Here's how it's going to work: today is a brief overview of the land and its history. Next will be a summary of the gods and mythology of the world. On day three there will be a map and brief gazetteer or the region. Then, each day thereafter I will pick one or two regions on the map (which will be divided into sectors) and discuss the adventures, encounters, NPCs and monsters that can be found within. I'll see how many of these I can get in for April....I thought I'd manage one a day, but the truth is that sounds tough to pull off, so we'll see....
Now...it's time for an old fashioned hexcrawl! And to do a hexcrawl, we need a place to visit...
The Lands of Pergerron – The River Kingdoms
Background
The world of
Pergerron revolves around a
civilized region called the River Kingdoms (sometimes also called the Kingdoms of Anansis), a
collection of polities and city-states that rely on the seasonal flood waters
of the River Anansis, a bountiful region which has allowed human civilization to
flourish. Pergerron is a largely barbaric land outside of the civilized center
of the world, though the people of the kingdoms have found trade partners with
other pockets of civilization to the distant eat in the Kingdom of Asparta, and far to the west in the
Isles of Esmonar. The southlands,
called Vothrace, are a vast an
untamed wilderness though some hearty explorers claim to have found a vast
empire known as Mesutin beyond its
untamable reaches, where ancient sorcerer kings rule.
Pergerron
exists in a time shortly after the dawn of creation, and monstrosities are a
product of the Primordials, a race
of ancient god-like beings which were cast down by the First Men, called the Enkanneth, who in turn took the power
of the primordials themselves and became gods as well. The Enkanneth are the
principle pantheon of the Fertile Kingdoms, and worship of the old Primordials
is regarded as a profane heresy.
Pergerron is
dominated by more than humans, however, for it is a land of many ancient and
mystical races as well as many cursed beings and monsters. Many of the monsters
and cursed races are part of the old kindred, the beings which ruled the world
and were created by the primordials before the Enkanneth came and shattered
their dominion. Other races were born in the likeness of the Enkanneth, made
after their patron gods to carry on as their servants in the world. Such races
include humanity, the elves, dwarves, Halflings, gnomes hutaakan, lupins, chameleon
men, tortles, pachydermions, and centaurs. Other races which remain prolific
mark their creation from the time before, at the hands of the primordials.
These races are regarded as cursed, and include the goblinkin, giantkin, orcs,
ophidians, nagpa, kobolds, manscorpions, bargda, lizard men, gatormen, gorgons,
minotaurs, harpies, gnolls, rakasta, chaos-kin, dragons and more. The races of
old and the races of new rarely live in peace. Furthermore, this distinction of
“old and new” races is somewhat arbitrary; hutaakans, for example, are regarded
as one of the oldest races even though they are regarded as friendly and
trustworthy by men. In the end, the distinction is best considered a reflection
of those races who are inimical or hateful toward mankind, and those who are
not.
Pergerron’s
principle population in the River Kingdoms is mankind, though halflings and other
races can be found in fair numbers in certain areas. The wilderlands beyond the
safe harbor of the river kingdoms are rife with nonhumans and monsters, so
travel through this rough and often uninhabited lands is always done with guard
and escort. The ancient ruins of the primordial cities dot the landscape, as do
the occasional monuments and landmarks that indicate where a great battle took
place or a god fell in battle.
Outside of
the roads and fortress towns between the major points of civilization,
occasional temples will arise in the wilderness at the dictate of the enigmatic
Enkanneth, those who were once men then stole divinity from the gods. Those who
forge deep into no-man’s land will on occasion come across temples to the old
primordials, sustained by the worship of foul monsters. Such locations, when
found, are usually targeted for eradication by the templars of the Enkanneth.
Guiding Principles of Pergerron
Pergerron
has the following ten key concepts and themes built in to it:
Dawn of Civlization – Pergerron is a
young world, although the primordials crafted a long and ancient history that
can be found in the mysterious and inhuman ruins of the wilderness. Mankind and
the sister races are young, having been formed from the clay of the River
Anansis by the Enkanneth less than five thousand years ago, and taught the
principles of civilization by the great teacher, the goddess named Suliversa.
Bastions of Civilization in a Sea of
Wilderness and barbarism – Pergerron is mostly a world of uninhabited
wilderland punctuated by moments of civilization. Outside of the River Kingdoms
there isn’t much call for warfare in this day and age amongst the human
kingdoms, for they are separated by a remote vastness. Populations are small; a
large city rarely has more than 15-20,000 citizens, and most communities are
much smaller. When war comes, it is with the barbarian tribes and monsters of
the wilderness.
Bronze Age Technology – The technology
of Pergerron is akin to that of the middle bronze age of Sumeria circa 1700 B.C.; copper is still in use
though bronze has superseded it as a more reliable metal. Iron and steel are
still largely unknown and relic weapons of the primordial era are the only
reliable source of such ancient metals at this time. Science and technology is
in its infancy, and most civilizations fret about the basics of commerce and
agriculture, the foundation of language and the rule of law.
No Divine Intervention – The gods
exist, or so any native would assert, and they work in mysterious ways. The
reality is that the gods do not manifest or intervene in any way easily
identifiable to any other than the priests, but the miracles granted to priests
are more than sufficient to prove the existence of the divine to most people.
Cult members can experience profound visions revealing the secrets of the
Enkanneth, but outside of these hallucinogenically induced visions the gods
only work in ways akin to nature. The primordials are likewise absent, though
their handiwork can be seen in the mysterious relics, monstrous kin and ancient
ruins of the wilderness.
Man is the Driving Force of Pergerron –
The men of Pergerron, amongst humanity and the other races, is the force behind
change, for better or worse. No divinities manifest to make change, though a
leader might swear that his god speak to him in dreams.
Magic is Real but Largely Mysterious –
Magic exists, yes, but it is a mysterious tool at best, and there is currently
no industry built up around it, nor any regular resource for the production and
sale of goods or services based on magic outside of the most elemental
fundamentals. Most mages are hucksters and charlatans; real magic is feared and
readily misunderstood, as well as coveted by those who do not have talent for
it. Most artifacts and magical devices are actually ancient relics from the
primordial era, and often the use of such is regarded as heresy by the cults of
the Enkanneth.
Other Realms Exist but are Misunderstood –
There are other domains into which mages can tap, and these are the realms from
which spirits and entities such as demons and seraph may come, but little is
understood about these realms. Hazata
is the term used to describe the hellish realm of the demons; Harisku is the domain of the spirits,
and Nezumei is the domain of the
seraph. These are understood by some practitioners to be other worlds, though
whether they are planets in the sky (and indeed all three are identified as
planetary bodies) or simply convenient place names for something else entirely
is unknown.
The Afterworld is Called Zhol’Dran –
and it is a feared dominion, where all of the dead assemble to await a time
when the Enkanneth will call upon the fallen warriors of many ages to once
again strike down the primordials. The myths of the dead in Pergerron speak of
a time when the primordials will rise again, and it is the harvest of human and
humanoid souls by the Enkanneth that breeds the army that will defend the world
from this next incursion. Or so the legend goes. Mages and priests of the land
know only that sufficient strength of will can allow for a spell which restores
life to the dead (and can also create undead), but such resurrections always
require a heavy toll to the one who benefits….a life for a life.
Major Foes Are the Servants of the Ten
– it is said that there were ten great primordials and a host of lesser
primordials when they were destroyed by the Enkanneth. The primordials each had
a destined successor, and these were called the Servants of the Ten. The Ten
were each great and powerful beings from the time before man, who survived the
fall of their creators but were stripped of divinity by the Enkanneth who stole
the force of godhood from the primordials. The Servants of the Ten are still
believed to exist in the deep, unexplored regions of the world plotting their
revenge against the new, young gods.
Ancient Mysteries – Everything
described as myth, legend and history as above is filtered through the eyes of
men who struggle to learn about their past and their world. All of it could
very well be false, but it is the record of ancient legends carried down
through the ages by the priests and loremasters of Pergerron that assert some
validity to these tales, as well as the existence of monsters and mysterious
ruins of old.
Core Rules Assumptions:
This setting will use the B/X D&D rules, with the following additional rules from the D&D Rules Cylcopedia:
1. Demihuman classes use the optional leveling rules in the RC (they don't cap).
2. The RC skill system will be assumed in stat blocks.
3. Optional combat rules from the RC (such as two weapon fighting) are in place. I'll be using individual initiative rules from the Basic book as a default for whatever I run, but obviously that's personal choice.
4. Any racial classes you have access to which allow one to play hutaakans or other demihuman races are allowed.
5. Again my preference but I let everyone start with max HP at level 1.
Tomorrow: The gods of Pergerron
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