Vornheim & The World Between
Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2015 2:30 pm
Adapted from Vornheim: The Complete City Guide by Zak S. and Tales of the Grotesque & Dungeonesque by Jack Shear. The latter is a very cool free PDF found here. Additional flavor by me.
Table of Contents
0. Introduction In "The World Between", daily life is touched by suspicion and darkness. There are many diverse nations, but one of the most decadent and corrupt is Caligari. The City of Vornheim is its capital, a sprawling land-locked megalopolis in the frost-chilled north.
About the City: Vornheim is a massive and ancient city, surrounded by the Thornridge Mountains to the north and east, the Odhill Lowlands to the west, and the evergreen Eisenwald to the south. When the city's early expansion outward began to butt into the mountains, they began to build upward, creating multiple shadowy levels of towers and bridges. Vornheim has dozens of wards, some of them built over and forgotten, others casually abandoned, and still others purposefully and explicitly quarantined.
Recent Events: It is currently the year 1500. It has been one year since Caligari's great and beloved Emperor Thrawl was assassinated, poisoned at his own birthday feast in his home, the Palace Massive. He was not an especially kind man, but known to be fair-handed and diplomatic. Though his alleged murderers were caught and tried, there is still some controversy over their guilt. Baroness Titania the Fearful, a skilled and renowned investigator, brought the criminals to justice and maintains their complicity in the crime.
The new ruler, Christiana the Scarlet, Thrawl's niece of Midianese heritage, is beginning to make her presence known throughout the nation. She brings with her the religion of the White Way, a strict and forceful faith, and is making many changes to the capital city. Word on the street is that her next target is the Eminent Cathedral, a temple to Caligari's current chief god, the grim and rusty Vorn. The White Way is seen as xenophobic and oppressive by its opponents, though in its public persona the church espouses charity and good-will.
As the White Way cracks down on "deviants and criminals", the underworld guilds of the city are squirming under the church's scrutiny. Multiple factions of thieves, smugglers, and assassins are competing for territory in the city, and notorious gang leaders like Sable Greathouse and the Von Klaw Twins are shoring up their resources for a looming conflict.
The Delvers Guild has been receiving an increasing number of reports of strange occurrences around Vornheim, especially in some of the older parts of the city. Apparitions, disappearances, and more--there will be plenty of things to discuss at this season's Questing Feast!
Table of Contents
0. Introduction In "The World Between", daily life is touched by suspicion and darkness. There are many diverse nations, but one of the most decadent and corrupt is Caligari. The City of Vornheim is its capital, a sprawling land-locked megalopolis in the frost-chilled north.
About the City: Vornheim is a massive and ancient city, surrounded by the Thornridge Mountains to the north and east, the Odhill Lowlands to the west, and the evergreen Eisenwald to the south. When the city's early expansion outward began to butt into the mountains, they began to build upward, creating multiple shadowy levels of towers and bridges. Vornheim has dozens of wards, some of them built over and forgotten, others casually abandoned, and still others purposefully and explicitly quarantined.
Recent Events: It is currently the year 1500. It has been one year since Caligari's great and beloved Emperor Thrawl was assassinated, poisoned at his own birthday feast in his home, the Palace Massive. He was not an especially kind man, but known to be fair-handed and diplomatic. Though his alleged murderers were caught and tried, there is still some controversy over their guilt. Baroness Titania the Fearful, a skilled and renowned investigator, brought the criminals to justice and maintains their complicity in the crime.
The new ruler, Christiana the Scarlet, Thrawl's niece of Midianese heritage, is beginning to make her presence known throughout the nation. She brings with her the religion of the White Way, a strict and forceful faith, and is making many changes to the capital city. Word on the street is that her next target is the Eminent Cathedral, a temple to Caligari's current chief god, the grim and rusty Vorn. The White Way is seen as xenophobic and oppressive by its opponents, though in its public persona the church espouses charity and good-will.
As the White Way cracks down on "deviants and criminals", the underworld guilds of the city are squirming under the church's scrutiny. Multiple factions of thieves, smugglers, and assassins are competing for territory in the city, and notorious gang leaders like Sable Greathouse and the Von Klaw Twins are shoring up their resources for a looming conflict.
The Delvers Guild has been receiving an increasing number of reports of strange occurrences around Vornheim, especially in some of the older parts of the city. Apparitions, disappearances, and more--there will be plenty of things to discuss at this season's Questing Feast!
