Saturday, August 9, 2008

Motherland Campaign Setting part 1 - Welcome to Talem Dur


Corynn sat in the semi-shade of the Bullride Tavern and nervously assayed the strings of his old lute. Most dearly he would have liked to hide and fuse himself entirely in the darkened corner next to the smoking fireplace, forever merging with the protecting shadow in order to avoid playing before this aggregation of cutpurses, cutthroats and other such thugs…

The most peculiar shapes cavorted themselves in the narrow public room before the yet smaller, shaky, wood scaffolding that should serve Corynn as a stage. None of these crooks made the impression of looking forward to the presentation of the young bard. Instead, Corynn had the feeling that his appearance would only prove disturbing to the conspiratorial murmurings of the guests.
Corynn had not imagined the life of a bard to be like this when he passed the portcullis of Gatetown…


Talem-Dur is a world of Intrigues, high sorcery and unlimited adventures. One of the most oldest countries on Talem-Dur is Calhaligon. Once Calhaligon was a mighty kingdom, ruled by a conclave of just landlords and their King Balkor XII. For five years now King Balkor XII is dead, leaving behind behind his young wife Queen Lucya, who struggles hard to settle down the inner conflicts and power games that constantly shake the kingdom, as there is currently no heir to the throne. Since that time Calhaligon is called the Shattered Kingdom by some of it's neighbours and by spiteful persons.
While the queen is fighting against power-hungry rioters, influences from neighbouring lands grow in some cities of the kingdom, not always for the benefit of Calhaligon.

Gatetown

Gatetown is one of these cities on the brink of civilization. Surrounded by dangerous and harsh lands it constantly strives to survive. Gatetown was build atop the ancient ruins of an old civilization that exists no more. In its long history the town was almost completely destroyed by inhuman armies at many occasions. Each time the people of Gatetown build it up again. Today Gatetown is a sturdy fortress which protects its inhabitants from the dangers of the surrounding lands, and the ruins below. Gatetown is ruled by a council, which mostly consists of the most powerful (and often corrupt) traders of the city, and is headed by Mayor Grundle. The true power is however held by the infamous Bladebearers Guild led by the ruthless Sword Captain Shalandra Keeneye, the only significant martial force in the vicinity. The Bladebearers Guild is an organization of mercenaries and sell-swords, which always supports those councilmen, who pay the most bribe money.
Secret cults and forces from outside seeking to take control of the town, add to the chaotic life in Gatetown.

Gatetown (small town): Conventional; AL CN; 500 gp limit; Assets 98,000 gp; Population 1635; Isolated (Human 94%, elf 3%, halfling 2%, humanoids 1%).
Authority Figures: Mayor Grundle (LE male human aristocrat 3); Shalandra Keeneye (CN female human fighter 5 / rogue 3);

(c) 2008 by Markus Brixius, map by Marjon

1 comment:

Mark CMG Clover said...

At the end of an entry like this, instead of just a link to your generic OGL, you need to add a line for the section 15 and a comment that the material is OGC. To wit -

"WONDERS OF DIVINITY: Sanctify Yourself is open game content and is available for use under the terms of the OGL. To use it correctly, please add the following line to the section 15 of the OGL linked below-

WONDERS OF DIVINITY: Sanctify Yourself copyright xxxx (year) (person or company)."

Then add the OGL link as you already have. Without the section 15 reference line and declaration of Open Game Content it is not proper use of the license and is nigh useless as a part of the OGC pool.