Lohwand: a First Look at the Southlands

The Southlands 

(unfinished)

Here is a look at the unfinished Southlands map. I decided to expand southwards because I wanted to expand Haradwaith and Stygia a bit, and also because I had places - and ideas for factions - that I hadn't used in the Northlands map. The Isles of the Ethereal Bells, for example, originally from the Judge's Guild "City State of the Invincible Warlord" maps ("Wilderlands of High Fantasy").

Its not finished. I need to expand that eastern mountain range southwards, and add some more major rivers, among other things.

I've also started "drilling down" - or "Zooming In" - and doing detail maps of regions, adding national borders. 

The Atlan Confederacy

(unfinished)

The Shield Lands

(unfinished)

Like Tony Bath, in his Hyborian Campaign, I am mixing eras, but I am also adding a bit more fantasy and allowing magic. Also note that, per Arthur C. Clarke, and in regards to early gunpowder weapons: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

On the large map "Baradur - the Cannon Cult" is shown. This is straight out of Greg Stafford's Glorantha (and Dragon Pass board game). In that the Cannon Cult is one of The Dwarf's gifts: a sect of human servitors who worship their great cannons as gods, the massive guns being drawn by blind cave-oxen. In my campaign, the Cannon Cult is a mercenary unit that can be hired out to various factions. The massive cannons all have names like Hellmouth, Deathspitter, Hellroarer, and similar. Baradur is also the source of the arquebus and jezzails used by some factions (in strictly limited numbers, of course.) These are all considered magical units in the campaign.

Regarding the mixing of eras, the Shield Lands is a series of Medieval kingdoms. Their principal adversaries are themselves, Thule (Vikings) and the barbarian tribes that ring their territories. A related faction, Dol Amroth does indeed have Swan Knights, which under my interpretation are something like the Knights of St. John. Maybe I will get a chance to do the "Siege of Malta" at some point! :-)

Ologog, Oronin, and Oraya comprise the Atlan Confederacy, and are Amazons. They were set up to be my primary "good" faction to fight the Tharkallan Empire, my primary "evil" faction. However, being "limited by the counter mix" the conflicts are probably going to occur elsewhere first, as I build up my forces. 

Also, per the Everway cards, the initial conflicts are pre-determined to a certain extent. Subject to my interpretation of the card results. For example, that snapshot of my spreadsheet (see below) shows the results for the Confederacy:

Everway Fortune Card results

I did a reading for the Confederacy as a whole and then for each country. The cards predict "War with Honour" in the Future, presumably with the ever-expanding Tharkallans. Oronin has "Destruction" in its Past, and the Present is "The Soul Prevails". I think I am going to interpret this as a civil war which tore the country apart, but has now been resolved. I'm thinking this was probably as the result of some dastardly Tharkallan intrigue. It also means I have a justification for using amazon allies - the losing faction - with possible Tharkallan forces in the upcoming war. I also note that the Present for Ologog is "Treachery"; what's that about I wonder?

This is why I really like the Everway Fortune deck: so much a source of inspiration. 

I suppose one might use a typical tarot deck, but I suspect the Everway deck has been slanted specifically towards gaming. Another example: the results for Umbar, which in my mind is my version of Carthage, shows its Fate as "Destruction"! I swear I did not fiddle the results in any way. This is straight up how it turned out!