Difference between revisions of "Gateway Downs"

Revision as of 10:19, 27 February 2013

A larger version of this map can be found here.

Geography

Gateway Downs is bordered by vast seas and tall mountains, making it difficult for travellers to arrive or depart. This geography has made the people of the Downs rather xenophobic, even though they are now at the center of the North-South continental trade!

The lands themselves are still very lush to swampy because of the tremendous rainfall recieved in the last 50 years (see GATEFALL). The downs are gently rolling, wooded, and abound with life. It is easy for people and even entire tribes to lose themselves in the wilderness of this sparsely populated land. However, there are some centers of civilization in the area that are worth mentioning.

Heranmar. The closest city of the Southern Continent to the Northern, Heranmar should be a bustling sea-trade town. Yet it still maintains its sleepy xenophobic ways.

Wayfarer. A monestary of monks dominates the heights of this steep hillside town while a long curtain wall surrounds the base. A winding street makes its way from the base to the top, and the hillside is stuffed with houses, shops, and cottage sized factories. Many dwarves live here, and it is a great place to start when you are prospecting in the mountains nearby.

Threshold. A town of farmers and cottage-craftsmen, Thresholders have endured the encroachments of evil for 50 years. They are stoic and close-mouthed, but can endure incredible horrors and hardships. This gothic town is a good place for striking off into the country of Wane or the Coastal Downs.

Country of Wane. Before the last Migration, all the downs of Wane were in the border of Koshe-Marr, the dreaded land of horror. Now, the last of the evil is expunged from the land, and the idyllic landscape is unexplored. Who knows what will be found in the vales of Wane?

Spirit Swamp. The Spirit Swamp is a vestige of the 50 Years of Rain that was punishment for faithlessness in Gateway Downs, and is very boggy with heavy undergrowth, quicksand, and floating islands of sod. The only roads within the Spirit Swamp are elevated earthen causeways with many bridges and camping areas located every 10 miles. Of course, these camping areas are known to the wet denizens of the Spirit Swamp, and so are a favorite spot for ambush and raid.

GATEFALL: The Fall of Gateway Downs

The People of the Gateway Downs have suffered greatly during the last 50 years. Some sources believe that when most of their towns reverted to gang rule and bully tactics, the Powers cursed the area with Perpetual Rains which oracles said reflected the “spirit” of the people. Some say that their suffering is a direct result of their lack of effort --that when the tough times came, most people hid in their homes and hoped it would all go away. The people themselves became known as non-aggressive in nature. It seemed that they had just given up. They didn’t even have the energy to move to a more prosperous region. They just cowered in their homes and wished it all away. Others claim that it is due to a lack of faith in the Gods and Powers. These peoples, as a whole, let their temples remain empty. Some towns even forced their temples outside the city walls when they could not pay their taxes. Temples became known as places where criminals held clandestine meetings and places to receive shelter because of the perpetual rains.

It should be noted up front that of all the peoples of the Gateway Downs, those of Threshold showed more faith than any other community and refused to be defeated by the closing of the northern trade routes during the Rainy Curse of the last 50 years. Instead, they increased their local mining efforts finding silver and diamonds east in the Krag Us Monde. These luxuries they traded south to Hook City and east into the elven lands of Dre Moria by creating their own trading lines. They spent much in time, labor, and effort to keep the one pass to the east open. However, even this community was not noble nor good in the eyes of their fellowman and The Powers. The considerable income that their trade efforts brought in was not shared by the citizens so that all prospered. These profits went into the pockets of a few powerful mine owners, while all around them the average citizen became poorer and insignificant.

The Spirits Decree

The Spirits therefore determined that these pitiful souls had to be tested. They decreed that a group of adventurers would rise up from among these peoples and be designated as “children of the times” and “representatives of the people.” These would-be-heroes will be given the opportunity to affect a change in the destiny of the Gateway Downs and its citizens. If they risk all beyond all hope, even to the point of death, the region will be redeemed. The Downs of Gateway will then be renewed in the next configuration and its resident curses lifted. There will be a new beginning and a prosperous age.

The stage for this conflict will be the demi-plane of Kosh-Marre: The Domains of Dread and Desire. This plane is a closed space outside the Wold Proper where a group of watchers and experimenters known as The Powers tempt mortals with immortality and the granting of desire. By day the settings of Kosh-Marre are startlingly beautiful and seductive: the windswept heath with brambles aflame in autumn color, soaring peaks with icy summits piercing the sky. When night falls however, she cloaks the world in inpenetrable darkness. A chill rises from the soil and contaminates the air and horror of each and every type. Suddenly, “breathtaking” beauty has new meaning. Here the mighty warrior will freshly experience the sight of spilled blood. The priest will become estranged from his god. The thief will confront the evil nature of his deeds and talent. The mage will experience the dark side of his magic. The allure of the evil part of each man’s soul will seductively call to him. The more powerful the creature or soul, the more powerfully the demi-plane of terror will call to him.

The Great Migration

In the last Great Migration (circa 2009 Real Time), the Protectors of Heranmar were revealed as the mortal instruments of the Powers of the Southern Continent. The heroic group named the Children of Chaos journeyed to the Center of the Southern Continent and, in ringing the Chaos Bell (an artifact of unknown power) initiated the Great Migration.

Earthquakes shook the Gateway Downs, and the land was ringed in a blue curtain of light before being wrested from its old location on the continent. Four months passed as the Gateway Downs flew through the air, cut off from all the other lands. When it at last settled into its new place, what used to be west is now facing north, and all the neighbors of the Downs have changed. What new lands are on the borders?