Karasend and the Murkmire

[Elemental_Elf]

 [spoiler=Larger map] [/spoiler]

The history of Karasend began with the first Human settlers, who came to the continent in times immemorial, centuries prior to the Martyr's Massacre. The first humans were foreigners in a foreign land; a land where great trees whispered to each other, mighty Orcs roamed the vast jungle, killing with impunity and noble Elves dabbled with magic beyond their comprehension.  

It was into this wild, untamed land, that the first humans arrived from a distant land few remember. Humans, being masters of metal and war, quickly established themselves near the opening of what came to be known as the Sea of Kara. Unfortunately for the race of men, the Murkmire forest was (and remains) nigh impossible to clear; farmers would work from dawn till dusk clearing land, only to find a fully grown forest when the morn came. And such was men's plight for two hundred years.
From a distant unknowable realm came the forces of Baazra; thousands of hideously grotesque fire creatures spewed forth from the five fire portals. The enemy burned the Murkmire to cinders, and used magic unknown to seal the forest beyond the great ashen walls. The enemy soon turned its eye from forest, to inhabitants and began a systematic extermination of all life.

With their intent obvious, Men and Elf and Orc, made unlikely allies by the enemy waged a war for survival, a war for life, a war for freedom. After many years of defeat, the unlikely allies discovered how to shut the fire portals, thanks in part to Elvish knowledge and Orc brashness. When all five of the portals had been shut, only the great Fire Horde remained, held up in their great fire fortress named for their homeland '" Baazra.
And there they sat for seventy-five years, while the unlikely allies laid siege. When finally, the great fire walls had been extinguished, only horrid sights of beardless Azer feasting on their comrades' corpses remained for the allies. There was no great battle, no honor, nothing.

The allies murdered what few Dwarves, as the beardless Azer came to be known, that remained in the fortress. Then, with great effort, the Elves sealed the city away into a pocket dimension, citing its possible need come another war.
With the enemy defeated, the allies soon fractured on racial lines, and went their separate ways. Men forged a great Kingdom that still stands to this day; The Elves wandered back into the forests, except for a handful that established a grand Kingdom; The Orcs, as with the elves, retreated into the familiarity of the forest, though many stayed, wandering the barren land for any foe worthy of their rage.

The war ended some four hundred years ago, the sealing of the Fortress Baaraza beginning the new calendar of Men and Elf. With the land cleared, and the forest kept at bay, many new creatures found their way into the lands of the Humans, including the quirky Gnomes, the vigorous Gnolls and the winged Raptorans. Yet for every race welcomed by man, came another that was not so welcome, including the shifty Goblins, the commanding Centaurs and worst of all the stalwart Dwarven refugees who established a mighty Empire to the south.

The forest hides many beautiful, horrid and dangerous creatures both intelligent and not. Few dare to tread outside of the Charred land; those that do are rarely heard from again'¦
 

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I intend to update this setting every few days both in response to your ideas, concerns and criticism as well as my own natural need to expand everything.

Please note that this setting is being developed for my players who requested a 'standard setting,' what ever that means. I asked them, instead of giving me a blank slate, to rather give me some ideas about what kind of campaign and campaign world by referencing a single movie or video game of their choice and giving me a theme from that movie/game. So with that my players told me the following:

Lord of the Rings: Grand and Epic battles
The Predator: Man against the jungle and unnatural forces
Maximo vs the Army of Zen: Traveling to different areas

So with that in mind, I created this setting that, that for all my hard work still lacks a good name, yet. :)

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Feel free to post here, I'll just make links to each of the important posts :)

[sparkletwist]

Naming it is always the hardest part, it seems like. :P

I love the map. It's simple, but the simple texturing effect adds a lot, making it look not so "computery." I will say, though, that small print at the bottom is impossible to read at the display resolution.

It does have that "standard D&D" feel to it, but since you're going for that, that's probably a good thing. I do like that even in the "standard" setting, you avoid some of the worst tropes: Orcs seem to have a distinct culture, and humans are good at something rather than being average at everything.

[Raelifin]

A bit bland for my tastes, but I understand that you're working under constraints and what you have so far is a wonderful start.

You clearly have your basic cartography down, but please try to keep the text both visible and upright. If you can, link to the full-sized image too.

"Elves dabbled with magic beyond their comprehension" should probably be changed to "beyond comprehension" as the idea of messing with things you don't understand seems very foolish and not in keeping with what you've written about your elves so far.

Is the entire "civilized" region of your map charred-lands?

Dwarves don't have beards?! They feast on the flesh of foes?! They wield hellfire and stand against the "good" races? Why even call them dwarves? Why not just call them Azer?

The sealing of Bazraa really bothers me. First of all, it's ambiguous whether I'm talking about the dimension or the fortress. Who names a fortress after their homeland? ("This here is Earth Castle") Perhaps something like Kol Bazraaviz, for "Fortress of the Homeland"? Anyway, I really dislike the sealing of Kol Bazraaviz, because it feels like it was done on a whim and without any real reason. If there was some sort of demigod bound to the castle, I could understand, but why seal it away? This is really powerful magic, too. Pocket dimension?! Why not seal it away during the 75 years of siege?

You use the word "fire" as your only adjective for the forces and magics of Bazraa. Try using words like "infernal, pyroclastic, flaming, molten, incendiary" or even "red." It'll help freshen up your imagery.

I'm also a bit confused as to how the humans "quickly established themselves near the opening of what came to be known as the Sea of Kara" without being able to clear forest. The whole thing just seems a bit too inconsistent.

Why Raptorans? Gnomes, Goblins, Centaurs, Gnolls... sure, at this point all of those are well enough established to be fairly generic. Raptorans, though, I feel tie your setting unfairly to WotC and bring in a bunch of baggage. They aren't necessary for the plot, and if you want an avian race, it's fairly easy to make one up which fits better with your unique style.

[Ninja D!]

the first humans arrived from a distant land few remember.

It sounds cool to say this but it could lead to people asking questions that you may not have answers for.  Do any, in fact, still remember the lands that the humans came from?  What remnants of that culture and of that time remain?

[Raelifin]

a masterful execution of this very idea.[/url]

[XXsiriusXX]

My question is how do your Earldoms work? Do the earls owe fealty to someone or do they function in the same fashion as a kingdom?

[Elemental_Elf]

Naming it is always the hardest part, it seems like. :P

I love the map. It's simple, but the simple texturing effect adds a lot, making it look not so "computery." I will say, though, that small print at the bottom is impossible to read at the display resolution.

Thank you for the compliment! As for the text at the bottom... Yeah it looks better on my computer, I can't find a image hosting site that doesn't re-size my picture (even almighty Google failed me). The text at the bottom reads:

"* There is no fully accepted name for the continent; Hemurkaberry is most often used by Scholars of Karasend, though it is a term of convenience rather than a true name. The Elves, who have been on  the continent for far longer
than Humans refer to it as Ormakarai, meaning Great Forest, (which ironically was bastardized by the first Human settlers as the name of the northern sea and eventually, their Kingdom). The Dwarves refer to the continent as
Neujord, meaning New Land. The Orcs who have no concept of '˜continent' (having never left their forest) refer to all the land as Orcmaa, meaning Orc Soil. "  

It does have that "standard D&D" feel to it, but since you're going for that, that's probably a good thing. I do like that even in the "standard" setting, you avoid some of the worst tropes: Orcs seem to have a distinct culture, and humans are good at something rather than being average at everything.

Yeah, I do so detest 'standard settings' but my players tend to be a conservative lot when it comes to game worlds and can be quite stubborn in their objections against even the smallest of problems *sigh*.

A bit bland for my tastes, but I understand that you're working under constraints and what you have so far is a wonderful start.

You clearly have your basic cartography down, but please try to keep the text both visible and upright. If you can, link to the full-sized image too.

If I can find an image hosting sight that won't reduce the size of my maps, I will definitely upload the whole map. Until then, this is the largest I can get it. :(

"Elves dabbled with magic beyond their comprehension" should probably be changed to "beyond comprehension" as the idea of messing with things you don't understand seems very foolish and not in keeping with what you've written about your elves so far.

Hmm, perhaps I should.. But Hmm. I think, when i was writing this, I was going for 'Elves screw with Magic,' to the point where they were the ones who called the Azers, and other Fire creatures, to Earth. Then I realized that's really, I don't know, WoW-ish, so the idea trailed off into the big Rancor Pit in my mind. So yes,  I will act on your suggestion. :)

Is the entire "civilized" region of your map charred-lands?

Yes, everything between those two thick black-ash-y lines is the 'civilized' area. Note that the County of Kinkanga is deep with in the Murkmire. This area is ruled by a tribe of Orcs who swore loyalty to Karasend for some reason yet to be determined. This area is completely covered by dense forest and the humans are slowly building a makeshift Venice like city, with the intent of being a homebase for future exploration into the Five Riverscoast.

Dwarves don't have beards?! They feast on the flesh of foes?! They wield hellfire and stand against the "good" races? Why even call them dwarves? Why not just call them Azer?

Oh... Oh!!! No! Hmm.. I should have explained this part better, lol. Ok, if you look at a picture of Azer, they have beards that look like fire. What I was trying to imply, was that with the Fire Gates closed, their link to the Bazra was cut off and their fire beards thus extinguished. It was meant as a cheesy metaphor for the fact that the Azer were now forced to live in the material plane. Dwarves currently living have beards but they're normal beards... Perhaps it would be better if I stated something to the effect that "When the unlikely allies entered Bazra, they discovered a sad sight indeed. The Azer, who once possessed shimmering manes of fire, had now been extinguished, leaving only their natural hair. The Dwarves as the mane-less Azer came to be called were forced to commit the grievous sin of cannibalizing their own kin for little farming could be acomplished with in the flame walls. What was once a great Army, worthy of fear and awe, had disintegrated into a handful of weary, hungry oafs. there was no honor in the siege, or so the Orcs said. And so, with great ease, the Human armies quickly rushed the Fortress, slaying all in sight."

The sealing of Bazraa really bothers me. First of all, it's ambiguous whether I'm talking about the dimension or the fortress. Who names a fortress after their homeland? ("This here is Earth Castle") Perhaps something like Kol Bazraaviz, for "Fortress of the Homeland"? Anyway, I really dislike the sealing of Kol Bazraaviz, because it feels like it was done on a whim and without any real reason. If there was some sort of demigod bound to the castle, I could understand, but why seal it away? This is really powerful magic, too. Pocket dimension?! Why not seal it away during the 75 years of siege?

Hmm, you definately have a point. I suppose I was thinking of using the Fortress was a plot device, in the same manner as Babylon 4 was used in the show Babylon 5. Yet, I can see the objections to the seemingly random act... Perhaps I will simply have the Humans occupy the fortress, only to see it lost to the Dwarves, who survived in other parts of the Charred-lands. As for the name, that is indeed a good observation. I was shooting for more of a 'this is NEW England' without the new, implying the Azer, and their comrades, considered this (the Fortress and the World) to simply be an extension of their home plane. Though Abazra sounds nice (too many place names start with a 'K' already to use your suggestion :) )

You use the word "fire" as your only adjective for the forces and magics of Bazraa. Try using words like "infernal, pyroclastic, flaming, molten, incendiary" or even "red." It'll help freshen up your imagery.

I definitely agree, this mostly stems from the fact that everything about the world has been kept relatively vague, to this point, including what where exactly the Azer were from (I had the Elemental Plane of Fire in mind, though thinking about it,  The Plane of Fire is a lot like Hell, and would give me a little more to work with beyond Fire Giants, Azer, Imps and Hell Dogs, lol).

I'm also a bit confused as to how the humans "quickly established themselves near the opening of what came to be known as the Sea of Kara" without being able to clear forest. The whole thing just seems a bit too inconsistent.

Ah, miscommunication again. The entire land between the two Ashen Walls had been magically cleared by the Azer... I suppose I didn't really explain that part much. My basic intent was to use the invasion of the Azer as the catalyst that allowed for the development of what we call civilization to grow.

Why Raptorans? Gnomes, Goblins, Centaurs, Gnolls... sure, at this point all of those are well enough established to be fairly generic. Raptorans, though, I feel tie your setting unfairly to WotC and bring in a bunch of baggage. They aren't necessary for the plot, and if you want an avian race, it's fairly easy to make one up which fits better with your unique style.

My players want to use the races as they are presented in the D&D books, with only minor adjustments (if needed). They tend to shied away from homebrew stuff, unless its really cool. I doubt any of my players will really play a Raptoran, I'm just adding them in so that as the campaign progresses, I can just invent my own race and say 'they kinda look like Raptorans,' with out the inevitable 'Raptorans exist!?' moment, lol.


Well thank you both SOOO much for your posts, its really helped me further my setting!

[Elemental_Elf]

My question is how do your Earldoms work? Do the earls owe fealty to someone or do they function in the same fashion as a kingdom?

Earldoms, interesting question. The Earldoms were created for the express purpose of dividing the, what seemed at the time, to be a massive unpopulated land into smaller, more manageable chunks. The Earls are all hereditary and administer their land with varying degrees of success. Each Earl owes fealty to the King, who administers from the capital. The Earls have varying degrees of autonomy, mostly depending on the King himself. To spice things up a little, the current King is a 12 year old boy. The boy's uncle is the current Regent. He's a hedonistic General who spends most of his days down in the south waging war with Hemburg, his nights in hedonist love orgies and honestly doesn't care what the Earls do in any way, as long as they don't stir up rebellion or war.

The difference between an Earldom and a County is that an Earl is completely hereditary while a Count is completely accountable to his/her Lord and serves at his/her whims. There are many Counties with in each earldom, typically focused on large villages. The County of Kinkanga is unique in that the County is rather large and administered by a full blooded Orc.

[Raelifin]

Wow, an Orc count. What are the orcs like, anyway? They feel much more fun than usual.

Where will your game be starting?

[Elemental_Elf]

I'll write more about the Orcs tomorrow (its a tad late here, lol).


If you look on the map, there's a little black 'x' in north-central Normark. This is where my campaign will begin, in the town of Ascension. Here's the little primer I gave to my players:

The  tiny town of Ascension is the lastt major settlement on the Grayrock Road, heading north to the Northern Ashen Wall, beyond which lays the great Orcwoods and the supposed lost treasures of King Alfred the Unwise. Many would be treasure seekers make their last stop in town, and often receive their last rights for the Church makes no bones about the adventurer's fate.

The town subsists on the Orapa, a silver wheat-like plant with a bamboo-like stalk. Orapa can be used to create a variety of products, not least of which are building materials (via an aged stalk), bread and an alcoholic drink called Kabada. Ascension's Kabada is a favorite of the court in Karasend's Capital and is thus the town's major export. In addition, the town sports two small forts, each lying on a stout little hill. The two forts are connected via a marvelously painted bridge, under which lies the town. The western fort also serves as the Count of Ascension's official residence, while the eastern fort serves to garrison the bulk of the Count's forces and as a dungeon for criminals. Encircling both hills (and the town) is an undersized stone wall, nary twelve feet high and half as thick. The Count often promises to enlarge and expand the wall but over the years, his empty promises fall on deaf ears.



Finally, anyone who posts in this thread is welcome to take this badge!  

 

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[Ninja D!]

I'd like to hear more about the orcs, too.  How would one take that badge?

[Raelifin]

Put it in your sig with

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[Ninja D!]

Cool.  What should we call it?

Also, even further off topic, how do we easily make one?

[Elemental_Elf]

Just finished my first session with this setting... The level of 'standard setting' to which my players had honed their expectations, far outstripped my creation.

In all honesty, Greyhawk wouldn't be 'generic' enough for my players at this point. They complained bitterly about the Dwarves being 'kinda bad guys'... And all my intentions for a noble, ancient Orc race that ascended beyond the standard fare were shattered by the Orc PC and my player's reaction to seeing an Orcish caravan... With out thought they descended upon the caravan with nothing except wanton blood lust in their eyes. And all this, occurring under the watchful gaze of the small Orc younglings who met an even more gruesome fate than their kin... My players burned them alive and watched with a false sense of pride as the younglings whimpered for their parents and prayed for their immortal souls...

[Raelifin]

Oh my god. That's just horrible. Seriously.

Do you play with this group often?

EDIT: I mean really horrible. I thought I had mean players sometimes, but burning children?!
Another EDIT: I've even played in evil campaigns where that wouldn't be acceptable.