overlook

the Sea of Fear and some paved roads to a witch, an herbalist, or a peddler who just so
stretch between them, though few assume the happens to have a cure whipped up fresh that
responsibility of maintaining these routes or morning.
paying for wardens to protect them.
Lacking any kind of central governance means
the countryside remains as lawless and wild as it Climate and Weather
ever was. Any expedition into the wilderness Refugees from the Old Country find the
could bring a travel in the path of strange borderlands’ climate oppressive. A region in the
monsters, hostile faeries, bandits, renegades, and subtropics, the borderlands has hot, humid
worse. Further, much of the land hides relics from summers and mild winters. Borderlanders almost
bygone eras, curiosities that might be as simple as never see snow, except high in the mountains, and
pottery shards or as complex as working even then, snow and ice are rare.
machinery that carries out some function for The borderland has a dry season that lasts from
which it was made by unknown designers the fourth month of the year and ends around the
thousands of year ago. With danger to all sides, eleventh, at which point rains come in from the
people avoid travel with few exceptions. Traveling south and hang around for about five months
even a mile from one’s village invites becoming across the new year. The rainy season sees a few
lost, captured, or torn apart by wild beasts. People intense storms each year, and typhoons smashing
greet strangers with suspicion, and its customary into the southern coastline once every year or so.
to expect the worst from a traveler until they Winds typically blow from southeast to the
prove otherwise. In the south, such attitudes northwest, though they never fall on the Salt
soften, though in places like Eastport and Barrens and often stall over the mountains in the
Westport, friendliness masks some ill intent, more north.
often than not. Temperatures begin warm at the year’s end and
People travel on foot, on the back of horses, or persist until the third month, at which point the
on carts and wagons drawn by beasts of burden. they begin to cool for about three months before
Sailboats and rowboats allow transit by river, lake, warming again. The warmest part of the year sees
and stream. Travel across larger bodies of water highs 90 degrees Fahrenheit and lows in the mid-
occurs as well, but most stay within sight of the seventies. Cooler months see the highs drop to the
coast, since the deeper waters hold grave dangers. high seventies and drops to the mid-sixties during
Communication between various locations the night.
occurs, but getting a message anywhere more than Sunrise and sunset follow predictable patterns
a few miles away takes time, if it even reaches its following the seasons. Summer, and the longest
destination. A few messenger companies operate days, start in the last month of the year and last
in Four Towers and Asylum. More reliable than until the third month. Winter starts on the sixth
handing a letter to a passing traveler, professionals month and lasts until the end of the ninth moth.
charge exorbitant prices. During the summer, sunrise happens as early as
The city-states all have clocktowers, some more five in the morning, and the sun sets as late as
than one, but outside these urban centers, people eight at night. In the winter, the sun rises as late as
must track time using sun dials or just by studying seven and usually sets around five at night.
the sun’s position in the sky. People don’t use
calendars—paper is uncommon and expensive.
They might make notches in sticks or chalk on
slate to track the days of the year.
Exploring the
People grow or raise their own food in the
countryside, trading excess for other goods. In the
cities and large towns, food producers do brisk
Borderlands
The borderlands describes the region of the Dawn
business, as do restaurants, cafes, and street Lands that extends south and east of the equator,
vendors. Food quality varies, however, and what bounded by the Salt Barrens in the west, the new
might be advertised as beef or pork might in fact lands in the east, the Sunrise Ocean in the north,
be something less palatable. and the Sea of Fear to the south. In the north, a
Finally, physicians, healers, and surgeons serve mountain range stretches from one side of the
the wealthy, and provide spotty care. Most people subcontinent to the other. South of the mountains,
in urban environments rely on barbers for their the land gradually drops away until it reaches the
health care, while those in the country might turn Inner Sea, an expansive freshwater lake, before the

19
elevation increases, becoming a rumpled, rolling with the usual press of humanity, drawn from
landscape of hills and prairies dotted with communities from all over.
woodlands. Descriptions of the environments
making up the borderlands along with places of History
interest in them follow. Asylum’s story begins with the Mogu, a fishing
people who lived where the city-state now stands.
BORDERLANDS ENVIRONMENTS Of these primitive folk, only the monument of a
Environment Descriptors
Asylum Tiny Subtropical Urban
monstrous, squid-headed god remains, an entity
Attercop Forest Small Tropical Jungle known as He Who Slumbers. Digging out cellars
Briny Flats Small Subtropical Swamp and dredging the waters sometimes turns up bits
Broken Hills Medium Subtropical Hills of pottery, bones, and bronze weapons, but the
Cinder Peak Island Tiny Tropical Mountain Mogu and their fate remain a mystery.
Dark Wood Small Tropical Forest After the Mogu died out, sailors settled in the
Dragon’s Teeth Mountains Huge Tropical Mountains community’s ruins and proved equal to the
Eastport Tiny Subtropical Urban storms, food shortages, and disease that befell the
Four Towers Small Subtropical Urban first settlement until a small town formed. Asylum,
Haunted Grasslands Large Subtropical Open at this point, was a lawless place, fought over by
Howling Dunes Medium Subtropical Open rival gangs to the point that killings were weekly, if
Inner Sea Huge Subtropical Lake and not daily events. It wasn’t until the Princess and
Marsh
her mute soldiers descended on the community
Khazud Lands Huge Tropical Jungle
and claimed it that the town gained some stability.
Maze Small Tropical Canyon
As one who rules by fear, the Princess has had to
Midlands Large Subtropical Open
Plains of Pendarm Large Subtropical Open enforce the peace just once in her century-long
Salt Barrens Huge Dry Desert reign and locals never speak of it except to call the
Sea Hold Tiny Subtropical Urban event the Decimation, in which the population was
Sea of Fear Massive Subtropical Ocean reduced by one in ten.
Sentinel Woods Medium Subtropical Forest About fifteen years ago, crime had spiraled out
Sunrise Ocean Vast Tropical Ocean of control to the point that people feared another
Swordspoint Medium Subtropical Hills Decimation. To bring crime under control, the
The Climb Medium Highland Hills gang leaders and heads of criminal syndicates
The Great Jungle Huge Tropical Jungle formed the Thieves’ Guild. Burglars, thieves, and
The Waste Small Dry Open killers had to register with the Guild or disappear.
Troll Haunts Large Tropical Mountains Now, the Guild controls how much thieving
Underside Vast Continental happens. For every theft, the thief must give the
Subterranean
victim a Guild token, which protects the individual
Vale of Sorrows Small Tropical Valley
from future thefts for a month. The Guild also sells
Westport Tiny Subtropical Urban
these tokens for steep fees, but renders the rich
Wilderlands Huge Tropical Open
Wyvern Wood Huge Subtropical Forest and powerful immune to robbery. The Guild, after
enriching themselves, reinvests the excess into the
city by funding public works such as sewer
Asylum, City of maintenance, paying for the standing garrison and
constables to patrol the streets, and keeping the
Thieves city’s walls intact. The Guild became the source of
stability that Asylum so desperately needed and
People searching for the comforts of the Old has turned the City of Thieves into the safest of the
Country can do worse than visit Asylum. A borderlands’ city-states.
teeming metropolis that spilled over its Now, the largest, wealthiest, and most stable of
fortifications years ago, the city’s prosperity and the city-states, Asylum has the envy of their peers.
stability attract newcomers from all over the Both Eastport and Westport rely on Asylum for
known world. Walking its streets, one might see a trade, while Four Towers and Sea Hold have
dwarf bickering with a dragonet, a fenoderee neither the means nor the will to threaten the city.
working alongside the other stevedores to haul The biggest threat to Asylum comes from the Sea
cargo off ships, dhampirs entering and leaving of Fear itself. Pirates waylay merchant ships, and
private clubs where anything might happen, along terrible things crawl out of the waters to carry off
fisher folk. Wyverns sometimes attack the farms

20
north of the city, and bandits remain a problem all hawking anything and everyone one could hope to
year long. find. Restaurants, cafes, and taverns line the
The Thieves’ Guild has been angling to expand bazaar, but their prices tend to be higher than
into other cities with the promise of running them those a street back. Specialty shops for tailored
with the same efficiency they do in Asylum. clothing, jewelry, weaponry, and other pricier
Governments have resisted their efforts so far. goods stand in various places throughout this
Spies, however, monitor events in the other city- area.
states, and these operatives work to shift The Palace of the Princess forbids trespassers
developments and sway opinions toward and the silent guards, dressed in full plate with
welcoming the Guild into their communities. helmets fashioned to resemble hounds, protect the
great gate that leads to the golden tiled path that
Exploring the City travels through a paradise of gardens, with
Asylum stands on a narrow strip of land on the swaying palm trees, tropical flowers, statuary,
southern coast between the Sea of Fear and the fountains, and plenty of seats to allow a wanderer
Wyvern Wood. High stone walls shelter the to appreciate the beauty. Nothing about this
inhabitants on all sides. A shantytown spread out garden is safe, though. Wild beasts prowl about
around the western gate and a large fishing village the place, and many of the plants are poisonous.
covers the ground between the southern wall and Somewhere in the garden’s center stands the
docks lining the water’s edge. Houses rise above Palace itself, with an onion dome mounted on a
the city walls, along with a few towers, atop which square, red-bricked building with two wings
fly the city’s colors—a seagull on a blue field. fronted by columns carved to look like straining
Paved roads extend to the west and east of the naked men.
city for a few miles before they become dirt paths.
Farmland lies north of the city for about two miles Local Color
before becoming empty grassland for another 15 As much as Asylum welcomes visitors, Asylumites
miles, where it ends at the Wyvern Wood. tend to be poor conversationalists. Locals value
Visitors can enter Asylum through one of four their privacy and keep to their own social circles.
gates: Seagate to the south, Wizard Gate to the Visitors note the city lacks the noise and bustle of
east, Salt Gate to the west, or Wyvern Gate to the other places, largely as result of locals keeping
north. Visitors must pay the leg fee, 1 cp per leg of their heads down and minding their own business.
the person or animal to enter. In return, the visitor People avoid shaking hands, hugs, kissing of
gains a wooden chit that they must present to cheeks. Instead, when they greet each other, they
merchants in order to buy and sell. When visitors do so by clasping their hands before them and
leave, they return the tokens. keep them that way until they part ways. As a sign
Inside, narrow streets, mostly cobbled, wind of trust and friendship, the other might raise both
through a press of stone and timber buildings, all hands, palms out before dropping them to their
of which have sharply peaked roofs, shutters over sides.
the windows, and stout doors festooned with Religion: All gods have followers here, though
locks. Placards holding street names appear on Fetch, the god of thieves, has the largest and
most buildings at street crossings, though there’s richest temple. As with other parts of their lives,
always a helpful urchin nearby to aid newcomers people prefer to keep their religious views to
with finding their destinations. themselves, but most light candles at shrines to
People can move freely through the city. Most gods who might intervene on their behalf, and
residences appear in the northern half of the city, make offerings to Fetch to keep his priests’ sticky
with finer homes lining the main thoroughfares, fingers to themselves.
and shabbier structures, some piled on top of each Law and Order: The guild employs constables
other, or fighting for space between them. Off the to police the streets, enforce the guild’s laws, and
main routes, the city becomes more dangerous, for dispense justice to the lawbreakers. People who
it is in these alleys that the thieves and muggers lie break the laws must pay fines: 1 cp for spitting, 1
in wait. Murder happens rarely these days, but sp for assault, death for murder. Anyone who can’t
visitors face assault and robbery if they wander off pay the fines disappears into the Tower of
the main roads. Reflection, where prisoners earn funds to pay
The city’s business districts cover the southern their debts by suffering torture, abuse from the
side and it’s here one finds the always busy bazaar, guards, or, sometimes, dangerous labor.
a riotous sea of colorful tends with vendors

21
 The Princess: Having not aged a day since bewitch settlers, travelers, herders, and others.
coming to Asylum nearly one hundred years ago, She muddles their minds and leads them into her
the Princess she remains the beautiful person in domain, never to be seen again.
the city. Shrugging off one hundred years is no
small feat, especially for a person who looks, acts, Crescent Moon Goblins
and sounds human, and if people cared one whit Crude crescent moons mounted on wooden poles
about it, her longevity might be cause for concern. demarcate the territory controlled by a large
Some whisper about how she bathes in the blood goblin tribe. These folk exploit the jungle’s
of virgins or that she’s secretly fey or even that she reputation for protection. They raid settlements,
has divine blood. Some think she’s a vampire. caravans, and make trouble for the centaurs, but
After all, she never goes about in the city by day, always pull back to the jungle before their enemies
but she also never goes out at night, either. People can mount a proper defense. To make matter
don’t waste too much time thinking about the worse, the goblins have begun taming the giant
Princess because she makes no intrusions into spiders and use them as mounts. Crescent Moon
their daily lives. If she respects their privacy, they goblins wear yellow hats that curl forward to form
should do the same for her. a point held down by a small stone, a scorpion, or
a human hand.

Attercop Forest The Stone Giant

Strands of spider silk stretch from tree to tree Somewhere in the Attercop Forest sits a giant
throughout the Attercop Forest. In some places, carved from stone. The giant appears human
the wispy strands flutter in the wind; in others, dressed in archaic armor that recalls the
they form dense matts proof against even the protective clothing worn by soldiers of the old
sharpest swords. The silk comes from the spiders empire. The giant rests one hand on the pommel
infesting the jungle, but also from the attercops of sword, the point stuck in the ground. If the giant
who live here as well. ever moved, it must have happened some time
The threat of being snatched and drained of ago, for moss greens legs, its feet sunk into the
vital fluids keep people away from the Attercop soil.
Forest. Even setting aside the attercops and the
giant spiders that creep and crawl through the
gloom, the forest has an otherworldly quality that Briny Flats
makes it easy to become lost within its Just south of the Sentinel Wood, the ground drops
boundaries. Well-armed expeditions have entered away until it becomes tree-covered wetlands.
the jungle, but few return, and none with the same Here, ashes, elms, oaks, and birches grow in
number of people as when they entered. abundance, the lower trunks hidden in brackish
As wildlife too avoids the jungle, the denizens water, deadfall, and leaves. Fallen trees appear
feed on each other or range out from it to hunt. throughout, having been uprooted and thrown
Giant spiders venture farther and farther to vex about by the storms. The ground coverage
the homesteaders living within sight of it. Wise provides shelter for the cruel faeries, goblins, and
travelers avoid the paths through and around the the feral hogs that roam this place.
jungle, paths maintained by the attercops to lure
victims into their clutches. The Sea Hag
Sailors on ships passing the Briny Flats sometimes
The Queen of Spiders reporting seeing an old woman watching them
The jungle might appear wild and untamed, but it from shore, a crone, back bent, leaning on a
belongs to the Queen of Spiders, a mysterious crooked staff. When she appears to sailors, they
being who lives in a tower that rises from the pour wine in the waters or throw supplies
center of the trees and whose top can sometimes overboard to avoid angering her; she has been
be spied from a distance. The attercops all known to curse ships and send them into the rocks
worship the Queen and even the giant spiders that make sailing the waters around the southern
obey her commands. Some peoples believe her to peninsula so dangerous.
be an exiled highborn faerie, while others think The Sea Hag claims the Briny Flats and all whom
she’s a witch, a demon, or a devil that escaped live in this wetland owe her fealty, even the
from the Netherworld. What is known is that the goblins. She asks little from her subjects, other
Queen sometimes emerges from the jungle to than offerings of food and wine, but if angered, her

22
magic can tear their bodies apart and fling the drop away in sheer cliffs. Caves dot these stone
remains in all directions. People believe she lives walls and sea birds make nests on their ledges.
inside a cyclopes’ skull and that she sometimes
causes it to fly through the air so she can survey Land’s End
her territory. A village of ten stone building occupies the
southern reach of the Broken Hills and affords a
The Hanged Man view of the Sea of Fear unlike anywhere except the
The old remains of a hanged man twist slowly Sea Hold to the east. The people of Land’s End
from a rope that has hardened to steel deep in the carved steps into the cliff face and crawl up and
Briny Flats. Such sights are common enough, but down it to fish the waters below. The people
these remains have been here for centuries, if the purport to be human, but they have odd facial
faeries can be believed. It’s said he was once a features, webbing between their fingers, and
great hero who crossed the Sea Hag and for bulging eyes. Most folks have little body hair and
angering her, she strung him up and bound his they have gurgling voices. The chase off the
soul to the remains. There he hangs and will hang religious, and are grudging hosts to anyone else.
for one hundred years more.
Some say the hero’s ghost can speak through the The Anchorite
skeletal body and might offer guidance to those When Silka was a priest dedicated to the High One,
who bring it gifts—a sip of beer, lifting the body he enjoyed all the benefits of his station: fine food,
for a few minutes to relieve the pressure on the an estate, earnings, even a mistress or two. A crisis
neck, or remembering to it the hero’s exploits of of faith led him to abandon the excess of his post
old. In return, the skeleton might grant a wish, or and live in solitude at what he believed is the edge
not. of the world. Each day, Silka scrambles up a
wooden pole and folds himself around the top,
The Crooked Path eyes closed, mouth moving in silent prayer. People
On certain nights, a path appears in the Briny sometimes come to him for spiritual guidance,
Flats, a road that twists and turns through the prayer, or his prophecies, the latter of which are
wetlands. Some believe the path leads to a hidden said to always come true.
kingdom of the faeries, fabled Tir Na Nog, but
others whisper that the path leads to the Fallen Temple
Netherworld and that once you start following, Locals tell of an old temple that once stood in the
you can never leave. Strange things gather to hills, but tumbled into a chasm after a powerful
either side, their whispers revealing a traveler’s earthquake. When the temple still stood, people
deepest shames and bitterest regrets. on the peninsula avoided it, believing the place
cursed, haunted, or raised to honor the dark god

Broken Hills Abaddon. If anyone knows where the temple fell,

they aren’t telling; people consider its destruction
For miles and miles, the lands of the great a blessing. This hasn’t stopped a few explorers
southern peninsula rise and fall in series of from seeking it out. Such places are bound to hold
rounded hillocks that all appear to have been split treasures and secrets worth uncovering.
in the center by some gigantic axe. Further south,
the land climbs upward, and weathered limestone
boulders push like teeth from the hilltops, while Cinder Peak Islands
spirals of basalt form spiky towers. In the clefts, Cinder Peak Island formed years ago after an
dirt walls threads with orange roots descend earthquake shook the Khazud coastline near to
narrowing into boggy channels and clouds of pieces. Lava bubbled up from the ocean depths,
bloodsucking insects. The wind rushes over this forming into a conical mound that still belches fire
land, and moans when it passes through the rifts. and smoke. The first visitors to the island never
The Broken Hills has few settlements and most returned, prompting a second expedition, which
include no more than a couple of building made revealed that strange fiery humanoids wriggled
from stone levered out of the earth and stacked out from the cracks and wandered the island. Who
into rounded huts. Wild goats, pigs, and sheep they are, what they are, is anyone’s guess. The
roam the countryside, and on them the locals Khazud avoid the island, now, and deem it a place
subsist. To all sides of the peninsula, except where of bad magic.
the land slides down into the Briny Flats, the hills

23
 Dragon’s Teeth
Cinder Peak Island was merely the first of a
chain of islands that have been forming since the
first eruption. Three more islands have breached
the surface and the waters all around steam and
boil. Every now and then, a major eruption occurs
Mountains
So large are the Dragon’s Teeth Mountains that
and the toxic smoke drifts against the wind, to one can see them as a smudge from as far away as
sicken the lands it touches. the Midlands. The Dragon’s Teeth extend out from
the main range that spreads across the north and
Dark Wood are said to start at the Dragon Spire. Unlike the
Troll Haunts in the west, the Dragon’s Teeth are all
A pall hangs over the woodland known as the Dark naked rock, sharp, broken, and sheer.
Wood. A place of sinister trees, impenetrable
shadows, it has an unmistakable evil presence, a Lost Home
foulness so strong that even the bravest centaurs The dwarfs of the west believe the entrance of a
avoid it. Something evil lurks in the heart of this lost kingdom lays somewhere in these mountains.
tangle and that evil enjoys the service of the Some claim it was the first nation of dwarfs, while
hideous beastmen who dwell in its shadows. others suggest that it was excavated by a lost clan,
Hot, humid, and filled with biting flies, gnats, who parted ways from their fellows thousands of
and mosquitoes, the atmosphere would be bad years ago. Old objects of obvious dwarf artistry
enough, but there’s a sickly odor coming from the found in these mountains suggest there might be
corruption oozing out from the fissures in the some truth to these old tales.
trees black bark. Although there’s an abundance of
giant bugs, one has no chance of finding anything Dragon Fist Monastery
with fur or hoof in these woods.
One thousand steps climb the side of the mountain
toward the Monastery of the Dragon Fist.
Beasts of the Forests Originally founded by priests of Draconus who
The Dark Woods has become a spawning site for settled in the mountains to worship their god and
beastmen. Over the years, beastmen tribes gather perform the rituals that keep the deity in a
here in ever greater numbers, despoiling the forest sleeping state, the monks developed a fighting
with their fighting, rutting, and killing. When their style to keep their bodies fit and minds clear, when
numbers grow too great to control, the shamans not performing the duties required by their faith.
lead them out to attack centaurs, human Although the monastery still has a religious
settlements, and just about anything that moves function—it’s believed that in the chambers below,
across the Wilderlands. A disruptive presence, a sacred vault contains the sacred scales on which
something keeps drawing these monsters back the secret truths of Draconus have been recorded,
year after year and some believe an Ancient One people come to the monastery to study under the
masters until they themselves become dragon
Black Church fists.
Hidden away in some shadowy corner of the
woodland stands the Black Church, known also as
the Church of Lost Hope. The wooden building has
thoroughly infested with mold that gives it its
Eastport
Pirates have braved the Sea of Fear long before
distinctive black color. The church was built to others dared to leave sight of dry land, for fear of
honor the god thrown down by the High One in being torn apart by the monsters of the deep.
ancient times and the evil that exudes from the When not prowling the waters for plunder, the
place has somehow kept the structure intact over pirates make their port of call Eastport, a
the intervening years. It’s believed the Black ramshackle city that spreads across the peninsula
Church moves through the woods, picking itself up that forms the southern boundary of Gauntlet Bay.
on centipede legs to scuttle to some other place in Eastport has burned to ground a dozen times,
the Dark Forest. dealt with invaders, plagues that killed half the
population in a single season, but no matter the
hardship, the city claws its way back, time and
time again.

24
 Eastport’s long sordid history shows in its lack prices, which fluctuate based on commerce
of plan or organization. The buildings, many of conduct here and out in the city. It’s a loud, messy
which have been built from salvage and detritus place, with spilled coffee and ashes everywhere,
show scorch marks, old splashes of blood, stabbed but for some it offers plenty of excitement,
with arrows, and shot up with bullets and musket especially in matters of finance and investments.
balls. Gibbets and crow cages appear everywhere Bartleby & Dent has become a popular haunt for
in the city, the contents rotting until reduced to the local marid population. The blue-skinned
bones—city law disallows anyone from interfering people can be found here at all hours. Rumor has it
with people confined in these ways. Pirates, that a rich merchant has made an off to Mister
bandits, deserters, vagabonds, freaks, and outcasts Dent himself to buy out the place for a veritable
roam the city’s crooked streets. fortune.
Farmland covers the land west of the city, where
peasants toil to grow the grains and crops needed Augustus, Wizard and Sage
to feed the city. Farmers face plenty of hardships He swept into Eastport like a storm, riding
and their techniques tend to be wasteful, causing horseback down the cobbled streets, snarling and
food shortages all the time. But the people answer zapping anyone who got in his way. He stopped in
to no one and have the freedom to do whatever front of an empty lot, wiggled his fingers and said
they wish. a few magic words, and a crooked tower popped
A council of seven retired pirate captains share into existence. Of the magician, about whom the
the burden of ruling the city. Alliances shift locals know a name that might or might not be his,
between them often, as do what passes for laws in no one has seen him in a few years, and his horse
the city. The city frowns on violence and theft, but vanished too, but in a puff of acrid smoke.
the punishments are light unless the aggrieved The so-called wizard and sage keeps to himself
party makes a sufficient donation to the in his tower, but he receives high-profile guests all
constables to see the guilty party punished. the time. Every member of the Captains’ Council
Justice, when dispensed, solves the trouble by has stopped here at least once, along with a
executing the accused, which might happen after a religious leader or two, some scary individuals all
sham trial. dressed in black, and an adventuring group or two.
For its colors, the city uses a red, winged People say all kinds of things about the mage—
hourglass on a black background. he’s the Weird Wizard himself, he’s an outcast
from the order of wizards, stripped of his robes of
Guild of Executioners office, or he has designs on Eastport itself.
Aside from the Captains’ palaces and estates, the
only other structure made from stone belongs to Blood Cisterns
the Guild of Executioners. This secret society Anyone who needs a few coins in a pinch can do
trains apprentices in the methods of dispensing worse than signing up to fight in the fighting pits
lethal justice—poisoning, gassing, beheading, and known as the Blood Cisterns. Ten fighting pits do
the like. The masters keep the apprentice brisk business throughout the city and a couple
sequestered until they complete their training. host fights each night, fights that might pit two
The guild recoups its investments by selling the beggars against one another, a desperate soul
journeymen members to other polities, against a giant scorpion, or a rivals for a
condemning these graduates to a period of gentleman’s hand deciding who gets the man with
indentured servitude that lasts seven years. knives. The current champion is Oulde Fassel, a
grizzled, gray-haired man who has one cauliflower
Bartleby & Dent ear, the other missing, half a nose, and a crooked
For all that Eastport’s known as a pirate haven, the scar that runs through his left eye. He’s wiry,
place attracts bandits of a different kind: strong, and quicker than lightning. He’s killed
prospectors, investors, speculators, and twenty people and has announced retirement
entrepreneurs. The city’s steadfast commitment to after he’s taken apart his twenty-fourth.
freedom attracts the profit-minded to find their
fortunes here. Bartleby & Dent opened its doors as Local Color
a coffee shop and tobacconist, but has become a In a city founded by pirates, one ought not to be
hotbed of mercantile intrigue. Here, on a great surprised to find them living there. Eastport has
chalkboard hanging on a wall that runs the length always kept its gates open to sea bandits, as well
of the place, one can find current commodity as all manner of other scoundrels. And there’s no

25
evidence the people living here want it any other delegates areas of command to the ship captains
way. Eastporters revel in the freedoms they enjoy, present in the city and direct the efforts to repel
even if that freedom comes at the cost of the attackers. Anyone not doing their part is
sanitation, security, or justice. declared enemy and faces death or servitude.
Raiding and pillaging might be the dominant Third, people coming to Eastport as prisoners
trades in Eastport, but they aren’t the only ones. must serve their captors for a period of no less
Most city-dwellers have some involvement in a than seven years or until someone pays their
trade that involves the sea, from fishing to clam ransom—which is at least what the Council
digging, net weaving to sail making. With the decides is the total value of the prisoner’s labor for
monied people enriching themselves with what this period. After this time, the prisoner gains
they can steal, most of the labor falls to freed freedom and the rights to live in the city. If the
prisoners and refugees. freed prisoner opts to leave and is later recaptured
People tend to be as filthy as the city in which by pirates, the prisoner starts a new seven-year
they live, everything and everyone appears coated period of servitude.
in a thin patina of grease. Clear social divisions Eastport gets along poorly with the other
show in dress—the wealthiest members of coastal settlements and Eastporters have no
Eastport society wear elaborate, fanciful dress as difficulty in expressing how they feel about them.
one might expect of aristocrats, while the rest of Westporters are all thieves, while Towerfolk are
the city makes do in lightweight clothing—loose untrustworthy, and the Seaholders are inbred
shirts, wide leg trousers or long swirling skirts. halfwits too dumb to realize they’re living on
Richer Eastporters ornament their bodies with cursed land. Eastport receives little love in return.
gold and jewelry, while the poor might don Most people consider the city a blight, it’s people a
colorful scarfs. Since sanitation remains poor, dangerous pox, and its entire culture damned for
people wear shoes with high heels and sole to its reliance on forced labor.
keep their feet out of the muck, while the poor
made do with wooden sandals that have wooden
blocks for soles. Four Towers
Eastporters prize their freedom, and so long as The city of Four Towers takes its name for the four
nothing interferes with their movements and exceptionally tall and old towers that rise from the
doings, they have little reason to pay attention to city center. A city has grown around the towers,
the politics of the elite. What most people fail to with some structures being thousands of years
understand is that there’s a great amount of old. Now, four guilds govern the city, each from
politicking among society’s upper ranks, their separate tower and fund many city works by
politicking that could have dire effects on ordinary levying taxes on those treasures unearthed from
people, even if they don’t feel those effects directly the dungeons below them.
for some time. The rich serve their own interests The other city-states on the southern coast lack
by exploiting the lowest ranks; wealth offers no the organization and security offered by the guilds
benefits to the citizens other than to stay out of of Four Towers, and so the city is fast becoming a
their way. Unless the citizens clean up their own commercial hub in the borderlands. The city’s
streets, they’ll remain dirty. It falls to the locals to marketplaces bustle with merchants from all over
deal with their own predicaments in whatever the world, selling everything from foodstuffs to
way they deem fit. All this contributes to the chaos weapons, textiles to horseflesh. The largest market
that describes a normal day in the city, with a is the Bazaar, and it makes up the entirety of the
knifing happening in an alley, a slick charlatan city’s southern district.
selling a highly addictive substance to youngsters The city’s device—four towers arranged in a
on the street corner, and sewage and rubbish diamond pattern—appears on the red banners,
heaped into piles everywhere. flags, and surcoats worn by the guards. The towers
Three exceptions exist to the general also appear on the city’s currency.
lawlessness. First, a ship captain has more
freedoms than anyone who does not own and The Towers
operate vessel. Ship captains can do whatever they Each tower has a circular foundation, exactly fifty
wish in the city, expect and receive total obedience yards and each rises two hundred feet into the air.
from their crews, and deference form the locals. Between the towers stand four inert colossi, each
Second, if the city comes under attack, everyone fifty feet tall and carved from solid stone to depict
has a part to play in its defense. The council posed warriors dressed in fanciful armor with

26
spikes, flanges, hooks, and spurs. Trees and a particular tower to a specific company with its
gardens cover the grounds around the statues and members included in a roster. Substitutions are
a fountain sprays water in the center. Facing away allowed, but no more than half the roster can be
from the central area, each tower features a steep replaced before the guild masters require the
stone ramp that ends at a pair of wooden doors company to acquire a new writ.
wrapped in bands and bristling with iron studs.
The towers and their secrets have been Towersfolk
attracting people to this region since the Great For anyone seeking riches, fame, adventure, Four
Cataclysm, ten thousand years ago, when Oceanus Towers provides. The towers thrusting up from
drowned the world in outrage of the mortals who the central hill mark entrances to deep dungeons
sought to challenge the gods. People gained access filled with treasure, horrible monsters, and deadly
to the towers and have plundered their heights, traps. Companies of adventurers form and
for the most part, but each tower burrows descend into the depths to learn what they can
hundreds of feet into the ground, and have and wrest from the darkness their rewards.
numerous levels populated with rooms and Much of Four Towers’ industry involves catering
passages, all excavated and built for some to the companies who come to the city, and there’s
unknown purpose. From these “dungeons,” the something for almost everyone here. There are
tower keepers have derived a few clues and palaces for the wealthy, flophouses for the poor,
named their respective towers for the types of gambling halls, brothels, taverns, theaters, arenas
strangeness one finds under them. The north for gladiatorial matches and sporting events, and
tower is called the Tower of War, for much of the more, all of which cater to the adventurers and the
chambers below seem designed as barracks, people who make it rich serving them.
armories, training grounds and the like. The other Four Towers attracts people from all over and
towers, starting east and moving clockwise are the boasts the most diverse population in the
Tower of Sorcery, the Tower of the Mysteries, and borderlands. It’s nothing to see ghouls huddling in
the Tower of Death. a shadowed alley picking over the remains of a
corpse; a fenoderee pushing through the crowds;
Delver Halls dragonets drinking wine in the rafters of a busy
The city set aside an entire district for the Delver tavern. There are clockworks and sphinxes, blue-
companies, groups of professional treasure skinned maridians, and strangers from beyond
hunters who live by what they can recover from this world.
the depths, after paying a portion of their With excavation of the dungeons under the
treasures to the guilds who manage the activities. towers being the city’s primary goal, the ruling
The guilds know quite a bit about the towers and guilds enforce strict laws in the city to keep the
the dungeons under them, but say little to the peace and make it safe for the people living here.
companies who descend, though survivors find Lawbreakers receive fair trials, but face severe
themselves answering questions about their punishments if found guilty. Guards are never
experiences on returning from an expedition into more than a few minutes away and are quick to
the depths. answer a cry for help.
When not exploring the dungeons, delver Just about every religion sees representation
companies can find cheap housing in the Delver here, and the Road of Gods, which travels from
Halls, a collection of castles built by famous and Westgate to the city center has shrines and
rich delvers who came before them. The Halls temples dedicated to all the major faiths. In
provide meals, some healing, and give addition, one can also institutions that teach
opportunities for members of different companies magic, fighting academies, libraries, and other
to compare information from recent expeditions. resources.
Most companies have names, heraldry, and might
gain sponsorship from temples, magicians, and
others working in the city. Haunted Grasslands
For people interested in getting in the business, For hundreds of miles across the gently upward-
they must have a “writ of access” gained from one sloping expanse, all that anyone can see is grass, a
of the guilds. The writ comes at a steep price, veritable sea of green that sways in the wind. With
usually between 10 and 50 gp depending on the the grass, one finds sedge, clover, legumes, and
number of active companies, and must be renewed thistles, but little else in the way of plant life. Here,
each year. The writ gives access to the dungeons of one finds wild herds of horses, antelope, and

27
cattle, and the creatures that prey upon, such as villages would likely no complain too loudly about
manticores, wyverns, drakes, and hybrid bending their knee to a new monarch.
creatures. The Grasslands lack permanent
settlements, but the richness of its soil and milder
climate make it just a matter of time before Howling Dunes
settlers move beyond the Midlands. Strong southerly winds blow the sands up from
the shoreline northwards, forming rows of high
Whispers and Figures dunes that seem to roll back and forth, the tops of
The wind blows day and night, always a breeze at the heaps lifted up and blown into sprays. Ships
least and full wind with strong gusts. Halflings and wreckage lay scattered across the coastline,
traveling the lands with their caravans sometimes along with other debris spewed up from the Sea of
plug their ears to deaden the noise, for it the howls Fear. The more intact vessels sometimes hold
and screams one can sometimes hear voices. It useful cargo and opportunistic scavengers pick
might just be people’s imagination, but through the rubbish in search of treasure.
strangeness haunts this land. Something disturbs
the campsites in the dead of night and sometimes Aggressive Scavengers
figures might appear at a distance, motionless and The abundance of drowned bodies attracts ghouls
watching, only to vanish when anyone comes near. to the Howling Dunes. They bury themselves in
the sand until night falls, and then wriggle free to
Silver River feed on the corpses that wash up on the beach.
Runoff from the Climb feeds the Silver River, a fast- Since crustacors sometimes have the same idea,
flowing watercourse that marks the northern edge the two sides often come into conflict.
of the Grasslands all the way to the Inner Sea. The
river flows over broken landscape, and has no
fewer than thirty waterfalls ranging from a few
Inner Sea
Standing on the shore of the Inner Sea, the waters
feet to drops of one hundred or more. The water’s
seem to go on forever, as it should since this lake is
roughness and the abundance of sharp rocks make
the largest source of freshwater in the
dangerous efforts to travel along it.
borderlands. Marshes ring the waters all around,
except for in the north, where a willow trees grow
Haven in great numbers, their branches dipping into the
Amidst a swathe of green hills and sprawling waters. Many peoples live on the edges of the
woodlands have the people of Haven chosen to Inner Sea, living in small villages in homes
make their home. A large town, Haven, features perched atop stilts to keep dry.
wooden homes and stone keep behind a wooden The people of the Inner Sea comprise a great
wall. Ruled by the old Duke Patrin, who led his many different ancestries, though humans remain
people out of the famine that had struck his dominant. The people here have lived in the
ancestral lands, the Duke and his soldiers provide manner they have lived for a hundred generations
security to the people living in the town and the or more, have little use for outsiders, and engage
small settlements that have grown up around it. in no real trade other than with neighboring
The Duke is an ardent follower of the Church of villages. Many worship the “god in the lake,” a
the High One it is the only religion he permits to sinister figure some suspect might have once been
be practiced in Haven. The Duke has even gone so an Ancient One—or still is. The god demands that
far as to instruct the gate guards to turn away the villagers give back something in return for the
priests of “false gods” if they come calling. fish they have taken. The giving back is a human
Haven has a population of various ancestries, sacrifice, the lucky persons chosen by seers who
though humans remain the most numerous. look for their faces reflected in the waters. The
Setting aside his religious intolerance, the Duke is sacrifices coincide with lunar eclipses and the
fair-minded when it comes to other peoples. He chosen must wade into the water until something
welcomes dwarfs and clockworks and others to pulls it under.
live among his people.
Locals believe the Duke has designs on founding Myriad of Monsters
a new kingdom in the borderlands and he has
The Inner Sea’s season and its abundant supply of
been recruiting and training soldiers more and
water and food attracts creatures from all across
more of late. The Duke has proven himself a fair
the borderlands who live in the wetlands around
man, just and wise, so many of the neighboring

28
the lake or in the lake itself. One can find kelpies in the crown these destroyers were never able to
lurking in the mud near shore, bog beasts floating, fully end the threat of the raiders. Once the Great
along with the other expected wildlife—water Kingdom fell into chaos, the Khazud have become
snakes, alligators, giant crawfish (as giant even bolder in their attacks.
lobsters).
The Khazud
Frog People Most people die after encountering a Khazud
Many pollywog tribes live on the waters’ edge. warrior, so descriptions of them tend to be sparse
Rarely peaceful, when not hunting and foraging, and reflect observations—at a distance—of their
they raid human settlements, carrying off captives warriors. Although their opponents call them
for food, sacrifice, or, horribly, transformation into dragonmen, the Khazud are fully human, large in
pollywogs. These attacks happen with enough body, and with dark complexions. In battle
regularity that some of the long-settled human warriors forgo armor, instead paint their bodies
villages have been emptied. with mud purported to have psychoactive
properties, enabling them to fight with greater
Island in the MIst ferocity.
On certain mornings, when fog hangs heavy over The Khazud claim the rain forests that cover the
the Inner Sea, one might catch a glimpse of lands north of the Dragon’s Teeth Mountains and
Palavan, a mythical faerie island that drifts in and arrange themselves in large tribes that occupy
out of existence. The locals believe that a powerful fixed territories up and down the coast. The
nymph lives on this island along with a small army smallest tribe has a few dozen members, while
of hideous monsters. When some new terror larger tribes might have as many as a thousand
appears in the region, locals blame its appearance people. Each land or territory features numerous
on the accursed island. villages with cleared land around for agriculture—
handled, most often, by prisoners pressed into

Khazud Lands service. Shipyards near the shore feature one or

more vessels in various states of completion or
Rainforest covers the northern slopes of the repair.
Dragon’s Teeth Mountains spreading all the way to Each land has two rulers: a peace leader and a
the edge of the Sunrise Ocean. The land takes its war leader. During raiding season or in times of
name from the people who live here, a conflict, war leaders take charge, and relinquishes
shipbuilding people feared for their battle fury control to the peace leader during other times.
and the rapaciousness with which they have The tribal members elect their leaders, choosing
attacked the Great Kingdom’s coastlines over the the strongest and smartest to serve as war leaders,
last hundred years. The Khazud are also known as and the wisest to guide them in times of peace.
dragonmen, for their ships feature elaborate Religious leaders, priests of the old gods,
dragons as prows. provide spiritual instruction, perform the
About a century ago, the Church of the High One ceremonies marking births, death, weddings, and
dispatched missionaries to convert peoples of the rites of passage, and make sacrifices to the gods to
borderlands to their faith. Had the missionaries gain their favor. Khazad’s deities resemble many of
been all who came, perhaps the Khazud might those of the Old Faith, excepting the young gods,
have turned them back with no trouble. But the who appear absent from the people’s lives. The
effort masked the Great Kingdom’s expeditionary gods of the Khazud offer insights into older
force, which under the guise of evangelism was interpretations of these figures, before necessity
sent to search for gold. Armed Kingdom nights softened their appearance and nature to
clashed with the fierce peoples and the entire accommodate the changing tastes brought about
force was wiped out. by civilization’s developments.
The Great Kingdom sent other expeditions to As mentioned, the Khazud kept to themselves
discover the fate of the first, only to find those until the Great Kingdom disturbed them and made
expeditions vanishing into the rain forest. And them realize opportunities for wealth, resources,
then the Khazud came, bent on plunder and and labor could be had by taking these things from
vengeance. They raided the coasts, carried off what the Khazud saw as a weak and despicable
goods and people, and they continued to do so for people. Prior to this, the Khazud saw themselves
decades. The Great Kingdom built ships to stop the as the chosen people of their gods, who gave them
threat and though backed by the full treasure of purpose by multiplying their numbers, honoring

29
the gods, and striving for excellence in body and Herders and Farmers
mind. The Khazud have no use for the Church of The Midland prairies offer good grazing for sheep
the High One, though the vestments, symbols, and and cattle. Herders lead their flocks throughout
other accoutrements of the missionaries hold these lands, especially in the north and western
pride of place in Khazud communities. regions, where they have less to fear from drakes
on the wing. In south, toward Four Towers, the
Maze land becomes more cultivated, tamed, divided by
low stone walls into fields for growing crops. Paths
Stacked stones and basalt pillars turn the rocky and narrow roads follow these walls so that
slopes below Dragon Spire into a labyrinth of farmers can haul their goods to market in the
narrow passage ways that twist and turn between southern city. Closer to Four Towers, hamlets,
formations hundreds of feet high. With no fewer villages, and roadside inns offer shelter to
than thirty entrances, visitors expect to find their travelers.
way out of the Maze with little trouble, only to find
themselves turned around once they’ve gone a few Barrows
paces inside, almost as if the rocks closed off the Aside from being a clear and pleasant land, the
way behind them. Branching paths lead off into Midlands are also known for the grassy hills that
shadow nooks, where one finds the remains of the rise from the flatlands alone. Treasure hunters
lost, their bodies picked over and devoured by the have dug into these mounds searching for
cliff haints who seem alone in being able to find treasure, but aside from corroded weapons and
their way through this place. arrowheads, they find little.

Door in the Rock

Somewhere in the maze stands a wooden door Plains of Pendarm
about ten feet above the ground and set into the The scrublands bordering the Salt Barrens takes
wall of a high stone pillar. Efforts to open or even its name from the explorer who lived long enough
break the door have all failed, and there’s no to cross the wasteland, but who died from an
handle for opening it. There are three keyholes, insect sting after taking three steps. The open
though, and people believe that if the three keys terrain covers almost a quarter of the borderlands
can be found, the door will open to some and features a mix of prairies of wheat, rye, millet,
fantastical paradise—or someplace terrifying. grasses, dry mudflats, badlands, and scrub. The
Opinions on this matter vary. flatness and hot summers have earned this land a
nickname of the anvil.
Gnome Haven The stony soil and thick matt of roots makes the
Gnomes live in a colony beneath the Maze and region difficult for cultivation, it is here that most
maintain the formations to keep enemies out. settlers and refugees make their homes. Now,
Gnomes sometimes pass through the rock to homesteads speckle the landscape, with several
confuse visitors or lead them into danger. If smaller walled villages situated near any of its
offered a gift—a gemstone or bit of rare metal, a large and small lakes, or riverbanks that carry
gnome might be convinced to lead the lost to snowmelt from the mountains in the north. If Old
safety. Country people would build a new nation for
themselves, they could do worse than the Plains of
Midlands Pendarm.

Flat, open, and blanketed with tall grasses Edgewood

threaded with streams and rivers carrying waters A community of wooden buildings has enjoyed
form the Inner Sea to enrich the prairies, there’s steady growth in recent years, and it has now
an openness to this land unlike any other in the become a large town. The walled community rises
borderlands. What trees there are tend to be from the southern bank of Mud River within
enormous and gnarled, singular plants hundreds bowshot of the Sentinel Wood. Locals do brisk
of years old. Here and there, one finds limestone business selling timber to settlers in the west and
boulders heaved up from the soil like teeth in a shipbuilders in Four Towers and Sea Hold. A large
giant’s mouth. stone keep stands at the center of the town and
belongs to Urien Strong, whose family settled here

30
after leaving the Great Kingdom a century ago. New Town
He’s a man of the people, and spends a portion of Tents, wagons, carts, along with lean-tos and other
each day working alongside the people he rules. crude structures provide shelter to the people of
He's still single and locals consider him the most New Town. Some of the first refugees to make it
eligible bachelor in town, despite his plain across the Salt Barrens founded the place to
appearance and the strange hours he keeps. regroup after the harrowing journey and
discovered more and more people joining them
Deep Water until the place become a community of sorts.
Mud River feeds the Deep Water, but its murky People don’t stay long in New Town; they move
brown waters never taint this lake. The lake on after a few days or a few weeks to begin the
bottom is visible around the edges, but it drops work of starting over. As soon as a family moves
away to an unknown depth in the center. Fisher off, two more take their place though, so New
folks have great success netting catfish, crawfish, Town has grown into something more than a
but they occasionally pull odd bits of colorful tile. stopover. Recognizing its importance, a council has
Locals wear the thumb-sized stones as medallions, recently formed to organize the community, for
believing they ward away bad luck. fairer distribution of resources and to help
families find other families who can work together
Black Water to start new settlements in the north and east. In
Far to the west one finds the foul, reeking lake addition, volunteers return to the Salt Barrens to
known as Black Water. Salt blown out from the guide others through the wastes and bring them to
wasteland pollutes the lake and makes it waters safety.
brackish. Gnarled trees and thick reeds choke the New Town has problems aplenty, though. Poor
shores of this place. Giant beetles live in the filtering allows unsavory sorts to infiltrate the
shallows and haunt the shores. community, which has sparked crime, seen the
spread of sickness, and shortages. The security
The Pit needs push the council to take steps toward
Not even the oldest, crustiest settler recalls who or forming a force of constables to police the
what made the pit. Believed bottomless, it features community.
a perfectly circular opening, 100 feet in diameter,
set in a dry mudflat. Markings in the walls suggest
that something dug it out from below. Odd vapors Salt Barrens
sometimes rise from the depths and there’s always At over one thousand miles across and creeping
a spicy smell about the hole. north and south year after year, the Salt Barrens
have long stood as an impassible barrier, a lethal
Lake of Plenty expanse dotted with dead, black trees and pools of
All one has to do is reach in a pluck a fish from the water so corrosive a single drop can burn a hole
Lake of Plenty, so abundant are the fish here. A through leather. Necessity sees more and more
deep body of freshwater, the Lake of Plenty people make their way out across the hard, white
attracts all manner of wildlife and settlers alike. flat expanse, contend with the salt blows, clouds of
salt blown by winds at such speed the grains can
Five Towns flense skin. All across the wasteland, one can find
Five small towns surround the Lake of Plenty and signs of failure. Supplies lay abandoned, picked
the fisheries serve as the community’s industries. over, and covered in salt. Broken carts and wagons
Five families founded the town and originally appear here and there, never far from the
cooperated with each other, working together, but desiccated remains of the beasts who pulled them
rivalries, slights, and old grudges have turned this and the people who surrendered to despair, laid
peaceful community into a warzone. Each town down, and died.
takes its name for founders with Bartleby in the During the brightest times of the day, the
north and, clockwise, Jonesberg, Peterson Point, whiteness of the landscape can blind. At the end of
Robertsville, and Smithton positioned around the each hour spent during the four middle hours of
lake. each day, each sighted creature without lenses or
who does not keep its eyes closed makes a luck
roll and, on a failure, becomes blinded for 3d6
hours. At the end of this time, the blinded creature

31
repeats the luck roll and, on another failure, the their lives as they have always done. The next day, they
blindness becomes permanent. awaken to find many of their neighbors have been
The landscape saps moisture from creatures. A swallowed by their hatred and transformed into brutish
creature must consume twice as much water each killers known as orcs. The soul sickness responsible
day or suffer the effects of deprivation. creating orcs contributed to much of the upheaval in the
Old Country, but aside from a few isolated cases, the
The Salt Barrens reach dangerous levels of heat
borderlands appear free from the orc blight.
during the daylit hours. Unprotected creatures
There is worry, though, that the orcs will cross the Salt
suffer the effects of exposure while in this place. Barrens in search of people to kill and conquer. Most
laugh off such concerns, knowing that it will take some
Succor time before the fighting in the Old Country burns out,
The water merchants of Succor hold power over but as more people flood into the borderlands, the fears
life and death. Opportunists who happened upon grow. Many people fled their homeland to escape the
one of the only sources of fresh water in the Salt orc menace and know they have nowhere left to go if
Barrens, the sell it for a fortune, a price that even the orcs come for them.
the well-heeled find difficult to pay. When people
find out the price, they often become angry and try
to take it by force. The water merchants employ a Sea Hold
squad of ogres to keep order. These brutes take More fortress than settlement, the old emperor
the faces from the people they kill and stitch them funded construction of the great fortress to serve
into cloaks. as stronghold against hostile people and port
The exorbitant prices for water aside, Succor where imperial settlers could disembark before
presents a colorful sight to travelers, with tents in colonizing the borderlands and new lands. Since
riotous colors, music lifting about the wind, and the Empire fell over two thousand years ago, Sea
the inviting cooking scents luring people into their Hold offers testimony to the skill of its builders.
clutches. Succor sells a gallon of water for 10 gp. The fortress has a fifty-foot-tall red stone wall
They might accept other valuables in lieu of facing the sea with three square towers, one at
payment. either end and a third in the middle. Emerging
from the walls are enormous bas-reliefs of horned
Bone humanoid faces. Their mouths stretch open to gain
The Salt Barrens’ hostility toward living things access to the chutes the defenders use to send
makes it a natural refuge for people who would boiling oil down on besiegers.
avoid attention. Bone opens its gates to any Side walls, at forty-feet sweep back inland and
student of the dark arts, for such individuals might join together at a single high spire that dwarfs the
have something to offer the cabal of necromancers rest. The spire functions as a lighthouse, and the
who rule this town. A town constructed entirely keepers light its fires each night to be a beacon in
from bones, it features a high wall of woven rib the dark.
bones taken from enormous beasts, towers of Stone buildings crowd the space inside the
fused human skulls, even streets paved with defenses. Each has between five and ten stories, so
vertebrae and mortared with bone dust. The town that the tall towers rise above the battlements.
requires little to survive as most of its inhabitants Gargoyles and grotesques appear on almost every
are undead thralls to the necromancers, but a few surface, though the most exposed embellishments
wells burrow deep enough to tap into cisterns of have been worn down by the elements.
fresh water and some greenery supplies the living The Sea Lord, Marius Palak, and an army of
with foodstuffs. misfits overran the fortress twenty years ago and
When supplies grow too low, the necromancers has since attracted more people seeking the
dispatch dust skiffs crewed by animated dead to protection of the gang that runs the place. Neither
raid caravans and travelers making their way Palak nor his cronies have much skill in
across the desert. The skiffs look like flatbottomed maintaining the fortress; it has begun to crumble
boats mounted on rails, with masts and black sails around them.
to catch the wind. The sails show the sigil of bone, Sea Hold Uses a mountain for its sigil and claims
a leering human skull with blazing red eyes. green and blue as its colors.
ORCS Dungeons of the Hold
One day, people go about their business, tend to their
chores, socialize with friends and loved ones, each living
The Sea Hold stands atop a sprawling dungeon
that served as storage, garrisons, and cells for

32
prisoners. Years of neglect would make the peoples crawling about the rocks, scuttling,
dungeons unsafe already, but the queer things that lizardlike, into the caves upon spotting the ships.
creep through the shadows and the spirits of those Weird lights sometimes shine from islands as well
forgotten in the cells make the place deadly. as deep, sonorous noises that might persist for
hours before falling silent.
The Driftwood Chair
When the Sea Lord took Sea Hold, he found an The Ghost Ship
enormous chair made from driftwood that was It seems there’s always someone who spotted a
once the base of a great tree. He sits in the Chair ghost ship thrown about on the waves, some
when holding audience with petitioners from the ghastly vessel sailing out on waters from Hell to
stronghold. People whisper that the Sea Lord torment the living before a whirlpool drags them
behaves strangely when seated, his attention down or a high wave rolls over them, leaving no
drifting to the corners of the room. Sometimes he trace they were ever there.
answers questions no one has asked. One ghost ship appears proof to the sea’s
savagery. For fifty years, it has sailed the waters,
Sealed Chambers through fierce squalls and the most wicked
The two decades of the Sea Lord’s rule has not yet conditions. Every ten years or so, the tattered sails
seen the palace fully explored. Entire floors of the accursed galleon hove into view, apparently
remain barred and sealed off by heavy iron doors empty of captain or crew. The ship responds to no
strung with chains. People know enough about the hails and people who have bordered it claim to
old empire to leave such places alone unless have felt cold, chilled even, spotting terrifying
there’s some great need. Servants have discovered sights in the periphery of their vision, but no sign
just a few of the hidden stairways and passages of anyone ever having been on the boat—no
that riddle the walls of the Sea Hold’s palace. clothes, no foodstuff, not even a spoon. It’s just an
empty boat, or so people think.

Sea of Fear At night, green spectral figures can sometimes

be seen moving about the deck, and a bright green
Anyone living on the shores of the Sea of Fear glowing figure stands at the prow, tricornered hat
know that in the depths lurks the Kraken-God and on head, spyglass in hand, searching for something
thus do sailors and fishers alike make offerings to before the ship slips off into the night.
appease Oceanus, lest he come to the surface them
and drag them into the deep. The presence of a
god ought to be enough to give this small ocean its Sentinel Woods
name, but the powerful storms come out of the Sentinel trees can grow up to 300 feet tall with
churning waters, scouring the coastlines and trunk diameters exceeding 40 feet and it’s these
drowning the lands with flooding. Add to this the trees that make the Sentinel Woods famous. The
presence of hostile tritons, who come up over the trees are so large, that the woodcutters in
sides of ships and kill all the crew, the crustacors Edgewood have yet to find an effective way to
that harass coastal villages, and other marine harvest them and thus the trees stand unmolested.
threats that seem endless varied in the manner in Edgewoods cutters instead harvest younger trees
which they can kill. and those found on the edges of this place.
Aside from the trees, the place is home to
Shattered Lands dragonets, who live in small homes built in the
A scattering rocky islands rise from the Sea of Fear canopy, fenoderee who protect the mighty trees
to the east, their stony shores ribboned with from fire and axe, and a myriad of faeries.
seaweed and littered with driftwood. Few islands
offer much room for maneuvering, with most Walking Trees
being a hundred yards across, steep, sharp, and At least once a year, someone comes to nearby
crawling with crabs, worms, and the seabirds that Edgewood claiming to have seen a walking tree in
eat both. The more distant isles show signs of the Sentinel Woods. Locals believe them to be
ancient habitation—a couple sport towers, the spriggans or dryads, but every few years, devotees
tops snapped off, while there have been sightings of Grandtather Tree come to the forest to conduct
of stairs, walls, and cube-shaped structures. strange ceremonies out of view and earshot of the
The islands offer no have for shipwrecked nonbelievers.
people. Sailors claim to have spotted strange

33
Sunrise Ocean
return hours after nightfall to blanket this land
with silvery mist.
The Sunrise Ocean describes the body of water A wild place, with few signs of inhabitation, the
covers over half of Erth’s northern hemisphere rolling hills belong to wild cattle, golden eagles,
reaching as far east and south until it meets the red squirrels, deer, and wildcats. People here live
Sea of Fear. The waters nearest to inhabited lands in tiny villages made of huts huddled together
have seen the most exploration and numerous around a central well. Most living by herding
islands lay scattered across the expanse. People sheep, weaving fabric from their wool, and raise
have either forgotten or have little idea what crops of potatoes, carrots, and greens. Unfriendly
peoples and places dwell on the other side. and suspicious of outsiders, the locals withdraw
when they see travelers approaching and give
grudging aid if needed.
Swordspoint Locals adhere to odd customs designed to keep
A range of stacked rock formations form a the nature spirits at bay. These spirits, faeries for
peninsula that extends nearly one hundred miles the most part, sometimes roam the hills and cause
out over the Sea of Fear. Gaps between the mischief by stealing livestock, misplacing
formations drop to the churning waters below and treasures, and tearing clothes. A bit of iron hung
vary in distance from a few feet to several over the door keeps these imps out, but most folks
hundred. Some who have seen Swordspoint have tie ribbons in their trees and leave offerings of
suggested that it looks like an ancient crumbling sheep’s milk and biscuits on their doorsteps.
bridge that abruptly stops, while others think it The ground throughout the Climb contains the
nothing more than a curious geological feature bones of giants, so many that people no longer
most likely created by wind and water erosion. emit surprise when they unearth an enormous
Windy conditions and exposure to storms make skull or ribcage larger enough to hold an entire
living in this landscape difficult, but several squat family. The bones have become so common that
stone houses do appear on them, sometimes many use the bones in construction.
clumped together, others separated by miles.
Many stand empty, but others have become The Silent Sentinels
shelters of opportunity for refugees and settlers. The Climb’s ascending elevation levels off just
Most clusters stand on outcroppings into which before reaching the Causeway, that stretch of land
steps have been cut, granting access to the waters that connects the borderlands to the new lands. To
about one hundred feet below. either side of the Causeway stand 100-foot-tall
basalt statues depicting a bearded man, features
The Point downcast as if looking at the ground, and dressed
A flat-topped tower rises from the tip of in hooded robes. The northern statue grips a staff,
Swordspoint. Sometimes, flames burn atop the while the southern statue holds a sword, point
tower so that it acts as a lighthouse, though no one down between its feet.
seems to know who lives there or from where
comes the timber for the burning as the hills are The Whispering Arch
largely free from anything much taller than On nights of the full moon, locals claim that
shrubbery. An old legend claims that the tower’s strange lights shine inside the Whispering Arch, a
top holds Baen’s forge and the god of making monument raised by an unknown people found
stokes the supernatural flames when called to somewhere in a remote patch of hills to the
forge a weapon for the other gods. northeast. A dolmen, the structure features two
thirteen-foot-tall stone slabs set in parallel to form
an opening and with another slab resting on the
The Climb top. Anyone living nearby the arch who has a mind
Green hills upon green hills rise toward the new to share stories might reveal that people have
lands of the far east. Climbing ever higher, the heat heard voices around the place and that poor young
and humidity drain away in favor of mild Kyl went missing after herding his flock of sheep
temperatures and gentle winds. Ash trees, all bent nearby. Whenever anyone went to the arches with
and gnarled, rise from the tops of these grassy his sheepdog, the beast would not approach and
hills. Fog hangs over the Climb in the early whined and barked if forced.
morning hours until burned off by the sun, only to

34
The Keep gods does not happen here. Instead, most of the
Rising from the hills just fifty miles from the Silent faerie folk venerate the Faerie Queen in a manner
Sentinels stands the Keep. Built by a displaced that comes close to worship.
noble many years ago and ownership passed
down to his grandson, Baron Carlyle, the place has
come to be known as the Keep at World’s Edge or, The Waste
more simply, the Keep on the Borderlands. A small The Waste connects the Wilderlands in the west to
farming community grew up around the keep in the Great Jungle in the east and is a place
recent years, its people looking to the stronghold characterized for its near perfect flatness. Small
and its soldiers for protection from the various rocks and pebbles lay scattered on its scarred and
things that creep out of the new lands. pitted surface. Then wind never blows here and
Recently, the Keep has become an important the clouds seem to move around the place, making
stopping point for travelers bound for the rains so exceptional rare that when they do fall,
unknown lands. One can always find merchants the water droplets disappear on touching the
ready to sell rope, packs, mules, and the like to the ground. There seems to be nothing here, certainly
explorers and adventurers, and there is now a no life, so why would anyone go here?
gambling hall, two taverns, and four inns, all of
which see brisk business. As more and more The Vault
people travel east, the demands on the Keep grow At the center of the Waste there rises a square,
greater and greater, and what was once a modest windowless structure known as the Vault.
outpost could become a thriving city. Assembled from black basalt slabs, the place looks
like a blot from a distance. A single door-shaped

The Great Jungle cavity grants access to its gloomy interior. Until
recently, the Vault has stood closed, but the lure of
Sometimes known as the Swelterwood, the Rain lost treasure, of secret knowledge brought a band
Trees, and the Emerald Expanse, most people in of adventurers to its doorstep and, foolishly, they
the borderlands know this vast forest as the Jungle opened the door, which fell inside to release
of Za. A wild, untamable jungle, efforts to survey it whatever has been sealed away. Since, people
have all failed. Bad water, sickness spread by disappear from the villages on the northern
biting insects, extreme heat, and oppressive shores of the Inner Sea, and even the pollywogs
humidity make expeditions into the Great Jungle have begun moving east and west.
difficult approaching impossible. Still, rumors
persist of lost cities, buried treasures, ancient The Eye of God
artifacts, and more lure many to search for its A lake of mercury between the Attercop Forest
secrets. and the Barrens, the Eye of God’s still surface
reflects with the perfection of a mirror the sky,
Summerlands appearing blue by day and star speckled at night.
The Summerlands of the Fair Folk coexists with In the rare times rain falls, it pools on top of the
the borderlands, but has been hidden, somewhere liquid metal until it evaporates. The fumes from
behind the Ephemera. Like the Spirit World, the the mercury make the air around the lake
Summerlands’ geography resembles that of the particular toxic; evidence for this fact can be found
mortal world, but everything appears more in the bones covering the ground nearby. The Eye
vibrant, colorful, and intense. The sun burns of God holds special religious significance for
brighter, the moon is always full in the night sky, followers of Lord Death, as the sight is believed to
and the stars look like burning holes in the be a gateway to the Underworld.
darkness. This place, accessed by secret doors
scattered across the borderlands—crossroads, elf
hills, misty islands, and the occasional door found Troll Haunts
in a boulder or ancient tree, as well as wardrobes, The Troll Haunts comprise the western arm of the
forgotten tunnels. mountain range that reaches across the
Faeries, other than goblins and their ill- borderlands in the north. Named for the high
mannered fellows, live in the Summerlands, as do number of trolls that live in the caves, the
anyone else that happens to catch the faeries’ mountains have dense tree coverage, which helps
fancy. Being a realm of the faeries, worship of the to protect the sun-fearing trolls from its light.
Natural springs and waterfalls, as striking as they

35
 Vale of Sorrows
can be, do nothing to alleviate the grim
atmosphere of this place.
Hulks of old war machines manufactured in the Tucked between two arms of the Dragon’s Teeth
troll forges rust to powder in the forested slopes. Mountains, mist hangs over the forested slopes
The trolls built these weapons thousands of years that form Vale of Sorrows. A refuge for faeries
ago to wipe out the elementals or faeries, displaced from the new lands, the magical mist
depending on whom one asks. Amidst the debris keeps the valley cool and comfortable while also
can be seen works of artistry—heads of working on mortal minds, causing them to grow
magnificent beasts assembled from metal drowsy until they lay down and sleep, at which
components, snapped and notched blades, cog point faeries can carry them out of the valley or to
wheels thirty feet in diameter, and more. Most the elf lords and ladies who rule here. The faeries
pose little danger, but some give off toxic fumes, have used their magic to build a delicate city on
while a few machines might have a bit of life left in the slopes, with tall spires reach above the
them, lashing out with little warning. swirling mist, each connected by delicate bridges
seemingly as delicate as spider webs.
The Troll King
The king of the trolls, Og, lives in cave deep under House of Lamentations
the Haunts and has his every need attended by the The joy and beauty often associated with the
faeries he has pressed into his service. Og dreams faeries seems absent from those living in the
of returning his people to their lost greatness, House of Lamentations, a cultural grouping of all
lifting them up and out of their present savagery the faeries living in the Vale of Sorrows under the
so that the world will fear them once more. rule of the Prince of Tears. Although the struggles
that led to their exile to this place have all passed
Dragon Spire into the most ancient of history, for the faeries
The Dragon Spire ascends like a crooked spire living here the memory seems fresh. Too many
above the rest of the mountains in its range and loved ones perished in the fighting against the
marks the lair of an ancient dragon who slumbers elementals and trolls for there to be song or story,
in the ruins of an equally old underground city, brush or pen, unless such gifts are used to capture
surrounding itself with a fortune in treasure. and explore the sadness that infuses the
Several goblin tribes have moved into the city permanent mist blanketing the valley.
offering to serve the monster, but, in truth, have Although the largest population of faeries found
been sent their by their master for some other in the borderlands, the House of Lamentations
purpose—perhaps to find some treasure or to does not speak for all faeries in the known world.
make off with as much gold as they can. The Many other faeries might have lived among their
dragon’s great age sees it remaining in its lairs for kind here, but eventually set aside the grief to find
the most part, but sometimes it hungers for meat joy. The faeries who remain revel in their
other than goblin and flies out through the tunnels melancholy and have nothing but animosity for
to scour the slopes for wild goats, bears, elk, and anyone outside their lands.
people. The Prince of Tears secludes himself in a spire
that reaches up over the mist and rarely stirs from
Underside his isolation. His subjects wear somber colors,
favoring gray, dark green, and black, with little
A maze of tunnels and chambers riddle the ground ornamentation. All artistic expression reflects the
below the borderlands and, presumably, extend dour nature of this place, and one can hear the
east, under the new lands. Much of Underside mourning song of wind instruments cut through
consists of natural caverns, fissures, passages the quiet.
shaped by the shifting of the earth, but here and The faeries here await their Prince to shrug off
there one finds excavated chambers. Old mines his misery and lead them to a brighter land.
plunge into the depths, weird temples dedicated to Loyalty and inertia keep them here, though more
alien, monstrous gods, and enclaves housing tiny and more faeries abandon the Vale every decade
gnome communities. Giant tubes worm through or so. The ones who stay cling to an almost certain
the rock, created by the dreaded Deep Worms, knowledge that all will be restored once their
while in the deepest reaches one might find the master’s heart heals.
Crawlers in the Dark, demons trapped in the
depths long ago.

36
Westport
and become a legitimate port city on the Sea of
Fear. Although the ruling duke has ambitions for
The city of Westport rises from the cliffs to the the city, none of those goals involve making
north that overlook Gauntlet Bay. Founded by needed improvements to the city he rules.
pirates three hundred years century ago, the city Westporters are no strangers to hardships. They
has grown in fits and starts. Frequent wars with either live in crowded conditions behind the
neighboring Eastport, typhoons stomping across protection of the city walls or must look after
the Sea of Fear, disease, infighting, and countless themselves outside them, where Eastporters
other troubles have contributed to making its might come to raid the countryside or carry off the
growth uneven. people. Add to this the tropical storms that bring
High walls, topped with battlements, encircle flooding and wind each rainy season, surviving for
Westport, and have for years, though craters and long here is considered a sign of toughness and
cracks show sign of past violence. A port and competence.
attendant fishing community stand in front of the Social lines in the city are drawn between the
sea-facing walls and long docks extend out over rich and poor and the poor and really poor. The
the deep waters to accommodate merchant ships rich live well, with comfort, security, health, and
and the city’s fishing fleet. diversions. The poor represent most people in the
The twenty-thousand people living in Westport city and they are variably sick, embittered,
do so in crowded conditions. The Duke, Rubelius, maimed, or suffering. Trades include fishing,
has no intention of expanding the walls, so citizens sailing, and farming, though earnings tend to be
can either shelter behind them or live in the low. The very poor are the poor people who have
shanty town outside. Buildings within feature lost the ability to work and thus must depend on
stone and wood construction, roofed in slate the charity of others—the Church of the High One
shingles, and appear piled on top of each other. operates a boardinghouse for indigents.
One can explore the city by its many tiny, twisting Westport’s people all fear and worship Oceanus,
streets, but people become turned around all the the Great Kraken. His priests have great influence
time, a few are never seen again. over the duke and are not subject to the city’s
Westport’s colors are gray and black and the laws. Other religions have small followings, but
city’s symbol is that of a fish. people are more likely to worship gods in addition
to Oceanus rather than instead of him.
Catacombs Fixed on Oceanus as the people are, most events
A vast catacomb spreads out below the city and and festivals focus on the god. There’s the Festival
has become the city’s weakest point, with outside of Leviathan, where locals make a giant whale out
access gained via grated pipes through which of paper mache and carry it through the streets.
drain the city’s effluvia. The city originally built There’s also the Day of Bounty, a popular holiday
the undercity as a place to store plague victims that involves eating fish stew, drinking wine, and
during the Black Fever of 932 KE. They have since playing music.
been abandoned and rumors swirl about them
being infested with rats, ghouls, and other fell
things. Wilderlands
North of the Plains of Pendarm, the ground climbs
Gauntlet Bay to a grassy expanse dotted with lakes and
Westport claimed Gauntlet Bay a century ago and crisscrossed with rivers and streams. Far to the
many of the city’s clashes with Eastport stem from north, one can see the Troll Haunts, and Dragon
this declaration. To strengthen its hold, Westport’s Spire, and to the east the wispy Attercop Forest. A
war ships patrol the waters to protect its fishing pretty land, with a clear and unobstructed view to
fleet from Eastport pirates, who have a history of the sky above, visitors rarely have time to
capturing fisher folk and pressing them into appreciate the beauty before the centaurs run
service. them down, net them, and drag them off, never to
be seen again.
Westporters
Like in Eastport, Westhold owes its origins to Horse Lords
pirates, but unlike its sister city, Westport has Centaurs claim the Wilderlands as their own. The
made every effort to put its criminal past behind it gather in large bands that follow the curlbeak
herds that follow a roughly counterclockwise

37
migratory path that travels from the shadows of until driven north by trolls, elementals, or some
the Trollhaunts, south to the plains, east to the other mythical threat. Large bones of dead giants
Inner Sea, and then back to the north once more. mingle with the rubble, offering a clue about the
The centaurs tend toward xenophobia and tolerate violence done here. Whatever happened must
no interlopers on their lands. They frequently have been significant to live on in the memories of
struggle with manticores, drakes, wyverns, and the faeries, for now the only faeries found here are
other terrible threats, and might make alliances goblins and they have dug down rather than
with outsiders if the need is great enough. restore what’s on the surface.

Nine Bells Gods of the Forest

Fleeing religious persecution in the Old Country, a More than anywhere else in the borderlands do
heretical sect of the Church of the High One, the the gods show themselves in the Wyvern Wood.
Children of the Redeemer, settled in the Many people claim to have seen the Horned King
Wilderlands to practice their religion without fear. and the Wild Woman, the latter chasing the former
Having survived attacks by beastmen, centaurs, through the trees. On certain days of the year,
along with monsters and plague, Nine Bells has when the sky is particularly clear, one can make
grown into a large town. The community out a massive tree growing from the center of the
welcomes human refugees, but has no love for woods, a tree that some believe might be
nonhumans and use any excuse they can find to Grandfather Tree himself. The close association
cast them out. with the nature gods has made the woods a sacred
The Church of the High One holds absolute place for many practitioners of the old faith.
power in Nine Bells and everyone who lives here is Priests conduct special ceremonies here and
a believer and member of the faith. A high priest peasants might leave offerings at the woods’ edge.
rules the town and work has begun on a cathedral
larger and more magnificent than any that has Goblin City
before been built. Over some quarrel long forgotten, the Faerie
Queen exiled goblins and their king, her former

Wyvern Wood husband Oberon, from the Summerlands, and

barred their return for a thousand, thousand
Named for the wyverns that lair in the woods, the years. Oberon, calling himself the Goblin King, led
Wyvern Wood spreads hundreds of miles and the a great army of goblins, monsters, and other fell
density of growth and the wild things living in creatures into the Wyvern Wood where the settled
have made it a natural barrier to northward in an abandoned city in the center of the forest. He
expansion. As more and more newcomers spill then constructed a labyrinth around the city to
into the lands, its expected people will conflict keep out his enemies. Oberon rules over his
with the reptilian monsters that live here and dominion from a sprawling palace at the city’s
either become food for these ancient terrors or center where he’s attended by his servile
drive them deeper into the woods. Until then, the henchmen and lackeys.
woods are full of foreboding, a place into people Obviously, the most numerous people living in
might go, but never return. For this reason, it is Goblin City are the goblins, but they share this
also known as the Forest of Endings or Suicide place with bugaboos, imps, and other faeries who
Wood. belong to the shadow court. Everyone living here
swears fealty to the Goblin King for they know his
Faerie Ruins wrath when displeased and know that he is every
The trees have done their work at reclaiming the bit as eccentric and dangerous as the Wizard.
land from the peoples who lived here long ago. The Goblin King demands much of his followers.
The wreckage of temples, theaters, towers, and Many attend their dread master, serving his food
even towns lay throughout the Wyvern Wood. It’s and dressing him and capering before him, but the
nothing to come upon a statue of an elf knight lucky ones are sent out to work mischief in the
standing in the woods, the stone spotted with lands—spying, trickery, and theft. Thanks to
moss and lichen. A mile away, an arch might goblin mischief, Goblin City has ensnared all kinds
vanish into canopy or a staircase climb up a few of creatures, some of which count as people, but
dozen steps before stopping in empty air. many more are dreadful things. Most visitors find
The ruins all once belonged to the faerie as they themselves trapped in the labyrinth and wander
lived in these lands many thousands of years ago

38
its confounding corridors until the reach the city people warped into monsters by a disease of the
or run afoul of insidious tricks and traps. soul, started appearing in the countryside, forming
into bands, and overthrowing governments to

Beyond the burn everything to ash.

The Great Kingdom could have stepped in,
opened it coffers and its borders to ease the

Borderlands suffering, but the ineffective, corrupt rulers,

abetting by sycophants who sought to enrich
The borderlands occupy but a small part of the themselves by any means possible, meant the
Dawn Lands and the continent itself is but one of mightiest nation on the continent would do
many, each with peoples, nations, and histories of nothing. Any chance of the Great Kingdom shifting
their own. Typical people know little about the its position on the troubles within and without its
wider world and what they do know comes borders ended when the paladins, an order of
tainted by rumor and speculation. The following virtuous knights charged with protecting the
entries offer glimpses of what might be found crown, turned on their regent, slaying the king and
beyond the borderlands. putting to death most of the royal family, and
claims to Whitestone, the seat of the Kingdom’s

The Old Country

power, came from all corners, precipitating a civil
war that rages even now.
Refugees and settlers know and refer to Allara, the Hope remains that sanity will prevail and that
lands north and west of the borderlands, as the people will come together to combat the myriad
Old Country, for it’s from this region most of them threats working to dismantle the civilized world,
were born or their ancestors were born. People but enough people have given up that they
have lived in Allara for over a thousand years and abandoned their lives for an uncertain future in
the continent takes its name for the human the borderlands. While greed and ambition have
peoples who first settled in its rich valleys, but done their parts in undermining efforts to restore
were later displaced by colonizers from the order, the people who choose to stay behind fight
Empire in the far northwest. Allara also has the for their homes, their future, and to preserve the
distinction of being the birthplace for the great land for their descendants.
dwarfen kingdoms and their mighty fortresses,
many of which now stand in ruins, can still be seen
in the mountain heights. The New Lands
The Old Country might have saved itself had it People call the lands south and east of the
not ignored the warning signs. First, the Old borderlands the new lands, for they represent an
Country boasts some forty different nations, which entirely new world, one untamed, unexplored,
one of those nations being divided into almost one utterly unknown thanks to the Weird Wizard who
hundred different polities, and all stood in the until recently declared these lands his own.
shadow of the Great Kingdom, a vast, rich realm Refugees take the tyrant’s absence as an invitation
who had dominated international politics for to settle in these lands, and expeditions form to
centuries. Resentment toward the Great blaze trails and create outposts so people can
Kingdom’s wealth, its lack of respect or build again. What the first explorers have found
consideration for its neighbors, and its decadence defies expectation; the Weird Wizard’s magic
fed the resentment for it and many of the smaller warped the landscape to make the impossible
realms bade their time for the opportunity to possible, and the strange seem utterly
bring an end to its dominance. commonplace.
Population had been growing unchecked as Some of the stories describe places that just
improvements in medicine and sanitation enabled cannot exist. In the central mountain range, for
people to live longer and produce offspring more example, there’s a mountain so tall it reaches the
safely. Poor farming techniques in poorer nations stars. In another place, a rocks, dirt, and dust
led to widespread famines, abetted by a string of rumble across the land not unlike a river. Islands
bad droughts that left the entire continent starved covered in greenery drift through the skies, while
for water. When the plague struck the coastal liquid lightning dances in the desert surrounding
cities and spread inland, killing one in four people, the dreaded Forbidden City. It is a place strange
the nations sealed their borders, withheld aid, and and one that seems to change on its own accord.
committed atrocities to protect their own. Orcs, Some believe the Wizard made the lands unstable

39
and that now he is gone, the lands will right adventures have come here and scoured the city
themselves and obey the laws of nature that for answers. The few to have undertaken this
prevail most other places. pursuit have never returned from their
explorations in and under this strange place.
Forbidden City NIGHTSPIRE
Far to the east, the Forbidden City rise from A singular tower of solid black stone rises some 100 feet
behind a one-hundred-foot-high stone wall high over the Plain of Peril, the haunted lands north of
adorned with strange symbols and images of the Forbidden City. The Nightspire offers no means of
strange monsters, bizarre vistas, and the ever- ingress and not even one window pierces its exterior; it
present bearded visage of the Weird Wizard is a column of darkness that tapers to a sharp point far
himself, who created the city with a spell long ago. above the flat, dusty landscape.
Once, the Forbidden City shone with strange lights The tower connects the mortal world to the Twilight
and thunderous noise from the magic wrought by Lands and the shadow it casts as the sun and moon track
their way across the heavens also extends into this
the city’s master, but now the place has gone quiet
gloomy place, allowing shades and other beings native
but for the whir and clicks of the clockworks who
to that world to pass between the places. Many
maintain the city in their maker’s absence. One followers of the old faith believe this site to be holy and
can still spy the clockwork soldiers patrolling the pilgrims have, over the centuries, braved the many
battlements or the centauroids riding out across dangers of the new lands to behold its eerie beauty.
the dusty terrain of the Blasted Lands the Now, though, the emergence of the shades and a small
surround the metropolis, but of the Weird Wizard, settlement growing just beyond the reach of the shadow
there is no sign. the spire casts makes this place unwelcome to outsiders
The Forbidden City could house one hundred and, largely, only the shades dwell here.
thousand people and still have room to spare, but
the Weird Wizard permitted no one in the city
other than animals, particularly cats, and his Devastation
clockwork servants. Most buildings one might Even after a thousand years, magical storms
expect to find in a city of this size—houses, ravage the ruins of the old empire in the place now
tenements, cafes, shops, theaters—are home to called the Devastation. Such horrors as this land
the various animals who live here but show no births necessitated the creation of the Bulwark, a
signs of people ever living there. One notable demarcation of castles, walls, and other defenses
absence, though, shows in a lack of temples or guarded by a volunteer army funded, until
churches—the Weird Wizard famously had no use recently, by the Great Kingdom. The defenders
for gods. throw back the formorians, the changed
Four wide gates grant access to the city and descendants of the old empire, year after year, but
open onto wide streets that lead toward the with no new funds coming and the Old Country
citadel standing at the city center. Smaller roads caught in catastrophe’s grip, many fear that the
and alleys branch off to grant access to crowds of enemy will overcome the defense and run amok.
buildings stacked almost atop one another. Here The Empire’s legacy is one of magical misuse,
and there, the narrow streets widen into plazas devil-worship, and corruption, but it didn’t start
dominated by fountains or incredibly lifelike this way. The founders were survivors from the
statues of people, animals, and monsters. Great Doom—a period of widespread flooding that
A dozen spires rise from the citadel, each marked the end of the Age of Myth, and who
climbing at least one thousand feet in the air, sought to rebuild their culture and civilization in
festooned with balconies, and connected to each the Dawn Lands. The fledgling nation grew
other with slender bridges. When the Weird unchecked and became an empire some three
Wizard dwelled in the city, he used the towers as thousand years ago.
living spaces, vaults for his fabulous treasures, and Not content with the territory it held, the
quarters for his many strange and sometimes empire pressed south, conquering the smaller
unnatural creations. The Wizard sealed the towers states in its path, enslaving their populations, or
before vanishing and since no one, not even the wiping them out. Eventually, the imperials turned
legendary clockwork named the First, who holds their attentions beyond the continent, throwing
the city in his maker’s name, has been able to their might against Za, and eventually setting sail
enter them. That the clue to their opening might across the ocean to beset peoples on the other side
reside somewhere in the Forbidden City, many of the world, such as the Kalasans, who had so

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soundly defeated the invaders that many expected abruptly stopped. There’s the Indigo Coast,
the distant land to come and finish off the Empire, somewhere south of even Aegon, where purple-
but the ships never arrived. skinned humans worship strange gods and wield
For all its might, for all its wealth, the Empire stranger magic. Every now and then, a bard will
could not control the rot at its core. The emperors sing about Lost Oraldia, the kingdom who
had long been powerful sorcerers and ruled with offended the gods so much they nearly drowned
the support of diabolical warlocks who adopted the world. And then there are the Four Kingdoms
fanciful names to keep safe knowledge of their of the Maridians, of which not even the marid say
true names. So long as the emperors allowed the much. The Free Cities of Pyran, the Hegemony, the
warlocks to rule their territories as they saw fit, Sea Kingdom, and others might be real places or
the emperor could sit the throne. But it was the not. The only way to know for certain is to go
last emperor to climb the throne, a great there.
monstrous chair made from the skulls of regents
slain by his ancestors, who saw what the Empire
had become and sought reforms, bestowing Beyond the Mortal
greater liberties onto the common people and
even granting independence to some far-flung World
colonies. The warlocks rebelled and torn the People understand places beyond what they see,
empire apart. hear, and otherwise sense exist. Places such as the
Two thousand years have not been time enough Underworld, the Netherworld, and Paradise all fit
to abate the ruination the warlocks unleashed. into their conception of religion, destinations for
Mile high purple and lime-green clouds blot out the soul after death. While most people accept
the sun and drag curtains of killing fire, white and these places exist, they do not expect to see them
ghostly, across the ground, burning and warping before they die. They are remote, divorced from
whatever they touch. Great stretches of land have everyday experience, the realms of the gods
been turned to glass by the intense heat released themselves.
by the apocalyptic spells that still crackle and These other worlds do exist, but not as distant
spark. But some survived this calamity, albeit as many expect. Each deathly realm touches the
changed, driven insane by suffering, souls polluted mortal world and all have access points
with the memory of what was. A great wall has throughout the world. Such points might appear
been raised to stanch the flood of horrors that as doors or gates of an ordinary kind, or might be
would spill out of the Devastation, while the empty arches that fill with light on certain times of
descendants of that land now lurk in the shadows the year, shimmering curtains that manifest
of the Old Country, many living as pariahs for the themselves based on the alignment of the planets,
touch of darkness they bear in their bodies. or portals that open with magical keys.
Spirits that cannot or will not move onto one of
The Southlands the realms to which they have been destined
might become lost in the Ephemera. This spirit
The Southlands encompass a large continent that world envelops completely the mortal world and
begins at the Sea of Fear and extends all the way to offers routes to Paradise, the Underworld, and
the southern pole. Of the Southlands, people know almost anywhere else one might wish to go.
only of the Jungle of Za, an enormous rain forest Animal spirits go to the Ephemera in death and
expected to cover a full third of the continent. persist in the ghostly wilds for a time, before their
From the sphinxes who have come to the spirits return to new bodies. With them, one finds
borderlands, the dying lands of Aegon lay beyond lost and forgotten gods, ghosts, travelers, and
the jungle, nearly swallowed by a growing desert things people have lost or abandoned.
waste. The deathly realms share the cosmologically
curious nature with a great many other hidden
Lands of Legend places. The faeries mastered the arts of creating
smaller realities within larger, with each like a
Of other, more distant lands, people know little bubble floating on the surface of a pond. Faerie
more than names, and vague notions about what realms lead to such fantastical realms as the
they signify. Across the Sunrise Ocean lays ancient Goblin City, the Eternal Garden, the Palace of
Kalasa, sworn enemies of the Empire and against Earthly Delights, the Night Market, and the
who they fought a century-long war until it Twilight Lands. These places serve as havens for

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the faeries and thus pose grave danger to mortals
who stumble into them.
Finally, all of creation, which includes Erth and
the universe that contains it, exist inside its own
reality which is itself enveloped in the endless
darkness of the Void, the birth place of demons. No
one knows from where the Void comes, its true
nature, or really much at all about it other than it
is a place all agree to be evil and that contains,
despite its apparent emptiness, a multitude of
terrors. Some have theorized it might be possible
to reach another reality by crossing the Void, but
such an idea is surely madness.

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