Alia:Geography

Geography

Overview

The northern isles compromise two large isles, and several smaller ones surrounded by a warm sea, on the more southern large isle is the capital city of the Republic, Nolton.

To the south of the republic, on the main continent are the lands of the Empire of Rhode. Rhode's capitol city is Bernast along the Dannik river that runs through Rhode.

South of Rhode is the Shadow Wood, inhabited by the wood elves.

South of the Shadow Wood are lands comprising of desert, savanna and jungle.

To the west of the Republic of the Isles are the coasts of Prolia inhabited by sea faring humans/half orcs who alternatively fish, raid other coastal villiges or pirate the seas.

Inland from Prolia are the mountains formerly ruled by a great dwarven and gnomish civilization that fell hundreds of years ago. Now inhabited and ruled by giants and called Estvald.

Between Estvald and Rhode are the hilly lands of the Rock Gnomes,

Republic of the Isles

The republic is the home of oldest known human civilization. It is 90% settled with few only a few remaining dangerous areas. There is no appreciable Monstrous Humanoid presence on the main islands of the republic.

Adventures, tend to be driven by civilized peoples. Common conflicts include: insane or criminal villains, political machinations, ancient crypts and tombs.

Famous Locations:

The Harrow Wood is an enchanted forest inhabited by all manner of the fey.

Mistraven Swamp is an evil place inhabited by a large coven of Hags.

Nolton

Capital of the Republic of the Isles

Extradimensional Tower of Infinite Possiblility

Tomb of the Wizard Lysander. The tower is located near the middle of the city and is a puzzle to everyone. The actual tower is 60 feet tall and 40 feet wide, but the interior is significantly larger. In the windows of the tower, strange creatures can be occaisionally seen and several groups of adventurers have escaped from the tower through the windows, they tell a tale of great, and ever-changing dangers.

The tower has it's own ecology, and is populated by dangers of multiple sources.

• Underground Tower: Water is everywhere in the labyrinth. The interior of the tower, quickly gains a subterranean atmosphere,

filled with dripping water and a vast array of fungal growth. Mushrooms, slimes and other light independant vegetation are very common in the labyrinth. Many are edible. Many are poisonous. Some are deadly in other ways. There are a moderate population of fungus eating herd animals, including primarily the Boarus, a dark-adapted species of small pig.

• Kidnapping: The labyrinth definitely spans, stretches and bridges space, there are several exits and entrances to the labyrinth and they seem to open and close at varying locations following some unknown purpose. The labyrinth occaisionally will capture things and cast them within the labyrinth, where they are often trapped for days, months or years, often carving out their own niche within the confusing vaults. Sections of the labyrinth may be found with small tribes of humanoids.

• Forgotten Crypts: The labyrinth seems to have done a large amount of tomb raiding, gathering within itself many forgotten crypts, tombs and mauseleums from throughout the ages. These transplanted crypts are ALWAYS guarded by undead spirits.

• Magical: temporary summons are quite frequent. Any creature that may be summoned or called by a magical spell (Monster Summoning, Summon Nature's Ally, Planar Binding, or Planar Ally, Gate, etc.) may be found within the labyrinth's tunnels.

• Explorers: adventuring groups occaisionally venture into the halls and often do not return. Many die, but many are trapped and either choose to or are forces to dwell within the labyrinth.

The purpose of the tower is to test people. Lysander is in fact dead and entombed within the uppermost reaches of the labyrinth. During his life he never found a worthy apprentice. Before his death, he set up the labyrinth as a test for prospective apprentices. He is now a demi-lich, resting, waiting for someone to carry on in his footsteps. The entire dungeon is in fact a magical artifact, designed and built by Lysander in the ten years before his lichdom, and watched over it by Lysander. If an apprentice is found, the tower will revert back to it's original form.

The labyrinth is a game of sorts. Propsective adventurers risk themselves for potential gain, but if they fail they face the possibility of becoming trapped within and being forced to serve the labyrinth for up to 3 years.

Monsters within are either temporary summons, quasi-real illusions, are have in fact chosen to remain. Monsters are occaisionally led into an area deemed suitable for their occupancy, if they stay they are welcomed into the labyrinth, if such monsters decide to leave, they easily find their way back to where they came from.

Treasure within the dungeon comes from three sources. Sometimes monster encounters that move into the dungeon carry treasure with them. The second source of treasure within the dungeon is adventurers who carry the treasure in and never carry it out. The third are the undead crypts. And the last and more interesting are the "reward" treasure from Lysander.

Reward treasure is always magic geared towards casters. Lysander is in fact a multi-disciplinary spell caster, being a epic level cleric 5/wizard 5/mystic thuerge 20 (if using dual class rules, is a cleric-wizard 10, mystic theurge 20) and has access to all spells in the player's handbook, but has rewards suitable for any spell casting class including sorcerers, wizards, clerics, druids, bards, paladins, rangers. In order to earn a minor reward, a character must display worthyness in defeating an encounter. In order to earn a medium reward, a character must display several such worthy attempts. In order to achieve a major reward, the character must prove themselves to be a potential apprentice.

Minor rewards consist usually of expendable magic. Scrolls, potions, magic arrows, expendable wonderous items. Medium rewards are usually lasting magic items that encourage spell casting, such as pearls of power, rings of wizardry, magical instruments of bardic music, or ability enhancers. Major rewards are items from Lysander's personal collection from his adventuring days.

There are six levels of Lysanders tower, of varying challenge from EL3-5 for level 1, to EL18-20 for level 6.

Lysander looks for six traits in potential apprentices, and in fact is not especially interested in level or power, but rather is interested in these virtues:

Intelligence & Wisdom, (not necessarily the stat value, although these help), honour, bravery, loyalty, forethought. For each of these virtues there are tests. Tests will target a particular individual.

Intelligence = puzzle solving, sometimes word puzzles, other times logic puzzles, or creativity puzzles.

• Wisdom: learning, recognizing danger

• Honor: truthfulness and being held by one's word.

• Bravery: There's a certain amount of bravery one must have just

entering into the tower, but many who do do so from fool-hardiness rather than bravery. One demonstrates bravery only after comprehending the level of danger.

• Loyalty: Not abandoning friends, when doing so would be self

advantageous.

• Forethought: Thinking about a challenge when given the opportunity to

do so instead of impatiently going forward.

If two or three of the tests generated by the tower are passed, Lysander begins to take a passing interest in the individual, crafting further tests for them to face.

The labyrinth is not designed to kill although it certainly does on occaision. It always however demands a price for failure - the real treasure has to come from somewhere. Those who do not demonstrate worthyness who wish to leave, find it expensive to do so. Maybe a challenge will be presented leading to a window. In order to gain access to this, the adventurer must usually leave behind some item of magic. (This could be disguised as a Planar Ally spell). Sometimes this is achieved by defeating the adventuring party in combat. The adventurers will be stripped of the required price and upon regaining conciousness would discover the way out. In any case, Lysander does not wish to murder young adventuring parties. The dead are raised, permanent status effects are healed. This is accomplished by various means including the discovery o magic pools to cure the afflicted or by a "fellow adventurer" meeting with the group and providing the service, the cost of material components to cast these spells is always retreived from the adventurers before they leave.

Much of the treasure (not reward treasure) is illusionary. Illusionary magic item rewards function as those magic items within the walls, but all illusionary trasure gained within the walls, dissapears upon leaving the labyrinth. Piles of coins, gems, and jewelry are easier to fabricate with magic than to actually produce. What the dungeon effectively does is distribute magic items and treasure between adventuring parties and between typical dungeon dwellers based on lysander's evaluation of their worthiness. In addition to the re-distribution of wealth, Lysander adds his own magical item rewards to sweeten the pot for those he wishes to aid.

Gaining Lysander as a patron would be a mixed affair. He chooses his apprentice, not the other way around. Who would appreciate a demi-lich as a mentor, anyway? Regardless of his protege's willingness, Lysander will constantly meddle in thier affairs, providing them with advice and critisism in an attempt to mold them into the hero he sees as a worthy successor. If his new apprentice accepts the attention, Lysander can provide very good magical instruction, able to teach anyone with int/wis 11+ to be a wizard or cleric, and having a complete collection of all known wizard spells.