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Map for my Heroes Against Darkness/D&D Campaign


Hey there, Walt was so good as to host this image for me on his servers!

I can't tell you how many hours of annoying and anal pixel work went into this map.

Hope you enjoy!

The West

---
=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"The English language is the product of Norman invaders attempting to pick up Anglo-Saxon women. The resulting language is about as legitimate as the resulting offspring." — From the Internet
11/22/2012, 11:22 pm Link to this post Email AndrewCollas   PM AndrewCollas Blog
 
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Re: Map for my Heroes Against Darkness/D&D Campaign


Wow, that is a labor of love! Good job.
11/23/2012, 12:21 am Link to this post Email Dustland   PM Dustland Blog
 
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Re: Map for my Heroes Against Darkness/D&D Campaign


Thank you and yes, it was a labour of love. Started this campaign back in 2009 and have been actually incorporating elements of campaigns I have run since the 1980s!

LOL!

---
=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"The English language is the product of Norman invaders attempting to pick up Anglo-Saxon women. The resulting language is about as legitimate as the resulting offspring." — From the Internet
11/23/2012, 12:34 am Link to this post Email AndrewCollas   PM AndrewCollas Blog
 
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Re: Map for my Heroes Against Darkness/D&D Campaign


Here is the basic backstory for the campaign world.

A Brief History of the West

Two thousand years ago a Vothic army came over the Dragonspine mountains from the east and set about conquering the tribes of the West. Setting up their main territory in what is now called Turon, they brought technology, education and civilization to the almost savage westerners.

They also brought despotic rule.

The one great achievement of the Vothics in the West was the construction of a massive tunnel under the mountains linking them with their parent empire. Called Kharis Thule, it was built by Dwarven engineers from Burkzanbar, who used the Mithris Minotaurs as slave labour. It is said that if one were to travel without stopping they could reach the other side in a month. Since that was impossible, the dwarves built way stations and brought fresh water and air from chimneys that reached up to the very peaks of the Dragonspines. Light was brought down other chimneys that had massive reflecting mirrors as well. It was truly the Wonder of the World.

After five hundred years of rules, the western lords gathered in a secret meeting on the island of Helm. There they plotted to over through their imperial rulers and establish an empire of their own. It was Verend who concocted the plan. Through their priests they were able to have the trickster god Vashenka enter into a contest with the patron diety of the Vothic, Dagon. What the wager was is lost to time, but Dagon had bet his sanity against Vashenka. He lost. As madness took him, the Vothic Empire was thrown into chaos. The West broke the yoke of control and Verend became the first Emperor of the Verendish Empire.

In the chaos of it all, the location of Kharis Thule was lost.

Five hundred years later the rule of the Verendish Empire came to a sudden and dramatic end. In the span of a year it all ended in a crusade, a rain of fire and the falling of a star.

The Verendish Empire was ruled at the time by Emperor Serovin the First. A weak emperor he was a puppet of the Council of a Thousand Churches. This would be what lead the empire to ruin.

In beautiful and verdant Solani a Priest-King named Salazar had ambitions of godhead and devised a way to achieve it. He found his way, using powerful magiks, to the Mountain Hall of the Gods and stole their power as they celebrated. Once the Gods were aware of the trickery they begged him to return their power, and he did so long as they made him one of them. Begrudgingly the Gods relented and elevated Salazar to godhood. Pleased, Salazar returned their power and then reappeared to his people as their living God King. His first godly act was to create a City of Bronze as the capital of his land.

The Gods were not to be without their revenge. Pushing their High Priests, Hierophants and Acolytes, the Gods demanded revenge on Salazar, but were unable to take direct action against him. The Council concocted a devious plan that would not only punish Salazar, but also the Solani people, his worshipers. It was to be called the Burning Rain.

The Great Architect Ghedron, patron God of the Knights of Caralon, refused to enter into this plan. He instead respected Salazar’s cunning and ingenuity. When he became aware of the plan, he sent it in a vision to the Grand Master of the Knights and expressed his displeasure. The Grand Master in turn contacted the King of Caralon, who in turn contacted his strongest vassal the Baron of Elise.

The Baron of Elise was a covetous man and he decided that this would be a perfect time to make a power play for control. While pretending to be alarmed with the plan in place, he secretly contacted the Emperor and the Council of a Thousand Churches and informed them the King of Caralon and the Caraligian Knights were going to try and prevent the Burning Rain. Pledging his entire army to the cause, the Baron convinced them to charge the King and the Knights with heresy and declare a crusade.

The vast armies of the west descended on Caralon, who was wholly unprepared for the betrayal. In a matter months the crusade had killed nearly every man, woman and child in Caralon. Those that lived were sold into slavery or scattered across the West. The King of Caralon was captured and burned at the stake in the Imperial Capital as a heretic and traitor. The people were told that the Knights of Caralon had planned to overthrow the Emperor and usher in an age of Demon and Devil worship. The ignorant masses were fooled. The Knights of Caralon sealed their preceptories and vanished without a trace.

Reaching out with their divine magic, a star was cut from the heavens (the left eye of the constellation Astara). Dragged down by hate and malice, the star plunged into the Empire, landing square in the Imperial City. The waters rushed in and the lands shattered. Hundreds of thousands were killed in an instant and the empire was no more. In history it would be called The Sundering.

A strange thing also happened here, the clerics of the gods discovered they could no longer commune with their patrons. Their powers faded, same for their Paladins. The churches would fail as they could not administer to their people like before. The Gods were, seemingly, gone.

For the next five hundred years various countries would attempt to claim to be the successor to the Empire, but none had the power to hold onto such claims. With out the Imperial Legions to enforce these claims wars were the order of the day. Out of this would come the Regency. A group of powerful lords and kings banned together and decided that the legacy of the Empire should continue but no one should be Emperor. Soon all the lords of the West joined the Regency either by choice or by defeat. Their efforts to save the West from massive death and destruction seemed a futile effort with what happened next.

The Red Death descended on the west like the vengeance of the Gods. It had brewed in the waters and fetid remains of Verendi for years and then finally came to the civilized world. Entire cities died horrible deaths as the disease ravaged the lands. More than three quarters of the West were killed within a century of outbreaks. Civilization teetered on the brink and nearly collapsed.

During this time a new religion would come out of the East. At first it was little more than a cult, but it grew. It seemed to be based around the old Pendrian god Pela Arast and preached the idea of a One True God, a High Father. What more, the Arastian Clerics had powers and could cure the Red Death. The religion spread like wildfire and is now the predominant religion of the West.

A strange peace settled on the West as no one could wage war. The Regency was able to force the peace, as no one had the resources or the manpower to even rebuild effectively. The Dark Age had begun and would last another five hundred years.

Now, centuries since the Burning Rain, the Caraligian Crusade, the Sundering and the Red Death, the Dark Age may be coming to an end. Slowly the light of civilization has grown and strengthened. Trade between many nations is constant and populations are again growing.

Though with this growth has come the old rivalries and many nations now eye each other’s resources with ever increasing armies behind them. The Regency stands bloated and a slow moving bureaucracy that is as ineffectual as it is powerful. If the West is to avoid falling back into abyss and slide fully into an age of barbarism, it will take heroes to unite the lands and fight the darkness. An age of reason may be established or snuffed out before it has a chance to ignite.

Yet in the dark places of the world ancient evils also stir and gaze greedily upon the West


---
=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"The English language is the product of Norman invaders attempting to pick up Anglo-Saxon women. The resulting language is about as legitimate as the resulting offspring." — From the Internet
11/23/2012, 12:45 am Link to this post Email AndrewCollas   PM AndrewCollas Blog
 
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Re: Map for my Heroes Against Darkness/D&D Campaign


Sweet. Nice map... where have I seen that before?

---
Fight the Good Fight


11/24/2012, 12:27 am Link to this post Email kroh   PM kroh Yahoo Blog
 
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Re: Map for my Heroes Against Darkness/D&D Campaign


You saw it when you uploaded it for me :P

---
=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"The English language is the product of Norman invaders attempting to pick up Anglo-Saxon women. The resulting language is about as legitimate as the resulting offspring." — From the Internet
11/24/2012, 12:35 am Link to this post Email AndrewCollas   PM AndrewCollas Blog
 
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Re: Map for my Heroes Against Darkness/D&D Campaign


so when do we see a comic script based on this?


---
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11/24/2012, 3:43 am Link to this post Email kroh   PM kroh Yahoo Blog
 
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Re: Map for my Heroes Against Darkness/D&D Campaign


quote:

AndrewCollas wrote:

Hey there, Walt was so good as to host this image for me on his servers!

I can't tell you how many hours of annoying and anal pixel work went into this map.

Hope you enjoy!

The West



I have some idea of how long it took and the frustrations you went through (having done similar maps for the past 30 years or so). Congratulations on a job very well done.



---

Advertise Boards On TRDConceptsDE
11/24/2012, 3:58 am Link to this post Email Pastor Rick   PM Pastor Rick Blog
 
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Re: Map for my Heroes Against Darkness/D&D Campaign


welcome aboard Pastor Rick.

Andrew has a flair for writing and if this map is any indication of what the campaign must be like... his players are in for a good time.

regards
Walt

---
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11/24/2012, 7:02 am Link to this post Email kroh   PM kroh Yahoo Blog
 
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Re: Map for my Heroes Against Darkness/D&D Campaign


Walt: I already sent you one months ago, check your email. :P

Pastor Rick: Yeah the work is never done either, there is always one more thing to tweak emoticon

I realized I had posted the wrong History of the West, leaving out a few things, here now is the adjusted one.

A Brief History of the West

Two thousand years ago a Vothic army came over the Dragonspine mountains from the east and set about conquering the tribes of the West. Setting up their main territory in what is now called Turon, they brought technology, education and civilization to the almost savage westerners.

They also brought despotic rule.

The one great achievement of the Vothics in the West was the construction of a massive tunnel under the mountains linking them with their parent empire. Called Kharis Thule, it was built by Dwarven engineers from Burkzanbar, who used the Mithris Minotaurs as slave labour. It is said that if one were to travel without stopping they could reach the other side in a month. Since that was impossible, the dwarves built way stations and brought fresh water and air from chimneys that reached up to the very peaks of the Dragonspines. Light was brought down other chimneys that had massive reflecting mirrors as well. It was truly the Wonder of the World.

After five hundred years of Vothic rule, the western lords gathered in a secret meeting on the island of Helm. There they plotted to over through their imperial rulers and establish an empire of their own. It was Verend who concocted the plan. Through their priests they were able to have the trickster god Vashenka enter into a contest with the patron diety of the Vothic, Dagon. What the wager was is lost to time, but Dagon had bet his sanity against Vashenka. He lost. As madness took him, the Vothic Empire was thrown into chaos. The West broke the yoke of control and Verend became the first Emperor of the Verendish Empire.

In the chaos of it all, the location of Kharis Thule was lost.

Five hundred years later the rule of the Verendish Empire came to a sudden and dramatic end. In the span of a year it all ended in a crusade, a rain of fire and the falling of a star.

The Verendish Empire was ruled at the time by Emperor Serovin the First. A weak emperor he was a puppet of the Council of a Thousand Churches. This would be what lead the empire to ruin.

In beautiful and verdant Solani a Priest-King named Salazar had ambitions of godhead and devised a way to achieve it. He found his way, using powerful magiks, to the Mountain Hall of the Gods and stole their power as they celebrated. Once the Gods were aware of the trickery they begged him to return their power, and he did so long as they made him one of them. Begrudgingly the Gods relented and elevated Salazar to godhood. Pleased, Salazar returned their power and then reappeared to his people as their living God King. His first godly act was to create a City of Bronze as the capital of his land.

The Gods were not to be without their revenge. Pushing their High Priests, Hierophants and Acolytes, the Gods demanded revenge on Salazar, but were unable to take direct action against him. The Council concocted a devious plan that would not only punish Salazar, but also the Solani people, his worshipers. It was to be called the Burning Rain.

The Great Architect Ghedron, patron God of the Knights of Caralon, refused to enter into this plan. He instead respected Salazar’s cunning and ingenuity. When he became aware of the plan, he sent it in a vision to the Grand Master of the Knights and expressed his displeasure. The Grand Master in turn contacted the King of Caralon, who in turn contacted his strongest vassal the Baron of Elise.

The Baron of Elise was a covetous man and he decided that this would be a perfect time to make a power play for control. While pretending to be alarmed with the plan in place, he secretly contacted the Emperor and the Council of a Thousand Churches and informed them the King of Caralon and the Caraligian Knights were going to try and prevent the Burning Rain. Pledging his entire army to the cause, the Baron convinced them to charge the King and the Knights with heresy and declare a crusade.

The vast armies of the west descended on Caralon, who was wholly unprepared for the betrayal. In a matter months the crusade had killed nearly every man, woman and child in Caralon. Those that lived were sold into slavery or scattered across the West. The King of Caralon was captured and burned at the stake in the Imperial Capital as a heretic and traitor. The people were told that the Knights of Caralon had planned to overthrow the Emperor and usher in an age of Demon and Devil worship. The ignorant masses were fooled.

The Knights of Caralon sealed their preceptories and vanished without a trace.

While the hunt for the Grand Master and his men continued, the Burning Rain was enacted. For forty days and nights, holy fire poured from the heavens scorching the once lush and green lands of Solani to nothing more than a charred waste land. Volcanoes erupted in the mountains surrounding Solani and all life was lost. When all was said and done, only Salazar remained, in his City of Brass with his loyal priests. Over wrought with anguish he set a plan of revenge in motion that would bring the Empire and the Council of a Thousand Churches to their knees.

Reaching out with their divine magic, Salazar and his priests cut a star from the heavens (the left eye of the constellation Astara). Dragged down by hate and malice, the star plunged into the Empire, landing square in the Imperial City. The waters rushed in and the lands shattered. Hundreds of thousands were killed in an instant and the empire was no more. In history it would be called The Sundering.

A strange thing also happened here, the clerics of the gods discovered they could no longer commune with their patrons. Their powers faded, same for their Paladins. The churches would fail as they could not administer to their people like before. The Gods were, seemingly, gone.

For the next five hundred years various countries would attempt to claim to be the successor to the Empire, but none had the power to hold onto such claims. With out the Imperial Legions to enforce these claims wars were the order of the day. Out of this would come the Regency. A group of powerful lords and kings banned together and decided that the legacy of the Empire should continue but no one should be Emperor. Soon all the lords of the West joined the Regency either by choice or by defeat. Their efforts to save the West from massive death and destruction seemed a futile effort with what happened next.

The Red Death descended on the west like the vengeance of the Gods. It had brewed in the waters and fetid remains of Verendi for years and then finally came to the civilized world. Entire cities died horrible deaths as the disease ravaged the lands. More than three quarters of the West were killed within a century of outbreaks. Civilization teetered on the brink and nearly collapsed.

During this time a new religion would come out of the East. At first it was little more than a cult, but it grew. It seemed to be based around the old Pendrian god Pela Arast and preached the idea of a One True God, a High Father. What more, the Arastian Clerics had powers and could cure the Red Death. The religion spread like wildfire and is now the predominant religion of the West.

A strange peace settled on the West as no one could wage war. The Regency was able to force the peace, as no one had the resources or the manpower to even rebuild effectively. The Dark Age had begun and would last another five hundred years.

Now, centuries since the Burning Rain, the Caraligian Crusade, the Sundering and the Red Death, the Dark Age may be coming to an end. Slowly the light of civilization has grown and strengthened. Trade between many nations is constant and populations are again growing.

Though with this growth has come the old rivalries and many nations now eye each other’s resources with ever increasing armies behind them. The Regency stands bloated and a slow moving bureaucracy that is as ineffectual as it is powerful. If the West is to avoid falling back into abyss and slide fully into an age of barbarism, it will take heroes to unite the lands and fight the darkness. An age of reason may be established or snuffed out before it has a chance to ignite.

Yet in the dark places of the world ancient evils also stir and gaze greedily upon the West.


---
=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"The English language is the product of Norman invaders attempting to pick up Anglo-Saxon women. The resulting language is about as legitimate as the resulting offspring." — From the Internet
11/24/2012, 6:04 pm Link to this post Email AndrewCollas   PM AndrewCollas Blog
 


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