The Wildlanders

Bahar Dar NPC Summary

noreply@blogger.com (Skewerman) — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 12:33:00 +0000

This post marks the conclusion of the Bahar Dar NPC creation. All of these NPCs were created very early on in the process. In fact, it's likely that this was all accomplished between the first and second game sessions.

If you look closely at the writing, you'll see that my goals were fully accomplished with regards to how these NPCs were utilized in the campaign. The check marks next to each story hook were made long after-the-fact, as I realized that each of these story threads had been brought to bear in-game. Another items of note include the notion that enemy NPCs outnumber the friendly or neutral NPCs. It's also interesting that both Kaleb Sedek and Bab el-Mandeb are listed as neutral NPCs. Whichever way they swung depended entirely on the actions of the PCs.

As with many of the scanned documents from the Big Red Book, readers will find the drawings on these two pages (which appear opposite each other in the book) among the more interesting features. Both of the main drawings are based on Tolkein's vision of the City of the Valar, which is known in various writings as Kor, Tirion, Tun, and Kortirion. (Most readers of the Silmarillion recognize it as Tirion.) I have switched the assignation of the drawings to represent the cities of Ras Dashen (Rastabadashen) and Bahar Dar (Bahardzarkandar) before the Rain of Fire, which is referred to in the caption as the "Second Tumult." The smaller drawing below the Bahar Dar picture is a representation of the "east" plateau of Grak looking south toward Hamsterfield. I love how Hamsterfield is all aglow on the horizon! It's my only drawing that includes Hamsterfield.

In each of the "city" drawings, the leftmost, tallest building would appear to depict the fabled "Lighthouse of Tirion," whose light could pierce even the densest fog of the Shadowy Seas. In the Bahar Dar drawing, the ziggurat structure is known to have survived the Rain of Fire. When the Wildlanders entered Bahar Dar, the Unbroken Chain Guild of Bertrand Scharfenberg had turned the holy ziggurat into a casino! Upon the Dwarves' liberation by the Uncanny Dodgers, Ungarmax and his people returned to Bahar Dar and destroyed the casino (but not the ziggurat), setting off the chain of events that led to Scharferberg's demise - which has been much discussed in this blog.

All of my politically conservative readers will find the following note fascinating: As I was posting these drawings, it occurred to me that Tolkien's descriptions of Tirion somehow dovetail with President Ronald Reagan's allegory of the United States of America as a "shining city on a hill." Was Reagan an avid Tolkien reader? Could the late former president have had a different city (such as Rome or Jerusalem) in mind? Methinks that "The Great Communicator" perhaps had vision of that great city where the dust in the streets was that of diamonds, and the shores were lined with sands of pearls...

The Eccentric Arcanist

noreply@blogger.com (Skewerman) — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 12:07:00 +0000

Like Debra Nagast, Leila Bela's name is a permutation of a Hancockian term that originates from the book The Sign and the Seal. In Leila's case, the word from which I derived the name was "Lalibela," although I have no idea what it means today. Like most fantasy writers, I recognize the convention of using the name "Bela" (or, in another campaign, the name "Bel") when naming good guys. Leila Bela seemed like the right mix of Hancock, goodness, and late 1960s rock-'n'-roll mystery and, well...there you have it.

Originally, Leila Bela figured to play a much bigger role in the campaign. I conceived her as a big city mentor-contact for Dreyka, who was originally preparing to become a Candlecaster herself. When Dreyka switched career paths, Leila became more-or-less irrelevant to the story, except inasmuch as she was a harried good-guy NPC of Bahar Dar. Eventually, Leila allied herself with the Wildlanders and participated in encounters in the Battle of the Caverns of Azulerum and the battle atop the Five Fingers of Mengistu.

In the Big Red Book, no specific story page exists for Leila Bela. Instead, she receives co-mentions both on the "Evil Prospers While Good Suffers" page (posted in the Rainer Herzeloyde post) and here, on the "The Business with the Dragon" page. I have chosen to post "The Business with the Dragon" here, because at one point in the story the dragon, Scarlet, trashed Leila's candle shop. Also, Leila Bela is the final Bahar Dar NPC, and "The Business with the Dragon" is the final story page.

Thus, this phase of the blog is now concluded.

The Rock Star of Bahar Dar

noreply@blogger.com (Skewerman) — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 14:52:00 +0000

The name Debra Nagast comes from a Hancockian reference to an obscure Ethiopia text called the "Kebra Nagast," which translates into the really cool title, "The Glory of Kings." Debra's Virtuoso prestige class comes from the splotbook Song and Silence. Since I love Bards, I had always hoped that Debra would play a more significant role in the Wildlanders' story. Unfortunately, she was quickly killed in the Battle of Zazamanc Courtyard, after having only appeared in two game sessions.

In her story page, you can read about her bizarre story hook. She was the target of Governor Czarno's obsession and infatuation. Had the story unfolded differently, the Wildlanders might have found themselves assisting Kaleb Sedek in the investigation of Debra's disappearance in Bahas Dar. As it turned out, she was one of many friends who perished in the Horrid Wilting wrought by Parzi Flegetanis.

Debra performed two songs for the Wildlanders (and others) at Zazamnac before the battle. One of these songs is the famous "Lay of Ras Dashen," which was written by me and can be found in full on another page of the Big Red Book. The other song she sung was entitled, "The Moon King," and none of the Wildlanders (or the players) paid much attention to it. The was an example of overlooked foreshadowing, as the Moon King was a well-developed personality in the mythology of the Big Red Book fairly early on in the construction of the Wildlanders' campaign environment.

Interested readers will take note of the fantastic sketch on Debra's story page, which is captioned, "Elven Archmage Evolo Avolar." About this person, I can only impart the following: Evolo Avolar was originally conceived as a major figure in the history of the South Central Confederacy. In fact, the mid/high level campaign of Bel St. Tiev and Owen Turwill (starting a 8th level) was entitled, "The Quest of Evolo Avolar." More about him cannot be written at this time, as there is a distict chance that this being will yet be encountered by one or more of the Wildlanders.

The True King of the Hills

noreply@blogger.com (Skewerman) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 13:45:00 +0000

Rainer Herzeloyde, a true arch-hero, ranks among the Wildlanders staunchest allies. He was the first Bahar Dar NPC encountered by the Wildlanders, shortly after the Battle of the Cleft Cave. Later, he fought alongside the Wildlanders in the epic battles at Zazamanc, Makdazadok, and the Caverns of Azulerum. In the end, he earned the ire of Sylthraxis before venturing into the creche of Yared Mengistu.

The initial conception of Rainer Herzeloyde was fairly simple: I wanted to create a good guy who was an outlaw of a malevolent regime. As it happened, this character also had an ethos that dovetailed with the Wildlanders' love of the natural world (and affinity for it). When he first encountered the Wildlanders, he was significantly more powerful than they were, so he was in a position to advise and aid the Wilanders without giving them direct armed assistance. Over time, the Wildlanders looked to Rainer as a both a leader of and a liason to the local human population that primarily resides in Bahar Dar.

As can be seen in his story page, Rainer had several allies among the good-aligned NPCs of Bahar Dar. However, the evil powers-that-be had a knack for preventing these allies from forming a unified front. Only the Wildlanders, by systematically destroying the regimes of Governor Czarno and Malkizedek, were able to pave the way for Rainer, Kaleb, Diantha, and other to live in peace, security, and freedom in Bahar Dar.

Needless to say, several factoids about Rainer Herzeloyde will prove interesting to readers of the blog. First, Rainer was hand-selected by the Wildlanders to wield the fabled blade Akhoring after it was wrested from Malkizedek's possession. Second, Rainer currently leads a cadre of human Rangers from his co-opted stronghold of the Huts of Narud (formerly the Huts of ther Hill Giants), which sits at the very center of the Corridor. Third, although was expediency's sake he is called Rainer, I always personally preferred to think of him as "Herzeloyde." This is probably because the evil smarmbags of Bahar Dar and Makdazadok would spend hours brooding over his fate, blurting the name out loud to themselves, "Herzeloydeeeee..."

Also of interest on the story page are the two drawings. One is clearly labeled as the glacial plateau home of Thrym in wintertime. The other drawing was never labeled. However, it closely resembles many of the "lunar landscape" and "lunar structure" drawings that are found throughout the Big Red Book. It was not until this morning that I determined the drawing to be a depiction of the humble lunar abode of Wildlander ally Laughing Moon Water.

Here's Rainer Herzeloyde as the Wildlanders first encountered him:

Yekuno Grazal: The Ultimate Smarmlord

noreply@blogger.com (Skewerman) — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 21:02:00 +0000

Of all the NPCs encountered by the Wildlanders, the one for whom the most detailed notes exist is the Dragon Disciple, Yekuno Grazal. Players remember him most for his incredibly smarmy statements, the multiple encounters that led to his extendd stay on the mythical "list" of the Wildlanders, and for the session where he was introduced into the campaign (where he was expertly played by special guest David McEwan). Yet to be revealed are the pages of copious notes, phrases, motivations, and tactics that made Yekuno Grazal such a compelling villain.

Like almost all of the Bahar Dar NPCs, Yekuno Grazal was generated from a 3.0 "splatbook" prestige class, the Dragon Disciple. Combat was decidedly not his specialty. His connection to the Blue Dragons of the Wasteland made him a favorite of the local villains, all of whom lined up to grant him special favors when he came to Bahar Dar.

The "story" page reveals his diplomatic relations with the various key NPCs of the city. As he was originally conceived, Yekuno Grazal was supposed to provide the players with a lead, and with key information, regarding the regional situation that would ultimately lead the Wildlanders to their confrontation with Yared Mengistu. Close examination of the Big Red Book reveals that the name "Yared Mengistu"" first appears on Yekuno Grazal's story page, albeit in the creative conception as a "True Necromancer" (3.0 splatbook prestige class) and not yet as a Lich.

Needless to say, a great deal more posts and information regarding Yekuno Grazal is coming soon in this blog.

Rufinius Frumentius

noreply@blogger.com (Skewerman) — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 13:47:00 +0000

Rufinius Frumentius was Governor Czarno's "Chief of Staff." The Herald served as the primary diplomat of the Czarno regime, and as the principal intermediary between Malkizedek and the powers that be in Bahar Dar. His prestige class comes from an obscure 3.0 Dragon Magazine article. In all of his dealing with the Wildlanders, Rufinius was a total smarmbag. Unfortunately, his character sheet does not detail in what manner he perished during the battle of Zazamanc. Does anyone remember?

On his story page, we can see a general outline the total smarm-le-douchery of Rufinius. He was basically the charming, sophisticated toady of everyone in Bahar Dar who was more powerful than him. Also, he was smitten with Candlecaster Leila Bela, and he was always scheming to woo her. His efforts always came to naught.

The true smarm of Rufinius is chronicled in-depth in the Little Red Book. This will be given proper attention in a future post. Indeed, given the level of douchebaggery, it's amazing that this guy even survived as long as he managed to do. One last note: Rufinius had a really cool magic item: a bronze griffin figurine. I'll have to double-check, but I believe that the figurine is now in the possession of Rainer Herzeloyde (who seems to acquire awesome treasure consistently).

The Loremaster of Bahar Dar

noreply@blogger.com (Skewerman) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 11:30:00 +0000

Here's the original character sheet for Loremaster Diantha Noldo. Like many of the Bahar Dar spellcasters, she's not a heavily combat-oriented character. Instead, she focuses primarily on divination and abjuration. (Unlike a certain Elvish spellcaster of recent comic literature, Diantha did NOT prepare explosive runes today, although she does know the spell.) In a rarity, the character sheet names her familiar, who is a cat named Mynx.

Without a doubt, the Loremaster is a fantastic DMG prestige class. This sheet was generated very early in her career as a Loremaster. These days, after aiding in the battles against the blue dragons and venturing into the lair of Sylthraxis, Dinatha is likely the most important Loremaster in the northern world!

Diantha's "story" page focuses on her pursuit of knowledge surrounding the local history of the Dwarves. Intrepid readers who examine this page may obtain tantalizing clues into the history of the line of Narud in the Corridor. It's possible that there are adventures yet-to-be-had in the Corridor that revolve around the history of the Dwarves in the local area.

According to the story page, Diantha enjoyed the favor of Governor Czarnor and the priests of Wee Jas. This was because of her power as a spellcaster and purveyor of lore. However, in later writing it was revealed that she had something of a professional rivalry going with primary Wildlander ally Albrecht Entoto. It seems that Albrecht is a little bit jealous and insecure. It was his goal to supplant Diantha as curator of the Bahar Dar library and museum. Has Albrecht at last set aside this ambition?

There a really cool drawing on the story page, which will be covered in a later blog post. It is appropriately placed on a page related to Diantha, as the drawing and captions reference the ancient history of the world.

Guildmaster Bertrand Scharfenburg

noreply@blogger.com (Skewerman) — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 14:02:00 +0000

Among the NPCs of the Bahar Dar roster, Bertrand Scharfenburg is a rare character without a prestige class. He's a straight-up rogue. This fact look all the more odd when you consider that Song and Silence contains a prestige class called, "The Guildmaster."

In the annals of the campaign, Scharfenburg headed up a guild called, "The Guild of the Unbroken Chain." The name is a reference to the fact that the primary business of this guild was a robust slave trade between Bahar Dar and Ras Dashen. In addition, "Unbroken Chain" is one of my favorite songs by the Grateful Dead, and I was delighted to work it into the campaign.

The story page for Bertrand Scharfenburg makes note of his adversarial relationship with Watch Detective Kaleb Sedek. Unfortunately, Kaleb efforts to crack down on the guild were often thwarted by Bahar Dar's obtuse legal code, and by Governor Czarno himself (who frequently pardoned guild members). Now that Kalen is in charge of the city, it may be difficult in for a new thieves guild to organize.

The events that led up to the summary execution of Bertrand Scharfenburg are easy enough to summarize. After the Uncanny Dodgers freed the Dwarvish Slaves at Zazamanc, Ungarmax and his people went on the rampage Bahar Dar. As part of this "purge," the Dwarves destroyed the casino that the Unbroken Chain had established inside an ancient Dwarvish ziggurat. Scharfenburg went insane and took revenge by killing Dwarvish children.

In a deed worthy of the Watcmen anti-hero Rorshack, Thrym tracked down Scharfenburg. When the Guildmaster surrendered, Thrym simply executed him. Below is a picture of the smarmy Scharfenburg in his moment of surrender. (Note the Wolverine-style haircut, which is a frequently-used style of the artist).

Also note worthy on this page is Harriet Lefton's hotel information for Jody Mecklenburger's wedding in Maui. Scharfenburg's name-spelling is inspired by the Mecklenburgers.

The Orcish General

noreply@blogger.com (Skewerman) — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 13:01:00 +0000

For many reasons, Dorg Durg is one fo the most awesome historic NPCs on the Bahar Dar Roster. The character sheet illustrates why. On it, you can see a blow-by-blow of how his hit points declined as he was vanquished. You also see the unique set of skills that goes along with his Masters of the Wild 3.0 prestige class. Check out his skills, feats, and powers...Dorg Durg is an accomplished swimmer!

One of the most truly awesome aspects of Dorg Durg is his original name. It didn't come from any list, or any combination of otherwise-used syllables from a third-party source. I just "made it up," which makes it extremely enduring.

Dorg Durg's story page deals with his expanding portfolio in the Corridor. He was the leader of the monstrous forces who were trafficking slaves through Bertrand Scharfenberg and, by extension, Yekuno Grazal. He was also plotting to conquer the two Half-Orc plateaus (of Krebb and Grak) before launching raids against the Halfling Commonwealths of Stoneborough and Hamsterfield.

So compelling was Dorg Durg that his influence extended over the campaign long after his demise. One of the 13 Acolytes of Yared Mengistu (Kauskor, and Orc Cleric in life) is referred to as an ancient ancestor of Dorg Durg. And, present-day Orcish tribal leader Gurk Durg is cited as the oldest brother of Dorg Durg.

The picture of Dorg Durg is totally wicked awesome. You can see the hand-written note regarding his demise. The Dorg Durg story page also contain a drawing of a different strain of pipeweed, and it contains a script of Tolkien's elvish alphabet.

Gladiatorial Hijinks

noreply@blogger.com (Skewerman) — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 12:24:00 +0000

"Headless" Hugh de Godfrey is depicted in the page at left. Originally, the drawing contained a head, but I didn't like it. Subsequently it was erased and never replaced.

Hugh de Godfrey is in fact the third Hugh of the early campaign creation. Inventor Hugh Krendle, whose mansion sits at the end of Rare Crafts Row in Bahar Dar, sold Thrym a pair of binoculars. Locksmith Hugh Poomphower is a member of the Council of Stoneborough, chief of the Stoneborough Merchant League and, surprisingly enough, the most enduring Hugh of the campaign.

If you take a look at Hugh de Godfrey's character sheet, you can see that he would have proved an incredibly formidable opponent in the Gladiatorial Arena. De Godfrey was one of those neutral NPCs whose allegiance or enmity with the Wildlanders would have depended more on the players' reaction to him than anything else. I'm trying to remember whether a upgraded de Godfrey ever encountered Thrym in the Arena of Ras Dashen.

The story page for "The Arena of Death" is a really interesting one. It describes the role of the Arena in Bahar Dar society. Included on the page also is a description of a sinister lottery, devised by the clerics, that takes place at the weekly games. A brief enough decription of Hugh de Godfrey is also cntained in the page. At the top of the page is an awesome drawing of the Gnomish capital city of Narbondel. which will be covered in a future post.

The "Arena of Death" module was perhaps the most developed of all the areas of Bahar Dar. Four full pages of the Little Red Book were devoted to its particulars, including a smatteriing of totally awesome names that never got used in the campaign. Another full-page graph-paper drawing shows all of the buildings in that section of the city. Alas, the Wildlanders never saw fit to engage in the fray of the gladiatorial games of Bahar Dar. To their credit, it would have proven an incredibly dangerous time-waster on their path to their more important goals.

Kaleb Sedek: One Good Cop

noreply@blogger.com (Skewerman) — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 13:37:00 +0000

At the outset of the campaign, Kaleb Sedek was the Watch Detective of Bahar Dar. His prestige class, which can basically be summed up as "urban ranger," comes from Masters of the Wild. He was the human in charge of maintaining law and order in Bahar Dar.

Unfortunately, the villainous powers of Bahar Dar had set up an arbitrary legal code based on their own narrowly-defined interests. Crimes such as the inhibition of the free practice of magic, the wanton destruction of magic items, and slandering the Governor were met with draconian punishments. Kaleb did not see it as his job to judge the morality of the laws. Instead, he was tasked with upholding the laws.

Obviously, some of these laws flew directly in the face of the goals and ethos of the Widlanders. So it wasn't really clear when I created him whether Kaleb would become the Wildlanders' friend or foe. As it turned out, Kaleb's first encounter with the Wildlanders occurred outside of the Adventurer's Guild, in the battle against Dorg Durg. At that time, Dorg Durg had marched his Orcish troops into the city illegally. Kaleb arrived to thwart this illegal, and dangerous, activity, and his allegiance with the Wildlanders was born.

After that, Kaleb became an extremely staunch ally of the Wildlanders. His natural friendships with Rainer, Diantha, Leila, and some of the other good-aligned human leaders of Bahar Dar formed the foundation of the post-Czarno regime of Bahar Dar and the Corridor. Kaleb was very surprised, and honored, when Thrym hand-selected him as the new "mayor" of Bahar Dar. Kaleb Sedek is humbled by the position, and his government is focused on maintaining public safety and personal liberty on the community.

The drawing of Kaleb is one of my favorites of all of the NPCs of Bahar Dar. It looks as though he's investigating a bar brawl that went bad, with a bloated Orc victim lying on the floor in front of him. Using his eyes of the eagle, Kaleb examines a broken glass mug for clues.

Bahar Dar's Master Manipulator

noreply@blogger.com (Skewerman) — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 10:55:00 +0000

Not every cool NPC was discovered and interacted with by the Wildlanders. Mindbernder Simone Sigioli is an example of such a character. Even after she relocated to Ras Dashen, the Wildlanders never sought out any kind of encounter with her.

Delving into Simone would have made for a really cool module/mini adventure. She lived at the top of Bahar Dar's highest tower, and she had a red dragon as a cohort. Although Simone was not tailored to combat, she had an array of powers at her disposal.

It would have been an interesting role-playing experience, unless Thrym decided he didn't like the wizard and simply eliminated her. It's possible that I designed her with just such a purpose in mind. After all, she's a bit of a numbskulldugger.

In the context of the world of Bahar Dar, Simone preferred to stay behind the scenes, toying with the populace and its leaders. She would send her dragon out on regular missions to terrorize people in the city, most notably Leila Bela. Also, she enjoyed stoking the passions of city leaders like Governor Czarno and Rufinius Frumentius. It's even possible that Simone's plotting led to the Governor's demise, as Czarno insisted on being present at Zazamanc on the night Debra Nagast (the target of his obsessive affections) performed for Malkizedek and the Wildlanders.

Simone Sigioli is still alive and well in the game world. The last we checked, she was living in Ras Dashen. She's most likely fallen in with Eemah, the mysterious overlord of the city's Brothel. Does she have some part yet to play in the fate of the Wildlanders?

As you can see, there are two really cool drawings on the bottom of Simone's "story" page. These will be blown up and explained in future blog posts.

The Spy of Makdazadok

noreply@blogger.com (Skewerman) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 09:33:00 +0000

With his array of disguises and deadly poisons, Theoderic posed a roguish threat to the Wildlanders. This NPC even allotted knowledge and profession skill points to enhance his various cover identities! During the course of the game, however, these cover identities of Theoderic became more fun as real characters in the game world.

It is firmly established that Hugh Poomphower is actually a Halfling merchant from Stoneborough. But what about Hugh Krendle? (I have often commented on the fact that two of Theoderic's potential cover identities were named Hugh). Could the inventor who sold Thrym his binoculars really be in league with the forces of Makdazadok? Is Hassenfus really Theoderic? The Uncanny Dodgers will recall how difficult it was to pry the map to Zarbizul's Forge away from Hassenfus, and how Hassenfus for a long time insisted that he accompany the heroes to the forge. (He eventually parted with the map for an exorbitant price).

Indeed, the fate of Theoderic is still unknown at this time. Careful analysis indicates that the Uncanny Dodgers interacted with Krendle and Hassenfus after the demise of Malkizedek and his cronies. Therefore, it's possible that Theoderic still maintains his cover identities, looking for some new caper or employer! Theoderic really had nothing to gain in conflict with the Wildlanders (or the Uncanny Dodgers) once his masters were eliminated, except for his own profit and self-aggrandizement. It should be noted that all of the Wildlanders encountered Hassenfus (who's incredibly fun to play) during their first trip to Bahar Dar.

At the bottom of Theoderic's "story page are two really cool drawings. They depict the Duke of Thunderbolts and the Baron of the Borderlands. These Paladins are arch-heroes of the South Central Confederacy. A painting of the Duke of Thunderbolts was found in the hoard of Yared Mengistu. A full blowup, and an analysis of the drawings, will come in a future post.

Divine Servants of Death and Magic

noreply@blogger.com (Skewerman) — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 09:48:00 +0000

A key aspect in the creation of any "fantasy setting" city is the delineation of the religious presence in the community. In Bahar Dar, the dominant clergy worshiped Wee Jas, a D&D-pantheon goddess of Death and Magic. This was an ideal choice. Not only is Wee Jas an iconic antithesis of the naturalist Halfling deity Yondalla. In addition, the vague alignment of Wee Jas's clergy made it possible to generate a smattering of important NPCs with vastly different goals and demeanors. (Also, the Magic domain is way cool.)

The cleric above is Grand Inquisitor (a Defenders of the Faith splatbook prestige class) Prester John. He was the high priest of Wee Jas in Bahar Dar, and he eventually became the 13th acolyte of the Lich King Yared Mengistu. Prester John was basically the second most powerful/important person in Bahar Dar, after Governor Czarno. His powers as an Inquisitor made him very dangerous to would-be numbskullduggers who ran afoul of the smarmy hierarchy. Working alongside Prester John was Graham Athanasius (sheet at right), another cleric of Wee Jas and arch-smarmlord.

The "story page" for the "Divine Servants of Death and Magic" provides great insight into the role of these clerics in Bahar Dar, and to the widening scope of the campaign at this time. The story page is undated, but it was created sometime between 8/5/02 and 8/10/02. On the story page is the second use of the name "Yared Mengistu" in the Big Red Book. The writing goes on to detail how the priests use their authority to publicly execute "criminals" (i.e. undesirables) each week in concert with the gladiatorial games.

Indeed, the importance of Prester John and Graham Athanasius, and the priests of Wee Jas, ran through the entire campaign. Yared Mengistu was explicitly a vassal of Wee Jas, whose clergy also held sway in Ras Dashen. Both Graham Athanasius and Prester John made the Wildlanders' "list" of enemies to be dispatched. As previously mentioned, Prester John became Mengistu's 13th acolyte, and the inquisitor turned lich survived until the very last game session.

About midway through the time frame of the campaign, I developed my own pantheon for my campaign world. I based the system on the archetypes of divinity across many different systems, including D&D and Tolkein. Wee Jas, and the Tolkein Vala Aule, became merged into the god Golodun, whose areas of interest include magic and smithcraft. Like Aule and Wee Jas, Golodun has both good and evil worshipers. The name of Wee Jas was effectively phased out of the literature, with Golodun becoming an extremely prominent divine figure.

In addition to delineating the role of the clergy in Bahar Dar (highlighting their local and regional influence), the priest story page includes a few other interesting tidbits. It mentions that the only clerics besides those of Wee Jas to openly worship in Bahar Dar were priests of Farlanghn. This "travel god" later evolved into Aerandir, who is an both an important figure in the creation of the world and a widely-worshiped god whose clerics are tolerated in unusual places.

The story page also contains my drawing of the Doors of Durin - a famous Tolkien sketch of the entrance to the Mines of Moria. Originally, I had planned to use this drawing as a sketch for the doors of Zazamanc. However, the use was much too obvious, and I eventually created an original drawing for the doors of Zazamanc. This will be highlighted in a future post.

Bab el-Mandeb

noreply@blogger.com (Skewerman) — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 09:32:00 +0000

Bab el-Mandeb is a fascinating character with an intricate story. At left is his original character sheet. His 19 (!) combined bonus points on ability scores rank him among the most powerful NPCs I've ever created. Bab el-Mandeb is a Bloodhound, which is a prestige class from the Masters of the Wild splatbook. He holds one of my favorite minor wondrous items, a Silver Raven figurine, which he used in-game to communicate with the Wildlanders. Like many of my prestige class NPCs, Bab el-Mandeb has a Rogue level, which is extremely useful for acquiring the necessary skill points to reach prestige status.

The story of Bab el-Mandeb and Yekuno Grazal was always one of my favorite threads in the Wildlanders campaign. According to his story page, he was on a mission tracking Yekuno Grazal on behalf of people alternately described as "desert nomads" and "desert tribesmen." Clearly, these desert people are at odds with with forces of Ras Dashen, whom they believe to be in league with Yekuno Grazal. Most interestingly, the threat from Bab el-Mandeb comes not from a potential armed conflict with the Wildlanders. Rather, it is written that if the Wildlanders obstructed Yekuno's mission in any way that Bab would have to report his that his mission failed due to the meddling of the Wildlanders. This would have led to a much different reception by the desert tribesmen for the Wildlanders when the heroes journeyed into the Wasteland.

No notes on the death of Bab el-Mandeb exist on his page. However, I recall that he was captured by forces loyal to Golodun (Wee Jas) and Governor Czarno, and that Bab was publicly executed for treason. One wonders whether this fate could have been avoided if he hadn't been rebuffed in his awkward attempt to communicate with the Wildlanders.

One other interesting note: the name "Diantha Doldo" appears at the top of Bab el-Mandeb's character sheet. This is an actual person! Obviously, the name was Tolkeinized to become "Diantha Noldo," the Loremaster of Bahar Dar.

The drawings of Bab el-Mandeb depict a soft-featured, thoughtful Half-Orc. The drawing on the story page appears to be some type of Halfling pipe-weed.

Governor Kyot Czarno

noreply@blogger.com (Skewerman) — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 09:36:00 +0000

At right, you can see the handwritten "character sheet" of Governor Kyot Czarno. The Master of Chains was the highest-level NPC on the Bahar Dar roster. The format I use here remains fairly consistent among all the NPCs in the campaign.

Various aspects of the format stand out. For example, although the Base Attack Bonus is near the top of the statistics block, the actual "to hit" stats with Czarno's primary weapon are at the very bottom. Therefore, they're easy to spot. Czarno possessed a 3E "Force Shield Ring," which was an extremely powerful magic item that was later nerfed.

Also on this page is my really cool original drawing of Czarno:

The accompaniment to the character sheet is the "story page." It looks like the Governor's character sheet was generated on 7/16, which was the day after session #1. However, the story page didn't get written until after 8/2, which was the apparent date of the second session.

The story page alludes to Czarno's brutal, bloody ascent to his post, and to his apparent allegiance with the Vampire Lord (still referred to as "Melchizedek"" at the time of this writing). However, Governor Czarno, with the aid of his new Kyton allies, was apparently plotting to challenge Malkizedek for local supremacy. In addition, Governor Czarno's obsession with virtuoso bard Debra Nagast is referred to on the story page.

One final note: at the bottom right corner of the story page is a small clip of a pencil drawing. As mentioned in the last post, many of the story pages contain drawings that do not related to the text on the page. Later posts will be dedicated to these drawings, some of which rank among the best in the Big Red Book. This particular clip is part of a sketch of a significant feature in the realm of The Moon King. It indicated how early The Moon King was a part of the story superstructure, even though the characters never met him (and indeed only learned about him towards the very end of the campaign).

Ongoing Creation

noreply@blogger.com (Skewerman) — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 09:49:00 +0000

The upcoming section of the Big Red Book details the creation of the NPC roster of Bahar Dar. The dates and time line tell an interesting story. The first session, in all likelihood, took place on 7/15/02. The next date for which after-session notes appear is 8/2/02, which is about 2.5 weeks later. In between the two sessions, every major NPC from Bahar Dar was rolled up and accounted for in the Big Red Book. In addition, a great deal of the "backstory" for these characters was written.

On top of that, several pages of writing dated 7/31/02 indicate that a major benchmark (the successful climbing of the Zerith's "Tower of Tests") had been passed in the Curse of the Songblade Campaign. In fact, there's quite a bit of Jadot writing in both the Big Red Book and the Little Red Book (which I had not yet procured at the above date). The Jadot writing, frankly, is both spectacular and utterly ludicrous. So much speculation, most of which came to naught, is contained therein. The pages may get posted on this blog, if for no other reason than to display the original artwork of illithid skulls with barbed arrows running through them.

The Bahar Dar creation writing details a fascinating process. First, the character, with all their stats, skills, and possessions, is put to paper. After every character is thus laid out, a second page appears later in the text, detailing their place in Bahar Dar and their relationships to various other characters. You can probably guess the identity of the guy to the left. It's Governor Kyot Czarno, the "Master of Chains."

In a break from the blog-writing process so far, I'm going to post both pages related to each particular character simultaneously. So, you'll see the Kyot Czarno (he was first, and most powerful) character page along with his story page. This will give a solid overall impression of the nature of the character.

Furthermore, almost all of these pages contain really cool drawings. However, not every drawing relates to the content on the page! For this reason, I may not post the drawings along with the text. Instead, the drawings will get their own blog posts and accompanying explanations.

First Session Wrap-Up

noreply@blogger.com (Skewerman) — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 11:06:00 +0000

Here's a full page of wrap-up writing, and other notes, from after the first session. The top section of the page is a reminder, for me, of the information that Thrym and Dreyka received in the first session. Alvy was not yet created, and a deeper reading of the Big Red Book indicates that Alvy didn't enter the game until the 3rd session at the earliest.

The middle section gives a general breakdown of the composition of the "monster lairs" of the surrounding wilderness. Only one such lair was ever visited by the Wildlanders, in the famous "Battle of the Cleft Cave." The population of the Cleft Cave was quite different from what's delineated here. Only one aspect of this paragraph wound its way into the game, after a fashion. I set forth the idea that one 5th-level Kobold sorcerer was the "highest-level monster in any lair." Actually, it was a 5th-level sorcerer, Rako, who led the monster attack on the eastern Ranger Station of Stoneborough. (Although I'd better be careful about how I use the word "monster.")

The final paragraph sets up the emerging dynamics in Bahar Dar. For the second time in as many paragraphs related to that city, I use the word "consortium" to describe the powerful interests there. This strike me as unique. Stoneborough has a "Council" (as does the Mercane metropolis of Union), and Ras Dashen has an Oligarchy (that also organized as a council), but the word "consortium" is only ever used in conjunction with Bahar Dar.

Another interesting note on this page points toward a difficult preparation challenge. In the "what the party has been told" section, clearly there was a discussion about the caravan from Hamsterfield being attacked near Zazamanc. However, the page ends with greater development of the Bahar Dar power structure. Clearly, I was trying to steer the party toward Zazamanc. However, I couldn't be sure that they would take the bait, and I wanted them to have full control over their direction and choices.

In order for the Corridor to work as a campaign setting, it had to feel to the players that the environment was three-dimensional. Things ("triggered events") were happening in Bahar Dar, Zazamanc, Hamsterfield, etc., on multiple levels. Although this made preparation more challenging and time consuming, ultimately it led to a more believable and fun game/story experience.

First Session Prep and Wrap

noreply@blogger.com (Skewerman) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:04:00 +0000

This page lays out the first Wildlanders game session, tells the tale of what occurred, and points toward what happens next. It is beginning to fade significantly, as it written with pencil over 8 years ago. It's my belief that the first session took place on 7/15/02, and that the "wrap-up" writing (including another page, which I will post in an upcoming entry) was set to paper the following day.

The "session prep" writing offers a fascinating perspective, and not only on the content of the inaugural session. It also demonstrates my preference for laying out and enumerating potential encounters pre-session. After enough "reps" of this practice, I became highly skilled at planning single game sessions that took on the flavor of "mini-adventures," or even "mini-campaigns," with a beginning, rising and falling action, and a conclusion that left everyone with a very satisfied feeling.

The pre-session content merits discussion. Clearly, the first Halfling to spot Thrym is Dreyka's (stilled spelled "Draka" on this page) neighbor Kosmas Fasilidas. Shane asserted in a recent email exchange regarding Thrym's wedding invitations that Thrym did not know this Halfling! Another key figure in the very first session was Sherm the Sheriff, whom Thrym left off the wedding guest list (and also claimed not to know). Sherm actually figured fairly prominently in at least two sessions (the first two) and potentially a third session (after the Battle of the Cleft Cave).

In the session-prep section, Krebb and Lavender also both figure prominently. Based on the specific writing, I had planned to have Krebb smash an applecart at some point (everyone remembers that this happened in the session). At this early date, Krebb was called "Krebbs." It's obvious that not even I knew at that point what would become of Krebb, whose tale is itself legendary and extensive. Indeed, it's also unpredictable how Lavender would be received, and I note that "Thrym senses something odd about Lavender."

The "wrap-up" writing at the bottom of the page is heavily faded and difficult to read as a jpeg image. However, it indicates that Dreka's birthday is the spring equinox, which is the following day! Recently Gabriel noted in an email that Dreyka was in her late 20s...does her character sheet confirm this? I had though that Dreyka's birthday this past equinox was her 21st, i.e. her Halfling "coming of age."

Final Campaign Prep

noreply@blogger.com (Skewerman) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:51:00 +0000

At left is the final page of pre-campaign writing. Dated 7/14/02, evidence suggests that it was written the day before the first campaign session. Many totally awesome creative and story tidbits come from this document. It contains the first specific written references to Bahar Dar, Zazamanc, and Makdazadok.

A loose description of Bahar Dar is given, mentioning a "bizarre consortium of powerful interests." The paragraph gives prominence to the clergy of Wee Jas. Also, Bahar Dar "sits atop the hill-like ruins of an ancient Dwarven arcology." This phrase is key for two reasons. First, it references another of Hancock's books (The Mars Mystery), which discusses the possibility of Martian arcologies at Cydonia. Second, it alludes to the tantalizing prospect of Narudian ruins beneath Bahar Dar, which have still never been explored by the Wildlanders.

The Zazamanc paragraph is quite striking. It refers to the previous sketches, and it mentions that derro in service to "the Vampire Lord" are holding dwarvish slaves in the mines below the stronghold. This is the first written reference to Malkizedek (the vampire lord). Prior to this, "the Blackguard," who evolved into Dafoe Kiln, was the primary villain. Zazamanc is called "a low level module." The highest-level NPCs at the site were 8th level when I created it.

The Makdazadok paragraph begins by stating, "we see the spectacular sketch of the stone tower of the vampire lord." Only one such sketch existed at this time (found on the opposite page in the Big Red Book:

The caption states that the view is of the "west plateau," that is the homeland of Krebb which sits to the south of Stoneborough. The pinnacle of Makdazadok is in view here. The writing calls the vampire lord the "prime evil influence in the locality," and the "loyal vassal of the true necromancer across the desert." This is at least the second mention in the writing of the necromancer villain who would later become Yared Mengistu.

The drawing is an adaptation of Tolkien's Tarn Aeluin, which is an important location in The Silmarillion. The wide lake, located in the highlands adjacent to the forest of Dorthonion, was the hidden fastness to which Barahir, the father of Beren, fled following the Battle of the Sudden Flame (the Dagor Bragollach). It was by the lake of Tarn Aeluin that Barahir was slain by the forces of Sauron, and where Beren later buried his father.

Another paragraph discusses the character quirk of Lavender Weatherworth. If memory serves, Malkizedek was created after Lavender acquired the quirk. At this stage, it was not known how a half-vampire/half-halfling would be received by the PCs, and so it is left unclear whether she would become friend or foe.

This page is critically important in the development of the overarching story of The Wildlanders.

The Creation of Bahar Dar

noreply@blogger.com (Skewerman) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 09:57:00 +0000

Here is my first-ever depiction of the city of Bahar Dar, situated on a wide plain ringed by the high hills of the corridor. The city, created pre-campaign, was designed as a bustling human-dominated counterpoint to the idyllic, pastoral Commonwealth of Stoneborough.

The above picture is actually patterned after the Tolkienian city of Gondolin, about which Tolkein wrote extensively in the fantastic Silmarillion. Obviously, Tolkien is a major influence in all the writing. In particular, many of the early drawings from the Big Red Book mirror Tolkien's.

In creating Bahar Dar, I also have a page, at right, which designates the highest-level local NPCs. All of the loosely defined characters in this document became a part of the story, with varying degrees of significance. In order, they are the following characters:

Bab el-Mandeb, Dorg Durg, Rufinius Frumentius, Debra Nagast, Prester John, Graham Athanasius, Governor Kyot Czarno, Hugh de Godfrey, Kaleb Sedek, Rainer Herzeloyde, Theoderic, Bertrand Scharfenberg, Yekuno Grazal, Leila Bela, Simone Sigioli, and Diantha Noldo.

None of the NPC-class characters in the lower tier were ever rolled up or named. Still, there are some interesting story possibilities there which could yet be developed. At the bottom of the page, you can see the sets of rolled numbers that I used to generate all of the characters above.

The creation of Bahar Dar, and the characters who inhabit it, was among the final aspects of pre-campaign writing.

Corridor Map: Bahar Dar District

noreply@blogger.com (Skewerman) — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:04:00 +0000

This map of the Bahar Dar district is drawn to the same scale as the previous "local" map of the Stoneborough area. Along with another map of the corridor "wild lands," the three maps combine to form the larger stripe of land which is "The Corridor." Many conversations suggest that "The Corridor" also includes the plateaus of Krebb and Grak, the Forge of Zarbizul (and surrounding former Giant Lands), the Tower of Makdazadok, the Fortress of Zazamanc, and the Commonwealth of Hamsterfield. Indeed, all of these landmarks, along with other features, are included in the "local campaign area map," which was the subject of an earlier blog post.

In truth, "The Corridor" originally referred to the strip of land that stretches from Stoneborough to Bahar Dar. The two communities are situated almost directly on an east-west axis. The existence of the three maps reinforce the point. Particularly in the early adventuring careers of the Wildlanders, such a small area was a lot to cover using only overland travel.

It's interesting to note on this map how close Bahar Dar is located in relation to the boundary of the Wasteland, which is denoted by a squiggly line on the eastern border of the map. Also, as previously noted, the Giant Lands in the northwest corner of this map have never been visited by the Wildlanders.

Jadot the Githendil

noreply@blogger.com (Skewerman) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:00:00 +0000

We interrupt your regular Wildlanders blog to bring you the preceding image of the Great Jadot. This picture was drawn prior to the first Wildlanders game session. The quotation, an excerpt from the Song of Githendil, ranks among Jadot's most famous.

The details of the drawing are interesting, to say the least. He's holding the Annulis artifact. He's also weaing the Darkflame sword, which Jadot later gave to Tiamat to enhance the Dragon-Queen's hoard. Among the other items of interest are Jadot's shadow-dagger tattoo, the cloak of the bat, the torc around his neck (taken from a slain Ulitharid), and his sunglasses of see invisibility.

Also, please note his raised left eyebrow.

The Origin of Names

noreply@blogger.com (Skewerman) — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 12:55:00 +0000

The page on the left is the very first page of the famous "Big Red Book," in which the earliest Wildlander writing is contained. The page below is the second page. Along with several very rough drawings, they contain nothing more than a list of names. Actually, it is really just a list of words (some of which happen to be names) which were later adapted to become the names of lots of folks and places in the story.

Although the left page is smudged and difficult to read in parts, clearly legible are many very recognizable names. Some of them are obviously lifted right from the page (Bab el-Mandeb), others are combinations (Yared Mengistu), and still others are permutations (such as "Lalibela," which became Leila Bela). Some of the names are very famous in the context of the story, whereas others are historic footnotes or obscure places yet to be discovered. Among my favorites of these include the Lich Mai Shum, and the Giant Tabib, both of whom were slain by Zarbizul's father Thalzahar wielding the blade Akhoring. Also, the lost refuge of the Ras Dashen Elves (both Ras Dashen and Bahar Dar appear on the list) is a place called "Loch Angevin," for which Roscoe is currently searching.

Knowing the penchant of the players to ask for names in a pinch, I needed to have a solid list upon which to draw. This list comes almost exclusively from Graham Hancock's book, "The Sign and the Seal," which describes the author's journey through Ethiopia in search of the Lost Ark of the Covenant. Hancock's work is a great source of inspiration for me. Many of the place-names from the South Central Confederacy are Egyptian hybrid names (such as the metropolis of Bakara) that emanate from Hancock's writing. One of the best examples of this is the syllabic combination "akhor", which Hancock breaks down in detail in his book, "Message of the Sphinx." You'll find it in The Wildlanders in such uses as the aforementioned sword "Akhoring," (employing the Tolkeinian suffix "ing", i.e. "Glamdring,") and also for the deity "Kultakhor" (again a Tolkeinian combo that riffs on the name of the Vala "Tulkas," the god of strength).

It must be noted that other, more extensive lists of names come up later in the writing. These lists draw upon different sources, such as Tolkein, Brian Froud, and even George S. Clason. However, in the case of Tolkein, these names almost always divert from source names and become multi-syllabic hybrids. Most of the Dwarf names fall into this category. Author Christopher Paolini uses direct Tolkein names in his "Eragon" trilogy, a tactic for which the author has been criticized.

Despite the detailed accounting of how the names were created, most fans of the Wildlanders would probably agree that the very best of the names do not come from this list, or from any name list that derives inspiration from an outside source. Rather, the truly original names are the absolute best. These would include all the Halfling names, interesting characters such as Dorg Durg and Zarbizul, as well as the rare examples of truly "off the cuff" names such as Ulbor.

One final note: if you look at the second page, you'll see the name "Beckingham Huntingford." I don't know if it was used like that in "The Sign and the Seal," or if I took two names and paired them up in such fashion. Regardless, it evolved into "Buckingham Huntingford," a primary cover identity of the Great Jadot.

Map of Stoneborough Surroundings

noreply@blogger.com (Skewerman) — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 09:30:00 +0000

Here's a very early map from the Wildlanders campaign. In it, you can clearly see Stoneborough. I've chosen the fabled ""Smurf house" symbol to represent the Halfling Commonwealth.

Many of the features on the map have either been mentioned in previous posts, or they are well-known to those familiar with the Corridor. These features include the "crop belt" (where the Halflings conduct their agriculture) and the Ranger stations. Directional arrows point to significant nearby sites-of-interest, including Thrym's glacial plateau, Giant territory, and the human city of Bahar Dar.

Also present on the map is the Cleft Cave, which was the site of a major early foray by the Wildlanders. Based on the scale visible in the lower right-hand corner of the map, the Cleft Cave is about four miles from the eastern Ranger station, and roughly eight miles from the center of Stoneborough. It's no wonder that monsters were constantly assailing Stoneborough before the Wildlanders intervened!

This map was drawn pre-campaign. Along with the previously posted map of Stoneborough, it was among the earliest maps shown to the players. The below picture gives an inkling as to the general topography and ecosystem of Stoneborough and the surrounding area.