Editing Journey of the Strange (section)

=The New World=

==An Explorers Map==
[http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r14/drifterne05/mudmap.jpg]

==A brief colonizing history.==
As discovered so far on the mainland, there has been only one native race...the Drakes.They are the dominant race in the coastal areas, and anyone else (humans, most probably) are confined to the highlands and less rich areas. 

The Islands, on the other hand, have native peoples...an offshoot of the mainland highlanders. For whatever reason, they make lousy slaves, or at least lousy worker slaves, so Elves are imported to do any actual labour on the exotic produce plantations.

The Islands were reached 30 years ago, but colonizing has spread slowly, lacking any great finds.


==The South Eastern Archipelago==
===The native peoples===
Of the islanders who died, the vast majority were men. Within a few years of colonization, most of the remaining women were pregnant by foreign soldiers and adventurers and the fruits of this miscegenation has now grown into a generation of vigorous young adults. These barefoot '''mamelucos''' are far more suited to the habitat and the circumstances than their parents and are much sought after as jungle guides. Unlike their native parents, they hold little fear for the interior and its perils, having adopted their fathers' view that the world can be dominated if a man's arm is strong enough.
===Agriculture===
Agriculture is, so far, very fragile. The main staple is cassava (manioc if you will), an indigenous crop grown in the forest understory by the natives. This is commonly consumed with the pulped or puréed fruit of a palm, açaí, but neither of these is to the colonists' liking. Fish are of course, hugely important, and whale meat too. Efforts to plant temperate crops have met with failure, only minor plantations of rice having been established, the suitable land for this limited on the islands. Some hardy breeds of cattle have been brought to the islands and, along with goats, pigs and chickens, have been reared successfully, but the numbers are limited.
===Elves===
Across the south eastern coast of Sojourn, the Elves dominate the seas. This isn't a true nation as much as a band of roving religious fanatics. The movement claims that Sojourn is going to be the site of return for an ancient Elven prophet, and it is their's by birthright. Fortunately for them, they're moving to the New World far faster then the more militant factions of the Grand Order of Magisters on their home continent of Thobos can hunt them down. So far, the Elves and the Humans are getting along in the New World. This is more a matter of need then a matter of true alliance, though. The Elves have no means of crossing the oceans on their own. The Trade League has ships that need something to carry, and fields that need to be worked. Elves can do both these things, and will often pay for the privilage. Typically, an elven patriarch will go to the New World, work his debt off, and then work to pay for passage for his family. Then the entire group moves east to the glorified cults the Elves are calling cities. Currently, male Elves out number female Elves in the new world almost 12 to 1.
===Elven revolts===
On a number of occasions, however, the elves have revolted and have taken themselves off into the interior. There, it is said that they have established the seeds of states, along the lines of an ancient notion of republics. These settlements are known as Quilombos and the members are known as Quilombolos or Quilombolas. One was founded rather too close to the coast to remain hidden, and was swiftly destroyed in a military expedition lasting barely three weeks.
===Current situation===
The reason the natives of the island make lousy slaves? They're mostly dead. Primarily through inexplicable diseases, but also due to the occasional- small scale- genocide (mostly at the hands of Elves reclaiming their lost birthright). The native population of the islands is now less then 10% of what it formly was. Most colonists don't even know that there was once a thriving culture there. They simply see ruins, and assume them to be ancient, lost Elven relics.

==The Southern Mainland==

Amazing, for all the prophet and fuss made by the Old Worlds over the New one, no one's explored very much of it. All the major settlements are on the sea. Only three or four even have a population over 300 souls, and only the Human settlements are fully self sustaining. Travel further inland then a dozen miles, and you're in poorly charted territories. Another dozen miles, and you may well be the first Human to ever see what ever tree you're looking at. The forests of the New World are dense, and as far as anyone can tell, the native population seems entirely composed by clans of intelligent, flying lizards.
===Governance from afar===

It is the '''Baroness Luthe''' who governs the colony. After an incident in which it is rumoured that she attempted to kill her husband with a hairpin, a complex agreement was reached within which she was to govern the new lands to the east in the name of [the city state], while her husband would govern the family's extensive estates back in the Old World. She set sail with her brood of five children eleven years ago but has never quite finished the the last leg of the voyage, remaining one month's sailing to the west, on an island in the middle of the ocean, called '''Redfort'''.

Her rule has been characterized by long periods of silence punctuated by sweeping decrees and concessions which have little relation to reality. Some five or six adventurers and soldiers form the core of her favoured group, each of these dignitaries spending some four to six months of the year courting favour with the Baroness at Redfort then returning with impressive documents according them new privileges. These men generally seem to avoiding meeting eachother head-on, apparently operating on the basis of agreement between gentlemen. Conflicts have occasionally arisen, usually due to contradictory documents, each bearing the seal of the Baroness, and more than a score of times, duels of sorts have been fought, boats scuppered or rice fields flooded.

Through all of this, the Baroness is said to maintain enviable serenity.
===Fort Colenth===
The furtherest point out in the New World is '''Fort Colenth'''. This simple wood and pitch barracade is a full twenty miles from the coast, well out of site out of the city that supports it. Fifty men man it's walls. They've constructed a watch tower, a barracks, and simple fortifications to guard against... Well, the natives in the area are relatively friendly, so they're not quite sure what they're guarding against. But those same natives say, when they come in to trade furs and meat for trinkets and smoke, that just on the other side of them, something bad lives. Commander Alluicious La Blanke, ranking officer at Fort Colenth, is of the opinion that the local Drakes are simply pulling their legs. The men at the base aren't so sure.

===The Drakes and colonisation===
Much of the lowlands occupied by the drakes is inhospitable swamp and mangroves, but there are ranges of low hills a short way inland. In the incipient colonies, these hills are considered prime targets for agriculture. A few dissenting voices have pointed out that, despite the lush vegetation, the red soil is very infertile and have proposed ambitious schemes for partial draining of some of the coastal areas to plant rice. That infertile soil could support lush vegetation is, of course, considered foolishness by most. Overall, no particular direction has yet been taken, though most know that the colony cannot sustain itself forever as it currently is.

The drakes themselves have no discernible organisation or society yet a few have shown themselves to be quite intelligent and cultured when they have come in peace to deal with the colonists. A dozen years ago, an effort was made to use the drakes' services to chart some of the coastline from the air. Despite the cartographers' best efforts, however, all they could produce were strange geometrical designs linking the various known geographical features, utterly useless for navigation. Due to the exorbitant fees charged by the drakes (consisting of diamonds, rubies and live captives), the maps were never thrown away, but are rather held under lock and key.

===the emerald rush and new colonials===
To date, the principal riches to have come from the New World consists of emeralds. In a single region where the hills reach the coast, a small colony was set up to harvest these gems from the earth.

The quantity of emeralds has not been great. Indeed, if a careful accounting were undertaken, it would be found that the colonies have so far represented a huge investment with little or no reward. However, when these stones arrived in the Old World, they ensured that the stories of rivers of gold and silver across the ocean would not die on the vine.

Few of the colonists paid for the rights to land before embarking on their voyage. The numbers of such folk are on the rise, however, and they are markedly different from the others in that they are arriving with families in tow and have no thought of returning. Along the way, these people have their charters ratified by the Baroness and her staff and they arrive at the docks full of hope.

Naturally, the claims they have, while vast, frequently overlap with others and usually cover areas of swamp, areas held by drakes and so on. A number of claims appear to be to areas of sea. Nevertheless, all of these claims bear several seals and signatures, so their bearers still feel themselves to be wealthy and are still able to use these documents as a certain form of currency.

None of these colonists has yet struck out into the interior to lay claim to their lands, but they are building in numbers and are getting organised. Several groups have declared themselves to be new states, independent of any other, but these have so far been largely ignored as they have yet to act. Many of them arrived with young children and have seen their children grow into young almost-adults. This is leading to the obvious problems, especially with the young mamelucos who abound.

Steam is building up and the climate is one of incipient explosion.
==The Northern Land and the North East==

The North East, beyond the Bay of Suns (and who knows where that leads to?) is a contrast to the few settlers , explorers and merchants that have dared its shorelines.
Great, warm southerly currents wash the coast, meeting the northern Ocean in a sea of seasonally changing fogs. The coast beyond these fogs is unexplored, for good reason.
The few local legends claim the northern seas and fog shrouded coasts are home to many monsters and abominations - and this would seem to be true. The Pherencian fleet of a decade ago, which set out to find the Lost city of the Mists, lost a three master to a giant squid or kraken and another ship to a Water Dragon - both creatures assumed to be extinct or Mythical.
Similarly, the ashore parties that departed up the river Woebegone were never seen again, despite the presence of Divine 'shepherds' and arcane 'magicians'.

Further South, where the coast pulls away from the low, jumbled mountain chains that line it in the North, the land is abundant with trees and wildlife, mostly of types unusual to the explorers. The land is heavily wooded, broken only by rivers, mountains and the grasslands that border the southern coastal deserts.

Familiar species run to similar but, in general, larger forms than seen in the old worlds. Two obvious trends noticed in the more unusual animals are the presence of warm blooded, reptilian types as key territiorial predators, and the larger number of nocturnal species.

Two fishing and whaling camps have been made on the Islands off the southern coast, and one is even showing signs of becoming a settlement. At least part of this success has been attributed to the seemingly endless supply of new plants and animals - and things more monstrous - that these camps have captured in the off seasons. Phrenecia has established a number of lucrative trades to the Mari Imperium in the south for it's Arena festivals, and several species of plant are adapting well to the Old World.

What actually lies beyond the coastal islands and a few explorers camps, no one is sure. That there are intelligent folk about, there is no doubt - there are signs, paths, fires...but they are never seen and have made no attempt to contact any so far. What is known is that they have no coastal villages and leave small tracks, smaller than a man...

The philosopher/sage Arrentuis, commisioned to lead the Phrenacian mission, has opined that the makeup of the land between the mountains and the sea on this Eastern coast show all the signs of being ancient sea-floor, from the ages before the seas shrank. If so, he has reasoned, then it may be like the great Karstlands of the Middle Sea, riddled with caverns, caves, mighty rivers and great Valleys, hidden from the sun.

Already, in less than ten years, rumors have spread of the Underground cities filled with the riches of the Earth, and the tiny people who toil and work there, leaving no trace of the world above. Several independent expeditions have been sent - none have returned from more than two days travel upriver. The massive and unusual beasts that inhabit the land may have accounted for some, but rumor persists of a hidden culture.

One of the creatures captured for sale by a hunting expedition has shed the only clue...In the ear of a pantherish beast with six legs and tentacles was a bronze medallion, green with age. On it were inscribed some form of writing, and a creature best described as a walking octopus. While this could mean anything, rumor now has it that there is a race of tiny octopus men who inhabit the forests...

==Rumors and Speculations==

There have been three claimed sightings of gigantic ships in the Bay of Suns...none of which have led to any meeting. Indeed, the ships have all retreated at great speed.

The Heral Imperiate landed a massive fleet last year on an unclaimed Island chain. While they seem more intent on developng farms and orchards than exploring, there are several fast cutters in their newly developing harbour and an excess of troops.

A little known fact is that there are several small seasonal villages on the edge of the sea of fog. They are generally brave captains of the Kirklands Realms, who fish the rich banks off the fogs for whales and Oilfish.

The Mari Imperium has no direct vested interest in the new world. Several of its princes and princesses have sponsored exploration vessels and certain mercantile ventures along the southern coastal isles, mainly for rare fruits and woods. There are rumors, however, of landings to the South, and a hidden city that the Mari are rebuilding...
===The curious case of the Viscount Harper===
Eight years ago (some say twelve, versions differ), the young Viscount Harper arrived, an adventurer with a charter in hand, giving him rights to a huge area, confusingly delimited, of the mountains far far inland. The man arrived on an oak and metal ship crafted by dwarves and with a retinue of some hundred or hundred and fifty men and dwarves, as well as women. The men were, by all appearances, adventurers like the Viscount, while the dwarves were miners, sages and soldiers. There were a few agriculturalists among the men and these were, curiously, the finest dressed of all, along with the count himself. Accompanied by a huge train of mules, horses, donkeys, goats and pigs, this group cut a trail, still discernible in the forest, striking inland. A trio of dwarves remained behind, with a single man, living on the boat which to this day is moored in the harbour. No-one has seen the dwarves leave their craft since, but they can be seen exercising on deck and looking after the craft. It is rumoured that they have a vast store of food within the hold, encased in chests and warded from rotting by magics, which they use to survive. The man is known as Robert de la Mer and he is very frequently seen in town. It is not clear exactly where he is from, nor what he is doing here. Rumours abound, that the Viscount is setting up production in the highlands of Reeka, so he can bring the seeds back to the Old World for sale and undercut the competition, or that Harper's Mission is amassing a mountain of gold, silver and emeralds and will, any day, descend from the mountains with a laden mule train the likes of which has never been seen before. Rather than confirm or deny any of these rumours, de la Mer simply agrees with all of them and expands, a little, on each of them as he does so.