[D&D]Pre-campaign details

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2003-07-12 11:09am

I just finished a map of Europe and the Mediterranean Littoral, and I'll try to have it up by tonight along with commentary. I should be able to have all relevant data for characters and for a British start up by wednesday, which I up satisfies the planned "late next week" start time. Sorry for the delay with the information on the pagan pantheons, but I got distracted by the map, I confess.

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2003-07-12 12:07pm

Just wondering, does London exist in this timeline?

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2003-07-12 12:10pm

Crayz9000 wrote:Just wondering, does London exist in this timeline?

...It's existed since it was a Roman Fort, so, yes. Hrmm. Has a population of somewhat more than ten thousand people right now. I should be able to provide a city map from Anglo-Saxon times, but it will have developed differently under Saxon rule since 1066 than under Norman rule--and will probably be a bit larger as well, since the conquest briefly stifled things (which is why I say larger than 10,000). The cities of northern Europe were not that larger, except, oddly, in Scandinavia, where they could easily be noticeably larger than that.

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2003-07-12 12:44pm

CHRISTIAN EUROPE
And Adajacent Domains
In the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Two Hundred and Fifty.

- Many thanks to JediPhong for hosting the image.

Typhonis 1 · Post by **Typhonis 1** » 2003-07-12 01:50pm

whats that landmass near England and France?

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2003-07-12 02:29pm

Black lined areas denote open pagan activity or heresy within Christian states. In particular, the continuing paganisms of the various chieftans of the highlands, in Scotland, on one hand, and the ongoing Albigensian Crusade in southern France, on the other.

The following countries are Pagan: The Basque Kingdom ("Euskal Herria" in the native tongue, or "Basque Country"), the Kingdoms of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway; Iceland (republic), the Orkneys (vassal of Norway), northern Irish realms (incld Viking Dublin), Isle of Man (republic), Wales, Prussia, and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Not counted is the local eight hundred pound gorilla in the corner, the Great Khanate, which is of course shamanistic, and has a variety of nominally ruled christian tributary states under its control--nobody can do anything about this, and the last people to even help fleeing noblemen from Russia (Poland and Hungary) got viciously shredded in 1241-1242, with a nice stopover through the Balkans that only halted at the gates of Adrianople due to the death of Ogedei, too.

The result of this is that "pagans" in the sense of barbarians taking advantage of this, monsters--surviving Orcish warbands and a variety of other things--and numerous other peoples have been flooding into the weakened Balkans and Hungary over the past eight years. The Byzantines, bringing in fresh troops from Anatolia, have faired the best, the Servians have the advantage of vicious terrain, though in some cases that isn't much of one, but the Hungarians have been hit the hardest, hindering the recovery of the Kingdom--even allowing the Venetians to seize the coast. In all three cases the States continue to have a measure of functionality, but chaos, raiding, depredations, and assorted horrors continue to occur.

Greek Orthodox countries include the Byzantine Empire, Servia, and all of the Russian Principalities--which obviously do not include the Prus or the Lithuani. Armenia is an Eastern Orthodox, or Monophysite, country. The three states along the Levant are the Crusader States: The northernmost is the Principality of Antioch, the middle is the County of Tripoli, and the southernmost is the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Cyprus is also considered a Crusader State, and is also a Kingdom.

Currently we have a very interesting situation in the Holy Roman Empire. A massive struggle is being waged between the Pope and the Emperor. Frederick II is at war with the Pope, who is Innocent IV at this time. Frederick's son Conrad fights in Germany against two pretenders to the throne, Henry of Thuringia, and William of Holland. In Italy, Frederick resides in Florentina and makes preparations for a major campaign to decisively defeat the Pope and the Italian city-states allied with him.

Frederick, the ruler of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (also including Provence, south of Burgundy, to the east of France) in addition to the elected Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (which is compromised of countless small states, which in theory owe allegiance to him, but in truth are fractuous and rebellious), has been fighting now for decades against Papal power, has been excommunicated repeatedly--and gone on crusade while excommunicated--and has had countless rumours swirl about him, ranging from the claim that he has as a mistress one of the Dark (or, sometimes, "Nubian") Elves of Ynys Attaligh, to that he is an atheist, having said that there were "the three impostors, Moses, Christ and Mohammed." On the other hand, he has helped in the repression of heterodox sects--but has also given haven to minstrels fleeing from the Albigensian Crusade. So who can say?

Though little truth of the man's enigmatic genius in nearly all fields is known, what is known, is that he has supinely organized the Norman State of the Two Sicilies to support his exertions, and maintained the contest against the awesome wealth and power of the Church and her allies for decades in his effort to conquer all of Italy. It is now, in this year, that he must make the decisive push. So abroil is the HRE.

In France, of course, the Norman Dukes, at once rulers of three Duchies, Tarrantry, Normandy, and Guvenne, strive to also rule Britanny, fighting the English for this privilage. This has allowed the French Kings to survive, perhaps, as they also must face the Albigensian Crusade in the south, as crusaders fight for land and the chance to kill Heretics, the mysterious Cathars, somewhat like the ancient sect of the Gnostics, rejecting the Old Testament and believing in the evil of the flesh. This has allowed the Basques and their Dwarven allies in the Pyrenees to range far and wide against the Christian states in the region, and it is as much abroil as Italy at the moment.

In the British Isles, King Alexander III of Scotland has just been crowned the year prior, inheiriting the wise policies of his father, who consolidated Scottish lands. He must, however, contend with the continuing rebelliousness and paganism of the highlands, and the necessity to secure control over the Orkneys before the Lower Attaligh does.

Indeed, Ynys Attaligh, commonly referred to as "Lower and Upper" by the humans of the region, has started to reassert itself despite a weakened population now that the Vikings have ceased really active raiding and mostly settled. Certainly the Norse around Dublin are feeling pressure, and perhaps the High Elven leadership avoids pressing them more for fear they'd convert to Christianity out of political expediency than anything else if they were brought into the orbit of the Lower Attaligh. Certainly the policy of farming most outside contact to human sub-kingdoms has so far worked; but in defence of one's beliefs one can go to excession.

The Upper Attaligh, or the Kingdom of the Unseelie Fae (The High Elves being called Seelie Fae by the locals--and the Unseelie, of course, being Drow, do not run a Kingdom, but most know very little about them), is in the more mountainous northern half of Ynys Attaligh, well-suited for them. Their population there is unknown; most work is done through humans corrupted on the surface, but both nations are assumed to be lightly populated, since all ancient authors since Herodotus have noted the low birthrates of elvenkind.

It is believed that Drow, in addition to in the Unseelie Kingdom, may exist in North America, to those who know about the voyages of Leif Ericsson some centuries prior--but that is very limited knowledge. They certainly exist in Scandinavia, where in the tunnels of the mountains they once ruled and held court for Lolth. It is believed that the Mistress of Hurt and Suffering, the Goddess Loviatar of the Finns, is a corrupted version of Lolth, for the humans of the north know the Drow only as evil rulers, and love to kill them at every chance. Some subsist there, however, just as the Trolls have managed to as well, despite no longer having their once great power--albeit, still far more than the Drow--though it is rumoured that in the far northern reaches of untamed Lappland and Finland, there still are great Kingdoms of the Trolls.

Other populations remain: In the Black Forest, near the headwaters of the Danube in southwestern Germany, that impregnable expanse of trees is home to many of the Forest Elves of Europe who still live, resisting the incursions of the hungry nobles and priests for wood for the ever-expanding civilization. More, too, live in Lithuania and its omnipresent expanse of forest; and the Poles have never quite been able to drive them out of the eastern reaches of their nation because of it. Where once the Drow ruled, in Scandinavia, now some Elves find refuge, in a society at once both harsh and tolerant. Others survive in the Almohad Caliphate, paying the tax to be left alone, or to turn their arrows against the vigorous zeal of the Reconquista States.

A few, even, live like the Jews--on the pure whim of secular rulers to grant them mercy from the church, doing the jobs that no Christian would deign himself to do. So, too, are the remnants of a few other races which are nearly gone from most of Europe, and thus are subject to the capricious whim of ever-growing humanity. Halflings were perhaps the most successful, but after the 10th century's rise of cities in Northern Europe, even they have felt the press. All of these populations combined cannot add up to any measurable weight against the great numbers of humanity, even were one to add in the Dwarves of Georgia, as well, or the elves thought to still live in the Taurus Range near Armenia; or the strange beasts of the Atlas range along North Africa, and the deserts below.

...But human strength is also a human curse, and that was proven most eloquently when eighty thousand Hungarians rode into battle under Bela IV, and at the Sajo River, made their stand against 50,000 Mongols under that great General of Genghis Khan's, Sabutai. Perhaps twenty thousand Hungarians escaped with their lives; Bela did not stop running until he reached an island in the Adriatic. The Mongols rode in, victorious as they always had been, to winter in their yurts with their horses on the plains of Hungary, leaving the cities and the towns burning and the populace to starve. Malthus lives.

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2003-07-12 02:30pm

I can make a larger version of this map for reference, like I did for the STGOD-I universe.

(Except that all territories will remain the same size--you remember the faux pas with the RME and USSSR, right?)

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2003-07-12 02:31pm

Typhonis 1 wrote:whats that landmass near England and France?

The Island of Tarrantry. You can even grow grapes on the south side. The capital is Colnille, in the strait by the Isle of the Sun.

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2003-07-12 02:32pm

Crayz9000 wrote:I can make a larger version of this map for reference, like I did for the STGOD-I universe.

(Except that all territories will remain the same size--you remember the faux pas with the RME and USSSR, right?)

Yes, this is important on a map of Europe. *grins*

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2003-07-12 02:37pm

Tarrantry's ancient population was Celtic, and a language related to Breton is still spoken. The predominant ancient tribe was the Terentri, hence the Latin name Insula Terentria. Tarrantry's recorded history begins with a Roman commander who attempted to conquer it, only to be driven off by a native queen. In response, the Emperor Vaspasian -- who had previous experience dealing with a troublesome Celtic queen, Boudicca -- sent a more capable officer, P. Cornelius Longinus, apparently with instructions to avoid creating another mess.

We have only a sketchy account, in Suetonius, of Longinus' campaign, but at the end of it a peace was made and Queen Trevanna was recognized as a "friend of the Roman People" -- Suetonius insinuating that Longinus and Queen Trevanna ended up as very good friends indeed. By tradition this amicable union of Roman and Celt is regarded as the beginning of the Terentrian nation, (I'm lifting most of this from the website--I'm an original author after all.) A Roman fort was built on a sound near the eastern tip of the island; this fort, Colonia Longina, eventually became Tarrantry's capital city, Colnille.

By the Middle Ages, French culture had become predominant. Medieval Tarrantry was a duchy of France, semi-independent in practice as were other French duchies -- And, I might add, for the purposes of this timeline, ended up a target of the Normans after they recovered from the failure of William the Conquerer. So you have Anglo-Saxon England, and the Ducal Union of Tarrantry, Normandy, and Guvenne (aka Aquitaine, gained through marriage) under the Normans.

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2003-07-12 06:16pm

Well, here's a preliminary image of the work I've done on the map so far. Purely a geographical outline, no political lines added yet.

Kelly Antilles · Post by **Kelly Antilles** » 2003-07-12 06:43pm

I appreciate the offer, but I despise d20 and refuse to play it, so... sorry.

Post by **Alyrium Denryle** » 2003-07-12 06:47pm

*sad face*

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2003-07-12 07:08pm

Marina, what are the names of those six Irish kingdoms/duchys/whatever?

Typhonis 1 · Post by **Typhonis 1** » 2003-07-12 07:18pm

We could use a list of languages divied up by region

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2003-07-12 07:36pm

Typhonis 1 wrote:We could use a list of languages divied up by region

I can put that on the map. That's easy at least.

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2003-07-13 01:40am

Aand the map's done.

(Sorry if this screws up anyone's monitors...)

Fullsize pic is here.

Majin Gojira · Post by **Majin Gojira** » 2003-07-13 01:44am

Noice...um...idiots question: Where are we starting out?

Typhonis 1 · Post by **Typhonis 1** » 2003-07-13 01:49am

England

Majin Gojira · Post by **Majin Gojira** » 2003-07-13 01:58am

Ok, just making sure

Glad I got a cold weather outfit--Toren will need it...

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2003-07-13 02:56am

Irish Kingdoms:

North-western three: Connaught (westernmost, tan), Aileach (Crimson, centre-north), Ulster (I hope you can guess which one this is).

Viking: Darker green-blue, in the centre, is called Meath.

Green: Christian, Desmond.

Orange: Christian, Leinster.

Brother-Captain Gaius · Post by **Brother-Captain Gaius** » 2003-07-13 03:32am

A note: for the sake of my sanity, I may need to take liberties with established European history/geography/politics/whatever.

Not sure if I already posted this, but my on hours (i.e., awake) will generally be from noon - 2 AM GMT-7. Any and all classic-style adventures will be done actively during these times, for parties of those who are all on at the same time, and at this point I'm not making any sense to myself as I am tired and should probably go to bed.

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2003-07-13 03:39am

Following country names, notes:

"Italy" and "Germany" should probably have the notation "Small States" under them, because they're actually just regions compromised of large numbers of that, small states.

The yellow state above the Crusader states is the Principality of Antioch, actually another Crusader State.

The purple in that region signifies the Ortuqid Emirate. The larger yellow region next to Georgia is the Khelat Emirate. The red is a Kurdish Emirate, and the grey is the (Sultanate of) Azerbaijan.

Below Lithuania: Yellow = Turovpinsk. Pink = Luzk. Yellow = Kre. In that order. Then, White/Pink sandwiched between Turovpinsk and Poland = Podlasia. Green = Volhynia.

The large unnamed green/blue power is the remnants of the old Grand Principality of Kiev. Kiev was annihilated by the Great Khanate, and the Khanate is currently ignoring it as its other tribute vassals pick apart the bones.

The two blue regions unnamed on the Baltic are possessions of the Teutonic Order. The dark purple above Poland is the remains of the Prus, IE, Prussia.

Tarrantry should be spelled Tarrantry. *crooked grin* Unless, of course, you're an Anglo-Saxon map-maker..

Oh! And the red state between Smolensk and Lithuania is Polotsk.

Okay, that covers everything.

(Maybe just put the "Small States" note under the Holy Roman Empire signifier.)

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2003-07-13 11:58am

*scratches head*

How did I manage to screw Tarrantry up that badly?

And I know about some of the other things, like the Crusader States, but didn't feel like putting them in at the moment. It was nearly midnight after all.

Orkney should technically be an island, and I need to color in the Venetian territories. Then I need to add the rivers and lakes, and basically geographical stuff like that.

And who should the Faroe Islands belong to, or are they uninhabited?

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2003-07-22 02:40pm

Ok, with the server back up I can now show off my changes to the map.

And the fullsize one is, again, available here.

(By the way, Marina, I'm not Anglo-Saxon. I'm mostly Swedish-Norwegian

)