Fellwick
This is probably the first map I've ever made that I really feel comfortable calling finished! I worked really hard on it, so I hope it turned out okay!
The original intention of this map was to create a place where the PCs in my game could have a sort of "base of operations" so I tried to stuff as much stuff into it as I could, without making it a big important city. So it's got a market, and inns, and farms, and a castle, and a manor, and bridges and walls and towers and a dark wizard and some pirates and a haunted monastery and...
WiP here.What is now known as Castle Fellwick began as a rather remote fort on the Stillwater side of the border between Stillwater and Ellerion, built both as a border post, and also to protect a secluded nearby monastery. (Much to the monks' dismay.) Long after the founding of the Empire of Tiadena, a town was built on the lakeside highway to provide respite for travelers traveling between the cities of Hagknock and Southguard. Eventually this town became the home of the lord of the surrounding small region of Fell.
Fellwick was successful enough, with a few farms, a steady stream of travelers, and a little trade between it and the rest of the Empire. About fifty years after it was established, however, some ancient grudges held by a pair of wizards in Hagknock and Southguard escalated to violence, and the town was all but leveled by the horde of summoned monsters that one sent after the other.
After this incident was the first appearance of Allastor Rhisiart in Fellwick's history. An ambitious mage, Allastor showed uncharacteristic kindness in gathering up the town's resident mages and helping them to rebuild. In only a few days, the walls were built and much of the ruined buildings repaired. During a trip to the west watchtower – the only building, other than the castle itself, left from before the attacks – Allastor promptly disappeared, not to be seen in Fellwick – or anywhere – for more than twenty years.
Overnight, a black forest sprang up around the west tower, and in the years to come, it, along with much of the land near it, lost all life. The people of Fellwick investigated it, and found that the only living creatures that called the place home were flocks of carrion birds and the occasional less-than-sane wolf. For a long time afterward, adventurers and fortune-seekers of all sorts came to Fellwick to try to solve the forest's mysteries and explore its depths. For the righteous, it was a stain upon the land, and many came to try to wipe the earth clean of its evil. For the greedy, rumors of lost treasure and powerful artifacts drew them from miles around with the intent to steal. For the wicked, Allastor – for it soon became the widespread rumor that Allastor indeed still lived there – was a rival, possessed of powerful, vile, magics that they could not help but crave.
The cowardly fled the forest. The foolish fed the ravens. The brave found what they sought, and wished they hadn't.
So many years later, the people of Fellwick have come to accept the dead forest as simply another fact of life. Life goes on, and Allastor has been all but forgotten. The city continues to be successful as a stop for travelers along the Southern Road.
...So now I just need to map the monastery, the pirate caves, the manor, and maybe the castle and the tower. That's not a big list at all....
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