Cities, Landmarks and Destinations

[badams30]

This thread will be to keep a running list of cities and other notable places. As you visit and learn more about each place, we'll update the entries. In the meantime, it's a laundry list.

[badams30]

Cities, Settlements and Fortifications:

Rynd Hold: Population est 6000 citizens, approx. 1000-2000 troops, depending on threat level of outlying areas. Capitol City on coast, largest city on continent. Base of operations for the Kings East Armies.

Milverton: Population 3000 citizens, approx. 250 troops. Farming and livestock is primary industry. Also a major hub for caravans from mountains.

Barrowmore: Population 300 citizens, approx. 50-75 troops. Subsistence farming, lumber, local prospectors. Known for herds of goats and sheep. Secondary purpose is a watchful outpost on the Goblin Pass and Obsidian Peaks south area.

Fog Valley: Population 150 citizens, appox. 30 troops. Wheat, corn and various food crops. Large tracts of fields, several warehouses for caravans and food storage barns and silos.

Ulm: Population 200 citizens, approx. 25 troops. Farming and poultry/livestock. Also known for woodworking and large caravan wagons.

Happy Vale: Population 250 citizens, appox. 20 troops. Fishing, pottery and caravan rest stop.

Foothold: Population 125 citizens, approx. 10 troops. Basically a caravan stop on the way to Fort Resolute. Fishing and hunting.

Tarrytown: Population 150 citizens, approx. 30 troops. Seen as the halfway point in the realm, a rest stop for West-East caravans, and an outpost between Forts Resolute and Invincible. Most of inhabitants are loggers in the Silent Forest, well known for its old and straight trees.

West Hold: Population 75 citizens, no standing garrison. Mainly a rest stop between East and West.

North Gap: Population 2500 citizens, approx. 75 troops. Fishing, commercial shipping, caravan stop, lumber from Grand Forest, herbs and spices.

Grand Banks: Population 100 citizens, no standing garrison. Fishing village, shellfish, and subsistence farming.

Stillwater: Population 1800 citizens, 25 troops. Fishing, small safe harbor, caravan stop from East. City is known for arts and crafts and fine goods. Largest community of craftsmen in realm.

Uberroth Hold: Population 10000 citizens, approx. 1000 troops. Shipping hub, large transient population of laborers, farmers, miners heading north and skilled tradesmen. City is largest on continent by population, but not size. Rynd Hold has fertile land and many trade and industrial capacities, Uberroth Hold is more of a large stopping point for laborers heading inland or outbound goods.

Wheaton: Population 1500 citizens, approx. 50 troops. Shipping and caravan hub, wheat farming and other major crops, smaller amounts of livestock and poultry. Important food source for West cities.

Hill Gap: Population 500 citizens, 250-300 halflings, approx. 50 troops. This is a shared settlement of halflings and humans. Also a trade hub for handmade and wooden goods from the shire in the Grand Forest. Lumber and mushrooms and small specialized crops are grown here. The area is also known for its large herd of free-range long horn cattle.

Woodville: Population 75, approx. 20 troops. Woodville is a small settlement that was originally dedicated to lumber, but other sources closer to larger cities have diminished the importance of this place. The main industry here is creation of arrows, spears and fine quality weapon shafts and axe handles. The trees in the area are perfect for making good quality weapons. Few families live here mainly just workmen and skilled tradesmen. More than half of the inhabitants of Woodville leave for the cities in the winter, leaving a small but hardy band of residents and no troops in the cold months.

Copper Canyon: Population 1000 citizens (in general area) approx. 100 troops. Mining settlement, 75% of population is stretched across several mining sites within 1-2 days travel of the settlement. Subsistence farming and some small livestock, but not much industry other than mining support here.

Fortified Areas:

Fort Invincible: This fort is currently a wooden stockade fort, but masons and laborers have recently arrived and begun to quarry stone nearby to begin the long process of building this into a stone fortress. This advance base of the West Army has an existing garrison of about 500-1000 troops, depending on the situation in the plains or mountains.

Fort Resolute: Fort Resolute is a hybrid stone and wooden stockade and fortress. It was built upon the ruins of an ancient fortress using what was salvageable of the walls. It is in the process of being rebuilt as a stone keep. The garrison here is usually 250-800 troops depending on the situation in the mountains or plains.

The Keep: This new outpost has been recently completed and is the northernmost bulwark and watchpoint for the Borderlands. It’s garrison fluctuates but is typically manned by the more seasoned of the Duke’s troops. The troops here don’t patrol much, but are reserves in case of emergency. The Duke is planning on expanding settlements in this area for mining and other high value industry as soon as possible, but survey parties and local inhabitants have reported increased abnormal activity in the area. It is a trade outpost, and local residents number approximately 250-350 citizens, depending on caravan traffic or adventurers. There are scattered homesteads, farms and even tent villages within a day’s travel of the keep, including a ramshackle village outside the walls of the keep in the valley floor. In all, this is a rough area and the inhabitants tend to be quiet and hardy souls. It’s known that there is a large monster/humanoid presence in the region, but non-human population generally keeps in the shadows. That being said, there are caravan ambushes, reports of monster group movements, and disappearances of small work parties without a trace. This isn’t an area for the faint of heart.

[badams30]

Natural Areas, Landmarks, Forests, Terrain Features:

Obsidian Peaks: The Obsidian Peaks run from near Rynd Hold northward to the Greymere Wood. The southern peaks are a cold and windswept area that has been rumored to contain useful minerals and quality stone. The lower peaks are split by Goblin Pass, a short natural break in the peaks and a perfect flat route between the Ash Wood and plains. During the humanoid war, great numbers of goblins, worgs and other humanoids poured through here, threating the plains and even Rynd Hold. The forces of evil suffered large losses, and the remainder of their armies dissipated into the woods, mountains and who knows where. Since the war there have been virtually no sightings of large numbers of these monsters, but the knowledge that they exist and that no one knows where they are is reason enough that the Duke keeps a watchful eye on this part of the realm.
Mt Fury, in the middle of the peaks, is an active volcano that makes a lot of noise and shoots ash into the sky regularly, with some small lava flows, but is generally an impressive sight and little else. Of note, several exploration parties have tried to penetrate the mountains north of Fog Valley, and to date none have made it past the foot of Mt Fury. Some have even disappeared. Due to other priorities, the Duke has called off this exploration for now.

The Stonehalls: The rumored ancestral home of the Dwarves reportedly exists deep in the mountains north of Mt Fury. A handful of expeditions to find this realm have simple disappeared, and others have been decimated by bad luck, monsters and illness. Some monuments and evidence of dwarven settlement exist about the realms that appear to show that dwarves dwelt among men at one time, but no indigenous dwarf has been seen on the continent.

Ash Wood: Ash Wood is a dark and foreboding forest that has had little human penetration over the years. Rumors of large goblin tribes and cannibalistic humanoids persist, but little is known of the wood. The wood draws its name from the shadowy canopy of ash covered leaves it has (from the regular ash deposits of Mt Fury.)

Greymere Wood: This wood alternates from cedar swamp at the south (toward the Fens) and huge old oaks at the far north. It is mostly unexplored and little is known or speculated about what dwells within.

The Fens: The realm doesn’t have much swamp in it, at least not large swamps, except for the Fens. This area alternates with bogs, peat fields, murky water, hillocks and stunted trees. Lizard humanoids have been seen in passing, and the sounds of larger creatures are sometimes heard within, but for whatever reason, inhabitants of the swamp have chosen to keep to themselves – for now. This area is unexplored.

The Borderlands: This is a general term given to the north area adjacent civilized lands, the forests and the imposing Bloodtooth Mountains. This area is rich with minerals, gold, and treasure of the ancient civilizations, and is key to the Duke and the Crown’s plans for the realms. Troops can’t be spared to tame these lands, but the call for explorers and adventurers has been issued to meet this challenge.

The Silent Forest: The thick mix of deciduous and pine trees here have an odd natural effect of stifling sound. Sound doesn’t travel well out of the forest, and often within. The same natural effect also causes some sounds that are far away to sound nearby. This unsettling effect has helped to keep this forest basically unexplored up to this point. Lumber parties keep to the edges of the wood and avoid full entry if possible. There have been rumors of huge walking and talking trees within, but these haven’t been substantiated.

Bloodtooth Mountains: These deep mountains are tall, sometimes obscuring daylight. Clouds usually cover the peaks, lending to the ominous quality of these mountains. It isn’t the mountains that scare people so much as what’s behind them – the forces of evil conducted an orderly retreat through the mountains to the lands beyond, and haven’t been seen since. Some rangers and small parties have ventured within the peaks in search of intelligence and routes to the lands beyond but have found nothing but seemingly impenetrable peaks.

Mindiril: This is the rumored land of the Elves within the Mist Wood. Again – no parties have made it within the confines of the forest, but some lumbermen and explorers have reported seeing solitary shadowy figures in the trees – some resembling elves. To date, no contact has been made with anyone living in the forest. The Duke has chosen to keep a distance for now.

The Mist Wood: This wood is usually cloaked in a fog or mist that seems to originate from the mountains. It is usually cool, humid and dark. This area is mainly untouched.

Dragonspine Mountains: These peaks are old dead volcanoes, and have deep veins of copper, ore and some silver and gold. A small red dragon was found dead about 2 days from Copper Canyon several years ago, terribly injured and mangled, leading to questions about what could have brought it down. Miners have reportedly observed flying beasts within the mountains, but there have been no reports of up close experiences. The height and climate here makes this place very deadly and there are a constant flow of prospectors and those who’d seek to glean the riches of the area, and a large percentage of them never find success, but only death due to ill preparation or who knows what.

Deep Lake: This lake, aptly named for its steep drop-offs and numbing cold, is quiet and usually calm. Good populations of fresh water fish are caught near it’s bountiful shores, and the hunting in this area is legendary. Fishermen have reported gigantic turtles in the lake, along with mysterious serpentine beasts, but since there is no real boating activity beyond the shores of the lake, much is unknown about the place. There are some small islands visible from the shore in some locations, but none more than a mile or two across.

Grand Hemlock: This is a majestic and soothing forest of mighty hemlock trees. It is an airy and open forest and seems to have no resident beings other than elk and other animals. It’s far north location means that few have seen it, but those who have tell tales of this being the most grand forest they’ve ever laid eyes on.

Grand Forest: This is an ancient and peaceful forest that has a mighty river running through it. It’s a fairly normal forest with the addition of being the home of the halflings.

Halflingshire: This is the ancestral home of the native halflings. While no one knows the exact number of halflings within the realm, some estimate the population of them within the various small hamlets that constitute the shire to number 5000-10000, possibly more. The halflings have been cheerful and stalwart allies of the Duke and civilized men, and as a result of their help in the war, the Halflings are welcomed and honored friends of man. Fighting like cornered lions, the halflings lost huge numbers aiding men, and are treated like heroes throughout the land. Most halflings are content to stay in the wood or at Hillgap, where they share settlement with people. Their nature is to not stray far from their homes, and they tend to be encountered in or near the wood. Seldom are they seen outside this area.

Ruins: Due to the vast unexplored areas of the realm, ruins are found regularly. Usually they amount to a cluster of old foundations, sometimes large abandoned settlements, and occasionally more interesting – such as towers, dungeons, temples and other areas of interest. Since most inhabitants are concerned with making a living and daily lives, they seldom concern themselves with this sort of thing. Locals are a great source of info on ruins and local areas of interest