Legends - A Realm of Legends

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A Realm of Legends

The Realm encompasses several hundred principalities, connected by wayportals and under the authority of the Empire. Each principality is ruled by a feudal lord, and these feudal lords in turn bend knee to the Emperor of Dragonthrone. Beyond the Realm lie other domains, some of whom are hold peace treaties with Dragonthrone, and others want to see nothing less than to lay waste to all its lands.

Worlds and Domains

The realm encompasses several hundred principalities, and those listed below are but a few examples. Don’t forget that a character’s surname is also his principality of origin, so when selecting where your character is from you might want to pick a domain name that you like the sound of, or which particularly matches your background.

BLACKWATERS – This city is surrounded by and half submerged in a black-watered lake. Legends say that once this was a proud and ancient city but in its hubris placed itself above the gods. The gods responded by flooding the city with torrential rain: rain which has not abated since. The noble families of Blackwaters still have not abandoned their ancestral home, but are hopeful that one day a hero may find a way to stop the rain, and allow the city to be reclaimed from the water.

BLOODPACT – This smoke-wreathed domain of volcanic rock and dense jungles is the site of millennia of constant war between the Orcish Legions and the Stonetroll Tribes. The orcs are seemingly without number, suffering thousands of casualties every day but with new armies marching into the fray just as fast. The stonetrolls are sixty-foot tall warped giants, fewer in number but stronger and possessed of powerful regenerative capabilities. Happily neither Orc nor Troll seem capable of using the many Waygates that connect Bloodpact to neighbouring domains, so their threat is contained. The Empire of Dragonthrone has a permanent outpost in Bloodpact called the Fortress of Haven - from here it deploys nobles and military officers in training, allowing them to gain military experience against the undisciplined and technologically inferior orcs and trolls, leading expendable Penal Legion troopers in their sorties.

BRIGHTSKIES – The domain of bright-skies is set in the side of a great cliff overlooking a vast blue ocean. The climate is pleasant and temperate, and several towns are set into the rock-face, balancing on ledges or living within shallow caves and short tunnels. The inhabitants of Brightskies have fully adapted to their perpendicular lifestyle, and find it quite amusing that visitors find their environment vertiginous. The “shark’s teeth” where the cliff meets sea is also a favourite site for young adventurers to prove their worth, as hostile sahuagin, merfolk and worse infest the jagged rocks and often need to be driven back from the edges of civilisation.

CANDLEWHISPER – For the most part the domain of Candlewhisper is empty blasted and sterile black rock upon which no life will grow. The sun is visible only dimly through heavy grey clouds that never shed rain, and so the entire area is dry and chilly. Candlewhisper is significant though, as at the centre of this domain is a library-monastery that pre-dates the Empire itself. The library has the population of a small town and generations live and die within its walls, sustained by food and water summoned by the magic of the wizards that live there. Candlewhisper is an excellent region of origin for player characters who want to play High Wizards or Necromancers, though of course characters of other sorts may also originate from there.

DEMONFORGE - A scar in the earth leading down into a dark abyss, the Demonforge periodically spews out hordes of gibbering spawn that surge towards the Waygates, seemingly intent of breaking out into the realm at large. To contain this threat, there are three Edgeforts, each with a thousand seasoned soldiers dedicated to driving the spawn back into the pit. The thousand soldiers are reinforced by twelve times that number in undead soldiers, sustained by the very energy of the pit they seek to contain, and raised from the numbers of the Edgefort's fallen. The undead, while fearless and numerous, require direction from living commanders, and so the Demonforge domain places a high value on training in war-strategy and tactics.

DRAGONTHRONE – This is the royal heart of the Empire, taken up entirely by the vast Imperial Palace and its surrounding grounds. By Imperial edict, all born there are of royal blood, and naturally only those of royal blood are permitted to procreate there, and then only by the direction and edict of the Emperor Athan Eserian of Dragonthrone.

DREAMSANDS - A harsh and barren desert for the most part, the Dreamsands domain is doubly isolated from outside influence as its few oasis cities are a long desert trek away from the Waygate Citadels in the deep desert. It never rains in this domain, so it is unclear why the oases have not long run dry - some whisper of ancient pacts with fae beings that sustain the water supply, and allow life within this lifeless land.

FIREWANDER – On an obsidian rock that projects from a lake of lava is Firewander, a domain of oppressive heat and sulphurous smoke that once served as a prison mining colony, but became an independent Principality in its own right after Empress Eleia Eserian of Dragonthrone promised its inhabitants citizen status in return for their aid during the Orc Wars six hundred years ago. The citizens of Firewander have a proud history of martial tradition, especially favouring hammers and mining tools, and also are well known for their Pyromancers.

GLENHARROW - Glenharrow was long ago invaded by the Imperium of Ravenspear, but the highland clansmen of the domain long fort a war of defiant resistance against their occupiers. Three centuries ago when Dragonthrone made war against Ravenspear, the Glenharrow Clansmen agreed to join forces with their occupier's enemies, and with steel and iron provided by Dragonthrone they succeeded in driving Ravenspear out of the highlands forever. Since then Glenharrow has remained a feudal domain of Dragonthrone, but through an agreement and treaty made at the time of their alliance remains almost independent, exempt from Imperial tithe and tribute, and self governing in almost every way.

HEARTSWOOD – This realm is a great forest, with trees many hundreds of feet tall and a society that is divided into canopy, branch and ground. It is a domain of wild and untamed life, and the Lord of the Principality is also the High Druid of the land. The forest-folk have learnt to build their villages and towns in the branches of the greater trees, and have also gained great renown in their bow-skill, which they employ to defend themselves against spiderkin, root goblins and other forest denizens.

IRONFLAME - A single mountain comprises this domain, and it is inhabited by snakemen miner-artificers who pull out iron and other ores from the heart of the mountain and work it in their extensive forge complexes into weapons, armour and superior tools. It is widely recognised that Ironflame smiths are the best in the realm, and the Hundred Claws army of Dragonthrone itself is supplied almost exclusively by Ironflame armament contracts.

JOURNEYPASS – Journeypass is an unremarkable domain geographically, consisting as it does of a flat grassy plain bounded by gentle hills and intersected by a wide slow-flowing river, but it is a domain blessed with a surprisingly high number of Wayportals. As a result Journeypass has thrived on trade, and the plains hold three major cities and six smaller towns. The Lord of Journeypass is known to be fanatically loyal to the Emperor of Dragonthrone, and hails from a strong tradition of chivalry and knightly virtue. The common folk are somewhat more mercenary in attitude, but it is a rare citizen of Journeypass who does not feel some swell of pride when he sees the domain’s Warhost riding to battle with pennants flying. Because of the domain’s high population, many local folk use their nearest city or town as a surname while within Journeypass, and only adopt the surname Journeypass when travelling into other domains.

PAGEFALL - The gentle climate, passive natives and relative isolation of this island domain made it an ideal place for contemplation and study, and so just two centuries ago the Imperial University bought up the domain and built campus and colleges upon it. The presence of the university has urbanised the island, and now it attracts both an intake of students and foreign trade. Those that gain degrees at Pagefall will commonly take the island name as their own surname, in place of their previous surname. Only nobles or those of notable families tend to ignore this tradition. Pagefall is a gathering place for academics of all sorts - it is perhaps most infamous for its College Arcane and the Engineering College, but as a centre for knowledge and learning in all fields, it is unequalled.

RAVENSPEAR – This large domain is hemmed in by pine-covered mountains but has in its valley basin vast open plains as well as cultivated farms and vineyards. It is centred on the city of Aeternum, which in turn was once the centre of an Imperium that once ruled over no less than two dozen Domains. The black raven banner of the spear-wielding legionnaires was once a much feared symbol of military might. However, three hundred years ago Dragonthrone's Empire smashed the Ravenspear Imperium through a combination of arcane and technological superiority, as well as far greater numbers and resources. Now Ravenspear is just one more vassal domain under the rule of Dragonthrone, ruled by a weak and ineffectual senate that kowtows to the distant throne.

SCARLETTWOOD - Sparsely inhabited, this domain gains its name from the red-bark birch forests that cover most of its rolling hills. The pulp of this wood is considered to be excellent material for making durable paper, and the bark can be reduced to an excellent red-brown ink. As a result there is a single large monastery in the domain, that both operates as a business providing paper and ink to the realm, but also as a place of worship to the Gods of Knowledge and Learning. Scattered around the monastery are numerous villages of peasants and woodsmen, all holding a tradition that the second born son of any family be sent to the monastery.

SILKMARKET – Once called Wormswood, this domain’s forests have long since been cleared and the wild giant silkworms have been penned into farms. These silkworms are often as large as an ox, and their silk is well prized as one of the finest clothing materials in all the realm, equally suited to hardy adventurer gear or high fashion. The domain is given over almost entirely to this textiles industry, though the locals also produce all manner of less exportable goods, including “silksblood beer” and “silkcheese”. The lord of this land is called the Chief Fabricator by the locals, and has grown fat on the wealth of his worms. He is well known for his skill at the local fighting style, which uses double hook-ended staves to claw at and trip opponents.

SORROWSTORM - Once a prosperous and civilised domain, Sorrowstorm was the location of arcane experiments gone awry some six hundred years ago, and since then has been ravaged by constant lightning storms that tear at and scar the earth, and render the domain almost uninhabitable. Worse still, the few survivors of the prior civilisation must battle daily against the swarms of Stormborn - dog-sized insectoid creatures that are driven by the storm's dark energy and which hunt men and livestock.

THUNDERDEEP – This domain is one of many entirely subterranean ones, where the only light is from torches and oil lanterns, and where the main foodstuff is cave fungus and insects. Thunderdeep is so named because of the deep rumbling noise that passes through the caves every thirty seconds or so. Locals find it somewhat soothing, referring to it as the heartbeat of the earth, but visitors can find it drives them to distraction. Thunderdeep folk are well known for their patience and stoicism, and for their preference for darkness.

Credits

This page by Asklepios

Notes

Style/layout rewrites needed. Full formatting