Fellwick

[StarRaven]

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...

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.

WiP here.

...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....

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.

[Steel General]

one word...Wonderful!

I dub thee newly repped *BONK*

[Majortopio]

Looks great! Nice work Repped.

[Gandwarf]

I agree, it does look great. Have some more rep!

[ravells]

Very nice indeed! Great map and well done for perservering!

[IngIngsvar]

What a lovely map!

[Ramah]

Marvellous map.

My favourite bits are the trees, which are really effective.

I do wonder at the pirate's island being so close to the mainland though. Not very secretive is it?

[StarRaven]

Thank you all for the compliments and the rep!!

My favourite bits are the trees, which are really effective.

That's good to hear! I wasn't entirely sure of them, because I couldn't remember quite how I got the ones on the first map done. I'm glad you like them.

I do wonder at the pirate's island being so close to the mainland though. Not very secretive is it?

In game, I'd totally have to do a, "Yes, that is rather strange, isn't it? I guess you'll have to investigate further...." But actually it was intended to have once been a pirate sanctuary, rather than a currently functioning one, and I guess I didn't really think about it. Hehe!

The thought behind a great deal of the little "right next door" adventures in Fellwick was that the spells that summoned the monsters that leveled it a long time ago also woke sleeping things (perhaps a hungry monster came up from deep within the earth and found a little pirate snack, and is now beginning to get hungry again? There's a little cave right in there... who knows where it leads...?), uncovered forgotten secrets (like the book of dark magic that Allastor found hidden within the west tower?), and disturbed the natural order of things (like the monks who died in the attack on the monastery never quite left, if you know what I mean...?)

I liked the idea that this place might not be exactly what it seems on the surface. What seems to be little random adventures everywhere could have roots in a deeper problem, and a thing like an abandoned building or an island with buried treasure could be just that, or they could be something more sinister.

For me, personally, I like thinking there might be a deeper mystery to solve.

[Turgenev]

Very nice work! While the colour map is very nice, the black & white map really stands out. It has elegance in its simplicity. Have some well deserved rep.

[Locution]

Well done! And I have to agree with your logic.