooth by eternities of blown sand. Travelers use them for landmarks or for places to rest, creatures burrow beneath them for shade, and on rare occasions, a few sips of water may collect in concavities in their surfaces. The largest and most fabled of these stones is Shale-Table Cay.
* Glass Deposits. For most people, these are the goal of a trip into the Glass Ocean. Escape the desert with this solid puddle of murky glass, and it's payday!
* Lightning Storms. Frequently occuring at night, these strange, dry storms light up the sky with flickers of power. If lightning strikes the ground, you may be able to locate the site of freshly-baked desert glass.
* Whirlwinds. The constantly-shifting wind is always fast, strong, and unpredictable, but it is at its most dangerous when whipped into a swirling funnel. The force of such winds can fling travelers to the ground, bombard them with debris, and leave them bloodied and reeling.
* The Same Place You Just Were. Between the constantly shifting wind, the moving dunes, and the dearth of landmarks, it's easy to get turned around and end up walking in circles. Don't feel too bad (unless you're still lost when your supplies run out.)
* Glassflies. Singly or in swarms, these creatures have been known to make glass hunters particularly uneasy. Their quickness, (usual) small size, and tough shells make them difficult to kill, and they often emerge from the ground to the surprise of travelers who unwittingly disturb their burrows.
* Lizards. By day, they lounge, nearly immobile. By night, they hunt food, in the form of glassflies or travelers' provisions. Many glass hunters have awoken to find supply sacks and metal canteens bitten in half, their contents consumed.
* Bandits. Some people are of the opinion that delegation is a vital part of any entrepreneurial endeavor. These people delegate oft-unwitting others to search the Glass Ocean for glass finds, and delegate themselves to collect and redistribute that glass. In all honestly, many of the occupational hazards of glass hunting have little to do with the harsh desert, and everything to do with this sort of workplace competition, if you catch my drift.
* Corpses. Many people die in the desert. Some of them are still carrying useful supplies of some kind when they do, though food and water are not to be expected.
[/list]

Shale-Table Cay

Several groups of explorers have reported finding a broad, flat shelf of stone in the midst of the Glass Ocean. Because its shape and size give it the impression of an island amid the sandy "waves," career desert trekkers trade stores of "Shale-Table Cay" in Copperhead Rock's homely inn. The strange "island" is a difficult landmark to spot from a distance because of its low profile, and even those who have found it before are often unable to rediscover it on subsequent expeditions. Nevertheless, Glass Ocean explorers often arm themselves with vague directions and attempt to head out into the general area where they think Shale-Table Cay might be found.

[note=What is a Cay?]A typical cay is a low island formed by accumulations of coral or sand. The term applies to Shale-Table Cay with a healthy dose of irony. The word "cay" is pronounced exactly like the word "key."[/note]According to travelers' descriptions, Shale-Table Cay is an elongated sheet of smooth, flat rock, perhaps one hundred feet in width and three times as long, which rests on the Glass Ocean's sandy surface. It serves travelers as a welcome piece of solid ground, where one can rest without being half-buried in sand upon awakening. The sun-warmed rock offers little protection from the wind and heat, but astounded travelers claim that fresh water collects in natural basin-like indentations in the stone, and that the rock is host to various lichen growths that are tasteless but nourishing.

The presence of water and food make Shale-Table Cay a natural gathering place for wild creatures. Glassflies and desert reptiles can usually be found there, and the latter may become violent if they feel their water source is in danger from interlopers. Some travelers are wary of Shale-Table Cay because of possible ambushes arranged by glass thieves, and others are convinced that the Cay is merely a fable constructed by thieving explorers to lure gullible searchers to their dooms. Other sorts of speculation involve complex networks of caverns beneath the Cay, where some travelers claim to have found shelter, discovered fantastic treasures, or narrowly escaped swarms of carnivorous glassflies.

Hornbeam's Hypothesis

Copperhead Rock has been weathering an increased number of glassfly attacks in recent weeks-- one guard killed a burrowing glassfly the size of a small dog that had appeared outside the inn tent, and now wears a part of its shell as a clasp for his cloak. While some deny that this represents an uncomfortable trend, there is one observer who does not; Hagil Hornbeam's controversial studies of sand, desert-glass, and glassfly carapace samples have not endeared him to Copperhead Rock's treasure hunters, who have derisively labeled him "sandrat," but he spends much of his time outside the supply tents just the same, studying his samples and urging passing entrepreneurs to leave any valuable glass discoveries in the desert where they find them.

Hornbeam's research has led him to believe that the desert lightning, glass formation, and wind-driven erosion represent an energy-preserving cycle. Specifically, buildups of the Glass Ocean's peculiar, naturally-occurring arcane energy accumulate in the air until they are discharged to earth in the form of lightning. These lightning bolts deposit their energy in the formations of desert glass they create, accounting for the magical properties of the glass. Erosion eventually reduces the glass deposits back to fine sand, releasing the stored energy back into the air, where it can build up for another lightning strike. The problem, according to Hornbeam's theory, is that by removing glass deposits from the Ocean for processing and commercial use, glass hunters are disrupting a vital natural cycle in the area, causing dangerous energy imbalances that are driving the glassflies to frenzy.

Hornbeam insists that the increase in glassfly activity, as well as the unprecedented large size of glassflies that have attacked, is only the first symptom of the imbalance. His theory that the lightning cycle acts as a safety valve on the Glass Ocean's wind and weather also states that this valve is the only thing keeping the desert's size in check. He predicts that unless desert glass collection ceases, the Glass Ocean's weather anomalies will intensify and spill out over the protective cliffs of the Knucklebones, spreading the area of the desert itself, with no foreseeable end in sight.

The sandrat suffers insults and threats from explorers and traders who accuse him of baseless alarmism, or even deliberate sabotage of the desert glass trade, and has begun to fear for his life. Still, he travels between Lemis Keep and Copperhead Rock, urging magistrates and passing travelers alike to believe his theories.

[ooc]The skies above  my setting were populated by the opening shot of Vampire Hunter D.  The moons eclipsing of a much larger celestial body implied not only that much time had passed between now and the far future setting of that tale, but that a great and terrible reordering of the cosmos had occurred.  I like the look of that sky so much, I swiped it.

This entry disobeys a couple of the rules of the contest; just for starters, it's frickin' huge.  It's a Jupiter-sized planet right in the main worlds sky; on the other hand, this means that it can be placed into a campaign without too much fuss or bother.  Just ignore the first couple of paragraphs and say that Thuvol is only visible as a planetary object in the night sky, normally of interest only to astronomers.  Even in our night sky, Jupiter isn't often that big of a deal.  

By the same token, Thuvol's size can be adjusted to suit the campaign, but that shouldn't be much of an issue.  Thuvol can only be reached from the campaign setting world with the support of powerful magic.  That magic could set explorers down anywhere, so why not right next to one of the rare interesting landmarks?

I originally intended to introduce the Thoon from Monster Manual V in the final couple of paragraphs, but have been informed that these creatures and sources are WOTC PI.  This is annoying, but it's just as well - the whole idea of this 'intrusion' is to bring something mysterious and new into the game, and any DM worth his salt has a supply of such things already tailored for his group.  This is just the occasion on which to bring out that contagious zombie virus...[/ooc]

The skies of Ferakoss are dominated by a Sun, a Moon, a Moonlet that orbits the Moon, various stars and nebulae in the deeps of the void, and Thuvol.  Thuvol is known as the Cold Sun; technically it is larger than the Sun and circles it in a much wider orbit than does Ferakoss, but the laws at work in the world have decreed that the Sun will be the center of all.  This means that for most of the year the Cold Sun is perfectly visible to the human eye.  (Dragons and other creatures whose eyes are protected from glare say that Thuvol is visible to them even when it is fully eclipsed by the sun.)  

When Thuvol is plainly visible, it is usually only present as a greyish-brown disk in the sky, blocking the stars but not the Moon or Moonlet.  For most folks, the only real influence of Thuvol is during its midnight position; for about twenty days out of the year the tides are higher and the weather patterns across the world are more intense, but that's about all.  For observers of the skies and students of the unexplored, however, Thuvol is a gold mine.

Thuvol is literally bigger than the world.  Normally it would be pointless to attempt to describe such an area, but the matter is simplified here by the fact that most of the Thuvol-scape is fairly undifferentiated.  It is truly a vast wasteland, its plains of ashen dust somewhat light on the dayside and dark on the nightside as discerned by magical or otherwise exotic farviewing.  It appears that there are only a few actual features of interest.

The first of these is the Boneyard.  According to the histories, about twelve thousand years ago a race of oceanic dragons were guided in visions to Thuvol.  Using an advanced teleportation ritual they departed the circle of the world and landed on Thuvol.  Farviewers on Ferakoss monitored their lives for nearly a century, but their records are muddled.  The bones of these emigrant dragons can be found heaped near the northern pole; the skulls can be found in a distinct heap some distance away from the rest of the skeletons.  All that is clearly remembered is that they did not die of starvation.

Around the equator is a structure known as the Temple of Dusk.  It is so large as to be visible as a dot on the surface of Thuvol when viewed by the best of the gnomish telescopes; those who have farviewed it say the Temple is too large to be an artifact, but too regular to be natural.  Observation of its enterior has never been recorded.

About two centuries ago, the certain forces of the Accord of Civilization attempted to explore the regions above the clouds.  They sent expeditions both to the Moon and the Moonlet; the latter proved to be uninhabitable in the long term, but a base was established on the Moon.  This base is more or less self sustaining; the flora and fauna of the moon are sparse, but soil and seeds taken to the moon have flourished.  Combining the increasingly magnificent Gardens of the Moon with the supplies traded with the Moons native inhabitants has ensured that the Moon Base of the Neo Astral Sentinels of the Accord (NASA) will retain its typical compliment of about a thousand inhabitants for the forseeable future.

This base has permitted a remarkably clear view of Thuvol.  This observational capacity was of little worth until a Neo Astral vessel using spelljamming equipment set off on an exploration of Thuvol, intending to set down near the Temple of Dusk as a landmark.  Before landing the crew of this vessel, the Tiercel, communicated to the Moon base that they had determined Thuvol to be an Earth/Negative body, and would take appropriate precautions.  Despite the breathable atmosphere found and the liveable gravity, the precautions included cutting their intended stay to a mere three days from the original fifteen days planned.  Observers on the Moon and on Ferakoss followed the progress of the Tiercel as it landed without incident.  Nothing at all has been heard from the crew of the Tiercel since.  The Tiercel itself is still visible to farviewing, flawlessly landed on the barren surface of Thuvol, and empty.

Recently, another expedition has been observed departing to Thuvol, this time a ship of unknown origin shaped like a nautilus.  As this ship was launched from regions known to harbor inimical monstrosities they were monitored closely but not contacted.  The nautilus ship was observed to land on Thuvol, slightly closer to the Temple of Dusk than the Tiercel.  It remained there for four days, then lifted off and headed back toward Ferakoss.  It landed in a mountainous region leading more or less directly to the Underlands, from which it had been launched.  Rumors from this region say that in the sixty years since the balance of power has changed radically - the local inhuman population appears to have been altered in some way by what might be a cult or sect encouraging even more dangerous and aggressive behavior than usual.  

The precise details remain obscure, as those expeditions attempting to explore or scout this region have not returned.  

Remember Guys, I'm extending the deadline on this until Wednesday (probably around 9:00 PM EST on said day).  Hope to get a few more entries in from some of you who requested the extension.

The JunkScape

[spoiler]This is an unexplored frontier of the real world. A place where 'real' people don't travel, where only the dregs of our society fit in, and a place we really don't want to exist at all.

You see, the only way into the junkscapes is Heroin.

[note=What a freak]"Ever seen a bum, probably all messed up on drugs, stumbling about? Sometimes they wander up to people as if they know them, and begin to speak gibberish at them excitedly, as if they were trying to communicate something incredibly vital, yet wholly untranslatable to our own frame of reference?" [/note]


The JunkScapes the world you can only interact with while 'on the nod', under the influence of heroin and its close cousins. While on the nod, you can see the world as others cannot, and you can interact with the strangers who live in that version of reality - the mugwumps and other strange Burroughs-esque creatures that exist exclusively in a state of drugged hallucinations. The 'wildlife' of this world is tragically apropos for the junkies who visit them - con-men, dealers, information brokers, traders in illicit vice, and other sullied affairs. The mugwumps are universally paranoid, unpleasant, quiet creatures who look for opportunities in using those who visit them.

[note=Mandatories]
A detailed description of the area, in terms of climate, landscape, geology.
The Junkscapes are like a junky's view of the real world. Everything is dirtier, seedier, and more mutable. Tall buildings look like they loom instead of stand, and alleys are narrow and far-reaching. While most places seem busy, they are actually abandoned, because the junkies are used to not noticing other people or being noticed by them. These 'crowds' are but phantoms where crowds should be.

A brief description of the closest governed area, whether it be the last planet in a system, or the last city-state in the region.

The real world. Everything is coterminus with the JunkScapes. Wherever you are, if you shoot up, there you are.

A detailed reason for why the closest governed area has not attempted to (or succeeded at) fully explore and gain control of the frontier.

The Control Machines run this place. The government can't actually fathom what they've created here. It is a world only suited to the minds of junkies.

A brief description of the final outpost/city/etc within the governed area before crossing the boundary into the frontier.

The first place you will see when you enter the JunkScapes is typically your cheap room where you shot up, but different, from the other side of the junk-sickness. Most people then travel to a local bar or restaurant where the mugwumps gather and trade in old, burned out junkies.

At least one growing threat within the frontier that could be detrimental to the governed area.

The Control Machines are insane and want to control the world, not just the junkscapes. And they want to control each other.
[/note]The reality is that these creatures are a byproduct of the visitors to the world - the creations of paranoid and junk-sick minds who realize that the fix is only temporary, and they will have to find more as soon as they leave in order to return. Thus, there are other types of wildlife here too, based on other needs and desires of generations of junkies - from the dreams of ancient shamans, to the idols and loa of modern urban primitives. But the origin of these creatures, the wildlife of the junkscapes, is a secret of the game, not handed out to the players, but used in the design stages to develop the local wildlife.

The 'native fauna' of the junk world is generally the creation of the junky. A mugwump actually doesn't exist when there are no junkies around to interact with it. This serves two purposes - first, it reinforces the concept that the junk world is not a wholly seperate world, but exists purely as an extension of our own. Secondly, it gives the mugwumps a reason to cluster in areas where there are junkies - effectively, they like to stick near people who will interact with them in order to live. This gives us social groupings and areas of interest with populations of native life, and the rest of the place is generally abandonned - this makes social interaction more interesting in a limited population game such as Junk Dreams. This also makes the mugwumps desperate - a race of con artists, drug dealers, information brokers and fast talkers, eager to tell you or sell you exactly what you want... and odds are if you want it badly enough, they will just 'happen' to have it for you thanks to their own mutable nature - and of course they won't give it to you for free, because junkies know that everything has a price...


Origins of the JunkScape and the Control Machines.

When the CIA began testing drugs on soldiers and other Americans, the goal was to discover a means to control and contain them - to turn the drugs into part of the overall conditioning program used to keep us all in check, having the many doing what needs to be done in the eyes of the few. Of course, like most intense trips, they found what they were looking for. The underlying need to find a means to control became the impetus for the Control Machines. The very foundation of their existence is to control everything within the junkscapes. Born from a subconscious need for order, reinforced by government paranoia, and fed by the fears of the unwitting subjects of these very experiments, the Control Machines are not so much malicious as the personification of paranoia and the need to maintain order.

Soldiers are trained to dehumanize the opponents, to think of them as machines. The Control Machines, born of the junk dreams of these soldiers, seek to dehumanize the world, to see it on a holistic scale where societal groupings are what they deal with, not individuals. Individualism is chaotic, humanizing, personal. Everything the Control Machines see is patterns, smooth flows of data, quiet and unintrusive. If their world-view was so simplistic as this, perhaps they could be somehow beneficial to society as a whole. But beneath the logic and pattern-recognition is a deeply neurotic mind, one birthed of paranoia and fear. While big government was looking for control mechanisms, the guinea pigs in the experiments were isolated, thrown into incredibly deep trips into the junkscapes without proper preparation, nor the mind-set that could grasp what was occuring. The man was always there, always watching, waiting for a report, for the right report. The drugs changed from day to day, trip to trip. The settings were cold, sterile, hostile. The reports were written and fed into machines (electronic and bureaucratic, uncaring and daunting, consuming and consumptive) unrelentingly and with no perceivable result. The test subjects had to find out how to survive in this environment, and a hostile climate of cold paranoia was the best defence. But shields such as those are impossible to maintain in the face of massive dosages and deep immersion trips into the junkscapes. The facade had to crack, and the paranoia was tinted with fear, wonder and horror - and a need to escape the junkscapes, to return to the normal world beyond.

The Control Machines are the imperfect melding of these neurotic memes - the need to dehumanize and abstract, to control and maintain, to find and keep a status quo and the irrational fear of existance, a deep-rooted hatred and paranoia where everything is completely beyond the ability to control and a deep-seated need to be reminded of their own humanity in the face of an uncaring, devouring machine. Each Control Machine is its own worse enemy, except for the other Control Machines.

For there are many.

The experiments that created the Control Machines were not universal, nor linked. Around the globe, Control Machines came into existence despite themselves, each a paranoid entity confined to the junkscapes and seeking to control everything, and to escape the limits of the junkscape. Each bears remarkably similar neuroses, tinted by the scenario that birthed it. Each sees the others as a horrible abomination, something that seeks to repress and control it, that wants to reduce it to a pattern, something to be controlled and monitored. Each fights to be an individual in the face of the Control Machines.

The Control Machines have managed to exist independently of the junkies now, although they were born of their paranoia and fear. While junkies went into the junk world afraid of the junk, full of self-loathing and paranoia about the 'man', the man went in also, looking for something to control people, a tool to be used to keep the world in line, predictable and placid. They both found what they were looking for, of course, and these became the Control Machines. The Control Machines want the status quo. They want people to sit still, not revolt, and watch a little more TV, thank you. They don't want drug addicts, they don't want crime, they just want the world to keep on spinning nice and quiet-like. The Control Machines seem to present a unified front, but in fact there are many of them, each with somewhat different goals and opinions, based on their conception. In southeast Asia, the Control Machine first appeared in the Opium Dens. This Control Machine wanted peace, quiet, and changelessness. However, with the Vietnam War, many American GIs discovered heroin and joined into the junk world there. These men were seeking to forget the horrors of war, they were looking to go home, back to America, to be anywhere but here. The Control Machine became fairly psychotic after this, a meld of Asian and American influences - wanting to go home, wanting to stop the commies, but also wanting everything to be quiet and unchanging. It remains a very strange and confused machine to this day. Control Machines in other areas show other influences, but most of the ones are in Europe and America, and are insistent that each one must control the world.

But a new meme is travelling among them. Somewhere, a communist Control Machine has started thinking that they ALL should control the world, and those Control Machines that accept this meme become part of this hive-mind, while the others fight it. So even the Control Machines are fighting one another with memes and more direct methods through junkies, and in the real world.

While the Control Machines are playing humans like puppets, controlling minds into a soporific and quiet existence of ignorance and bliss, the CIA maintains several teams of operatives that work within the junkscapes in order to suppress those addicts who have seen the Control Machines and who now work against them. The rapid spread of HIV and HepC through injection drug use has little to do with the diseases themselves, but is a weapon used by the operatives in their work to control and suppress the junkie population.

Playing in the JunkScapes

[note=William S Burroughs]Cut word lines
Cut music lines
Smash the Control Images
Smash the Control Machines
[/note]
A character discovering the junkscapes by default are those who are taking heroin and other similar narcotics. Within their hallucinations, they have discovered that there is much more to the world than what they can see when between fixes. In the drug-addled world, they have new found powers to change what is around them, or even to change themselves. Around them are armies of sleeping people who don't know the threats posed by the Control Machines, people who they cannot awaken while in their junk fixes, and who don't listen to them when they are not on the nod.

The 'normal' world in Junk Dreams is our own '" this setting meshes nicely with most modern RPG settings, especially conspiracy and horror-oriented settings. In this world, the players have little ability to enact change or even to protect themselves.

Because of the Control Machines, junkies with connections and money, resources of any kind, find themselves unable to maintain them because they will estrange some through their own drug habits, and because the Control Machines use these resources to track down and eliminate those who oppose them. In time, the 'normal' characters will all be recluses, bums, homeless junkies and addicts eking out an existence to score their next fix. With extended play in the junkscapes, game play in the 'normal' world will transition into something painfully bleak, with the GM calling all the shots as in many traditional RPGs.

The 'junkscapes' are a place of potential and change. Events in the junkscape are much more mutable, with the characters having the ability to change elements of the environment as play progresses, making junkscape play significantly more narrativist in feeling, as the characters earn the ability to enact change - after all, if this space can only be seen through drug use, it will in time reflect the visions and peculiarities of your trip. Characters will earn tokens in play that can be used at the simplest level to enhance rolls or actions, or even to do 'the impossible' in some situations. Some characters will develop talents that allow them to change themselves or others directly, while others will see their junk selves as stronger, faster, or more acutely aware than their 'normal' selves. All of these abilities require the expenditure of these tokens, but more advanced expenditures are possible - actually changing the world around them, creating new story tangents, manipulating events through force of will, and so on. The ability to actually change the narration of the story is not explained to the players, but becomes available to the characters as they advance and learn about the world around them. Sooner or later, someone will wish for something, and instead of ignoring it, the GM asks for a number of tokens from the player, and changes the storyline as suits.

Junkies also have their own memes. Various junkies have different ideas about what they are experiencing when they get their fix. The most common meme is actually the truth, but there are others - people who believe that they are seeing the aliens who run the world (think "They Live"), others think of the junk fauna as Angels or Demons or both. Some even see the junk world as the next step in human evolution - pharmolution, enhancing the race through pharmeceutical change.

The Control Machines can create puppets from junkies that they overwhelm in the junk world. A junky who is fully immersed in the junk world faces such a fate if they are 'killed' by a Control Machine. Most junkies never get that deep into the junk world, maintaining lower doses for a variety of reasons, often of finances or self-preservation. However, a truly hard-core junky will skirt the edge of overdose with every trip - some do it to get as far away from the world as possible without actually commiting suicide directly, others because they need to be immersed that deeply in order to use their abilities to change the junk world... the most powerful abilities require very deep immersion, and open you up to fates far worse than death. [/spoiler]

Those are my first notes, Still have to go in and add an adventure about the China White overdoses in Vancouver.

[ooc]I don't like the way this came out. I am just glad I wasn't the only one of two people entering again. I wish I didn't have to work, it may have come out the way I wanted it. I said I was going to post it, even it wasn't finished. [/ooc]


[spoiler=Iyceths Haven]
The land north of Gularth is mostly flat plains. In the winter the ground is covered in snow and the temperature drops significantly. In the Spring and summer the weather warms enough to melt the snow, but in most places only short grass can grow in the cold dirt. The short grass is still enough to feed the mammoths that roam the land.

A few predators roam this land feeding on the herbivores, but the biggest threats to the gentle giants are the tribes of the Magrim*. The Magrim are very territorial and primal. They are constantly warring with one another when other tribesmen are found another territory.

Gularth (Nation before the end of the world):
Many of the Gularth, a peaceful nation occupying the northern most point of the continent, believe that Icyeth has claimed all beyond the mountains as hers. A great wind blows over, known as Icyeth's breath, and through the mountains, known as Kertak's teeth, making traveling to the other side impossible. Icyeth is said to have chosen this land and lives there with her pet, a large Polar Bearesque creature named Kertak.

King Gul the 5th has kept up the traditions passed down by his forefathers. Every winter they hold a festival in honor of Iceyth. The winters in the north range from mild to harsh as the season progresses. The festival is to thank Icyeth for a bountiful harvest and to ask for a better growing season the next.  The summers are usually cool and good for growing grains, corn, and other vegetables that keep the small nation fed through the winter. The mountains protect them from the most harsh weather that would threaten there crops. This is why King Gul the 5th and the kings before him have celebrated Icyeth.

The treacherous wind and the belief that a god has taken this land as her home have kept the people of Gularth from traveling over the mountains. They do however mine their side of the mountains for the precious metals that can be found within. There are two mining towns that supply Gurlath with gold and adamantine. Gurlath trades these metals with the other nations.

The adamantine mine is a prison camp known as the Kertak's belly. For many to be sentenced to the adamantine mines are a death sentence. They are sent there to waste away as though they were being digested in the belly of a beast for their crimes.

The gold mines, found about four hundred miles to the west, are individually owned by the inhabitants of Lureth. Some of the mines are worked by indentured servants, others by paid teams of miners, and others that are mined by their owners. It was one of these privately owned and mined mine that lead to the discovery of a way passed the mountains and into a once unknown land.

The discovery:
Duriel and Samoth are brothers that mine the mountains near Lureth. While digging they uncovered a cave system that led to the other side of the mountain. Excited they followed the tunnels, marking the walls along the way so they could find their way back. After about an hour of travel the brothers were greeted by one of the only wooded regions in Icyeth's haven. They could barely contain the wonder they felt. They were the first to step foot inside the haven. Samoth spoke first, naming this forest after him. Duriel, cursing himself for not thinking of it first, declares the next thing they find is his. It was shortly after this exchange that a shadow caught Duriel's eye. The brother's turned to see a creature covered in bark. When it spoke in common the brothers did not know what to think. Afraid that they had angered Icyeth, the two ran back to the caves and back to their mine. Unknown to them they had met one of their people banished ages ago, now known as an Anurad.**

Adventure Site:
Samoth's forest is filled with dangers. Large cats wait in the trees ready to pounce on their prey. It has been claimed by the Magrim tribe Kilukamo. The Anurad have been able to live in the forest, but cannot leave its borders. This forest must be traversed to get anywhere else in the Haven.

Adventure Hooks:
-Kilukamo scouts spotted the mining brothers and followed them to the cave system. After finding the cave system, they reported back to their elders. War is now declared on the intruders
-The miners of Lureth want to mine for gold on the other side of the mountains hoping to find new veins. However they are afraid of the bark monsters that Duriel and Samoth described on their return.
-Panic has broke out in the Lureth when Duriel and Samoth reported what they found. The people are afraid that Iyceth will bring her wrath upon the town. A sighting of a polar bear has strengthen this belief. Duriel and Samoth have fled and now Lureth is hiring adventures to hunt them down.

[table=Random Encounters while in Iyceth's Haven:]
[tr][th]d%[/th][th][/th][/tr]
[tr][td]01-15[/td][td]Magrim Scouting party 2-4[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]15-20[/td][td]Panther [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]21-30[/td][td]Magrim Sentinel (1 Magrim warrior with wolf companion)[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]31-48[/td][td]Pack of wolves 3-4[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]49-53[/td][td]Anurad hunting party 4-5 (normally peaceful)[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]54-70[/td][td]Family of Mammoths*** 5-10 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]71-75[/td][td]Magrim Warring party 15-25 warriors[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]76-90[/td][td]Thunderstorm or Snowstorm.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]91-100[/td][td]Windstorm or Blizzard (strong winds)[/td][/tr]
[/table]
*Primal tribes of humans. Normally Barbarians, Rangers and Druids.
**Found in thee April edition of the Campaign Builder's Guide pages 10 and 11.
***Use elephant if you do not have access to Frostburn.
[/spoiler]

8 more hours.  This contest closes at 9:00 PM EST.  Cheers!

Closed.  Time for a vote.