Table of Contents

Introduction...2
Setting Inspirations...3
A Brief Historical Account...4-5
A Rough Guide to Ulverland...6-8
Some Facts About the Queen...9
Religion...10-11
Time and Technology...12-14
Social Ranks of the Upper Class...15
Mourning and Funeral Culture...16-18
Clothing, Fashion, and the Mode...19
Crime and Punishment...20-21
The Military...22
Literature...23
Organizations...24
Mores and Manners...25
Money...25
Miscellaneous...26
Popular Street Foods in Lowedon...27
A Rough Guide to Lowedon...28-33
A Rough Guide to the Northlands...34-43
Ulverland's Colonies in the
Discovered Countries...44-47
A Rough Guide to the Greater World...48-51
Map of Ulverland...52-53
Map of the World...54-55
Map of Lowedon...56-57
Credits...58

Ulverland
A Gothic Gaslight Fantasy
Setting
There was something awesome in the thought of the solitary
mortal standing by the open window and summoning in from the
gloom outside the spirits of the nether world.
Arthur Conan Doyle, Selecting a Ghost

What is it?
Ulverland is an island kingdom of decaying castles,
foreboding forests, haunted moors, defiled
graveyards, and gloomy ancestral estates.
What lies beneath the surface?
The conventions of the Gothic and Gaslight Fantasy:
mad monks, ghosts, villainous aristocrats,
monstrosities, and long-buried secrets that can no
longer be repressed; duelists and monster hunters,
highwaymen and assassins, witch finders and pagan
cultists, demonologists, mesmerists, and exorcists;
swashbuckling battle against the forces of darkness;
impossible steam-powered inventions; the influence of
Hammer horror films, the Victorian fin de sicle, and
morbid moments from real-world history.
What does it feel like?
A cold wind that chills you to the bone, the taste of
coppery blood in your mouth, a shrill scream breaks
the death-like silence of the witching hour.

Setting Inspirations
Literature
Robert E. Howard's Solomon Kane stories; Oscar
Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray; Bram Stoker's
Dracula; Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; Horace Walpole's
The Castle of Otranto; Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of the
Grotesque and Arabesque; Ellen Datlow and Terri
Windling's Queen Victoria's Book of Spells; Kim
Newman's Anno Dracula; Oliver Potzsch's
The Hangman's Daughter; Cherie Priest's Boneshaker
Film & Television
The Brotherhood of the Wolf; Vampire Hunter D; Penny
Dreadful; Ripper Street; Doctor Jekyll and Sister Hyde;
Black Sunday; The Vampire Lovers; Sleepy Hollow;
Sweeney Todd; I Sell the Dead; Witchfinder General;
Pirates of the Caribbean; The Prestige; Le Chevalier D'Eon
Comics
From Hell; The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen; Defoe:
1666; Victorian Undead; The Cain Saga; The Scorpion;
Billy the Kid's Old Timey Oddities; Baltimore; Sebastian O
Music
Nick Cave; Sopor Aeternus; Marissa Nadler;
Rasputina; Cradle of Filth; Moonspell; Nox Arcana;
Midnight Syndicate; The Rohan Theatre Band; My
Dying Bride; King Diamond; The Tiger Lillies
Miscellaneous
Castlevania and Darkstalkers; Innistrad; the art of Harry
Clarke, Joseph Vargo, and Simon Marsden; Ravenloft

A Brief Historical Account

The Ancient Era
During the Ancient Era, the island was home to
Kellmen tribes ethnically and culturally similar to the
people of the Shae Isle.
The Iron Era
With the coming of the Iron Era, the island was
conquered and colonized by the Iron Empire.
Eventually, the Iron Empire would fall to barbarian
invaders, fragment into the various Iron Principalities,
and most of the Empire colonials would flee from
Ulverland when cut off from the Empire's support.
The Wolf Era
In this era, the southern Kellmen of the island were
conquered by barbarians from the northern lands of
the Grand Continent. These Ulvermen used wolf
imagery that is still favored by the country today. At
first the Ulvermen won land in battle, but eventually
they intermarried with the island's Kellmen populace
and their cultures intermixed to form the basis of what
will come to be called Ulverlandian culture.
The Sword Era
Morgundian knights led by Lord Ather invade and
annex Ulverland for the Morgundian queen, Analise I.
Instead of imposing their culture on the populace,
these conquerors assimilated to Ulverlandian ways;
the only noteworthy Morgundian contribution to
Ulverlandian culture was the importation of knightly
virtues and the ideals of chivalry.

The Frost Era

The Morgundian invaders had by this time fully
assimilated into Ulverlandian culture and lost their
ties with Morgundy. Frostreaver marauders began to
raid the northern towns of Ulverland. Desirous of a
clime milder than their own, these Frostreavers forged
their own settlements in the Northlands. The
Northwall was built to keep the Frostreaver threat
contained.
The Illumined Era
New ideas, philosophies, and technological
innovations from the southern countries of the Grand
Continent began to filter into Ulverlandian society.
Resistant to change, Ulverlandians are slow to adopt
these novel concepts, but eventually a mania for new
experiences set in; during this era, Ulverland sent
explorers on state-backed expeditions and funded
mercantile ventures to far-off locales.
The Blood Era
Spurred by the desire for novelty, Ulverland utilized
the new ideas and technologies that first arrived
during the Illumined Era and became a modernized,
industrialized society. Colonies in other lands are
established, and Ulverland emerges as one of the
richest countries in the world. However, this era is not
without its anxieties; vampire lords from Harrowfaust
establish themselves in the Northlands, disrupting the
dominion of the Kellmen and Frostreaver-descended
leaders, and instituting a blood-based system of
feudalism. It is currently year 1666 of the Blood Era.

A Rough Guide to Ulverland

Ulverland can be roughly divided into four districts:
Suthenbrook is the most civilized region of
Ulverland, and is home to the kingdom's capital city
Lowedonwhich straddles the River Albin. Lowedon
is a sprawling, foggy, fortified city that was
established by colonizers from the Iron Empire in the
distant past. Lowedon is the seat of governance;
Queen Erzebeta II and her Parliament rule from her
palace at Minister's Rest. The people of Lowedon are
currently aghast at the outrages of a serial murderer
known only as the Gardener, so called because he cuts
the bloom of youth short for the women he catches at
night on the streets of the Madchapel borough. The
Queen's Bloom borough houses the Stained Cathedral,
a spiritual center of the Church of the White Way. The
Stained Cathedral also serves as the barracks for the
Knights of the White Raven, a religious order
comprised of templars, inquisitors, and witch finders
led by Sir Robert Aubrey. The countryside of
Suthenbrook is mostly farmland and light woodlands;
these areas are menaced by winter wolves. It is
rumored that twin necromancers, Arion and Arianna,
are raising an army of the dead from Suthenbrook's
many neglected cemeteries. The Orxham Academy,
Ulverland's premier university and one of the few
colleges that teaches Occult Science, is also located in
Suthenbrook.

Westenbrook is a region of farmlands and deep

woods. Grand Bishop Julianna VI holds sway at the
great cathedral at Covenant. The people are hardy and
mix their belief in the Ulverlandian Church with
superstitions and folk magic; this has earned them a
reputation as a hex-blooded people. It is not
uncommon for the folk of Westenbrook to leave gifts
on their doorsteps at night to appease the fey. The
people live in fear of werewolves, banshees, will-o'wisps, and worgs. Once a year all of Westenbrook
engages in the regional Festival of the Blood Moon,
which culminates in a stoic hunt for werewolves in the
wild-lands. While gypsies travel all of Ulverland, the
gypsy king Bela Drachen maintains a permanent
camp in Westenbrook. The countryside is dotted with
rings of standing stones, barrow mounds, and
tenebrous fissures in the earth that are said to lead
down into lower planes.
Estenbrook is a land of rolling hills, cold beaches, port
towns, and seaside cities. The shipyards of Estenbrook
are famous for the seaworthiness of their vessels. It is
rumored that resurrectionists and mad inventors ply
their diabolic trades under the cover of night in this
region of Ulverland. Estenbrook is also home to the
headquarters of the Brotherhood of the Yew, a secret
society dedicated to hunting and slaying undead
abominations. The people of Estenbrook are said to be
a bloodthirsty lot; their favored form of entertainment
is vicious pit-fighting. Louisa de Grace, a renowned
sculptor residing in the city of Ilwich, is equally famed
for her charm as she is for the vices attributed to her
nocturnal rambles. Estenbrook is also known as the

hauntlands, as it suffers from the presences of

ghouls, wraiths, and specters. Undead dragons and
untamed wyvern have even been spotted off the
coasts. The lonely Stormkirk Tower is perpetually
shrouded in a violent galenone who have ventured
inside have ever returned. Roadside shrines are not
uncommon throughout the country and wilderness.
The Northlands are a fog-shrouded area of moors,
bogs, and the treacherous Penitent Mountains.
Separated from the rest of Ulverland by the
Northwall, the Northlands are not ruled by the
sovereign of Ulverland; rather, the people are pagan
wildlings clad in tartan trousers and kilts. The
wildling clans are ruled by vampiric families who
originally hail from Harrowfaust. The vampire
families tend to leave governance to the people's local
clan leadershipthey simply require a blood-tithe
from the populace. Two of the undead royal families
in the Northlands are currently at war with each other:
Count Sebastian von Karlok, who rules his domain
from Castle Mortheim, wages a protracted intrigue
against Lady Madeline Lochstein (the Sanguinary
Duchess), who controls the territory surrounding
Mandershire Manor. The wilds are home to monstrous
bats and nightmares.

Some Facts About the Queen

She is unmarried; some hope that she will

marry the sovereign of another nation to forge
a political alliance.
She is reclusive; she publicly defers to
Parliament but pulls strings behind the scenes.
She is an adept sorceress, as magic is in her
bloodline.
Her vibrant red hair betrays the fact that there
is fey ancestry in her family tree.
She has imperial aims.

Religion
The dominant religion in Ulverland is the Church of
the White Way. In the Sword Age, the Church
managed to convert many people of Ulverland and
largely eradicate the pagan religions that existed
before its spread. Despite its dominance, heretical
sects and cults devoted to pagan deities or the Ladys
demonic foes (the Church sees little distinction
between them) still persist and are occasionally the
targets of the Churchs crusades, inquisitions, and
witch hunters.
The Lady of the White Way revered by the Church is a
fierce, but nurturing, warrior-mother goddess,
something akin to a cross between Mother Mary and
Joan dArc. Her holy symbol is a cross composed of
perpendicular swords. The Church also accords near
demigod status to a number of saintsparticularly
those who were martyred. The Church preaches the
gospel of a feminine divinity rather than a male god;
its holy text is called The Book of the Lady. Due to the
Church of the Ladys matriarchal traditions, women
are able to attain rank and power within its hierarchy.
At the head of Ulverland's church is a Grand Bishop;
beneath that (in order) are the Archbishops, Bishops,
and Priests. Holy orders of monks and nuns who have
left the mundane world to pursue spiritual
contemplation can also be found throughout the
realm.
Sacraments commonly performed by clergy of the

10

Church include baptism, confirmation, confession and

the absolution of sin, eucharist, holy ordination, the
marriage ceremony, last rites, and the burial ceremony.
Clergy granted divine power by the Lady may also
perform healings, blessings, and exorcisms.
The Ulverlandian Church is a sovereign religious
entity; the Western Church dominates Morgundy,
Caligari, Midian, and the Iron Principalities, whereas
the Eastern Church commands the loyalty of the
people in Harrowfaust and the Relmeenos Empire. All
three churches revere the same goddess, but differ on
matters of scripture, rite, and doctrine. The Western
Church is led by a female Pope, while the Eastern
Church has a Matriarch at its head.
Pagans in Ulverland (and throughout the world)
generally worship nature spirits and deities associated
with the natural cycle of life, death, and rebirth. Their
spiritual leaders are druids and shamans. Some turn
to the worship of darker entities, such as devils,
demons, and the Great Old Ones. These cultists pay
homage to their unholy masters in return for occult
power.
An upstart religion, the Children of the New Fire, has
arisen in the Martyrlands; the fanatics of this faith
wish to purify all other religions through conquest,
flame, and the sword.
The Spicelands, Kathai, and the Island of Jade
Mysteries all have their own complex systems of
religion and philosophy.

11

Time and Technology

To quote Shakespeare's Hamlet, in this world the time
is out of joint. While the larger metropolises of the
kingdom (such as Lowedon, Orxham, and Covenant)
and the larger towns possess a decidedly dark
Victorian sensibility, the country villages are less
technologically advanced, and more in tune with the
Early Modern era. The uncivilized reaches (such as the
Northlands and the nearby Shae Isle) still exist in a
state of Dark Ages barbarism; the further you move
from the civilizing glare of the urban gaslights, the
father back in time you appear to travel.
While this disjointed disparity creates a tension within
Ulverland between those still consumed by barbarous
superstition and those who endorse rational
Enlightenment values, it is common knowledge
among Ulverlandians that supernatural threats are
real and active in the world. Though feared and
distrusted, magic is known to be a genuine
manifestation of occult power. Ghosts are an accepted
form of the past's intrusion on the present. Forests
said to be the haunts of werewolves are avoided, and
the reality of undeath is terrifyingly evident in the
disused burial grounds and abandoned fortresses that
dot the kingdom's countryside. Welcome to Ulverland
a mortal realm caught between the light and unholy
darkness.

12

Notes on Technology in Ulverland

The cities are lit by gaslight. Towns and
villages are more likely to be lit by torches, if
they are lit at all at night. Orxham is lit by
magical lanterns maintained by apprentices
studying the magical arts at the Orxham
Academy.
Vehicular transportation in the cities is
handled by horse-drawn omnibuses and
carriages. Two cities (Lowedon and Elderburg)
have underground rail systems. Whereas
transportation in towns will mostly like be by
carriage, in most rural areas only wagons and
carts are likely to be found for hire.
Steam-powered trains connect the major cities.
There are also regular routes on which

13

carriages travel; indeed, carriage routes tend to

be the only service that reaches out-of-the-way
locations.
There is currently a fad for travelling via
bicycle.
Sea travel is done via sail, steamship (which
are rare), hot air balloon (rarer still), and
zeppelin (rarest of all).
Telegraphs are expensive, but can send
information with remarkable speed. Similarly,
daguerreotypes are pricey, but can most
faithfully capture an image.
The printing presses have become steampowered, allowing for the mass-production of
books, broadsheets, and penny dreadfuls.
Factories in cities and larger towns have also
become steam-powered. Some areas are
experimenting with harnessing galvanic power
to bolster industry.
Firearms are available, but have yet to fully
displace more traditional ranged weapons
such as bows and crossbows. (Treat pistols as
hand crossbows, blunderbusses as light
crossbows, and rifles as heavy crossbows.)
Many forms of personal armor have taken on
more fashionable shapes, such as coats with
protective linings and combat-ready corsetry.
Some armor is also made of ebonite, a
hardened form of rubber.

14

Social Ranks of the Upper Class

King/Queen
Prince/Princess
Duke/Duchess
Marques/Marchioness
Earl/Countess
Viscount/Viscountess
Baron/Baroness
Knight/Dame

15

Mourning and Funereal

Culture

Death is both a stoically-expected finality in Ulverland

and an occasion to show the depths of one's grief
through lavish display.

A funeral procession that accompanies the

dead to their final resting place is a longstanding tradition in Ulverland. For the rich,
this would mean that the coffin is transported
by a richly-appointed hearse-coach, behind
which would trail the grieving family
members, black-veiled professional mourners
hired for the occasion, and at least one
funerary violinist. For the poor, the procession
might simply be a sorrowful march to the
grave conducted by the friends and family of
the deceased.
The dead in Ulverland are usually either
buried in coffins on hallowed ground or

16

entombed in mausoleums that have been

consecrated by priests of the Lady; burial in a
blessed location is fairly effective preventative
measure that keeps the deceased from rising
again as the undead.
The Kings and Queens of Ulverland are always
interred in the massive and sprawling crypts
beneath the Stained Cathedral in Lowedon.
The upper classes tend to be immured in
family mausoleums; the middle classes are
most frequently inhumed in graves marked
with a headstone or monument; the lower
orders are often consigned to an unmarked
spot in the pauper's field of a cemetery.
The remains of Rikard I, an Ulverlandian king
of the Frost Era, are not entombed beneath the
Stained Cathedral; rather, they were hastily
buried in Morgundy where the king fell
attempting to regain what are thought to be
ancient territories of Ulverland. Several
knightly expeditions have been attempted to
find his bones so that they might be laid to rest
in his native soil, but thus far every mission
has been discovered and repulsed by the foul
Morgundians.
Upon the death of a family member, it is
customary to go into a period of mourning. For
women, this means that they are expected to
wear black clothing and jet jewelry exclusively.
For men, this means adopting black attire or
simply tying a black armband around the
sleeve of one's coat. The length of the
mourning period is determined by one's

17

relationship to the deceased. Children, parents,

and more distant family members are to be
mourned for six months; a wife is to mourn her
husband for a year; a husband should mourn
his wife for two years. Mourning may be
extended beyond its usual bounds, but never
curtailedemerging from mourning too soon
is to invite scandal.
Keeping mementos of the dead is popular
throughout Ulverland. In particular, lengths of
hair might be cut so that locks can be kept in
lockets or woven into wreaths. Cameos and
portraits of deceased loved ones are also
treasured. For those who can afford it, having
daguerreotypes taken of the deceasedposed
as if in lifeis currently considered
fashionable.
While most Ulverlandians treat the dead with
solemn respect and regard cemeteries and
burial grounds as sacred, there are criminals
who call themselves resurrectionists or
resurrection men who exhume corpses in
order to sell them to medical schools. The
practice of dissection is crucial in learning the
surgeons art; although the bodies of criminals
are often handed over to the medical men after
execution, the law of supply and demand has
created a grisly trade.

18

Clothing, Fashion, and

the Mode

Well-heeled gentlemen are expected to wear

shirts, trousers, waistcoats, hats, and jackets
with leather shoes or boots when in public, at a
minimum. In colder weather, the above will be
supplemented with a long coat or cloak.
Gentlewomen tend to wear elaborate dresses
and gowns with leather shoes or ankle-boots,
but multiple-piece skirt and blouse
combinations are gaining ground in the
fashionable world. Some women are breaking
with tradition entirely and are adopting
reformed dress: that is, trousers and shirts
such as men wear.
The men of the Northlands favor tartan plaid
trousers and kilts as a symbol of regional
pride.
No Ulverlandian feels acceptable in public
without a hat. Men currently favor tricornes,
top hats, and derbies, while stylish forms for
women seem to change with the breeze.
Popular accessories for men include walking
sticks, watch fobs, monocles, insignia denoting
club membership, and heraldic jewelry;
popular accessories for women include fans,
parasols, veils, and jewelry inlaid with
precious gems.

19

Crime and Punishment

Only larger cities such as Lowedon and

Orxham have professional police forces.
Smaller locales have either privately-run
watchmen or voluntary constabularies.
The Lowedon City Police operate out of their
headquarters at Scorchfield Yard and are
innovators in the art of criminology. Their
methods include the use of fingerprinting and
the science of phrenology.
The efforts of the various police forces and
constabularies are supported by a number of
private consulting detectives and
inquisitives that work for hire.

20

Trials in Ulverland are conducted by jury in

front of a judge. These trials are notoriously
short, as jurymen tend to want to get back to
their own business.
Defendants are not innocent until proven
guilty; indeed, a defendant must establish their
own innocence to be freed from the charges
against them.
Whereas all cases are prosecuted by a
government-employed barrister, few
defendants can afford legal counsel of their
own.
Wealthy families tend to have solicitors on
retainer to hire legal aid when necessary.
Gaols in Ulverland are horrible places; both
food and sanitation exist only at abysmal
levels. Hard laborsuch as the treadmillis a
common staple of Ulverlandian incarceration.
Crimes such as treason, murder, piracy, and
major theft are punishable by public execution.
Upper class criminals are beheaded with
sword, axe, or guillotine. Everyone else is hung
by the neck until dead.
Public executions draw enormous crowds of
curious, morbid onlookers. Ironically, although
these executions are held in public as a way to
discourage crime, the crowds that gather for
execution are usually thick with pickpockets.
Lesser crimes are punished with public
whipping, transportation to the colonies, fines,
and imprisonment in gaols or prison hulks.

21

The Military

The common soldier or navy sailor enlisted

because it was an alternative to abject poverty.
Some soldiers or sailors were forced into
military service to avoid a harsher prison
sentence.
In times of trouble when war seems to be on
the horizon, men and women can be pressganged into service.
Positions of command in the military are
frequently purchased from the government by
upper-class mothers or fathers as a vocation for
their second sons or daughters. This means
that the leadership is frequently comprised of
aristocratic whelps with no real military
experience.
Ulverland is famed for the bravery of its
cavalry.
Ulverlandian army ranks: Grand Marshall,
General, Lt. General, Major General, Brigadier,
Colonel, Lt. Colonel, Major, Captain,
Lieutenant.
Ulverlandian naval ranks: Grand Admiral,
Admiral, Vice Admiral, Rear Admiral,
Commodore, Captain, Commander, Lt.
Commander, Lieutenant.

22

Literature
Five Popular Penny Dreadfuls
Rubies the Color of Blood
The Curse of the Black Road
The Mystery Beneath the Streets of Lowedon
The Boys from Rotwood
Patricia, the Devil Monarch of the Penanggalan
Five Popular Plays in Ulverland
An Aesthete Upon the Sea (a tragedy)
The Importance of Smelling the Blood-roses
(a comedy)
A Slaughter of Shark Men (a grand guignol)
The Family is a Disease (a play of social issues)
A Husband for a Young Widow (a romance)
Five Important Novels
The Schoolmistress's Lament (the tale of a
beleaguered school teacher who eventually
marries a Baron)
The Boyish Adventures of Latham Such (a coming
of age story)
The Drowned Village (the story of twin siblings
trying to save their village from an impending
flood)
Climbing the Ladder of Knives (a satire of upperclass life)
Carnations at Dusk (a horror novel about the
undead threat)

23

Organizations

The Knights of the White Raven are an order of

religious warriors sworn to destroy the
enemies of the Church of the Lady. The White
Raven Knights make war against the infidel in
the Martyrlands, and root out heretics at home.
However, there are persistent rumors that
some members of the order secretly belong to
demonic and diabolic cults and are subverting
the knighthood from within.
The Brotherhood of the Yew is an organization
devoted to hunting and killing the undead.
The Brotherhood includes commoners who
gather information, academics who research
the weaknesses of the undead, and
adventurers who lead the actual assaults
against the unquiet dead.
The Thrice-Damned Penitents are an order of
monks and nuns who travel the land seeking
cursed artifacts, which they safeguard in their
fortified vaults so that they do not fall into
innocent hands.
Old Graham's Gang is an informal thieves'
guild lead by the infamous and semi-mythical
Old Graham. His thieves are all children; when
they reach their seventeenth year, they
mysteriously disappear.
The two major political parties in Parliament
are the Blue Bloods and the Powdered Wigs.
The Blue Bloods dominate the Lordly House,
while the Powdered Wigs have tended to hold
more seat in the Common House.

24

Mores and Manners

Learning decorum is as important as literacy

and the sciences.
When visiting the home of a genteel person,
one should always present a calling card to the
help first.
One should always bow before tipping one's
hat.
Courting couples of distinction should always
be accompanied by a chaperone.
It is rude to dance three dances with the same
partner.
To cut someone by refusing to acknowledge
their presence is a grave slight.
Young members of the upper classes are to be
presented to the court before their first social
season.
A duel must have seconds present to make
sure that all formalities are adhered to
properly.
Tea and light refreshments should be served to
all guests.

Money

Coins are mostly commonly made of copper or

silver.
Gold was once found only in coin form, but
now it is more common for banks to issue
paper gold notes of various denominations.

25

Miscellaneous

Every civilized man and woman in the world

speaks the Common tongue because of the
existence of the Lexicos Spire in the
Martyrlands. In the Ancient Era the Spire was
erected by wise Matriarchs who performed a
ritual upon it that grants the world's denizens
knowledge of a shared language.
Unfortunately, this shared language has done
little to end factionalism and war as the
Matriarchs had hoped it might.
Dragons are not natural creatures; rather, they
are manifestations of human sin.
Characters who are elves, halflings, gnomes,
and the like are not members of their own
cultures. Instead, they are changelings left
behind when the fey steal human infants from
their cribs. Half-elves are the product of mortal
men falling in love with the fey.
Characters who are dwarves were born
misshapen and mangled of limb due to the
presence of black magic in the vicinity of their
conception.
Dragonborn were not born as such; rather, they
became dragonborn because they are haunted
by some great sin they have committed.
Tieflings had a parent who consorted with a
demon or devil from the lower planes.
Characters who are half-orcs have the tainted
blood of lycanthropes in their ancestry.
Warforged are singular creations of mad
scientists and rogue inventors.

26

Popular Street Foods in

Lowedon

Jacket potatoes
Roasted chestnuts
Tea and coffee served in tin cups
Oysters
Hot eels and peas
Meat pies
Muffins and buns

27

A Rough Guide to Lowedon

Tybalt's Tree
This massive tree rooted at the edge of Edward's Park
has seven gallows built into its branches. The public
executions that take place at Tybalt's Tree draw
massive crowds of onlookers. It is currently in fashion
for criminals to die well, that is, those to be executed
are expected to appear before the public in their best
finery and to face their fates with cheeky aplomb.
Those who are slated to dance Tybalt's Jig are
cheered by the assembly if their final walk is full of
swagger and good humor.
Ranter's Bench
Ranter's Bench is an area within Edward's Park in
which mystics, philosophers, preachers, and political
agitators gather to give sermons and speeches to the
crowds that gather there. Ranter's Bench is a unique
area of Lowedon in that any and all speech is
permitted thereeven treasonous or heretical ideas

28

may be espoused there without fear of direct

retaliation.
Black Gate Cemetery
One of the oldest and most prestigious burial grounds
within Lowedon, Black Gate Cemetery has been
sealed and enclosed by stout walls of stone for over a
decade. For reasons as yet unknown, the dead laid to
rest in Black Gate rose from their graves; now they
wander the cemetery, waiting for a madman's hand to
release them from their prison so that they might
devour those who call the city home.
The Tower of the Penitent
Once a royal residence, this fortress is now used as a
prison for criminals of the upper classes. It is known
that several of the prisoners kept here are incarcerated
for political reasons rather than having committed any
actual acts of treason. Rumors circulate that a secret
prisoner is kept within a hidden cell, her face
obscured by an iron mask.
Madchapel
This borough in the east of Lowedon is home to the
poorest of the poor. The district overflows with
immigrants from Harrowfaust and Caligari. Crime is
endemic to the area, and public drunkenness and
violence are facts of daily life. The squalor of the area
seems insurmountable; those who live in this district
rarely have stable housing, and most spend their
nights in common rooms and doss housesif they've
earned enough coin during the day to afford it. If they
haven't, they take their chances sleeping in the streets.

29

Prostitution is also rampant; most women (and many

men) use prostitution to supplement their meager
wages. The district is currently the hunting grounds of
a serial murderer who has been dubbed the
Gardener by the press.
Jadehouse
This dockland borough is primarily inhabited by
immigrants from Kathai and the Island of Jade
Mysteries. Because the residents of Jadehouse are
looked down upon due to common Ulverlandian
prejudices, the district is a poor one and its
constituents largely subsist on menial labor. However,
various criminal organizations from the East have also
arrived and taken root in Jadehouse; they run
gambling operations and opium dens that are open
secrets in Jadehouse.
Amphis
A borough of theaters, opera houses, and cabarets in
the west end of Lowedon, Amphis is the playground
of the monied elite. Of course, Amphis also hosts a
number of less licit entertainments; it is said that a
variety of specialized brothels operate in the region
that cater to very specific and rarefied tastes.
Nest
Located south of the Albin River, Nest is a dilapidated,
working-class borough. Though the area isn't nearly
as downtrodden as Madchapel, it is notorious for
harboring many thieves' guilds. The most infamous
organization operating out of Nest is Old Graham's
Gang, a pack of thieving children controlled by the

30

vile Old Graham. Nest is also a district known for its

fences; if you have stolen goods you wish to dispose
of, Nest will likely supply you with an interested
buyerprovided you don't ask too many questions.
Queen's Bloom
A wealthy borough inhabited mainly by aristocrats
and high-ranking members of the Church, Queen's
Bloom is largely insulated from the horrors that so
often plague the rest of the city. Located within the
district is Erzebeta's palace, Minister's Rest, which is
patrolled by the elite Wolf Angel Guard. Queen's
Bloom is also home to the Stained Cathedral, the
current barracks for the Knights of the White Raven.
The Queen's School
Situated near the mercantile district and the courts of
law, the Queen's School is the premier university in
Lowedon. Most of the faculty are learned members of
the clergy; indeed, a functioning chapel devoted to the
Lady of the White Way is at the center of the college.
For such a recent construction, the interiors of the
buildings that make up the school are perplexing and
labyrinthine in internal structure; rumors abound
about hidden rooms and secret passages. The grounds
of the Queen's School are guarded by several stone
golems shaped like fierce lionsgifts from the
magisters of Orxham Academy.
The Pale Obelisk
This chalk-white monument was a gift from the
Necropolitan of Mord-Stavian to the sovereign of
Ulverland. It was a strange and unexpected gift; it is

31

currently erected upon the north bank of the Albin

River. Interestingly, the queen's alchemists are unable
to determine what substance the Pale Obelisk is made
ofbut whatever it is, it is oddly warm to the touch
no matter what the weather.
The Horrowhock Asylum for the Insane
A lonely edifice located far in the southern reaches of
Lowedon, the Horrowhock Asylum was founded by
Dr. Philip Horrowhock in hopes of creating an
establishment that could advance the burgeoning
science of mental surgery. However, it quickly altered
from the course of Dr. Horrowhock's dream to a place
where the most violent of cases were locked up
shoulder to shoulder with inconvenient relatives.
Dreadful things are said about the current
administration that runs the asylum; whispers abound
of secret experiments that happen deep below the
premises.
The Lowedon Museum
A magnificent building styled after the ancient
patterns of the Relmeenos Empire, the Lowedon
museum houses the cultural treasures of Ulverland.
Contentiously, it also houses the cultural treasures of
other nations that were liberated over the years by
Ulverlandian explorers and conquerors. The museum
contains paintings from Morgundy, marble statutes
from Relmeenos, and sarcophagi from Mord-Stavian
as part of its permanent displays.
Cruciform Station
The southern-most terminus of Ulverland's largest

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railroad line, which connects Lowedon to

Gallowsburgh. Other major stops on the line are
Elderburgh, Midenbrook, Covenant, and Orxham.
Although it has only existed for but a decade, the
Cruciform Line is already said to be haunted by the
specters of those who died laboring upon its
construction.
Orxham Circus
A prominent ring road in the Center City district,
Orxham Circus is festooned with a variety of shops,
taverns, and eateries. Among its most famous
attractions are the Drover's Wheel and the Eld Shoppe.
The Drover's Wheel is a public house frequented by
the intelligentsia; playwrights, poets, and
philosophers gather there to drink absinthe and find
inspiration. The Eld Shoppe is a curious little store
that sells antiques and oddities; each item they sell has
a lengthy story attached to it.
The Coronet Theater
Though Amphis is widely known as the theater
district du jour, the Coronet Theater is a theater with a
long history that still remains popular today. Once
frequented exclusively by the nobility, the Coronet
now stays open by mixing theatrical entertainments
on the weekends with weekday bouts of bare-knuckle
boxing and bear-baiting. It is said in some circles that
the Coronet came be hired out privately for those
wishing to see a nastier sort of bloodsport.

33

A Rough Guide to the

Northlands
The Slaughtered Son
A prosperous wayside inn and tavern situated on the main
trade road
The Slaughtered Son is operated by Alfric
Hausmuller, a defrocked priest of the Lady of
the White Way, who is known to have
connections with the mayors of Hearth and
Cember.
Signy Hausmuller, Alfric's daughter, runs a
brothel within the Slaughtered Son. She is
attended by a mute manservant of terrifying
size and aspect.
A troupe of musicians is employed as
entertainment for the tavern's guests; but one
of them is not at all what she seems.
An enchanted ring was lost in the fray of a
particularly raucous brawl within the
Slaughtered Son. It remains behind the bar, its
powers untested and unrecognized.
The Temple of the Sheathed Sword
A ruined temple to the Lady of the White Way founded by a
penitent knight full of remorse for the lives he took in the
Martyrlands
On a certain night every year, the temple is
surrounded by a ghostly procession of
warriors who wail and demand justice.
It is rumored that the knight who founded the
temple buried a stolen treasure of great value
within the temple's crypts, but few have been

34

brave enough to venture into its depths. None

have returned.
A young girl has been repeatedly sighted
running and dancing among the graves of the
burial grounds that surround the temple. Some
say she is of the wereblood.
Although the temple was founded to honor the
Lady, there are signs within its walls that the
congregation that gathered there turned to the
vile worship of devils.

The Funeral Barrows of the Kell Kings

Ancient burial mounds and catacombs of a forgotten age
Ghouls, bog mummies, and will-o'-wisps
openly haunt the barrows from midnight to
dawn.
A Kell warband flying the Red Tusk banner has
begun using the barrowlands as its
encampment.
Two demons have agreed to make the barrows
the site of their battle for supremacy. A mortal
wizard plays both sides, hoping to entrap the
victor and bend it to his will.
It is known that those who stay too long
among the barrows inevitably go mad from
grief. Melancholy seeps from their very soil
itself, and the air hides a miasma of black
sorrow.
The Cragfastness
A decadent town of Frostreaver immigrants built high upon
the mountains
Jarl Grunwald employs the most vicious

35

members of the Stormbolts, his personal

bodyguard, as assassins against the other noble
houses of the Cragfastness. Though this
practice cannot be proven, it is well known and
will inspire violent reprisals from the other
Frostreaver lords.
A great devil sleeps beneath the Cragfastness.
The devil's dreams infect the sleep of the most
weak-willed Frostreavers, turning their
thoughts to kin-murder.
The fighting men and women of the
Cragfastness have grown indolent and lazy;
they have forgotten their training and the tales
of their forefathers' valor slips daily from their
minds. The Cragfastness is particularly
vulnerable at this moment.
Grunwald's jester is the only man not of
Frostreaver blood allowed to permanently
reside in the Cragfastness. He is a misshapen
brute called Fraomar, and his illusions
entertain the Jarl mightily.

The Silent Forest

A deep forest that hides elf-homes and the strange workings
of the fey
While the elves have no formal governance,
they all take heed of the words of Lillian, a
young leanan sidhe oracle whose visions guide
all major decisions made by the elfin people.
A band of capering imps disguised as sprites
travel from elf-home to elf-home, encouraging
the elves to indulge in orgiastic debauchery for
an untold purpose.

36

The Scarred Ones, the most untamed of all the

fey of the Silent Forest, harbor a fugitive from
justice named Esma within their ranks. They
would fight to the death to see that she does
not face the claims of the Ulverland's laws.
Secreted within a hollow hill is the entrance to
a land of eternal spring.

Cember
A thriving town of fatalists. It is governed by mayor Harald
Alblotter
The Child of Blasphemy, a trickster demon,
wanders the streets of Cember in a variety of
guises, looking to make mischief.
A guild of thieves, cutthroats, and assassins
known as the Black Knives operate a
protection racket that effectively controls trade
within the city.
The Wyrmhunters, a knightly order dedicated
to the slaying of dragons, has barracks within
Cember; each year they sally forth from the
town on a questthey do not return until they
have slain a wyrm. They drag the corpse of the
dragon home with them, which begins a weeklong festival of drunkenness and revelry in
which the dragon is ritually eaten.
The Tomas McPhail, an elderly man who
teaches magic to exceptional youths, has a
tower within the city's walls.

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The Acwel Home

An abandoned manor house known to be haunted by
unquiet shades
The decrepit manor is inhabited by the
bloodthirsty, spectral Acwels, a family of onceprosperous mariners.
Hidden within the Acwel Home is an
enchanted axe wrested from a forgotten storm
giant king.
Finan Skagsdar, the impetuous son of a
wealthy merchant family, offers great wealth to
anyone brave enough to retrieve the books
from the Acwel library.
Maida Threestaves, a young priestess of the
Lady, wishes to bring peace to the ghosts that
dwell within the Acwel Home. She will barter
her healing skill to a party of adventurers
willing to act as her guard when she ventures
inside the manor.
The Ruins of Oswine's Keep
A shattered fortress now home to the enemies of civilization
The western half of the keep is overrun by
Frostreaver barbarians who rally under the
Fenris-rider banner; they are led by Calder of
the Bloody Cleaver.
The eastern half of the keep is under the
dominion of Lucan Kinslayer, a fallen paladin
and his corrupted knightly retinue. They have
an uneasy truce with Calder's horde.
An ancient knight pledged to serve the Lady's
cause lies locked within a block of magical ice
within the keep. Whomever frees him will be

38

gifted with a powerful magical sword forged

by the dwarf kings of old.
The Fenris-riders have recently been
approached by demonologists, who wish to
convince them to break truce with Lucan
Kinslayer so that they may have rule over the
keep's eastern section.

The Cackling Woods

These deep and disorienting woods are the ancestral home of
goblins
At the edge of the forest sits Tarnmore Abbey, a
monastery home to filthy, impoverished monks
who safeguard ancient tomes of immense
learning.
A bitter young man named Branwick MacCork
has begun to form his own loyal coterie of
goblin spellweavers.
Malek Foultongue, the goblin king, holds sway
over his goblin kin because he is unmatched in
the powers of skaldsong. So black is his speech
that his lyrics can literally consume a man's
soul.
The Witchmoon Clan of goblins has abducted
the daughter of a prominent warrior from
Cember.
Magpie
A developing township growing wealthy through logging
run by Burgomeister Graff
Beorn Arrowson, a young skald, attracts
travelers from across the Northlands who wish
to be stirred by his inspired verse.

39

Druidic priestesses wish to revive the Old

Ways and bring the sacrifice of captured
enemies back into the religious rites practiced
in Magpie.
Pearce, youngest son of Tredan Oathmaker and
noble of Hearth, has run away to Magpie with
his forbidden lover. A bounty is upon their
headsPearce would be returned to his father
for a small fortune in gold, while an equal
amount of coin would be given for the lover's
death.
Sofia, a child who was the only survivor of a
raid on her family's gypsy caravan, is currently
under the care of a young widow. The child
knows a ghastly secret, though it lies locked
within her traumatized mind.

The Caves of Kenway

A complex of natural caverns and carved underground
chambers that serve as the hideout of the Swords of Shadow,
a ruthless gang of bandits led by a murderous warlock
Kenan Kellkenney, a blood-thirsty warlock,
imbibes sorcerous drugs and has congress with
succubi; he trades pleasure for the
whereabouts of wealth ready for the taking.
Kellkenney's control of the Swords of Shadow
is contested by Norvel Cutpurse, a talented
thief who decries all deities as false
deceivers.
Hidden within the ranks of the Swords of
Shadow is Eostra Riverford, an apprentice
smith who stole something of great import
from her master.

40

The most feared member of the Swords of

Shadow is Oxa Skullbreaker, a hulking brute
and former gladiator who has never been
bested in combat.

Pendragon's Folly
A ghost town through which the wind seems to whisper
innumerable names
A dark tower lies at the center of Pendragon's
Folly. Within its blackened walls the soul of a
dead wizard strives to be reborn.
One of the few living inhabitant of
Pendragon's Folly is a necromancer who
wishes to trap the soul of the tower's ghostly
guardian.
The town's remaining buildings show signs of
damage from an otherworldly source. In truth,
the town was ripped apart and its denizens
killed by the unleashed power of the primal
elements.
Pendragon's Folly is also currently inhabited
by an antiquarian explorer named Jhonil
MacDouglas; Jhonil seeks entry into the dark
tower so that he might preserve any
knowledge hidden within.
Raven's Reach
A stretch of barbarous territory where warbands, hordes,
and frost giants do battle with each other for survival
The largest clan of Kell barbarians is led by
Wilona Wolfclaw, a fierce, red-haired warrior
woman guided by an ancestral spirit.
The Knights of the White Raven maintain a

41

small keep within Raven's Reach.

Most feared are the mammoth-riding frost
giants of the Hoarbeard clan.
A group of flagellants known as the Red
Crucifiers travel the breadth of Raven's Reach
looking for witches and warlocks to execute.

Carnifuge
A defaced temple now used as a place of worship by an
insane cult of demon worshippers
Carnifuge is ruled by Warian of the Hand and
his inbred family. Warian is a raving prophet,
and he encourages every unhealthy appetite
within his faithful flock.
Uncanny creatures not born of nature prowl
the woods nearby the Carnifuge.
Verge Windthorn has brought his latest wife to
join the community at Carnifuge. She is in
grave danger.
The Uncounted Midwives, a group of stealthy
women, have a scheme to rescue Udela,
Verge's endangered wife, from the clutches of
the Carnifuge cult, but they require aid if their
plan is to be executed successfully.
The Fortress of Bone
A bleak, fortified keep in which an army gathers to make
war against mankind
One of the leaders of the army that gathers at
the Fortress of Bone is Sigfried Bloodroarer, a
great, bellowing minotaur whose strength and
ferocity inspire loyalty through fear.
The other leader of the army gathering at the

42

Fortress of Bone is Wotanis the Sly-eyed, a

drow of cunning and tyrannical disposition.
He is a master of stratagem.
Wotanis is armed with an enchanted short
blade called Lifecutterthe blade has acquired
a taste for innocent blood.
It is rumored that the Fortress of Bone conceals
an evil spring of deadly poison.

Hearth
A populous town of the Northlands; a center of trade and
intrigue
Hestr Royalton, a perfumer employed by
Tredan Oathmaker, is an accomplished
alchemist; some of her more expensive
perfumes promise to grant the wearer
extraordinary prowess.
At night, the streets of Hearth are haunted by
the reanimate corpse of a great hound.
Mayor Tredan's adviser, the sorceress Morgeta,
is mad with the desire to know everything that
can be known. She would give much to be
escorted to the fabled Tree of Knowledge, so
that she might finally comprehend the way of
all things.
A masked man foments revolutionary
thoughts amongst the poor residents of
Hearth.

43

Ulverland's Colonies
in the Discovered Countries
Solemnity
A bustling township growing wealthy from salt mining;
however, this new-found prosperity is undercut by the
burgeoning witch hysteria growing within the community
St. John Masters, a firebrand preacher of the
White Way, has arrived in Solemnity to ferret
out the coven of witches blamed for every
miscarriage, failed crop, and misfortune that
befalls the citizens.
Ferris McLorde, a gnarled and deranged man,
is St. John Masters's agent in sniffing-out
deviltry in Solemnity; Masters keeps him on a
leash and treats him like a dog, but McLorde
can smell witchery as surely as a hound smells
game.
Goody Warwick, a renowned beauty with
golden hair and clear eyes, runs a public house
within the township. It's rumored that she
stores smuggled goods in the basement of her
establishment, or dabbles in a far less savory
trade down in its depths.
Bonfires of hellish flames have been seen
flickering deep within the woods around the
township; these are believed to be the marks of
the witches' sabbath.
Thirteen Blades
A curving roadeach curve is one of the blades it is
named afterthat connects Solemnity to Sharpe's
Valley; few dare to travel this road at night for fear of

44

being attacked by animate shadows.

Bourbon Vale Road
This road veers north and west from Sharpe's Valley
and serves as a route by which the farmers attached to
remote hinterlands bring their produce to market.
Wayfarers report that defiled remains have been
found in several clearings along this road; rumors of
witch-cult activity abound in the region.
The Floating Chapel
This place of worship is the sole building dotting a
small island on Lake Oneiric. It is maintained by a
small splinter congregation of the Church who believe
free love and bigamy to be no sins.
Sharpe's Valley
A struggling farming community and way station between
Solemnity and Port Esterburg
Paul Kilmason, an apothecary clad in curiously
out-of-fashion clothes, sells a tonic rumored to
cure most ailmentsincluding the plague.
Spectral war parties of native braves arise in
the moonlight to make war once again on the
settlers from Ulverland who now build on
their ancestral lands.
A rusty gibbet hangs at the crossroads where
the Thirteen Blades and Bourbon Vale Roads
meet; it is said that on midnight of the first of
each month a gateway to a fey marketplace
where goblin merchants sell marvelous fruits
opens beneath it.
The Sword of St. Stephen of the Fields, a

45

magical artifact sacred to the Church, has been

brought to Sharpe's Valley under mysterious
circumstances.
Buck's Road
Strange effigies of wicker and twine are often found
mysteriously tied into the branches of the trees that
line this road connecting Sharpe's Valley to Port
Esterburg. Travelers report being attacked by shaggy
fey creatures who steal away with the decapitated
heads of their victims.
Misery Lane
This road is another route that stretches between
Sharpe's Valley and Port Esterburg. Approximately
halfway between the two major settlements is
Varnworth's Asylum for the Mentally Unsound. This
road is said to be haunted by the white ladies of the
elven fey, hell hounds, and owlbears.
The Stone Prophet
The Stone Prophet is an immense statue of a sphinx
found upon the banks of the Saskatoo River. The
natives of the region claim that the Stone Prophet was
in place long before their arrival in the area. Some say
that the Stone Prophet is a burial monument to a
forgotten native chieftain, and that untold treasures
are secreted within it.
Port Esterburg
An island-bound city of crime and opportunity over which
Fort Esterburg stands grim vigil
Port Esterburg is attracting many immigrants

46

who belong to heretical and persecuted

branches of the Church of the White Way.
Lady Marigold FitzSimion, estranged wife of
the adulterous Sir Reginald FitzSimion, plots
her husband's disgrace and downfall.
Native tribes displaced by Ulverland's
colonists meet in the wilderness to discuss
whether Fort Esterburg should be overrun by
force or by a great working of sacrificial magic.
The Ragged Rider, the ghost of a Caligarian
mercenary, rides his spectral steed through the
city at night, claiming the souls of those he
chances to meet in Esterburg's streets.

47

A Rough Guide to the

Greater World
Across the Ice Sea to the north of Ulverland is
Frostreave; it is home to clans of bloodthirsty raiders
in its grim northern territories and decadent nobles
that rule their serfs with an iron hand in the urban,
southern areas. Hans Rimeheart, cares more for
pursuing his own debauched pleasures than the
welfare of his people. Frostreavers are obsessed with
oracles and visions; Frostreave is a land of nearperpetual winter due to an ancient curse. The king of
Frostreave,
Across the Sea of Kells to the west lies the Shae Isle, a
forbidding land of woad-painted savages, hags, and
fomorians. While the eastern coast of the Shae Isle has
been colonized by Ulverlandian aristocrats, rebellion
against the non-native landlords is a constant threat.
Across the Channel of Blue Tears to the south is the
hated kingdom of Morgundy, ruled by the Mad
King Dagon I; Morgundy is the eternal enemy of
Ulverland, and it is well-known that the royalty of
Morgundy mate with slaadi. The people of Morgundy
frequently engage in violent rebellion to attempt to
free themselves from their corrupt nobility's reign.
One attraction that draws many to Luzia, Morgundy's
capital, is the Verte Theaterwhere illusionists use
magic to delight and terrify the patrons.
Other nations on the Grand Continent include Midian
(ruled by Queen Evangelia II, capital city: Allonia), the

48

Empire of Caligari (ruled by Emperor Olaf IV, capital

city: Morton), Harrowfaust (ruled by King Maximilian
I of the vampiric von Karlok family, capital city:
Peshtar), the Iron Principalities (ruled by petty princes
and warlords, important cities: the holy Rhema, the
wealthy Florichio, and the canal-laced Venuz), and the
Relmeenos Empire (ruled by Cassandra VII, capital
city: Athar).
Midian has only recently emerged from a civil war
that divided the nation; indeed, it is still a lawless land
of boom towns and borderlands where bandits prowl
unchecked. Defending one's honor by dueling with
pistol or sword is a national obsession of the hotheaded and impassioned people of Midian.
The Caligari Empire is plagued with addiction (drink
and opium usage are rife), crime, and hedonism. The
Caligari Empire is internally riven by racial tension; a
people without a homeland, the Eldmen, are forced to
live in ghettos and are subject to prejudice and
oppression by the majority. However, it is whispered
that one of the Eldmen's spiritual leaders is crafting a
mighty automaton from clay to avenge the wrongs
done to his people.
Harrowfaust is a land of ignorant superstition ruled
by cruel vampire counts; it is also a realm of sublime
natural beauty. The rule of Harrowfaust's vampires is
contested only by a newly-arrived coterie of death
knights. Due to the high number of undead within its
borders, Harrowfaust is the focus of the Brotherhood
of the Yew's activities.

49

The Iron Principalities are a collection of

independent, mercantile city-states. Intrigue and
subterfuge abound here. In the Iron Era the
Principalities were once the heart of the Iron Empire.
The city-state of Rhema is home to the Gilded
Cathedral, the center of the Western Church's power.
The Relmeenos Empire is a fractured and hidebound
realm of baroque and complex social customs that is
near-impossible for outsiders to understand; to most,
its ways look like madness. The gold-spired city of
Zantium is home to the Mosaic Temple, the seat of the
Eastern Church.
To the east are the Martyrlandscurrently ruled by
Sultan Sulamanwhere the faithful of the Lady
(particularly the Knights of the White Raven) go to do
battle against the blasphemous Children of the New
Fire. The Martyrlands is the region where the Church
of the White Way first arose; as such, it is sacred to
members of that religion and many feel that it must be
liberated from the infidels who currently reside there.
There are many small nations, city-states, and tribal
lands within the Martyrlands; this collection of polities
are barely held together by the Sultan's military might.
Further east are the strange kingdoms of the
Spicelands, which Ulverland has colonized
extensively. Though regarded as savages, the people
of the Spicelands are an able source of laborbut
rumors of an uprising chill the souls of the
Ulverlandians who administer the country's many
diverse territories.

50

South of the Grand Continent is Gond, a land of

unexplored jungles and deserts; the northernmost
kingdom of that land is the death-obsessed MordStavian, which is ruled by a lich-lord known as the
Necropolitan. In recent years, Ulverlandian explorers
have braved the undead horrors of Mord-Stavian to
raid the pyramids and tombs of the country's ancient
pharaohs.
In the far east is the Kathai Empire, ruled by Zhen Yi
Lim, the Celestial Empress, with whom Ulverland
has advantageous trade relations.
South of Kathai are the Scavenger Lands, which are
home to warlike nomadic tribes famed for their skill at
mounted archery.
Even farther east is Bastillia, an island prison colony
to which Ulverland transports its worst criminals.
Above Bastillia is the isolationist, oni- and kappainfested Island of Jade Mysteries, which is ruled by a
supposed demigod known as Zun, the Solar
Emperor.
To the far west are the Discovered Countries, two
continents currently being colonized by Ulverland,
Morgundy, Frostreave, and Midian. One of the most
important areas of the Discovered Countries is the
Ghael Isles, a chain of islands rich in sugarcane under
the colonial governance of Morgundy.

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Credits
All text, maps, and setting ideas by Jack W. Shear
Thanks to Chris P. For editorial assistance
Full-page illustrations and cover by Harry Clarke
Small illustrations taken from various period sources
Fonts usedPalatino Linotype, Libre Baskerville, and
Deutsch Gothic

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