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widerworld [2012/09/21 22:55]
dan [Junnes - The City of the Dead]
widerworld [2015/05/14 21:08] (current)
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 ====== The Wider World ====== ====== The Wider World ======
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 While Acryn is the largest city on its own continent, there are plenty of other cities, minor nations and terrains out there on the same landmass, and settlements to rival Acryn on other continents. Restoring connections with these places and exploring the Flux’s effect on the wider world will be a major theme of  Memento Mundi, and we will be adding significantly more information about how the world was before the Upheaval over the next few months, in order to provide inspiration for GMs to draw upon for adventures and NPCs. While Acryn is the largest city on its own continent, there are plenty of other cities, minor nations and terrains out there on the same landmass, and settlements to rival Acryn on other continents. Restoring connections with these places and exploring the Flux’s effect on the wider world will be a major theme of  Memento Mundi, and we will be adding significantly more information about how the world was before the Upheaval over the next few months, in order to provide inspiration for GMs to draw upon for adventures and NPCs.
  
 ===== The Rest of the Continent ===== ===== The Rest of the Continent =====
 +{{potato.jpg?​600|Map of the continent}}
 +//The Continent//​((Credit to Trevor Dean for the providing the map))
  
- +Acryn'​s immediate territory extends for around 230 miles to the north, 300 miles to the west and 340 miles to the south. Within a 150 mile radius of the city, the land is mostly fields and hills, dotted with villages and with a few larger towns along the major roads in each direction. Further north-west, the fields give way to wooded lakelands, a few small mountains scattered among them, while towards the south-west the foothills and extents of the bluepeak mountain range mark a rough border. All settlements ​within the territory hold to their allegiance with the city, especially in the wake of the upheaval, though many smaller towns were abandoned as refugees made their way to Acryn itself. A drive to re-establish full occupancy of the towns, sparing Acryn from overcrowding,​ has been initiated by the city council in the last six months, but the process is slow, and complicated by the after-effects ​of looting.
-Acryn'​s immediate territory extends for around 230 miles to the north, 300 miles to the west and 340 miles to the south. Within a 150 mile radius of the city, the land is mostly fields and hills, dotted with villages and with a few larger towns along the major roads in each direction. Further north-west, the fields give way to wooded lakelands, a few small mountains scattered among them, while towards the south-west the foothills and extents of the bluepeak mountain range marsk a rough border. All settlement ​within the territory hold to their allegiance with the city, especially in the wake of the upheaval, though many smaller towns were abandoned as refugees made their way to Acryn itself. A drive to re-establish full occupancy of the towns, sparing Acryn from overcrowding,​ has been initiated by the city council in the last six months, but the process is slow, and complicated by the aftereffects ​of looting.+
  
 Just over the horizon from Acryn'​s port, a string of islands hosts a variety of small fishing villages, close enough that sailing to them with a skilled wayfinder aboard is a reasonable prospect. Many of their citizens have abandoned them, but due to the rising prices of fish on the open market, enough to keep them alive have been tempted to stay. Just over the horizon from Acryn'​s port, a string of islands hosts a variety of small fishing villages, close enough that sailing to them with a skilled wayfinder aboard is a reasonable prospect. Many of their citizens have abandoned them, but due to the rising prices of fish on the open market, enough to keep them alive have been tempted to stay.
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-Before the Upheaval, [[resources:​place:​Junnes]] was a smaller version of Liarus - gateway to the desert on the far side, and defiantly independent of the Serradic Empire, being useful enough to the Eastern cities that they would make some attempt to defend an annexation, and politically convenient to the empire as a neutral base for trade. Unfortunately,​ surrounded by featureless expanses of sand and without the Axia to provide an endless bounty of water without the use of surrounding springs, Junnes fared badly during the Upheaval. Terminally badly. Precise events have been pieced together largely from the lucky few who survived fleeing into the desert, but general consensus is that it became clear within about a week that the city simply couldn’t cope with the new circumstances,​ and the riots and exoduses started mere days after that. Most who fled into the desert died of exposure, lost in the Flux. A very few (some groups lead by those who would later join the wayfinder’s guild) made it to Liarus, or even in one incredible case to towns near to Caul . No one knows exactly what happened to those who remained behind, but by the time travellers once more found it upon their horizons, no sign of the bustling life that once filled the city remained, sand weathered buildings sitting empty and near-silent,​ disturbed only by the wind. At least by day. By night, these first few travellers found the darkness pierced with screams and shrieks, and unseen forces from the shadows stealing their party away as they fled from the ruined inn they had occupied. Most now avoid Junnes, giving it as wide a berth as the patch of consensus around it will allow, though the lure of the riches that must surely lie within tempt a few brave souls to make incursions. Some make it out before nightfall. Most who don’t are not heard from again.+Before the Upheaval, [[resources:​place:​Junnes]] was a smaller version of [[resources:​place:​Liarus]] - gateway to the desert on the far side, and defiantly independent of the Serradic Empire, being useful enough to the Eastern cities that they would make some attempt to defend an annexation, and politically convenient to the empire as a neutral base for trade. Unfortunately,​ surrounded by featureless expanses of sand and without the Axia to provide an endless bounty of water without the use of surrounding springs, Junnes fared badly during the Upheaval. Terminally badly. Precise events have been pieced together largely from the lucky few who survived fleeing into the desert, but general consensus is that it became clear within about a week that the city simply couldn’t cope with the new circumstances,​ and the riots and exoduses started mere days after that. Most who fled into the desert died of exposure, lost in the Flux. A very few (some groups lead by those who would later join the wayfinder’s guild) made it to Liarus, or even in one incredible case to towns near to Caul . No one knows exactly what happened to those who remained behind, but by the time travellers once more found it upon their horizons, no sign of the bustling life that once filled the city remained, sand weathered buildings sitting empty and near-silent,​ disturbed only by the wind. At least by day. By night, these first few travellers found the darkness pierced with screams and shrieks, and unseen forces from the shadows stealing their party away as they fled from the ruined inn they had occupied. Most now avoid Junnes, giving it as wide a berth as the patch of consensus around it will allow, though the lure of the riches that must surely lie within tempt a few brave souls to make incursions. Some make it out before nightfall. Most who don’t are not heard from again.
 ==== The Serradic Empire ==== ==== The Serradic Empire ====
  
  
-The south--western third of the Continent is (or at least, certainly was) occupied by the Serradic empire, an imperial conglomeration of four large cities, and the towns and villages surrounding them. Around 50 years ago, ruthless expansionism from Serradis, greatest and most south-western of the four, secured an initial sweep northwards, conquering Tovis and Batra, with Russa agreeing to terms before the armies turned East. Junnes instead made pacts of neutrality, backed up by its friendship with Liarus and the inconvenience of assaulting it, and there the Empire’s expansion stopped. One attempt was made to annex the city twenty years later, but the intervention of ambassadors from Acryn’s mage guild helped see of the invasion.+The south--western third of the Continent is (or at least, certainly was) occupied by the Serradic empire, an imperial conglomeration of four large cities, and the towns and villages surrounding them. Around 50 years ago, ruthless expansionism from [[resources:​place:​Serradis]], greatest and most south-western of the four, secured an initial sweep northwards, conquering ​[[resources:​place:​Tovis]] and [[resources:​place:​Batra]], with [[resources:​place:​Russa]] agreeing to terms before the armies turned East. [[resources:​place:​Junnes]] instead made pacts of neutrality, backed up by its friendship with [[resources:​place:​Liarus]] and the inconvenience of assaulting it, and there the Empire’s expansion stopped. One attempt was made to annex the city twenty years later, but the intervention of ambassadors from Acryn’s mage guild helped see of the invasion.
  
 Unlike most the rest of the Continent, Serradis, from which the empire sprang, had a strong tradition of religion, and the religious hierarchy is deeply intertwined with the civil government. Rather than one god, as in Caul, or four as in Acryn, the Serradic Empire’s religion has a diverse cast of feuding gods, spirits and their messengers, supposedly having their home in great Alabaster cities in the southern depths of the desert. The religion holds that these gods often come among mortals unseen to help, hinder or merely amuse themselves, and that it is the duty of those who welcome them to expand the borders of what they may experience. The religion has been going in various forms for hundreds of years, but the faction who interpreted this as a literal command to go forth and bring the world into the fold of their faith only arose relatively recently. Unlike most the rest of the Continent, Serradis, from which the empire sprang, had a strong tradition of religion, and the religious hierarchy is deeply intertwined with the civil government. Rather than one god, as in Caul, or four as in Acryn, the Serradic Empire’s religion has a diverse cast of feuding gods, spirits and their messengers, supposedly having their home in great Alabaster cities in the southern depths of the desert. The religion holds that these gods often come among mortals unseen to help, hinder or merely amuse themselves, and that it is the duty of those who welcome them to expand the borders of what they may experience. The religion has been going in various forms for hundreds of years, but the faction who interpreted this as a literal command to go forth and bring the world into the fold of their faith only arose relatively recently.
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 Empire on pain of death for residents, and immediate exile with no appeal for foreigners. Magic was rare enough before the upheaval that this had little effect on day to day life, but as the failure of the invasion of Junnes showed, would have had more consequence had Acryn pitted itself against the empire. Empire on pain of death for residents, and immediate exile with no appeal for foreigners. Magic was rare enough before the upheaval that this had little effect on day to day life, but as the failure of the invasion of Junnes showed, would have had more consequence had Acryn pitted itself against the empire.
  
 +===== Across the Ocean =====
 +==== Valydd ==== 
 +
 +Across the Eastern Ocean, nearly a month'​s travel by boat, can be found  the Eastern Continent, and occupying the coast nearest Acryn, the territories of the King of Valydd. Hundreds of years ago, the people of [[resources:​place:​Valydd]] were raiders, sailing up and down the shores of their continent pillaging. At some point (probably within 200 years of the present date), they switched from raiding to conquest, and built themselves a kingdom. The kingdom maintained a proud nautical and military tradition, and are generally in a state of conflict with at least some of their neighbours across the inland seas that border their territory. In order to support this, trade and scholarly endeavours grew rapidly as the demand for resources and military improvements grew. 
 +
 +Acryn has never been close enough to Valydd to be seen as a threat or a potential conquest, and a major source of knowledge for the Symposia of the kingdom, and thus trade between the two has been ever buoyant (often taking place on the isle of Thys as a useful middle ground between the two). Some tensions have always bubbled under - several of Acryn'​s royalist noble families fled to and remain within Valydd, and their unashamed warlike tendencies disgust more liberal thinkers within the city, but intellectual disgust has never been especially good at standing against the potential for profit and shared success.
 +
 +Since the Upheaval, no contact has been made with Valydd. Thys lies closer, and a very limited number of ships accompanied by the best wayfinders make it through, but so far every attempt to reach Valydd has failed, and most who have tried have never been seen again.
 +==== Thys ====
 +
 +A large island lying around ten day's fast travel from Acryn and twenty from [[resources:​place:​Valydd]],​ [[resources:​place:​Thys]] and the smaller islands surrounding it are a mixed bag of legitimate traders, barely hidden pirates and locals happy to work for one or both of them. The convenience of the island for trading ​ between [[resources:​place:​Caul]] and Acryn and [[resources:​place:​Valydd]] means that many are willing to put up with the threat of piracy, while the pirates in turn try to avoid preying too heavily on any one company, in order to ensure that their golden goose is not scared away. Thys has no official ruler, but deference tends to be given to the Master of the Consortium, a representative of all the local groups with business on the island. That the consortium often has pirates and merchants rubbing shoulders within its ranks is something that it is considered impolite (and often fatal) to point out.
widerworld.1348268125.txt.gz · Last modified: 2015/05/14 21:09 (external edit)