Mega Update - a work in progress

New Ideas on RPGs

I have slowly, over the course of some time, gone over the history of my RPG gaming (a very limited part of it anyway), and new thoughts have come forth on the matter.  These will be covered here in due time, but meantime, I would like to present and organize some of the notes made recently in my notebooks reserved for the topics.

Back in 2013, I resurrected my Arkon related campaigns (which had never fully died, see below).  Along with this, and at about the same time, came another 2 ideas for campaign settings (and I mention this for reasons that will become clear later).  This brought slowly back into my consciousness ideas that really ought to have been developed long ago.

The trouble that I had for some time was the tendency toward riffing off campaign worlds already in existence, which to some extent is probably unavoidable.  But by bringing back Arkon I was defiantly bringing to life something that was very much my own creation.

Then I came to realize, with the arrival of 2015, that there were other campaigns as well, and that these are also worth a retrospective.  These concerned other campaigns not just run in the JL era, but also the campaigns of the JJD and MW era, which were actually older (and more over the top in many ways).  There is no reason, if the Arkon campaigns got attention, that these other ones ought not also.

The purpose of this file, then, will be actually twofold:  first, to document and preserve writings germane to the topic, and second, to probably generate new ideas for the future as needed.  There is certainly ample material to work with.  For example, in the yellow notebook I recently perused, there were pretty well-mapped ideas for a whole solar system or even several of them for Arkon and its related campaigns.  Not a bad find at all, and hopefully there are more to come.

So without further ado:

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The Green Notebook
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-There are first and foremost some considerations that need to be taken with regard to what kind of campaigns the Arkon campaign was.  Namely, was it 'high fantasy' after the fashion of Tolkien, or was it closer to the horror and gritty realism of a Howard?  The answer, though no doubt a 'cop out', is that it was somewhere between those two things.  Though not quite so far out as some previous experiments.  However, I am fully of the opinion that 'far-out' campaigns can be among the most enjoyable...

-The nature of government by the time of Verial.  Note that at that time, things seem to have attained to an Early-to-High Modern level, albeit with some fantastic additions like airships.  This is a period of high power politics between developed nation states.  The different realms of Saen reflect these.  Though in my previous writings it had been said that there were three major kingdoms, why not also allow for some minor ones and so on?  And vis-a-vis government, it seems that the major powers are either monarchic or high-aristocratic, that is the pattern of the older times of decentralized aristocratic rule is now a thing of the past.

-Bold revisions:  How about viewing the three major campaigns of the later period of Arkon as a progression and one that ultimately involves lifetimes instead of a shorter timespan.  That is, Verial is sort of a 17th century wars of religion type of affair, Vampyro is 18th century great power politics, and by Jedon's era, the whole world is in play?  This way we can see e.g. the rise of the triadic cult as a process involving a longer period.  That way we get to see these things arise and develop according to their own rules.  Verial campaign didn't have the world saving heroics of high fantasy anyway, since JL didn't like that, and preferred a more adventurous and personal way (which made the struggles with Arxam, Derus and Count Savil more enjoyable).  Note well, I am not looking for exact parallels with the real world, just sort of using those as a rough guide.  I want it to be fantastical after all.

-Belgast plotline would be some kind of fork campaign, but it has an admitted appeal.  It is also proof that JJD and I came up with the idea of an interstellar Necromancer/Undead Empire before Warcraft/Blizzard did.  This will be a fork campaign on Arkon and others, just as WotI was for KW.  The 'main stream' Arkon will have the Darklords plotline come to a head with the Age of Jedon.  Does this prevent a Late Modern catastrophe like what happened in RW?

-The system of Magic needs to be carefully thought out.  Usually it takes a tripartite form (as in both DND and RM, with the formulation of Essence-Channeling-Mentalism).  This might be acceptable to keep.

-Classes notes:  NPC classes I like to have include the Artificer and Alchemist.  The latter deals mainly with the magical manipulation of solids, liquids and gases (for example they may make potions, poisons, or materials), while the former deals mainly with magical production of finished goods (i.e. weapons, armour, items).

-With regard to source material:  I have found, recently, some sites of note and there are probably many more thanks to the modern internet (if only I had time to look at all of that!).  I feel indebted to Grognardia for turning me onto artists I had heretofore not known of, but really should have sought out long ago.  Men like Howard, Vance, Leiber, Merritt, Burroughs and so on can be inspirations even so many years later.  Another profitable ground to look on, besides say blogspot, would be the Reocities archives, which also are very helpful in having preserved some of what used to be hosted on the now-defunct Geocities freeweb platform.

-New Materials:  Moonsteel is a material used for armour and weapons among other things, and this may bear some resemblance to the Mythril.  Elfinglass, a Mythic Age concoction of the high Elvish alchemists, is another one of note.  And there are others.

-Arkon was interesting because of the active resistance of JL to Apocalyptic and High Fantastic plotlines.  On the other hand, another early participant JLy made for a very weird diverging set of campaigns based apparently on New Testament Apocalyptic visions and ridiculously over-the-top science fiction and carnival-style aesthetic.

-James Maliszewski is a probably unfortunately maligned character around the internet and I'm a fan of his despite his many flaws (he shouldn't have made promises he couldn't keep, even if it's a very human flaw it made his name mud and that's a shame).  But I don't always agree with his characterization of hi-level campaigns.  Those can be very fun if done correctly, though unrealistic, but this is after all a fantastic form of entertainment for God's sake.

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-Everything RPG began in 1994 (for the sake of simplicity let's just say this is so).  This was the Hale campaign, commenced in the high summer months with JJD upon our meeting in a chemistry class.  It was over-the-top in a way that is hard to imagine for someone not wholly possessed by the spirit of youth and the unbounded passion which it brings.  What was it?  A space opera would be a not unfair characterization of it.  But it also had high sword-and-sorcery, epic world-saving and -destroying plot lines, absurd time travels, galactic-imperial politics, etc.

-In fall 1994, I inaugurated the Exiles campaign with MW who was (still is?) a SciFi fan, particularly of Star Wars at that time.  Therefore, Exiles was basically a Star Wars knockoff, except not, because it was mutated to a great degree.  The Empire ended up being something way more than in Lucas' creation, among other things, and there were too many original ideas for it to really be at all viewed as a copy.  PArts of this were chronicled as of about 1996, but I am not sure if I still have them.  I tried to preserve all of my valuable notebooks, but there are some I haven't seen in a long time.  The yellow notebooks (2), and the big dark gray notebooks are good examples, but maybe they're around somewhere - the chronicles were in one of the yellow notebooks.

-In 1995, probably in the Summertime, a new JJD character was rolled out (maybe this was amidst Hale's triumph as the Emperor of Sol and having conquered to an adequate extent).  I think the decision to create a new character was taken amidst the backdrop of yet another summer school event, which led to Rowan's creation.  This involved the Godlike race of Aiye that I had already dreamed up earlier in the year during a trip to the Deep South (funny how travel can stimulate the imagination in ways other things oft can't).  This campaign was more grounded, but involved many highly adventurous campaigns, which I think were located on a world where the Aiye resided (not on any familiar terrestrial ground, though I could be wrong).  If I recall, the nature of the Aiye made them highly competitive and prone to aristocratic feuding not unlike, say, Greek Gods in the Myths put down by Hesiod and others.  But they were not Gods of a 'pure spirit' or Noeric type, but embodied beings albeit of great power.

-Exiles was a fairly long running affair, with fits and starts.  It probably wasn't defunct until after Summer '97 (it did last at least that long, I know).  By '99 it was definitively done for, and this was, as it happens, the same time that Arkon in its original form was put to rest.  More's the pity!

-1996 was the most important year because it was at this time that gaming on numerous fronts was inaugurated.  I ran campaigns with JJD, JL and JLy, and MW.  There was the Jarlaxle campaign, the Arkon Genesis with the Aceries and Korsos campaigns, and the continuation of Exiles.

-Jarlaxle was probably ended abruptly, though if I remember it correctly, maybe it was merely put on hold.  And not resumed.  The last definite part of it that I remember was the warlike expedition to the new land, which will eventually get an entry of its own.  There were also the campaigns of Vance, Dantrag, and the Tabashi.  All of these inspiredd campaign worlds of their own, with the exception of Vance which was set in Krynn (with the changes made to it about that time, which in retrospect I didn't like very much, at least not unless they could be considered a fork campaign).

General Announcement

I have some fears that this old account may be compromised to an extent, and for that reason it is very possible I will be migrating this blog to another one.  It has been around for a long time and I do not at all want to lose everything I've worked on over time, even though it is probably, to an extent, backed up in other locations.  The backup process will be attempted in due time if I am able.

Characters and Campaigns

Characters and Scenarios of the Latter Campaigns

Tense Peace

The War of Ideals originally favored the Dark, but with the rise of Arthomer I and Verial's Return, the Southlands were able to recover and drive the forces of the Darkness out of the Southern Kingdom. What eventually resulted was a division of the Central Kingdom between the two spheres, with the Dark-aligned powers having the advantage. Central Kingdom is currently ruled by puppets with the Royal Family in exile (possible wild card for the future?).

The Vampyro Campaign

This is the story of the rise of a rather sinister individual. While the Verial Campaign, a long-running campaign, was the story of a man conflicted between demonic and angelic influences, and his ultimate redemption, the story of Vampyro is much darker in many ways. Vampyro starts out as an assassin, working for the Order of Obscure Firmament. After many adventures he is able to take control of this organization with the blessing of Kazar Kan, the former leader, who is old and desires to live out the remainder of his years in peace.

Vampyro's campaign becomes especially heated in the wake of two happenings. First of all, the alliances he is able to forge with the mysterious warlord known as Derus who emerged as a political force during the War of Ideals on the side of the Northlands/Darkness. In turn, this leads to the introduction of one of Derus's old acquaintances, the dark magician Maroh. Then, one of the Council of High Magi in Jadus who has gone rogue, also joins the campaign. The events that allowed all of this to happen escape my exact recollection, but hopefully perusing the campaign logs will help to sort this out.

This group of men became known as the Quadrarchy. Despite their seeming connexions with Darkness, none of them had any time for the Black Syndicate, the Priests of the Dark or the Northern Kingdom. They desired to rule a piece of land and to establish their own form of tyranny over Saen without the interference of agenda-driven powers in either sphere.

The Jedon Campaign

Jedon is a young soldier who served in the armies of the South during the Civil Wars following the tense peace that stabilized in the wake of the War of Ideals. These wars were covered in the Vampyro Campaign when King Arthomer tried to assert dominance over the territories of the West under the auspices of the Quadrarchy's rule. This resulted in a draw, after Arthomer I was defeated at the pass of Cairon. In the wake of the events of the Civil War, the Quadrarchy now controls most of the West, with the King still dominating the Central and Eastern portions of the Southlands.

His life changes strangely after being exposed to a strange magical pollutant, which others in his company were as well. The abilities, perhaps borne of mutation, that he acquires during this time end up molding him into a man of heroic stature. Unfortunately, his chief rival, the nobleman Serenax, also develops along parallel lines and this becomes a thorn in his side throughout the campaign.

Characters

Vampyro

Physically, he is about 6'3” and lean, almost gaunt in appearance. He has pale sallowish skin, long black hair and glinting black eyes. His features are sharp and thin. He tends to wear dark colors which accentuate a sinister aspect.

Jedon

He is of medium size, 5'10” and of a middling build, though very lean and muscular like a career soldier. He has mid-length rose-blond hair and pale blueish-green eyes. He tends to favor the blue uniforms of the Southern Army, with whom he served.

His personal politics are Royalist and he has a distaste for the Quadrarchy. He knows that it will not settle for the current territory it has and will try to expand again as soon as possible. Thus, it is something of his personal mission to stop it. However, during the course of his adventures he finds that the tyranny in the West is actually less of a threat than that from the North.

Arkonian Update

Updated Arkon Document

Purpose: To discuss some of the previously unaddressed issues. Namely, the religion, politics, and geography of Arkon. I want to revisit the technological background of Arkon. It seems that by the Verial campaign things were in a more modern setting to an extent. In fact, it was very disjointed. That needs to be addressed. Arkon by the Verial campaign may be some kind of modern dystopia but it needs to be addressed in a way that makes sense.

Cultural Notes

Due to the fantastic nature of the setting, certain currents didn't take root. Instead of an atheist/materialist paradigm which wouldn't make sense in light of the setting like in the RW, I envisage a Religion of Darkness spreading in tandem with an evil-aligned oligarchy which installs puppet rulers like, for instance, the Baron Krieg. The Master of the Black Syndicate, Arxam, is both a criminal prince and a Dark Priest, though the latter is revealed later.

Saen is to some extent like the Continental European kingdoms of old. Jadus, I suppose, though being separated from it by the sea, may be more akin to the kingdoms of Scandinavia and Britain. These places seem to be the center of the world by the time of the Verial campaign. This would match up to an extent with the RW. The issue of whether there was colonialism of a kind needs to be addressed also.

What is interesting is designing a history for it that parallels RW events to a degree, but also has to account for races and beings that don't exist in RW history. This is certainly a challenge and can lead to absurdities at times, but this may be part of the fun.

Geographical Notes

Saen is a large continent and it has many zones. However, some important things must be noted. The mountain chains which run along the west of the continent are not very high, perhaps equivalent in some ways to the height of the Dividing Range in Australia. The central part of the continent tends to be somewhat high elevation, before declining again to the east culminating in lowlands that are marshy in the southeast and rockier areas in the northwest. The highest mountain chain seems to be the large range that mostly, but for some gaps, divides Southern Saen from Central Saen.

As for climate, because Saen is mid-latitude, it tends to have a temperate climate in many places, except for at high elevations. The biome ranges from forest to semiarid, with perhaps a few areas of aridity, such as the waste in Anteras country east of Kriegsburg. In general, continental type conditions with greater seasonal swings in temperature are more common inland, while more steady temps prevail near the sea. Southern Saen is generally hot in the summer and mild in the winter, Central Saen also has hot summers but slightly cooler winters, and Northern Saen may approach continental changes in places with cold winters and warm summers.

The major cities that are involved seem to have been Koralden, Kriegsburg and Sylvan-Town where Verial grew up, though others could easily be broached.

Religious Notes

In Jadus, the emphasis on polytheism is stronger, with six major popular deities, and many other lesser known ones. These were War, Healing, Justice, Fire, Darkness and Strife.

In Saen, the Church of the South was dominant for much of their history. It was strongly Light-aligned for much of its history, though it has been accused of becoming corrupt in latter years and faith in it has fallen. This has in turn led to the rise of some other religious movements, but some of these are strongly persecuted in places where the old church holds sway. The Northern Kingdoms broke away to the religion of the Dark some time ago. There is also another movement that coincided with the events before the rise of Emperor Peregrine. This is the Temple of the Liberty, which still has devoted adherents in many cities of the South.

Cities

Kriegsburg

This is well known as the most visited city in the Verial campaign because of its status around the time of the War of Ideals. The traditional first city of the South was Koralden, but because of all of the goings on in that city, the trade declined and the highest cultural expressions left. Kriegsburg was a natural location for a center after that, due to its advantageous position (controlling the trade routes from Port Varas), its defensibility, and its diversified economy. Furthermore, the rule of the Krieg family made it quite stable. It was here that the Black Syndicate made their new headquarters, knowing that the South depended on this area as a bastion of the Light more than anywhere else.

The city is large and has several important districts:

Central – where the markets and many public buildings are

Reservoir – a suburb by the man-made lake

Blackgate – well-known as the seedy part of town

The Hill – where the urban patriciate of wealthy men and women live

Warehouse – in the western part of the city, this is where the thieves hide out

Farer's quarter – by the main entrance to the city, inns and businesses are here

Kriegsburg is in a somewhat high elevation savanna type climate, with deciduous or mixed woods. It is an area of relative dryness but not aridity. It has warm summers and cool winters. Snowfall is not uncommon in wintertime, though it tends not to stay around except in the peaks above the city. It is ideal land for ranching and some kinds of crops.

Koralden

Known for being a large and grandiose city, it was actually in severe decline around the time of the Verial campaign. A combination of the Church of the Dark's activities, influx of loyal monsters brought in by same, the warring factions of the city, and the general chaos, it became for a long time a very dangerous place to go to. This has begun to change by the time of the later Vampyro campaign, thanks to the activities of the Quadrarchy. It becomes the center of the new state.

It is known for palaces and libraries, great cathedrals and public edifices, institutions of learning and highly charged sectarian politics. It is by the Vampyro campaign a growing cultural center with poets, painters and composers calling it home. This is made possible by the heavy police presence of the mercenaries of the Quadrarchy.

Koralden has a pleasant climate of the Mediterranean type, with warm summers and mild winters. It is moderated by the influence of the nearby sea. It exists in a chaparral and woodland type of a climate and it generally sees rainfall mostly in the winter, with summer being very dry.

Technology level

At the time of the Verial campaign, it would seem that the technology level is something akin to the FF VI world. That is, some industry, and definite urbanism, but certain things like the combustion engine are not there. Nor are huge populations which would require industrial scale agriculture. Gunpowder does exist but has never been widely used or developed beyond cannons. In short, some of the things that were decisive in creating the modern world are not so in Arkon.

However, flying machines due to the floater have been made, though they are not available to anyone other than state actors. It does seem that by the Vampyro campaign, some level of commercial airship travel has become available, at least to adventurers with the money to pay.

General notes

Part of what made the Quadrarchy a possibility was the chaos in the wake of the War of Ideals. There was, by that time, a large surplus of mercenary warriors for hire and this was something which a force with enough money and influence could take advantage of. This was aided by the discovery of the Great Trove of Diamonds, which also was found in the days of Jarlaxle (a hero of the days around the same time of Aceries).

General trends

I'm really not sure what to make of the whole Belghast plotline. This is something that needs serious consideration.

Notes from the Green Tome, part I

Notes from the Green Tome

Old Party

Jarlaxle

Drow m

Mage/Thief

Garth

Orog m

Barbarian

Pristen

Grey elf m

Light Mage

Granite

Mul m

Mentalist

Maikal

Human m

Cleric of

Araktius

Svirfneblin m

Fighter

Jurys

Urd m

Wind Mage/Thief

Keelia

Tabaxi f

Ranger

Taranus

Human m

Coronia

Fire Genasi f

Fire Mage

Note: This group apparently took place in Archon as well, despite the fact that this was never formally stated; however, it clearly took place in the same continent of Jadus that the other campaign run out of Breck began. I don't recall that this story was ever resolved. It seems to me that it slowly grew more bizarre and fizzled out. There is possibly some promise here though. Probably the best thing was the empire-building, invading a new continent story.

A List of Characters from the Archon days

Deathbyrd

High elf m ce

Fighter 20/Mage 19

Notes: A very dangerous renegade from a branch of the Royalty.

Cursion

High elf m cg

Mage 18

Notes: Consort to Lady Rilwen.

Rilwen

Grey elf f lg

Mage 24

Notes: Faithful second to the Empress.

Empress Faiana

Grey elf f lg

Mage 31

Notes: The current Empress of Oram.

Grandmaster Gamion

Human m cg

Fighter 25

Notes: He is master of all of the guilds affiliated with the Jadus Fighter's Guild.

Master Emmion

Half-elf m ng

Fighter 21

Notes: He runs the Home District of the Fighter's Guild and is the most trusted lieutenant of Gamion.

Ackil

Half-elf m ne

Mage 22

Notes: A mysterious and cruel adventurer affiliated with the Order of the Red Crescent.

Lady Aronea

Grey elf f ng

Mage 19

Notes: Another higher up lady in the Empress' court.

Caladon

High elf m cg

Thief 28

Kelrick

Grey elf m lg

Mage 25

Sorik

Half-elf m cg

Fighter 28

Nightwraith

Dark elf m

Mage 29

Galvinus

Ralaas

Zydek

Helven

Dem

Blacktych

Darkstrom

Oscrune

Redthorne

Paladar

Tyco

Boinne

Nyth

Talaza

Venitiana

Magiton

Mirebel

Cilvaras

Night

Naras

Horos

Jarax

Stormwind

Noori

Masyak

Notes: This list was part of, though certainly not near all of, the cast that frequented Jadus in those legendary times.

Strange List

Verial is listed as having 10 companions: Aleran, Lengdon, Sorin, Kolendur, Ralos, Erich Dainich, Stenis, Warin, Garald Dainich, and Shiraac.

Notes on Major Villains

From the Saen/Verial campaign it really ought to be obvious just who the main antagonists were: Namely, Arxam and Count Savil. Arxam because he is a major figure in the darkness unfolding, and the head of the strange Black Syndicate. Count Savil because he is, though Verial doesn't know it, the blood enemy of House Kithamnus and wants to eradicate that line for good, in addition to being a generally power-hungry and opportunistic evil bastard. Derus also could be defined as a major villain, although his role here is a bit more ambiguous, since he seems to change roles as more is learned about him. Though he certainly was introduced as a villain, this is something that probably can't be said by the time of Verial's campaign ends. However, given the future glimpsed when Verial was taken to the Palace of Visions, this could change again in time.

List of characters run by JL

Aceries – champion of light and would-be redeemer of the gne

-his plan to recreate the gne never worked out, but he did restore order to the land and put down the evil that plagued it

-5'11”, 175 lbs, black hair, blue eyes

Verial – classic nobleman of dual nature

-6'2”, 200 lbs, brown hair, green eyes

Blaze – romantic doomed hero

-5'10”, 165 lbs, red hair, turquoise eyes

Kelsar – warrior turned business man

-6'3”, 235 lbs, dark brown hair and eyes

Tigerfolly - changeling

Blackhawk – a soldier

Firefate

Verial and Sirine the Younger

Vampiro

Unnamed Drow

List of NPCs run by GM aiding/interacting with these

Kastral – a strangely reserved adventurer but with iron courage

Erich Daenich – a heavy-drinking knight

-6'6”, 245 lbs, brown hair and beard, blue eyes

Cursell

Alethon

Ekois

Randol

Axlin – begins as a Lawman but turns to an independent adventurer

Notes on the Battle of Venmont

This was the first major battle of the war that goes on throughout much of the Verial campaign. It ended inconclusively, as both sides were forced to withdraw for future action. Verial succeeded in commanding a detachment that ended the Dark Army's outflanking manoeuvre and killed the captain of the wing. But he was unhorsed and defeated in combat with a mysterious man, Derus. This kicked off the drama between the two, as he found out that his wife was put into a coma trying to save him from Derus. Luckily the Light Army was able to turn the tide and recover despite setbacks. Both sides take considerable losses and retire for a future battle, while most of the climactic single-combats likewise end inconclusively. These were:

Strohb v Unnamed, Cursell v Night, Syrus v Karad, Kalidar v Count Savil, and Sirine Talon and Rose v Ashiram.

Toward resolution

-Political organization of Saen:  I want it to be along feudal lines in general, but not of uniform nature.  For example, I thought about having duchies, or principalities - but why not have both?  I also have decided there would be kings, of the north and the south.  But there is also an imperial idea, that is not limited by either time or space.  This is, however, inactive to an extent, until it is resurrected by the time of the wars in the Verial campaign.  The Dark Imperium is an offshoot of this idea.

-The Black Syndicate is a mercantile concern outwardly, but inwardly it has much more sinister motives, as Verial learned.  The leader Arksham is a dark priest, affiliated to some degree by way of religious views, with the Dark Imperium, and sympathizes with them to an extent.  However, it is not clear that his goals are actually entirely in line with them.  His alliance with the Guardian Spirit Koros, who is not known to be of affiliation with DI, may be indicative of other ideas despite some common goals.  Nonetheless, the Black Syndicate acts to subvert the order in the south.  It is based for a time in Kriegsburg, because despite that city's status as only a Barony-level territory, it is one of the most important cities of the south.  This owes to its diverse economy, strong military base and the control of the trade route to Port Varas.

There is indication that the BS was involved in the subversion of the order in Port Varas, and that this is what first brought Verial's activities to their attention.  Furthermore, the poisoning of the old Lord Anteras and the disappearance of his heir may also be the handiwork of the BS.  This does weaken the current order yet further for the northern aggression.

Also worth exploring is the question of the Violet Syndicate.  This group seemed to be similar in some ways to the BS but was run out of the Lordship of Anteras relatively early and did not figure again.  This group deserves more explanation pursuant to a reappearance, since they were never destroyed, only divested for a time.

-The town labeled 'Hell on Earth' refers to Coroldon, a city that was once a shining example of all of the south's most precious ideals and the most important southwestern port.  But all of this changed with ongoing dynastic wars, and the arrival of nasty newcomers.  This is why Port Varas became such an important trade route, despite being shabbier and smaller.

-New hero:  Jedon of House Medeines.  He is a young soldier with high ideals but dissolute habits, who comes of age in a difficult time.  He will be the main character of the upcoming campaign.  Physically, he is a man of average height and build, but good looks, keen mind and strong physis.  He has blond hair and emerald-green eyes, with tanned skin.

Further questions to be resolved

-There are 3 commonly spoken languages in the lands of Saen, one of which was brought from farther south in the imperial days, one of which is native farther north and perhaps has some commonality with the indigenous tongues of Jadus, and a third category which has made ingress from farther east.  This last category may be actually more than one family.

-The lands of Saen are fairly urbanized but some areas of hinterland remain even in the later campaigns.

-Technology:  It's hard to determine just where to place the tech level of the later campaigns.  It probably is, realistically, pre-industrial.  This should have been resolved.  It could have some degree of FF style technology which wouldn't have a place in medieval campaigns, but not full on industry.

-The men of Saen might realistically be compared to the Caucasian race in general, and the same is also true of some of the other areas.  In particular it has strong elements of the Nordic, Alpine and Mediterranean races - though probably the former two are dominant in Saen.

-The whole continent is loosely unified behind the Imperial idea from ages past, but unity has been traditionally hard to come by.  I'm thinking of developing Kingdoms and Leagues more specifically, and soon.  The later campaigns saw the rise of the Dark Imperium, and this is a topic in itself worthy of further explanation.

-Is there some kind of colonial situation going on?  Best develop the localities before addressing this altogether.

-The status of the demihumans and humanoids and the rest of the less natural denizens has likewise to be addressed in a more satisfactory way.

-All of this owes to the problems of whimsy that come from youthful exuberance.  It was started as a DND campaign but it evolved beyond that rather quickly, in ways that don't quite make sense in retrospect.  It doesn't have to be too rigidly answered, but some improvement is certainly desirable.

Geography notes

Geography of Saen

It seems that it is longer on the axis N-S than E-W.  The Western part seems to be more mountainous and rugged, while the Eastern is not fully mapped out.  Perhaps I will make this marshier, delta-land type of environment.

Around Ironforge I think we could put about 3 different major chains.  And I'm thinking that just east of there would be another chain with arc shape.  From here would originate two major rivers, which would enclose a fertile land.  This would be some kind of middle kingdom, of Men, but not of Saen.

And farther east is the land of Zheridus.  I am not sure just what the character of this land will be yet.  Although it is certainly, judging from the notes, a Kingdom of the Dark rather than of the Light.  It is supposedly either directly ruled by dark magicians, or behind-the-scenes.

I will develop this a bit more in due time.  I think due to the position of the continent globally, it would fall into the Subtropical or, in some places, the transition between Subtropical and Temperate.  Where the campaign was set would probably be something like the American South, although the area around Kriegsburg is a bit drier, being as it is on the leeward side of a mountain range.  Perhaps Port Varas and the Western Coast has sort of a chaparral, Mediterranean feel.

More to come

PS there is a way to map but this is time consuming, but it's in the plans anyway.

Ideas to develop

Great Northern Empire
-and relation of said to Saga of Aceries

Character of ages:
Aceries takes place in Age of Heroism
Verial takes place in Age of Apogee and Beginning Decline
Vampiro takes place in Age of Darkness

Saen
-North vs South.
-If it had to be described it is something like a Carolingian system, that is, a kingdom whose RW parallel would be something of a Latin-Germanic synthesis.

Nature of international knowledge
-It seems that in these campaigns there was knowledge of international travel and trade, possibly more pronounced in later campaigns than earlier ... or perhaps reaching a peak at Verial and once again declining

What about minor characters
-The campaign of Seigneur Blaze comes to mind...  This was forgotten in the first overview - and perhaps there were others also?

Racial traits of the peoples of Arkon

What about Demihumans?  Common in earlier campaigns, seemingly fading by later.  More must be said...

Rather updated view at old school characters from Arkon

Characters from the old days Arkon

Verial Kithamnos

-Hard-minded aristocrat and main character of the second saga.  He was named for a long-deceased hero.  He is a descendant of the famous Kithamnos clan which has its territories in eastern Saen.

Appearance:  6’2”, 210 lbs, dark brown hair, dark green eyes, tanned complexion

Sirine

-Verial’s loyal wife and a priestess of the fire goddess

Appearance:  5’8”, 140 lbs, auburn hair, blue-green eyes, pale complexion

Arxam

-Dark priest and leader of the black syndicate, a main antagonist of the saga

Appearance:  6’, 230 lbs, black hair, black eyes, tanned complexion

Dyerus

-Mysterious ancient human warrior made immortal after being infused with the Godsblood (apparently none of the other Rune Knights survived the experimentation that was done on them), in some ways the main antagonist of the first part of the saga.  Later he becomes a comrade of Vampyro and a Quadrarch.

Appearance:  6’3”, 195 lbs, black hair, green eyes, light tan complexion

Strohb

-Cocky and humorous thief, ally of Verial

Appearance:  5’11”, 170 lbs, brown hair, hazel eyes, light complexion

Meric Vellman

-General in the Shadow War, later assassinated by Verial

Appearance:  6’4”, 180 lbs, platinum hair, pale grey eyes, light complexion

Beldhecat

-Old, seasoned adventurer

Appearance:  6’, 170 lbs, black hair and beard, black eyes, light tan complexion

Allerus

-Informant and researcher, ally of Verial

Appearance:  6’1”, 160 lbs, blond hair, green eyes, light complexion

Count Savyle

-Evil magician, antagonist

Appearance:  6’3”, 180 lbs, black hair and beard, brown eyes, light complexion

Maroh (the Magus)

-Vampyro’s ally, a mysterious mage from an ancient civilization, and one of the Quadrarchs

Appearance:  6’2”, 195 lbs, silver hair, red-violet eyes, pale complexion

“Slick”

-One of the Archmagi in Jadus, later part of the Quadrarchy set up by Vampyro

Lord Ulfred Krieg

-Duke of the Kriegsland Duchy and Lord of Kriegsburg.

Appearance:  6’6”, 265 lbs, brown hair and beard, brown eyes

Galan Vostok

-A character mentioned in adventures set in Jadus, this tyrant is the descendent of the famous Rath Vostok who drove the yrch from the area around Home after the local aristocrats, the Folcners, lost to them and fled.  He rules the city his ancestor founded, Vostok City north and east of Home.

There were at least three sagas:

-First was the Saga of Aceries, a strange story of an adventurer who was originally aligned with evil forces, but later forsook that path and found his way to the light.  The action took place mainly on the continent of Jadus, the first campaign land.  Aceries eventually completed his adventures and ascended to demigodhood.

-The second saga, longest of all in all likelihood, was the Saga of Verial.  This was a complicated story that involved many parts including the great struggles between the dark-aligned powers and the light-aligned powers.  The action took place mainly on the continent of Cairen, on the subcontinent of Saen.

-The third saga was the Saga of Vampyro, the tale of an assassin who capitalizes on the coming of the shadow and orchestrates the rise of a tyrannical oligarchy.  This Saga takes place in Saen, probably about 30 years after the events of the Saga of Verial ended.

Arkon Characters Expanded, from 2006

Daron Arvidson

-Paladin of the Order of the White Horse, an errant of the faith and foe of Vampyro

Gunnar fon Esken

-Master of the Order of the White Horse

Hanwulf Kayllor

-Paladin of the OotWH

Cadarin Lenweck

-Lady knight of House Lenweck

Rendell Ellabar

-Mage of the Pale Fire Brotherhood

Dhimitri Jinnerov

-Agent of House Mordaine

Altus Bari

Ghazey Tarikits

Voelyrn

Raule Lenord

Yuliana

Theresion

Vance Goltenmark

Eilla Serenus

Raniya

Reschel

Desmonde Deverin

Dinara

Harald Torinson

Marek Slyhand

Serges Adnor

-General of Caltan

Anton Vilan

-Infamous bandit-adventurer

Green Aric

-A druid and world-wanderer who is reluctant to take part in the goings-on of the realms

tbc

Notes about the geographical regions of Arkon

The Arkon Campaign Setting Notes

-This document is entitled notes because, while the ACS is old and has been used, it has never been systematized and this new form of it is in early stages.

Geographical Gazetteer

-Luckily I was able to dig up a folder that had an old drawing about Arkon.  This is for all practical purposes the only such map in existence.  While it’s not perfect, it’s an important start.  Therefore I intend to revise it, and to give a gazetteer for it as well.  This is a good place to start.

-Here is the list of places labeled:

Continents with one name:

Oram

Amaxeotl (or Amazeotl)

Alamar

Jadus

Kadnus (or Kadeon)

Caltan

Shai-Tang (or Lo Dien)

Asara

Nordmeir

Lenea Island

Continents with more than one name depending on region:

Long Continent (Goureyn):  Thoren, Agerus, Dalus, Crystalan, Fayus

South/Tropics Continent (Nuriel):  Kairst, Barak Mir, Firanth

Mid-Latitude Continent (Brynn or Cairan):  Saen, Ironforge, Zheridus

Other Mid-Latitude Continent:  Kingor, Shadeus, Daruk

So, now it is up to me to figure out what these are to mean depending on what is listed for them and what I want for my campaign as possibilities.

There are some notes on what these particular continents and regions mean, but these are incomplete as they were written at a time when I was considerably less focused.  Nevertheless, I’ll sketch it out.  This is very much subject to change.

Jadus: Temperate continent, center of the first campaign.  The notes say ‘modern’ but this aspect of the campaign is being abandoned in favor of a more LMA/Renaissance feel.  I was thinking that this could be something similar to NA except colonized by Europeans earlier, but also home to other races.  Perhaps there’s a bit of a Scandinavian influence here too, sort of like the Vinland concept of NA as opposed to the Anglo and Iberian American rw.

Asara:  This is a smaller continent, apparently inspired by Ancient Middle Eastern peoples.  Strangely, it is placed rather far north for that, but perhaps we can look into this.

Amaxeotl:  This is clearly meant to be based on the high cultures of the Mesoamerican region.

Kadeon/Kadnus:  The notes mysteriously say ‘like medieval age’.  I don’t know what to make of this.  Maybe we will make this an Iberian type land with ties to the priest and merchant run land of Caltan.

Caltan:  It is supposedly a priest-run nation.  Perhaps this is an Italic type land.

Barak Mir:  This is a dwarf run nation.

Firanth:  This land is supposed to be similar to India.

Daruk:  This is supposedly similar to England, though again the geography is a bit of a question mark.

Saen:  Though this was not listed in the original list, it was the setting for two main characters and I can say with confidence that it had sort of a central European feel, with both German and French elements.

Zheridus:  This is supposedly a realm run by evil mages.  Perhaps there could be a Slavic feel to this area?

Thoren:  This land is apparently relatively arid (though given its geography this isn’t clear), and is yet another magocracy – seemingly neutral ones (though unsure).

There are no other notes so all of the other regions are completely without explanation.

It’s important to consider what is wanted here.  Are elf, hin, gnome, or other nations called for here?  What about other human nations?  I can think of many that weren’t represented above.  NA Indians and SA Indians (since I like to call Mesoamerica MA), various types of South Asians (i.e. Austroasiatics, Tai-Kadai, Austronesians, etc), Melanesians/Papuans/Austro-Aborigines, Africans of any sort, more modern Near Easterners, Steppe peoples (Turkic, Mongol, etc), etc etc.

Keeping track of campaign settings

New Ideas For Campaigns

Last night, as I was drifting off, I came up with a great idea for my next campaign but it has been lost since I didn’t write it down and assured myself I could remember in the morning.  This wasn’t the case.  I’m not interesting in making this same mistake again, so from now on this is where inspired ideas will go pending review and development.

It seems to me that the idea had something to do with my old campaign, which I have resurrected to some extent in a new and improved form (or that is at any rate the idea), and I will try to remember what it was.

Campaigns for consideration:

-Shadowrun (with slightly altered timeline)

-WoD

-FR/Faerun

-Mystara

-Archon*

*Archon is my own campaign world which dates back to the mid-90s and was first inaugurated in the fall of 1996 after my time spent that summer on Realms (which is apparently still around despite near-0 activity).  It was also connected to a wider sphere of worlds.  It remains on my agenda to develop this a bit more.  It’s not the worst place for a starting point, since it has something of a foundation to build on.

-The new and unnamed campaign world which was inspired by George RR Martin’s works (sort of), and which I conceived first in the summer of 2013 during my trip to Queensland, Australia.  The “sort of” refers more to a general renewed interest in an intrigue/politics based setting than any direct inspiration.  In addition to GRRM’s focus on political movements, I was also inspired by his innovative approach to world-building.  But the work in its entirety is still my own.

-Others (there are no shortage of these but I can expand on this later)

updated version of campaign ideas

Ideas for new campaign

-1 continent for western Europe, another few continents for other inspired cultures.

-6 major culture areas in the western continent, with subareas for each:  Medania, Annoria, Callania, Enthalia, Nordenia, and Ilenia.  These would correspond roughly to Spain, Britain, France, Germany, Scandinavia, and Italy.  So there would be the Four Kingdoms of Medania, the Eight Kingdoms of Annoria, the Kingdom of Callania, the Grand Imperium of Entalia, the Three Kingdoms of Nordenia and the Principalities of Ilenia.

-Demihumans exist but their settlements on the western continent are small, so they are rare in the west.  They do not generally like to live around men for various reasons.

-The races will be somewhat simple.  The Northmen are the people of most of Annoria, Entalia and Nordenia, as well as part of the other three kingdoms.  The Southmen are the people of most of Medania, Ilenia, and Callania.  The Southmen do not generally live in the North, even though the Northmen have moved in some numbers to the south.  The Southmen are more mixed as they also have mixed with the Desert Men of the continent to the south. 

-History:  There were once two great empires of men on this continent.  The Stone Men in the North and the Cavern Men in the south.  However, these bronze age civilizations were lost and no one knows how to read their writing, so not much is known about them – except for the fact that they are probably the predecessors to the modern Northmen and Southmen respectively.  To further complicate things, another population known as the High Men came from the east after the ancient empires fell and set up other empires.  The northern one split into warring groups and eventually fell, while the south became more and more powerful.  It eventually conquered much of the continent, as well as lands on the continents to the east and south, ruling over the Desert Men and the Civilized East.  However, they eventually were more or less assimilated into the local populace and in an ill understood period of chaos the empire collapsed.  Some people have attributed this to invasions from warlords originating in Entalia and Nordenia, but this is only part of the story and may not have been decisive in the collapse whatsoever.  Nevertheless, it seems clear that many modern aristocratic houses descend from either Northern warlords or High Men of the last age.

-Races:  High Men (mostly assimilated but some aristocratic houses are relatively unmixed), Northmen, Southmen, Hillmen (uncivilized tribes of the south), Clansmen (uncivilized tribes of the north), Men of the Holy Realm (northern Civilized East), Men of the Great Cult lands (southern Civilized East), Nomads of the Steppes and Wastes (East), Desert Men, White Eyes (Far North peoples on western and eastern continent), etc.

-Organization:  Each realm has its own traditions of rule, and these can be quite different from one another. 

In Annore, since the Keirlans of Waldaine (in Callania) united the formerly warring petty kingdoms, the feudal nobility is powerful with the Dukes (formerly Kings) being like to rulers in their own right.  This owes to the compromise that Richard Keirlan made early on in order to keep the kingdom he had built cohesive.  Yet few of the Dukes, despite their power, will openly rebel against the Crown unless given good reason.  It is currently ruled by House Lynnethe, descendants of House Keirlan’s maternal line, with their paternal line deriving from Angelon in Callania.

In Callania, the system has developed to have a strong king, whose power comes at the expense of the nobility.  In earlier times, Callania was very fragmented, but over the years, House Cassian has consolidated its power and established a strong and centralized rule.  The Cassian Kings, like the Tescelin Kings before them, are the main force that keeps an otherwise fractious land well in order.  Unlike in Annore, where the Kings rely on the support of regional Dukes that are rival noble families, the Callanian Kings choose Dukes from their own family whenever possible and try to put down the power of local nobles.  However, some of the old nobility are still quite powerful and resist the King’s agenda, such as the Counts of Chamelon.

Enthalia is called the Grand Imperium but this is a misleading name in most respects.  While the area has been more or less unified in the past, it has always had a powerful local nobility.  And in the past centuries the decentralization has increased.  Though there is an Emperor, who is nominally the ruler of the country, in reality he depends for most things on the nobility and is only as powerful as his allies – who will vary depending on his personal charisma.  The country is dominated by local nobles, powerful merchant cartels, and the clergy. 

Nordenia has the shortests tradition of Kingship.  Formerly it was a land of warring Jarls, but in the last few centuries it has become more and more ‘civilized’ though it still seems like a rough frontier land to the men from more cultured regions.  The nobility is powerful here, although Kings have been able to maintain order.  Slowly the area has coalesced into three major Kingdoms and a few minor states as well.

Medania is broken into Four Kingdoms, but the Kings here have forged a cohesive agreement with local nobility and priests to the extent that they are quite strong and independent units.  There is less distinction between these three estates than there may be elsewhere, and this is a land of strong, and some may even say fanatical, religious faith.

-Notes concerning the families:

-House Keirlan originated from Nordenian raiders who settled in the Waldaine region of Callania.  The old Duke of Waldaine, Aldous I, had a highborn wife Yda who was unfortunately sterile.  He took a mistress, Hermesent, who was the daughter of a townsman in his family’s seat of Roche Verte.  She was a comely woman, and fertile, and gave him two sons, Richard and Theobald, and a daughter, Hugolina.  He was forced to break off the liaison and married her to a close friend.  But his sons ended up taking advantage of the long wars plaguing Annore at the time.  Richard, who grew to be a man of vast personal charisma and great military and administrative brilliance, managed to enter the land that had never before unified and conquer it in one long campaign.  There was only one rebellion, not long after he won, which he put down with ruthless efficiency.  But Richard craved conquest and he wanted to hunt an old firedrake that was said to live in the northern mountains, and his entourage took him there.  He never returned.  As conquest was his one true love, and since his bastard birth had made him reluctant to father any baseborn children, he died without issue.  His brother, Theobald, who had been by his side in the conquests and who was more cautious and measured, became King.  He ended up marrying Adelina of Valandor, who gave him 11 children.  Though his eldest son, Aldous, should have been legal heir to all the possessions, his father did not favor him and he was only given Waldaine, which led to discord.  Eventually, one of his brothers, Hildebrand I, defeated him and incorporated his realm into the Kingdom of Annore.

-Geography:

Apart from the isle of Annore in the west and some isles in the south and east, there is the large mainland continent of Lorene.  Another continent, Maurwen, is not far beyond the eastern isles, and it is much larger.  Similarly, there is a continent to the north which is almost at the poles, and the continent of Khine beyond Maurwen farther east.  There are also the continents of Tazarene and Soundia further south.

Lorene is divided fairly well by the Titanspine mountains which run north to south through the center of the continent.  Four smaller ranges radiate out from it, forming aa rough dual-k formation.  Thus there are five realms:  Callania in the west, Nordenia across the north, Enthalia in the east, Ilenia in the southeast, and Medania in the southwest. 

-History of Annore:

The pattern of settlement is similar to that found in other parts of Lorene, but with its own variations.  First were the Rock Men, who wandered and never settled.  Then came the Flint Men, who farmed and lived in villages.  It was in the age of the Bronze Men that the first civilization arose here, the great Stonebuilder culture.  Although these people were literate to some extent, no one has deciphered their writing.  They were the first people to establish the town of Fenne on an island in the mighty Layne river.  The Iron Men came later.  It was said that this was a violent conquest, but whether that is true is far from certain.  These iron men built fortresses and were not altogether dissimilar to those who had come before.  They became the ancestors of the Clansmen.  After this came the High Men, or Steel Men, who established the Northern Empire here.  However, it eventually fragmented and its weakened remnants were destroyed in the era of the Darkwatch.  However, it was ruled again for a time by High Men from the Southern Empire which had survived the Darkwatch and put an end to the Kingdom of Ebonfire.  But the cost of this was the death of both Empires’ trueborn lines and the Southern Empire was not able to hold together after their Priest-Kings had been lost.  A period of chaos ensued.  Only one brief period of stability was to be had for centuries, when the Annorean warlord Aron the Conqueror established a kingdom and eventually conquered much of the old Southern Empire lands as well.  Unfortunately this did not long outlast his death and the realm fell prey to the invasions of migrating Northmen.  Not too long after this, the Fisher Northmen, as they were called, adopted the Imperial Cult as their religion and established numerous small kingdoms in Annore.  They were occasionally disrupted by invasions from Frostsea Northmen.  This was the state of affairs that more or less persisted until the Unification of Annore by Richard and Theobald Kaerlan, at which point the petty kingdoms became Duchies and the invasions from the Frostsea Northmen began to fade away.

Places in Annore:

Crown Duchy of Fenne

Duchy of Percia (largest and oldest apart from Fenne)

Duchy of Lakelands

Duchy of Athelmark

Duchy of Cairnheath

Important Families in Annore:

House Lynnethe, the Angelon Norians and Kings of Annore

House Corcelle

House Maubrey

House Brynwell

House Athereon

ideas for new campaign

-1 continent for western Europe, another few continents for other inspired cultures.

-6 major culture areas in the western continent, with subareas for each:  Medania, Annoria, Callania, Entalia, Nordenia, and Ilenia.  These would correspond roughly to Spain, Britain, France, Germany, Scandinavia, and Italy.  So there would be the Four Kingdoms of Medania, the Eight Kingdoms of Annoria, the Kingdom of Callania, the Grand Imperium of Entalia, the Three Kingdoms of Nordenia and the Principalities of Ilenia.

-Demihumans exist but their settlements on the western continent are small, so they are rare in the west.  They do not generally like to live around men for various reasons.

-The races will be somewhat simple.  The Northmen are the people of most of Annoria, Entalia and Nordenia, as well as part of the other three kingdoms.  The Southmen are the people of most of Medania, Ilenia, and Callania.  The Southmen do not generally live in the North, even though the Northmen have moved in some numbers to the south.  The Southmen are more mixed as they also have mixed with the Desert Men of the continent to the south. 

-History:  There were once two great empires of men on this continent.  The Stone Men in the North and the Cavern Men in the south.  However, these bronze age civilizations were lost and no one knows how to read their writing, so not much is known about them – except for the fact that they are probably the predecessors to the modern Northmen and Southmen respectively.  To further complicate things, another population known as the High Men came from the east after the ancient empires fell and set up other empires.  The northern one split into warring groups and eventually fell, while the south became more and more powerful.  It eventually conquered much of the continent, as well as lands on the continents to the east and south, ruling over the Desert Men and the Civilized East.  However, they eventually were more or less assimilated into the local populace and in an ill understood period of chaos the empire collapsed.  Some people have attributed this to invasions from warlords originating in Entalia and Nordenia, but this is only part of the story and may not have been decisive in the collapse whatsoever.  Nevertheless, it seems clear that many modern aristocratic houses descend from either Northern warlords or High Men of the last age.

-Races:  High Men (mostly assimilated but some aristocratic houses are relatively unmixed), Northmen, Southmen, Hillmen (uncivilized tribes of the south), Clansmen (uncivilized tribes of the north), Men of the Holy Realm (northern Civilized East), Men of the Great Cult lands (southern Civilized East), Nomads of the Steppes and Wastes (East), Desert Men, White Eyes (Far North peoples on western and eastern continent), etc.

new setting

Actually it is based on the old setting of Arkon in the old days, although I may come up with a new name.

Places

The current setting is the continent of Beron, which is the main continent.  It can be imagined as sort of a fantastic version of Europe.

Kingdom of Ennore
-Influenced by Great Britain, this country is an island kingdom and a constitutional monarchy with a powerful mercantile and industrial class that rules from behind the scenes; while the monarchy is not entirely without power, they do not assert their strength much and prefer to live an easy lifestyle and let others govern.

Heiligenreich
-The center of the Beron civilization for more than 1000 years, since the rise of the great lord Runo (successor to the Eleustrian Emperor Tescelin).  This realm has gone throug many permutations over the years.  Most recently, before PEregrine, it had been a collection of loosely organized states with no overarching rule.  After the reorganization that followed, it slowly moved toward unification, finally doing so after its leading kingdom defeated Angelin in a war.

Republic of Angelin (formerly Kingdom of Eleustria; Empire of Peregrine)
-This country was once, with Heiligenreich, the heart of Beron.  Its monarchy was overthrown in a violent revolution and a republic led by the Benite sect took over.  It proved too unstable to provide rule in the face of attacks by outlying realms afraid of its ambitions, which paved the way for the warlord Peregrine to seize power and attempt to totally conquer the other realms.  This attempt failed, and the country has seesawed between Imperial and Republican rule ever since.

Kingdom of Sacia
-This realm has a long and distinguished history.  It was once the heart of the Mesciel Empire, which once ruled large swathes of land both in and beyond Beron proper.  It also was, later on, a collection of powerful mercantile states under no centralized rule.  The city of Mesciel remained notable after the fall of its Empire, thanks to the institution of the Church.  The Great Father of the Church of Holy Light resides in this city.  However, after the schisms of several hundred years ago, the Church lost central power.  Then, around the same time, other kingdoms had set up an independent trade structure which led the states in Sacia to decline.  It is a constitutional monarchy, with strong differentiation between the north and south regions.

Empire of Aravos
-This realm was once a Tsardom that was the great bastion of the Eastern CoHL, which broke off from the Western long ago.  But it was overthrown in a revolution by an alliance between the peasantry and the Arogenian Order, who decided that together they could seize power from the declining lords.  Since then it has become powerful, but also increasingly bellicose and volatile.

Ideas

The setting is somewhat like postwar Europe but with a fantastic turn.  In some respects technology is similar to modernity, but there are also areas in which it is farther advanced due to the magic of the setting.  This setting might have some similarities to a mage ascension type setting, except that it represents more of a third position between technocracy and mythic than that setting did, which had the two very much in dualistic opposition.  Also, because of various reasons, religion did not decline in this setting to the extent it has in the real world, and religious sects wield great power as a consequence.

The countries were once united by a religion called the Church of the Holy Light.  This religion began to have internal problems which led to violent schisms several centuries prior.  However, it stayed a robust and powerful faith throughout challenges.  It was opposed by a heretical sect with some similarities known as the Arogenian Order which was once nearly wiped out, but began to gain in power after the schismatic period.  Another powerful sect arose during the great turmoil in Eleustria.  The Benite sect, a complete repudiation of the Holy Light religion, took control of the revolution there. However, it was unable to completely eradicate the power of the Holy Light and eventually was forced to come to a compromise with them after the fall of Peregrine.

Other MERP ideas

It seems that with Gondor and Arnor and their surrounding lands (NW Middle Earth), on the one hand, and Ormal Bay, on the other, that the 'Western' and 'Classical' cultural tendencies are more or less separated here but yet have an influence which goes back to a common origin, which is interesting. This is because Gondor, Arnor and the Northmen seem Western. Anarikani and Lynir are clearly more Greco-Roman.

So for the history of Ormal Bay, it looks as though there is both a Mesopotamian and Indian-style culture life before the coming of the Numenoreans, and a Classical style one after that which takes root in certain areas and at some point embraces all or most of the area. By the end of the Third Age we could see a Magian/Islamic style power at its latest stage.

people classification

HILDOR CLASSIFICATION

I´m going to defind Groups of wandering peoples of the first Age, a time at which most Men were Hunter-Gatherers in exception of the Lintador who were teached by Avari and Nandor and already were breeding Cattle and starting to
grow crops (the same might be possible for The Wômaw and maybe Lynerians).

The people which I list after these Groups are the various descendants and Cultures which are the Offspring of these very first Men in the different Ages. Of course there are later mixed peoples as the Dúnedain, Bellakaze or Tantûrakim which might be mentioned too. I sort those peoples after their main Cultural influence and Language. Languages and Body Features are one Main point which I mention, the Cultural descriptions (Nomad, Urban Culture) describe the developement of their ANCESTORS as far as known.

I will also mention possible Real-World influences which could logcally be used by anyone who wants to work with one of those cultures.Many of these possible Real-world influences are defined geographically after Antique Cultures or Language Groups.

1. Lintador

The attempt of this essay is to correcting the ICE scheme and to make the people-groups correspond more to Tolkien´s Peoples of Middle-Earth Essays. I changed the Iauredain/Edain/Eriedain into:

Lebanor (Beorians,Dorwinians,Eriadorians)
Kalanor (Hadorians, Northrons)
and
Druvir (Druedain, Beffraen)

And I´ve changed the Arhûnerim into:
Arhuivir (Haladin, Daen, People of Bor) and

Milevir (Forodwaith, Lossoth,Angmarim, People of Ulfang, Szreldor)

The Edain were composed of Beorians (Lebanor), Hadorians (Kalanor) and Haladin (Arhuinvir) plus Druedain (Druvir). This follows Tolkiens Idea that the Edain came from three different Groups of Men.

The Númenorians by this way were a mix of Lebanor, Kalanor and Arhuinvir Tribes and by this Way as well akin to the Northrons (Kalanor) and Eriadorans (Lebanor) but also to a small degree to the Daen (Arhuinvir) because of the Haladin part of their ancestry.

All the Black Númenorians and their Mixed-blooded descendants are descendants of Númenorians. The Lynir should belong to the part of Lintanor which was known as the Lebanor to the Nandor.

The Lynir belongs to the part of Lintanor which was known as the Lebanor to the Nandor.

The first Elves of the West who encountered the Men were probably Nandor who lived near the later Sea of Rhûn, the Avari who at first told them of the Men maybe were Windan, Penni or Hwenti.

The Linthanor

Now it happened, not a long time after the rise of the sun that the Elven Kindreds who stayed near the Northwestern coasts of the Inland Sea of Helcar encountered a strange people which came from the East. They soon recognized that they were not of the Elven kind, but also completely different from Orcs and other Dark Creatures and many of their Elven Brothers who also came from the eastern Lands at this time (Some say these elves were those whom the Sindar of Beleriand later called the Shadow Folk or Mornedhil) spoke of them as the linthanor" or Wanderers , but they did not tell much of this new People and wandered further to the west.

The first Men, whom the elves encountered were tall and broad and mostly of dark hair, they were a large host and carried their few goods on their backs. Some of these people whom the Elves called the "Lebanor" (Nan.: "those who have left behind") stayed near the western shores of the Sea of Rhûn (which was just a bay of the Inland Sea Helcar at the time) where the elves teached them how to build small boats and how to grow crops.

Soon after other Men arrived, they also were tall, but had strangely bright Hair, because of which the Elves called them the Kalanor (Nan. "bright people"). They knew the Lebanor and shared their language. Most of them settled west of their kin , but they were more fierce than them and many carried primitive Weapons. The elves rarely had any contact with them, but therefore the Kalanor were eager to trade with the Dwarves.

Now it was known to the elves , that other peoples were wandering into the west at the time too, but those wandered along the southcoast of the Inland Sea and spread across the Lands near the White Mountains. The first people
of whom the Elves heard called itself the Drû People, which the elves twisted into Druvir. They were strange beings, without question men, but small grown and completely different from the Lebanor or Kalanor.

Later two more hosts of Men arrived, who were led by many chieftains who were in strife with each other. The one Host was similar to the Lebanor, but smaller in body and more swarthy, the Elves called them "Arhuinvir", the second Host consisted of men who also were small and stout, but with yellowish Skin, why the Elves called them the "Milevir". There was much Strife among the two peoples and often Milevir tribes allied with tribes of the Arhuinvir to fight against their own brothers and the other Way around. This way it happened that the largest part of the Arhuinvir conquered the Lands around the white Mountains and slew the Drû people or drove them out. The other Arhuinvir and Milevir went north into the Lands of Eriador where the tribes fought with each other and tribes of the Lebanor who had come there before.

One part of the Arhuinvir , along with flying Drû who had joined them crossed the Blue Mountains , while a part of the Milevir was driven into the northern Waste by their own brothers. The remaining Arhuinvir now settled in southern Eriador or went across the Blue Mountains too with the rest of the Milevir.

Out of fear of the Warlike ways of men most of the elves hid themselves and shunned Men, but very few exceptions. But after much time Men returned from the Westlands and those, according to elvish tales, were escaping of heavy
earthquakes and thunderstorms which s attered the west at the time. These men , as the elves say, were part of the Milevir and they flew into the Lands east of the sea of Rhûn and subjugated the mannish tribes who had come to the west later and were living in the middle-lands. Of other mortal peoples the elves rarely speak, as they say it is hard to them to distinguish between mortals and their peoples change to fast to learnhow to make out any
differences between them.

Note (about Angmarim) :
I always thought of the Angmarim not as a distinct racial group that existed before Angmar was founded. Due to the unfortunate climate in the region there should be only small groups of hunter-gatherers (e.g. Lossoth and Hillmen) roaming the region.

I find it far more fitting that after Angmar's founding, large waves of immigrants came to Angmar (brought there through various means such as the promise of a better life for all enemies of the Dunedain). These immigrants would be drawn from many ethnic groups and formed into the Angmarim by the Witch-king and his lords. After Angmars defeat they were wiped out, so the Angmarim as a distinct people should be a relative short-lived phenomenon.

Easterlings and other folk of Rhovonian would be the larger part of the Angmarim ancestry. There would likely be Eriadorian clans living along the subarctic frontier marked by the mountain ridge at the site of Carn Dum. Because of the Lossadan life style, they would have a very scattered population and would be smaller genetic contributors to the Angmarim than even the Northmen.

Drûghu (Wilde Menschen)
Drúedain (Wasa)
Beffraen (Puckel men)
Honnin (Bozisha-Miraz)
Chaialla (Seven Lands)
Yatali-Gan (Sîrayn)
Yarulma (Ibav)

I had included the Angmarim because I thought to liknk them with the lossoth,
but they themselves don´t appear in the text itself anyway so it was just a
thought.

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2. Haradrim

Gondorians and others in the Dunadan cultural tradition tend to use the label "Haradrim" for anyone living south of the River Poros, even to the southernmost shores of the continent. For purposes of this listing, we will consider only the true Haradrim (the cultures and peoples of the Haradwaith ) and their close cultural relations. The Apysani, a people of the early Second Age, are the ancestral cultural group for most of the Haradrim. They were never a nation, just a collection of related (foot-bound) pastoral clans living just north of the Ered Harmal at the time of the War of Wrath. A thousand years later, their descendants had migrating through and populated most of the southwestern quarter of Endor. Their ancestors, still herders of sheep, cattle, and camels and growers of wheat and dates, still hold most of these lands at the beginning of the Fourth Age. In addition to the Apysani-descended Haradrim, several other ethnic groups have contributed to the racial make-up of Harad. The most important of them are noted below.

First Group: -- Near Harad (Harûze of Haruzan, Chelkar, and Pezarsan and Lurmsakun)
Peasants, herdsmen, Urban Folk
Small, sturdy, light Brown Skin (Numidian/Berber/Turkish Culture)
All of these peoples speak the Haruze tongue or a related dialect. The Haruze of Lurmsakun have traces of Variag bloodlines and cultural influence.
(Note on changes: the Kibic are a military religious order important in the foundation of Haruze culture. The Umbareans and Sakalai and are detailed under the "Eighth Group," below. "Urdwan" is a Haruze term meaning "nomad" and, like "Kibic," is not a true ethnic description, as described below.)

Second Group: -- Central-Harad ( Jelut, Urdwan Haruze, Aukuag)
Desert nomads and pastoralists, horsemen
Small, slim, light brown to brown Skin (Berber/Mauritanian Culture)
These peoples occupy a vast stretch of desert country and speak many languages, all of them drawn from Apysaic roots. Those living near the Harnen speak dialects of the Haruze tongue. Those living in the borders of Bellakar speak variations of that speech. The Jelut culture was born of desert clans tributary to Umbar and speak their own language, which includes elements of classical Adunaic and Third Age Westron.

Third Group: -- (Bellakaze, Bellakarai, Bellanarod, Aukuag tribes of the Bellakarai frontier, Êluzan, Qarsag)
Short to middling tall, light brown skin Farmers, fishermen, herdsmen, desert nomads, urban folk
Bellakar has a distinctive set of religious beliefs and a language and culture that borrows many elements from mid to late-Second Age Numenor. Its ruling aristocracy prides itself on its Dunadan ancestry and are noticeably
taller than other Haradrim.

(Note on changes: Eric went to a great deal of trouble to differentiate Bellakar from Bozisha-dar, and I think we should respect that).

Fourth Group: -- Southwestern Harad and the Metharn (Adena, Tande, Tulwany)
Fishermen, sub-tropical and tropical farmers, and savanna and desert nomads Short to middling tall, slim, dark brown to grey skin (west-African/ Sudanic Culture)
A wide variety of groups of Apysaic ancestry, sharing a common history of Numenorean colonialism in the Second Age and Aruwanai rule in the early Third Age.

Fifth Group: -- Southern (Greater) Harad (Sîranians, Ayten, Danak)
Farmers, desert nomads, urban folk
Short, light brown to brown skin (Abyssinian/ Kush Culture)
With the Haruze, the most populous of the Haradon peoples. The Ayten are the nomadic clans dwelling in the drier regions of Sirayn, speaking variant dialects of the primary Sîranians tongue.
(Note on changes: the writer of the Greater Harad bungled his peoples section, failing to describe the river-valley peasantry who make up the mass of the population of this country. The Danak would appear to be blood descendants of slaves from Gondor, Rhovanian, and other places, but they probably speak a Sîranians dialect as well.)

Sixth Group: -- Coastal Near Harad (Umbareans and Sakalai)
Peasant farmers, fishermen, herdsmen, urban folk Middling height and build, brown to black hair, tanned to light brown skin.
(Numidian and Magreb cultures)
The original Sakalai were the southernmost of the Daen peoples who reached the coasts of the Bay of Belfalas in the later First Age. As the second millennium of the Second Age began, these peoples were in danger of being
absorbed by the Haruze, but the Numenoreans came to the coasts of Endor and gradually took the Sakalai under their protection. By the late Second Age a new language, Westron, had arise between Umbar and Pelargir, based on
Adunaic salted with elements of the old Daen tongues. While Westron usage eventually spread northward to Eriador and Rhovanion, the larger number of Westron-speakers dwelt in Gondor and Umbar until after the Kinstrife in the
mid-Third Age. The Umbareans were slowly absorbed by the Haruze thereafter. Their language and culture eventually melded with those of the rest of northern Harad.

Seventh Group (Bozishnarod, Narodbrijig, Covshek-Pust, Poacaod)
Short, light brown skin (West-African Sahel Culture/Tuareg)
Farmers, fishermen, herdsmen, desert nomads, urban folk
The people of Far Harad have always made it a point to keep their society distinct from those Haradrim, like the people of Bellakar or Haruzan, who boast of being the cultural heirs of Numenor . The settled peoples of the Dar share a common religion with the surrounding of desert clans, most of whom speak the Bozishnarod language or a related dialect.

Eighth Group (Etulian, Farijin, Sorijan)
a light gray skin, flat faces, long and steep hair (usually brown or black), a muscular constitution
They have a distinctive set of religious beliefs and a language and culture that borrows many elements from mid to late-Second Age Numenor. Its ruling aristocracy prides itself on its Dunadan ancestry and are noticeably taller than other Haradrim. They live in Tulwang, and Anbalukkhôr.

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3. Easterlings


It was a bit hard to define which peoples belong to the Category "Easterling". I defined Easterlings as the standard Gondorian Word for any Culture of Central Middle-Earth.If a Gondorian would meet a Chey he would probably judge him as a Haradrim after his appearance and clothing, even if in Language he is much more akin to Western Easterlings as the Wainriders.

I do not Speak of the People of the Far East as easterlings here, since they represent Cultures of which the Gondorians had no vague impression or Idea. The only Charakter ever mentioned by Tolkien is Khamûl, the Black
Easterling. So if the People of the Far East would be servants of the Darkness we could call them all collectively "Black Easterlings". However I will mention here only the "Easterlings" and I´m going to work on the "Northern-Peoples" or "Snow peoples" and the "Peoples of the Far east" or "Black Easterlings" later.

I´ve grouped the peoples as far as they are mentioned by Tolkien together as in his Books, so the Balchoth and Wainriders are now together in one Group while the Easterlings of Rhûn and Sea-Easterlings are an own Group now. The same I dis with the Variags the Men of Núrn and the Nûriags. By this I followed Tolkien close and ignored the existing ICE scheme. The other peoples consits mostly of Talatherim , from which I´ve taken the Ibav, Chy and Chey away and added instead the Adekdar from the Linerim. The Chy and Chey are going to be
Bay People now while the Ibav and the other Linerim (Horl and Raliani) will become Cultures of the Far East. As Nomads I´ve also added the Eskam to the Easterlings, but maybe I can put them together with the Rhûn Easterlings or Balchoth/Wainriders since they should be Skythians. In that case I propose to invent Tibetian/Birman peoples since they would fit geographically to Northern Ormal.

Easterlings:

First Group: -- Rhûn (Rhûn Easterlings, Sea-Easterlings)
Gathmarig,Brygath,Urgath
Farmers, Herders, Fishermen, Corsairs
middle heigh, slim, light Brown Skin (Skythian/Cimmerian Culture)

Second Group: -- Khand/Mordor (Variags, Núrnoth, Nûriags, Lothrag)
Farmers, Herders, Urban, Warlike
middle-height, slim, Dark Skin (Anatolian/ Hittiche Culture)
Note : the Lothrag live in Lotan

Third Group: -- East of Rhûn (Balchoth (Asdriags,Odhriags,Magriags,Kykuria),
Wainriders, Kykuria, Tedjin)
Wain Nomads, Horse Nomads, Farmers, Warlike
middle-height, slim , light Brown Skin (Sarmatian/Sauromatian Culture)

Ahar (Fifth Group): -- (Kargagis Ahar, Relmether, Rycolis, Dalpygis,
Orgothraath, Yilgaathi)
Herders, Farmers, Nomads
small, Stout, light Brown Skin (Turk/Kasachian Culture)

Adek (Sixth Group): -- (Adekdar, Alduryaknar, Burskadek, Gaathgykar)
breeders, Herders
small, Slim, yellowish Skin ( Hunnish/Hiung-Nu Culture)

Lin (seventh Group): -- East Palisor (Daldûnairi, Ûsteri, Lygar, Jendiar)
farmers, hunters, herders
small, Strong, Dark-yellowish Skin (Mongolic-Culture)

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4. Swertings / Black Peoples:

first Group -- Go to the East (Ts´dan, K´prur)
Warlike, Seafarers (later), Yellowish-Dark Brown skin

second Group -- come to the Sunlands (Sharaeke, Geshânians)
befriend the Avari, build Cities
small, yellowish-darkbrown Skin (West-African, Sudanic culture)

Akanli (third Group) -- come to the Sunlands (Mûmakanril, Ûsakanil,
Mûlamburil, Tantûrakim)
Warlike, tall, Musculous
Dark Black Skin (South-African, Bantu culture)

Ebesan (fourth Group) -- come to the Hyarnustar (Adena, Sedêre, Drêl,
Pel, Swasan)
tall, slim, warlike
Copper-Black Skin (West-African, Sudan-Culture)
(this group is distantly related to the Apysaic speaking Haradrim of Sîrayn)

Sixth group (fifth Group) -- come to the Hyarnustar (Magri, Tumagri,
Nandran, Sanâr, Tandê)
a coloured people and have dark coloured skin, broad faces, black
deeply-inset eyes

Kir (sixth Group) -- come to the Sunlands (Kîranai, Ganim, Drênim, Ahava,
Tuktanai, Sekâk)
tall, slim, peaceful
Black Skin (East-African, Bantu Culture)

Tuk (seventh Group) -- come to the Archipelago (Sâre, Tulthan, Râkhe, Sekâk)
Warlike, tall, bony , Seafarers (primitive)
Dark Black Skin (Melanesian Culture)

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5. Peoples of the far East:

As for the Easterlings of the Far East the Avarim Cultures are especially sundered, because at first they are relatively close in culture but in the late third Age are not that closely akin anymore...

Avarim:
First Group :-- (Wômaw, Rôlaw, Wêraw, Góakaw, Móakaw, Kaelaw, Haenaw)
Farmers, breeders, Fishermen, Seafarers
Middle-tall to small, Slim, Yellowish-reddish Skin (Chinese /Shang Culture)

second Group :-- (Lôchaw, Argaw)
Farmers, Fishermen, Seafarers
Middle-tall to small, slim, Yellowish-reddish Skin (Japanese /Malaian Culture)

third Group :-- (Aegaw)
Breeders, Herders, Farmers, Fishermen
small to middle-tall, slim, yellowish-reddish Skin (Korean / North Chinese Culture)

fourth Group :-- (Urakhan)
Farmers, Breeders, Mountainmen
middle-tall to small, slim, yellowish-reddish Skin (Birman /Northern Indian Culture)

fifth Group :-- (Vulmaw)
Farmers, Fishermen
middle-tall to small, stout, yellowish-reddish Skin (Indonesian /Javanese
Culture)

Other Peoples:
Brârim (sixth Group) :-- (Wôlim, Brôdim, Tânim, Lakhab)
Farmers, fishermen
small, stout, yellowish Skin (Vietnamese Culture)

seventh Group :-- (Ibaavi, Nargaathi, Shaya, Unvirnay)
Farmers, Breeders
small, Slim, yellowish Skin (Thai / Siamese Culture)

eight Group :-- (Hôrl, Raliani)
Farmers
small, stout, yellowish Skin (Khmer/Kabodjan Culture)

ninth Group :-- (Tarlai, Monam)
Farmers, Fishermen
small to middle-tall, slim, yellowish Skin (Malaian/ Malaysian Culture)

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6. Southearners or Bay People

Eskam (First Group): -- (Aca, Dilikhran, Firusey, Charax, Phrashara)
Herders, Nomads, Warlike
small, stout, yellowish Skin (Parthian/ Baktrian Culture or
Tibetian/Birman Culture)

Second Group: -- Ered Ormal (Chey, Chy, Ulshyan)
Farmers, urban folk, shepherds, horsemen.
Short to middling height, slim, mid-brown skin (Iranian/Persian Culture)
Centuries after the Apysaic peoples had become the first nations of Harad, another wave of related immigrants crossed the southern Ered Harmal and conquered much of the eastern Haradwaith. Those who settled and built
civilizations in Harad became the Chy. Their relations who stayed on the high plains north of the mountains became the Chey and related nations.

The Ulshyan are related to the Chey and the Chy, but they were forced to migrate to the north.

Third Group : Niss valley people (Idurâk, Verikis, Lynîr)
Note : Lynîr are distantly related to the Lintanor

Fourth Group: -- Eastern Harad (Múranians, Elinse)
Farmers, fishermen, nomads
Small, slim, light brown skin (Arabian/ Semitic Culture)
The Muranians may have been the first farmers and city-builders among the Haradrim, but most of them were overrun by the Chy at the end of the first millennium of the Second Age. The folk of Harshandatt considered themselves the proper ancestors of the Muranians. A number of desert tribes speak similar languages. The Elinse of Anarike are a former Numenorean colony and have Adunaic elements in their language.
(Note : One quick note about relationships between Elinse and Numenoreans. Anarike is still a Numenorean realm in the Third Age. And there is by the end of Second Age, Lynir in Anarike, who melt with Numenorean and Elinse).
(this fourth group is the connection with Haradrim people)

Fifth Group -- come to the Lands of Ormal (Jôpe, Zurghîr, Icuddin)
tall, slim, warlike, Dark Brown Skin (Drawida/Wedda Culture)

Originally the Jôpi and Zurghîr were defined as Kinsmen of the Black peoples of Ardor, but together with the Ts´dan and Kp´rur we could make up another (eastern) branch of Black peoples or declare them splintergroups who have strongly intermixed with the Southeasterners. The Zurghîr are pretty much Indo-Drawida influenced, even if they are coloured we could count them to that group.

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7. Far North people

Ystävä Talva (first Group) :-- (Lumimiehet or Lossoth, Jäämiehet, Merimetsästäjät)
Forodwaith - they live in Northern Waste

Mornerin - Second Group (Urdar, Agrinak, Duranak, Syrkakar)
for most of their history, these people are aside the Shadow people Mornerin Urdar

Mornerin - Third Group
Angcla, Agnica, one people related to these two and who fled the Shadow and directs themselves to Barl Syrnac,

Mornerin - Fourth Group (Free People)
Sharta, Ôma

Mornerin - Fifth group
Kubor, Iskahu, Aigar, Rubor, Ayelma

Tyr (First group): -- (Myri, Lusturangsuri, Lu Tyr Sú, Vorgani, Dyrians, Desdursya, Ky'taari)
Herders, Hunters, Horse Nomads, Warlike
small, Stout, yellowish Skin (West- Sibirian Culture)

Tyr (Second group) (Vothrig, Ky'taari)
portrayed like the Viking for the Vothrig.

Conclusion :

I believe we´re pretty fine now with the Western Men for the Lands west of the Rhûnaer and north of the Harnen, The Haradrim south of the Harnen and west of the Ered Harmal, the Black men south of the Yellow mountains, the
Easterlings in the central Steppes of Palisor, The North-Peoples in the Northern Taiga Woods and Tundras of Forodwaith and Urd and the Far eastern Peoples beyond the Orocarni and Windmountains. Every Major group has a lot of subgroups which are pretty differentiated from each other now, I like that.

I believe that most of the new Southeasterners are vaguely Indo-iranic Cultures, but there´s still alot of freedom with interpretations (as Greek or Old Crete influence)