[Region 1][Map 30] - Wilderness and Ruin

[Sigurd]

I know some of you are low saturation fans out there.

Here's the DM map, low saturation. with Hex overlay



And the same image full size without the hex.

Its a meg and a half.

Now I have to go.

Sigurd

[Torq]

I'm a big low-saturation fan and I really like the map. Dont like the hex grid though, but thats just me . The basin looks like its got very steep sides, is that deliberate? Well done Sigurd, nice work.

Torq

[Sigurd]

I wanted steep sides in the mountains - the better to hide caves in. Perhaps its an old impact crater with meteoric magic still surviving in the center?

The hex is only on the 1/4 map. I figure 1004px for the principle map and 502px for explanation maps and features.

I can count 20 hexes from the lower east corner to the west side. An accurate enough legend might be 1 hex is 30ml across.

I really owe Joe Slayton most of any credit for this map and Handsome Rob for his orig atlas tutorial. In fact when you consider all the work by you folks with this little project....

I'll just be happy with my map.

Sigurd

[Sigurd]

The Comet



Long ago in that misty time where big stories start, section 30 was a normal piece of land mostly made up of trees and a peculiar breed of dog. When out of the blue, well black first but then briefly the atmosphere, a fearsome comet slammed into the earth, almost at the centre of the region. The impact caused tsunami's up and down the coast, warped the geography, inconvenienced the trees and completely obliterated the dog.



The comet bore, or contributed to, a race that called itself "the Dashoon". Born in the crater, they were a remarkable race that shared a degree of telepathy with all their kin touched by the comet's affect.
The centre of the crater became Dashoon City where they prayed and wrought all the great things that vanished societies conveniently leave for adventurers - nifty swords made of star metal, exotic chilli recipes and whacks of somehow present day convertible currency.


The Golden Age

- There had to be one, right?
- For section 30 this is where it was. It can be anything from Gamma World to Rifts to (DM's choice)


All Good things Must End

In time, or with bad management, the influence of the comet wained. It started with a decline in the collective mind and then the reduction of telepathy.
There was a good long period where the brightest, best and strongest, worked hard to find _any_ solution. Terrible experiments were tried. Alternate sources of power and entertainment were sought in hideous manners ranging from Necromancy to Cable Television but no solution was complete enough.

<Insert fractured and\or warped Dashoonians who survive with half a solution>

- The rivers were seen to be draining the comet's potency into the sea so they were rerouted.
- Bizarre and fanciful fashions were tried to gain notice, and attention - anything to be connected to their fellow Dashoonians. (This is a boon to fantasy artists who can draw what they bloody well like.)
- Hideous experiments were attempted, mostly on creatures the Dashoonians didn't like anyway. Longevity, power, and the draining of these features from other creatures to feed the Dashoonians. <Insert servitor race gone mad or escaped monsters here.>
- Infernal pacts were attempted by those that are somehow always attempting infernal pacts.


Eventually, deprived of their collective mind and without the comet's influence, the society collapsed into ruin. None would leave section 30. (Which was very convenient for the other mappers, let me tell you!) Battles began between people and cities for the dregs of the comet's magic. Echoes of its power still clung to the waters of the crater. Creatures fed on these waters and the other Dashoonians.


The Situation Yesterday (for an elf)

There are terrible creatures alive in these forests or living in ruins in this region. Big and strangely powerful, these creatures make it suicide to travel in Section 30. Nice ruins though.


The Situation Yesterday (for a human)

Elves say this region is dangerous but.. AIAAAAAAAH!


Situation Today

Jormal the shipwright, says that there are some wonderful trees in section 30. Types of trees and things you can't find anywhere else.

Lucky adventurer, would you be so kind as to go get me some of these trees for my next boat? I'll pay you DOUBLE the normal rate, because I really like you. There are some superstitous folk that say things about the region but they're just fear mongers and idiots. Still, best do it quickly and come back with my lumber. Darn thing, there's no river or roads left to travel to the center of the region. I hear there's an old lake and some ruins - I'll pay you when you get back.

Hooks

1. Remnants of the Dashoon, in secret cults and tiny forgotten places, still pray for another comet - aint that going to please a city?

2. Some things still grow with the comet's influence in the crater.

3. Dashoonians found a way to preserve themselves till the comet influence grew. Some are waking up.

4. The comet wasn't the reason at all, it was....

5. The Dashoonians had a cure for....

6. Dashoon magic.

7. (Should be really difficult) Resettle the region.



- Sigurd

[SpamValiant]

excellent stuff. my (unfinished) novel is set in a land shaped by an ancient impact, in my case hundreds of thousands of years ago but it left magical remnants as you describe which then play an important part in the story. I'll be interested to see which direction this takes you (and slightly freaked out if you come up with the same themes I did)

[Sigurd]

I'll be interested to see which direction this takes you (and slightly freaked out if you come up with the same themes I did)

Thanks for the comment - I bet you didn't obliterate a race of dogs!

[The Cartographist]

I think that there is ample room for creativity in this region. I love the fact that you've gone opposite the collective path and created a completely society-less area.

This might be my favorite area in the whole project. (Although, I gotta say, a growing kingdom in the heart of the plaguelands rebuilding the walls from the inside is a very close second!)

[SpamValiant]

Thanks for the comment - I bet you didn't obliterate a race of dogs!

In all fairness, no I didn't. I think my aim must have been off or something...

[Baziron]

Excellent.

That which you have wrought here gives me more ... well ... if you keep an eye on Shinon's Letters from Kouver Island, then this here might give some sense to some of the things being found there.

[Sigurd]

Something was nagging me about the underlying physical layer.

Here, I've burned the river pattern to give it more distinction. I've played with the rock face to make it seem more barren and I'm still not happy with it.

I know the rivers are too dark but I'm hoping to make that work for me in other levels. I'm done mussing with it right now so I thought I'd drop you guys a pic.

502px instead of 1004.