The Midlands

Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
ybn1197
Rider of Rohan
Rider of Rohan
Posts: 4051
Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2012 12:24 pm
Location: Baltimore MD

The Midlands

#1 Post by ybn1197 »

Medieval Fantasy
Also known as Argosa, the Midlands is a medieval fantasy realm with a mix of cultures and technology similar to the Dark Ages, Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Antiquity.
Humans of five cultures contest the region; the Midlanders of Lake Argos (officially Argosans, most akin to medieval westerners), Nydissians of the southern Empire, northern raiders known as Varnori, the albino Karoks holed up in their mountain fortress, and the Thuels, barbarian nomads of the Great Plains and Argos Plateau.

Deadly Outlands
The setting is intended as a “points of light” environment; beyond the fortified walls of civilization, the wilds are dominated by man eating skorn, ferocious beasts and xenophobic barbarians. The vast majority of the land is uncharted; there are no roads to guide explorers and no villages to provide respite.
Travel between the isolated cities is via armed watercraft or heavily guarded caravans only. No-one travels the borderlands alone, and to venture beyond the ranger patrols is to court disaster, even for the well prepared.

Grim Cities
Whilst it is true that the walled bastions of man are safer than the hinterlands, the cities are fraught with dangers of their own. On the streets, life is cheap, and corruption, brutality and exploitation widespread. So called justice is harsh and unforgiving, for sale to the highest bidder or exacted through vengeful blades in back alleys.
In the corridors of power, highborn, priests and the wealthy squabble for control, heedless to the struggle of the common man. From this melting pot of ambition, new contenders rise each day, grasping for opportunity.

Ancient Mysteries
In the Third Age, the prevailing cultures are merely the latest survivors of the region. In past eras, darker societies ruled, including the skorn, cyclopes, serpentmen, urgot and others long forgotten. Elder human civilizations too rose to prominence, including the mummy entombing Ramorans and blood sacrificing Suun. From the fetid bogs of the Trackless Moors to the frozen peaks of the Ironhull Mountains, the ruins of lost kingdoms linger, waiting to be rediscovered.

Silent Gods
The inhabitants of the Midlands are religious folk, worshiping gods and deities, strengthening their spirits with litany and prayer. Sacred customs and ceremonies are well established, and the clergy accorded due respect.
If the immortals hear the prayers of their faithful however, they deign no response. The gods of Argosa are ineffably distant and whisper silent; granting no miracles to their followers, nor intervening in the world in any obvious way.

Dangerous Magic
In Argosa, magic is not only rare, it is dark and inherently dangerous. Sorcery was not meant for mortals, and this fundamental mismatch taints every casting with uncertainty. From beyond the Veil, magic draws the attention of dark and inscrutable forces, some of which find ways to impose their will on the material world.
In the present day, nine hundred years after Mount Rokan blackened the sky, true sorcerers are almost unknown. At most, the walled cities conceal but a few, and the majority of folk will be glad not to witness spellcasting during their lifetime. Yet all have heard the tales, and accept that magic is real in one form or another.
Unnatural monsters exist, but tend to be unique individuals or geographically isolated tribes. Enchanted objects are custom pieces and almost always herald from a past age; once forged they are remarkably difficult to destroy.

User avatar
ybn1197
Rider of Rohan
Rider of Rohan
Posts: 4051
Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2012 12:24 pm
Location: Baltimore MD

Re: The Midlands

#2 Post by ybn1197 »

The Third Age
Some 900 years ago, Mount Rokan erupted in earth shattering fashion; searing the earth with fire and fume, blackening the sky with thick ash, and blasting the Midlands into the Third Age. Rokan was an unparalleled natural disaster, wiping out most life in the region.

Weeks later, when the skies finally cleared, desperate skorn and thuels fought for survival across the scorched plains, forests and mountains. Humans clinging to the inland sea took the opportunity to fortify and consolidate their defences, founding what would eventually become the enduring bastions of Northgate, Port Brax and Crow’s Keep.

Approximately sixty years ago, the first Nydissian forces invaded from the south, establishing Melek as their northernmost city. Thirty years later, their second settlement of Kadimos, deep in the Trackless Moors, ended in ruin; sacked by waves of skorn, barbarian and Midlander forces. For the last twenty years, an informal truce with the Midlanders has prevailed, permitting trade and limited migration.

The last score of years also consolidated the first Varnori city of the region; Vorngard, a wooden settlement expanding with more northerners every year. Heralding from Varnor, across the Boreal Sea, the raiders navigate the treacherous Siltwater to reach Lake Argos and the interior proper.

Post Reply

Return to “The Midlands [LFG]”