 |
| This map and legend include adapted icons by artists Delapouite, Lorc, Cathelineau, Pepijn Poolman, and Caro Asercion available at game-icons.net, and used here under the terms of the CC BY 3.0 license. |
Key
Geography
Plains: The plains and grasslands of the Northern Marklands vary from farmland and meadows up to 24 miles around small settlements, or 48 miles near large settlements, to lightly-wooded fields in the borderlands and wilderness.
Forest: All forested hexes in the Marklands are of the heavily-wooded variety (see Plains.) These range from old growth forests of oak, beech, and the like, to a variety of conifers.
· The Alderwood: This ancient forest once covered the entirety of the fields around Oakhamshire and connected with the Wildwood across the river. Its dense foliage serves a natural border for the Kingdom of Erda. The deep wood is littered with the remnants of the ancient, Fey civilization that made this forest its home, and scattered elf clans still live here. They used to come to Oakhamshire often to trade, but have faded back into the protection of the wood since the Baron of Oakhamshire came to power. This forest is also the rumored home of a band of outlaws led by the Fox of the Alderwood, who has recently become a thorn in the tyrannical Baron’s side.
· Feywood Forest: Despite being on the borderland of Alkastra, this forest is largely a wild, and untouched mix of oak and conifers. Creatures of legend exist deep in this forest, and beings descended from the Fey are attracted to its borders, such as the halfling village of Mayklethorpe, and gnome clans in both the forest and nearby Mantle Hills.
· The Westweald: The eastern portion of this forest is a source of hunting and timber for borderers that are nominally part of Alkastra’s domain. These hardy folk have the old faith of their pagan ancestors deep in their blood, and still honor Haerne the Hunter, and Daenica the Forest Maiden. The western portion is the domain of a clan of elves as well as druids that serve the twin deities of the wood and protect it from encroachers.
· The Wild Timberland: This unsullied woodland far from the borders of civilization is known for its tall, red conifers, and preponderance of wild predators such as a variety of hunting cats and magical beasts. Deep in this forest is the home of the Lord-of-all-Cats, with his feline, and werefolk followers.
· The Wildwood: The Wildwood was once part of a larger forest that included the Alderwood. It is surrounded by both the Dragon’s Tongue and swampland such as the Dread Mire. The northern portion on this map is only a small part of the forest, and it partly the domain of Amazons who prefer their privacy and enforce it with great skill of arms. The southern portion (not pictured on the map) is the northern border of the Counties of Varaka: a dark and forsaken land. This part of the wildwood is infested with werewolves (who sometimes wander north,) and the forces (both living and undead) of the Counts.
Swamp: the wetlands of the Northern Marklands tend to be connected to the Dragon’s Tongue river. These range from marshy wetlands on the river shore, to deep swamps, and bogs.
· The Black Moors: This fetid bog on Alkastra's borderland is often a hideout for bandits and river pirates. Strange, large amphibians live deep within, and some pirates swear they have seen robed individuals moving about and talking with the creatures, but that could just be drunken sailor’s talk.
· The Dread Mire: The Mire is home to large insects, reptiles, and dangerous fish along the river. Tribes of lizardmen consider the Mire their domain, and woe be to any foolish enough to enter.
· Trasken Quag: This swamp forms a natural defense for the Northman trade town of Soderstrand. Its people fish along the periphery, but avoid going deep into the quagmire where malicious wisps, lost spirits, and risen bog dead dwell among the bubbling pitch.
Hills: Hills hexes in the Northern Marklands include everything from rolling highlands, to rough crags like The Teeth.
· The Desolate Hills: The northeastern borderland of the Kingdom of Erda is a vast highland bisected by cliffs where the ancient Empire built a road to Sargos and with it, access to the wealth beyond the Endless Waste. All that remains of that road is mere vestiges, but the trail is well worn. However, only well-armed caravans make it through, as the hills are infested with bandits, hostile clansmen, and other threats, some who have started to capture victims for later sale in Sargos’ markets.
·
The
Mantle Hills: The eastern end of these rolling hills is the domain of the
Verisey family of Alkastra and their many productive mines. The western end towards the Crown Mountains,
become rougher crags that hold the infamous Temple of the Snake Cult within.
· The North Highlands: These hills on the northeastern borderland of Alkastra are the home to many natural beasts and hardy folk of the old blood that struggle to wrest crops from the rocky ground, but live freely.
· The Resting Hills: There are two theories regarding why these hills that divide the Kingdom of Erda from their northern borderlands are so named. One, that it describes the peacefulness of the region due to its proximity of Erda’s Castle (not shown on map,) or two, because of the many ancient barrows that dot the hillsides. Even the locals aren’t sure.
· Riverwatch Hills: Like the North Highlands, these hills are home to independent borderers guarded by a keep on the riverine borderland that flies Alkastra’s banner.
· The Teeth: Impossible cliffs and sharp badlands will grind the foolhardy entering these hills beyond the borders of the Kingdom of Erda. Only the toughest beasts and monsters live here, subsisting off what they can wrest from unfortunate borderfolk and each other. Even the mighty King of Erda, who sought to end the threat from these lands, has not returned.
Mountains: The Northern Marklands sports several ranges which include both very tall hills and snow-capped peaks. Mountain hexes without surrounding hill hexes include both foothills and mountains.
· The Crown Mountains: These craggy peaks form a crown around the remains of a dormant volcano, hence the name. At least one dwarf clan is known to live here and they have to constantly defend themselves against humanoids that may have originated from the Temple of the Snake Cult. The deeper parts of the central mountains are the homes of creatures that love fiery environments, such as salamanders, fire elementals, and the odd fire giant.
· The Grayhawk Peaks: So named for the gray, peregrine falcons that live here, and are prized by falconers. These mountains form an impassable barrier between the eastern and western ends of the Marklands, and are the home of ogres, giants, and perhaps other unknown beasts. More than one mad wizard has built his tower or castle in these mountains, away from the disturbances of civilization to delve deeply in their arcane practices.
· The Norwall: This mountain range protects the north-central part of the Kingdom of Erda and houses its ancient Castle (not shown on map,) which has been the ancestral seat of Erda's Kings and an impregnable redoubt in times of strife.
Desert: The only true desert in the Marklands is the western portion of the Endless Waste. This vast desert begins with dry scrub and rocky badlands on its hilly edges then turns to stony barrens and dunes of red sand. Many ruins dot its landscape, and the T’jun raiders – masked, lizard-riding nomads that control the only oases, extort caravans for their use, or raid them and any outsiders freely.
Rivers: Although the Dragon’s Tongue is the main, navigable waterway that dominates the Marklands, there are many tributaries, streams, and creeks that flow from the mountains of the wilds and are too numerous to display on the map.
Ruins: Ruins
hexes shown are significant landmarks that can potentially be vast lairs or dungeons
onto themselves. However, this does not
preclude smaller ruins not noted on the map and key. Indeed, the Marklands are littered with the
remnants of several civilizations of the past, like the ancient Empire, or the lost
holds of would-be warlords, which are only the most recent examples.
Commentary
The Board Game Tradition
The Original Game recommended the use of an obscure boardgame, Outdoor Survival, to track wilderness adventures. Over a decade ago, the OSR blogosphere and fora I frequented pointed out other examples from boardgames that could be used, such as the highly artistic, and evocative map of Minaria from the game Divine Right, or several available free online from Dwarfstar Games. For this project, I chose the north-central portion of the map from Barbarian Prince, a fun (but difficult) little solo hexcrawl boardgame, as the terrain layout for my wilderness, and zoomed in to a 6 mile-per-hex scale (assuming each original hex is about 24 miles.)
I have been obsessed with this map for the better part of ten years. Obsessed! I’ve used portions of it for a few campaigns now. I’ve also done the whole Medieval Demographics analysis on it for fun. You hear me?! FOR FUN (this may or may not be a cry for help.)
For those that are curious, these lands are about 31% arable, supporting a population of 57 beings per square mile (4,074,250 in total.) However, I consider 20% of these to be demihumans and humanoids, so it’s probably more like 45-46 humans per square mile; similar to the British Isles. Judging from the proximity of farmland, plains, roads, and rivers, the largest city is likely Aeravir Castle (Hex 1923) with the second largest city being a toss-up between Cumry (Hex 1004) and Erwyn (Hex 0916.) My money’s on Cumry (unfortunate, but familiar-sounding name,) which has become none other than my City State of Alkastra. The rest are likely towns of various sizes, depending on the surrounding geography.
See? I told you I was obsessed.
I realize that the map does not really pass the realistic geography test, but I have two answers (read: cop-outs) for that. The first is that you’re assuming this is a planet like our own world. It’s not, but you’ll have to wait until the conclusion of Dungeon23 to find out how and why. The second…well, I’ll let good ol’ DM say it:
The Curse of the 28 Entries
Again, the constraints of my Dungeon23 timeline preclude me from truly developing this sandbox to the level I’d like. I think there’s enough there to occupy players from expert levels to their domains beyond, but I’m sad that it’s time to put the map aside and get “back to the dungeon.”
What? No Encounter Tables?
Having learned from my Hometown23 delay with the Alkastra
encounter tables, I’ve decided to put that idea aside in favor of staying on
task for the rest of Dungeon23. General
encounter tables from your favorite game should suffice for these, but don’t
forget to replace some humanoids with the likes of gobb, and oor-men that the Temple of the Snake Cult keeps spitting out!
More to Come?
I really enjoyed this portion of the project, and I have ideas for what the rest of the world might look like, from the Barbarian North, to the elemental-worshiping lands of the Far West, the Torraskan Isles with their Corsair Lords, and the constantly-warring remnants of the ancient Empire to the south. Perhaps these will become future posts or even whole wilderness map projects; Wilderness24, 25, and 26, anyone?
No comments:
Post a Comment