Thoughts of a campaign seed
City-state on an isolated peninsula founded on the ruins of some ancient civilization when a powerful mage brought people there from a foreign land. 200-ish years of settlement, time to get well established, but not having developed long-range sea travel and explorations tend to end up with people not returning.
Possible catacomb/dungeon in the mountains on the inland end, possibly set up by the very mage that established the settlement.
-
The thought is the mage (possibly demon-possessed) made himself out as savior, magically transporting a population away from a supposed threat while really establishing a supply of test subjects.
Over a couple hundred years, the necessities of survival have obscured some of the reality of what happened. Class and racial biases transferred over, but then the lines became somewhat blurred. Nobles could only retain status if they had enough loyal followers to help hold it, since possessions were, to an extent, reset. And anyone who really looks might question the "birthright" of anyone when the current society is only a handful of generations old.
Farming has been established, and short-range fishing is big. It might take a couple days to travel from outlying villages to the capital city. Aesthetically, the main city shows the layers of finely-carved stone from before overlaid by newer quarried rock and wood. A central keep is mostly the former.
A mine provides ore, but the largest tunnels in the mountain, a passage to the north, have been barred. Early on, explorers would delve in and not return. After about thirty years, a major force of experienced individuals set forth, but they didn't get far, few returning with stories of devouring shadows and the fallen rising to assault their fellows. After that blow (which wiped out most of the "high level adventurer" types), heavy doors were established and the place generally blocked off, though smaller expeditions have been organized since (none of those returned at all).
Possible catacomb/dungeon in the mountains on the inland end, possibly set up by the very mage that established the settlement.
-
The thought is the mage (possibly demon-possessed) made himself out as savior, magically transporting a population away from a supposed threat while really establishing a supply of test subjects.
Over a couple hundred years, the necessities of survival have obscured some of the reality of what happened. Class and racial biases transferred over, but then the lines became somewhat blurred. Nobles could only retain status if they had enough loyal followers to help hold it, since possessions were, to an extent, reset. And anyone who really looks might question the "birthright" of anyone when the current society is only a handful of generations old.
Farming has been established, and short-range fishing is big. It might take a couple days to travel from outlying villages to the capital city. Aesthetically, the main city shows the layers of finely-carved stone from before overlaid by newer quarried rock and wood. A central keep is mostly the former.
A mine provides ore, but the largest tunnels in the mountain, a passage to the north, have been barred. Early on, explorers would delve in and not return. After about thirty years, a major force of experienced individuals set forth, but they didn't get far, few returning with stories of devouring shadows and the fallen rising to assault their fellows. After that blow (which wiped out most of the "high level adventurer" types), heavy doors were established and the place generally blocked off, though smaller expeditions have been organized since (none of those returned at all).
Comments
Post a Comment