Starting today and evolving for as long as I have energy, I'm going to start presenting a detailed adaptation of my Warlords of Lingusia campaign setting for use with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, or any other suitable OSR system of choice. With the print editions of AD&D back out, I feel like one can safely say, "This is intended for use with AD&D" without beating around the bush!
For the first installment, I present the dark kingdom of Golmadras (as you may have guessed I have a thing for treacherous kingdoms laden with sorcery). I'll provide a map and overview here, and in the next several installments will elaborate on each location in greater detail, including stats and data to run it with AD&D.
Capitol City: Eramis
King: Emperor Aruzan Damar (no wife taken yet)
Allies: Saddikar, Al’Jhira, Naminthia, Caratea
Enemies: Etrurias, Octzel, Hyrkania, Sendral
Racial Mix: Most Golmadrans are human, but there is a disproportionately high
mix of surface-dwelling ashtarth dark elves in the region, as well as goblins
and hobgoblins, who are more socially accepted here than elsewhere due to their
loyalty to the emperor. Silver elves who did not abandon the old elvish kingdom
still dwell in Golmadras, either in hidden enclaves of the deep wood or as
lower-class servants of the human kingdom (a few high elves have retained
prominent station in Golmadras as those clans which backed the invaders). A
small but distinct population of sylenic Halflings moved into the coastal
regions of southern Golmadras about two centuries ago, and have been tolerated
ever since.
A thousand years ago the ancestors of the
modern Golmadrans were a mix of southern people, from the kingdoms of Karaktu.
The proud and mysterious Argoseans with their dark sorcerer kings, the nomads
of the great savannah plains, the dark elf exiles of Yenetai, the amazon
warriors of Laibros, and the warrior-merchants of Shillarth. Karaktu had been
extant in the world for as long as the Middle Kingdoms, and had evolved with
its own parallel purpose and history to the rest of the world. Then the Deluge
brought destruction.
Golmadran lore tells of how the rabble of
old Argosea rose up against the sorcerer king, deceived in to believing he was
a false god by mad prophets who claimed the Deluge was brought on by the
emperor’s hubris. Amidst the time of flooding a civil war broke out. After
several years of intense conflict the Emperor and his closest followers
abandoned the field, and took the faithful across the Argosean Sea to settle a
new land, leaving the old kingdoms to be swallowed by the rising waters of the
Deluge. Thus did the exiles of Argosea come to the shores of Sylvias in the
north, as they willingly went in to exile with a hundred ships and ten thousand
loyal soldiers and their families; or so the official history books claim.
The sorcerer-king Aregas Damar was
charismatic, but the elves could offer only temporary assistance. It was when
Aregas discovered the age-old feud with the ashtarth dark elves of Modra that
he realized he could turn the conflict to his advantage. Offering quiet support
to Modra and the goblins of Eldrannor, Aregas backed them in a decisive and
vicious coup, using his own army against the elves to sieze their coastal
cities and ultimately lead the battle inland. Through clever manipulation he
gained the trust of the Hyrkanians of Old Blackholm and Hyrendan, and in a
matter of less than thirty years Sylvias was in his control. It was a bloody
conflict, and the Suetheinurien elves were scattered.
Elvish stories of this period are muddied by
poor recordings of the time, though the high elves are quick to assert that the
refugees, under rulership of King Aregas Damar, betrayed the elves within but a
few years, siding quickly with the scheming dark elves, forging an alliance to seize
the land. Unaccustomed to betrayal of such magnitude, the high elves quickly
fell and were driven back. Only a few remained as slaves at first, though they
would later embrace the new order. Such was the time that the elves became a
diaspora, spread throughout Lingusia, as they sought a new way of life and a
new home.
The new lord of the land, Damar proclaimed
himself emperor reborn and renamed the lands as Golmadras, which meant the Final Lands in Argosean. Later on he
declared himself god-emperor as well, suggesting that he was immortal and all
his descendants would be as well. He established a state-sponsored church of
worship for himself, though he openly permitted the reverence of the ashtarth
demon gods, so long as they were regarded as inferior to his own divinity. The
ashtrarth chafed at this, and there was a brief civil war, before those who
preferred to enjoy the benefits of cooperation accepted the new laws Damar had
decreed.
More mysteriously, Damar advocated worship
of the “true divinities.” These gods were ones almost no one had ever heard of:
the Shadow Pantheon of Unarak, Phaedra, Eskandar, Zelkarod, Amadan and Yagatas.
The cults of these gods were slow to start, and the mysterious nature of these
largely unknown gods left many openly confused about the emperor’s embrace of
this enigmatic faith. Nonetheless worship began, forced by the demands of the
new empire.
Eventually Damar perished, though he was two
more centuries in to his rule when he was assassinated. His longevity was taken
as proof of his divinity by most, and the children he sired were clearly
immortal (or long lived) as well. He was at last slain by his own kin, and his
son, Garanus Damar, rose to take his place, declaring that his father had been
released from his mortal shell to ascend to the planar realms, where he would
unlock the mysteries of the cosmos.
Unknown to most, the Damar family had been
given immortality by a select few: Unarak and his Shadow Pantheon. During the
flight of the refugees, the shadow god had approach Damar and offered him the
secret of immortality, in exchange for undying subservience. The intent, it
seemed, was for the shadow gods to establish a firm foothold of worship in the
mortal plane, to at last seek out true worshippers.
The real test of power for the gods of the
Golmadrans came during the Plague of Unarak. The hordes of undead somehow never
struck the lands of Golmadras, which became a bastion of safety as refugees
from many lands traveled to seek out the safety of the kingdom, to embrace the
Shadow Gods as their own.
Over the centuries Golmadras has grown
strong, and the once great woodlands of Sylvias have been turned to the use of
the growing empire. The current lord of Golmadras is Aruzan Damar, who
proclaimed himself the new god-emperor, not merely of Golmadras but of the
whole world. Many believe he is even more megalomaniacal than his ancestor.
Luckily he appears not to have a sense of strategy, for military engagements
against his neighbors have proved unsuccessful.
Aruzan Damar is quite insane, but extremely
powerful. As a living descendant of the Argosean sorcerer kings imbued with the
secrets of Prehunate longevity, he seems to excel in sorcery. Damar would like
to attain control over all of the Middle Kingdoms, but he has enough trouble
keeping his empire united as it is, and finds the Hyrkanians and Etrurians to
be more than a match, militarily. He feels that if he can just find true divine
power he will gain the necessary edge. Damar secretly reveres Xorion and
Dalroth, two principle deities of the old Chaos Pantheon, consulting them for
advice via the oracles of Mount Seriphar, a fact which he keeps from most so as
to avoid incurring the wrath of the Shadow Pantheon.
Today
Golmadras is a strict empire; a totalitarian regime which denies recognition to
rival kingdoms and religions within its boundaries. It is comfortable to those
who believe firmly that might makes right, and is a dangerous place in which to
live for those with dissenting thought. Its merchants are generally welcome in
many ports, but Golmadras tries hard to remain self-sufficient, a cultural mark
of the Argoseans from old.
Although bards love to tell stories about
how one day the elves will rise up to reclaim their forestlands, it is an
unfortunate fact that the long war of the elves between their darker kin had
taxed them severely, and the short invasion of refugees led to too many losses
for the elves to safely recover from. Elves can breed but once a century it is
said, and if so, then it may be many hundreds or even thousands of years before
they are strong enough to contest their homeland in the mortal plane once more.
Still, a handful of high elves and sylvan elves remain, quietly, in the dark woods
of Golmadras, seeking time and opportunity to strike against the invaders
whenever possible. These elves will never forgive the loss of their homeland,
and often do not even forgive the flight of so many of their kin to distant
lands, let alone the handful of “betrayer houses” which sided with the
Golmadran emperor so long ago.
Eramis the Capitol
Eramis is the rough capitol of the land,
centered on a vast ziggurat-palace from which the god-emperor and his house
rules. It is a harsh city of blackened soot and vast urban sprawl, where
cruelty and violence seem to be normal, for suffering is regarded as the only
correct state of mind in the Golmadran religious state. The only open worship
permitted in this city is to the god-emperor himself and the Shadow Pantheon,
though worship of the ashtarth demon gods is permitted in their barrio
district.
Eramis is known for its cruetly and harsh
living conditions, but it remains the most popular trade port along the Iron
Gulf. Merchants from far and wide are welcome here, as the emperor long ago
relaxed all trade limits and tariffs to encourage growth. A side effect of this
influx of foreign merchants and goods is a brisk underground economy that
specializes in everything from illegal imports unattainable elsewhere to a
brisk but very dangerous trade in religious artifacts, iconography and texts
for those beliefs that are forbidden in the land.
Mount Seriphar
This vast lone mountain was once the
Oracular center of communion for the Silver Elves, but has long since been
turned in to a monastery and enclave for the oracles of lost Seriphar, those
ancient witches who advise the emperor in his schemes.
Anethar
This remote mountain fortress is located on
the remains of an even older elvish fortress, where it is rumored the emperor
likes to go as a vacationretreat. The mountains are being pillaged with deep
mining operations for previous metals, including mithril.
Golvad
Golvad is another bustling town, but this
time for being a center of pilgrimage, as it is nestled along the base of Mount
Seriphar.
Shelmadir
This coastal port along the Inner Sea is the
center of the Golmadran navy in that region, which is tantamount to saying “a
lot of pirates that work together.” Though they can put a huge number of ships
to sea, the Golmadrans seem unable to organize such fleets in a convincing
manner, insuring they are unable to do more than raid and pillage along the
coasts of their antagonistic neighbors.
Zulgoth
This coastal port is the center of the
southern navy and is much like its northern cousin, rife with pirates. Zulgoth
is also home to the largest demographic of nonhumans in the region, including
many survivor species from sunken Karaktu. It is ruled by the rakshasa Kadraen,
a good friend of the emperor’s, who lets Kadraen do as he will in his strange
city.
Ryvarin
This is the only occupied city to retain its
elvish name, and has a meaningful elvish population. The silver elves who dwell
here chose to be subjugated rather than leave their homeland, and they have
been persecuted heavily, treated as an underclass throughout Golmadras. The
city is ruled by the emperor’s favored concubine, Elatta Sectaraine, given rank
of governess and the will to do as see sees fit in a once holy elvish city now
turned in to a vast bastion of sin and debauchery.
Thylanalien
The woodland elves of Sylvias’s eastern
Eflin were not quite ready to leave their homeland. Located deep in the fey
woods of their mountain valley, Thylanalien stands strong. Several times now
have the Golmadrans climbed the nigh-uncrossable mountains to this deep wood,
and each time have they been destroyed by the sylvan elves. Some believe that
Thylanalien exists in the Weirding at the same time as the mortal plane, but
none know for sure. Unfortunately for the sylvan elves, the emperor has found
their resistance amusing, and he has declared their extermination a sport,
encouraging young warlords to seek his favor by forging armies to climb the
mountains and seek out the fabled sylvan city and raze it.
Wachalen
This eastern castle oversees the only safe
past between the Southern Hyrkanian deserts and Golmadras. It is fairly
nondescript, but has the usual sooty, burnt architecture so common among the Golmadrans,
and is usually fair warning to those approaching that the kingdom beyond is not
a pleasant place to journey for anything less than official business.
Ruins of Thystivianen
The vast ruins of Thystivianen are but one
of many lost elvish cities, though this one was laid to waste by the dark elves
themselves. The city contains the spectral remains of the old Tree of Life,
slain in battles long ago by the dark elves, though it is said that the young
god Poltrietie grew from the last of the sacred seeds of life from this tree.
To this day the haunted ruins are occupied
by diverse factions of dark elves, goblins, naga, trolls, orcs and other beings
seeking to inhabit them, while Golmadran treasure hunters try to find lost
elvish treasure and occasional parties of vengeful silver and wood elves will
arrive to slaughter the defilers as best they can.
Modra
The dark elves of the old war who sued for
peace and allegiance to the emperor continue to dwell here, in a city both
above and beneath the forest, named for its greatest leader, the dark queen
Modra who had the vision to imagine the ashtarth rightfully retaking the sacred
elvish homelands for their own. Though the ashtarth of Modra seem content,
there is to this day much discord among the dark elves, envious that the
Golmadrans so effectively invaded and expelled the silver elves, yet they seem
to treat their dark elf allies like barely tolerated second class citizens.
Kalevarsh
Deep in the heart of Golmadras is said to have been an ancient
subterranean realm, where the last of the old elvish knights sought to destroy
the goblin kings of old during the era of the Early Empires. The goblin kingdom
was called Kalevarsh. Little is known of this subterranean realm, but it holds
a nearly mythic quality to the goblins of Skazdras.
Urnaman
This relatively nondescript port is home to
a large population of Yenatai draconian, the weredragons of mixed dark elf and
dragon blood.
Aldromos
This port city is largely
independent of immediate Golmadran influence, and is rife with Etrurian
influence as well. It is notorious for being an open port to all, including
pirates.
Eldrannor Hills
These ancient fey hills
are overrun by goblinoid tribes who thrive in the region, occasionally growing
so quickly that neighboring cities must call for a periodic culling, which
turns in to a minor war between humans and goblins for a time, until the beasts
are driven once more deep in to the earth.
The Bleakwoods and the Goblin Swamps
This vast track of
western land beyond the Great River of Light (which bisects the western and
eastern dominion of Golmadras) is rife with monsters, especially the dozens of
tribes of the so-called Skazdras, the Goblin Kingdoms. Noteworthy in this western
region is the port of Aldromos. Several small townships can be found along the
coast, but almost no human settlements can be found in the Bleakwood, and none
at all in the swamplands. Among the dark elves there are several remote
settlements, and a handful of fortresses paid and managed by mercenaries hired
to handle the dirty work of protecting the overland roads in the region.
Aside from the many
monsters and goblinoids in the region it is known that the last indigenous
tribes of elves can be found within the Bleakwood, where they have dwelt for a
thousand years and will continue to do so. These small but vigilant tribes of
silver and wood elves struggle against the occupants of their land, taking the
rare opportunity to strike out and do damage whenever possible, thus
necessitating the reason several well-funded mercenary garrisons are stationed
in the region.
The Bleakwood and its
accompanying swamplands are also the location of ancient ruins, belong as best
can be determined to a civilization that arose in the region about four
thousand years ago, which prospered for a time before collapsing sometime
around the era of the War of the Gods. Old Hyrkanian historical texts exist
which name this land Erekantas, but
little is known of this lost kingdom and its people. Elvish records that
survive the period are curiously lacking on any details, though the elvish
records of occupation date back eight thousand years.
Scarsad (Gorgoth Isle)
The mysterious island of
Scarsad is said to hold a great temple to the Ancients, where the ancient prehunates
are worshipped openly. It is even rumored that the physical forms of the
prehunates themselves can be found here, engaging in cosmic meditations.
Occasional heroes have sought to gain entry to this mysterious temple but the
island is guarded by ferocious monsters that have successfully repelled all
attacks.
