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viljo
30. kesäkuuta 2005 kello 18.15
linkki
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Tässä olisi tämä Mustan metsän juttu, jonka lupasimme. Myös kartta on valmiina. Kelle lähetän sen (en päässyt tiedostoalueelle)? Guard Post of Shadow's Teeth:n kuvaus puuttuu vielä. En ehtinyt sitä vielä viimeistellä. Mielipiteitä voi esittää. Teksti on kertaalleen oikoluettu taitavan kielimiehen toimesta. Kuvitusta on jonkin verran valmiina, mutta jos joku inspiroituu tekstin perusteella piirtämään eritt. maisemakuvia, ei se ole haitaksi. Laitan lyhyehkön kuvauksen Loskalmin valtion kuuluisista instituutioista loppuviikosta, tai ensi viikon alussa.
Places of Black Forest and Shadow Mountains
Klaus Viljanen & Antti Karjalainen, 2005
Translation Panu Karjalainen
Forewords
This text has been written from the viewpoint of a Loskalmian philosopher, Caviel Lothos, a scholar in the University of Northpoint. The text tells about the land where the greatest enemy of Loskalm, the Kingdom of War, was born. The following description of the Black Forest is not objective; rather, it is intended as a reconnaissance report made before the army of Loskalm invaded the Forest. This invasion occurred in the late winter of 1624 in our campaign, and was led by the player characters. The invading armies defeated the Kingdom of War and managed to crush its unity. Lacking the leaders to keep order, their troops soon broke into disorganized bands attempting to avoid the pursuing Loskalm forces. The attacking Loskalmian army lost half of its 16000 men, most of whom were elite soldiers, and those who survived were mentally torn apart while witnessing the horrors of the Forest and the deaths of their comrades.
Black Forest
The Black Forest is an incarnation of the evil and suppressed thoughts of peoples of Fronela. During the Syndics Ban most societies in Fronela went through extensive cultural and religious reformation and purifications. Philosophers of the West conjectured that these purifications should have expelled the dark side of humanity, causing it to coalesce and take form somewhere else. No such phenomenon was observed, however, as long as the Ban lasted. It was not until its disappearance that the Black Forest emerged from the mists of the Ban. The Black Forest, an incarnation of the mind’s dark recesses, represents all the fears, doubts and weaknesses of human nature. Indeed, it is a piece of Hell overlapping with the inner world, a place where demons roam and spirits of subconscious thoughts haunt the living. The Kingdom of War, a product of the Black Forest, is thus everything that the chivalrous Loskalm is not.
It is said that the trees of the Black Forest are actually Hell’s fetters and bars, meant to hold something in captivity. The Black Trees resemble narrow spruces, but are darker in complexion and hard as rocks, with blade-sharp needles covering the spear-like branches. The presence of Hell intensifies towards the centre areas, and the Trees grow taller as well, rising to forty meters near the Great Temple of Hundred War Gods. The air of the Forest is cold and stagnant, and the sun is pale under the dark canopy.
Before the Ban the landscape consisted of low rolling hills, moors and marshes, with an abundance of little bodies of water. The area was widely known as the home of nymphs, especially those of water, the naiads. Currently the old countryside lies buried under the Black Trees from Hell. Along the Trees came other features of Hell, like the ashen ground on which only the toughest of shrubs and weeds have survived. The original nature still lingers on the edges of the Forest and even some normal, albeit stunted, trees can be found there.
Outer parts of the Black Forest are populated with animals of conventional nature, but even there, monstrosities from other worlds sometimes appear to wreak havoc on the living beings. In addition, many animals of the original fauna are possessed by emotion spirits, daimons and essences from the deeper parts of the Forest. These kinds of anomalies get more frequent the further one goes into the Forest. There are even minor incarnations of Ganesaratus and Umbarong (HQ rules book page 219) present in the forest, speaking volumes of the dangerous nature of the Black Forest.
Academy YarGan
YarGan was an ancient wizard, son of Ganesaratus some say, who was so powerful that even the great Zzabur feared him. In life, YarGan was unable to consume liquids and, in bitter retaliation, poisoned all the rivers he came across, killing many water gods and lesser immortals. His academy was built on old ruins during the Ban, and was restored with black stone quarried from the Shadow Mountains. The Academy of YarGan incarnates one aspect of now newborn Ganesaratus, focusing its knowledge and magic on poisoning waters. Another purpose of the Academy is to get back the lost adamant crown of YarGan. For its purposes, the Academy has summoned the poisonous river-snake god Berkukut who in the past promised to serve YarGan in order to keep its life. The Academy is also responsible for poisoning the Poison Fang River. See more details about the river further.
Castle of Bronze Oak
The local legends of the beast nomads tell that once a gigantic Tree of Metal Spirits stood on the tundra and was worshipped by the humans and elf-folk alike. However, the Tree was killed during Godtime and was cut down. Later the huge stump that remained was carved hollow and used as a fortress which has since been occupied by many peoples, most recently by the Junorans. After getting overrun by the Troops of War it has served the Kingdom of War, and is now their most formidable fortress on the fringes of the Forest. Normal strength is seven companies.
The walls of the Castle resemble tree bark. They are made of solid bronze, seven metres in height but are not very steep. The hollow roots run deep in the earth and are used as passageways to the cellars and beyond. The main root, the one going deepest, has been sealed off though. Occasionally the Earth trembles under the Castle and afterwards the Lords of the Castle march dozens of cattle inside for a great feast of unknown purpose.
Devil’s Tail
This river is home to one of the most potent naiads of the Black Forest. The nymph has now succumbed to the violent aspects of the Forest and represents anger and frustration. It uses most of its energy to defend its home against the YarGan worshippers and the snakes of Berkukut. Most of the time it leaves alone all others, and especially during the winter the Devil’s Tail is quite a safe place to be. Like the Poison Fang River, this stream too is deeply frozen during the winter.
Guard Post of Bogria
Bogria was an ancient market place which was protected by a fortress now occupied by the Kingdom of War. The market place lies in ruins and the only building still standing is the old fortress. At present, there are about three companies guarding it, of whom all worship death in some way. The troopers present in the fortress have taken an oath to guard the post to their last breath. Inside the fortress healing magic does not work, and every wound enemies suffer there must heal the natural way or not at all. The fortress has a shrine to Makla Mann and a chapel to Zorak Zoran.
Guard Post of Numron
The City of Numron was a frontier outpost of Junora up until Lord Death on a Horse came and crushed it. One battalion of Troopers of War and a company of knights, consisting of worshippers of St. Elmal and St. Carpattia, live here and oversee the river traffic. The light of St. Elmal’s eyeball, an artefact placed on the top of the main tower, illuminates the Numron castle night and day. The history of Numron, however, is far darker than the fortress is today. Lord Death on a Horse and his ambassadors came to negotiate about the borders of Junora and the Kingdom of War. The envoys of War rode into the city under the white flag, a Fronelan sign of peace, but upon gaining entrance they slaughtered every single soldier and knight guarding the castle. The guards of Numron outnumbered the Warlords ten times; the frightening power of the Kingdom of War was seen for the first time.
Poison Fang River
The Poison Fang River seethes with long venomous water snakes. It forms an effective natural barrier against possible invaders from north during the warm months of the year. The snakes themselves are unaffected by the poisonous water of the river; on the contrary, they thrive, gorging themselves on the flesh of those few other life forms of the stream. The water of the river is green and murky, and the rapids foam and froth madly.
Snake’s Mouth
The Snake’s Mouth is a great temple of Berkukut, a minor river-snake god who was defeated by the Academy of YarGan. The Mouth is a large cavern filled with water, and the entrance to the temple is in the shape of a huge head of a snake. The Poison Fang River runs into the cavern and plunges underground from there, going to the depths of the Shadow Mountains.
Intelligent great snakes, earthly descendants of Berkukut, serve as the temple heads now and maintain worshipping. They seem to be bolstered by power from unintelligent lesser snake, and some units of War who worship Berkukut. These troopers are infamous for their poisoned knives and incredibly fast strikes. Wizards of the YarGan Academy oversee the temple activity and limit the worship, in order to ensure that Berkukut does not grow powerful enough to break free. Lately it has come to our knowledge that some of the Academy members have started sacrificing to Berkukut in secret, apparently seduced by its servants and promises of power.
Swamp Lake of Ernlos
It is told that the Lake of Ernlos was inhabited by the nymph-folk before the arrival of the Lord Death on a Horse and subsequent rising of the Black Forest. The nymphs tried to resist the change but were eventually corrupted by the melancholic emotions flowing from Loskalm. Today the nymphs are nowhere to be seen, but are said to live under the lake mourning its fate. The lake is surrounded by large open marsh which used to be home to many animals, especially birds. Now it is a focus for the melancholic emotions and personality traits from Loskalm and the surrounding lands. The most visible residents are the storks that stand like paralysed in the Swamp. Several scouts have been found dead in the area, apparently killed by apathy, so prolonged stay in the area is not recommended, as the depressing atmosphere may be hazardous.
Temple and Shrines of River God Janube
Janube was a strong river god who had plenty of worshippers among the people living by the river. With the coming of the Kingdom of War and the destruction it spread, Janube’s holy places were ravaged and the river god was weakened. Today the River Janube is very unpredictable. In the winter it is deeply frozen, causing harm both to creatures living in it and the people who would use it as a sailing route.
The Great Temple of Hundred War Gods
This place is the spiritual centre of Kingdom of War. It is an enormous temple leading to Hell. The earthly part of the temple is a castle so gigantic it looks like a mountain, and there is a similar castle mirroring it on the Otherside, the purpose of which is to protect the temple from intruders from Hell. The dark waves of the River Styx lap on the sides of this mighty temple, and the Lunar Army’s Steel Legions sail up the river to sponsor the Kingdom of War with metal ore and secret information.
All the daimons, essences, spirits and gods conquered by the Kingdom are enslaved here, in the depths of Hell, and the High Priests of the Lord Death on a Horse command them for the benefit of the Kingdom. These conquered beings are bound to the great altar of Ganesaratus, the god of evil, and Ganesaratus’s fiends guard the holiest parts of the temple.
The Great Temple of Hundred War Gods plays a key role in maintaining tolerance and unity between the military units of the Kingdom of War. Tolerance is achieved through a shared goal; unity is needed to overcome the Kingdom’s mightiest enemies. Ultimately this will lead to the deaths of all living beings and the destruction of everything that exists. All-encompassing destruction is, in the eyes of the Kingdom, the only way to bring peace to the world.
Shadow Mountains
The Shadow Mountains are a mountain range running from east to west. The stone here is extremely dark, darker than anything else found in Glorantha. It is also characteristically sharp-edged, which in ancient troll legends of the region is attributed to a warrior hero who gnawed the stone to the shape of a sharp-edged maul with which she then pounded the mountains. Her name was Ubblag Nightmother, and statues she carved with her teeth are still standing in the caves of the Shadow Mountains.
From a distance the Shadow Mountains appear very tall and pointed. The region is almost devoid of trees and is thus not actually part of the Black Forest – indeed, the Mountains were there already before the Forest, appearing during Godtime.
Black Eye
This place is well known and usually avoided by the sentient folk of the surrounding lands. It is a completely barren place situated in the bottom of a fertile valley, making a striking contrast with the lush surroundings. A stream of water runs down the slopes and vanishes into the dry, cracked land without giving it any nourishment whatsoever. The area is surrounded by old trollish totems of various ages.
The barren area is roughly 100 metres in diameter. The land is flat, dry and cracked and strewn with tiny rocks. Standing half-buried in the middle is a devilish square object of apparently solid metal. Its purpose is still unknown, but it does not seem to be magical. Area itself however is, being able to cloud the senses of a person, first sight, then in short order hearing, taste, and smell. After a while balance and the sense of direction become hard to maintain and finally numbness overcomes the body. After this it is next to impossible to get away from the area without help, and even then not without permanent injuries. We have some proof that the trolls have used the place in some kind of a ritual possibly involving a test of courage.
Fire Forest of Morthanor
About four kilometres from the Morthanor Mines lies the main weapon industry of The Kingdom of War. It is called the Fire Forest because of the thousands of smithies with their forges. The place also incorporates some kind of Mostali technology, some manner of a machine which pre-forges the weapons and armour the Kingdom uses. Then the slave-smiths of Morthanor just put the finishing touches on the equipment. This process is very fast and lends a solid quality to the production. This speedy manufacturing method is one of the greatest secrets of the Kingdom of War.
Ghanora Caves
The Ghanora Caves were a home for thousands of trolls ever since Godtime. This changed when the Black Forest appeared. The Lord Death on a Horse rode out from the Forest and crushed the trolls of Ghanora Caves, enslaving them for his own purposes. A great battle was fought between the ancient troll-mothers and the Lord Death, and those who died in the battle rose up to become the first demons for the Legion of Ghouls. The Caves themselves became a place of terror, home to tormented souls and darkness demons eagerly waiting for mortal flesh to consume. The Caves are plundered clean, and all that remains is a grim gathering place for dark spirits and demons of death.
Guard Post Shadow’s Teeth
Mines of Morthanor
These mines are the main metal source for the weapon industry of the Kingdom of War. The mines produce iron, copper, silver and gold, among other things. The main quarry is almost four kilometres across and is shadowed by a forest of great cranes. Thousands of tireless zombie workers toil ceaselessly in this dreary pit, and side by side with them, there are living slaves. Rumour goes these people come from Junora and Tastolar, lured here by promises of gold. The living are not much better off than the dead, though, as a strange disease lingers in the Mine, slowly dulling the mind and wasting away the body. The Mine supervisors deal out drugs to combat this disease, but they only seem to make the workers even more docile. The living slowly rot to join the ranks of the dead, and a gloomy atmosphere keeps hanging over the mine.
Naiad’s Trap
To our knowledge, this is the first place where the Kingdom of War suffered a defeat. The Naiad living here was immensely powerful and managed to drown and destroy all the attacking hell-spawn. It took the Lord Death on a Horse himself to defeat the nymph, thought it is unknown if it was utterly destroyed or simply banished to some otherworld prison. The deep and clear pond still exists, and the corpses and armour of many troopers of war can be seen in the bottom.
Fortress-monastery of Hell Lords
The Hell Lords are a society of mortals and a few immortals who summon and fight the demons of the Ghanora Caves. The Lords travel to the Caves to battle its inhabitants, gaining thus superior knowledge of demonology and summoning. The society is comprised of members from all the races of this world, and demons from the Underworld as well. Their monastery is a culmination of God-learner –style demonology, one aspect of Ganesaratus, and thus his incarnation the Lord Death on a Horse.
The monastery itself is well protected from the hazards of the Black Forest, which is considered a dangerous anomaly by many of the members. The monastery was founded in 1611 and currently houses an estimate of one hundred members, ranging from High Lords to servants. The ruling body is called the Inner Cabinet, and it has out of necessity chosen to cooperate with the Kingdom of War. The Hell Lords provide demons for the Armies of War and have exclusive rights to the Ghanora Caves in return.
Steel Salmon Lake
This mountain lake is so called because of large, steel-coloured salmons living there. The salmons, weighing easily thirty kilograms, are a good source of food in the barren mountains. The trolls of the Shadow Mountains had long traditions in fishing steel salmons, but now the trolls are dead and the old ways lost.
The Storks of the Swamp Lake of Ernlos
The Storks of the Swamp Lake of Ernlos are but few of the many birds that got trapped inside the Black Forest and were possessed by the emotion spirits now residing in the Swamp. These days the Storks wander slowly around trying to scrape their living from the equally depressed fish of the Swamp. The Storks are the most visible creatures in the Swamp. They emanate melancholic emotions around them and have caused many a poor soul to die of sorrow, depression or exhaustion.
Typical abilities:
Catatonic 18
Courtship of Sorrow 17
Fly Long Distances 5W
Slow 13
Spear Fish 15
Spot Predator 18
Magical abilities:
Aura of [emotion, for example: Depression, Desperation, Exhaustion, Fatalism, Grief, Sorrow] 5W
Weapons and armour: Beak +1
Tactics: Most of the Storks are too depressed to put up a physical fight. Instead they attack with their Aura of [emotion] 5W, augmented by the Courtship of Sorrow (+2 = 7W). Additional storks add APs (25) or augment one (+3) of the flock members.
References and Inspiration
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