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Drelin : geography and history

map of Drelin

https://postimg.cc/DJYsbXZb

Timeline= 
... y1 humans appear on Drelin
... y3001-3006 orcish invasion
... y3007-3307 Dragon-Gods Reign
... y3308 Dragon Plague hits
... y3308-3459 Dark Times
... y3460 Age of the Hero begins 

... y3666 New Castle founded
... y3777 current yearBrief History as of year 3460
 The giant-kin, dwarves, gnomes and elves evolved on the floating continent known as Drelin. Humans came millennia afterward to Drelin, most believe from across the vast oceans that dominate the planet while others think they arrived on an enormous crashed spaceship. Boarder skirmishes were common, factions established long ago (think illuminati/masonic organization strengthened with Genie, Elemental, Devil, Demon, Celestial bloodlines) ensured no one 'warlord', king or army would take over the continent as a whole. 
     Life prospered, true gods were worshiped, art and literature flourished, as did technological advances. Gnomish inventors created wondrous contraptions relying on steam, oil, magic, mechanical and chemical powers. Then the orcs came.
    The viking-style orcs arrived in fleets of oar powered long boats. Besides ranks of well trained orcs, they brought servants in the way of kender slaves and rothe, their favorite food source. The continents' defenses proved inadequate and many cities fell creating massive refugee numbers. The elves, whose power is concentrated in the Forever Forrest (center of the island), refused the droves of refugees. Out in the open thousands were slaughtered or locked in slave irons. For two long years the orcish invasion commenced as the inhabitance started losing hope... till the dragon-gods came.
     A fleet of various dragons descended upon Drelin, they spoke with heads of countries, high-priest, archmagi and the like. Their proposal 'We will help defeat your enemy and restore your land. In return we wish to rule as gods.' Although most dragons didn't outright ban the worship of the true gods, the practice all but disappeared for nearly 3 centuries. True to their word, the dragons destroyed the bulk of the orcs and destroyed their massive, magically enhanced boats. Years of rebuilding and intergrading (dragons and kender) occurred, followed by centuries of prosperity dispite the dragons mistrust of the truegods and technology. The Age of the Dragon-gods came to an abrupt end due to he Fungal Plague. A disease in the form of fungal spores began covering the bodies of the dragons eventually asphyxiating them. The entire body becomes consumed and converted into spores, spreading the disease with every breeze. Spores began falling like snow, creating respiratory problems and killing plants.  
    A dark period followed the death of the dragon-gods. Without leadership (dragons or religious) the continent fractured. A new age dawned, the Age of the Hero. The old cities rebuilt, truegods returned as a new sense of enterprise and hope took over.  We find ourselves hundreds of years later in the year 3777.

"Notes on the undead and slavery on Drelin"
Slavery - some factions favor slavery in one form or another. Most human based societies reject slavery, desert city Sas and the wastelands are notable exceptions. (Ex. Dwarves enslave ogres, maiming them to keep control; as ogres eat dwarves whenever possible. The breadbasket kingdoms of Drelmore and Tendron don’t tolerate slavery within its boundaries.)

Citizens of Drelin generally think of undead as they do gods and dragons. They know they exist(ed) but have little impact on their lives. For instance, in the mountainous northern town of Wyvern's Bluff the town's people are quit accustomed to skeletons often wandering around the graveyard at night without incident. Likewise, the owners of 'the Haunted Tavern' outside of New Gotham love their ghost kender residence who provides nightlight for patrons needing the loo at nite.
Lichstone the center of undead activity on Drelin with their Lichking, and; since outsiders rarely travels within the olde kingdom's boarders, no one has much opinion other than "Undead is all Lichstone stuff. Isn't then? They got the mists and all." Not many have heard of a vampire or banshee except maybe folktales. The point is that folk generally don't fear the undead on Drelin like in most campaign settings, they think of them as 'strange things coming out of that weird isolated place'. Undead are often like grey-men; "it is fashionable to take pity on those afflicted with such maladies".

Geography
Ales' Dale- Northern most of the logging settlements, also the largest dale.
 
Atland (Ruins of)- Thought to be overrun by "greys", otherwise known as slow men or grey men. Greys are humanoid individuals afflicted by a plague. Everyone knows someone who has a relative afflicted with the greying of the skin, dulling of the senses and lowering of mental function. Pity is shown to these often violent people as they are typically relocated to the ruins of the old capital city of Atland, on the northwestern coast.

Basillica- City of Women. Birthplace of theater. This polytheistic city lies on the north eastern edge of the desert, just south of the Valley of Mists. Second only to Sas in terms of size and importance for desert cities. Water is popular here, worshiped in many forms. Women hold most positions of power in and around Basilica. Powerful matriarchal houses vie for power and influence. Men are little more than property here, it is women who choose to update any number of annual marriage contracts. Basilica has a holy lake which boasts a population of Marids - water genies. 
The Festival of Masks is a week long celebration every autumn.

Drelmore- Monarchy with fiefdoms, complete with knights on horseback and a peasant class. 

Forever Forrest- Known as 'fey wood' or 'fey forest' by some. The forest is broken up into various overlapping territories, the largest of which is home to the Imperial Elven Nation. Other major powers include the faeries, the treants, the forest giants, the centaurs and satyrs. All factions have strict non-aggression agreement called the fey-pact established after the Dragon Plague decimated populations.

Lichstone- The 'olde monarchy'. Ruled by the same family for thousands of years. Twisting cobblestone streets with tightly packed similarly colored buildings line a mountainside of this ancient capital-city. Olive trees, dates, citrus orchards and wine vines fills Lichstone's countryside. Held within high mountains, the unforgiving oceanside cliffs on one side making Lichstone safe from invaders.(7-8 o'clock orientation~Drelin is a circular continent)
     A mixture of ravenloft and Rome. The capital city (also called Lichstone) sits atop south facing seaside cliffs and is crowned by a grand gothic castle. "The Olde Monarchy" has been ruled by the same family for thousands of years. Cobblestone streets twist around tightly packed monotone buildings that line a mountainside of this ancient capital-city. Villas with olive trees, dates, grapes, and citrus orchards fills Lichstone's countryside. Old structures fill the city as old traditions rule the land. The 'true gods' have never left favor here as they did for most of Drelin during the Time of the Dragon Gods, and a thoroughly polytheistic society has developed. The many temples and shrines in Lichstone are dedicated to a multitude of gods and it's people are suspicious as well as superstitious. Unlike on most parts of Drelin, undead are abundant within Lichstone, making a populace dependent on the Legion and nobles. Graveyards and mausoleums are as common as barns on Lichstonian farmland. Always a step ahead of menacing mists that plague the area, gypsies roam the countryside in small caravans selling their bizarre style of magical protection and entertainment.
A crumbling wall marks most of it's northern and eastern boarder, most outsiders don't pass this boarder. East Lichstone is orchard land sloping downward to the kenderlands; wetlands and flooded lowlands that support isolated fishing villages. West Lichstone is dry and sparsely populated, the broken lands lie beyond. The northern boarder is shared with Tendron, the southern of two western Drelin kingdoms. Tendron shares a large lake with rival Drelmore west of the Forever Forrest. West of those kingdoms is the broken lands till the shore. The land is dry and doesn't take to seed all the way to the coast. In the far north of the broken lands, in the shadow of the Krendes mountains is the old capital city of Atland and its neighbor Lud.
     Lichstone's banner is a grey skull with gold crown and red eyes on a field of pink. Grey-pink-grey. The darker the pink/red the higher the position. The lichking is adorned crown to boney toe in blood red and crimsons, where a page might sport a bubblegum kerchief.

Logging Communities- Human and halfelven villages on the outskirts of the Forever Forrest. Loosely aligned forest communities including mountainous Ales' Dale in the north, Glisten Vale in the south, Darken Dale in the East (bordering the Outlands) and Twin Peaks in the west sending logs down the Velth River.

Lud- Large, long-abandoned city on the northwestern coast just below the Krendes Mountain range. Old train tracks lead out from Lud down the coast to Lichstone and south west to Tendron. The entire area was decimated by a fungal plague and never recovered, it is used to 'store' grey men that have been infected with the plague.

Moonglade- The only large elven settlement close to humans. The elves here tolerate some merchant demihumans such as humans and halfelves to maintain permanent residence within the cities' perimeter. Nearly all large scale elven trading goes through Moonglade. It boasts a small population of unicorn.

New Gotham- A metropolitan, gothic settlement with gnomepunk overtones. The TMNT live in the Underworks of New Gotham having a patent on pizza, a tortle must own and animorphs must work at all establishments that serve tomato based sauce served on dough with cheese. Bruce Wayne, formerly from Lichstone, resides in New Gotham. New Gotham is Lichstone's second biggest city besides the capital.
    Over two centuries ago the Gellentara family (known for it's vampiric bloodline) was granted a dismal task of leaving Lichstone proper to construct and then fill a penitentiary with trouble makers heading in from the Outlands and Wastelands, and with the thieves and beggars from the kingdoms of the Western Heartlands. The new castle and penitentiary was built with the help those 'criminals' who the Gellentara rounded up offering a new life in the surrounding lands tending orchards and mining coal. Mistberries flourished in the volcanic rich soil and with help abundant, the 'incarceration castle' took on new shape. Gnomish refugees settled New Gotham as did the curious kender in South-Central Drelin. Pleased with the progress, the lich king provided a second round of funding which added temples and fortifications with many more Lichstonian families to work as soldiers and clergy. 
    A lucrative trade partnership began between the dark city and elves. First, the elves of the Forever Forest trade for the mistberry wine, partly with their servitor race - anamorphic animals. The creatures would work off their 'payment' and then they would be free. This eventually led to an uprising which freed the animorphs (tortles, raven folk,  rabbit folk, salamander people and rat folk) from elven oppression. Many animorphs never left and now reside in New Gotham.  Later, a trade route is established with the pearl rich sea elves who love the citrus and mistberry wine New Gotham has become famous for.
    The bustling metropolis is constructed of blackstone, wood and metals. An entrance to Lichstone, New Gotham is situated at the very end of the infamous and crumbling 'Lichstonian wall', where unpredictable mists play havoc on travelers. It rains a fair amount and the dark city is usually blanketed in fog. It is generally warm and muggy. To the immediate north are lava fields, then, the forests begin before reaching an enormous volcano surrounded by fey and elven forests… aka the Forever Forest. A clockwork bridge spans the River Merzy, which splits the city in two, then, flows south into orchards and wetlands below. These vast wetlands are inhabited mostly by kender under the protection of Lichstone.  The swamplands are situated ominously southeast of New Gotham, an extensive wetland with rivers and mangroves dominated by warring tribes of bullywog and opportunistic troll bands. 

New Gotham's banner is light pink over dark gray. Its flag is a pink background with dark gray bridge over river.

City Sections : Penitentiary quarter with Arkum Asylum, the canals, riverside with clockwork bridge, temple district, the high district, "New Castle" and mausoleums, the underworks.

Lichstone utilizes undead workers. This has allowed the wealthy to maintain their status while simultaneously lessening the hardships of the lower class. No one in Lichstone goes hungry. Being a farmer in Lichstone is a lot more comfortable than being an indentured farmer from the Western Heartland (to the north of Lichstone).

The mists of Lichstone are nearly constant fogs that creep over the stonewall that runs along the northern border ending at New Gotham. The fog can appear greenish when thick and seems to confuse those wondering through at best and at worst the mists can disappear people without a trace. It is said that just as some creatures walk into the mists and don't return, some do return with having aged many years. The stonewall and accompanying mists have worked historically as immigration deterrence.

Mistberry Wine - a pink wine made from pink berries that grow with little sunlight and abundant fog (rumors say kender druids are responsible for the ability of the mistberries to thrive in a clouded area). The sweet wine is "lighter" than ubiquitous elven reds, and can be processed into a sparkling wine or a potent ice wine. There are private gardens within the city, volcanic rich fields north of New Gotham make the finest vintage and 'orchard lands' supply the bulk. These hilly parts of South-Central Drelin are occupied and worked by kender under the protection of Lichstone. Mistberry processing occurs in factories within the darkstone walls of New Gotham. The majority of mist berry wine is exported to the elves both from the fey forest and the sea.

Images of New Gotham
Town center where the temple and high districts meet. https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Finnsdawhwmr81.jpg&rdt=46877

Penitentiary quarter with Arkum Asylum in the background https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c8/df/0d/c8df0d28db61cafd0dfafc6b0aab4e63.jpg

Outlands- Plains dominating the northeast with warring tribes of barbarians, halforc, wemic and centar. Outlaws of many kind find themselves in the rolling hills of the outlands including sorcerers, bloodlined, religious practitioners, those kicked out of Drelmore or Tendron, or those fleeing the Obsidian Order or the Elven Imperium.

Poison Forrest- Part of the 'Lost Valley', just north of the Valley of Mist. This is a temperate rain forest.

Sas- Pronounced 'sha-sh'. (Think 15th century Marrakesh run by Ferengi-like humans) The dominant desert city. Run by warring sultans. The wars are usually politically themed involving trading deals and character deformation rather than armies meeting in open combat. This strictly patriarchal society has great granite and sandstone structures honoring their leaders and gods of old and new, the Dragon-Gods, Tymora, Talos, gods of commerce. Gladiatorial battles draw big crowds once a month. Tribes of desert elves and bandits vie for control of Drelin's desert lands.

South-central Drelin- Under the authority and protection of Lichstone, SCD is dominated by New Gotham and the 'orchard lands' in the north. Many fishing villages (Innsmouth) thrive amongst mangroves, swamps, and marshes. Further south, floodplains give way to the salt marshes. Kenders are commonplace throughout the southland, whereas the secretive sea elves inhabit the spongy, soft coral coast. The western portion of SCD is dangerous swamplands.

Spineret- Small desert city dominated by large psionic spiders. Like Sas, this city has many thin towers and minarets, but here they are covered with webbing. Formians, Thri-kreen and other bug-like creatures inhabit the once human settlement.

Tendron- Human monarchy. Drelmore's great rival, both situated on opposite shores of a deep fresh water lake surrounded by fertile grasslands with stone forts and castle amid farmland and villages. 

Valley of Mist- "The Lost Valley". Land of wild elves and dinosaurs. Terrible legends prevent all but the bravest or foolhardy from entering the savage jungle which is surrounded by 10,000 foot eroding peaks.

Wastelands- Lands southeast of the Forever Forest that never recovered from the Fungal Plague. Dry and largely desolate, the only permanent establishment is a mysterious city called Krashen. This land has oil fields, geysers of toxic liquid, canyons, chasms. Most avoid the wastelands.

The "Dark Tower" resides in the wastelands. Five obsidian spikes surround the dark tower like a black glass claw emerging from the dry earth. The Dark Tower proper rises stigmata-like from the center of the palm to heights over 200 feet. The isolated stronghold is a focal point for the Obsidian Order. This is the place the Order carries out it's interrogations, trains its members and conducts eugenics programs honing psionics, sorceric and powerful bloodlines. The Order keeps these clandestine actions far away from it's public front as the Obsidian Bank, the primary financial institution on Drelin. The financial infrastructure provides funding and the need for it's agents to occupy most every corner of civilized Drelin. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f2/79/37/f279377d1a272aee2615bb55a6b16093.jpg

Western Heartland- Breadbasket of Drelin. Wheat, corn, greens of all kinds. Farming fiefdoms and kingdoms all working for the lords of Tendron and Drelmore. Mostly human populations.

Wyvern Bluff- A growing town deep in the towering Krendes Mountains. The Infrastructure included many adobe style buildings, a massive 30' wall surrounding the town, a network of shallow tunnels dotting the local mountainside (now occupied by dwarves) and two temples. 
Most of WB's population is devoted to Pelor; worshippers of the sun. They are largely LG and NG and most consider Chautea an important diety. They gather often at the impressive temple of radiant light {[URL="http://img01.deviantart.net/6374/i/2013/173/4/2/digital_painting___the_sun_temple_by_jakubkowalczyk-d6a58pi.jpg"]http://img01.deviantart.net/6374/i/2013/173/4/2/digital_painting___the_sun_temple_by_jakubkowalczyk-d6a58pi.jpg[/URL]}. In the past 10 years the town hierarchy has encouraged newcomers. The rothe, brought by the orcs centuries earlier, do well if shepherded in the steep, rugged terrain.